Bathinda, August 31
A five-member team of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today collected records related to the acquisition of land at Mandi Khurd village for the solid waste management plant.

The team today collected files from the office of the Bathinda Deputy Commissioner, sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), Rampura and the Municipal Corporation Bathinda (MCB).

From the office of the municipal corporation, all documents related to the plant were collected. The documents related to the period before the land was acquired till date.

The Tehsildar, Rampura, Gurmail Singh, provided the team with copies of the entire land record including jamabandi, inteqal and land registry.

It is learnt that even the land acquisition officer posted during that period is under the scanner and is seeking legal help.

Talking to media persons at the corporation office, a spokesperson for the CBI team said all the files collected are in Punjabi and will have to be translated into Hindi or English.

The next date of hearing in the case is September 10.

The members of the CBI team said they would request the court for some more time as the data has to be translated for further investigations.

The members of the CBI team said the accused in the case include the present Deputy Commissioner, Faridkot who was then the municipal commissioner of Bathinda, Ravi Bhagat, Yadwinder Singh, Khushdev Singh, Himmat Singh, Kanwarpal Singh and Balwinder Singh.

The team came at 11 am and left at around 6 pm. Taken by surprise, the corporation officials spent the entire day collecting the records and coordinating with the team from the Central Bureau of Investigation.

On August 8, the Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered a CBI probe into the issue after a resident of village Mandi Khurd, Jarnail Singh, filed a petition against the acquisition of land for the plant. The 36.81 acres of land bought for Rs 1.59 crores was sold off at Rs 8.67 crores to the government.

Jarnail Singh stated that the state government had decided to acquire 36.81 acres in the village for the project to install engineered sanitary landfill facility near Bathinda wherein the residue of garbage, treated at the plant to be installed in the city, would be dumped.

He alleged that three businessmen, including Yadwinder Singh, said to be close to revenue minister Bikram Singh Majithia, benefited by around Rs 5.63 crore through the acquisition. It resulted in losses running into crores for the state exchequer. The petition alleged that the businessmen knew that around 36 acres of land was to be acquired in Mandi Khurd for the plant and bought this land at cheaper rates. The businessmen got heavy compensation from the government when it acquired the land in February 2011. It said a survey of the land in Mundi Khurd was conducted a year earlier. Most of this land had been purchased by Yadwinder Singh and two other politically influential families on February 18 and February 23, 2010 for Rs 1.59 crore. — TNS

Bathinda, August 31
The suicide by Jalandhar girl Shivali due to the harassment by the police has raised question marks over "moral policing" by the cops. While earlier, the police force used to be questioned over its high-handedness in case of encounter or custodial deaths, the Jalandhar incident is one of its kind in which the police went to extremes in order to teach a lesson to a young couple.

Known to thrive on publicity, the cops often invite the media while conducting raids or solving sensational cases. But carrying the media in tow in the name of chasing the eve-teasers boomeranged on the cops after Shivali chose to end her life by jumping before a train, unable to bear the humiliation.

In Bathinda too, some cops are known to perform moral policing at public places such as Rose Garden on occasions like the Valentine's Day. While earlier, the youngsters resisted the police action with silence, Shivali's death has added to their seething anger.

"That young life was snuffed out just because of the cops who were too eager to work as moral police. At a time when people are taking law into their hands and catching snatchers and thieves themselves, the police is busy running after couples who are genuine. The police has no right to poke its nose in the lives of the people," said Dimple, a student pursuing her Masters degree from a private university.

Principal, DAV College, Dr JS Anand said the police should be more discreet in performing its duties. "Moral policing is required only when things go overboard. Interference in someone's personal life is justified only when it starts harming the public or when some unlawful activity is going on. We are living in a free country where women are fast gaining a sense of liberty. Not all companionships can be viewed with suspicion," he said.

Dr Satish Jindal, a paediatrician, said the police should restrict themselves to stopping only the unlawful activities. "Policing is needed at college campuses and other educational institutions but only to keep the eve-teasers and anti-social elements at bay. Who is going around with whom is none of the police's business," he added.

Meanwhile, a senior police official, requesting anonymity, said the incident has exposed the inhuman side of the police force. "Nobody would have imagined that things would take a nasty turn. The girl's death will serve as a deterrent for such incidents in future. The guilty cops have been taken to task and a set of guidelines has been issued to the cops in Jalandhar," he added.

Bathinda, August 31
A gymnasium built in a classroom at the Bir Talab Government High School has become a bone of contention for the villagers.

The issue has divided the villagers — those who wish to keep the gymnasium in the school and those who want to shift it to the village "dharamshala".

The equipment at the gym, worth more than Rs 1 lakh, was given to the village at a public function by the Member of Parliament from Bathinda, Harsmirat Kaur Badal.

The school authorities said both the groups entered into heated arguments during the school hours today in the morning.

The boys exercising in the classroom are already said to have damaged the school toilet, entrance and other things while visiting the gymnasium in the morning and evening. The six wooden signboards installed at the doorway of the classes were also damaged and even the school premise was ransacked.

The school principal, Rajinder Singh said the equipment for the gym was brought to the school around three months ago. He said the students of class VI were shifted to another classroom at the behest of the village panchayat much against the wishes of the school authorities.

He said the school teachers are facing problems after the shifting of class VI students as the classes are already overcrowded. He said there are 750 students in the primary and secondary wings of the school.

The school principal and the teachers said that the shifting of the gym equipment to some other place would help in checking the daily nuisance

created by the boys visiting the gym every morning and evening.

"We have given a duplicate key of the main entrance and the classroom to the boys visiting the gym. The boys, however, failed to maintain the school decorum and have already damaged a portion of the school toilet, the water pipes of an electric motor and damaged the main gate," said Gurmel Khalsa, a villager.

Khalsa said his two children study at the government school and he has recently contributed Rs 20,000 to buy a generator for the school.

He said the problem was aggravated when some boys from a nearby locality went to exercise in the gym but failed to get the duplicate keys. The boys then raised the issue of shifting the gym equipment from the school premises to the dharamshala, Khalsa said.

Piara Singh, who lives near the school, alleged that the boys exercising in the school play music at a high pitch and some of them even consume drugs on the school premises. He demanded that the gymnasium be shifted to some other place to provide respite from the nuisance.

A member of the village panchayat, Jagjit Jaggi, while opposing the shifting of the gym, said the village dharamshala is not safe for keeping the costly equipment as there is no security guard deployed there round-the-clock as in the case of the school building. He said the classroom is an ideal place for housing the gymnasium and the school authorities have never complained to him about the boys creating nuisance. Moreover, the boys visit the gymnasium only before or after the school hours.

Gurditta Singh, the husband of the village sarpanch, Manjeet Kaur, while speaking on her behalf, said the matter would be resolved by dealing strictly with the boys exercising in the classroom. Specific hours should be assigned to them to spend in the gymnasium.

Bathinda, August 31
A documentary filmmaker from Kerala today accused a local doctor of prescribing wrong medicines and sending an untrained person to treat his brother.

Filmmaker Simon Verghese Kurien submitted a formal complaint against the doctor to the Deputy Commissioner as well as the Civil Surgeon.

Talking to TNS, Kurian said he had been shooting a documentary on the effects of pesticides. His team has already completed the shooting in South India and for the last many days, has been filming the documentary in places in and around Bathinda.

On August 29, Kurien's brother Thomas, who is a sound recordist with the team, took ill. Putting up at Hotel Comfort Inn, Simon asked for help from the hotel employees who sent their doctor-on-call.

"At around midnight, two men visited us. One claimed himself to be Dr Vikram while the other was a male nurse. Without examining Thomas or asking about the case history, Dr Vikram prescribed him some medicines. We did not feel comfortable with the prescription provided. So, I called up my general practitioner in Kerala who said Thomas was suffering from food poisoning and none of the medicines prescribed were meant to treat the problem," Kurian said.

Dr Vikram had left behind a number. Today, Simon called on this number and found that Dr Vikram was working at the Nagpal Hospital located on Mall Road.

When he visited the hospital with a local acquaintance, they were told that Vikram was not a doctor but paramedical staff at the hospital. Simon said he met the owner of hospital to inform him about an unqualified staff member from his hospital posing as doctor. "But the owner did not pay any attention," he said.

Simon then met the Civil Surgeon, Dr Ajay Sahni, to complain against the Nagpal Hospital.

The Civil Surgeon said he has received the complaint and that the medical angle in the complaint will be looked into.

Simon has also forwarded the same complaint to the Bathinda Deputy Commissioner.

Meanwhile, Dr TS Nagpal said his paramedic staff had indeed given a prescription to Thomas but it was done only after discussing it with a highly qualified doctor.

“We have phone records to prove ourselves. We offered an apology to Simon but he refused and wanted that action be taken against our staff, which is not justified,” he added.

Bathinda, August 31
Floral tributes were offered to former chief minister Beant Singh on his 17th martyrdom anniversary today.

A function was organised at the headquarters of the District Congress (Urban) here where Congress activists paid floral tributes to Beant Singh.

Former MLA Harminder Singh Jassi said Beant Singh had the credit of bringing normalcy in Punjab after a long spell of terrorism. The former chief minister sacrificed his life while striving to bring normalcy back in the state, he said.

District president of the party Ashok Kumar presided over the function.

Beant Singh’s martyrdom anniversary was also observed by the local unit of the Arya Samaj.

President of the Arya Samaj unit PD Goyal said the new generation should always remember the sacrifices of the martyrs. — TNS

Bathinda, August 31
The Baba Farid College of Engineering and Technology organised an expert lecture on grid and cloud computing.

While delivering the lecture, Dr Bhupinder Singh, principal software engineer of the Progress Software Corporation, Hyderabad, explained the way these two technologies were helpful in today's life and the way they had changed the overall concept of the Internet.

Dr Bhupinder Singh also spoke about methods to utilise resources through cloud computing and how the power of a cloud can be exploited through a single computer.

Students attending the lecture discussed their doubts and queries with the expert.

Sunil Nagpal, the head of the department of CSE, proposed the vote of thanks.

Bathinda, August 31
Members of the scientific advisory committee of the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Bathinda, held a meeting with farmers and discussed various issues related to farming.

The meeting was presided over by the additional director, Extension Education, PAU, Ludhiana, Dr Harjit Singh Dhaliwal, and Dr Harvinder Singh Dhaliwal.

NABARD AGM Dr Rajiv Aggarwal discussed financial problems of farmers.

During the meeting, farmers put forth the marketing problems of their crops, depleting water table and lack of awareness and deteriorating condition of the peasants. The issue of stubble burning, use of excessive chemicals and diseases affecting the standing crops of paddy and cotton were also discussed. The farmers rued that lack of quality water in the area had affected their crops to a great extent.

The officials of the NABARD assured to give financial assistance to bail out the farmers from present crisis. They updated the farmers on subsidies and loans available for various allied projects.

Farmers made the KVK officials aware of their activities during the past six months and their plans for the next six months.

Bathinda, August 31
The police has booked two persons for entering into heated arguments with an official of the Excise and Taxation Department.

In his complaint to the police, the excise and taxation officer Balwant Singh Gill alleged that Dinesh Kumar alias Pappu and Ramesh Kumar of Jai Ganpati Transport on the Amreek Singh road pushed him aside while the excise officials were loading the goods seized during a special checking.

Gill said the accused failed to provide valid documents pertaining to the tax which were to be deposited with the department. Despite the fact that they did not pay the tax, the accused argued with the officials and questioned their authority to confiscate their goods.

Bathinda, August 31
The Hobbies Club of Adesh Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (AIMSR) here celebrated the National Sports Day organised to mark the birth anniversary of hockey wizard Dhyan Chand.

The Hobbies Club organised a pencil shading portrait competition to sensitise the new as well as old MBBS students to the importance of games and sports in their curriculum.

On the occasion, students made the portraits of their favourite stars in the sports world.

The chief guest on the occasion, Prabhjeet Kaur, wife of the vice-chancellor of the Adesh University, encouraged the students to participate in sports activities during their leisure time. In her address to the students, she said sports were essential for both physical and mental well-being and helped in developing the overall personality of a student. In the current times of lifestyle disorders, the importance of sports in life cannot be ignored, she added.

Navpreet Singh and Simran, MBBS students of the 2009 batch, were declared first; Sugandh Ghumbar and Ravanjeet of the 2012 batch were placed second; and Ravkirat Singh and Gagandeep Singh of the BDS batch were adjudged third in the inter-batch competition.