Bathinda, September 11
When mayors from across the country converge in Bathinda for the 105th meeting of the executive committee of the All India Council of Mayors (AICM) on September 15-16, it will not just be the Municipal Corporation Bathinda (MCB), the local civic body that is in its infancy, which will get the opportunity to learn from its more experienced counterparts.

The four other municipal corporations in Punjab — Jalandhar, Patiala, Amritsar and Ludhiana — will also get lessons from the more experienced civic bodies in the country on how to cope with the increasing burden of providing potable water and dealing with sanitation problems when there is perennial shortage of funds and many big cities in Punjab are on the brink of an environmental emergency.

"We are hopeful that the two-day meeting will help us gain a lot. There will be an exchange of ideas and experience to create a culture of better governance in the local bodies of Punjab," said Baljit Singh Birbehman, Mayor, Municipal Corporation Bathinda (MCB).

With its annual budget of more than Rs 21,000 crore, while the mayor and the elected representatives from the Mumbai Municipal Corporation, the richest and largest civic body in the country, can give brilliant tips to the civic bodies in Punjab about the financial and administrative matters, the Mayor of Surat Municipal Corporation, the third cleanest city in India, will share his experience on how the brushing and scraping of 300 km of roads in the city on a daily basis at night helps keep the city free from dirt and garbage.

With its population close to 4.6 million and 1300 workers employed with the civic body, how is the city of Surat managing its financial and administrative affairs?

To learn about this, some days back, two senior officials of the Municipal Corporation Bathinda visited Surat and the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporations in Gujarat, said Birbehman.

The two-day meet will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. Punjab Minister for Local Government, Chunni Lal Bhagat, will preside over the conclave that will be held at the Antique Palace, Bathinda.

The Home Minister of Madhya Pradesh and the national organising general secretary of All India Council of Mayors, Uma Shankar Gupta, chairman, All India Council of Mayors, Krishan Murari Moghe, Mayor, Indore, and mayors from over 20-25 cities, including Indore, Surat, Delhi, Mumbai, Bhubaneshwar, Jaipur, Ujjain, Nagpur, Varanasi, Ranchi, Raipur, Patna, Asansol, Bhopal, Gurgaon, Bangalore, Lucknow and Hyderabad will take part in the two-day meet, said Birbehman.

There are many items on the agenda for the AICM executive committee meeting. But the 'strong mayor' is a major one. Demanding more focus on executive and financial powers for the mayor and the urban local bodies as per the 74th amendment of the Constitution, most mayors in Punjab are of the view that after the abolition of octroi, the municipal bodies are finding it increasingly difficult to get adequate finance.

Another item listed on the agenda is to demand a five-year term for mayors in all the states and union territories (UTs). New Delhi and Chandigarh have one-year term for theirs mayors.

The demand for adopting a uniform policy for all states and setting up of State Mayor-in-Councils, represented by the respective mayors of each state, is another item on the agenda.

And above all, to seek more power for the 'babus' in the Municipal Corporation, there is an item on the agenda, demanding the setting up of the Indian Municipal Service (IMS) on the lines of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).

Bathinda, September 11
Residents of Bathinda have voiced support for the cartoonist Aseem Trivedi, who was arrested in Mumbai on the charge of sedition for his alleged derogatory cartoon.

"If telling the truth has made him a traitor, then he is. He has painted the real picture of our political system. The time has come to call a spade a spade," says a young local businessman, Nakul Bhargava.

Similarly, an advocate Nitin Jindal said, "I am baffled as to how a cartoonist, who uses his right to speech and expresses his views through his cartoon, is a threat to national security? Trivedi's cartoon may have offended sensibilities, yet he has presented the real picture."

A litterateur, Gurinderjit Singh, said, "Though the cartoonist has been arrested for his objectionable depiction of the national emblem and Parliament, yet his arrest seems to be a case of over-reaction."

A youngster, Suresh Garg, said, "I am proud of whatever the cartoonist has done. He has depicted in his cartoon what we really see around us nowadays. The government must drop the charge of sedition against him."

Meanwhile, a number of people have started expressing their views on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. One of them, Ankur Gupta, posted on his Facebook wall, "Sedition is too much. It attracts life imprisonment. It is meant for anti-nationalists but Trivedi is a nationalist."

One more FB user, Rajani Sharma, wrote, "Before Trivedi's arrest, the issue should have been debated. If our MPs can disgrace the institution, that too in the well of the House, then this cartoonist has done nothing in comparison. His arrest, especially on the charge of sedition, is totally wrong. He must be released as soon as possible."

A local journalist wrote on a social networking site, "Nothing wrong has been done by the young cartoonist. He has depicted in his cartoon what every Indian feels. If someone has expressed his views publicly, then he is not a danger to national security. The charges slapped against him must be dropped."

Meanwhile, the CPI (ML) Liberation, today took a serious note of the framing of a case of sedition against Trivedi. Kavita Krishnan, its central leader, said the UPA government was trying to suppress the voice of the people.

Bathinda, September 11
Police have arrested a resident of Deon village for possessing one kilogram opium. The accused has been identified as Gursahib Singh. Police arrested the accused on the basis of a tip-off from near Deon village.

A case under sections 18, 61, 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against the accused at the Sadar police station.

In another incident, police arrested a resident of Gehri Bhagi village for possessing 30 litres of country-made liquor (lahan). The accused has been identified as Darshan Singh who was arrested on the basis of secret information. Police had laid a naka to arrest Darshan Singh. A case under sections 61, 1, 14 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act has been registered against the accused at Kotfatta police station.

Bathinda, September 11
It seems that the unresolved petty disputes are taking its toll on the lives of close family members, as in yet another incident, a woman has murdered her husband over a trivial issue in Teona village. This is the third incident during the past few months in Bathinda wherein a close family member has been killed over a petty domestic issue.

The victim has been identified as 50 years old Naib Singh, who died on the spot after receiving repeated blows from a hoe delivered by his wife.

Police officials and the local residents said the accused, Mahinder Kaur, had a habit of picking up quarrel with her daughter-in-law and other family members every morning.

"She used to get up in the wee hours and shout at all the family members, over one issue or the other. She also used to beat up her daughter-in-law," said Sadar SHO Amritpal Singh.

The woman had two daughters and a son all of whom are married. She was residing with her son, daughter-in-law and husband in the village.

The local residents said the woman's neighbours were also quite upset over her abnormal behaviour. Her husband had fallen ill a few years ago and could not walk properly. He used to remain on the bed most of the time.

Today, Mahinder Kaur picked up a quarrel at around 9 am and after heated arguments, she started beating her daughter-in-law with a wooden stick.

The daughter-in-law ran for cover to a neighbour's house. The ailing husband got up from the cot and tried to snatch the wooden stick. However, the woman left the stick and caught hold of a hoe and hit her husband. The man fell after receiving the first blow and could not get up. The woman administered repeated blows on his body and neck leaving him dead on the spot.

The policemen reached the spot and arrested the accused.

A case under Section 302 of the IPC has been registered against the woman. 

Fact file

* The incident took place at Teona village in Bathinda district.
* The man died on the spot following repeated blows of hoe, administered by his wife.
* The accused has been arrested for murder.

Bathinda, September 11
Material worth nearly Rs 2.10 lakh was stolen from the house of a Rampura Mandi resident. In a complaint to the police, Deena Nath said unidentified persons had stolen gold kept in his house. The police has registered a case in this regard.

One held with poppy husk
The police has arrested one person with poppy husk.The accused, Jatinder, a resident of Mansa, has been booked under Sections 15, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act at the Thermal police station.

Youth injured
A youth, identified as Rahul (20), reportedly sustained injuries following an attack by five to six persons near the Malgodam road on Monday night. The victim said he was on his motorcycle when the attackers caught hold of him and repeatedly hit him with bottles. He said the attackers perhaps assaulted him to settle an old dispute. Volunteers of the Naujawan Welfare Society helped in shifting the injured Rahul to a hospital.

Man prevented from committing suicide
Volunteers of the Naujawan Welfare Society stopped an elderly man from committing suicide. The volunteers said they were returning after catching a snake from a nearby area when they saw a man lying on the railway tracks and it seemed that he wanted to commit suicide. Later, they dropped him at his house. The man was reportedly upset at his family members.