Bathinda, November 29
Planning to invest your money in the Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP)?

Hurry up! You have only one day left to invest in one of the most-preferred investing options.

The nearly three-decade-old investing choice, under the small saving category - popularly known as KVP, will no longer be an investing option after the close of businesses at post offices on November 30.

The Ministry of Finance, Government of India, has decided to discontinue the sale of KVP from December 1, 2011. The communiqué in this regard has reached the post offices, including in Bathinda. The letter dated November 24, directs all the authorities concerned to discontinue the sale of KVP with effect from the closure of business on November 30 in all the post offices.

Superintendent Post, Bathinda, BS Sandhu, while talking to TNS on Tuesday, confirmed that the officials concerned have been directed to stop the sale of KVP from December 30. He, however, added that the KVP would be sold at the post offices till the business hour on November 30.

Sandhu also said the officials concerned have also been directed to ensure that no KVP is issued from December 1 and the investment in KVPs through cheques should not be accepted with effect from November 28 and if cheque presented before November 28 is cleared after November 30, the amount should be refunded to the investor.

As per the letter, the officials authorised to issue KVPs are also instructed to return the unsold stock to their concerned offices.

The KVP, launched in the early 80s, sold at post offices, has been a preferred investing choice till date. Though the name sounded as if it meant only for farmers, it has been available to all. “Interestingly, people from all walks of life rather from the urban areas invested money in KVPs,” said a post office official.

Bathinda, November 29
A councillor of the Maur Municipal Council, who is also a member of the district planning committee, has complained to Deputy Commissioner Bathinda about alleged illegal collection of money from vendors and shopkeepers at Maur bus stand. The councillor has also sought an action against the guilty.

In his complaint, Karnail Singh stated that the contract awarded to sell various things at the bus stand had expired around two months ago. There are around 25 to 30 shops and vends that sell odd-goods at the bus stand. He said the MC collects rent from the sellers at the bus stand for which annual contract is signed and approval is given to a group of sellers for a year. The municipal council had awarded these places on contract at Rs 5.65 lakh per year.

Karnail said that the deputy commissioner has marked an inquiry into the allegations of collecting money to assistant deputy commissioner (ADC).

He said that some people continue to collect money despite the annual contract of collecting money being over two months ago. 

“Shopkeepers continue to pay money despite the fact that the contract stands expired. Now the money collected is not going into the coffers of the state exchequer or MC. It should be inquired about the men behind collection of the money,” he said.

Karnail Singh demanded that the erring municipal official or the council member should be held responsible and that the losses of municipal council be compensated.

He added that monthly income from these shops is around Rs 50, 000.

Meanwhile, MC president Vijay Kumar when contacted said that earlier the bus stand was temporarily shifted near the truck union.

“The work of laying premix on roads near bus stand was being carried out. So, as a temporary measure, we shifted the bus stand near taxi stand,” he said, adding that the work on collecting money from the shopkeepers was suspended temporarily in view of the recarpeting of the road in bus stand. 

He pointed out that only 15 days ago, the bus stand was shifted back to its original place. “The contract would be renewed as per the rules within a week or so,” he said.

Bathinda, November 29
The Bathinda railway station stands in an urgent need of a Pied Piper.

Rat population is swelling to gain alarming proportion in and around the railway station following release of trapped rats in open space near its booking office. Now, guided by priests and astrologers, people offer food and water to rats in earthen bowls.

Over 100 holes have come up on a vacant area of the railway station adjoining the booking office.

The rodents have become nuisance not only for railway officials but for passengers as well.

"We are unable to sit or sleep in the open due to fear of being bitten by rats. The rodents rip apart our clothes, take away our belongings and roam around," said Sewa Ram, a destitute at the railway station.

Sweepers deployed at the railway station rued that they were quite upset for the past few months as the population of rodents was rising.

"We remove plastic bottles and other garbage from the railway station but rats bring it back. All our efforts go waste. Railway authorities should do something to control their growing number," said a sweeper.

Another sweeper claimed that some rats have grown to the size of small rabbits.

"All thanks to the superstitious people who come in luxury vehicles here to offer food, water, fruits and other eatables," he added.

He pointed out that nearby shopkeepers release the rats trapped from their places, on the open premises of the Railways. "Shopkeepers rebuke and abuse us if we ever dare to stop them," rued sweepers.

Chief Health Inspector (CHI) of the Railways, Piyush Kumar, could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

Other officials, however, pointed out that many a times, rats have been killed in large numbers but it did little to limit their growing headcount.

Bathinda, November 29
Though Bathinda Municipal Corporation (BMC) house had recommended waiving of change of land use (CLU) fees from the commercial areas of city, the corporation officials are imposing CLU and recovering the same from people.

On Monday, the corporation officials collected CLU from shops located on the court road. Objecting to it, the municipal councilor Jagrup Singh Gill said that the house had waived off CLU fees in its meeting held on November 4.

The agenda number 263 passed in the meeting stated that no CLU be collected from old markets of city. Localities mentioned in the list included shops and houses on Qila road, Sirki Bazar, Sadar Bazaar, Dhobi Bazar, Satta Bazar, Kikkar Bazar, Hospital bazaar, post office bazar, Paras Ram and nearby areas.

It was also decided that the houses, which that are more than 10 years old, should not be asked for the old maps while carrying out additional construction in their houses. "It was decided that MC officials should only ask for maps of new area to be conducted rather than asking for older maps of the building," added another municipal councilor.

MC Jagrup Singh Gill said that the MC house and officials lacked coordination that resulted in such kind problem for the people. CLU is charged from the owner of a property who converts his residential property into commercial one. The rate of CLU charged is 5 per cent of the collector's rate of property. For instance, if the collector's rate in commercial area is Rs 1 lakh per square yard, Rs 5 lakh CLU would be charged for every 100 square yards of area,

Also, on March 11 a five-member committee was constituted to assess violations of last 15 years.

Members of the committee included municipal councillors Krishan Kumar Garg, Master Harmander Singh and Baljit Singh Sra. The MC officials included assistant commissioner Kamal Kant and corporation engineer Tirath Ram. The committee has already got around 1200 files for assessment.

One of the members said that CLU cases too should have been referred to the committee for physical verification. "If someone has dismantled his ages-old shop and constructed a new one, the CLU should not charged. It would not be justified to charge it from such shopkeepers," he added.

Meanwhile, assistant commissioner BMC Kamal Kant said that though the House has passed and recommended it, government is yet to give its approval. "The recommendations of the House were sent to the government for final approval. We are yet to hear on this issue. Moreover, the CLU imposition is done under the rules of government. It is financial matter and cannot be followed on mere recommendations," he said.

Bathinda, November 29
“Awareness is the best tool to check the menace of HIV/AIDS, so every body should play a vital role in educating the people and spreading message against the deadly disease,” stated Community AIDS Educator Narinder Kumar Bassi here today, while talking to The Tribune.

He is an UNAIDS Civil Society Awardee and State Awardee. Bassi is on an awareness campaign these days as he has educated about 2800 students, teachers and others by delivering eight awareness lectures from November 4 till date in various colleges and schools etc at Bathinda, Barnala and Badal village.

In the light of World AIDS Day on December 1, Bassi is also going to release an AIDS awareness poster on that day, containing global theme for the World AIDS Day 2011 “Getting to Zero”, which means 'Zero AIDS related deaths’, ‘Zero discrimination’ and ‘Zero new infections’.

The poster also contains 'Know AIDS-No AIDS' and 'let us all unite against AIDS'.

Besides, on December 1, book marks, carrying different messages against HIV/AIDS, will also be distributed by Bassi which have been prepared with the help of UNAIDS.

These book marks also contain AIDS logo 'Know AIDS-No AIDS' and messages of different types, like 'Together we can make a difference'.

Bassi emphasised, "Safety saves' is the main message that can protect people from HIV/AIDS". He also asked the people to beware of unprotected sex, infected syringes and sharing of syringes. He said the HIV also spread through blood transfusion and from parent to child.

He also appealed to the people to become friendly with their children to protect them from deadly diseases, like HIV.

He said people should not visit quacks as several of them used unsterilised syringes and sometimes the same syringe on more than one person. He also asked the people they should remember that the HIV does not spread if they shook hand with an HIV positive patient or share food with him/her. It also does not spread by doing work with an HIV positive at the same workplace. Even the HIV positive couples could give birth to HIV negative children if they adopted medical methods before and after the delivery of the child.

As per theinformation there are 24 lakh HIV positive cases in India from the age group 15 years to 49 years, of them about 40 percent are female.

Besides, every 12th second in the world a person gets infected with HIV while every 16th second a person across the world dies of AIDS or HIV. The total number of HIV positive cases in the world is said to be about 3.60 crore.

According to a report of Punjab State AIDS Control Society, total number of HIV positive cases, reported by integrated counseling and testing centres (ICTCs) from 1993 to August 2011, was 27,763 in Punjab. 

Bathinda, November 29
“If the state government does not accept the demand regarding hike in the grade pay of clerks, senior assistants and superintendents, the members of the Punjab State Ministerial Services Union (PSMSU) will show black flags to the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister at their 'Sangat Darshan' programmes and rallies to compel them to think over their demand and accept it,” district general secretary of the PSMSU, Kewal Bansal stated here today.

The ministerial employees, who are on the mass casual leave in support of their demand since November 22, also organised a rally inside the Mini-secretariat complex here, today. The rally was addressed among others by district president Sukhpal Singh Sidhu, Meharjit Singh (DC office), Gurpreet Singh (Cooperative), Neelam Sharma (Horticulture), Kamlesh Rani (Agriculture), Tek Singh (Animal Husbandry) and Khushkaran Singh (Excise).

Later, they took out a protest march carrying black flags in their hands from the Mini-secretariat up to the office of the Zila Parishad here. On the way, they symbolically disrupted the vehicular traffic for some minutes in front of the main gate of the bus stand and at the Hanuman Chowk here. They also raised slogans against the state government and in favour of their demand.

Kewal Bansal said after culminating the protest march and rally at the Zila Parishad Complex, some leaders of the association went to the office of the Bathinda Municipal Corporation (BMC) to get the support of the ministerial staff of the BMC in their agitation. He said the BMC employees had told them that they would hold a meeting to discuss the matter. However, Bansal expressed the hope that the BMC ministerial staff would join their agitation. 

Bathinda, November 29
In protest against the non-acceptance of their demands, an 11-member group of Pharmacists from Bathinda district, who had begun 24-hour-long hunger strike under the leadership of district president of the Punjab State Pharmacists Association Ravinder Goyal at 3-00 pm at the Civil Hospital here yesterday, ended their hunger strike at 3-00 pm today. A former district president of the association Bhoj Raj offered them juice to break the hunger strike.

Goyal said the association demands included enhancement in the grade pay of pharmacist from Rs 3200 to Rs 4200, senior pharmacy officer designation for grade II pharmacist, chief pharmacy officer designation for grade I pharmacist and pharmacy officer designation for pharmacist, and shifting of vacant posts of the pharmacists from rural dispensaries to hospitals, situated in cities and towns.

Goyal said if the government does not accept their demands soon, about 2,000 pharmacists from all over the state would stage a demonstration and hold a rally on December 7 at Bathinda. He also warned the state government to be ready to face a big action if it failed in accepting and implementing their demands at the earliest. 

Bathinda, November 29
A free medical check-up camp along with a blood donation camp was organised at the Officers’ Club, Thermal Colony, Bathinda, on Sunday.

A total of 100 engineers and their family members attended the camp.

As many as 20 blood units were donated at the blood donation camp by the donors, including chief engineer HP Singh, superintending engineers RK Jindal, Prem Sagar and AP Singh. They said that blood donation is the biggest charity as it can save the precious lives.

Bathinda, November 29
The students of Swami Vivekanand Girls’ College went to Jalandhar and Ludhiana on an educational trip. Lecturer Sharanjit Kaur, Maninder Kaur Bhullar and Reena Katoch accompanied a group of 40 students. The group first visited Pushpa Gujral Science City near Jalandhar.

At Ludhiana, students visited Sportking Institute of Fashion Technology where they leaned about latest sewing machines, computerized knitting machines, stoll machines and other things.

Later, the students conducted a latest fashion, new brands and designs' survey at Westend Mall Ludhiana.

Bathinda, November 29
The Bhuchho Khurd village today honoured three persons, who had rescued members of the women Indian kabaddi team after the bus they were travelling in met with an accident on November 17 on the Bathinda-Bhucho road.

NRI Gurvinder Singh Brar from Mehraj village besides Sukhpal Singh Bhaika and Ranjit Singh Bhau from Bhuchho Khurd were honoured during a special ceremony held at the village. The villagers also held a religious congregation praying for peace to the souls of the two drivers who were killed in the accident.

Reminiscing the incidence, Brar, who runs stores in London, said the motorcade of the kabaddi players' bus and gypsy crossed him near Bhuchho.

"The pilot gypsy was being driven at a break-neck speed. I was driving around 90 km per hour and the vehicles zoomed past me. The speed of these vehicles was not less than 120 km per hour. I thought that driving at such a high speed may lead to a mishap. Later, when I crossed Bhuchho, I saw the mayhem," he said.

Brar tried to break open the windows of the accident-hit bus carrying players using a baseball bat that he was carrying in his car. But the glass was thick enough to be broken by it. At the same time, farmers Sukhpal and Ranjit, whose fields lie near the accident site, saw the accident and ran to help the players.

Sukhpal saw Brar trying to break open the glass. "I immediately handled him an iron rod lying on the spot. We broke the glass and the players jumped out of the burning bus. It is the worst accident I have ever seen in my life," said 41-year-old Sukhpal.

He alleged that the army person, whose truck hit the pilot gypsy, was wrongly booked for the accident. "It was not the army person's mistake but it was pilot gypsy driver who was culprit as he drove rashly," he said.

Ranjit Bhau (20), who was watering his fields, added that since kabaddi craze was at its peak, the moment the bus took the Bhuchho road, all of them working in the fields stopped their work so that we could wave at the players as they pass by them.

"We never knew that instead of waving, we would end up pulling the players out of the tragedy. We tried to reach the driver, but flames restricted us. We would always feel sorry for being unable to help the poor driver who lost his life in the accident," he said.

Bathinda, November 29
Suresh Kumar, a student of BA final year of the Malwa College (Bathinda), created new record by winning the Airtel Delhi half marathon race held at New Delhi on Sunday.

He completed the race in 64:04 minutes.

Principal of the college NK Gosain said that Suresh was already a record holder in 5,000 -metres and 10,000 -metres race at the All India Inter University-level competition.

The management of the college, president, District Athletic Association, KDS Brar, college dean CL Singla, principal, Malwa College of Education, Darshan Singh and others too congratulated him.

Bathinda, November 29
A week-long yoga camp has begun at the judicial court complex. District legal services authority is holding the camp in collaboration with the Yog Sewa Samiti and Bathinda Vikas Manch.

District and sessions judge SK Aggarwal inaugurated the camp today. Rakesh Narula, president, Bathinda Vikas Manch, said the judicial officers, employees working in courts and lawyers would participate in the camps.

During the week-long camp, yoga exponent Radhe Shyam Bansal would provide tips of pranayam and acupressure. Addressing the camp participants, Bansal said the prime aim of yoga is to bring people together.

District and sessions judge SK Aggarwal said yoga plays an important role in keeping people healthy.

Bathinda, November 29
District legal services authority organised a workshop at the court complex today wherein around 35 advocates on the panel of authority attended the workshop.

SK Aggarwal, District and sessions judge-cum-chairman, District Legal Services Authority (Bathinda), explained various provisions of the Legal Services Authority Act, under which, the members hailing from the category of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes, women, children, jail inmates and persons having the annual income up to one lakh may get legal aid.

Civil Judge (Senior Division) Harinder Kaur Sidhu asked the lawyers to show exemplary performance and selfless devotion to save the interests of the legal aid beneficiaries. Assistant, District Attorney, K Sharma said the workshop has been organised for improving the skills of the legal aid panel lawyers and apprised them of the legal aid system.