Bathinda, May 5
Bringing major relief to those who had applied for plots in Bathinda Development Authority’s (BDA) phase 4 and phase 5, the BDA has decided not to refuse the refund of the earnest money.

Chief administrator, BDA, Uma Shankar Gupta, said, “Whosoever applies with us for the refund of the earnest amount, will not be refused.”

The project has been hanging in a limbo, after the Supreme Court awarded a stay on the draw of plots which was to be held on December 16.

Farmers, whose land was not included in the project, had filed a case against Punjab government in the Punjab and Haryana High Court and lost the same.

Unhappy farmers then moved the Supreme Court against the Punjab government. Acting on the writ, the Apex Court awarded a stay and the next date for the hearing is fixed for October 12 this year.

In the meantime, the over 12,000 applicants, who had paid earnest money after borrowing loans from the banks, grew impatient and started demanding their money back. The Punjab government then moved an application for early hearing in the Supreme Court, which came up for hearing on May 4.

“The Supreme Court allowed the BDA to go forward with its development plans, but the third party rights have been reserved. This means that the court has not allowed us to go ahead with the draws,” he added.

He said the matter would again come up for hearing in July after the vacations in Supreme Court. “In the meantime, if anyone wants to seek the refund of his or her earnest money, he or she could approach our office. It would take at least another three months for things to take a final shape,” Gupta added.

Meanwhile, advocate Chander Mohan, who is also one of the applicants in the project, said the Bathinda Development Authority should also pay interest rate on the earnest money. “It is against the law to put up that piece of land for auction over which the BDA has no rights,” Chander Mohan said.

Bathinda, May 5
The list of doctors from Bathinda clearing the UPSC civil services exam 2011 is getting longer. Dr Guriqubal Singh Sidhu from Bathinda has also cleared the exam and has secured the 121st rank.

Speaking to TNS over the phone from Delhi, where he is working as a resident medical doctor at a private hospital, Sidhu said, “Although I was always fascinated when I read the interviews of those who cleared the UPSC exams, I was particularly inspired to appear for the exam myself during my internship. Some of my seniors, whom I knew very well, were preparing for the exam and managed to clear it as well. That is when I also decided to give the exam a shot.”

Guriqubal, who studied at the MSD School in Bathinda till class X and completed his senior secondary studies from the SSD School, had secured 79th rank in the Punjab PMT and went on to pursue MBBS at the Government Medical College in Amritsar.

Talking about his pattern of preparation for the exam, he said, “In January 2010, I completed my MBBS internship and sat for the UPSC exam in May 2010. I missed the interview call by only 1 mark. While the cut-off for the interview was 904 marks, I had got 903 marks. I took coaching for the first attempt but relied on 8-10 hours of self-study and revision every day for the second attempt and I’m happy that I managed to crack the exam.”

Guriqubal belongs to a family of doctors. While his father, Dr Nacchattar Singh, is a private homeopathy practitioner in Kotkapura, his mother Karnail Kaur is also a private homeopathy practitioner at Mehna Chowk in Bathinda.

Two more doctors from Bathinda, dental surgeon Navjot Khosa Brar (95th rank) and Navdeep Singh Brar (120th rank), who is an MBBS, have also cleared the civil services exam.

Bathinda, May 5
On the lines of traffic chaos that the AIEEE exam created on April 29 in the city, the Central Teachers Eligibility Test (CTET) held today too brought the city to a halt.

Punjab had only two centers for the examination, Bathinda and Jalandhar. While Bathinda had 24 centres, Jalandhar had 19 centres for the examination.

The examination was held in two sessions: from 10 am to 11:30 am and from 1 pm to 2:30 pm. As many of the candidates had come to the examination centres by their own cars, the city’s Hanuman Chowk got blocked with serpentine queues of vehicles. Traffic remained jammed till Tinkoni towards Goniana and till Civil Hospital towards Mansa road. Even the arterial Mall Road suffered during the daytime.

The traffic department’s mobile team, meant to act in such kind of exigencies, reached the different examination centres. The team members first put haphazardly parked vehicles into order and then removed the traffic bottlenecks at the city’s major crossroads.

Traffic cops deployed around the centres were asked to reach the centres and navigate the candidates and their vehicles to ensure a smooth exit from the city.

CTET authorities said Bathinda is preferred as an examination centre destination due to its better connectivity with other cities through rail network.

Earlier, the CTET was to be held on January 30, but was postponed as the date would have clashed with the general assembly election in the state. Apart from Punjab, the exam was postponed in Manipur and Uttarakhand too.

The exam for students of Punjab from the districts of Patiala, Ropar, Sangrur, Mohali and Fatehgarh Sahib, who were assigned Chandigarh as the examination centre, was not postponed.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) conducts this exam for the Union Ministry of Human Resources Development for recruitment of teachers in schools run by the centre.

Bathinda, May 5
The Punjab government is going to set up a General Nursing and Midwifery (GNM) School on the premises of the Civil Hospital here. The first academic session of the GNM course is likely to start in the month of September this year in the existing building of the Multi-Purpose Health Worker (Female) Training School.

For the construction of the GNM School and its hostel building, the tender notice has already been issued by the Punjab Health Systems Corporation (PHSC) which will be opened on May 16. The school and hostel buildings will be constructed at a cost of `6.82 crore. These buildings will be completed in nine months.

As per the information, the state government has decided in principle to enroll 50 students for the academic session 2012-13 in the GNM School. It may be mentioned that after passing the GNM course, the students become eligible for the post of staff nurse, who perform duties in the health institutions.

For setting up of the school, an inspection will be done by the Indian Nursing Council so that the school may get affiliation to start the proposed GNM course during the academic session 2012-13.

A letter to conduct the inspection has already been written by the district health authorities to the secretary of the Indian Nursing council, but a team of the Indian Nursing Council is yet to come to do the needful.

The district health authorities had also sent a demand letter in mid-April to the managing director (MD) of the PHSC, seeking manpower, furniture for the teaching block and the hostel block, laboratory equipment, library books, sports goods etc.

These are required as part of the preparations, being made for the inspection by the Indian Nursing Council. However, sources said no reply had been received by the district health authorities from the MD, PHSC, so far.

When contacted, the SDO of the PHSC, Dinesh Kumar, said the GNM hostel would be constructed on the premises of the ANM Training School here. He also said he expected that after the opening of tender on May 16, the work would be allotted and would start in the first week of June to complete the construction of the school and the hostel buildings in the stipulated period of nine months.

According to information, the GNM School will be constructed on a covered area of 28,525 square feet. The covered area on the ground floor will be 16,000 square feet and on the first floor, 12,525 square feet At the ground floor, three laboratories, two classrooms, a multi-purpose hall and a toilet block will be built while on the first floor, there will be three laboratories, two classrooms and three rooms for the heads of departments, besides a toilet block.

In the hostel block, 20 rooms will be built on the ground floor. The first floor will have 18 rooms for 114 students (three students in each room). There will also be a common room and a store in the hostel.

Bathinda, May 5
A survey is being conducted by the district health authorities since December 29, 2011 under the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardio Vascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS) in the villages of the Bathinda district. As per the survey, out of 3,03,866 persons, who belong to the age- group of over 30 years and have been screened for various diseases, the random blood sugar of 23,399 men and women (including pregnant women) during the tests was found to be 140 or more while the blood pressure of 26,098 men and women (including pregnant women) was measured at 140/90.

Out of 3,889 pregnant women, the random blood sugar of 34 women was reported to be 140 or more while the blood pressure of 26 women was measured at 140/90. Out of 3,03,866 screened persons, 595 men and women have been detected as cancer patients, 1,575 as patients of cardiovascular diseases while 564 suffered stroke

The survey is being conducted in the rural areas of Goniana, Bhagta, Nathana, Ballianwali, Sangat and Talwandi Sabo health blocks of the district. Since December 29, 2011, the survey teams have so far covered 1,32,888 houses in the rural areas, having a total population of 6,70,723 (3,57,234 males and 3,13,489 females).

However, the survey teams have screened the population above the age of 30 years, in the houses, covered by them. Out of a total of 3,03,866 screened persons, there were 2,25,976 persons in the 30 to 60 years' age-group while over 74,000 were more than 60 years of age.

According to the information related to survey, in the age-group of over 60 years, out of a total of 74,001 men and women screened, the random blood sugar of 4,376 males and 4,769 females was 140 or more. The blood pressure of 4,519 males and 4,923 females was measured at 140/90. 97 males and 111 females were found to be suffering from cancer, 368 men and 346 women suffered from cardiovascular diseases, while 132 men and 119 women suffered from stroke.

In the age-group of 30 to 60 years, out of the 2,25,976 persons screened, the random sugar of 14,220 persons (including 6153 males) was 140 or more while the blood pressure of 16,630 persons (including 7848 men) was measured at 140/90.

Likewise, during the survey, 387 cancer cases (including 136 males), 861 cardiovascular cases (including 388 males) and 313 stroke cases (including 159 males) were detected.

However, the survey will reportedly continue for some more months in the rural areas as the teams are yet to cover a large number of houses in the rural areas of the district.

Bathinda, May 5
Police has arrested three persons for gambling and recovered an amount of Rs 4,200 from their possession. The accused have been identified as Avtar Singh of Purana Thana road, Karnail Singh of Guru Nanakpura and Gora Singh of Lal Singh Basti.

Bathinda, May 5
The Bathinda chapter of the Himalaya Parivar, an NGO working towards spreading awareness about the natural, physical and cultural environment of Himalayan areas, had opened the bookings for the Sindu Darshan Yatra, an expedition to Leh-Ladakh, a few days back.

Calling the response of the residents of Bathinda “good”, Parivar's joint secretary Ramnik Walia, told the TNS, “As many as 600-700 people from across the country go for the yatra every year. Till now, we have confirmations from almost 25 persons from Bathinda. The bookings are open for ten more days for those who choose to go by air and till June 15 who wish to go by road. We are hoping to take 30-40 persons from Bathinda alone. I would say the response is pretty good.”

The NGO, with its pan-India presence, organises the yatra to Leh-Ladakh from June 23-26 every year. Interested travellers may choose either to go by road via Jammu and Kashmir or via Chandigarh. Those preferring to go by air have to go via Delhi. This is the first time the NGO has started the Chandigarh route.

“Since the buses stop for site-seeing as well, the travellers may choose the route that they want to take. In fact, this time we will also try to interchange the Jammu and Chandigarh routes of the passengers on the return journey. This way, both the sets of passengers will get to see and enjoy both the routes,” Walia added.

The trip, which may cost Rs 14,000 (by road) or Rs 20,000 (by air), includes site-seeing, food, travel expense and accommodation. The passengers get to enjoy the natural splendour of places like Kullu-Manali, Srinagar, Kargil, Drass, Tiger Hill, etc.

Talking about the severe cold weather conditions of Leh-Ladakh, Walia said, “We suggest the travellers to prefer the by road route over the by air one. If one travels by road, one gets acclimatised to the weather while travelling. Those travelling by air are exposed to the harsh weather and low oxygen in the air suddenly when they get off the aircraft. They may have to spend some 6-7 to get accustomed to the weather.”

The main aim of this trip is to bring the people from various parts of India closer to those from Leh-Ladakh. The NGO has been working towards debunking the myth that Leh-Ladakh is under extensive Chinese influence. The cultural programme organised at Leh-Ladakh is attended by as many as 10,000 people which includes the locals and the tourists.

Although the trip is open to all the interested people, those with asthma, any kind of respiratory problems or heart ailment are not allowed to go due to the low oxygen content in the air.

Bathinda, May 5
A truck driver has been booked by the police for rash driving. In a complaint to the police, Baldev Singh of Naruana village said an unidentified truck driver hit a truck at the main entrance of his house and damaged a major portion of it.