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ADR inauguration on Feb 16 Construction of the multipurpose ADR underway in Bathinda. photo: Bhupinder Dhllon
Police busts gang of burglars, arrests five
NRI points out faulty working of RO plants
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Shopkeepers laugh their way to the bank during Valentine Week
Now, a vehicle that can run on solar energy
Soft skill lessons for English teachers in govt schools
Paper presentation at Rajindra College
Scholarship test held at GKU
A large number of students appeared in the test. Tribune photo
3 booked for passing lewd remarks, assault
Two motorcycles stolen from Vishal Nagar area
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ADR inauguration on Feb 16
Bathinda, February 12 The centre would house the office of the chairman of the District Legal Sservices Authority (DLSA), permanent Lok Adalat, the mediation centre, office of the secretary of the DLSA, front office, retainer’s advocates room, mediator rooms, conference hall and a pantry. The state-of-the-art centre would help bring the litigants seeking various legal services under one roof. The foundation stone of the building would be laid by the Chief Justice of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, AK Sikri, on February 16. The two-storey building is being constructed adjacent to the entrance of the court from the District Administrative Complex (DAC) side. The chief justice would also inaugurate the recently-constructed blocks B and C of the Judicial Court Complex. Civil judge (senior division)-cum-secretary of the DLSA, Kawaljit Singh, said so far, these services were being offered at different places. The building would be equipped with all the basic and modern facilities for counselling the litigants, etc, he said. The centre is being constructed adjacent to one of the main entrances so that the front office could act as a filter and people need not come to the court and may get their disputes resolved at the ADR itself. District and Sessions Judge, Jaspal Singh, said there would be a state-level function which would be presided over by the officiating chairman of the Punjab Legal Services Authority, Chandigarh, Justice Jasbir Singh. Chairman of the Building Committee of Punjab, Justice Ranjit Singh and administrative judge, Bathinda Sessions Division, Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain, would also be present on the occasion. An open invitation to the public has been sent by the authorities concerned. Meanwhile, secretary of the Bar Association, Gurwinder Mann, said the ‘pucca’ parking in the courts complex with entry from the DAC side would remain closed till February 16 in view of the preparations for the state-level function. Separate circulars would be sent to all the lawyers practising in the district courts, Mann said. He added that earlier, the foundation stone of the lawyers’ chambers was also to be laid by the Chief Justice but since the Building Committee of the High Court is yet to clear the building plan, the ceremony would be rescheduled later.
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Police busts gang of burglars, arrests five
Bathinda, February 12
Police has recovered gold, Rs 3.72 lakh in cash, an air pistol, a 32-bore revolver with 10 cartridges, a mobile phone, a computer set, an LPG cylinder and a motorcycle. Addressing a press conference here this evening, SSP Ravcharan Brar said the accused were arrested by a police team formed under the supervision of SP (D) Amarjeet Singh, DSP (D) Ranjeet Singh and ASI Kaur Singh. The SSP said the accused have been identified as Gurjeet Singh of Parasram Nagar, Lakhvir Singh of Bhisiana, Raghubir Singh Gora of Burj Mehma, Raghubir Singh Rana of Gurukul Road and Amritpal Singh of Bangi village. Brar added that Gurjeet Singh has a criminal record and is a former member of the Babbar Khalsa Terrorist Group. He was booked by police in 1987 under the Explosive Act, TADA and also under various other sections of the IPC. He was working as an electrician and was involved in looting household goods and money from a petrol pump owner in Rama. Revealing the modus operandi of the accused, the SSP said they would carry out the theft with the help of the victims' family members, friends or employees. While looting Rs 46,000 from a petrol pump owner, Sham Lal of Rama, the accused had got the information, about the money being carried by the owner, from the petrol pump attendant. Apart from looting the cash, the accused also took away his motorbike and mobile phone. The arrested persons are also involved in a case of stealing jewellery worth Rs 6 lakh from Abohar. The SSP said a woman residing near the victim's house told the accused about the jewellery kept in her neighbour's house. The looters used an air gun while committing the crime and also took away a 32-bore revolver and 10 live cartridges. The SSP said the accused used to mortgage the gold in lieu of loans from banks and financial institutions. He also issued a warning to all the financial institutions and banks to verify the credentials of those depositing gold to get loans. "Since it has come to the fore that criminals are depositing the stolen gold in banks and with the financers, from now onwards, we would take stringent action against those who give loan by accepting gold without any receipts of purchase and checking the credentials of the person," Ravcharan Brar added. He also lauded the police teams and pointed out that it had succeeded in cracking the case despite the fact that there was no past record of the criminals arrested. When asked if the policemen would be promoted, he said, "It is our duty to nail the criminals and we should concentrate on doing so while putting aside our personal aspirations." Two-minute silence observed
The Senior Superintendent of Police and the mediapersons present observed a two-minute silence to condole the sad demise of Balbir Chand Sharma, a local scribe working with a Punjabi newspaper, published from Jalandhar, for the past many years. |
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NRI points out faulty working of RO plants
Twenty-year-old Udaybir Mann, a student of BSc
(III year) at the University of Alberta, Edmonton (Canada), has reached this conclusion in his analytical research on RO systems installed in Punjab.
During his visit to Bathinda and Muktsar in 2010, he came across a high number of cancer cases, often linked to groundwater. He belongs to village Deon Khera of Muktsar. Talking to TNS over the phone, Udaybir said the water in Bathinda has highly dangerous salt, arsenic, which is a known cause of cancer. "The data of village Jajjal and Balluana from the study of Government of India, Ministry of Water Resources’ Ground Water Quality in Bathinda, Mansa and Patiala districts of Punjab, reveals that the average total dissolved solids (TDS) in these two villages is 4050 mg/litre, much more than the acceptable limit of 1000 mg/litre, set by the World Health Organization. The study even mentions high presence of arsenic salt at 0.0287 mg/litre against the acceptable limit of 0.01 mg/litre," he said. As the quality of the drinking water is very poor and RO system or its equivalent is a necessity for the people of the areas. However, the wrong operation of these systems has rendered them useless and defunct. After a few cycles of water purification, these RO plants start spewing water loaded with high TDS as well as arsenic, which defeats the very purpose of installing them, Mann added. "Every generic RO system has nine major components and problem lies with the last component, which is the disposal of the drain line waste product. Last component is supposed to dispose off impurities and contaminants found in the water,” he said. During his visit to the villages of Malwa, he found that impurities and contaminants rejected by RO system are not being disposed off properly and are mixed with the fresh water. This will result in deterioration of the quality of clean water after a few cycles. Taking up the example of a village with average population of 2,000, Mann said a common water tank is enough for the village for 10 days. In first cycle, RO system will clean water by 96 per cent. "This means that clean water will have four per cent TDS and the rejected waste will increase the TDS of the next cycle water by 96 per cent since the rejected water is not disposed off but will mix with fresh water," he explained. By the sixth cycle, the quality of water deteriorates below the norms set by the WHO. The quality will deteriorate with each cycle and within one year, the TDS of the clean water will come close to TDS of incoming water. Similarly, after tenth cycle, level of arsenic salts will cross the limit of 0.01 mg/liter. The quality will deteriorate with each cycle and within two years, the level of arsenic in clean water will come close to that in the incoming water. "This means that if one water tank is good for 10 days, after 60 days of operation of RO system, the samples of water will fail as per norms of WHO," he said. Mann suggested that mechanical vapor compression (MVC) evaporators and thermal evaporators are used as effective technologies for dewatering RO reject waste streams. However, Punjab's RO systems do not have this facility, he said. As these facilities are expensive and operating cost is too high, it is not feasible in Punjab, he said.
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Shopkeepers laugh their way to the bank during Valentine Week
Tanbir Dhaliwal Tribune News Service
Bathinda, February 12 Manoj Verma of Shivam Gift House said, "On an average, 25-30 customers come every day, but during the Valentine Week, the number goes up to 50-60 per day. Most of them are youngsters in the the age-group of 16-25 years." He added, "These days, girls spend more money than boys when it comes to purchasing gifts for their loved ones. Girls spend up to Rs 2000 where as boys purchase gifts worth Rs 250- 500." Talking about the sales, he said that they earn Rs 15, 000 to 20,000 per day during this week, whereas on an average day, a sale is of Rs 5000. Milbaran from Goyal greeting and gift gallery said, "The footfall during the Valentine week increases to 150 customers a day. Most of the customers are girls, as they spend more money on gifts than boys. Also the sale increases five-six times more than that on the other days." Talking about the gift items in demand, he said, "Roses, teddy bears, chocolates, cards and heart-shaped items are in great demand. Apart from these, the new items which are on the list are gold-plated silver rose worth Rs 3000 and velvet roses costing anywhere between Rs 500 and Rs 2000." Sukhvir Singh, an employee at an Archies company store said the daily earning of the store goes up by five times during the Valentine Week. "We earn 50,000 to 60,000 per day during Valentine Week, which is five times more than the other days," he said. People from every age group purchase gifts for their special ones. Though youngsters keep purchasing gifts throughout the week, married couple come on February 14 only, he said. Talking about what special the gallery has on offer, he said, "Archies has 158 greeting cards catering to people from all age groups. The cards may cost Rs 50 to Rs 795. There are more than 250 gift items including decorative pieces and jewellery starting from Rs 299 and going up to Rs 2,799." Musical items include a couple water ball, love heart, love rose, a musical heart and many more. Views of girls Bathinda Tribune spoke to a few girls to know their preferences when it came to getting gifts. Teenagers Manpreet Kaur and Ashu Jain said, "We like to celebrate Valentine’s Day by partying hard with friends and exchanging gifts." Manpreet said, "This time, I am purchasing gifts for my family members also. I will will celebrate the day with them." Rajveer Dhillon said, "It is a day of love and I like to spend the whole day with my husband. I will try to make this Valentine’s Day a memorable one for him. I only want a greeting card from my husband, with special lines written by him for me." Khushboo Bansal said, "I like small yet cute gifts like teddy bears, flowers, balloons, etc. The gifts need not be very expensive but should be special." "I would like to go on a long drive with my partner, and I love soft toys and chocolates," Priyanka Saurabh said. A medical student, Puneet Kaur, said, "I like receiving and gifting items which can be used in daily life."
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Now, a vehicle that can run on solar energy
Bathinda, February 12
This motley group of five students and three teachers from the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the college had displayed their car at the recently held cultural festival of the Baba Farid Group of Institutions (BFGI). Talking about the car, one of the students, Simrandeep Dhaliwal said, "We literally started from scrap. We bought a scrap Maruti 800 and worked on it for our project. We replaced the engine of the car with a DC motor. There are four solar panels atop the car. These panels tap the solar energy and convert it into electrical energy that charges the four batteries. These batteries then supply power to the DC motor on which the car runs." While a part of the money for the project has been borne by the group, the college also extended financial help for the project. Apart from buying four solar panels for Rs 10,000 each and the DC motor for Rs 45,000, the group also spent on batteries and other minor modifications. The batteries take two hours to be fully charged after which the car can cover 60-70 kilometres at the speed of 30 kmph, the students said. Talking about the concept of the car, the group said, "Around the world, there is talk about saving the fossil fuels and using renewable sources of energy. The aim behind the project was to make an eco-friendly car that can help us conserve sources of energy for the coming generations," the group said.
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Soft skill lessons for English teachers in govt schools
Bathinda, February 12 With these training sessions, the education department aims at developing the soft skills in students so that they can join the job-oriented courses. The bottom line is to create a group of teachers that can develop the soft skills of students, which are needed in today's age of cut-throat competition. It is a new concept in which the impetus is on government schools. Earlier, the engineering colleges and private schools had been working on the concept. With the introduction of the course in government schools, the students in rural areas, who face problems in getting good jobs despite having the educational qualification for the same, will be especially benefited. To begin with, emphasis will be laid on communication skills. The teachers will be trained to pronounce the words correctly in syllables. The course is expected to inculcate other intricacies of soft skill development in the later stages. After the teachers are trained, workbooks will be made available for the students of Plus Two and they will attend the soft skill development programme from the next academic session onwards. Later, a self-correcting software will also be installed at the Edusat centres and ICT labs that the teachers and students can use together. After completing Plus Two, the students will get in contact with a company at Chandigarh, through the principal, for further placement through online interviews. This company has developed the self-correction software and has official tie-up with the education department. Fact file
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Paper presentation at Rajindra College
Bathinda, February 12 The paper presentation had been organised keeping in view the fact that English is not only a universal language but has also become a key to development and progress of a country, and that the non-English speaking countries face a lot of difficulty while learning the language. Papers were presented on the topics, “Advantages of English Language in the present scenario” and “Problems in learning English”. As many as 13 short-listed speakers participated in the contest. Head of the department Prof Jyotsna Singla introduced the theme of the contest. Prof Jagdish Kaur, Prof Seema and Prof Arun Bala judged the participants. The speakers stressed upon the importance of English for the advancement of their career and the problems of pronunciation and grammar. While Lovedeep grabbed the first position, Lovish Singla and Deepika were adjudged second and third, respectively. Prof Gursharan Mann proposed the vote of thanks. Principal of the college, Vijay Goyal, appreciated the efforts of the department for organising such an activity. He also expressed the hope that it would inculcate a love for the language among the students
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Scholarship test held at GKU
Bathinda, February 12 Because of the huge response from the students, the test was held in two shifts- in the morning and in the afternoon. The scholaship and prizes include laptops, handycams, digital cameras and watches. The test was held under the guidance of vice-chancellor SK Ahluwalia. A career and guidance programme was organized for the parents and the students by SS Kaurra, the public relations officer of the university. Manging director of the GKU, Sukhraj Singh Sidhu, congratulated the staff members for successfully conducting the test. Dean, Academic, Dr BS Dhaliwal and the coordinator of the event, Dr Pardeep Mittal, said the result of the test will be declared on February 20. The result will also be posted on the university's website. The university also plans to organize a number of events for the uplift of different sections of society. Dr AK Kansal, dean, student welfare and Dr Godara, dean, agriculture, said in keeping with its objective, the university is organizing a Lok Mela on February 15 and an agriculture fair on February 26-27.
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3 booked for passing lewd remarks, assault
Bathinda, February 12 Convention postponed “Sikhya Bachao, Punjab Bachao” convention dedicated to Prof Pritam Singh, which was scheduled for February 24, has been postponed due to unavoidable reasons. The convention was being held to discuss the importance of Punjabi language teachers, professors and writers. — TNS
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Two motorcycles stolen from Vishal Nagar area
Bathinda, February 12 In another incident, a Platina motorcycle was stolen from near house number 201, Vishal Nagar area. In his complaint to the police, Surinder Singh from Balla Ram Nagar, stated that some unknown person had stolen his motorcycle, registration number, PB 03 Z 0185. Man assaulted A man was beaten up at village Kamlwala. In his complaint to the Talwandi Sabo police, Gurmeet Singh, a resident of village Kalalwala, alleged that the accused, Kala Singh, a resident of village Kalalwala, had summoned him to his house where Gurmeet was beaten up. The bone of contention between the two was the issue of sidelining an official of the NREGA scheme. The accused is at large.
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The multipurpose Alternate Dispute Redressal (ADR) centre would soon come up in the District Courts Complex within the next five to six months. The construction of the centre would cost nearly Rs 1.16 crores. This ADR is one of the 14 being constructed in Punjab.
Guru Kashi University (GKU), Talwandi Sabo, initiated the process of scholarship for the coming academic year 2013-14 by conducting a test today. The university will give away prizes and scholarships worth Rs 1 crore through this test in which an estimated 5000 students from Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan appeared.
Bathinda, February 12
This is the dream that the students, Kushaldeep Dhaliwal, Simrandeep Dhaliwal, Sukhchain Singh, Parvinder Singh, Shivam Jindal and their teachers, Gursewak Singh, Kanwardeep Brar, Gagandeep Kumar of Malwa College, Faridkot, have set out to realise.