Bathinda, June 11
It was a mixed bag of reactions for those who came to attend the open darbar organised by the Bathinda Zone police here today to resolve domestic disputes.

While those whose grievences were redressed could be seen savouring the moment with family members, others were crestfallen that things did not work out even at this level.

Inspector General of Police Nirmal Singh Dhillon said the rationale behind the move was to accord both parties a chance to be heard by the top brass and correct shortcomings at the lower echelons of the department. "We want to rope in NGOs and social workers to provide guidance to young couples who fall out for petty reasons like false pride and ego," he pointed out.

As the information about the darbar had been disseminated widely, people had started assembling at the venue since early morning. Although adequate arrangements were made by the organisers for the smooth conduct of the event, it was proved to be not enough by noon. Nevertheless, no one complained since hope for a compromise was afloat in the hearts of the visitors.

A visibly pleased couple, Lovejit Kaur and Gurdeep Singh, were all praise for the efforts of the police and the pain taken by their village panchayat. "My husband was a driug addict and my life had indeed become hell. So, I left him to live with my parents," Lovejit said.

"But following efforts by Iqbal Singh, a panch of our village Bhucho Kalan, and the resolve of my husband to kick the drug habit and go in for de -addiction made me relent and give our marriage another chance. Today, we came separately but are returning home as a happy couple," she said.

Another such happy tiding was the patch up between Manpreet Kaur and Laddoo Singh, an alcoholic Ghudda farm labourer. Fed up with the drinking bouts of her husband Manpreet had left him with her two daughters and had gone to live with her parents in Anupgarh. "We are going back with my husband who has gone through de- addiction and has promised to stay sober and support the family. My daughters too are in favour of my decision to be a family again," she added.

However, social workers Usha Taneja from Faridkot and Amarjit Kaur from Kotkapura were not in favour of such mega camps since it is not possible to do anything worthwhile in such a huge gathering. "It would have been more apt if the cases were dealth with district-wise," they opined.

The site was given to four persons on rent. They were Lakhwinder Singh, Bhag Singh, Tarun Kumar and Zora Singh. However, in the year 2009, these people started illegal construction on the land against which we raised a hue and cry.
— Abdul Shakur Estate officer, Wakf board

Bathinda, June 11
Doctors resumed work today at the Civil Hospital after registering a strike on Monday in protest against mass transfers of PCMS doctors.

The Civil Hospital as well as health centres in the city's periphery witnessed a fully-functional OPDs. However, the number of patients visiting the OPDs remained low at 20 per cent, doctors said. “It may be due to the fact that people were not aware that doctors have called off the strike,” said one of the doctors.

Besides OPD, medico legal cases were attended to and post-mortem examinations were also conducted.

Earlier, doctors had decided to observe two-day strike on June 10 and 11. However, after Health Minister Madan Mohan Mittal assured them of reverting the transfer in genuine cases, doctors ended the strike.

Bathinda, June 11
Imposing a penalty of Rs 10,000, the Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed Mount Litera School to refund Rs 40,000-with 9 per cent per annum interest-taken from the parents of a Bathinda- based child.

The case was decided by a bench consisting of the president of the Forum Vikramjit Soni and members Amarjeet Paul and Sukhwinder Kaur. The counsel for the complainant was Narinder Singla while Varun Gupta was the counsel for the other party.

The complainant, Rekha Bansal, a resident of Qila Road, said that after enquiring about the admission process for her children in classes III and IV from the office of a school situated in a mall, she deposited Rs 40,000 and Rs 20,000 each for her two children on January 6.

The school officials said that after depositing the full fees for the year in advance, they could save Rs 10,000 on each student as incentive. The couple was told that in case they surrender or cancel the seat, the fees would be refunded.

The office in-charge informed her that the school building is under construction and the office is being operated from the mall, which will be shifted to the school building soon.

Earlier, the school officials had said that incentives will be given on fresh admissions in any class, if the admission is sought in advance before the commencement of the academic session. The parents were also told that the prospectus of the school could be obtained soon.

The officials informed that the allocation of the roll number, class and section would be done in the month of February.

The couple alleged that they kept making rounds of the school's office in the first week of February but neither did they get the original receipts of the fees deposited nor the prospectus or any other document. After repeated efforts, they were given a photocopy of the original receipt of the fees deposited.

The school reportedly asked the complainant to deposit Rs 12, 000 before February 12, 2012 and the second installment of Rs 12, 000 before March, 7, 2012 in case of Chirag Bansal and another Rs 12, 000 before February 2, 2012 with a second installment of Rs 9,600 before March 7, 2012 in case of Sneha Bansal.

The complainant told the opposite party that a demand of Rs 24,000 for Chirag Bansal and Rs 21,600 for Sneha Bansal is not right as the entire fees for one year of both the children had been deposited and seats for admission had also been confirmed. When asked to refund the fees as they were not interested in admission, the opposite party informed that the fees would be refunded after the approval of their Mumbai-based head office which will take three to four months.

Six months after depositing the fees, the opposite party refused to pay the money in August and the complainant moved an application before the Forum seeking a refund of Rs 40,000 along with interest, cost and compensation.

In the reply filed by the opposite party, it was stated that the complainant has not availed of any service from them and they entered into an agreement for providing the service in future subject to fulfillment of certain terms and conditions, duly printed on cash receipt numbers 1091 and 1092 and as such, the complainant is not a consumer of the opposite party.

The opposite party said a copy of the booklet containing the details of Mount Litera Zee School, Bathinda, was given to the couple and after going through the booklet, the complainant and her husband were fully satisfied and only then did they deposit Rs 20,000 as admission fee for each of their child.

It was also said that the complainant filled an incomplete admission form, which was not filled despite repeated requests. The Forum, after going through the facts, circumstances and evidence placed on file by both the parties, observed that the opposite party, to collect money from the innocent parents of the students, tried to mislead them and asked for the more money for its own purposes. Hence, the complaint was accepted with Rs 10,000 as cost and compensation. The opposite party was directed to refund the amount of Rs 40,000 along with interest at the rate of 9 per cent per annum since it was deposited in January 12, 2012 till its realization.

The order has to be complied with within 45 days from the date of receipt of the copy of the order, the Forum stated.

Bathinda, June 11
The members of the Bathinda Association of NGOs (BANGO) met Health Minister Madan Mohan Mittal to take up the issue of hike in rates of blood units.

The BANGO delegation met Mittal at his residence in Chandigarh. The members said that the increase in the rate of blood unit from Rs 300 to Rs 1,000 was not justified as the government blood banks get funds from various quarters.

They said there was no substitute for blood which is life saving and hence, government should bear the cost of testing blood. The minister assured the BANGO members of looking into the issue.

Bathinda, June 11
A 26-year- old youth residing in Kamla Nehru Colony was injured in an accident when the car he was driving collided with the boundary of Ghorewala Chowk.

The injured has been identified as Gurwinder Singh. He was rushed to the Civil Hospital by the volunteers of the NGO Sahara Jan Sewa. The volunteers were contacted over the phone by some passersby and an ambulance was pressed into service to shift the injured to the hospital.

Investigating officer in the case, who was from the Civil Lines police station, said the bystanders revealed that the youth was driving the vehicle at a high speed and might have tried to save a biker.

Police said the youth sustained fracture in the thigh and was shifted from the Civil Hospital to a private hospital for treatment by his family members. No case has been registered in this connection as the police was yet to record the statement of the injured.

Bathinda, June 11
A US-based NRI, Dr Sukhdev Singh Grover, has donated Rs 1.16 lakh for the Mahant Gurbanta Dass School (MGD) for Deaf and Mute Children run by the District Red Cross Society.

Dr Grover's nephew Tinku Grover, gave the cheque on his behalf to Deputy Commissioner Kamal Kishore Yadav.

The Deputy Commissioner appreciated the gesture which came in the shape of donation and said the money will be used to provide facilities to the students of the school.

Secretary, Red Crosss Society, Bathinda, Col (retd) Mukhtiar Singh thanked the donor.

Bathinda, June 11
Rising Star rout Back Benchers in the third quarter-final of the 1st Drug De-Addiction BPL Green City Cup today. Rising Star won the match by 113 runs. The match was played at the Police Public School Ground in the city.

Rising Star won the toss and elected to bat first. Kashish remained the highest individual scorer of the day with his knock of 54 runs in 31 balls. His innings helped the team muster up 176 runs for the loss of nine wickets in 20 overs.

Back Benchers's innings had a shaky start as the batting line-up was unable to fend off the opposition's bowling attack.

Rising Star's Jagrit wreaked havoc on the batsmen and picked up six wickets in a mere 3.3 overs.

Jagrit's bowling skills helped the team in bundling out the Back Benchers for only 63 runs in 9.3 overs. He was also named the Man of the Match. Back Benchers' Naveen was the highest scorer for the team with 30 runs in 11 balls.

The Catch of the Match award went to Bunty of the Rising Star. Kashish was given the Best Fifty of the Match award.

Bathinda, June 11
A 32-year-old woman who was suffering from congenital heart disease delivered a baby at Max Super Speciality Hospital.

The patient suffered from a hole in the heart and had undergone a corrective surgery two years back. Through elective caesarean section at 32 weeks, she gave birth to a baby. The team of doctors that carried out the surgery included Dr Sonika Bansal, Dr Ritu Garg, Dr Gagan Srivastava, Dr Preet Kanwal Narula, Dr Gaurav Garg, Dr Neeraj Ahuja and Dr Sharad Gupta.

Such medical advancements may now come as a hope to people in the region. Only a few days back, a cancer patient with complications was successfully operated upon at a medical college located on the outskirts of the city.

Bathinda, June 11
"Producers invest only in those films which have singers as actors thinking that the fan base of the singers will work in the favour of the film," said actor Kartar Cheema, who was in the city to promote his upcoming Punjabi film, 'Sikander'.

"The producers think that if nothing else, at least the music rights will generate revenue. And this is why the film, starring some of the popular actors, do well at the Box Office," he added.

Calling himself a non-singer actor, he said the audience should be given options to choose from. "Most of the films being released these days have star singers-turned-actors. My film will give the audience an option. It is up to them to take it or turn it down," he said.

Kartar, who completed post-graduation in theatre and television studies, maintained that while the real actors can be seen on a theatre stage, those with well-built and toned bodies can be seen in films. "I studied the profession before I entered it. That shows how serious I was about taking up acting. I also wanted to prove to myself that the real actors with bulked up bodies can also be seem in films," he laughed.

Talking about the title character that he plays in the film, he said, "I play a small town boy in the film who wants to conquer the state politics and considers college politics as the stepping stone for it. He falls in love with Beant, played by Gul Panag. The film follows Sikander's struggles as he succumbs to the pressure of politics."

Kartar also stated that working with actress Gul Panag made him more professional. "She has an experience of more than 10 years in the film industry. Working with her was a learning experience and made me a lot more professional."

“Sikander” is the first film which will have Kartar in a positive role. "Till now, I have done only negative roles. If you ask me if I prefer negative or positive roles, I would say that I don't mind doing negative roles if they are author backed and give me a chance to show my acting prowess."

Bathinda, June 11
Police has arrested a resident of Parasram Nagar for offering liquor to people at a roadside vend near Partap Nagar.

A case under sections 68, 1 and 14 of the Excise Act has been registered against the accused at the Canal Colony police station. The accused was later released on bail. The investigating officer-cum-complainant in the case, head constable Makhan Singh said the accused sold eggs to his customers and also allowed people to consume liquor. Half-filled bottles of liquor and glasses were recovered from the possession of the accused.

In another similar incident, police arrested Dinesh Kumar and Krishan Kumar of Arjun Nagar for allowing people to co0nsume liquor at a roadside vend. A case under sections 68, 1 and 14 of the Excise Act has been registered against the accused at the Canal Colony police station. They were later released on bail.