Bathinda, December 2
The residents of Paras Ram Nagar today protested against the ambiguous rules and regulations that govern the cap imposed on LPG cylinders restricting it to a mere six per household every year.

Wearing masks, people carried banners ridiculing the union government for burdening the common man by hiking the rate of the LPG cylinders and the complex methodology of claiming the subsidy. Leading the protest was former municipal councillor Vijay Kumar, who is known for his novel ways of registering a protest.

People carried posters and banners demanding that the central government curtail inflation and take measures to boost the economy.

Vijay Kumar said the rules for claiming the LPG subsidy were very complex. "The government has demanded the details of bank accounts of LPG consumers. It plans to give subsidy only after a consumer has bought the cylinder. This means we will first have to spend for the so-called subsidised cylinder and then wait for six months for the government to refund the subsidy amount directly in our bank accounts," he said.

The former councillor added that the people were facing problems as two witnesses are needed to open a bank account. "What will the joint families do? Poor families are living in just 100 square yard houses and there too, the gas agencies want the families to show two set of kitchens to prove double connections. How is it possible," he asked.

He demanded that instead of six, 12 subsidised cylinders should be given every year. The agitators also demanded that instead of depositing the subsidy in the bank accounts, the government should directly award it to the consumer at the time of getting the cylinders.

Vijay Kumar claimed that many connections have been snapped as the confused consumers have not been able to fill the "Know your customer' (KYC) forms on time. "Earlier, the gas agencies used to sell the cylinders in black, making it available for Rs 1,000. Now, the Central Government has started doing the same," he said.

The former councillor has decided to gear up people over the next ten days. During this period, he would hold door-to-door campaign garnering the support of the people. There are also plans to stop rail traffic as a mark of protest against the central government.

"We will hold nukkad (street corner) meetings and the next time, we will stage protest by banging the utensils. We will ensure that more and more number of women, who run the households, participate in the protest," Vijay Kumar said. The protesters included Bhupinder Singh Bhappa, Surinder Shinda, Alam Singh, Baldev Singh, Sanjiv Soni, Akshat Kumar, Vikram Singh, Vikram Singh, Surinder Vaid, Vicky, Suresh Kataria, Rahul Sharma, Pankaj Sharma and others. (related report on P2)

What the protesters say...

* The government has demanded the details of bank accounts of LPG consumers. It plans to give subsidy only after a consumer has bought the cylinder. This means people will first have to spend for the so-called subsidised cylinder and then wait for six months for the government to refund the subsidy amount directly in their bank accounts.

* People were facing problems as two witnesses are needed to open a bank account. Poor families living in 100 square yard houses are also being asked to show two set of kitchens to prove double connections.

* Instead of depositing the subsidy in the bank accounts, the government should directly award it to the consumer at the time of getting the cylinders.

Bathinda, December 2
Villagers of Sivian, where the four international awards winning Punjabi movie "Anhey Ghorey Da Daan" (Alms of the Blind Horse) was shot extensively, feel that the director and producer of the movie should give the village some credit for its success.

Bathinda girl Kul Sidhu stars in the movie “Anhey Ghorey Da Daan”. file photo

Speaking to TNS, Lakha Singh, one of the five villagers of Sivian who had dialogues in the movie said, "After shooting the movie, director Gurvinder Singh has come just once. He came with around four people in September this year to hold a special screening for the villagers. At that time, he was requested to give some credit and help the village for the immense success that the movie has got. He expressed his helplessness saying it was in the hands of the producer to help the village and not him."

The movie was shot in Sivian village over a period of 17 days.

While five villagers have dialogues in the film, around 25 to 30 villagers have played the role of extras in the film. A village with around 10,000 population, Sivian has high expectations from the film's cast and crew.

The villagers said it is the moral duty of the movie makers to work for the uplift of the village where they shot the film. Even lyricist Amardeep Gill felt that the locales should also be included in the success that the movie is basking in. "All that our people want is some gratitude. When the movie is going places internationally, why not share the happiness with the people who were involved in it," he said.

Besides having villagers as the star cast, the heroine of the movie also belongs to Bathinda. The heroine of the film, Kul Sidhu, has been paired opposite the hero, theatre artist Samuel, who is a rickshaw puller, the protagonist of the film.

Director Gurvinder Singh was not available for his comments.

Bathinda, December 2
Punjab has a number of talented artists and painters, but no money to sustain their work, said cartoonist Mohammad Tofiq, who is from Delhi. In the city to attend the art fest organized by S. Sobha Singh Memorial Chittarkar Society, Tofiq was interacting with TNS on the sidelines of the function.

Working with the popular publication Raj Comics for the last 14 years, Tofiq is best known for his comic strips characters of Shaktiman, Doga, Anthony and Inspector Steel.

Tofiq said the government should open a college for art in the state, thereby making artistry an income earning venture for the youngsters. "Today, we have Punjabi artists and painters working on foreign projects at cheaper rates. If they are given the same kind of work, even at a less price in own state, it would go long way in ensuring a safe career and also prevent brain drain," he said.

Tofiq, 33, has come a long way from working round-the-clock for all kinds of publishers, to running his own venture, Anymagic Animation Institute, in Delhi.

Talking about the evolution of cartooning into animation over the last two decades, Tofiq said India has now become the back office for the international animation works.

"The movie, Chronicles of Narnia, had a lot of animation work done in India. Similarly, there are several Hollywood movies wherein frames have been done by computer professionals in India. Since the human resource in India is cheaper, the foreign film makers prefer getting their itsy-bitsy work done from this country without giving our people any credit," he said.

Tofiq said the comics are soon losing their battle to the 3D animation and video games. Recalling that when he started working with Raj Comics 14 years ago, the circulation of its comic was 1 lakh per year, which has now fallen to a mere 5000 per month.

"Times are changing and only those who keep themselves abreast of the technology will survive. I have 45-year-old artists attending classes at my institute just to keep themselves involved and save themselves from the vagaries of changing times," he added.

He is currently working on an animation serial for children, Shiva, wherein the childhood of God Shiva has been depicted. Tofiq and his team have already done 30 episodes.

Tofiq now plans to market his movie to the top most channels for children in country. "We are sure of kids lapping up this mythological friendly character," he says. It will be a worthwhile wait for the kids for another work of art from this cartoonist.

Fact file

* First animator of India was Bhimsain Khurana who created Ek Chidiya, Anek Chidiya.

* Pran was one of the most successful animators known for his Chacha Chaudhary and Sabu characters.

Bathinda, december 2
More than 500 students, from nearly 15 schools, who visited the 41st state-level science exhibition at Baba Farid Group of Institutions (BFGI) today, were impressed by the diversity of the working models.

Students and teachers (above) from schools across the area have been visiting the 41st state-level science fair at Baba Farid Institute, Deon. A participant (left) explains to the visitors the construction and working of a solar water bulb. Tribune photographs

A section of the teachers said although some of the models were based on very simple scientific principles, they were used in a very impressive fashion.

Jagtar Singh Kularia, deputy director, State Institute of Science Education (SISE), Punjab and Hardeep Singh Taggar, District Education Officer (Secondary), Bathinda and Jarnail Singh Bhodipura, District Science Supervisor (DSS), said the four-day exhibition had been divided into six sub-themes — Industry, Natural Resources and Their Conservation, Transport and Communication, Information and Education Technology, Community Health and Environment and Mathematical Modelling. A large number of models displayed how the solar energy could be used to power up houses and for various other purposes.

Dev Raj Sharma (UK), director, BFGI, in his lecture cited the example of teachers in London schools who not only cared for the studies of their students, but also helped in solving the personal problems of the students. He urged the teachers to treat their students as friends.

Mohinderpal Singh, assistant DSS, said eight judges (subject experts) had been entrusted the task of judging the models, the results of which would be announced tomorrow. He said a technical committee which included Ashok Bindra, Jasbir Singh, Jatinder Sehgal and Sukhjinder Singh had been assigned the task of setting up models as per the themes. He added that the education minister of Punjab, Sikander Singh Maluka would be the chief guest tomorrow and would distribute prizes to the winners.

The deputy directors of BFGI, Pardeep Kaura (academics), BD Sharma (activities) and Harpal Singh (facilities and management) were amongst those who attended the lecture. 

Bathinda, December 2
Thanks to the assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat, for the second time there was no hike in the LPG prices for domestic use.

Though the prices of non-subsidised LPG cylinders are revised in keeping with the international rates on the first of every month, on November 1 and on December 1, there was no hike in the LPG price for domestic use. The rate remained at Rs 947.50 for a 14.2 kg cylinder.

Price for two other categories, the commercial use category (like hotels and industries) and exempted category (like education, religious and government sector), were increased today.

While the price of a 14.2 kg cylinder for the exempted category was increased from Rs 1,229 to Rs 1,284, for commercial use, it was increased from Rs 1,723 to Rs 1,796.50 for every 19 kg cylinder.

As a major economic reform, introduced in mid-September this year, the central government had fixed a limit of six subsidised cooking gas cylinder per year per household.

Since this capping on subsidised LPG cylinders for domestic use, there has been pressure on the government to increase the cap. While there are whispers in the corridors of power that the government is considering to increase the cap in the coming days fearing it could hit the party's electoral performance in the coming elections.

In an attempt to mollify the voters in the states where the Congress is in power, the state governments had increased the limit from six to nine subsidised cylinders per year, with the states paying for the difference for the three cylinders. But the domestic consumers in Punjab are not as lucky as there was no such exemption nor was an increase in the limit beyond six LPG cylinders per year announced.

Bathinda, december 2
Septuagenarian painter Ravinder Singh Mann from Mansa was conferred the lifetime achievement award today for his major contribution of introducing art to the backwaters of Malwa.

Mayor Baljit Singh Beerbehman gives away an award to an artist on the concluding day of the art fest in Bathinda on Sunday. Tribune photo: pawan sharma

S Sobha Singh Memorial Chittarkar Society Bathinda gave the award to Mann on the concluding day of the art fest at the Teachers’ Home here today.

Speaking on the occasion, the president of society, Amarjit Singh said Mann had introduced the era of art and exhibition in the Malwa region, which never knew any soft skills or any form of art.

“Today, he has a huge fan following. People like us, who are his students, stand tall just because of his commitment towards arts. He is a kind of school of arts,” he said.

Besides Mann, the society also felicitated seven other artists. These included Sher Singh Kukkal from Noida, Amrik Singh Namdhari from Jammu, Radhe Shyam Soni from Mandi Gobindgarh, Janmeet Singh Brar from Faridkot, Birkaran Bunty from Bathinda, Amarjit Singh Sukhi from Nabha and Iqbal Singh Manuke from Moga.

Amitabh Sagar, son of the Patiala-based sculptor, AC Sagar, to whom the festival was dedicated, was also honoured on the occasion.

Certificates were awarded to 80 participants as well as the winners of different competitions. Three art teachers Sukhjit Kaur, Kanta Sharma and Avtar Singh, all from Bathinda, were awarded in the art teachers’ competition category.

Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Sarup Chand Singla, Mayor Baljit Singh Beerbehman and chief the Khalsa Dewan Management Rajinder Singh Sidhu were also present on the occasion.

The S Sobha Singh Memorial Chittarkar Society Bathinda raised its demands before Sarup Chand Singla. The members of the society stated that an art college was needed in the region to encourage children towards art. They also demanded space for an art gallery and museum.

Society president Amarjit said in late 1990s Punjab government had started S Sobha Singh Memorial award that carried a cash prize of `1 lakh.

“The prize was conferred just once on Mehar Singh from Chandigarh. After that the state government never continued the award, which could have been of great help for the budding artists,” he said. He added that the district level grants be given to NGOs working in the field of art.