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Change in book fair venue disappoints people
Youngsters fall for pirated version of books
Children are happy scrolling through activity books, illustrated books, rhymes and lessons enrolled in CDs, DVDs and pen drives at the book fair. Tribune photo: Pawan Sharma |
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Maur BJP leader, driver killed in road accident
Kahani Darbar adds value to fair
The book fair organised by the National Book Trust, India, has seen poetry and story telling sessions being organised, enriching the literary value of the event. A Tribune photograph
Winter of discontent looms
Members of the 7654 Sanjha Teachers Front, Punjab, take out a procession in Bathinda on Monday to protest against the policies of the state government and to seek fulfillment of their demands. A tribune photograph
Vigilance Awareness Week at NFL
Six taekwondo medals for city school
Two held for illegal sale of petrol
Power meter goes missing from rice mill, one booked
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Change in book fair venue disappoints people
Bathinda, October 29 Going by the thin crowd at the venue of the book fair, it is evident that the change in venue has left people disappointed at an event that could have been more successful keeping in view the response it evoked in the city on the previous two occasions. While the Punjabi book sellers and publishers as well as those hosting children's games have still managed to get some business, the English publishers and sellers are yet to make a handsome start. "Business is quite poor. Last year, we had got a great response. Perhaps it was due to the venue which was located in the heart of the city," said Sonia Gupta from Neha Book Service, New Delhi. Sonia Gupta added that before coming to Bathinda, she had participated in a book fair held at Agra where all the books flew off the shelves within a few hours. "We simply could not keep up with the demand of the readers. But here, things are just the opposite. We are unable to sell even hundred books put together, leave aside opening new cartons of books," she said. Similarly, Labh Singh Sandhu from Lakhi Jungle Punjabi Sath added that Punjabi publishers still have been able to do some business. "The regional language is faring better than its English and Hindi counterparts. One of the Delhi publishers opposite our stall has not been able to sell even a single product. This is very discouraging. The venue at Government Rajindra College was much better as it was located within the oldest educational institute and was near to the bus stand as well as the Mini-secretariat," he added. Some of the NBT organizers felt that the fair should have been held either at Government Rajindra College or somewhere near Hanuman Chowk so that people could have easily strolled into the venue. One of the organizers, entrusted with the task of making announcements, said he had just returned to the city today from another literary event in Himachal Pradesh. "People from Bathinda kept on calling me inquiring about the venue as the Punjabi University Regional Centre is not well known. With its hidden entrance and no signage installed on the GT Road, it is difficult for people to find their way here," he said. However, the chief editor of NBT, Dr Baldev Singh Baddan said such fairs do not aim at business but at promoting book culture and reading habits. "This is an idea workshop for the publishers to know what the readers want. We have youngsters pouring in demanding the translation of English classics into regional languages and vice-versa," he said. Baddan added that the fair is a melting pot of culture as well wherein publishers and writers from different cultures and forums come and meet. Fact file
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Youngsters fall for pirated version of books
Bathinda, October 29 At the ongoing NBT fair, many youngsters demanded "cheaper" version of books, especially that of English writers like Paulo Coelho's "Eleven Minutes" and "Alchemist", Kiran Desai's "Inheritance of Loss", Arundhati Roy's "God of Small Things", books of Brian Weiss on spiritual experiences and Daniel Carnegie's books on success and career. "I came here looking for cheaper books. But the prices here are the same as that at any other book stall. In fact, now I plan to buy books from Chandigarh or Ludhiana where cheap pirated versions are available," said Jyoti, a student of DAV College. The chief editor of National Book Trust (NBT) Dr Baldev Singh Baddan admitted that piracy was a necessary evil in printing industry. "Be it the markets in Chandigarh or Delhi, some rare old books and magazines are found there. And to some extent, the publishers are also responsible for churning out expensive books instead of making them within the reach of the common reader," he said. He added that private publishers print only 10 per cent of the books in paperback and the rest find their way to the market as hardbacks or glossy covers, which are overpriced and keep the readers at bay. Meanwhile, the book fair evoked a mixed response from the children, young and elderly, by offering something for everyone. From Osho followers to readers of spiritual books, from tech-savvy kids to painters, from translated works to originals, from classic tales to modern era sagas, the fair has something for everyone. While youngsters lapped up the romantic books and magazines, children were happy scrolling through a range of activity books, illustrated books, rhymes and lessons enrolled in CDs, DVDs and pen drives. The NBT's section has the largest collection of quality books for children in regional, Hindi as well as English languages. Added to this are gadgets like telescopes, binoculars, video games and Chinese games that add zing to the book fair. With 56 publishers and 87 stalls, National Book Trust alone has registered a sale of Rs 10 lakhs in the last three days and there are still six more days to go even though private publishers may not be inclined to share the optimism.
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Maur BJP leader, driver killed in road accident
Bathinda, October 29 As per the information, the couple along with their driver was returning towards Maur Mandi in a Tata Indigo car when a tractor-trolley loaded with wood collided with their car. The wood loaded on the tractor-trolley was protruding by up to two feet and one of its sides was hit by the car. BJP district rural president Dyal Sodhi said the headlight beam of the car fell on the wood in the trolley. Since the trolley was being driven without any reflector, the car driver failed to notice the vehicle moving on the road resulting in the collision. Sodhi said the accident took place at around 12.30 am when the couple was returning after attending the marriage of Goyal's aunt's grand-daughter in Bathinda. Expressing helplessness over the rising number of accidents, Sodhi said the matter has been taken up many times with senior government officials and ministers but to no avail. "The roads need to be widened and dividers should be installed to give way to the rising traffic. There is also no check on the illegal loading of iron, wood and other material on tractor-trolleys," the BJP district president said. BJP district president (urban) Gulshan Wadhwa, while condoling the death of his party leader, said the rising number of road accidents is becoming serious. "I witnessed the death of my sister-in-law in a road accident recently and the family is yet to come out of the trauma," Wadhwa said. While seven deaths were reported during the last eight days, two more deaths were reported last night taking the toll to nine in the last eight days. Three retired teachers, two farmers, an ex-serviceman and two others were reported killed in the accidents during the last few days. It may be mentioned that the District Transport Office had sometime back announced that it would begin a drive to install reflectors on tractor-trolleys to prevent such road accidents but the drive seems not to have materialized yet. aTill then, such mishaps would continue to occur in the area, it seems.
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Kahani Darbar adds value to fair
Bathinda, October 29 Writer Attarjit Singh spoke about a Dalit labourer and the reality of Punjab was portrayed through his eyes in the story named "Calusrunia", an irony of the name California that the SAD-BJP government in the state has coined for a developed Punjab. Baldev Dhaliwal narrated "Amirzada", the psychological story of a poor student and the things that he fantasises about. Surinder Ramsree spoke about drug addiction in his story "Raa". Jaspal Mankhera narrated "Gall Gootha" that talked about the farming community's land being acquired by multinational companies and the problems faced by the farmers thereafter. Gursewak Singh Preet spoke about politicians and their political aspirations in the story "Ghod Daud Jari Hai". Harjinder Singh Suriwal narrated the changing times and the changing relations at home in his story "Chooza-Choozi Di Ladai". Aneman Singh narrated the relations in the life of a dancer in his story "Speedpost". Bhoora Singh talked about the pain of partition in his story "Begum Fatima". Amardeep Gill, Gurbachan Singh Naruana, Ravi Ravinder, Gurpreet Mansa and Surinderpreet Ghaniya were also present on the occasion.
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Winter of discontent looms
Bathinda, October 29
Soma Singh, one of the leaders of the union, said the state government had announced to offer jobs for 5000 linemen in the state but it has so far inducted only 1,000 linemen. He said the rest of the 4,000 linemen are without jobs due to the wrong policies of the Punjab Government. The union leaders said the chief minister of Punjab claims to offer jobs to 1.5 lakh youngsters every year but the fate of 4,000 linemen is still hanging in balance. The leaders said the condition of those linemen sitting on hunger strike in the jail too is deteriorating. The leaders accused the state government of exploiting the youngsters by not offering them jobs and diverting the entire energy, money and power only to save their government. The union members said those linemen lodged in jails failed to help even their families which belong to the farming community. They are yet to reap even their standing crop. Senior vice-president of the union Rajinder Singh Gurdaspur threatened to launch a massive protest soon against the delay in the release of the linemen from jails and said they should be immediately provided with jobs. Special trainers' dharna enters its third day The dharna by the special trainer teachers today entered its third day outside the district administrative complex. The teachers are protesting against their long-pending demands. Earlier, the teachers had staged a dharna on Bibiwala road and stopped the flow of traffic on Bathinda-Barnala road in protest. The protesting teachers said they would soon intensify their agitation if their demands are not met. If anything goes wrong, the responsibility would lie with the state government, they warned. The teachers also took out a peaceful protest march in the city. 7654 teachers take out protest march in villages The 7654 teachers of Sanjha Front of Malwa zone today took out a protest march in the villages. After taking out a protest rally on Goniana road, the teachers protested in Sivia, Deon, Burj Mehma, Mehma Sarja and Goniana Mandi in groups. The teachers said are getting Rs 6,000 to Rs 10,000 per month but they should be paid salaries that are equal to the other teachers. The union also sought the regularization of their services. One of the union leaders Parvinder Singh said the teachers are working against all odds but they are not getting adequate salaries. The teachers said they would highlight their plight in the villages to press the government to accept their genuine demands.
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Vigilance Awareness Week at NFL
Bathinda, October 29 Today, a large number of employees assembled in front of the administrative building at 11 am to take pledge. KB Verma, Executive Director, NFL, Bathinda unit, administered the pledge to the employees. The objective of observing Vigilance Awareness Week was also explained to the employees. Banners were displayed at prominent locations in the factory as well as in the township area of the NFL to spread awareness among the people against the evil of corruption. Various competitive programmes will be organized for NFL/CISF employees and the students of Rose Mary Convent School during the week. A lecture will be delivered by the senior manager, vigilance, on the topic "CVC guidelines regarding procurement and control" on November 2. The head of the unit will give away prizes to the winners of various events held during the Vigilance Awareness Week on November 3. On that day itself, a lecture will be delivered by Inder Singh, ex-CDI, CVC, on "Disciplinary proceedings and role of disciplinary authority".
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Six taekwondo medals for city school
Bathinda, October 29
In a press statement issued here, a spokesperson for the school stated that of the six medals, three were gold medals. These were won by Sahil Ali from class VII, Aryan from class V and Ajaywinder Singh from class VII. Another two were silver medals won by Puneet Khanna and Manmeet Singh, both from class VII, while the sixth medal was a bronze won by Vaneet Khanna from class VII. The three gold medallists are the only winners from Bathinda city. The India Open Taekwondo Cup 2012 was organised by the Sports Taekwondo Association, Amritsar. The Sports Taekwondo Association is sponsored by the Taekwondo Board of India and promoted by Kukkiwon- World Taekwondo Headquarter, South Korea.
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Two held for illegal sale of petrol
Bathinda, October 29 Meanwhile, police have arrested four Rajasthan residents with one kilogram of opium. A case under sections 18, 61, 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against the accused at Rama police station.
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Power meter goes missing from rice mill, one booked
Bathinda, October 29 Man injured in accident An elderly man was injured in an accident that took place on GT Road. In a complaint to the police, Harpreet Singh of Guru Nanakpura said a speeding motorbike hit the scooty being driven by his father and injured him seriously. Police have registered a case under sections 279, 337, 338 and 427 of the IPC at the Civil Lines police station. Two thieves arrested Some residents of Bibiwala road arrested two thieves who entered into a hutment in which an electric motor was installed to pump out water. In a complaint to the police, Pawan Bansal said a neighbour informed him about some mischievous activities in the hutment. He raised an alarm. More residents of the area then gathered and nabbed two persons. The accused were handed over to the police and a case under sections 457, 380 and 511 of the IPC has been registered against the accused who have been identified as Deepak Kumar and Leela, residents of Kacha Dhobiana. Two arrested with poppy husk, opium Police have arrested two persons with three and a half kilograms of poppy husk and 100 grams of opium. The accused have been identified as Kuldeep Singh and Gagandeep Singh of Sandhu Khurd village. Investigating officer-cum-complainant in the case Baljinder Singh said a truck has also been impounded by the police in this regard and a case under sections 15, 61, 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against the accused at Canal Colony police station. One arrested for gambling Police have registered a case against one Birbal Kumar of Ghudda village for gambling. A case under sections 13-A, 3, 67 of the Gambling Act has been registered against the accused at Nandgarh police station. In another similar incident, Suraj Singh, a resident of Bhundar village, has been arrested by the police for gambling. An amount of Rs 1,210 has been recovered from the possession of the accused and a case under sections 13-A, 3, 67 of the Gambling Act has been registered against him at Balianwali police station. Three booked for sodomy Police have booked three persons including Rahul, Jassi and Billa for sodomising a resident of Mandi Rampura. The complainant said the accused attacked him using sticks and sodomised him near the cremation ground in Rampura Mandi. A case under sections 377, 323 and 34 of the IPC has been registered against the accused at Rampura city police station. Khokhar resident arrested with drugs Police have arrested a resident of Khokhar village with a large quantity of drugs. The accused has been identified as Jagjit Singh from whose possession the police have recovered tablets, habit-forming drugs in vials and more than 3 grams of smack. The accused was arrested from near Khokhar village. A case under sections 21, 22, 61, 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against the accused at Balianwali police station.
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The change in the venue of the book fair organized by the National Book Trust, from Government Rajindra College to the Punjabi University Regional Centre, has apparently not gone down well with book lovers.
With private publishers selling their books at a higher price, youngsters are being driven more towards the pirated versions of top-listed books.
A Kahani Darbar — story telling session — was held as a literary event at the ongoing book fair organized by the National Book Trust, India
(NBT). Dean, Students' Welfare, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, Paramjit Singh Ramana was the chief guest on the occasion while Baldev Dhaliwal was the guest of honour.
Bathinda, October 29
