Bathinda, January 11
Claims of the SAD-BJP government of having raised the road infrastructure in the state notwithstanding, various approach roads to this city pose a serious threat to the lives of commuters.

There are stretches on the Mansa-Bathinda and Bathinda-Goniana roads that are dotted with broken patches. For the last few months, two or three accidents are taking place on these roads everyday.

While on the Mansa-Bathinda road (from Jassi Chowk to the ITI Chowk flyover) is under construction for the past a month and a half, incomplete dividers are proving dangerous for commuters.

Commuters fail to see the cemented dividers, which unexpectedly appear before the vehicles at many places. By the time a driver notices the divider ahead, the vehicle rams into it. Vehicles have damaged the divider at different places.

A truck driver failed to notice the poorly-maintained divider near the under-construction railway under-bridge on Tuesday morning and resultantly, the vehicle veered on to the divider. The front wheels got separated from the truck after it bumped into the divider.

Surinder, a Bathinda-based government servant who was driving behind, said his car was about to hit the truck when it collided with the divider.

"The truck applied the brakes abruptly and the bonnet of my recently purchased car hit the rear of the truck. I had to spend Rs 3,500 on the repairs", said Surinder.

He pointed out that the road divider was broken at many places from the under-construction railway under-bridge up to the entrance to the Bhai Mati Das Nagar. The deadly stretch would be around five to seven km long and commuters are always prone to accidents on the road.

Also, driving on the road between Jassi Chowk and the Central University of Punjab is quite risky. Due to the ill-maintained stretch, people are often held up in serpentine queues near the railway barrier.

A senior official of the PWD B&R, pleading anonymity, said the road was constructed under the supervision of the Bathinda Development Authority (BDA), which failed to rope in technical experts. "The BDA is supposed to construct only the houses and not roads," said the official.

Former Chief Administrator of the BDA, Uma Shankar Gupta said he could not comment on the delay in the construction of the road as he had been shifted to Dasuya. The charge was with ADC (D) Abhinav Trikha now, he added.

When Trikha was apprised of the rising number of accidents on the road, he said he has taken the charge just two days ago and would look into the problem.

Meanwhile, Sapinderjit Singh, a daily commuter between Bathinda and Jaito, said about a kilometre long broken patch near Goniana bypass was also not repaired for the past over two months. It poses risk to the lives of commuters, he added.

Bathinda, January 11
At the time of filing of nomination papers by two Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidates, Punjab Irrigation Minister Janmeja Singh Sekhon from Maur Assembly constituency and Darshan Singh Kotfatta from Bathinda (Rural) Assembly constituency, the Bathinda MP, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, accompanied them here today.

After the filing of nomination papers by Sekhon, Harsimrat Kaur Badal claimed that following the rebellion in about 50 constituencies by the Congress leaders against the official Congress candidates for the elections, the SAD-BJP alliance would win 80 to 90 seats.

She said while the Congress leadership was facing rebellion in the party, the SAD is united on all fronts.

She also said the Congress party, even till today, could not announce its candidate for the post of Chief Minister.

“What to talk about the candidate for the post of Chief Minister? Even the Prime Minister of the country is decided by the foreigners,” she added.

Harsimrat also said the Congress-led “corrupt government” is running the country, the current elections would decide whether the people of Punjab wanted “corrupt government” in the state or a good government, like that of the SAD-BJP alliance.

She added that the SAD had fielded Irrigation Minister, Janmeja Singh Sekhon, who is an experienced politician and a hard worker, from Maur constituency.

Pointing towards the supremo of People’s Party of Punjab (PPP), Manpreet Singh Badal, who has also filed his nomination papers from Maur and Gidderbaha constituencies, Harsimrat said a member of the PPP would also contest from Maur as he feared contesting from only one seat. Besides, the Congress had also fielded its candidate from Budhlada in Maur. She termed both candidates as outsiders.

Janmeja Singh Sekhon claimed he would win with a big margin as there was great unity among the SAD leaders and workers. Besides, the Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal, had done a lot of development work in the constituency, he added.

Bathinda, January 11
Four companies of paramilitary forces have been deployed in Bathinda ahead of the Vidhan Sabha elections to ensure tight security arrangements.

Contingents of policemen, along with the paramilitary forces, were seen taking out flag march in the city today evening.

Four companies of the Madhya Pradesh armed forces have been deployed in the district for smooth conduct of the election process in the rural and urban areas of the district. Eight more paramilitary companies are likely to arrive by January 20.

“400 men of the paramilitary forces have already arrived and are looking after the security arrangements and more force will arrive in the next few days or so,” said Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav.

He said that arrangements for their stay have been made at different 
government places across the district.

Officials supervising the arrangements said that it is quite difficult to accommodate such a huge force in the district as the district administration is already short of places to house their force.

Efforts are being made at educational institutes including the schools and colleges for the stay of these forces, officials said.

The officials assigned the task of providing temporary abode for the force said DAV School, Khalsa School, Giani Zail Singh College of Engineering and Technology, Beer Behman Government School and few others have been identified for the stay of paramilitary forces.

Apart from the paramilitary forces coming from different states, Punjab Police officials would also keep a tab on the activities of the unscrupulous elements during the polls.

Bathinda, January 11
The Punjab Biodiversity Board (PBB) has invited entries for a contest to select the official mascot of the board.

The competition is open for public as well as school children and the entries would be entertained till January 20. The winners of each category would be awarded a cash prize of Rs 10,000 and a certification.

PBB officials said the board was expecting a whopping response. "We have got a number of queries regarding the mascot and the contest has evoked a good response. In southern Punjab (Bathinda and surrounding areas), a large number of flora and fauna goes unreported. The region is rich in biodiversity," the officials said.

The mascot should depict an aspect of the flora or fauna or domesticated cultural biodiversity of Punjab. It should also bear a slogan of less than six words in English or Punjabi language. Along with the mascot, the entry should also carry half-page description about the importance of the mascot.

The entries can be sent in a digitised format or a free hand illustration or drawing. In case of school students, teachers would have to verify their work as original.

Meanwhile, the board has also started a project on documentation of local biodiversity by involving school students. For the purpose, the PBB has convened a meeting of district science supervisors from across the state and it would be held at Chandigarh.

"Our main objective is to make students aware about local biological resources through documentation and to motivate them to take concerted actions to conserve it," said senior scientific officer Gurharminder Singh.

Students from Classes VIII to XII can participate in the contest and the entries in this regard could be sent till January 31.

The participants should document their local biodiversity in a prescribed format either in English or Punjabi. The information on locally available plants, crops, fruit trees, medicinal plants, domesticated and wild animals, birds etc. may be enlisted along with any other traditional knowledge associated with them and their uses.

District science supervisors have been directed to ensure that at least one school from each block of their respective district participates in the contest. They have been told to send the reports (in prescribed format) from all blocks to the Member Secretary, Punjab Biodiversity Board, Punjab State Council for Science and Technology (PSCST), Chandigarh.

The winners at the state level would be awarded with Rs 10,000, Rs 5,000 and Rs 2,000 for the first, second and third positions, respectively. The winners at the district level would be awarded with Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 for the first and second positions, respectively. Winners of the district-level competition would participate in the state-level contest.

The participants have been discouraged from uprooting green plants or capturing animals for the reports.

In case someone is not able to identify a plant, he or she may send dried leaves of the plant (along with dried flowers, if possible) along with the report by affixing it on a white sheet.

Bathinda, January 11
Under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan, the Education Department, Punjab, has introduced a special examination for girl students as well as the boy students belonging to scheduled castes and studying in government schools.

In its order to the District Education Officer (Secondary), the Director General of School Education (DGSE) stated that the examination is meant for all students of Classes V to VIII at government schools in the district.

Winners of the examination would be rewarded at block level. The student getting the first position would be rewarded with Rs 2,000 while Rs 1,500 and Rs 1,000 would be given to the winners of the second and third places, respectively.

The examination would be objective type and would cover the subjects of English, science, social sciences and mathematics. The examination would be conducted on January 20 at all the schools.

Cluster in-charge and school principals will be responsible for holding the examination and ensure it is conducted sans copying or use of other unscrupulous means. Marking of the paper would be done by the school itself and the list of marks prepared would be sent to the respective cluster in-charges. The latter will forward it to the block-level officers. Subject teachers would neither be appointed as supervisor nor would they check the answer sheets.

Bathinda, January 11
A bumper crop of sweet lemon (mausami) in Maharashtra is diluting the sweetness of kinnow in districts of Malwa this season.

Markets are flooded with mausami and are being sold at half the price it was sold at the previous season thereby making selling tough for kinnow sellers.

“Good quality kinnow was sold at Rs 20 per kilogram in the wholesale market last season but this time it is up for grabs at less than Rs 10 per kilogram. A reduced per acre yield, unpleasant weather conditions and lack of marketing led to the fall of kinnow prices this year,” said Jagsir Singh, who has been growing kinnow on 20 acres in Burj Mansa village near Talwandi Sabo for the last 35 years. Due to prevailing harsh weather conditions this year, the fruit is also not as sweet as it was last year.

Horticulture Officer Narinderjit Singh said kinnow was cultivated extensively in the districts of Malwa, including Bathinda, and the area under kinnow cultivation was on the rise for the last four years. The area increased to 3,200 hectares from last year's 3,050 hectares in Bathinda district.

Dr Jaswinder Singh Brar, horticulture scientist at the Regional Research Centre, PAU, Bathinda, said kinnow crop was facing many problems this year. Apart from low price, farmers complained of pre-mature fruit dropping in the months of September and October, particularly in the orchards with heavy soils and poor drainage. "To fight fruit dropping, we recommend drainage of excess rainwater, timely spray of fungicides and ensuring proper nutrition as per PAU recommendations," the scientist said.

Admitting low yield this time, Brar said farmers were advised thinning of plants (removing extra fruits from plant) last year due to extra fruits on plants in many orchards. Plants need to shed the extra fruit to regulate the cropping for the coming year. However, only few farmers followed the advice and those who didn't go by it were now facing low yield. Many orchards face unusual weather conditions during the flowering period, which has affected its quality. This season, colour development in kinnow was also poor due to comparatively high temperature in the beginning of the winters, he said.

Bathinda, January 11
The widow of winner of Veer Chakra Subedar Sant Singh from Chak Bakhtu village has passed away. Subedar Sant Singh was awarded for 1948 Jammu and Kashmir operation.

Her son Dr Gurmail Singh said 97-year-old Sham Kaur died after a prolonged illness. The cremation would take place at the cremation ground near Grain Market on January 12 at 11:30 am. — TNS

Bathinda, January 11
Quiz competitions of government schools were held at respective blocks on Tuesday. Students of 
classes 6, 7 and 8 participated at the block level competitions held under Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA) to give an impetus to the knowledge of middle-classes children in various subjects.

District science supervisor, SS Mann, said from Bathinda block Government Middle School Katar Singh Wala students Arshdeep Kaur, Ravi Kumar and Manpreet Kaur stood first.

The teams of Government Senior Secondary School (girls) Goniana and Government Senior Secondary School Deon stood second and third respectively.

In Nathana block, Government High school Khialiwala students Nishu Rani, Jagsir Singh and Lovedeep stood first.

The teams of Government High school Bhucho Khurd and Government School Lehra Dhulkot secured second and third places respectively.

In Mandi Phool east, Government High school Phool town students Rashampreet Kaur, Paramjit Kaur and Manpreet Kaur secured first place. Teams of Government Senior Secondary School (boys) Mehraj and Government Senior Secondary School (girls) Rampura Mandi bagged second and third places.

In Mandi Phool west, Government High School Krarwala students Kamaldeep Kaur, Shagandeep Kaur and Amandeep Singh secured first place. Teams of Government High School (girls) Mandi Kalan and Government Middle School Maur Chadat Singh secured second and third places.

In Sangat block, Government Senior Secondary School Chak Ruldu Singh Wala students Charanjit Singh, Jaspreet Singh and Ajanpreet Kaur secured first place.

Teams from Government Senior Secondary School Gehri Buttar and Government High School Bangi Rukku secured second and third places.

In Talwandi block, Government Middle school Burj Sehma students Isha Rani, Kulwinder Kaur and Mandeep Kaur secured first place.

Teams from Government Middle School Ramsra 
and Government Senior Secondary School Kotfatta secured second and third places.

All the teams winning first place were awarded cash prize of Rs 900, teams standing second were awarded Rs 600 and occupants of third position 
were honoured with Rs 300 cash award.

The students securing the first position in their respective blocks will compete at district level competition on January 17 at Government Desraj Memorial School Bathinda.

Bathinda, January 11
Bathinda police arrested three persons, including a woman, with narcotics in three separate incidents.

Tota Singh was caught carrying ten kilograms of poppy husk near Santpura Road, Bathinda and a case under sections 15, 61, 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against him at the Kotwali Police Station. The complainant and investigating officer in the case, SI Harjinder Kaur, said that the accused is a resident of Jaito, Faridkot district.

In a similar incident, Manjit Singh of Dunewala village was arrested with more than five kilograms of poppy husk. He was arrested from near Park View Marriage Palace in Bathinda. The investigating officer and complainant in the case, SI Kashmir Singh, said that a case under sections 15, 61, 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against him at the Thermal Police Station.

Jeet Kaur, a resident of Chotian village, was arrested by the police with 60 litres of illicit liquor, which she was carrying in 14 bottles hidden in a bag. The Investigating officer and complainant, head constable Darshan Singh, said that a case under the sections 61, 1, 14 of the Excise Act has been registered against her at the Sadar Rampura Police Station.

Bathinda, January 11
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between the two leading technical universities of the state, i.e. Punjab Technical University (PTU) Jalandhar and the Guru Kashi University, Talwandi Sabo.

On behalf of the universities, the MoU was signed by Dr Rajnish Arora, vice-chancellor of PTU and Dr DS Hira, vice-chancellor of the GKU.

The major clauses in the MoU are academic research and faculty development. The main aim of the MoU is the training of faculty in teaching, learning and academic research activities.

The students from Punjab and other states who will join these universities will be trained in cutting-edge technologies for effective team work in global market which is the requirement of the present day.

Bathinda, January 11
The birthday of Guru Gobind Singh Ji was celebrated with devotion and enthusiasm at the Dasmesh Girls College of Education, Badal, today.

An akhand path was held on Monday while bhog and ‘guru ka langar’ were served today. The students of the college sang shabad and kavishari to celebrate the occasion.

Head granthi, Balwinder Singh, spoke about the life history of the Guru while Jaspreet Kaur and Kiran sang a song about the life of Guru Gobind Singh.

Kuldeep Kaur Maan, BS Malik and principal, Jagdish Kaur, were also present on the occasion. Principal, Dr SS Sangha, welcomed the guests and asked the students to inculcate the values and teachings of Guru Gobind Singh in their lives. Siropas (robe of honour) were presented to all the dignitaries present on the occasion. — TNS