Trouble for tax evaders
Bathinda, October 3
The mobile wing of the excise department has intensified its drive against the tax evaders. The excise officials are of the view that the tax evaders often enter into heated arguments, abuse them and threaten them with dire consequences.

Deputy E&T Commissioner YS Mata says the aim is to collect revenue by taking strict measures.

Fortified salts for school kids
Bathinda, October 3
Government schools will now use double fortified salt in the mid-day meal served to the schoolchildren throughout the state. The new salt, to be used from November 1 onwards, is aimed at fighting the iron deficiency in children.

Schools told to file data for RTE use
Bathinda, October 3
All government schools, aided schools, affiliated schools and un-affiliated schools have been directed to fill the data capture forms for the District Information System for Education (DISE) by October 15.

District-level sports tournament kicks off
Bathinda, October 3 The district-level sports tournament started here today with the inaugural ceremony being held at the multipurpose stadium. The chief guest on the occasion was social activist Bidhi Singh UK. Deputy District Education Officer (Secondary) Dr Amarjit Kaur, assistant education officer (sports) Pavittar Kaur, principal of Malwa College of Education Darshan Singh Brar and others were also present on the occasion.
Trial of strength: Students from Talwandi Sabo and Mandi Kalan take part in the tug-of-war contest during the district-level sports tournament at the multipurpose sports stadium in Bathinda on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Pawan Sharma

Inter-college lawn tennis tourney begins
Bathinda, October 3 The Punjab Technical University Inter College Lawn Tennis Tournament started today at the PTU Giani Zail Singh (PTUGZS) Campus in Bathinda. Around 20 teams, both men and women, from various engineering colleges from all over Punjab, are participating in the event. The participating teams along with the organisers at the PTUGZS campus. A Tribune photograph

Trust to come up in memory of doctor

Bathinda, October 3 As many as 56 units of blood were collected during a blood donation camp organised by the NGO Sahara Jan Sewa. The camp was organised in the memory of Dr Rakesh Gupta, a surgeon at the Bathinda Civil Hospital, to mark his first death anniversary. DC KK Yadav at the blood donation camp organised in memory of Dr Rakesh Gupta at the Bathinda Civil Hospital on Wednesday. It was decided to form a trust in the memory of the late doctor to take up philanthropic work. Tribune photo: Pawan Sharma

A two-day NSS camp for girls was held at the Government Rajindra College. Over 100 volunteers took part in the camp that was led by Usha Kiran and Paramjit Kaur. Cleaning of the campus and planting of saplings was done at the camp that concluded on Wednesday. a tribune photograph

Woman robbed of cash, mobile phone
Bathinda, October 3
Two unidentified assailants robbed a woman of Rs 14,000 in cash and a mobile phone from near Parjapat Colony. In a complaint to the police, Geetanjali, a resident of Guru Gobind Singh Nagar, said she was returning home in a rickshaw.

4 of family booked for seeking dowry
Bathinda, October 3
Four members of a Malerkotla-based family have been booked by the police for demanding dowry. In a complaint filed with the police, Naseem Bano said her in-laws have been demanding dowry since her marriage and had been harassing her.

Trouble for tax evaders
Excise Department intensifies drive against those evading duty
Gurdeep Singh Mann
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, October 3
The mobile wing of the excise department has intensified its drive against the tax evaders. The excise officials are of the view that the tax evaders often enter into heated arguments, abuse them and threaten them with dire consequences.

An Excise and Taxation Officer (ETO), Rishi Kumar, said he alone has got eight cases registered against such elements during the last eight months. "The transporters are using the escape routes to import the retail items to be sold at the shops. Most of the material is brought in trucks from Delhi," said Rishi.

He said many times, the truck is escorted by a luxury vehicle that clears the road. Whenever they notice some check-post (naka), they immediately call the truck driver and tell him to change the route of the vehicle.

In yesterday's incident, Rishi said the excise team had laid a naka near Badal at around 8.30 am and a truck escorted by a car was stopped. Instead of cooperating or providing them the documents, the occupants of the truck and the Swift Dzire car entered into heated arguments with the excise officials and threatened them with dire consequences.

A case under sections 307, 120-B and 34 of the IPC has been registered against Rakesh Kumar, Dinesh Kumar alias Pappu and Satyam, all residents of Amreek Singh road at the Canal Colony police station.

Rishi said one of the main accused was booked earlier also by the police in a similar case. The earlier case was registered on the basis of the complaint of an ETO.

Inspector Ashok Kumar of the department said nearly a dozen such cases have been registered in a similar manner at various police stations of the district.

He said though the police is cooperating, even then, there has been no let up in the number of such incidents as the transporters earn a huge amount of money by evading tax duties.

If caught, a penalty of 50 per cent of the total amount of the goods is imposed on the tax evaders along with the VAT. The officials said the penalty varies on different goods and there are four slabs of penalties which are imposed accordingly after the assessment.

The officials said the transporters assure the businessmen of bringing the grocery items from Delhi to Bathinda without the bills or any other documents. They take escape routes and do not use the information collection centres (ICC) at Doomwali and talwandi Sabo.

Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner-cum-Joint Director YS Mata said the aim is to collect revenue by taking strict measures. Despite the registration of cases and the hassles, the officials of the department are in high spirits and are trying to bring the tax evaders to book, he added.

Fortified salts for school kids
Schools to use them in mid-day meals to tackle iron deficiency
Megha Mann
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, October 3
Government schools will now use double fortified salt in the mid-day meal served to the schoolchildren throughout the state. The new salt, to be used from November 1 onwards, is aimed at fighting the iron deficiency in children. Instead of the iodised salt, the double fortified salt will be put to use.

In a letter issued to the district education officers, the Director General of School Education (DGSE) has stated that as per a survey of the health department, around 21 per cent of the schoolchildren in the state suffer from iron deficiency.

"60 per cent of the children coming to us suffer from lack of iron. We rarely find children who have above 9 grams of hemoglobin at the OPD in the hospital.

It is not that children lack food. Rather, they lack healthy eating habits," said a paediatrician at the Women and Children Hospital, Dr Satish Jindal.

He said it was unfortunate that children have become fond of colourful and processed food, rather than consuming naturally coloured food like besan (gram flour), carrots, green leafy vegetables and yellow vegetables.

The DGSE's letter points out that the use of green vegetables in meals helps in overcoming the iron deficiency. It has suggested the use of green vegetables frequently in the winter, when they are easily available.

Another cost-efficient way to deal with this deficiency is to use iron and iodine-inclusive salt. Now, a branded company will provide this salt in the market.

Also, the Director General of School Education is coordinating with the Markfed, Punjab, to ensure that the fortified salt reaches the shops in the villages and cities from where it can be further bought for the mid-day meals.

Why is iron important?

Iron forms the haem part of haemoglobin. Deficiency of iron lessens the oxygen carrying capacity of blood, thus putting more pressure on the heart to provide oxygen to the tissues.

Children with iron deficiency miss out on learning and are unable to concentrate on their education. Their activities too are hampered because of the iron deficiency.

A child suffering from anaemia may also suffer from loss of mental ability and fatigue earlier with less productivity and output. Anaemia increases complications during the pregnancy which may affect the child.

Schools told to file data for RTE use
Megha Mann
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, October 3
All government schools, aided schools, affiliated schools and un-affiliated schools have been directed to fill the data capture forms for the District Information System for Education (DISE) by October 15.

The District Education Officer has directed the schools to file the information available with them till September 30. An annual exercise, the survey is conducted to tabulate the basic facilities in schools, the number of students and teachers, attendance and infrastructure. The information is largely being sought for the Right to Education Act 2009 and the different schemes being run under it by the Government of India.

In Punjab, the data collected would be used to raise the standard of education, infrastructure being provided to the children and policies framed for them. All schools have been directed to provide the right information as per the school record.

Block level officers have been entrusted with the task of providing the data capture forms to all the schools and impart clear instructions on ways to fill them. The same officials will then collect the proforma from the schools and deposit them at the district headquarters. It is mandatory for all the schools to provide data under DISE.

District-level sports tournament kicks off
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, October 3
The district-level sports tournament started here today with the inaugural ceremony being held at the multipurpose stadium. The chief guest on the occasion was social activist Bidhi Singh UK. Deputy District Education Officer (Secondary) Dr Amarjit Kaur, assistant education officer (sports) Pavittar Kaur, principal of Malwa College of Education Darshan Singh Brar and others were also present on the occasion.

Sporting events like wushu, kabaddi, volleyball, badminton, basketball, kho-kho, hockey, wrestling, lawn tennis and others were held.

	The participating teams at the march-past during the inaugural ceremony of the district-level sports tournament that began at the sports stadium in Bathinda on Wednesday; winners (right) receive their trophy at the stadium. Tribune photos: Pawan Sharma

In the under-19 category of Wushu, the following students have qualified for the semi-finals: In boys below 40 kg category: Karan Rana and Sagar; in below 44 kg category: Harpreet, Gagandeep and Anil Kumar; in below 48 kg category: Sukhwinder Singh, Gaurav Chaudhary and Jagmeet Singh; in below 52 kg category: Kuldeep Singh and Kavinder Singh; in below 56 kg category: Lokesh Kumar and Gurditta Singh; in below 65 kg category: Satnam Singh and Gurpreet Singh; in below 70 kg category: Kulwinder Singh; in below 75 kg category: Arshpreet Singh and in above 75 kg category: Baljinder Singh and Kulwinder Singh.

The tournament for the under-19 category for girls would be held tomorrow. The students have been divided into three categories for all the events: under-14, under-17 and under-19 years of age-group.

The matches are being held at the DAV College, Guru Kashi School, Guru Nanak Public School, Kamla Nehru Nagar, multi-purpose stadium, Government Girls Secondary School, Mall Road, Police Public School, St Xavier's Senior Secondary School, Government Rajindra College, Delhi Public School, Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, SSD School., Baba Farid School, Millennium School and the Adarsh School at village Nandgarh.

It has been ensured that every team of girls has a female teacher accompanying it. The teams have also been asked to bring adequate manpower. For every event, an employee has been designated as the convener, while the others have been designated as co-convener and official members. The tournament would be held on October 4 and 5 as well.

Inter-college lawn tennis tourney begins
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, October 3
The Punjab Technical University Inter College Lawn Tennis Tournament started today at the PTU Giani Zail Singh (PTUGZS) Campus in Bathinda. Around 20 teams, both men and women, from various engineering colleges from all over Punjab, are participating in the event.

The chief guest on the occasion was the Director, Sports School, Ghudda, Colonel Tej Singh. Speaking at the inaugural ceremony today, he highlighted the importance of games in the life of students.

Director of the PTUGZS campus, Dr Jasbir Singh Hundal, gave his good wishes to the participants. President, sports, PTU GZS campus, and the chief coordinator of the event, Prof. Bhupinder Pal Singh Dhot, delivered the welcome address.

Registrar GS Bath, principal, polytechnic wing DS Sidhu, heads of various departments, games in-charge Vivek Kaundal, assistant games in-charge Surinder Singh Khella, assistant president, sports, Dilbagh Singh were also present on the occasion.

Men's section

1. Beant College of Engineering and Technology (BCET), Gurdaspur, won over Shaheed Udham Singh College of Engineering and Technology (SUSCET), Tangori. Players of the winning team included Abhishek Chaudhary, Ankit Rana, Harshit Bharti and Amulaya Tomar.

2. DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology (DAVIET), Jalandhar, won over Regional Institute of Engineering and Technology (RIMT), Mandi Gobindgarh. The members of winning team included Arpit Arora, Arsh, Simardeep Singh Uppal and Angad Singh.

3. PTU GZS Campus, Bathinda, won over Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College (GNDEC), Ludhiana. Players of the winning team included Sidhant Bansal, Harjeet Singh and Arshdeep Singh.

Women's section

1. PTU GZS Campus, Bathinda, won over GNDEC, Ludhiana. The winning team included Deepkamal and Jagriti Jain.

2. SUSCET, Tangori, won over Swami Satyanand College of Management and Technology (SSCMT), Amritsar. The members of the winning team were Pupinder Kaur and Sethanpreet.

Trust to come up in memory of doctor
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, October 3
As many as 56 units of blood were collected during a blood donation camp organised by the NGO Sahara Jan Sewa. The camp was organised in the memory of Dr Rakesh Gupta, a surgeon at the Bathinda Civil Hospital, to mark his first death anniversary.

Deputy Commissioner Kamal Kishore Yadav, SSP Dr Sukhchain Singh Gill, Chief Medical Officer Dr Ajay Sahni and District Health Officer Dr RS Randhawa were also present on the occasion.

A team from the blood bank, Bathinda, collected the units of blood. President of the Sahara Jan Sewa Vijay Goyal said it has been decided that Dr Rakesh Gupta Yadgari Trust would be formed and it would raise funds for adopting an elderly person in a village.

It was decided that the trust would help in providing glasses and artificial dentures. After completing the work in one village, another village would be adopted. Similar work would be initiated in other villages as well, Goyal said.

Woman robbed of cash, mobile phone

Bathinda, October 3
Two unidentified assailants robbed a woman of Rs 14,000 in cash and a mobile phone from near Parjapat Colony. In a complaint to the police, Geetanjali, a resident of Guru Gobind Singh Nagar, said she was returning home in a rickshaw. Two unidentified assailants on a black motorcycle tried to snatch the purse she was holding.

When the woman resisted, the youths threatened her with dire consequences by brandishing a knife. The assailants, however, took away the bag containing the cash and the mobile phone. The youths fled after the residents gathered at the place of the incident.

Police said a case under sections 382, 506 and 34 of the IPC has been registered against the accused at the Civil Lines police station. — TNS

4 of family booked for seeking dowry
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, October 3
Four members of a Malerkotla-based family have been booked by the police for demanding dowry. In a complaint filed with the police, Naseem Bano said her in-laws have been demanding dowry since her marriage and had been harassing her.

Police registered a case against Mohammad Irshad, Mohammad Farooq, Mohammad Ishfaq and her mother-in-law Sardar Begum, all residents of Malerkotla. Police have registered a case under section 498 of the IPC at the women police station.

Scooter of retired police inspector stolen

The scooter of a retired police inspector was stolen from the district courts. The complainant Ved Parkash Sharma said the LPG card, original voucher, ration card and other important documents were kept in the scooter. The cost of the scooter was estimated at Rs 7,000. Police have registered a case under section 379 of the IPC at the Civil Lines police station.

One killed in accident

A resident of Bathinda lost his life in an accident. In a complaint filed with the police, Mamu Chand of Laleana road, Talwandi Sabo, said his brother Naib Singh had come to collect the rent of a house situated near Kishori Ram Hospital in the city. He said the bike his brother was riding was hit by an unidentified vehicle. Police registered a case under section 304-A of the IPC at the Canal Colony police station.

Woman held with opium

Police arrested a woman with 610 grams of opium. The accused has been identified as Navita Devi alias Chachi. She was arrested from near Multania road. A case under the NDPS Act has been registered at Canal Colony police station.