Bathinda, June 29
The District Bus Operators Union and the Bathinda Mini Van Operators Union opposed the revised fees for parking buses at the bus stand.

The unions have written to the district magistrate requesting that the hiked rates are not justified as no new facility is being provided at the bus stand and even the existing ones are not adequate for the needs of the passengers, drivers and cleaners.

The bus stand fee has been revised for per day per trip from Rs 10 to Rs 30 for mini buses and from Rs 20 to Rs 45 for big buses. Similarly, the per night trip fee has been raised from Rs 40 to Rs 100.

The bus operators said that already they are burdened with taxes, rising fuel prices, maintenance of machines and now the increased bus stand fees has proven to be the last straw.

"There are no new facilities at the bus stand. Instead, the bus operators themselves make arrangements for drinking water and fans," said Harvinder Singh, the president of the District Bus Operators Union.

He added that the bus stand was built in 1980 but since then, not a single new building has been added to it. "The bus stand fee was a mere Rs 2,000 per month and now it has skyrocketed to Rs 15,000 per month. Even the number of buses has increased and so has the income of the government," he added.

The president of Mini Bus Operators Union, Baltej Singh, said while the private bus operators are being forced to pay a huge fee, the Punjab Roadways and PRTC buses are not charged even a single penny.

The members of the union added that PRTC also generates income from the shops located within the bus stand as well as in the parking area. "Despite having a massive collection, the PRTC does not spend even 10 per cent of its income on the maintenance of the bus stand," they alleged.

They said the increased rates should be immediately rolled back so that the private bus operators can run their business successfully.

Bathinda, June 29
A Barnala-based building contractor has been accused of furnishing false information for bagging the contract for constructing the 50-bedded Mother and Child Hospital at Barnala. Addressing media persons here today, the contractor Pawan Bansal alleged that the lowest bidder for the project has given false information to get the contract for the hospital.

"The lowest bidding contractor, who is based in Barnala, does not even fulfill the eligibility criteria. As per the rules of the civil wing of the Punjab Health System Corporation (PHSC), the applicant should have the experience of conducting works worth Rs 9 crore at least," he said.

However, the lowest bidder has fudged the records. Instead of the Rs 1.22 crore works he has done, he gave an undertaking to the department mentioning that he has conducted works worth Rs 9 crore. The record submitted with the PHSC, mentioning the details of the work conducted so far, show that his company has undertaken works worth Rs 1.22 crore only.

Pawan Bansal has also given a representation to the Managing Director of the Punjab Health System Corporation as well as the executive engineer, Punjab Health System Corporation . In the representation, he has informed the officials about the false information provided as well as the documentary proofs attached.

The contractor Pawan Bansal said, "The application of the lowest bidder should be rejected as per the rules and action should be taken against him for furnishing wrong information."

The hospital has to be constructed at a cost of Rs 8.81 crore and the stipulated time period for the project is nine months. The Mother and Child Hospital has been a long-pending demand of the people of Barnala.

Meanwhile, the executive engineer, Punjab Health System Corporation, Bimal Kumar said the work has not been allotted so far. "We are yet to scrutinise the documents that have been submitted to us. If the documents are found to have been forged, we will take action and the person concerned will not be awarded any work," he said.

Bathinda, June 29
The Swami Vivekanand Girls' College today contributed Rs 11,000 to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund for the victims of the Uttarakhand tragedy. The amount was collected by the teachers, students and parents as an expression of their solidarity with the victims of Uttarakhand tragedy in which many persons have lost their lives and several are still missing.

A two-minute silence was observed as a tribute to the victims of the tragedy. All this was done at the conclusion of the 40-day summer camp at the college.

Principal of the college, Raj Gupta, stated that during the camp, the children were taught artistic calligraphy, drawing and painting besides other activities. She also added that the classes were held under the guidance of Reena Katoch and Gurinderjit Kaur.

Competitions in calligraphy, drawing and painting were also organised and the winners were felicitated. In the calligraphy competition, while Mayank bagged the first position, Rushika secured the second position while the third place was shared by Vaidehi and Divjot.

In the drawing and painting competition, Khwaish Yadav bagged the first position. Divija Mehta was adjudged second by the judges. Akriti Sood was given the third prize in the competition. 

Bathinda, June 29
The Education Department of the Guru Kashi University (GKU) conducted a 12-day workshop-cum-personal contact programme for the in-service teachers. As many as 96 teachers participated in the programme. Most of the participants were ETT teachers.

The workshop was conducted under a two-year programme conducted by the Indira Gandhi National Open University, Delhi. Dr AK Kansal, dean (education) of the university, shared that during the workshop, enhancement of teaching skills were emphasised upon and participants were taught to sharpen their interaction skills in the classrooms to improve the teaching-learning process.

Vice-chancellor of the university, SK Ahluwalia congratulated everybody associated with the activity and said that learning is a lifelong process and one should keep learning throughout one's life from the formal and informal social agencies.

The participants also organised a farewell party on the last day of the workshop and presented mementoes to the faculty members of the Guru Kashi University.

Bathinda, June 29
If you are a resident of Bathinda and craving for ice-cream, chances are that you would head straight to the Fun Time ice-cream parlour and higher are the chances of you waiting patiently for your turn to place your order.

Located near the Sadhbhavna Chowk, the Fun Time ice-cream parlour was opened by brothers, Surinder and Naresh, 12 years back. While the elder brother Surinder looks after the parlour, Naresh takes care of their production unit located on Mansa Road.

Talking about the popularity of his shop, Surinder said, "Our shop enjoys more popularity than the other ice-cream parlours in the city for several reasons. The biggest of them is the fact that we offer a great variety of ice-creams, shakes and sundaes at reasonable rates. The other factor is that we do not compromise on the quality since we produce it ourselves."

One look at the menu card and it is clear that the parlour does offer some unique combinations and shakes. Mango and banana shakes sound passé when one can choose from kiwi shake, litchi shake and milk rose shake at this parlour.

The customers can ask for their choice of ice-creams for the preparation of sundaes. A generous dollop of canned mixed fruits adds to the delight of these sundaes.

One can also choose from an array of ice-cream flavours on offer at the parlour. While the humble vanilla, strawberry and chocolate flavours also enjoy popularity, the shop also offers mewa malai, apple cream, rose mary, mixed fruit and several other new flavours.

Bathinda, June 29
Physiotherapist Dr Vivek Sachdeva is holding a free camp for morning walkers at Rose Garden, Bathinda. Around 30 patients are being examined daily.

Dr Sachdeva said that most of the patients visiting the camp are between 40 to 65 years of age. People suffering from joint pain, cervical pain and other problems are being treated with physiotherapy.

"Sedentary lifestyle and changed dietary habits cause such problems among the elderly. At the camp, we are managing the pain and providing relief to the patients," he said. Also naturopathy, acupressure and other therapies are being put to use for providing relief.

The camp will conclude on June 30.

Bathinda, June 29
Tightening noose around those bringing construction material, including sand, to the city, the District Transport Officer (DTO) today impounded two trucks and a tractor-trolley, which were unloading sand in the local grain market.

DTO Harjeet Singh Sandhu said a case under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) would be registered against the accused carrying sand in the city areas despite a ban.

The DTO said a site has been earmarked for the sale of construction material in the Transport Nagar on the Kotkapura road.

He said the ban was imposed in view of large-scale encroachments by sellers on roadsides and other public places in the city. The plying of such heavy vehicles also causes traffic congestion and the initiative was taken to curb the menace.

However, sellers of construction material allege that the ban is arbitrary.

“It is of no use to impose a ban on vehicles carrying sand in the city as it would fail to stop the practice. The buyers would resort to bringing the construction material during night and would store it at a plot having boundary walls,” said the city president of Beopar Mandal, Rajinder Raju Bhattewale.

Raju said the Building Material Association had come into being and members of the association were taking up the matter with the government.

The in-charge of the police post at the Civil Hospital, Assistant Sub-inspector (ASI) Partap Singh said the ban was imposed on the plying of vehicles between 8 am and 6 pm.

“The DTO today ordered to impound the three vehicles carrying sand at around 9 am in the grain market and we brought these vehicles to the police post here. So far, we have no idea what to do with these vehicles as further orders are yet to be received,” he said.

Nirmal Sandhu, the president of Building Material Association, Bathinda, said there was hardly any transaction done in the Transport Nagar and the entire sale of sand was done in the city. “The ban was imposed to check the rising sand prices. However, the move has made it difficult for the actual buyer to purchase sand. Nobody would go all the way to the Transport Nagar to purchase one or two quintals of sand,” Sandhu said.

In a bid to bring down the prices of sand, the idea of selling it at one place was mooted but it has reportedly failed.

Sandhu alleged that the government never took the sellers into confidence before taking such measures.

Bathinda, June 29
The police has arrested a resident of Bhagta Bhaika for illegally refilling LPG cylinders and selling the same in black market.

The accused has been identified as Ashok Kumar. A case under Sections 420, 379 and 411 of the IPC has been registered against him at Bhagta Bhaika police station.

The police said the accused had also been fleecing the customers and had stolen LPG cylinders from households and commercial establishments around Bhagta Bhaika town.

The police said the accused was carrying as many as 17 cylinders in a Daewoo Ceilo car.

The accused was booked for a similar offence on an occasion earlier. Then, he was nabbed with refilling and selling cylinders of smaller size. He was booked at Dialpura police station.

The police said the accused had been selling a cylinder at a price of Rs 700 to Rs 900 to those who did not have LPG registration or had been using the same in vehicles.

A son of the accused is serving in the Army and his daughter was a class XII student.

Bathinda, June 29
Two persons were hurt in separate incidents in the city.

A motorcyclist was hurt after he fell on the road near the Bhanamal Trust Street adjoining the Khalsa Girls College. Volunteers of the Sahara Jan Sewa, an NGO, rushed him to the Civil Hospital. The biker has been identified as 26-year-old Ramandeep Singh, a resident of Kotshamir village.

A young boy got seriously injured after he was assaulted by some unidentified boys near the Grain Market. The injured boy was rushed to a hospital by the volunteers of the NGO. The police was informed about the incident and the matter was being investigated.

Meanwhile, in another incident, the volunteers of the NGO shifted a resident of the Power House Road, who was lying unconscious near the Multania overbridge.