Bathinda, December 6
It was a blend of emotions at the Bathinda Military Station here today at the special Veer Nari meet organised by the Army authorities to facilitate meaningful interaction for their welfare. A sense of wistfulness over what could have been and what has actually been pervaded the atmosphere, interspersed with feelings of pride in having made the supreme sacrifice tinged with regret over the uphill journey that they had to undertake after the loss of their loved ones.

Acknowledging the valuable service, loyalty and courage of their martyr husbands, the Army honoured the war widows (Veer Naris) with souvenirs and also informed about the schemes for their welfare.

However, while speaking to The Tribune, most war widows lamented the huge gap between the announcements made and their implementation.

“My husband Gurdev Singh sacrificed his life in 1962 during the India-China war. At that time, I felt proud to be a soldier’s widow. Later, in the absence of any helping hand, my life became tough and I had to work as a sweeper to eke out a livelihood to bring up my children,” rued Surjeet Kaur of Jatana Kalan village.

Narrating her tale of woes with tears in her eyes, she said, “I live in a house which is about to collapse any time. My only support—my son—suffers from diabetes and is bedridden. I have myself suffered vision loss but knocking at the doors of various officials has not brought any succour for me.”

Further, showing a number of gallantry medals awarded to her husband, 65-year-old war widow Har Roop Kaur of Heero Khurd village in Mansa said, “It was just one-and-half-years after my marriage that he died while fighting in the 1971 war. As I had no child, I adopted two younger kids of my elder sister, who was married to my brother-in-law, but she too lost her husband later.”

“Only we sisters know how tough it has been to bring up children in this society without any male member at home. Making umpteen promises during the elections, successive governments said they would allot plots, licences for petrol pumps, route permit for mini- bus, etc, but forgot to fulfill them,” alleged Har Roop Kaur.

Another war widow Surjeet Kaur of Chota Khiala village in Mansa district said, “Though the Army addresses the war widows as Veer Nari, our condition needs a boost. The day my husband lost his life in the 1971 war, our problems started unfolding.”

Before she could speak further, tears rolled down her eyes and she begged to be left alone.

“It is good that the Army invites us to honour for the sacrifices made by our husbands for the country but these token of respect (shawls, lamps etc) alone cannot serve the purpose. There are a lot many things, which were promised by different governments at various times for our welfare but observing the attitude of the officials, it seems as if promises were made only to be broken (Vaade taan hunde hi todan layi ne),” said 90-year-old Bachan Kaur of Har Raipur village, who lost her husband Santokh Singh in the Second World War.

When asked, chairperson, Chetak Family Welfare Organisation, Anshul Chachra, said, “We are always open over helping the war widows and it is for this that the meet was organised today. Our officials are noting down their problems and complaints after which attempts would be made to resolve all genuine cases at the earliest possible.”

Bathinda, December 6
The Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, is going to be connected with the National Knowledge Network (NKN) being set up by the Government of India (GoI).

As per the approval intimated by Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, GoI, the university has been included in the 80 prestigious institutions of national importance, which are being connected with NKN.

After the system starts functioning, the university will be connected with other universities and various institutions of higher learning through this high speed computer network being set up by the Government of India.

The NKN will allow the university to use specialised applications like high performing computing facilities, e-libraries, virtual classrooms and large databases to make the university interact with other research and educational institutions across the globe.

The purpose of such a knowledge network is to build quality institutions and create a pool of highly trained persons. The implementation of NKN is being expected to alter the overall research and development landscape for future generations by impacting the existing academic and student community of the country, said the university authorities.

The project will enable scientists, researchers, intellectuals and students in the country to work together for advancing human development in critical and emerging areas and bringing about a knowledge revolution that will be instrumental in transforming the society and promoting inclusive growth.

Fazilka, December 6
Finally, Sanjha Morcha activists who have been agitating for getting district headquarters status for Fazilka for the last 113 days have issued a warning to the state government that if it does not fulfill the demand by December 31, the Morcha would start fast-unto-death in the next phase of agitation.

However, the names and date for initiating the fast-unto- death protest could not be finalised in the meeting held here today in which representatives of various NGOs 
participated.

Convener of the Morcha Sushil Gumber and spokesman Raj Kishore Kalra said the names of the persons who intent to go on fast-unto-death would be decided on December 13 at specially convened meeting.

In the proposed meeting, the representatives of political parties, social organizations and NGOs who have already submitted the affidavit would be invited.

It was decided today that on the day the fast-unto-death protest begins, the residents of the town would also observe a strike with the support of Beopar 
Mandal. Gumber and Kalra disclosed that information letters regarding the date and place would be issued to those who had willingly offered themselves for this purpose soon.

Notably, Fazilka MLA Surjit Kumar Jyani, SGPC executive member Suba Singh, Shiromani Akali Dal rural circle president Charan Singh, senior leader Ch. Aad Lal, Improvement Trust Chairman Mohinder Pratap Dhingra, Shakti Singh, Sanjha Morcha activists and scores of others had declared that they would go on fast-unto-death.

The Morcha members reiterated their resolve not to accept any offer less than district headquarters status for Fazilka.

The relay fast dharna entered its 113th day today. Six persons from village Koilkhera sat on relay fast dharna. — OC

Bathinda, December 6
A number of vacant posts of senior medical officer (SMO), medical officer (doctor), dental surgeon, radiographer and laboratory technician have been making an adverse effect on the healthcare services in various parts of the district, especially in rural and semi-urban areas. Due to these vacant posts, the district has been facing shortage of health staff nowadays.

According to information, out of total 17 posts of the SMO in the district, three are lying vacant while 48 posts of doctor (out of total 160) are vacant in the district. Interestingly, out of total 15 posts of dental surgeon, 12 are vacant nowadays. Likewise, out of total 11 posts of radiographer, five are yet to be filled up in various hospitals and health centres of the district. Besides, 50 per cent posts of laboratory technician are also vacant in the district. There are a total of 60 posts of laboratory technician in the district.

The posts of SMO are vacant in community health centres (CHCs) of Bhagta and Mehraj villages while one post is lying vacant in Civil Hospital, Maur.

As far as the vacant posts of doctor is concerned, these have been lying vacant in the civil hospitals, Civil Surgeon’s office, CHCs, sub-divisional hospital, rural hospital and primary health centres (PHCs). The posts are vacant in the Civil Hospitals at Bathinda, Raman and Maur; sub-divisional hospital at Talwandi Sabo; rural hospital at Virk Kalan;, the CHCs at Bhagta, Mehraj and Bhucho; and PHCs at Bhai Rupa, Dayalpura, Bhodi Pura, Dhapali, Phul, Ballianwali, Jodhpur Pakhar and Maisarkhana.

However, the posts of dental surgeon are lying vacant in the Children and Women Hospital, Bathinda, besides in civil hospitals, sub-divisional hospital, CHCs and PHCs at Talwandi Sabo, Sangat, Ballianwali, Nathana, Bhagta, Maur, Raman, Bhucho, Mehraj and Kararwala.

A post of laboratory technician is vacant at the District Malaria Laboratory, Bathinda, while two posts each are lying vacant at the Civil Hospital, Bathinda and the TB Hospital, Bathinda. Besides, a post each has been lying vacant at the civil hospitals in Rampura, Maur and Raman.

Under the Sangat CHC and the Ballianwali block PHC, five posts each of laboratory technician are vacant.

Three posts each are vacant under the Talwandi Sabo sub-division hospital, Nathana CHC, Goniana CHC and Bhagta CHC.

Senior Medical Officer 3 out of 17

Medical officer 48 out of 160

Dental surgeon 12 out of 15

Radiographer 5 out of 11

Lab technician 30 out of 60

Bathinda, December 6
The Punjab unit of the All India DRDA Staff Welfare Association has served an ultimatum to Punjab Chief Minister saying either accept demands of the staff of the District Rural Development Agencies (DRDAs) by December 19 or face pen-down strike on December 20 and 21, and dharnas.

National president of the association Sadhu Ram Kusla said here today that their demands include merger of the DRDA staff with that of Zila Parishads or departments, uniformity in promotions of employees and regularisation of services of gram sewaks besides revoking his suspension. — TNS

Ferozepur, December 6
Anantjit Singh Sandhu, Divisional Commandant, Punjab Home Guard (PHG), today said that a proposal for ensuring jobs to the wards of those jawans, who had been killed while performing their duties, on compassionate ground, had been sent to the higher authorities.

Sandhu, while disclosing this at a function organised in connection with the 48th Foundation Day of home guard and civil defence, said efforts were also being made to extend the facility of bus fare, which was being extended to Punjab Police personnel.

Those attending the function included Jaswant Singh, divisional staff officer, Sohan Lal, district commandant, RK. Avasthi, deputy battalion commandant and Ravi Gupta, chief warden, civil defence.

Sandhu said that daily allowance of jawans of PHG had been increased to Rs 300 from Rs 150 and washing allowance had been increased to Rs 80 from Rs 40. The jawans would be given five per cent increase in their daily allowance every year.

He said that the existing strength of 11000 jawans of PHG would be taken to 15000 soon. The home guard and civil defence, which was raised to assist the paramilitary forces, had got its separate identity now.

Certificates of merit and medals for meritorious services were given to the officials concerned on the occasion. 

Bathinda, December 6
The 54th Parinirvan Divas (death anniversary) of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar was observed by the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), the Dalit Sena, the National Dalit Front and other organisations here today.

State president of the LJP Kiranjit Singh Gehri, who was the chief guest at the function, and other leaders remembered Dr Ambedkar and services he rendered towards the country and the society. Gehri also demanded world heritage status for the 'Parinirvan Bhoomi' (death place) of Dr Ambedkar in Delhi and development of the same in a big way.

Later, LJP leaders garlanded the statue of Dr Ambedkar installed outside the Mini-secretariat here. Among others present included Jagdeep Singh Gehri, Arjun Dass, Mithu Singh Sarpanch, Mohinder Kaur, Rajwinder Kaur (Moga) and Balwinder Singh (Mohali).

A memorandum was also submitted to the Bathinda Deputy Commissioner demanding proper maintenance of two parks set up in the memory of Dr Ambedkar near Rose Garden and outside the Mini-secretariat here. The memorandum also sought arrangements for deputing gardeners and watchmen for the maintenance and security of the two parks.

Meanwhile, Shri Valmiki Maha Sabha organised a ‘Shardhanjli samaroh’ in memory of Dr Ambedkar. Members of the Sabha also garlanded the statue of Dr Ambedkar. Sabha chairman Kishan Kumar Billi, president Naveen Kumar Valmiki and others paid rich tributes to Dr Ambedkar.

Bathinda, December 6
In a bizarre episode, a 27-year-old Dalit man of Bhai Rupa village in Bathinda district lost his life just for asking his neighbor to shun illicit relations with his wife.

The accused along with his two friends who too allegedly had physical relations with the woman in question strangulated him to clear their way of any hurdle.

According to information available, Pargat Singh (27) of Bhai Rupa village had married one Jasvinder Kaur about a decade ago. The couple was blessed with two children including a girl.

With the passage of years, his wife got involved with one Manga Singh of the same village.

Though people had doubts over her character, which was confirmed when her children, Arshdeep Singh and Harpreet Kaur informed Pargat Singh that they had witnessed their mother along with Manga Singh and two others in a compromising position.

Irked, Pargat Singh went to Manga Singh and asked him to shun relations with his wife. Instead of mending his ways, Manga Singh reportedly dared him to do whatever he could to check their relations, which led to a verbal duel.

Finding Pargat to be a hurdle in his relations with his wife, Manga Singh, along with two other persons, namely Bikram Singh and Binda Singh, who also reportedly had relations with Pargat's wife, hatched a conspiracy to kill him.

As per the plan, they abducted Pargat from his house late on Wednesday evening and took hom to a secluded place away from the village, where they strangulated him to death. After the crime, leaving the body there, they fled from the spot.

Finding the body lying in the fields, the bereaved kin informed the Phul police. Though the kin suspected the trio to be murder accused, finding it to be a mysterious case, police preferred to carry inquest proceedings before lodging a case against them. After postmortem, the body was handed over to the bereaved family, who performed the cremation.

However, investigating the matter at their own level, the bereaved family claimed to have confirmed the trio as murder accused and acting upon their complaint, Phul police booked them under sections 302 and 34 of the IPC on Sunday.

Confirming the facts, investigation officer, Gurmel Singh said the police had launched efforts to nab the three accused that were at large. Meanwhile, he denied having any clue about proving the role of Mangat's wife in the murder conspiracy.

Sriganganagar, Dec 6
A special team of the Hanumangarh police finally succeeded in cracking the Himanshu kidnapping case by recovering the six-year-old child and arresting the accused Lakhan who had taken him to his native village in Mainpuri district of Uttar Pradesh.

The kidnapping had created an uncomfortable situation for the police since hundreds of citizens had gheraoed the Hanumangarh police station besides blocking traffic by staging night-long dharna on the main road. The protest had later turned violent.

Himanshu was found missing on the evening of November 27. Prompted by strong protests, the district police had formed a special team that was headed by DSP Chandresh Gupta who was assisted by SHOs Sanjay Bothra and Ram Chander Chaudhary.

During the preliminary investigation, the needle of suspicion pointed to the family's servant Rinku. The call details of his mobile phone was examined resulting in the disclosure that Rinku had taken Himanshu to a confectionery shop and handed over the child to Lakhan who had been working in the same house earlier. Both had conspired to demand a Rs 5 lakh ransom from boy’s parents.

Rinku revealed that Lakhan had taken away Himanshu to his native village in Mainpuri district of Uttar Pradesh and awaited heavy ransom. The police used Rinku to contact Lakhan over mobile to convey that ransom money had been arranged and the child needs to be handed over at Bathinda.

Lakhan, along with Himanshu, arrived by train at Bathinda but sensed that the police had cordoned off the scheduled place. He took the child to Dabwali by bus but the police party was chasing him so he extended the journey to Sirsa but the team led by SHO Ram Chander Chaudhary nabbed him and rescued the child as they alighted from the vehicle. They were escorted to Hanumangarh where the child was reunited with his parents amidst scenes of emotional reunion. 

Sriganganagar, Dec 6
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) today said in the evening that DSP Suresh Kumar Saini has been arrested while accepting illegal gratification at his official residence in Suratgarh.

The ACB team was led by ASP Ridhi Kiran Kaushik and DSP Deeksha Kamra.

One Sukhdev Singh of village Manewala had informed the ACB that the DSP was allegedly demanding Rs 21,000 for arresting the accused who had attacked his father on August 6. A case had been registered but no arrest was made even after four months.

The complainant today approached the DSP at his residence and handed over currency notes worth Rs 11,000 that had been partly treated with chemical and reportedly signed by senior officials of the ACB who had laid the trap at 4.30 pm.

The ACB team claimed having asked the DSP to wash his hands to ascertain the chemical’s impact and recovered the money from his possession. The DSP, however, denied the allegations saying he had been falsely implicated. — OC

Abohar, December 6
For Sanjeev Kumar, a resident of this sub-division, who won a bronze medal in the Israel Open 2010 Badminton Championship for Disabled, about a week back, Lady Luck has again smiled on him as he has been selected for the First Asian Para Games to be held in Guangzhou (China) from December 8 to December 19.

Sanjeev, who returned to India about three days ago, received a communication from the Badminton Sport Association of India for the Challenged that he has been selected for this prestigious event, in which more than 50 Asian countries are expected to take part.

Another player, Raj Kumar, a resident of Patiala, who is world champion in hand category in badminton, has also been selected for this event. Sanjeev has been selected for BMW-3 wheelchair category (singles and doubles).

Earlier, Ferozepur district, in which this sub-division comes, has created a history of sorts as eight medals out of the total were collected by sportspersons in the recently concluded Asian Games 2010 in Guangzhou, have been won by sportspersons of this district alone in individual and team events.

Ramesh Tika Ram, secretary, Badminton Sport Association of India for Challenged, when contacted, said that 13 players in badminton had been selected from the entire country. He said he was hopeful that these players would bring honours to the country by their superb performances.

He added that passports of all the selected players had been sent to the Chinese embassy for visa and said the badminton players were expected to reach Guangzhou before the start of the event.

Talking to TNS, Sanjeev, whose one leg is defective, said mere selection for the Guangzhou event was an honour and recognition for his relentless hard work. He said that he was hopeful of bringing laurels to the country. 

Abohar, December 6
The budding artists from the local DAV College have brought laurels not only to their alma mater but also for the Panjab University by winning prizes during the Inter University (North Zone) Youth Festival that concluded recently at Jhansi. This was informed by principal Dr BB Sharma at a reception here amid thunderous applause by students.

Interestingly, no other college affiliated to the PU could get team prize this time. However, there were two prizes in the individual category.

Sharma complimented Prof BS Bhullar, in-charge of the extra mural activities department and contingent in-charge Prof Gaurav Vij, a celebrity stage performer and director. He felicitated Parminder Kaur, Aastha, Rosal Sharma, Gagandeep Kaur, Neeraj Sachdeva and Mayank who had represented the college as well as PU and won the prize in mime competition.

Meanwhile, Dr Parminder Sharma, principal of Bhag Singh Hayer College for Women, felicitated the students during another reception here for bagging seven prizes in the inter-college competitions organized by Guru Nanak College (Killianwali). The village-based college team topped in skit. Also, one of its student Davinder was adjudged the best actress. Sunaina topped in rangoli, Ritika in singing while Hardeep and Reet Ranjan Jakhar got the second prize in folk song and collage making, respectively. Dr Sharma said the college was proud of its artists.

Ferozepur, December 6
Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, president of Softball Federation of India, was today elected as vice-president of the Softball Confederation of Asia (SCA). The elections were held at Kuala Lumpur. Rana Sodhi, who is also the vice-president of the Indian Olympic Association, said that Lee Wang Choo was elected as the president of SCA. 

The SCA had decided to hold Junior Asian Championship (men's event) in softball at Mumbai from December 12 to December 16. Rana Sodhi would remain vice-president from 2010 to 2014. — TNS