Bathinda, October 18
The recently-appointed assistant superintendent of police (ASP) Patil Ketan Baliram today sought suggestions to streamline the flow of traffic in the city.

Holding a meeting of the city traffic in-charge and constables, Baliram said the police has decided to simplify driving on the city roads and at the same time ensure that there is enough space for pedestrians to safely walk on.

He said a plan is being chalked out and areas have been identified where there is no zebra crossing, yellow line, traffic lights or where encroachments are eating into the vacant space.

The ASP said the matter would be taken up with the SSP following which the guidelines will be implemented. "Bathinda being the political capital of Punjab, the work here is quite different and traffic requires to be regulated in a proper manner," Patil said. He said emphasis will be laid on dealing with the traffic problems from every angle.

Meanwhile, the city residents expect the police to also check underage driving, parking problems and vehicular traffic in busy areas like Ajit Road and the 100-feet road that house paying guests accommodations and tuition centres.

Amrik Singh, a resident of the Bibiwala Road, said the police should control underage driving at the earliest. "Youngsters drive rashly and end up hitting those who are unable to get out of the way of the speeding vehicle, especially the elderly. Underage driving should be completely banned."

Another city resident, Baltej Singh, said the parents of underage drivers should be held accountable for providing their children with bikes and scooters. "Parents giving bikes to their children do not care for their safety, let alone the safety of others on the road. Their sole purpose is to flaunt their status no matter at what cost it comes," he added.

Kulwinder Singh, a resident of the Ajit Road, said streets are flooded with vehicles that are parked haphazardly outside tuition centres in the city. "There is no place to park. Students often park in green belts. Everyone knows that parking vehicles beyond the yellow line on a main road can invite challan. I fail to understand why the police does not get the 3 to 4 feet-wide extended verandahs removed before penalising the wrongly-parked vehicles," he said. He said the raised platforms should be dismantled to widen the busy roads.

Bathinda, October 18
The Democratic Mid-day Meal Cook Front, Punjab, today said the Punjab Government's proposal to outsource mid-day meals would mean providing stale food to the schoolchildren.

In a press statement issued here today, district president of the Front Sinder Kaur Sivia stated that 75 per cent of the funds required to run the scheme came from the Central Government while the state government added the remaining 25 per cent.

Under the scheme, students from classes I to V are given 100 gram of grains daily costing Rs 3.11 per student. Similarly, students from classes VI to VIII are given 150 gram of grains and it costs Rs 4.65 per diet.

To prepare fresh meals every day, there are around 40,000 cooks across the state and they prepare meals under the supervision of the teachers concerned.

Sivia said in seven municipal corporations of Jalandhar, Amritsar, Patiala, Mohali, Moga, Bathinda and Ludhiana, the government plans to allow private contractors to run the scheme, which is not justified.

She added that in the districts of Ferozepur, Fazilka and Nawanshahr, the meals are already being outsourced.

She alleged that the contractors give sub-standard food to children, but the Punjab Government prefers to remain indifferent towards the irregularity.

Sivia said the union members would start an agitation opposing the government's move to outsource preparation of meals and involve the parents of beneficiaries to protest it for the well-being of their wards.

Meanwhile, the leader of the cooks demanded that their rights be framed since they were being paid a mere Rs 1,200 per month. The cooks are not provided with any other benefit such as dearness allowance and insurance.

Further, they don't even come under the ambit of the labour laws.

Bathinda, October 18
The teachers, who retired from government-aided colleges, today hailed the Punjab and Haryana High Court for directing the colleges to pay the long-pending pensions of retired teachers.

The president of the DAV College Retired Teachers' Association, Punjab, Rajnish Kumar, said in the context of a civil writ petition 17341 of 2003, the court of Chief Justice AK Sikri on October 10 directed the implementation of the scheme of the Punjab Government that was launched in 1996 to give pension to the teachers retired from aided schools.

The court has directed the secretary, department of education, and the secretary, finance, Government of Punjab, to appear before the court on November 26.

"The orders concern the retired staff of more than 2000 government-aided colleges working in the state. It will bring a great relief to the retirees who have been running from pillar to post fighting for their rights," said media secretary of the retired teachers' association NK Gosain. He said a few people have even died in the last 10 years since the petition was filed.

In 2001, the HC observed that a direction should be issued to the government to implement the scheme within a fixed period.

But the deputy advocate general requested the court that it need not pass any formal orders as the government would finalise the scheme within period of three months. The court, hence, did not pass any such orders. However, no action was taken during the period.

The court then summoned the higher officials of the education department and passed the contempt of court orders in May 2002. However, the officials tendered an apology and assured that the scheme would be implemented by June 2002.

In the meantime, the Punjab Government promulgated the Affiliated Aided Colleges (Pension and Contributory Provident Fund) Rules 2002. The petitioner then raised objections to the new rules stating that these were unworkable. Later, on the orders of the court, a fresh petition was filed.

Gosain said the High Court had taken a strict notice of the Punjab additional advocate general's submissions that there was no pension scheme in vogue after the introduction of new rules. "We have fought a very long battle. The High Court's directions have now re-kindled our hope," he added.

The court has expressed its concern with the issues of enforcement of the pension scheme, which was formulated in 1996, and the government dragging the matter for all these years.

The High Court has ordered that the Punjab Government has been given the last opportunity to deliberate on the issue and inform the court about implementation of the scheme during the next hearing which is scheduled for November 26.

Bathinda, October 18
Raminderjit Kaur, a resident of the North Estate area here, bagged the gold medal in the MSc (Biotechnology) examination of the Punjab Technical University (PTU), Jalandhar. She was conferred the medal at the university convention held in Jalandhar on October 15.

Raminderjit said her father Harjit Singh Dhillon and mother Balwinder Kaur had been the source of inspiration for her.

She studied at the Guru Nanak Dev Public School, Bathinda, Khalsa College, Amritsar, and Swami Satyanand College, Amritsar. She awaits the Inspire Fellowship of the Government of India to pursue her PhD. 

Bathinda, October 18
The incidents of inflicting serious injuries and killings over property dispute among the family members are assuming an alarming proportion in the city and rural areas even as people move the court to resolve such issues.

Men eyeing property of their wives, sons upset over handing over their parents' property to someone else and parents upset over their children not abiding by their decisions have led to numerous such incidents.

The police has registered cases against more than 20 persons during the past three months for entering into brawls with the oponents. Many of the quarrels took place near the courts complex where litigants had come to attend the hearings of their cases.

Roop Singh, an investigating officer in one of the property disputes at the Phul police station, said most such disputes taking place these days are between the family members themselves.

He said in one such incident that occurred yesterday, parents and their sons were at loggerheads over 11 marlas. One of the family members fired using an illegal revolver while trying to resolve the matter. One of their relatives, Sukhjeet Kaur, was injured in the incident. Two persons, including Gurmel and Harpal, have been arrested by the police in this regard.

The policemen investigating such cases said the problem arises when children grow up and conflict arises due to one reason or the other.

The police said disputes arise in families due to ego clash and interference of outsiders.

Kuldeep Singh, one of the victims of property dispute, said, "Some parents usually do not transfer their property to their heir and threaten to give it to someone else. This insecurity leads to heated arguments. It ends up either with someone getting injured or killed."

The cops said on September 6, three persons, including a woman, were booked by the police for beating up a resident of Maur Mandi.

The complainant Sarabjit Kaur had stated that the accused persons inflicted injuries upon her son over a property dispute. The son received injuries in his ears and head. She said the opposite party claimed a piece of plot. A case under Sections 336, 324, 148 and 149 of the IPC was registered on September 6 at the Sadar Rampura police station. In another incident, a 42- year-old man of Bhagu village lost his life as two parties fought over a property in Balla Ram Nagar.

Two cases of property dispute were registered today at Phul and Kotwali police stations.

Bathinda, October 18
The 58th Punjab School Games began here today. MLA from Bathinda (Urban) Sarup Chand Singla inaugurated the games at the multi-purpose stadium.

Around 528 players from 22 districts and 140 physical training instructors are taking part in the kabaddi event being hosted in Bathinda city.

The results for the under-19 kabaddi circle style on the first day are as follows: in the boys section, Faridkot won over Barnala by 43 points, in the Moga versus Amritsar match, Amritsar won by 56 points, Ludhiana defeated Patiala by 40 points, Gurdaspur won over Hoshiarpur by 47 points, Ferozepur won over Ropar by 40 points, Muktsar won over Nawanshahr by 41 points and in the Mansa vs Fatehgarh Sahib match, Mansa won by 40 points.

In the under-19 section for girls, Maluka won by 39 points over Fazilka, in Jalandhar vs Sangrur match, Jalandhar won by 46 points, Gurdaspur won by 30 points over Ludhiana and in Mansa vs Barnala, match Mansa won by 46 points.

The wrestling matches are being held at Bhagta.

Earlier, addressing the players, Singla said sports helps inculcate discipline, team spirit and motivates one to do hard work. He announced Rs 11,000 as grant for the refreshment of players participating in the games. District Education Officer (Secondary) Hardeep Singh Taggar welcomed the chief guest while Deputy Education Officer Dr Amarjit Kaur proposed the vote of thanks.

Bathinda, October 18
Two motorcycles were stolen from different areas in the city. In his complaint to the Kotwali police, Anil Kumar, a resident of Vidya Mandir Street, stated that he had parked his motorcycle, registration number PB 03P 5246, outside his house before it went missing. In another incident, Gurpreet Singh from Shant Nagar complained to the Kotwali police that he had parked his motorcycle on the 100-feet road near Maheshwari Nursing Home. The vehicle was stolen from there. Police have registered a case in both the instances.

Man loots neighbour

A man looted his neighbor near the industrial area. In his complaint to the Canal Colony police, Sundar, a resident of Sanjay Nagar, stated that he was returning from near Giani Zail Singh College. While walking on his way back home, he came across his neighbour Manoj Kumar near the focal point area in Mehna Basti. Manoj threatened him and asked him to surrender all the valuables. Manoj took away his mobile phone and Rs 1,600 in cash.

Motorcycle-borne youths thrash man, loot bike

Four motorcycle-borne youths snatched away the valuables of Mandeep Singh, a resident of Kothe Amarpura on Joganand Road.

In his complaint to the Thermal police, Mandeep said he was near the Antique Palace when four youngsters on a motorcycle first thrashed him and then took away his Splendor motorcycle, number PB 03 AA 4525, his purse and mobile phone. Police have registered a case against unidentified assailants.

Bathinda, October 18
The two-day district level science exhibition began at the MSD Senior Secondary School here today.

District Education Officer (Secondary) Hardeep Singh Taggar inaugurated the exhibition in which school teams that won at the block level are participating.

A total of 47 models — working and static — are on display at the science exhibition. The participating students first competed at the tehsil level.

The theme for this year is "Science and society", which has further been classified into six sub-themes.

These six sub-themes are industry, natural resources and their conservation, transport and communication, information and education technology, community health and environment and mathematical modelling. The exhibition aims at fostering scientific temperament among the students.

Besides the students, the teachers will also be participating in different contests. Teachers will take part in the teaching aid contest.

An on-the-spot slogan writing competition and essay writing competition will also be during the event held to help the children express their views on various topics.

Bathinda, October 18
A 40-member team of the Senior Citizens Council, Bathinda, went on a tour to Gurudwara Jamunisar where Guru Gobind Singh Ji is said to have visited. The team then went to the gurudwara at Saragarhi and paid tributes to the martyrs.

The team visited the martyrs' memorial at Hussainiwala and watched the retreat ceremony. They were lead by the president of the Senior Citizens Council DS Mastana and secretary RD Gupta. — TNS

Bathinda, October 18
Baba Farid College of Engineering & Technology (BFCET) won the overall runner-up trophy by achieving positions in various events of the PTU Inter College Zonal Youth Festival held at Moga.

More than 20 engineering colleges of Bathinda, Malout, Moga, Muktsar, Faridkot, Ferozepur, Barnala and Mansa took part in the festival. Siddhant got the first position in poster making while Apurva bagged the first position in elocution. The college also won gold medals in bhangra and mime competitions.

Manpreet Kaur and Ranu Mishra came second in the poem recitation and mimicry while Phankar Sharma stood second in Punjabi folk song and light vocal Indian.

BFCET won silver medals in play, skit and group song. The students bagged 4 gold and 7 silver medals in 11 events and brought laurels to the college.

Manish Goyal, Principal, BFCET, congratulated the winners.

Giving the information, Gurmeet Singh Dhaliwal, chairman, BFGI, said the BFCET has also achieved excellent academic results. Four of its students were in the merit list of the Punjab Technical University (PTU). Amritpal Kaur from the civil engineering branch and Sunny Kumar from the IT branch scored the 4th and 8th positions in the merit list.

Students of the B.Tech civil engineering batch of 2008-12 — Om parkash and Navneet Gupta— got the 5th and 6th positions in the merit list.

Over 70 students secured more than 80 per cent marks while 10 students got more than 85 per cent marks. Dhaliwal expressed the hope that the studentd and teachers would continue to do well in future. 

Bathinda, October 18
Students of Baba Farid Senior Secondary School (BFSSS) bagged 12 positions at the zonal science fair.

A press statement issued here by the school stated that out of 18 positions, BFSSS students bagged as many as 12 positions. Five different models on paper industry, roots of quadratic equations, bus counter, computer water cooling system and non-conventional sources of energy bagged the first position.

Train barrier, customer banking system, rain water harvesting and effects of pollution on environment and health bagged the second position. Electricity billing system, GPRS, solution of linear equation got the third position. Principal Baljinder Singh and vice-principal Navninder Kaur Dhillon appreciated the efforts of the students. Chairman, Baba Farid Group of Institutions, GS Dhaliwal lauded the performance of the students.