Bathinda, September 27
The National Green Tribunal (NGT), Delhi, today directed the Chief Secretary, Punjab, to appear before it with a detailed plan on the municipal solid waste (MSW) treatment projects coming up in the state.

The NGT was hearing the case of Bathinda MSW treatment plant which was filed by the people living around the proposed site for the plant. In today's hearing, Deputy Commissioner Kamal Kishore Yadav submitted his report on the garbage treatment plant as directed by the NGT.

Accepting the report, the NGT asked Yadav about the steps that the Punjab Government was taking to deal with MSW waste. Yadav replied that since he represented Bathinda district only, he could not comment on the state's strategy. Thereafter, the NGT directed that the Chief Secretary, Punjab, to appear before the tribunal on October 3 hearing and present its plan to treat MSW.

The report submitted by the DC is reportedly about establishment of proper MSW disposal plant, taking care of the waste right from its collection till its final disposal. The DC also proposed alternative sites available for the disposal plant besides the possible technology for treating the garbage collected.

It is pertinent to mention here that similar garbage treatment plants are also proposed for Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala. Most of the proposed plants are banking on the waste-to-energy model, but the sites selected in the respective cities have drawn sharp criticism from the residents of the area near the proposed plants. At the same time, the state government has plans to establish biomedical waste treatment plants in different clusters of the state.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT), Delhi, has directed the Chief Secretary of Punjab to present a detailed plan on the municipal solid waste (MSW) treatment projects coming up in the state.

The Chief Secretary has been asked to appear before the tribunal on October 3.

Bathinda, September 27
Members of the Aided School Teachers and Other Employees Union shunned the idea of staging a protest outside the District Treasury Office here today as their salaries which had been pending for the past three months were released. They, however, staged a dharna outside the SSD Senior Secondary School.

The union has been protesting against the indifferent attitude of the state government towards the aided schools. As many as 100 teachers of the aided schools participated in the protest.

The union wanted to bring to the fore the problems being faced by the teachers in getting their due financial benefits like salaries, grants, dearness allowance, implementation of the pay commission recommendations, revised pay grades and arrears among others.

The union alleged that since 95 per cent of the expenditure of these schools was borne by the state government, the government had adopted an indifferent attitude towards these schools.

They also demanded that either the government should lift the ban on the recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff in these schools or assimilate the aided schools with the Education Department and instate the teachers in government schools in case the government wishes to close the aided schools.

They also pointed out that more than 200 retired employees of the aided schools died without enjoying the pension benefits since the state government had announced pension benefits for the staff-of-aided schools in 1987, but withdrew the scheme in 2003 and resumed it this year. 

Bathinda, September 27
The Senior Citizens and Pensioners Vikas Manch today demanded DA (Dearness Allowance) for pensioners of various government departments.

Manch president GL Goel said the government should take strict action on the burning of waste material at various places in the city.

He also demanded action against those involved in commercial activity in the residential areas of the Improvement Trust and BDA.

Goel also demanded concession for senior citizens in buses on the lines of the Rajasthan Government. He urged the government to increase the concession rate of 30 per cent to 50 per cent for elderly women travelling in trains.

He also asked the government to take steps to reduce rush in trains for Haridwar and interlinking of railway stations at religious places with all prominent districts in the state. 

Bathinda, September 27
About 30 sewing machines were distributed at Giana village under the ongoing Guru Gobind Singh Refinery project.

SDM Talwandi Sabo Shruti Sharma distributed sewing machines to women, gave certificates to those who have undergone training for sewing and distributed stipend worth Rs 1 lakh.

Speaking at the event, she called upon people to ensure that their daughters were educated and had talent to earn their own living.

Guru Gobind Singh Refinery Assistant Manager (HR) Ravi Yadav said the refinery conducted sewing and stitching courses in collaboration with the North India Technical Consultancy Organisation (NITCON), Bathinda.

In the two-and-a-half month course, 30 women were imparted training, given certificates and distributed stipend upto Rs 1 lakh.

Yadav said the exercise was a part of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives refinery had taken in villages around. 

Bathinda, September 27
A renowned thinker and secretary of the Punjabi Sahitya Academy, Ludhiana, Jaswant Singh Zaffar, while delivering his keynote address at the function held in Guru Kashi University, Talwandi Sabo on the birth anniversary of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, stressed upon the need to adopt real ideology of Shaheed Bhagat Singh for the transformation of society.

He stated that people generally develop the image of leaders according to their needs and mentality. The time has come when we should follow the ideology of Bhagat Singh not as a martyr, but as a social reformer and worshipper of humanity to tackle the challenges and problems confronting us.

In order to accomplish this task, every citizen has to shoulder his responsibility. It will go a long way in motivating the younger generation for the transformation of society. He laid special emphasis on the youth that they should not only become good but great.

Dwelling upon this, he stated that a good person always attempts to make efforts to rise in life while a great person thinks about the development of society.

While presiding over the function, Dr NS Malhi, Vice-Chancellor, Guru Kashi University, impressed upon the students to follow in the footsteps of great thinkers whose writing could shape the destiny of the nation.

The youth have to be educated to adopt the Indian culture. He also stated that the University would also organise a national-level seminar about the Gadar Party Movement.

Prof Gurbhajan Singh Gill, director (planning & development), Guru Kashi University and president, Punjab Sahitya Academy, said in order to keep the nation alive, society has to hold discussions about their revolutionary heroes, thinkers and great personalities.

Dr Subhprem Singh Brar, principal, Government College, Sardargarh, was the special guest on the occasion.

He stressed that although it was difficult to adopt the ideology of Shaheed Bhagat Singh in our lives, holistic development for mankind is not possible without it. 

Bathinda, September 27
The centre for comparative literature at the Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, organised a programme in commemoration of the legendary Punjabi playwright Gursharan Singh on his death anniversary on Friday. 

Progressive Punjabi playwright and recipient of Kalidas Award, Gursharan Singh, is popular among the literary circles of Punjab and rest of India. His plays have touched on the issues of oppression and exploitation of the masses by the rulers. Gursharan Singh took theatre to villages in Punjab, especially Malwa belt, where he highlighted the aspect of revolution against tyranny and socio-cultural awakening. — TNS

Bathinda, September 27
It was World Tourism Day today and the city's hotel industry seemingly did not have much to cheer about.

The city has close to 60 hotels with 1500 rooms may look good to an outsider but the fact remains that only 20 per cent of these rooms are occupied at any given point of time.

President of the Bathinda Hotel, Restaurant and Resorts Association, Satish Arora, said, "The hospitality industry is running into huge losses. Although the number of hotels in the region is increasing, the occupancy rate has been decreasing."

According to industry experts, the hoteliers minted money when the Guru Gobind Singh Refinery was being set up in Phulokhari and a large number of officials occupied rooms in the city hotels. The business saw a downslide immediately after the refinery was commissioned.

The hotel industry insiders also blame the utter neglect with which the state tourism department treats the district. Despite the district being the home to several tourist locations, the promises made by the department to develop the district as a tourism hub proved to be hollow.

During his last visit to the city, Tourism Minister Swaran Singh Phillaur had launched the website of the hotel industry. The website, which was to carry information important not only for the residents but also for the visitors to the city apart from keeping the hotel industry in the city connected, lost steam midway.

During the visit, the minister had also made promises that information centres would be set up in the city which would disseminate information about the tourist locations in the district. However, these centres never saw the light of the day.

Another project which didn't take wings was the publication and distribution of literature carrying details about places of importance in the district.

"We were told that there were plans that the government would publish such brochures which would be distributed through the information centres. No one heard or spoke about it later," said Arora.

"The government should have a serious approach towards making the airport functional. Once it starts functioning, the district can be propped up as a place for religious tourism. We have Takht Damdama Sahib, Maiserkhana temple and several other places of religious importance. Now, the city also boasts about adventure sports at the lakes," Arora said.

Bathinda, September 27
A seminar on Nanakshahi calendar was held at Model Town Phase I Gurdwara today.

Prominent Sikh scholars, including Nanakshahi calendar chief architect Pal Singh Purewal, Lt Gen KS Gill (retd), Ashok Singh Bagria and Bhai Panthpreet Singh Khalsa, spoke at the seminar. Nanakshahi Calendar Coordination Committee president Kirpal Singh convened the proceedings on the stage. Speaking at the event, the speakers emphasised on the need to re-implement Nanakshahi calendar in toto, instead of mixing it with the Vikrami calendar.

They said the calendar had lost its meaning after being mixed up with the Vikrami calendar. The coordination committee members today tried to find out an amicable solution for convincing the SGPC for re-implementing the original calendar and its intricacies.

Kirpal Singh said all five jathedars of all takhts, 15 members of the SGPC executive committee as well as all former and present SGPC members of Bathinda were also invited to the event, but none of them turned up.

Speakers said for the want of votes, the Nanakshahi calendar had been altered in such a manner that it now had faulty dates of Gurpurabs.

A book — Nanakshahi calendar Di Vithiya — was also released on the occasion. As many as 25,000 copies of the book have been published and are available free of cost. 

Bathinda, September 27
"We are garnering public support to re-implement the Nanakshahi calendar, which remained in effect from 2003 to 2011 replacing the Saka calendar. Seminars are being held from city to city to sensitise people about their right to implement the Nanakshahi calendar, which has given yet another distinct identity to Sikhs," said Pal Singh Purewal, the chief architect of the calendar.

Purewal was in the city today to participate in a seminar held on the Nanakshahi calendar. Talking to TNS, Purewal said eyeing votes, the SAD and the SGPC have bowed to the pressure of Sant Samaj and mixed the Nanakshahi calendar with the Vikrami calendar.

"The Nanakshahi calendar was crafted in accordance with 'Gurbani'. It has the distinction of months staying in same season for all the years to come, which is not the case with the Vikrami calendar. In the next 500 years, the longest day of Vikrami calendar will not be in the month of 'Jeth' but in 'Haadh'," he pointed out.

Emphasising on the exclusivity the Nanakshahi calendar gave to Sikhs, Purewal said, "Diwali is celebrated as Bandi Chhod Diwas in Sikhism. But sadly enough, the current calendar does not educate our children on this issue. The Nankshahi calendar has been sacrificed for vote politics."

Annoyed over the mixing up of two calendars, Purewal said the Sikh community had lost a portion of its distinct identity. "Sikhs do not know exact dates of birth of their Gurus (Gurpurab). Imagine not being able to know the exact date when your Guru was born because as per the new calendar, the dates keep changing," he pointed out, adding that in Nanakshahi calendar every Gurpurab had a fixed date.

Purewal said despite repeated communiqués and requests, the SGPC has refused to withdraw the amendments or even listen to the reasons behind it. "This is the reason that now, we are working on raising a mass movement for re-implementation of the Nanakshahi calendar," he said.

Besides being the architect of Nanakshahi calendar, Purewal has also drafted the Hijri Calendar for Muslims. The Hijri calendar is based on the time when moon starts becoming visible. It has been drafted keeping in view the four prime time zones of Muslims, including Mecca, Cairo, Delhi and Baghdad. The calendar is being widely used by the Islamic community since the year 2007. 

Bathinda, September 27
With yet another honour killing, the number of such incidents in Maur has increased to three during the past just 11 months.

In the latest case, a 26-year-old Dalit girl, Harjinder Kaur, was killed for not entering into an arranged marriage and instead eloping with her lover. Twelve persons have been charged with murdering the girl.

In earlier incidents, a girl from Jat Sikh family of Khokhar village in Mansa was shot dead by her father. She had fallen in love with a boy from 'Ghumiar' caste, Ramphal Singh Bagga, and solemenised marriage in the High Court. She was killed after six months of her marriage. The irate father shot dead his 20-year-old daughter on March 15, 2013, with his licensed rifle at the boy's residence in Rajgarh Kubbe village near Maur.

"Our marriage lasted for six months and her father killed my wife at my house," alleged Bagga while talking to TNS over the phone today. Bagga alleged that his wife's killer went scot-free despite a murder case was registered against him six months ago.

"Her father, an affluent farmer having costly agricultural land, used various tactics, including threatening my brother who was the eyewitness to the killing," claimed Bagga.

In another incident dating back in October 2012, a minor girl from Gehribara Singh village and a student of Class XII fell in love with a minor boy from Maur Mandi. She eloped with the boy and scared of facing her family again, the duo consumed poison. While the girl was declared dead by doctors at a hospital, the boy survived. Later, the boy was booked for kidnapping and killing the girl.

Bathinda, September 27
Police today booked two residents of Sirki Bazar, including Yadwinder Singh and Bhupinder Singh, for beating Jaswinder Singh of same locality. Jaswinder said the accused attacked him after a brawl erupted over the issue of withdrawing water from a common water course. A case under Sections 452, 323 and 34 of the IPC has been registered against the accused at the Kotwali police station.

In another similar incident, the police has booked Anguri, Rekha and Naib Singh, all residents of Sanguana Basti, for inflicting injuries upon complainant Major Singh's son. A case under Sections 458, 363, 324, 323 and 34 of the IPC has been registered at the Canal Colony police station.

Bathinda, September 27
South Zone team won the All-India PF Employees Football Tournament. The tournament was organised at the St Xavier’s School ground. The South Zone team, which primarily comprised of players from Kerela, gave the East Zone team a tough time in the finale. The team won the match by 8-2.

Anthony Xavier, who had been instrumental in bringing the South Zone team to the final, once again showed his prowess and brilliant footwork and scored five goals. Anthony also won the award for best player of the tournament with his total score of 19 goals.

Showing its strength and game plan, the South Zone team was leading with a score of 6-1 by the half time. Although the East Zone players couldn’t manage to score many goals, the team’s goalkeeper Subroto Kumar Mitra did a commendable job by saving several goals. He even stopped three goal attempts by Anthony.

A day earlier, Anthony’s score of five goals had helped the South Zone team defeat the West Zone team by 10-1. In the second match, the East Zone team had defeated the North Zone team by 4-0.