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Train movement affected after Punjab Mail derails near Rohtak
How technology saved many lives |
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Postal staff union threatens to launch a ‘peaceful’ protest
Survivor recalls hearing thunderous noise
Mall-o-mall: Bathinda brims with malls, but is the city ready?
PTU VC to inaugurate KVM eco fest
Another doc in UPSC list
GZS campus to host IBM training module
Push comes to shove for city’s red beauty
One arrested for running illicit distillery
Guru Kashi BOS meet held
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Train movement affected after Punjab Mail derails near Rohtak
Bathinda, May 6 Over 25 passengers of the train sustained injuries in the mishap in which six passenger coaches, from S-5 to S-10, a general coach and a luggage-cum-guard compartment derailed near village Kharawar, about 16 km from Rohtak, sources in the railway said. Out of the eight ill-fated coaches, three overturned in the accident. Railways sources in Bathinda said following the information about the accident, a rescue and relief team was rushed from Bathinda to the site under the supervision of the senior section engineer loco, Devendra Kumar, around 5 am. Prabhu Dayal Patel and other railways officials were also part of the team. The railway also set up a control room at Bathinda station for the assistance of family members of the passengers who were travelling in the train. Bathinda station superintendent, Pradeep Kumar Sharma, and commercial inspector Bathinda, Raj Kumar, remained in the control room from 7 am to 5 pm on Sunday. Sources said no one from the public contacted the control room, adding that passengers would have contacted their kin over mobile phones. The mishap, however, affected the movement of many Bathinda-touching trains, railway sources confirmed. Train no. 2482 Sriganganagar-Delhi Inter City Express ran on the diverted route via Jind-Panipat-Delhi, instead of its original route of Jhakhal-Jind-Rohtak-Delhi. The Kisan Express was short-terminated at Rohtak, railway sources said. The train no. 2481 Intercity Express that was following the diverted route, was running late by an hour till the filing of report on Sunday evening. Punjab Mail had been in the news in January this year when it completed 100 years on tracks and also hit the Raj Path in New Delhi as part of the Republic Day tableau.
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How technology saved many lives Bathinda, May 6 The sources said the mishap could have have turned into a big tragedy, as normally happens in the case of such derailments. No casualty was reported from the site of the accident, which the railway sources said, was quite a miracle. They added that technology certainly played a role in saving the lives of the passengers. Railway sources said the coaches in the Punjab Mail are anti-telescopic coaches. The basement of these coaches is made of steel and other materials and designed in such a way that prevents the coaches from smashing into each other in case of collision. — SV
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Postal staff union threatens to launch a ‘peaceful’ protest
Bathinda, May 6 Nearly 150 postal staff took part in the meeting of the Circle Working Committee of the All India Postal Employees Union Group ‘C’, Punjab Circle. Though staff crunch dominated the proceedings, the participants also discussed problems being faced by them due to the “mismanagement” of the department. Addressing the meeting, the speakers said though Aadhar identity cards had been issued to the public and reached the post offices, no adequate staff had been provided to distribute them. They also alleged that similar was the case of the delivery of speed post articles. Even a local speed post takes three days for delivery due to staff crunch. The postal staff also said in the case of non-posting of supervision staff, namely HSG-I, HSG-II and LSG, modified assured career promotions were also not granted. Threatening to launch an protest in support of their demands, Jagdish Dhiman, circle secretary, asked the postal staff present at the meeting to be prepared for the peaceful protest against the department without disturbing the public facilities. Makhan Lal, divisional secretary of Bathinda, also addressed the meeting and assured full cooperation to the circle working committee. Lachman Singh, circle president, HL Mann, assistant circle president, Suraj Bhan and others members of the union were also present during the day-long meeting.
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Survivor recalls hearing thunderous noise
Bathinda, May 6 Talking to TNS, Vijay, a resident of Panchwati Nagar in Bathinda, said he and his son were travelling in the ill-fated coach no. S-6 of the train. “I was on berth no. 71 and was awake at the time of the accident. All of a sudden, a thunderous noise drew my attention and the train started bobbling. “The shrilling noise caused by friction, accompanied by spark was quite noticeable. Passengers started falling on each other while many others held their seats tightly. After a few minutes, the train stopped,” Vijay recalled. “Since I was near the door, I opened it and got down,” he said and added that nothing except smoke emanating from coaches was noticeable. “We thought it is a case of fire but when I turned to the other side, I saw three bogies overturned and then realised the nature of the incident.” Vijay further added that he asked others to get down one by one and dialled 100 for rescue. “The person on the other side responded well and assured help after confirming the place of the mishap,” Vijay said. Soon, Vijay and many others started extricating the passengers from the overturned coaches. After a few minutes, ambulances and locals also reached the site and started helping in the rescue, he said. “After many hours, many unhurt passengers like us left the site and reached a nearby road and hired other vehicles to reach Rohtak to proceed with further journey,” he added. Vijay and his son were to reach Bathinda late on Sunday evening.
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Mall-o-mall: Bathinda brims with malls, but is the city ready?
Bathinda, May 6 While Bathinda maiden mall, City Center, situated in the Civil Lines area, hardly has any MNC retail chain to boast of, the second in timeline, Mittal’s Mall, has an occupancy rate of 65 per cent. Even the recently-opened Peninsula Mall, opposite lake number 3 of the thermal lakes, has opened only with cinema houses and claims to add brands to it gradually. Economists say existence of so many malls in a city like Bathinda is not possible. They predict survival of the fittest or the one that devices the best marketing strategy to compel the residents to empty their pockets. With purchasing power limited only to the elite classes, the landlords or the visiting NRIs, all the four malls may find it difficult to even sustain themselves, the economists feel. Prof R K Mahajan, an economist from Punjabi University Regional Center, feels that so many malls would eat into each other’s clientele. He observes that there is no mass scale increase in the income of the people and hence the buying capacity would remain the same. “The section that actually generates income for these malls is limited and these would get spilt up amongst all the four malls, existing shops and wholesale owners,” he adds. He reasons that the people in Bathinda are still anchored to their roots and prefer bargaining and cajoling over paying fixed prices at the up-market shops. “New economic reforms and globalisation is creating new millionaires and billionaires but only in the middle and upper middle class, which is a very limited section of society in Bathinda,” he adds. The City Center Mall
Based in the heart of city, the City Center Mall was expected to be the favourite hang-out joint for youngsters and visitors to the Mini-secretariat, court complex, post office, government college and taxation office. Set up in 2007, the mall was designed by renowned architect Mohit Gujral on the plot, which the mall developers feel, is too small to support a commercial venture like this. However, sans a centralised public area, such as an atrium, the venture did not succeed in catching up with the city’s young and elite. Currently, the multiplexes interspersed with a few eating joints, are the only breadwinners for the venture. Its co-owner, Jivan Kumar Aggarwal, whose family owned the Alankar cinema in the city, feels the presence of a hotel could have added to the attraction of the mall. “A mall has to be a perfect combination of big and small commercial houses. Our multiplexes are receiving a tremendous response, but we do not have enough retail chains to talk about,” he said. He added that ways are being worked out to make the property attractive for business houses to invest in or take it on lease. Mittal’s Mall
One-and-a-half year old Mittal’s Mall, a project of the city-grown Bathinda Chemical Limited, too has 65 per cent occupancy rate only in the terms of shops being occupied in this mall. Its owner Rajinder Mittal maintains that malls are not meant for selling but showcasing the latest arrivals and products. “At least three years are needed for a mall to get 100 per cent occupancy rate and we have already reached 65 per cent in less than 18 months’ time,” he said. Mittal’s Mall has a footfall of almost 20,000 people every Sunday, an envy for the other malls. Mittal added that MNCs look for showcasing and popularising their new arrivals at a mall. He feels that the atrium of a mall is its soul. “Mall is a place where visitors can let their hair down and relax. A spacious atrium gives that kind of feeling. While designing the mall, our emphasis was on having a spacious atrium that extends from the ground to the top floor and gave maximum public exposure to the leading brands situated on the outer rim of the mall,” he adds. Apart from a thriving atrium, the 97-room Hotel Comfort Inn, too grosses business for the venture. Mittal feels his mall has created demand for quality entertainment and shopping experience in Bathinda. However, the mall battles an odd parking problem. Despite the presence of two huge parking lots in the basement, visitors are reluctant to park vehicles there and instead opt for crowding the pavements. Call it habit or reluctance to visit the basement, people of Bathinda simply can’t fall in line for parking, a handicap that the Mittal group would have to find ways to circumvent. HBN’s Peninsula Mall
Built over an area of 2.5 lakh square feet, HBN’s Peninsula Mall is the latest entrant in mall scenario of the city. Inaugurated recently by the deputy CM, Sukhbir Badal, the mall’s working projects presently are its multiplex screens that are expected to start from Monday onwards. With its own food court yet to take off and delicious neighbours, the mall’s multiplexes are expected to bring more revenue for its neighbours, such as Handi Restaurant. Peninsula Mall’s developers are banking on its strategic location near the picturesque thermal lakes that have been developed into a picnic spot. Like all other developers, Peninsula Mall too promises a “different shopping experience” to the people of Bathinda. The mall is also a major fragment in the larger picture of the HBN group’s housing projects being developed on the Dabwali and Mansa Roads. Company officials feel that with the coming up of new residential townships, population of the city would increase, which would fuel the consumption of goods and increase demand for entertainment. HBN group’s HS Sra was not available for comments. Pearls Mall
The biggest of the all four malls, Pearls Mall is trifurcated into sections including hotel, multiplex and shopping malls. To be completed by the end of year 2013, its hotel would have 17 floors, while the multiplex and shopping malls claim to be a unique experience for the shoppers. Pearls’ spokesperson, Manas Mishra, says huge footfall is predicted for the project. “We have the benefit of being located at the heart of city where even visitors to Dhobi Bazar and Gole Diggi area could just walk in,” he says. This is the only mall in the city designed with a plenty of space available for open parking. “No other mall in the city has the benefit of having open parking space, which is a must for the convenience of visitors,” adds another spokesperson, Abhay Singh Chandel. Taking an economically well-calculated step, the venture has roped in local traders as well for its Palika Bazar. 122 shops of around 100 sq feet each have been allocated for Palika Bazar, which will have local traders putting up their products for sale. “We don’t want people to think that they have stepped into an entirely different world while in a mall. Local traders would mean familiar faces and established clientele with a topping of a centrally AC infrastructure,” adds Mishra. Mall’s land hit the headlines in 2008, when it went up for fierce bidding at an exorbitant sum of `184 crore (`84,400 per sq yard), the highest ever bid amount for a single property in the history of Punjab, against the reserve price of `135 crore fixed by the Bathinda Development Authority. Owner speak At least 3 years are needed for a mall to get 100 per cent occupancy rate and we have already reached 65 per cent in less than 18 months’
time. Our multiplexes are receiving a tremendous response, but we do not have enough retail chains to talk
about.
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PTU VC to inaugurate KVM eco fest
Bathinda, May 6 Addressing media persons here today, the executive director of Kheti Virasat Mission, Umendra Dutt, said capacity building and natural farming workshops with sessions on appropriate rural technology is also being held in collaboration with the PTU. Umendra Dutt said the highlight of the first day would be Bebe Di Rasoi — a traditional food fest wherein all home-made delicacies would be up for grabs. "Women play a pivotal role in promoting healthy eating habits. Sadly enough, in the cyber age, we have more access to food that is made in plants and we shun the food that come from the plants," he said. Dutt said the impetus of Bebe Di Rasoi will not be limited to tickling the taste buds, but to provide women with an array of options for preparing healthy food. Stating an example, Dutt said that in nature, sugar is always present with a lot of fibre, in order to aid its easy digestion. "But most sugar that we are consuming these days comes with processed eatables such as maida that makes it difficult to digest sugar," he said. Dutt said women should take up the old healthy culinary habits that their grannies had. Besides, the fest would have liberal dialogues on the problems of the agrarian community, depleting water resources and the reasons for practising organic farming or Nanak Kheti. Dutt said organic farming is not a new concept but goes back to our roots when our fathers and forefathers managed pests and insects without killing them. "India, especially Punjab, has the richest collection of homegrown indigenous seeds and we do not need giant multi-national companies to control what we grow in our fields," he said. Fact file n
Highlight of the first day woud be Bebe Di Rasoi, a traditional food fest where traditional delicacies would be available. n
The KVM believes that people have deviated from nature in their eating habits and the fest would make efforts to educate people about healthy eating options. |
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Bathinda, May 6 This is not the first time that Sandeep has cracked the UPSC. The doctor, a product of the Maulana Azad Medical College in New Delhi, had cleared the Civil Services examination, 2010 and had secured the 616th rank. He is currently undergoing training as an Indian Corporate Law Service Officer in New Delhi. Born to Dr Girdhari Lal Garg, a retired senior medical officer, and Laj Rani, a home-maker, Sandeep has a history of academic brilliance. After studying at the RBDAV School in Bathinda, he got the 30th rank in the All India Pre-Medical Entrance Examination-2003. — TNS
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GZS campus to host IBM training module
Bathinda, May 6 An IBM executive, Mayank Jha and Placement Officer of the PTU, Navdeepak Sandhu, said the university has entered into an agreement with the IBM for imparting training to the graduating students of computer science and information technology. Sandhu said the training is open to students of all engineering and technological institutions of the region. However, the PTU has decided to offer fee subsidy to the tune of 50 per cent to the students from colleges affiliated to the PTU, who are registering for the training programme. The local coordinator of the programme, Dr Paramjeet Singh informed that initially, a maximum of 180 students shall be imparted training in three batches of 60 students each. The institute's spokesperson said that nearly a dozen students have been selected as SDEs in different departments of the state government of Punjab. Two girl students of the architecture department have been selected by L & T through campus placements. A leading architect firm, Positive Design Ventures Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, headed by an alumnus of the campus has recruited two other girl students of architecture. Larsen and Toubro have also taken three civil engineering students. Two other students of the civil branch have been able to secure technical positions in a reputed multinational firm. Another leading infrastructure development company Kalindi Rail Nirmaan Corporation has selected seven civil engineering students. Top executives of the Wapcos Limited, an accredited public sector enterprise, recently visited the PTU GZS campus under General Manager (IWRM) Vinayak Koundanya and were impressed with the quality of students and infrastructure facilities available at the campus. Training and placement officer of the campus, Sanjiv Aggarwal said the final list of selections is still awaited. As the state government is planning to develop Bathinda as the textile hub of region, the textile engineering department of the campus is gearing up to face the future challenges. More than 90 per cent eligible students of the 2012 batch have recently been recruited by prominent textile industries of the region including the Nahar Group of Companies, SEL Manufacturing, Saluja Enterprises and RP International etc. Campus director Dr Jasbir Singh Hundal has appreciated the efforts made in conducting the training and placement activities.
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Push comes to shove for city’s red beauty
Bathinda, May 6 While the passengers descended from the bus, people had to be roped in to push the red beauty into the bus stand. PRTC employees and the private bus operators' employees helped to push the swank new bus. The bus had covered Bhucho Mandi Chowk, Adesh Medical College, Bibiwala Chowk, Powerhouse road route. Meanwhile, PRTC GM Maninderjit Singh said a machine can face mechanical problems any time. "We will look into the episode," he said. — TNS
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One arrested for running illicit distillery
Bathinda, May 6 Arrested with drugs
Two residents of Maur Mandi have been arrested by the police for possessing a huge quantity of habit-forming drugs. The accused, Labh Singh and Hem Raj, have been arrested from near Maur Kalan. They have been booked under sections 22, 61, 85 of the NDPS Act at the Maur police station. Police officials said 600 capsules, 500 tablets and 50 vials have been recovered from the possession of the accused. Two arrested for theft
Two persons have been booked by the police for stealing goods from a factory in Maur Mandi. The accused were arrested by the police and brought to the police station. They have been identified as Lehambar Singh of Maur Kalan, Kuldeep Singh of Burj Mansa and Ambi of Mansa Kalan. A case under sections 381 and 414 of the IPC has been registered against the accused at the Maur police station. Poppy husk seized
Police have arrested two persons with 20 kilogram of poppy husk from near Dhade village. The accused, Mohanjeet Singh of Khokhar village and Jagsir Singh of Kutti Kalan village, have been booked under sections 15, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act at Balianwali police station. While the police managed to arrest Mohanjeet, his accomplice Jagsir Singh managed to escape. Two booked for trying to demolish boundary wall
Two persons have been booked by the police for demolishing a common wall. The accused, Diyal Singh and Amarjeet Kaur of Jethuke village, have been booked under sections 427, 379, 506 and 34 of the IPC. The complainant, Jaspal Singh, said the accused have also stolen bricks of the wall. No arrests have been made by the police so far. Three booked for trying to encroach upon house
Three persons have been booked by the police for trying to encroach upon a room constructed on a plot in Parasram Nagar. In a complaint to the police, Satdev Singh of Partap Nagar stated that the accused Jarnail Singh of Parasram Nagar, Sukhdev Singh of Hajura Kapura Basti and Babu Ram of Chandsar Basti, demolished the boundary wall of a plot and ransacked the room. They then allegedly stole the material lying in the room. The accused persons have been booked at the Canal Colony police station under Sections 447, 511, 457, 380, 382, 427, 148 and 149 of the
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Bathinda, May 6 Sixty-five professors, Academicians and specialists in various subjects from Punjab and adjoining states participated in the meeting. BS Dhaliwal, Dean, Academics, welcomed the BOS members. In his opening address, the vice-chancellor detailed the pros and cons of the changed education system and the attitude of teachers and students. Members of the Board of Studies were briefed about the courses being conducted and the new courses to be introduced in the next academic session. The recommendation of the Board of Studies shall be put up before the Academic Council for approval. — TNS
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Bathinda, May 6
Bathinda, May 6
