Bathinda, January 14
The Supreme Court has adjourned the hearing in the case of the Bathinda Development Authority (BDA) phase 4 and 5 to January 24.

Even before the case could be taken up for hearing today, it was adjourned for January 24. The law officer of the BDA, Satnam Singh Bhangu, said due to a number of cases lined up for hearing, the BDA case was adjourned to January 24. "We have already submitted all the documents and details that the court had sought," said Bhangu.

In October last year, the court had directed the BDA to submit the documents pertaining to the disputed area and the total area marked on a map.

Applicants for the plots in these areas had been eagerly waiting for the court hearing as the draws for these plots have been put on hold since December 2011. Many applicants have taken loans to pay the earnest money for which they are now paying the interest.

Retired people, with limited sources of income, are finding it more difficult to pay the interest on the amount borrowed as earnest money.

After drawing a huge response from Model Town phase 1, 2 and 3, the BDA had floated phase 4 and 5 on Bibiwala road for which a second batch of 220 plots were put on sale on December 16 2011.

However, the owners of the land, who are unhappy with the BDA for not acquiring the land properly, had moved the court seeking its intervention. The matter was taken up by the Supreme Court.

The land in question has remained mired in controversies. On August 17 2011, a local contractor, whose men were working in the area, had opened fire at journalists during the land acquisition process.

Now, more than 14,500 applicants are waiting for the Supreme Court to settle the case.

Fact file After drawing a huge response from Model Town phase 1, 2 and 3, the BDA had floated phase 4 and 5 on Bibiwala road for which a second batch of 220 plots were put on sale on December 16 2011. However, the owners of the land, who are unhappy with the BDA for not acquiring the land properly, had moved the court seeking its intervention. Due to a number of cases lined up for hearing, the BDA case was adjourned to January 24. In October last year, the court had directed the BDA to submit the documents pertaining to the disputed area and the total area marked on a map.

Bathinda, January 14
Till a few months back, 22-year-old Jazim Sharma could have passed you by like any other guy next door. But ever since the youngster made it to the top five of the music reality show SaReGaMaPa this year, life hasn't been the same for him.

Jazim, who belongs to Bathinda, was evicted from the show on Saturday, following public voting. Talking to TNS, he sounded stoic for his age and said, "Although everyone wants to win, there is a method in God's ways. I am grateful to the public for voting for me and taking me to the top five. After my eviction, my parents called me and told me that God must be having some bigger and better plans for me."

Pursuing his MA in music from the University of Mumbai, Jazim has been staying in Mumbai for over a year. His family stays near the Bathinda Fort. While his father is employed with the health department in Goniana Mandi, his mother is a housewife.

Known for singing ghazals throughout the show, Jazim says he wants the genre of music to be appreciated by the masses as well as Bollywood. "Ghazals have always been relegated to parallel cinema. Although my aim is to do playback singing in films, I want ghazals to be included in commercial films," he says, adding that soon the public would get to hear his voice in Hindi and Punjabi films.

About facing tough competition on the show, he said, "All the contestants had a different style of singing. I sang only ghazals throughout the show. Similarly, the other contestants had their individual genre. I was never bogged down by the pressure since I was competing against myself."

Jazim says that honing his singing skills under the guidance of the judges and the guest judges of the show was a big help to his career. "With people like Rahul Ram, Shankar Mahadevan and Sajid-Wajid as judges on the show, and the stalwarts of Indian classical music as guest judges, I learnt in three months what I couldn't have learnt in three years," he said.

The ghazal singer studied at the Police Public School, DAV College and Rajindra College in the city apart from studying in Malerkotla and Jalandhar before going to Mumbai.

Students of Police Public School, SSD School and Rajindra College take part in the Republic Day rehearsals at the Multi-purpose Sports Stadium in Bathinda on Monday. Tribune photos: pawan sharma

Bathinda, January 14
Day I of the Republic Day rehearsals, being conducted at the Multi-purpose Sports Stadium in the city, was marred by the lack of basic facilities for the students participating in the rehearsals. Surprisingly, students of various schools and colleges gave the rehearsals a miss.

Students from various schools are to present cultural programmes and in-charge of these programmes is the Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development).

During a meeting convened by the Deputy Commissioner Kamal Kishore Yadav a few days back, he had directed that besides the school students, participation of college students should also be ensured.

The full dress rehearsal will be organised on January 24.

High absenteeism

Students of only the Police Public School, SSD School and Rajindra College were present at the stadium for the rehearsals.

However, as many as 20 students from DAV College were absent during the rehearsals. This included 15 boys and five girls. Similarly, students, 20 boys and 10 girls, of the Punjab Technical University Giani Zail Singh Campus did not attend the rehearsals. As many as 30 boys from ITI Bathinda, 30 girls from the Khalsa Girls College and MHR School were not present during the rehearsals.

Saving water

The authorities seem to have taken the 'Save Water' concept to a new high. Not only was the ground at the stadium not sprinkled with water, there was no arrangement of drinking water for the students. During the rehearsals for the Independence Day last year, a water tanker with a hose was the only source of drinking water for the rehearsing students.

No medical facility

Although the sun has been shining bright, keeping in view the chilly weather, the DC had directed the health department to keep its team stationed at the stadium during rehearsals to meet with any eventualities.

Without caring for the directions, no medical facility was available at the stadium on Monday.

No refreshments, transport facility

While on Day I, the rehearsals started a little later than 10 am, Tuesday onwards, it will begin at 10 am and will continue till 12 noon.

There is no arrangement for refreshments for the students who will rehearse for two hours.

While speaking to Tribune News Service, Assistant Education Officer (AEO) Pavitar Kaur said, "Refreshment is provided to the students only during the last few days of the rehearsals."

She also added that although schools or colleges are provided conveyance facility to ferry the students to and from the stadium, none of the schools has asked for it till now.

"If a school or college, located at a distance from the stadium, asks for the conveyance service, we will arrange for it with the help of the District Transport Officer. But till now, we haven't received any such request," she said.

Bathinda, January 14
The Democratic Mid-Day Meal Cook Front has accused the Punjab government of pocketing Rs 3 crore which was a part of the salaries of the 40,000 cooks working in Punjab under the scheme.

In a press statement issued here today, the district Bathinda president Shinder Kaur Sibia, state vice-president Jal Kaur Nathana, Sandeep Singh Phul, Kulwant Kaur Kalyan and Sukhpal Singh Sibia accused the government of not even paying their Rs 1,200 per cook salary in full.

Quoting a letter that the additional secretary, school education, had written to the Director General of School Education (DGSE) Punjab, the union members said a hike of Rs 200 in the salaries of the cooks was declared from December 2011 onwards and a due notification was also issued.

However, the hike was implemented in April 2012, they alleged. “This way, the government pocketed `800 from the salary of every cook. As many as 40,000 cooks work in Punjab under the scheme in the state. The government pocketed more than Rs 3 crores in all," said Sibia. They condemned the government, saying it was not justified on its part to extend such step-motherly treatment to cooks who sit before fire for hours cooking meals for the students.

She added that a large numbers of cooks are widows, whose houses are run on the Rs 1,200 salary given to them. They demanded the government to pay up the arrears to all the cooks and roll back the decision of giving the scheme on contract basis.

They added that the information received under the Right to Information (RTI) Act has revealed that in 2011-12 the Central Government had sent Rs 175.62 crore and state government contributed another Rs 50.82 crore in it. Of the total Rs 266.68 crore collected, only Rs 162.68 crore was spent.

"Government did not spend the entire funds, which speaks volumes about its functioning,” said Sibia.

During last academic sessions, the funds for the scheme were delayed by three to four months and in many schools the scheme had to be suspended. She alleged that in Punjab the scheme is not taken seriously. Cooks said they were paid a meagre salary, which was not enough. Leaders of the union said the government had given them fake assurances and in the garb of non-availability of funds, the government had been claiming that the salaries could not be revised.

They said a meeting of all the mid-day meal cooks from Bathinda, Faridkot and Muktsar districts will be convened on January 20 at Gurudwara Haji Rattan to discuss the future course of action.

Bathinda, January 14
Four people have been arrested for selling China- made kite string that has been banned in the district.

SHO Canal Colony police station, Karamjit Singh, said the accused have been identified as Lakhwinder Singh, Vijay Kumar and Rajesh Kumar, all residents of Paras Ram Nagar and Sanjogdeep, a resident of the Pratap Nagar area.

Police have also recovered China-made strings from their possession and booked them under Section 188 of the CrPC.

The sale of China-made string, popularly called China dor, also known as killer string for its harmful effects, is banned as per the orders of the district magistrate.

Made of plastic, the string is known to cause many accidents and leave birds bleeding to death.

Volunteers of the city-based NGO Sahara Welfare Society today rescued two birds that had got caught in the China-made string.

A pigeon got strangulated by a portion of the string on the mobile phone tower on Mall Road. The bird was safely rescued and released.

In a similar incident, the volunteers rescued a parrot near the district administrative complex. Caught in the string, the parrot got hung from a tree.

Many NGOs in the city have been campaigning against the use of China dor for kite flying as it is notorious for causing accidents.

Last year, the NGOs had organised a march in the city to protest against the sale and use of the China-made string.

Bathinda, January 14
Punjab Lok Sabyachar Manch (PLS Manch) is organising a cultural programme on January 25 at SSD Girls College Bathinda from 5:30 pm to 9:30 pm.

The programme is being organized to promote progressive culture and to discourage the anti-women and anti-social ideology. Artists from Ahmedabad along with several Punjabi artists will perform at the function. — TNS

Bathinda, January 14
Guru Gobind Singh College of Computer Applications organized a five-day skill and talent enhancement programme called "STEP". The basic features of the programme were numerical aptitude, general awareness, communication skills, interview skills and group discussion.

The objective of conducting the programme was to develop the personality of students in such a way that they are able to crack the different stages of interviews conducted by the companies for recruitment purposes. — TNS

Bathinda, January 14
A mobile phone was recovered from a jail inmate during a checking in the Bathinda Central Jail today. The accused has been identified as Ashok Kumar alias Teetu, a resident of Amritsar.