aBathinda, October 10
The newly-lined Rajwaha water channel, laid at a cost of Rs 1880.21 crore, is proving to be helpful to the farmers in irrigating their fields.

In a press statement issued here today, Deputy Commissioner Kamal Kishore Yadav stated that the water channel has a length of 16.62 kms. The eight villages that will mainly benefit from this water channel include Poohli, Poohla, Nathana, Dhelwan, Harraipur, Jeeda, Chak Jeeda, Janda Wala and Goniana Kalan.

Yadav said the channel has started providing water for irrigation purposes to those villages, which earlier suffered from paucity of water.

From the head of the water channel, nearly 34 cusecs of water is released, which irrigates 40,257 hectares of land. 

Bathinda, October 10
The common entrance examination (CEE) for soldier clerks/SKT which was conducted at Khasa, Amritsar on July 28 this year has been cancelled.

A press statement released by the Army here said that all candidates who had been screened at Bathinda between July 4-12 July and had appeared in the CEE will now re-appear for the examination scheduled to be held at the War Hero Stadium, Sangrur on October 27.

All candidates are directed to report to the Army Recruiting Office, Ferozepur, along with four photographs (two each with and without turban) for fresh admit cards on October 22-23. — TNS

Bathinda, October 10
Eleven students of the Baba Farid Group of Institution (BFGI) from the 2014 final year batch of civil engineering were selected by real estate development company Dwarkadhis Projects Pvt. The students were selected as trainee engineers. The selected students will go for six months of training. Recently, five students of B.Tech had been hired by Ozone Enterprise Group.

Gurmeet Singh Dhaliwal, chairman, BFGI, congratulated the students and thanked the company for giving the students the opportunity. 

Bathinda, October 10
A two-day national conference on Advancements in Sustainable Practices and Innovations in Renewable Energy (ASPIRE 2013) started at Giani Zail Singh Punjab Technical University Campus, here today.

The conference is being sponsored under TEQIP-II project of the Government of India. Institute Director Dr Jasbir Singh Hundal said the conference was being held to create awareness about importance of sustainability and use of renewable energy through research papers contributed by the research scholars and academicians from all over the country. The Department of Architecture and the Department of Civil Engineering are jointly organising this conference.

Prof Alok Ranjan from MNIT, Jaipur, was the chief guest. In his inaugural address, he stressed upon the need to achieve sustainability in cities and the buildings being constructed. He highlighted the importance of eco-friendly and sustainable buildings to reduce electricity consumption and depletion of natural resources.

Ex-Director, College of Architecture, Bhaddal Prof Jit Kumar Gupta delivered key note address highlighting the role of planners, architects and engineers to build sustainable cities as envisaged by Le Corbusier in the planning of Chandigarh.

He talked at length about intelligent buildings and vertical cities coming up in various parts of the world. The inaugural session was attended by over 150 students and delegates.

Conference co-ordinator Prof Jatinder Kaur briefed the delegates about the conference and its themes. She said 29 research papers from all over country and institutions of repute had been published in proceedings released during conference. Convenor, ASPIRE 2013 Prof Ripu Daman Singh said these papers should be presented during various technical sessions.

The delegates from IIT Roorkee, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi, GNDU, Amritsar, DCRUST, Murthal, GNDEC, Ludhiana, GZS-PTU Campus, Bathinda and many other institutes of National repute have come to present their research papers.

On the occasion print volume of proceedings edited by Prof Jatinder Kaur and Prof Ripu Daman Singh was released. Chairman Jasbir Singh Hundal welcomed dignitaries and co-chairman Prof Bhupinder Pal Singh Dhot introduced the chief guest and keynote speaker to the audience. Prof Sanjay Bhatnagar and Prof Harish Garg are co-convenors of this scientific conference.

At end of inaugural session, Dr Sanjiv Kumar Aggarwal, Co-chairman ASPIRE 2013 proposed a vote of thanks.

Bathinda, October 10
A two-day painting exhibition was organised at RBDAV Senior Secondary School here today.

Executive member of the Punjab Lalit Kala Acadmey, Amarjit Singh inaugurated the exhibition with the principal of DAV College Dr J S Anand. Vice-president of Sardar Sobha Singh Memorial Chittrakal Academy was also present.

The event is dedicated to famous painter Vincent Willem Van Gogh nicknamed Christ of Coal Mines. The exhibition threw light on the troubled life of the post-impressionist painter Van Gogh whose work is notable for its beauty,emotion and color and had influenced the 20th century art.

Students of the DAV Art Club brought to life his famous paintings such as starry night, sunflowers, potato eaters, a pair of shoes, autumn landscapes etc. Visitors to the exhibit praised installation on life of Van Gogh.

School principal S Bhullar motivated the students to adopt the style of Van Gigh or any other painter of their choice and present their culture through it.

Bathinda, October 10
Bollywood actors Minisha Lamba and Aarya Babbar will be arriving in the city tomorrow to promote their forthcoming film "Heer and Hero." 

The actors are also expected to interact with the people and the media. The city has of late been witnessing its transformation into a prime film promotion destination with several stars descending on it. 

Bathinda, October 10
The semi-finals of kabaddi and basketball in the under-19 category were played on the fourth day of the Punjab State School Games today. As many as 13 matches in the categories for boys and girls were played at the DAV College and Khalsa Senior Secondary School.

During the first match held at DAV College, the Faridkot team played against Kapurthala wherein the latter was declared the winner by a margin of 39-21. In the match between Maluka wing and Sangrur, Sangrur was declared the winner by a margin of 36-18 points. In the match between Faridkot and Sangrur, the latter defeated Faridkot to mark its entry into the final. On the other hand, during the match between Maluka wing and Kapurthala, the latter won 34-17 to mark its entry into the finals.

The final match of kabaddi for girls was played between Sangrur and Kapurthala. In this match of the super league, raiders Kuljit Singh, Ranjit Singh and Sarabjit Singh maintained an equilibrium between the two teams. During the last leg of the match, the Kapurthala team registered a victory by a margin of 35-30, bagging the first place in the state.

For the third place in the games, a match was played between Maluka wing and Faridkot wherein Bathinda's Maulka wing registered a victory by a margin of 29-22.

Meanwhile, in the kabaddi match for girls, the Nawanshahr team played against Faridkot, wherein the former won 26-12. In the second match, Ferozepur defeated Patiala 55-25.

In the kabaddi matches for girls, Nawanshahr bagged the first place, Ferozepur bagged the second place while Patiala bagged the third place.

In the basketball matches for girls, Amritsar wing defeated Kapurthala 45-25, Hoshiarpur defeated Sangrur 35-27, Ludhiana defeated Amritsar 65-61, Patiala defeated Bathinda 46-35 while Amritsar wing defeated Hoshiarpur 46-11.

In the basketball matches for boys, Ludhiana academy defeated Mansa 84-32, Bathinda defeated Jalandhar 69-52, Ludhiana defeated Muktsar 41-14, Patiala wing defeated Amritsar 49-30 while Bathinda wing defeated Ludhiana by a margin of 61-51.

Tomorrow, the super league matches will be held at the Khalsa Senior Secondary School. 

Bathinda, October 10
Various committees with government officials of different departments as members have been formed to supervise the preparations for the fourth World Cup Kabaddi to be held at Multi-purpose Sports Stadium here.

A meeting chaired by additional deputy commissioners Rajeev Prashar and Sonali Giri was held today wherein they discussed giving various assignments to different departments. Talwandi Sabo Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Shruti, Superintendent of Police (H) Jasbir Singh, assistant commissioner Sakattar Singh Bal, DDPO Rajinder Batra and other officials were among those present at the meeting. The games would be inaugurated on November 10 and the concluding ceremony would be held on November 23.

ADC Rajeev Prashar said 12 committees have been formed to take care of various affairs, including reception and protocol, refreshment, venue, transport, media, accommodation, barricading, finance and others.

Considering a large number of people that thronged the venue last year, special arrangements would be made for people, players, politicians and special guests. — TNS

Bathinda, October 10
The police today booked the owner of a rice mill for siphoning off paddy worth nearly Rs 2.5 crore.

The accused, Sarabjit Kaur, has been booked for cheating and criminal breach of trust under Sections 420 and 406 of the IPC at Sangat police station.

The police said the case was registered after a complaint was received from the then district manager of Punjab Agro Foodgrain Corporation Limited, BP Singh.

When contacted, Singh, who is now posted as the district manager in Moga, said the embezzlement dated back to the wheat stock of 2010-2011.

He said the woman, a resident of Sahibzada Jujhar Singh Nagar, was the owner of Ambika Rice Mills in Mehta village near Sangat Mandi. She is accused of siphoning off 56,605 bags of paddy given by the Punjab Agro. The rice mill owner had failed to return milled paddy and it was found missing from her mill.

The investigating officer in the case, Darshan Singh, said the case was registered after a long investigation by various police officers. No arrest has been made so far.

It is pertinent to mention here that a few days ago, three rice mill owners were booked by the police for usurping paddy worth nearly Rs 2.52 crore.

Bathinda, October 10
The police today booked the driver of a Maruti Alto car for fatally injuring a woman of Maur Kalan village. Another woman was also injured in the mishap.

In a complaint to the police, Charandeep Singh of Lehra Dhoorkut village stated that he along with another relative was riding a bike on the Maur-Mansa road. He said they stopped near the refill station of the Indian Oil Corporation at Maur Kalan when a speeding car driven by Gurpreet Singh of Datewas village hit his wife and a relative.

The complainant's wife received serious injuries while his relative, Sukhpal Kaur, died on the spot.

The police said a case under Sections 304-A, 279, 337 and 338 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered against the accused car driver at the Maur police station.

Bathinda, October 10
The police in neighbouring Mansa district today claimed to have arrest three poppy husk smugglers and seized 96 quintals of poppy husk worth nearly Rs 1.90 crores.

The contraband was packed in 240 bags and kept in a truck. The truck was intercepted by the Joga police on the Barnala-Sirsa road. The truck driver initially tried to escape but police vehicles chased the truck and it was forced to stop by another police team near Dhaula village on Barnala road.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Dr Narinder Bhargav said this is the biggest consignment seized by the Mansa police in the recent past.

The SSP said that the police got secret information about the smuggling of poppy husk on the Sirsa-Jammu inter-state route passing through Mansa and a naka was laid.

A case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act has been registered against the accused.