Bathinda, October 23
After ruffling the feathers of criminals by forming the Eagle Squad, the newly-posted SSP Ravcharan Singh Brar today formed the 'People's Eye' — a first of its kind initiative by the Bathinda Police to curb the incidents of crime in the city.

In a police-public meeting organised in the Administrative Complex here, the SSP announced to introduce the 'People's Eye' and termed it as one of his experiments to tackle crime.

Under the new initiative, the police will make a chain of youngsters who would remain in touch with senior police officers to keep them informed about untoward incidents happening in the city. Two team leaders have been selected, who would further increase the members of their respective teams by tapping youths in every nook and corner of the city. They are the executive, finance, of the Naujawan Welfare Society, Sahil Goyal, and Bharat Jindal of the BJP.

The SSP said the two young boys would make a chain of people — like a social networking website Facebook — in the city and the flow of information would take place soon.

"To reduce a direct clash with the people, we have chosen two persons from the public. They would become the eyes of the police and keep the senior functionaries informed about the happenings in the city," Brar said.

A local boy, Anmol, who was allegedly slapped by two constables in Dhobi Bazar on Sunday, was also present in the meeting. The SSP announced to induct him into the team.

He added that the experiment would start from the auspicious day of Dussehra, i.e. tomorrow.

"We urge people to take the initiative as a positive step towards their betterment and to make the Bathinda Police friendlier," Brar said. He added that his aim was to make Bathinda a crime-free city. "Though we cannot completely finish the crime, we may bring it down to a great extent with the help of the city residents, NGOs, and the media," the SSP said.

Denying any possibility of the police morale declining with the induction of young boys as informants, the SSP said it would encourage people to give more information to the police. "The boys would only work as informers and if caught in any wrong act, they too would be taken to task," he said.

Announcing to bring more such reforms, the SSP said installing CCTV cameras was in the pipeline to curb incidents of snatching, traffic violations and other crimes.

Bathinda, October 23
The government teachers of all the six blocks will be imparted training under the Population Education Project on October 25.

The training will be given through the Edusat at the schools earmarked in different blocks. Teachers have been directed to report at the nearest sites that are uplinked through the Edusat.

The Population Education project runs in government schools to educate children under the adult education programmme to address their various 'growing-up' problems.

The state science education department will be imparting the training session that will run from 9 am to 10 am. In Nathana block, teachers can attend the training at government schools of Bhucho Kalan, Bhucho Mandi (boys), Chak Fateh Singh Wala, Baliwanwali (girls and boys) and Lehra Mohabbat.

In Bathinda block, teachers can attend training at government schools of Bathinda (girls), Paras Ram Nagar, Behman Diwana, Balluana, Jhumba and Goniana Mandi (girls and boys).

In Sangat block, training would be imparted at Sangat, Raman Mandi (girls), Multania and Gehri Buttar.

In Phool east block, teachers can attend the training programme at Mandi Kalan, Chauke and Dhadde.

In Talwandi Sabo block, training would be given at schools in Jagaram Tirath, Talwandi Sabo, Maur Mandi (girls), Ghumman Kalan, Bhagivandar and Kotfatta.

Bathinda, October 23
With the Punjab cabinet approving the Punjab Municipal Outdoor Advertisement Policy, 2012, a uniform policy for advertisements all over the state has been introduced.

The newly-framed policy will enable all the municipal bodies, whether corporations, councils or committees, to follow the set guidelines. Earlier, all the local bodies had their own policies regarding advertisements.

The main aim of the policy was to ensure that outdoor advertisements do not pose any danger to the road traffic within the municipal limits of various cities. It aimed at auctioning spaces meant for outdoor advertisement in a transparent manner to stop illegal practices prevalent in the trade.

However, the draft of the stated policy was presented before the general house of the MCB during its meeting on October 8. It was duly passed.

"Earlier, we avoided obscene advertisements or the ads popularising tobacco products, on our own. We considered it to be our moral duty not to display such ads in public. Now, we have set guidelines and we can act within their ambit," said Bathinda municipal commissioner Uma Shankar Gupta.

Currently, the revenue budget of the Municipal Corporation, Bathinda (MCB), is Rs 75 crore, of which advertisements fetch only Rs 2 to Rs 3 crore. The new policy aims at increasing the revenue earned through advertisements.

Before framing the policy, some ad contracts were invited through Expressions of Interest (EoI) while others were sought through auction. However, as per the letter issued in March 2011 by the local bodies department, all ad tenders were to be called through e-tendering or e-auction.

As per the new policy, all contracts will have to be invited through an open auction only. If a municipal body wants to adopt any other means of awarding a contract, it will have to seek permission from the local bodies department, Government of Punjab.

It also lays emphasis on generating funds for the municipal bodies as well as beautifying the cities.

As per the draft of the policy, advertisements have been broadly divided into four categories. The big ads will be displayed as billboards/unipoles or on panels. The second category pertains to public conveniences such as public toilets, garbage collecting depots and other ads. The third category is of ads fixed on moving objects such as vehicles and personal ads fixed on commercial spaces.

The municipal bodies will categorise areas in their respective limits as per the law and notify them. The policy specifies traffic, lightning and contents of the ads.

It will also have a separate list of places wherein posting or displaying ads is strictly prohibited.

Bathinda, October 23
The Punjab Marriage Palaces Association and the Bathinda Hotels, Restaurants and Resorts Association have flayed the taxes imposed by the state government. The members of the associations will hold a meeting on October 25 to decide their future course of action.

The president of the Bathinda Hotels, Restaurants and Resort Association, Satish Arora, said the marriage palaces came into being around 20 years ago when no specific permissions were required to be obtained from the government. However, in 2012, the government imposed certain taxes, CLU (Change of Land Use) charge, EDC (External Development Charge) and licence fees. These taxes shook the very foundation of the marriage palaces and most of them are now on the verge of closure.

“We will fight against such imposition tooth and nail by holding rallies and meetings,” Arora said. — TNS

Bathinda, October 23
An ex-serviceman was killed in an accident that took place near Jodhpur Romana. The deceased has been identified as Baldev Singh who was returning to his village, Pathrala, and was hit by a vehicle. Volunteers of the Sangat Sahara, an NGO, shifted him to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. The police was informed about the incident.

Meanwhile, in another incident, two motorcyclists who were riding on the Badal road towards Naruana village got injured after they were hit by a speeding unidentified vehicle. One of them, sustained serious injuries and was admitted to the emergency ward of a hospital by volunteers of the Sahara Jan Sewa. He has been identified as Malkit Singh, a resident of Bathinda. — TNS

Bathinda, October 23
A two-day national seminar on "Emerging environmental issues: legislative and judicial approach" concluded at the department of law, Punjabi University Regional Centre, Bathinda, today.

Around 150 scholars from Bangalore, Orissa, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and Rajasthan participated in the seminar.

Prof Paramjeet Singh from Punjabi University, Patiala, delivered the valedictory address at the concluding ceremony today, while the dean, students' welfare, Prof Kulbir Singh was the guest of honour.

The chief guest at the inaugural ceremony yesterday was the dean, academic affairs, Punjabi University, Patiala, Prof SS Khehra.

President, District Consumer Redressal Forum, Gurdaspur, Sanjay Garg, delivered the keynote address.

In his inaugural address, Prof SS Khehra spoke about the various laws and judgments on environment. He spoke about the Environmental Protection Act, Biodiversity Act, Forest Conservation Act and National Green Tribunal Act.

Speaking about the Green Tribunal, Prof Khehra said the judiciary has played a significant role in ensuring that the green lungs of the country remain intact and healthy.

He said along with the members of the judiciary, an equal number of technical experts and non-government organizations (NGOs), working for environment protection, have also been given adequate representation in the tribunal.

"At times, while in court, the members are not able to clearly represent the matters related to the environment. This responsibility now lies with the technical experts," he said.

Prof Khehra added that special benches have been formed for the speedy disposal of cases. He said heavy penalties have been imposed on the violators of rules. Any individual found violating the environmental laws will be fined Rs 10 crore and Rs 25,000 per day in case the penalty is not paid. Similarly, companies have been imposed a fine of Rs 25 crore and Rs 1 lakh per day if the default continues.

He spoke about the far reaching judgments of the Supreme Court such as making it mandatory for the diesel-run vehicles in Delhi to get converted to CNG. "Everyone opposed the CNG. But over the years, people have realised that Delhi has become a better place to live in. Similarly, the court directed moving out of the hazardous industries from Delhi city, banning stone crushing in residential areas, the Mussoorie deforestation case, banning smoking at public places to save the passive smokers and other such judgments.

Prof Khehra said while the judiciary was playing a proactive role in environmental activism, laxity on the part of the executing agencies have resulted in failure to implement the laws in their true spirit.

Sanjay Garg laid emphasis on creating awareness among the common man about the laws.

Prof Harpal Kaur talked about various aspects of environment on sustainable development. Dr Monika Chawla also discussed the environmental issues.

Seminar coordinator Dr Nimmi conducted the stage while Pushpinder Kaur Dhillon proposed the vote of thanks.

Bathinda, October 23
To celebrate the Navratras, Garba was organized at the SSD Women's Institute of Technology. All the teachers and students participated in the celebrations. The participating students were judged for their performance and accordingly honoured on the occasion.

Rishika, a student, was awarded for having the most decorated dandiya. Pooja Kansal and Karishma received the award for the best dance, Shalu and Sonam were awarded for being the best couple and Jaya was awarded for wearing the best dress.

Teachers, Mona and Samriddhi, were honoured as the best couple while Samriddhi was also awarded for wearing the best dress.

SSD Sabha office-bearers Nand Lal Garg, Pramod Mittal, Dr Parminder Kaur, Dr PK Gupta, Ramesh Kanodia, Narinder and others were also present at the celebrations.

Garba celebrations were also held at the SSD Senior Secondary School where people from the Gujarati community and others performed the traditional dance.

The event has been witnessing a great rush of people from the city who watch the Garba till around midnight and take part in the proceedings.

Bathinda, October 23
A meeting of the review committee under the Tobacco Products Act, 2003 was held today. Addressing the stakeholders, District Health Officer Dr RS Randhawa said only the police and the health department authorities have issued challans so far to those found smoking in public.

Officials from the health department, municipal corporation, water supply and sewerage department, PWD, agriculture, animal husbandry, PRTC, NFL and Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant (GNDTP) are empowered to issue challans to those who smoke in public.

"Any violator can be issued a challan. You can issue a challan to him or her for smoking on the premises of your area, if it is a public area," Dr Randhawa said while addressing the stakeholders. He added that the police was not needed to issue challans and that the Act empowers the government officials to perform the task. All the officials were issued challan books and the departments were directed to appoint a nodal officer for the exercise.

Also, flex sheets carrying messages against smoking at public places, ban on the sale of tobacco and tobacco products to children below the age of 18 years, prohibiting the sale of tobacco products within a 100 metre radius of educational institutes and a warning that consumption of tobacco causes cancer were distributed. These flexes would be put up on display at public places.