Bathinda, July 21
The fate of the courses taught as part of the Higher Education Society of the Government Rajindra College seems to be hanging fire since the college authorities and the staff of the society are at loggerheads.

While the classes for courses like the Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), Bachelor of Computer Application (BCA) and Post-graduate Diploma in Computer Application (PGDCA) are scheduled to start in the first week of August, the college is yet to finalise the staff for the same.

The college is yet to renew the contract of 17 teachers, who had been taking classes for these self-financed courses since 2009. "Since 2009, it has been the custom that our contracts are renewed on July 1. This year, the college authorities sprung a surprise and advertised for the posts saying that we are not NET qualified and hence, ineligible for the posts," said one of the teachers.

"The authorities are saying that the university has starting putting pressure on the college to retain only the NET-qualified staff and advertise for the rest of the posts. If that is the case, then why did they not renew the contract of three of our teachers who are NET-qualified?" asked the teacher.

The staff also argued that every year, an inspection team came to the college and asked the authorities to remove the ineligible staff but the college authorities never intimated the same to the teachers and instead, kept renewing their contracts year after year.

"All that we are asking them is to give us year's time to prepare and appear for NET and the college may cancel the contract of those who fail to clear the test. But the college authorities are bent on shunting us out of the college," said another teacher.

Clarifying the college's stance, principal Vijay Goyal told Bathinda Tribune that the college was just following the university's rules. "The university has asked us to recruit NET-qualified staff for teaching these courses. If we fail to do so, the university may withdraw its affiliation for these courses," he said.

He also added that the college had advertised for the posts and the existing teachers who are eligible were welcome to take part in the recruitment process. "The interview panel will have representatives of the college, subject experts and a university nominee. Those who meet the eligibility criteria are welcome to appear for the process," he said.

The principal further added that the earlier staff need not worry since in case the college failed to recruit eligible teachers to teach the self-financed courses, they would be preferred and their contracts would be renewed by the authorities.

Bathinda, July 21
Upset over the rising menace of stray cattle on Ajit Road, the shopkeepers and residents of the area today threatened to launch an agitation against the state government. The irate shopkeepers said the stray bulls fight and in the process, damage their goods lying in the shop and vehicles. Panic grips the area and no commuter dares to cross when the raging bulls fight leading to traffic jam on the road.

"At times, we have to run away after leaving our shops unattended which has lead to a decline in the number of customers," said Kala, a shopkeeper on Ajit Road.

Apart from injuring the commuters, the stray cattle recently injured a child grievously and also damaged vehicles.

Residents of the area like Sonu, Gopal Dev, Balkaran Singh, Kala Singh, Honey, Jaswinder Singh, Abu Sidhu, Gurman and Rajwinder Brar said that a herd of more than ten bulls keep roaming on Ajit road and nearby areas.

The residents said some people offer green fodder to these animals by the roadside and have not stopped the practice despite repeated requests. The residents demanded action against those who throw fodder on the roads in a haphazard manner for these animals.

"An area should be marked for such purposes so that these animals could be driven away from the congested busy localities," said Ashok Kumar, another shopkeeper.

"The cattle had recently injured a child and badly damaged two vehicles. The shopkeepers are at the receiving end as the goods meant for sale kept outside the shops are damaged by the cattle," said Kulwant Dhaliwal, a local resident.

He said the shopkeepers have now decided to take up the matter with the authorities by launching a protest against the Punjab Government for its failure to curb the menace. "We held a meeting of shopkeepers and local residents wherein it was decided to launch the protest," Kala Singh said.

He said the stray cattle usually block the road for over an hour or so whenever they turn up on the main road. They also enter the bylanee which forces the people, especially the children, to remain indoors.

"The recent death of a man near Haji Rattan gurudwara and the previous deaths due to cattle menace has created panic among the residents who are frightened at the thought of an encounter with the stray animals, especially the infuriated bulls," said Gurman Brar, who lives in street number 26 of Ajit Road.

Though no senior government official was available for his comment, Sadhu Ram Kusla, general secretary, Shri Gaushala Committee, said he was among those who attended a meeting with the municipal commissioner to chalk out a strategy to deal with the menace of stray animals.

"It will take a few more days to get rid of the problem as the proposal is still in the pipeline and it will be implemented after taking all aspects, including the legal angle, into account," Kusla said.

Bathinda, July 21
A police team that went to Bhairupa village to look into a complaint over the trivial issue of hanging clothes on the boundary wall of a house came under attack by the villagers.

The private vehicle in which the two ASIs, a head constable and a Home Guard jawan went to the village was also damaged in the attack.

The complainant in the case, ASI Sikandar Singh, said the paramedical staff of the 108 ambulance first reached the village to shift the injured to the hospital.

But the other party, which attacked the police team, did not allow them to pick the injured. The ambulance staff sought help from the police and a police party arrived to look into the matter but came under attack.

ASI Sikandar Singh said the two parties that clashed belong to poor families. One of them is a labourer while the other works in a brick kiln.

The ASI said he too was taken into one of the secluded rooms by the assailants where they were about to hit him on the head with a hammer but he managed to flee after the assailants fled hearing the siren of the police vehicle.

According to the ASI, the two persons involved in the clash are neighbours and one of them got a boundary wall constructed at his own expense. The assailants objected to putting washed clothes on the 'common' wall as the other side had not contributed to its construction.

When the police reached the spot, the assailants thought that the victims had called the cops for help and the police party too came under attack.

Police has registered a case under sections 307, 342, 323, 186, 353, 331, 332, 148, 149 of the IPC at Phul police station. Later, sections 324 and 452 of the IPC too were added against nine persons booked for the assault.

The accused have been identified by the police as Fatta Singh, Gora Singh, Jamla Singh, Ranjodh, Naib, Sohna, Sukha, Atma and Gurpreet Singh.

Bathinda, July 21
Although the rainfall is playing truant, the sales and discounts are raining aplenty. The shopaholics are back in the markets as the spring-summer sale season is back. With big and small apparel brands and even the round the corner hosiery stores offering discounts ranging from 30 to 50 per cent, the shoppers couldn't have asked for any other reason to rejoice.

As per industry estimates, close to 50 per cent of the revenue is generated during the spring-summer sale season which begins in July and goes up till the end of the month of August. The sales are a win-win situation for both the customers as well as the brands.

While the shoppers get their preferred items and products at a discounted rate, it perks up the sales and helps the shopkeepers get rid of the inventory piled up due to slow buying by the customers.

"This is the period when we have to sell as much cotton clothes as we can by announcing attractive discounts. Once the monsoon season gets over, we start stocking up on woollens. We don't have enough storage space and hence, try and sell the stock that we have," said the owner of a hosiery and cotton wholesale shop in Dhobi Bazaar.

Realising that a large customer base waits patiently for the sale season to spend money, the big apparel brands have started introducing schemes to lure the customers into buying more than they may actually wish to.

Men's apparel bands like Allen Solly, Peter England, Louis Phillip and several others are offering 'Buy 3, get 2 free' and 'Buy 2, get 1 free schemes' to perk up their sales. For those who don't wish to buy so many pieces, the brands also have 'Buy one, get 15% off' and 'Buy 2, get 20% discount' schemes.

"I wanted to buy trousers but got stuck in the discount scheme being offered here and ended up buying three trousers and two shirts. Though I have bought the items at discounted rates, I have spent more than I had intended to," said Ajay Bansal, a customer at a Peter England store in city on Sunday.

There are many who are waiting for the stores to increase the percentage of discounts that they are offering. "At times, the customers check if we are ready to offer discount on discount. They tell us that since we will anyway increase the discount after some weeks, we should give them the benefit," said the owner of a shoes and apparel brand at a mall in the city.

Whether you buy what you want right now or believe in waiting to get more, this monsoon season, sales and discounts are raining joy.

Bathinda, July 21
In its bid to keep the city clean and battle the shortage of staff, the Municipal Corporation Bathinda (MCB) has invited tenders worth Rs 49.45 lakhs.

When awarded the contract, the work is expected to begin in the first week of September and has to be completed within a week, said Municipal Commissioner Uma Shankar Gupta.

The contractor will have to undertake work like road scraping and brushing during all festivals like Holi, Lohri, Navratras, Raksha Bandhan, Karva Chauth, Diwali, Guru Purab, Eid, Christmas etc, failing which a double penalty shall be charged from him.

The contractor will be allowed to abstain from work only on three national holidays in a year, including Independence Day, Republic Day and Gandhi Jayanti.

In case of any accident of vehicles belonging to the contractor during the execution of any work or any accident involving a labourer, the responsibility shall remain with the contractor.

The MCB will not be responsible for any accident involving vehicles or labourers engaged by the contractor or for any death or bodily injury caused to any person by accident.

As per the rules, one labourer has to be deputed for every 300 metre of road length on each side of the central verge. The contractor will have to arrange his own vehicle and wheel barrows and will be responsible for their maintenance.

The contractor will have to deploy one of his representatives at the complaint redress cell (at toll free number 1800 180 2626) of the Municipal Corporation Bathinda to address the complaints received regarding road scraping, brushing and garbage disposal.

If the contractor fails to execute the task of brushing and scraping of road works or fails to life garbage as per the terms, conditions and specifications, such works shall be penalised at the rate of two times the allocated rate of the contractor in accordance with the area rate per unit.

The contractor will have to dispose waste in a scientific manner. Anyone found littering outside the bins will have to pay a penalty of Rs 1,000 per point.

Bathinda, July 21
At the sangat darshan programme, Member of Parliament, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, termed the mass contact programme, to be initiated by the Punjab Pradesh Congress from tomorrow, as a hollow stage show by a dejected lot. It would be a sheer mockery with the people of the state, she said.

Interacting with the media after sangat darshan the MP said it was amazing that the state congress unit never raised its voice against the, steep hike in prices of essential commodities, anti-people policies and step-motherly treatment given by the UPA government to Punjab, but now they have the courage to face the public who had already rejected them in every election held in the state.

She said the electorate was vigilant enough to understand the political gimmicks of the corrupt Congress party. People have already made up their minds to show them the door, said the MP.

Reacting to Captain Amarinder Singh’s demand for an immediate special industrial package for Punjab, the sitting MP said if Singh was so much worried about the people of Punjab why he did not express this kind of concern for the state of Punjab during the nine and a half year-long stay of the UPA at the Centre.

She also announced a grant of Rs. 20 lakh to the primary school of Dhobiana Basti for the construction of principal’s office and toilets. 

Bathinda, July 21
The traffic lights installed at various intersections in the city are lying almost out of use as commuters hardly follow the traffic lights and jump the red lights. The two traffic lights installed between Bibiwal Chowk and Rose Garden Chowk is hardly any deterrent for anyone passing on the road. Motorists also do not stop on the traffic lights installed on Bibiwala Chowk. The motorists only follow the traffic lights installed near the Hanuman Chowk and Tinkoni and that too only when the traffic cops are deployed. There had been large number of accidents reported on the Barnala road and Bibiwala road where traffic police fails to issue challan for jumping red light and over speeding.

A traffic light installed near Ganesha Basti on the G. T. Road is lying out of use for over a month and no efforts were initiated to make these lights functional. The lights were installed with an aim of streamlining the traffic and to check the rising number of accidents.

The daily commuters said vehicles, especially the heavy vehicles and SUVs are driven at high speed on the road and the lights were installed to regulate the traffic. The commuters hardly follow the traffic lights and out of use lights encourage over speeding and lead to accidents. “There is hardly any deployment of traffic police at the traffic lights. Cops are deployed at various intersections only when there is some VIP movement. It seems that the government is hardly concerned with the lives of the common people and only care for the VIPs and senior government functionaries”, said Kapil Sharma, a resident of Model Town Phase-III. Meanwhile, neither the Municipal Corporation Bathinda (MCB) officials nor the traffic cops were available for comments as they were busy in the sangat darshan of MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal.

Bathinda, July 21
A farewell party was organised by the students of the Mahant Gurbanta Dass College of Nursing here yesterday. The chief guest on the occasion was assistant general manger of the regional office of Vijaya Bank Athappa Sethi.

The programme started with the recitation of shabads. It was followed by ‘gidda’, solo dance and a group dance presentation by students of the college. A short skit on the importance of girl child was also performed on the occasion. Students also presented their seniors with mementos. Meritorious students of the college were honoured during the function. Chairperson of the institute Surinder Pal Jassi motivated the students to set a goal and work hard to achieve it.

Bathinda, July 21
The police has booked five persons for inflicting injuries upon a farmer over a row of sharing common water meant for agriculture.

Complainant Gamdoor Singh of Chaoke village said his brother Jarnail Singh was beaten up by five people who fought with him over the issue of sharing the common water.

He said the accused attacked his brother using sticks, swords and other sharp edged weapons on Friday afternoon. The accused waylaid his brother, after a brief argument they started abusing him and then attacked him.

The victim was rushed to hospital with deep wounds and the police was informed about the incident. A case under Sections 341, 323, 148 and 149 of the IPC was registered against the accused identified as Billu Singh, Gora Singh, Ballu, Beera Singh and Ghulla Singh, all residents of Chaoke village.

Bathinda, July 21
The damaged portion of Bibiwala Road opposite DAV College, which is flooded with sewer water, will be repaired by August 31. Though a budget of Rs 20 lacs for the same had been passed for the past many months, the work had not started. The matter came up for consideration before the MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal during sangat darshan program held here today. Area municipal councilor Master Harmandar Singh said MP Badal has directed Municipal Corporation Bathinda (MCB) officials to repair the road by August 31.

The pipes laid to carry sewage-water across the Bibiwala Road towards the pond at the backside of DAV College had lesser carrying capacity. Unable to carry sewer-water, the pipes got damaged and water gets collected on the road, said Harmandar Singh.

Commuters on the road face problem while crossing the section wherein potholes are filled with water. Many a times, two wheelers have suffered damage because of sudden jerk. A number of times patch work of the road has been done, but it failed to serve any purpose.

As per the MC plan, wider pipes has to be laid from the pond towards ICICI Bank where it will fall into the main disposal. With the MP Badal directing MCB, it is expected that work on project will start soon and people will get relief from the bumpy ride.

Bathinda, July 21
To mark the onset of the monsoon, principal, staff and students of Swami Vivekananda Girls College, Bathinda, decided to hold a celebration, albeit a different one.

Under the guidance of Gurinderjit Kaur, Reena Katoch and Arshdeep Kaur, students of fashion technology, exhibited the importance of the season and the ‘teej’ festival through posters, paintings, dresses, pakhiyan, charkha, bangles, etc. Principal, Raj Gupta, said the college had been celebrating festival with mehandi competitions, solo dances, group dances, etc, but this year, following the tragedy that hit Uttarakhand, the college decided to save the money to be spent on organising such events and instead contributed the same for the Uttarakhand PM Relief Fund.

Buta Singh, Dean Academics PTU Jalandhar, appreciated the efforts of students for collecting relief fund and garments for the Uttarakhand victims and representing the old traditions and cultural heritage of Punjab.