Bathinda, March 3
With the Punjab State Warehousing Corporation (PSWC) looking for godowns with open area (plinths) to store the expected rabi crop, wheat, the old godown owners have demanded that the corporation should consider taking their units on rent.

Through a tender floated a few days ago, the PSWC had sought plinths (open godowns) to store 7.80 lakh metric tonnes of wheat in 16 districts having 47 centres.

Sources said the PSWC officials were now visiting various new godowns to take them on rent.

"After inserting tender notices in newspapers, the PSWC authorities are avoiding old warehouses and are conducting inspections at new godowns, which is not justified," regretted the owner of an old godown. He added that the PSWC was according priority to new godowns, whereas the old open godowns were available at cheaper rates.

Sources said the cost of storing a quintal of wheat was expected to be between Rs 1.25 and Rs 1.5 per month while the old godowns were available at 72 paise per quintal, the old rate fixed by government.

While the guarantee period in new godowns was three years, which can be extended for two years, the period could be limited to one year at old godowns, which could prove more convenient to the Corporation.

The president of Open Plinth Owners' Association, Narayan Garg, said "The government makes an agreement with godown owners to take their units on rent for a fixed term of three years (the guarantee period), which can be extended by two years if the entire grain is not picked."

He added that open plinths did not have a bright future as already there was a furore over grain rotting in open godowns thereby posing a threat to the food security of the nation.

"Sooner or later, the government will have to ensure that grains are stored in covered godowns. If this procedure happens before the term of three to five years, the government would be at receiving end as by then, it would be impossible to annul the contracts awarded to new godowns," he reasoned.

Old godown owners said the PSWC officials were inspecting new godowns, which would be readied after they were selected. On the other hand, old godowns have already been inspected and could be readied in a shorter span of time.

Narayan Garg said the old godowns would be cheaper especially in the scenario when a large number of plinth godowns were already lying unutilised.

The owner of an old godown, Rahul Garg, said he had applied for giving his godown on rent to the PSWC. However, his application was declined due to its location being close to a brick kiln as the soot from the kiln could damage the stored grains. But the same godown was earlier taken on rent, he remarked.

Meanwhile, officials of the PSWC, Bathinda, said higher officials had issued instructions that only new godowns should be taken on rent. The godowns offering lesser rates would be taken, they added.

The managing director of the PSWC, Arvinder Singh Bains, said: "The issue is not of old or new godowns. Only those godowns fulfilling the specifications of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and having lesser rates will be taken on rent. We will utilise the old godowns for some other purposes."

Bathinda, March 3
The Bathinda Sangharsh Committee held a protest against the rising prices at Parasram Nagar Chowk here today.

Former municipal councillor Vijay Kumar led the protest staged against the hike in fuel price, rising prices of edibles and the reduction of stamp duty on the import of gold.

Vijay Kumar said that in the Union Budget announced a few days ago, Finance Minister P Chidambaram brought down the import duty on gold, which was not of much use to the common man.

“We need 'roti, kapda aur makaan' (food, clothes and house) and not gold. We cannot eat gold. The budget was only for the elite class,” he said.

In a sequel to their novel ways of protest, the protesters wearing masks of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, AICC chief Sonia Gandhi and Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram injected inflation into the common man.

The protesters demonstrated oil companies tormenting the commoner by raising the prices of petrol and diesel.

Sanjiv Kumar Soni, Lakhmir Singh, Alamjeet, Tirlok Kumar, Satnam Singh and others participated in the protest.

Bathinda, March 3
It seems that thieves are on the prowl on the Ajit road in the city.

After two incidents of theft on Friday night the area saw another case of burglary last night.

While they succeeded in stealing an LPG cylinder, their attempt to steal costly material from a shop for sanitary fittings proved futile as they failed to open its iron shutter.

Gogi, a relative of the owner of the shop selling electronics goods on the Ajit road, said five LCDs besides Rs 17,200 in cash and other costly material were stolen last night.

The total cost of the stolen material was estimated to be around Rs 77, 000.

Residents of the area said the police needs to pull up its socks so as to reduce the cases of theft, which were on the rise.

The residents said the claims made by the police of having intensified patrolling in the area were proving to be incorrect considering back-to-back thefts.

Police sources said in majority of cases, drug addicts were behind thefts. They were also involved in stealing streetlights in order to take advantage of the darkness.

The shopkeepers said that three incidents of theft in just four days had shocked them.

Kala and Honey, who have their shops on the Ajit road, said the PCR cops, who were on night duty, failed to spot the thieves who succeeded in decamping with costly material.

Bathinda, March 3
“Glaucoma (kala motia) is a thief of vision. It makes people blind silently and permanently," said Dr Amrit Sethi, president, Bathinda Opthalmological Society. Dr Sethi, who has been the past president of the Punjab Opthalmological Society, was delivering an awareness lecture at the Brahmakumaris' Centre this morning.

He said timely detection and prompt treatment of glaucoma can prevent blindness in a majority of the cases. After cataract, glaucoma has emerged as the second biggest cause of preventable blindness in India.

About 10 per cent population above the age of 60 years suffers from this ailment. With increasing longevity, the incidence of glaucoma is also increasing, said Dr Sethi stressed upon the need of yearly eye check up after the age of 40 years to detect glaucoma in time. The society arranged this lecture society as a part of national campaign launched by Glaucoma Society of India. A similar lecture has been arranged for the members of the Senior Citizens' Council at Ambedkar Bhawan. More lectures have been planned for the Pensioners Association, Retired PSEB Employees Union and other groups of the target population.

Dr Sethi added that at Hotel Amsun Pride on Amrik Singh Road, a scientific session on glaucoma will be held on March 9 where Prof SS Pandav from PGI, Chandigarh, Prof Anand Aggarwal from the Amritsar Medical College, Dr Parul Goel from Amritsar and Prof SP Singh from the medical college in Faridkot will deliver a lecture on latest developments in the diagnosis and treatment modalities of glaucoma.

A glaucoma awareness march is also being held on March 10, starting from Rose Garden to SSD Girls' College. The march will begin at 9 am.

Dr GPI Singh, vice-chancellor, Adesh University, Civil Surgeon Dr Ajay Sahni and the president of the Bathinda chapter of the IMA Dr Shiv Dutt will flag off the march. More than 500 people, including students and nurses of medical colleges, members of the IMA and NGOs will participate.

Bathinda, March 3
The Bathinda chapter of the Gift of Life Organ Donation Awareness Society (GLODAS) was launched here today at the Max Hospital.

Speaking on the occasion, GLODAS president and the head of the renal transplant department at the DMCH, Ludhiana, Dr BS Aulakh said the chapter will introduce the people of Bathinda to organ donation movement, which can save lives.

He said on an average, 1.5 lakh people suffer from kidney failure and only 3000 to 4000 undergo transplantation with the organ donated by their near and dear ones. On the other hand, there are many brain dead patients in various hospitals whose organs can save precious lives, he said.

Dr Aulakh added that the main aim of the function was to spread awareness among the people so that they can pledge their organs during their lifetime itself. It can be used after their death. He said one braindead patient can save eight lives and help 50 others.

Already sects like the Dera Sacha Sauda, Tarksheel Society and the forensic department of the Adesh Medical College are promoting organ donation in the Malwa region.

Dr Aulakh said the structure of the Bathinda chapter of GLODAS will be decided later.

Bathinda, March 3
The Kaleidoscope Photography Club of Bathinda organised a photo walk today under the guidance of the club members Nirlep Singh, Suresh, Hans, Gurpreet, Tushar and Mithun. This is the second such walk organised by the club. As many as 25 photographers participated in the walk. The youngest in the group was a class VI student from village Jalal.

Last year too, the club had organised a walk during which the photographers covered the old Bathinda town.

"Many photographers had expressed a desire that the next walk should be held in the lap of nature. So this time, we started from Bibiwal bridge and walked towards village Gobindpura. We walked for four-five kilometres and clicked the pictures of trees, canal, birds and village folk. We also covered an ancient sacred grove spread over 400-500 acres of land covered with dense trees. A lot of migratory birds are also found there," said Nirlep Singh.

A talk on bird watching was to be delivered by Prof Shubh Prem Brar. Although he could not make it to the walk, key points like how to start bird watching, things to be taken care of while doing so and how bird watching can contribute towards the conservation of nature were discussed during the walk.

Talking about the popularity of the concept of a photo walk, Nirlep Singh said, "This time also, the photo walk got a good response.

“The concept of photo walk is very popular in the foreign countries. In India, the concept is still in its nascent stage. A photo walk is the best platform for photographers to spend time together, learn from each other and do nothing but click pictures."

Many of the photographs clicked during the photo walk today will be displayed during the 14th Rahul Yaadgaari Art Festival to be held this month at Teachers' Home.

Bathinda, March 3
Two persons lost their lives while two others were seriously injured in two separate mishaps.

Volunteers of the NGO Sahara Jan Sewa said Gopal Singh, a resident of Maisarkhana was killed in a road accident that took place near Gill Patti village on the Bathinda-Goniana road. He was travelling in a Hyundai Accent car along with Manpreet Singh and Bhupinder, who also belonged to Maisarkhana. Manpreet and Bhupinder were rushed to the Civil Hospital by the volunteers of Sahara Jan Sewa.

Sahara volunteers said the car overturned as the driver lost control over the vehicle. The youths were returning from a wedding ceremony and were on their way to Maisarkhana.

In another incident, an unidentified man, around 45 years of age, died after he was hit by a speeding train near the railway track adjoining the Gill Patti village. Volunteers of the NGO Sahara Jan Sewa said the body is yet to be identified. The Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel have been informed about the incident.

Bathinda, March 3
Under the College Week Celebrations held at the Adesh Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (AIMSR), events like Rangoli competition, sandwich making competition, flower arrangements and mehendi were organised today.

Vice-chancellor of the Adesh University, Dr GPI Singh, his wife Prabhjeet Kaur and the principal, AIMSR, Dr Harkiran Kaur were present on the occasion. Batch 2009 was adjudged as the overall winner in all the hobbies events.

In mehendi contest, Palak and Sakshi secured the first place. In fresh flower arrangement, Utkarshini, Swati and Suhani secured the first position. In clay

modelling, Amanpreet, Namrata and Shahbaaz secured the first place and in rangoli making, Anchal and Medha secured the first place.

Bathinda, March 3
The SSD Group of Girls' Colleges organised its annual athletic meet here today. Assistant Superintendent of Police Alka Meena, presided over the function. College president Nand Lal Garg, general secretary Prof Dr PK Gupta, secretary (WIT) Ramesh Kanodia, secretary of the B.Ed. College Ajay Gupta, principal of the SSD Girls' College Dr Parminder Kaur Tanghi and Dr Sukhvir Kaur were also present at the function.

Dr Tanghi welcomed the guests and motivated the students to take part in the various track and field events. ASP Alka Meena declared the sports meet open. While addressing the students, she said they should work hard to realise their goals. The event was conducted under the guidance of the physical education instructor Veerpal Kaur.

The Kalpana Chawla team won in the march past competition. While Amandeep and Maninder bagged the first position in the three-legged race, the second place went to Neelam and Manjit while the third place went to Veerpal and Kiranjeet. The sack race competition was won by Sunita. In the shot-put competition, the first, second and third places went to Rajni, Ramandeep and Archana, respectively.

In the 100 metre race, Manpreet, Manjti and Shweta won the first three positions, respectively. In the javelin throw competition, Manpreet Kaur won the first position while the second and third places went to Ravinder Kaur and Sneha Singla.

Rajni, Ravinder and Mandeep won the first, second and third positions in the discus throw event. The Disha group of the SSD Girls' College won the relay race while the team of the Women's Institute of Technology (WIT) won the tug-of-war.

In the fast cycling competition, Leena Garg bagged the first position. She also won the slow cycling competition while Yuvika won the second position. In the obstacle race, Baljit Kaur, Sinita and Kirandeep won the first, second and third places, respectively.

The sack race was won by Arshdeep while the second and third positions in the event were bagged by Saloni and Navneet. Manpreet won the 200 metre race while the 400 metres race was won by Mandeep Kaur.

The long jump competition was won by Manjit.

Manpreet Kaur of the SSD College was adjudged the best athlete and the overall trophy also went to the SSD Girls' College.

Bathinda, March 3
The College of Physical Education of the Guru Kashi University (GKU) organised an athletic meet for the BPE students. Dean of the department of agriculture, Dr Godara, was the chief guest on the occasion.

While Dr Ravinder Sumal delivered the welcome speech, Prof Gurdeep Singh and Surinder Kaur Mahi assisted in organising the various track and field events.

Dr KPS Mahi, coordinator of the event, said the athletic meet was a part of the curriculum and aimed at strengthening the practical knowledge of the students of physical education.

While Gursewak Singh was adjudged the best male athlete, Sandeep Kaur won the title in the category for girls.

Director (Sports) at the GKU, Dr Tirlok Singh Sandhu, appreciated the initiative taken by the staff and the students.

Vice-chancellor of the GKU, SK Ahluwalia, said the youth should be encouraged to take up sporting activities so that it could keep them fit. It will also wean them away from social evils like drug addiction, he said.

In the end, KPS Mahi proposed the vote of thanks.