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Call for census-based cancer registry
MCB meet likely to be stormy today
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Much-hyped astro-turf may wilt for lack of adequate water
Hostels all set to welcome girls
16 boxers selected to represent Bathinda
Computer lab inaugurated at city school
Two held with 20 litres of illicit liquor
Unemployed linemen union extends help to teachers front
Sahara Jan Sewa launches drive against dengue
Three injured in accidents
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Call for census-based cancer registry
Bathinda, May 13 Delegates from various NGOs deliberated during a public dialogue on what should be the direction of the environmental movement in the era of genetically modified (GM) food,
corporate control over food and agriculture, conference on the role of literature and a creative movement to build resistance against food imperialism and corporate control over biodiversity and natural resources today. Dr Nirmal Singh Lambran, president of the NGO, Punjabi Satth, said that June 5 which is observed as the Environment Day, would be observed in Punjab as the day on which the Punjab government would be asked to prepare a census-based state cancer registry. Executive director of KVM, Umendra Dutt, said the issue should be taken up as a movement and the government should be made to realize the importance of cancer registry in maintaining the state's data. Malwinder Singh Malhi from the NGO, Punjabi Manch, criticized the state government for not maintaining any authentic record of cases of cancer and farmer suicides in the state. He added that the state government did not allow those figures to become public, which highlight its inefficiency in combating the problem. Noted doctor, Amar Singh Azad, highlighted the dangers that coal-based thermal power projects pose to the health of people living near it. He laid emphasis on using alternate sources of energy such as solar, biomass and wind energy to meet the increasing demand for power. The delegates decided to form a working group that would find solutions rooted in nature to different agricultural issues and problems. Activists Dr Balvir Singh, Dr AS Mann, Surinder Kaushal, Dr Nirmal Singh Lambran, Jeet Singh, Jagmohan Singh, Sukhdeep Kaur, Manmohan Sharma, Dr Sunny Sandhu, Hartej Singh Mehta and others were also present on the occasion. The concluding day also had a literary conference on the role of literature and creative movement in building resistance against food imperialism and corporate control over biodiversity and natural resources in coordination with the Punjabi Sathth.
Fact file The Vatavaran Fest showcased an exhibition of collection of photographs of celebrated photojournalist Raghu Rai, who was the only person to capture the Bhopal gas leak tragedy elaborately. Around 70 frames of Raghu Rai, as well as some other pictures, were on display for the visitors. These frames capture succinctly the suffering and the disaster that befell people there. |
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MCB meet likely to be stormy today
Bathinda, May 13 The move is expected to bring relief for the common man, who earlier, used to scuttle between Chandigarh and Bathinda seeking change of residential land use into commercial. The matter will come up for approval at the general house meeting of the corporation that has been convened tomorrow. The corporation has identified 15 commercial roads for which Punjab government will issue a notification after getting permission from the house. Earlier, cases for CLU were sent separately, which meant every individual had to toil hard to pay the change of land use charges and get the land usage changed. But from now onwards, everything would be settled at the level of the municipal commissioner. "If someone has already constructed a building, without seeking permission from the MCB, but is well within the building bylaws, it would be regularised," said senior corporation officials. Besides, following the approved master plan of Bathinda city, a core area (zone 1) has been identified, which includes the old parts of the city. In the identified core commercial area, no new building bylaws would be implemented, nor shall other major changes be implemented. However, the present commercial areas, which are not part of the core area (zone 2 to zone 8), have been identified. The sub-committee entrusted with this job, has divided the city into seven zones and recommended the widening of arterial roads in these zones. These seven zones would have to follow all the rules laid down in the master plan. Keeping in view the traffic congestion in the city, the corporation also plans to buy a recovery van from SML Isuzu (erstwhile Swaraj Mazda) that would also have a hydraulic lift. Also, a new fogging machine is being bought ahead of the monsoon. MCB meeting convened hurriedly The hurriedly convened meeting of MCB has raised eyebrows. Till the afternoon, none of the councillors were aware of the meeting, which is to be held tomorrow at 3 pm. The agenda was circulated among the MCs as late as 6 pm leaving little time for them to prepare. The house had last met on November 4. Later, it conducted its budget meeting on March 16. However, the corporation had been putting off general house meeting on the pretext of model code of conduct in view of the corporation elections in Punjab. Suddenly, the meeting has been called saying that the notification for the code of conduct has not been issued. Mayor Baljit Singh Beer Behman, however, maintained that the meeting was routine and not a case of an emergency case.
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Much-hyped astro-turf may wilt for lack of adequate water
Bathinda, May 13 Instead of sprinkling treated water, water saturated with fluoride is being sprinkled on the turf. Though the experts who laid the turf had told the authorities to spray water by installing sprinklers on all the sides but it is being done using a pipe. Almost half of the turf is dry since it was installed around five months ago, as the water pipe does not reach all the corners of the turf. "Drenching a portion of the turf with the water pipe is not enough as it fails to fulfil the very purpose of sprinkling water. Water should percolate down, all over the turf, at least thrice a day," said an official of the sports department, pleading anonymity. He said the sprinkling of water also removes the dust, fly ash and pollution from the nearby busy GT road. Some hockey players, pleading before the authorities to practice on the turf, said they are not allowed to play or practice on the turf as it gets dirty. The players said they too help the workers while sprinkling water on the turf in the morning and evening and because of that, they are allowed to practice. District Sports Officer Karam Singh Sidhu said sprinklers have been installed in all four directions of the turf. These, however, could not be made functional due to lack of power supply. An electric motor has been installed that is being used to pump out groundwater using a pipe. He said the hockey coach, Sukhdev Bhullar, has been visiting the turf and taking care of it. Bhullar, when contacted, admitted to the problem arising due to lack of power supply. He said an application for a power connection has been submitted but it is getting delayed. The matter is to be taken up by the secretaries of the sports and education departments and the files are moving at a snail's pace. The irritatingly slow process is taking its toll on the sportspersons, he added. About the drain beside the turf in which hockey balls tend to roll in, he said iron grills have not yet been installed out of fear that they might be stolen. Meanwhile, Manvinder Sekhon, a regular morning walker, said the construction work has damaged the track. "There are umpteen potholes filled with dirt," he said. He regretted that the employees deployed to take care of the astro-turf shoo them away as their footprints bring dirt on to the turf.
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Hostels all set to welcome girls
Bathinda, May 13 Under the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyaan (RMSA)'s Constructionand Running of Girls Hostel scheme, three schools were identified wherein girls hostels have been constructed. "These include the Government School (Girls) Mandi Kalan, the Government Senior Secondary School, Ghudda and the Government Senior Secondary School, Talwandi Sabo. All the three schools are situated in the block which have been declared educationally backward," said the RMSA district coordinator Gurbachan Singh. Girl students (from 14 to 18 years of age) studying in classes IX to XII and belonging to scheduled castes, backward class, minority communities and below poverty line (BPL) families, form the target group of this scheme. As per the rough estimate, about 70 lakh girls would have been enrolled in class VIII during year 2008-08 in the country and at least around half of them belong to the target group. Girls from these reserved classes studying in classes IX to XII in a recognised school run by any authority, government or NGO with a valid certificate from school head master will be eligible to stay in the hostels. At least 50 per cent girls admitted should be from the reserved classes. While Centre Government has contributed 90 per cent funds, the State Government has given 10 per cent matching grants. In Bathinda, the Bathinda Development Authority (BDA) floated tenders and awarded work for the construction of building at these three places to its certified contractors. Each hostel is spread in 6,600 sq feet. All the hostels have similar designs and similar color schemes. The hostel at Ghudda was handed over to school in November 2011. There are 15 rooms for living, one dining hall, one common room, seven toilets, seven bathrooms and two kitchens - one small and another larger. Now, the principals of these schools have been directed to identify the beneficiaries and prepare their list so that students could start living as soon as possible.
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16 boxers selected to represent Bathinda
The trials were held with the help of District Boxing Association, Bathinda. Over 60 students from different schools of Bathinda, Talwandi Sabo and Rampura areas participated in these trials. District Sports Officer Karam Singh Sidhu said two teams of the Talwandi Sabo and the Bathinda Center would be formed for the selection trials to be held in Jalandhar. Sidhu expressed happiness over the large number of participants that surpassed their expectation. "It shows the craze for sports by the girls and also parents' willingness to send them for the selection trials. The children participated in the two days trials that concluded today afternoon", he said. Baba Hardeep Singh, Chairman of Guru Hargobind Sahib Public Senior Secondary School, Mehraj addressed the students and encouraged them to participate in sports. Hardeep Singh gave Rs 5,100 to the association for sports kits and other help to the boxers. He also distributed prize and medals among the winners. Apart from those selected for further trials, he also honoured other for participating in the event. Braving the heat large number of children and their parents and other family members attended the selection trials. Those selected for selection trials to be held in Jalandhar on May 19 are: Sukhmani from Talwandi Sabo, Rupinder Kaur - Talwandi Sabo, Gurshinder Kaur - Gurusar Mehraj, Satvir Kaur - Talwandi Sabo, Arshdeep Kaur - Gurusar Mehraj, Harpreet Kaur - Talwandi Sabo, Sandeep Kaur - Talwandi Sabo, Manisha - Bathinda, Pooja - Bathinda, Harpreet Kaur - Talwandi Sabo, Vimaljeet Kaur - Bathinda, Chhinder Pal Kaur - Talwandi Sabo, Sandeep Kaur - Talwandi Sabo, Gagandeep Kaur - Gurusar Mehraj, Harpreet Kaur -Gurusar Mehraj and Kinderpal Kaur - Talwandi Sabo. |
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Computer lab inaugurated at city school
Bathinda, May 13 Chief Parliamentary Secretary and MLA Bathinda (Urabn) Sarup Chand singla was the chief guest on the occasion. He inaugurated the computer lab, while the president of the SSD Sabha, Bathinda, Parmod Mittal inaugurated the RO water system in the presence of the staff members. The computer lab has 75 computers all of which have internet connection and are also interconnected. The RO system has the capacity of providing 500 litres of water per hour. “The capacity of this RO system is enough to serve 3,000 students,” said the principal of the school, Rajesh Kumar. A former student of the school, Dr Guriqubal Singh Sidhu has cleared the UPSC exam 2011. His mother, Karnail Kaur was felicitated on the occasion. A sankirtan and a langar for all the guests and the students was also organised.
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Two held with 20 litres of illicit liquor
Bathinda, May 13 In another incident seven bottles of illicit liquor have been recovered from a resident of Bhai Bhaktaur village. A case was registered in this connection against Channa Ram, who was later released on bail. Youth found dead in a park
A youth seems to be around 20 years old was found dead near a park on Amrik Singh road today in the evening. Volunteers of the Sahara Jan Sewa said they got a phone call from a passerby who informed about a youth lying in an unconscious state since today afternoon. The NGO president Vijay Goyal said the boy appears to be a drug addict who might have consumed habit forming drugs. The addicts fail to get up once they become unconscious after consuming the drugs. In this case the young boy was found sleeping under the sun in the park and died due to excessive heat and drugs. He said that police officials have been informed about the incident. Three booked for beating
Three persons have been booked by the police for beating a resident of Namdev Marg. Complainant Tarsem Singh of Namdev Marg said he was beaten up by Happy, Kaalu and Satish Kumar over a trivial issue. A case under Sections 341, 323 and 34 of the IPC has been registered against the three persons at Civil Lines police station. Two arrested with drugs
Police has arrested two persons with habit-forming drugs. Gurdeep Singh, a resident of Bhucho Mandi was arrested with 5-gram smack from Lehra Thana road. A case under Sections 21, 61, 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against him at Nathana police station. Jaswinder Singh of Phul village was arrested with 1750 tablets, 15 vials and intoxicating powder from near Rampura. A case under Sections 22, 61, 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against him at City Rampura police station. |
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Unemployed linemen union extends help to teachers front
Bathinda, May 13 In a press release issued by the state president, Pirmal Singh it was stated that they would oppose the government's move to suppress the genuine demands of the teachers. He said they would be forced to launch a fresh agitation if the government failed to release the arrested members of the front. Talent hunt programme organised A talent hunt programme was organised at the Different Convent School on Badal Road, Ghudda on the occasion of Mother's Day. Several competitions were also organised on the occasion. A greetings making and poem recitation competition was also organised for the secondary students to mark the occasion. Students in large number enthusiastically participated in the function held to celebrate Mother’s Day. |
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Sahara Jan Sewa launches drive against dengue
Bathinda, May 13 He said large number of posters have been circulated among the people to spread awareness on dengue. |
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Three injured in accidents
Bathinda, May 13 A case under Sections 279, 337, 338 and 427 of the IPC has been registered in this connection against Bhinder Singh at Kotfatta police station. In another road incident, a speeding canter hit a woman, who was riding a bicycle near Barnala bypass. In a complaint to the police, Kailash, a resident of Green City, Bathinda said he was riding on a bicycle with his wife as pillion when the canter hit him. The driver of the truck fled away along with his vehicle after hitting the bicycle. A case under Sections 279, 337 and 427 of the IPC has been registered against Balraj Singh of Maur Mandi. |
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The much-hyped astro-turf at the Government Rajindra College, laid recently, is being wasted. The experts who laid the turf, had instructed the officials to sprinkle water on it thrice a day to keep off the dust and prevent it from getting heated during the summer.
Bathinda, May 13
Volunteers of the Sahara Jan Sewa today launched awareness drive against
dengue fever in city.
The volunteers started the campaign by cleaning and spraying medicines in drains and asked people to take steps to avoid accumulation of water in their respective areas. President of the NGO, Vijay
Goyal, said today they cleaned the drains in Parasram Nagar.
Bathinda, May 13