Bathinda, October 15
Personal data of about four lakh applicants for the Aadhaar card went missing after four laptops were stolen from a technical hub of the company compiling the data in the Vishal Nagar area of the city.

Ratan Kumar, the Audit Officer of the Hyderabad-based Karvy Computershare Private Limited, lodged a complaint at the Kotwali police station, in which he stated that the four HP Compaq laptops were missing from the technical hub.

A case of house trespass and theft under Sections 484 and 380 of the IPC has been registered against unidentified persons.

The hub is situated in a rented accommodation on the first floor of a house in Vishal Nagar. The ground floor of the house is occupied by other tenants.

The complainant said that he had left for Pathankot on October 6 and when he came back on October 10, he found the laptops to be missing.

He stated that no door lock had been broken by the accused. He stated that the accused seemed to have visited the office and might have quietly taken away the laptops.

Seven workers, including four company officials from outside the state and three local workers, are deputed by the company to handle the data.

Ratan while talking to The Tribune claimed that he had the backup of the four lakh entries in another computer and the applicants corresponding to those entries had got their cards.

However, the investigating officer, Sub Inspector Jaswant Singh said as per the FIR, vital details comprising personal data of these applicants had gone "missing" from the laptops.

"Though the complainant did not reveal the quantum of data but they admitted that the data had gone missing in the first information report," the IO said. He said they had verbally told him about the four lakh figure. He said the exact number of missing details would be ascertained only after the completion of the inquiry.

"It will take a day or two to complete the inquiry as the complainant was told to come to the police station for the recording of the statement," the IO said.

Meanwhile, some applicants have expressed concern over the possible harassment or misuse of cards.

The data is compiled for the Unique Identification Number by the Hydrabad-based company, which contains biometric information. UID card seekers are supposed to submit PAN card details, identity proof, birth and residence proof and bank account numbers to obtain the card. 

Bathinda, October 15
Learning a lesson from the incident in which a young kabaddi player lost his life due to electric current from a streetlight pole, a team of the Municipal Corporation Bathinda (MCB) has taped up hanging wires around the city.

Loose electricity wires hanging from the panel switch boxes of the streetlight poles at various places on the GT Road, Mall Road, Barnala Road, 100 Feet Road, Power House Road, Guru Kashi Marg and at the Fauji Chowk were spruced up and covered.

Most of the poles taped up are the ones which have enough space in between for a pedestrian to cross the divider.

A resident of Guru Kashi Marg, Joginder Singh, said the civic body should also sensitise people to not use the small spaces between dividers to cross the road.

“People should be dissuaded from using wrong places to cross over roads. This puts their lives at risk and when a tragedy happens, people start blaming the administration,” he said.

Such a practice is common among people and they need to be dissuaded from doing so.

Assistant Commissioner Kamal Kant Goyal said stickers would be pasted on all the central verge poles of electricity tomorrow which would caution people to stay away and to not touch them. He said later, the poles on either side of roads and the metalled ones would be covered.

 It was callousness on the part of the Municipal Corporation officials and it would be proper if they accepted their mistake instead of terming it as a freak accident. There are many more such poles in the city with their wires hanging, which pose a danger to the children crossing by. Not only the children, even animals could get electrocuted while passing through such dangers. The deceased's family should be given compensation and a block of his school at Bhawanigarh should be named after him.
Gurpreet Singh, Physical education teacher, Govt School, Paras Ram Nagar

It is completely the fault of the municipal corporation employees no matter how hard the try to shield themselves. They should not find a scapegoat in the name of inquiry. Instead, they should zero in on the real culprit. Talwinder's family should be offered monetary relief. Talwinder's father could be helped with some kind of rehabilitation since he runs a truck to earn two square meals a day.
Surjit Singh, Physical education teacher, Govt rajindra College

Talwinder was not in the city for picnic or to attend a private function. He was in the city to represent his team and was a hard worker. He was the only child of his parents, who have no one to look after them. When the government is promoting sports, especially kabaddi as the state sports, it is its duty to ensure the welfare of kabaddi players. Kabaddi is not only limited to world cups. The school games are the nursery of kabaddi players. The government should fix the responsibility for this tragedy and ensure that the family is compensated for their irreparable loss.
Madan Lal, Coach, DAV College

The player's death may have been an accident or might have taken place due to someone’s negligence. The crux of the matter is that a young and promising player has been lost. The son, who was to be the support of his aged parents, is now gone forever. The government should give compensation in some form or another to his family. The incident has reemphasised the insecurity that shrouds players, when they represent their respective districts or states. 
Gurmanjit Singh, Kabaddi player

During the day of matches of the Sangrur team, I had seen Talwinder Singh playing. He was an excellent raider and had a promising career ahead of him. A young life has been cut short due to negligence on the part of some MC workers. Had the MC officials been doing their duty properly, the life of the youth could have been saved. Since the damage cannot be undone, the government should compensate the family and help it in every possible way.
Syam Singh, Kabaddi player

It is laxity on part of the municipal corporation in maintaining streetlights that cost a young man his life. By the end of this month, the city will play host to the national games. Despite the tragedy, the MCB has still not set its house in order. Apart from the corporation, it is also responsibility of the district administration to ensure the safety of every player visiting the city. If the existing faulty poles and wirings are not repaired, yet another tragedy can happen. Lessons should be learnt form it. Also, while expressing solidarity with the victim’s family, the government should compensate the family for the loss. 
Pardeep Sharma, general secretary, District Wushu Association

It was not Talwinder's fault that he touched a live wire. Many other children pass those grills on 100 ft road opposite the Dasmesh School. Had it not been Talwinder, some other child would have got electrocuted. Government should pay compensation to his family.
Balwinder Singh, Kabaddi player 

The tragedy was waiting to happen at the divider on the 100 Feet road. The MC was waiting for the tragedy to happen to awaken from its slumber. The government should compensate for the young player's death. He belonged to a poor family that could not even afford decent clothes. When his body reached his home tome Bhawanigarh, his mother brought out his new clothes bought to attend a marriage. Talwinder was denied those clothes saying that he would spoil them by wearing them during the matches.
Amarveer Singh Grewal, Punjabi University Regional Centre

Bathinda, October 15
State Health Minister Surjit Kumar Jiyani paid a surprise visit to the Civil Hospital at around 10:30 am today. The minister was accompanied by the civil surgeon and other staff members of the Health Department.

While taking a round, he interacted with doctors and patients to gauge their problems.

During his visit to the gynaecology OPD at the women and children hospital, he came across a huge rush of patients for whom only one doctor, Alka Garg, was available today.

Patients told Jiyani that there were just two gynaecology doctors - Dr Alka Garg and Dr Preet at the OPD - and another doctor, Dr Dheera Gupta, was deputed to work four times a week.

A patient's attendant, Suresh Rani, from Kotshamir told Jiyani that more regular gynaecology doctors were required at the hospital. The gynae OPD is 70 per day. Besides looking after the OPD, gynaes are also into conducting deliveries and other operations.

He took a round of the gallery on the surgical ward floor opening towards the OPD block to check if it was clean.

Jiyani asked doctors to be cordial with patients. "When touched lovingly, a cow gives more milk. Even a furious dog can be tamed with a loving touch. A doctor should approach patients with love and care," he said.

Later, members of the NRHM Employees Union met Jiyani and presented their charter of demands. Jiyani assured them that NRHM staff would be regularised.

A delegation of laboratory technicians also met him. These laboratory technicians have been working with the Health Department for the past 12 years and are drawing salaries from the user charges collected from hospitals.

The technicians said the department had recruited new technicians and was now preparing to show them the door. There are 105 such technicians in the state.

Jiyani told these technicians that they would be regularised if they had been drawing salaries from the government and if there were vacancies.

Civil surgeon Dr Ajay Sahni, district health officer Dr RS Randhawa, SMO Dr Satish Gupta were among those present on the occasion.

Bathinda, October 15
Late delivery of the mid-day meal food, detection of worms and concrete in the food and flouting of the menu chart are some of the allegations which were levelled against the Bishalakshmi Club, the NGO which undertook the work of preparing and delivering these meals to as many as 48 schools located within the limits of the Bathinda Municipal Corporation from October 1. However, one visit to the place where the food is cooked is enough to question the truth behind the allegations.

Women wiping the containers spanking clean, cooks covering hot chapattis together in muslin cloths, some kneading dough for their own brunch while the rest engaged in cleaning the place - this was the scene at the centre, where the NGO prepares food for close to 9,000 students, at 9.15 am.

“Much has been written against us but no one cared to know our side of the story,” said the manager of the centre, Buta Singh. “We have six male cooks, who were specially sent from Madhya Pradesh to cook food for students in Bathinda, 40 women who prepare rotis, pack the food and clean the premises. Another 10 women come later to clean the containers sent back by schools,” he said.

“We pack the food and send it to schools in time. Since the all the food is prepared in one go, one should question the authenticity of the claim that we were responsible for worms detected in food at only one school and not others. By 10 am, we send the food for all the schools. How is it possible that the food doesn’t reach a school by 1.30 pm?” he questioned.

“We are facing hostility from the cooks who used to prepare food for the students in schools. Although they should be happy that they have not been removed from jobs and that instead their workload has lessened, they gherao our delivery van and cause delays. This problem is specially prevalent in the schools located in Parasram Nagar, Sanjay Nagar and Pratap Nagar,” he alleged.

He also rued that the NGO was bearing losses everyday. “As per the norm, we are supposed to receive attendance of primary and upper primary students present in the school every single day. None of the schools is serious about following this norm. As a result of this, we are forced to prepare food for 9,000 students while close to only 6,000 students consume it,” Singh said, claiming that the firm was bearing losses up to Rs 10,000 a day.

“We have no option but to send food for 9,000 students even though the firm gets paid for only the number of students who actually consume the food each day. We visited some schools during the lunch break and were shocked to see the amount of food which is wasted everyday,” he said. 

Bathinda, October 15
New India Assurance Company Limited has been directed to pay a sum of Rs 2.85 lakh with 9 per cent rate of interest to a transporter whose bus was set on fire after it met with an accident last year. The directions came after a decision was pronounced by the District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum.

The bus belonging to Ranjit Transport Company was damaged and set on fire after it collided with a tractor near Sangat Kenchiyan in June last year.

Two FIRs were lodged in this connection against the bus driver and the mob that set the bus on fire. The bus was comprehensively insured with the New India Assurance Company and the vehicle was declared a complete loss by the surveyor. The bus had the insured's declared value of Rs 15 lakhs.

The complainant and proprietor of the transport company, Rashpal Walia said the Ludhiana based surveyor and loss assessor got his signatures on blank papers and deducted Rs 5.40 lakhs as salvage amount in a manner that amounted to fraud.

The complainant's advocate Jasdeep Walia said that salvage is the amount of scrap which is kept by the insurance company after paying the claim of insurance to the insured.

Walia said that despite verbally declaring the salvage amount of Rs 2.5 to Rs 2.6 lakhs to the complainant, the insurance company in connivance with the surveyor deducted an amount of Rs 5.40 lakhs.

The insurance company transferred an amount of Rs 9.59 lakh but the complainant sent an e-mail to the insurance firm declaring that he is accepting the partial amount with protest and will contest to get the complete claim.

Apart from Rs 2. 85 lakhs with 9 per cent rate of interest from three months after the accident, the forum also directed the insurance company to pay 6 per cent rate of interest on the insurance claim amount of Rs 9.59 lakhs. 

Bathinda, October 15
The guest faculty members of Government Rajindra College have a reason to rejoice. Their salaries have been has increased from Rs 7,000 to Rs 10,000. The decision was taken during a meeting of the college authorities and the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) committee on Monday.

Speaking to Bathinda Tribune, principal of the college, Prof Vijay Kumar Goyal said, "The teachers who have been employed by the college on contract basis had been demanding a hike in their salaries for some time now. During a meeting held on Monday, we increased their salaries with effect from August 2013."

While the college has as many as 84 permanent teachers, it currently has only 37 permanent teachers while 30 teachers are on contract basis and eight teachers on part-time basis. While there are nine guest faulty members in the Department of Punjabi, there is one each for computer science, commerce, history, mathematics and chemistry, two each for political science, economics, physics, botany, zoology and geography and four for English.

Interestingly, while the increase in salary must have brought a smile on the faces of the guest faculty members, it has increased the burden on the PTA funds of the college. While the salaries of the permanent teachers are paid by the state government, the PTA funds are used by the college authorities to pay the salaries of the teachers hired on contractual basis.

"For years, the college has been charging only Rs 900 per student per annum as PTA fund. With the increase in the salaries of these teachers, the PTA fund coffers will be lighter by Rs 90,000 every month. In the past, we have used the PTA fund to initiate several development works in the college. Sometimes, we are even forced to use the fund to pay the salary of regular teachers," the principal added.

The college principal also indicated that since the pressure on the PTA funds was increasing every year, the college authorities were mulling to increase the chargeable PTA fund amount starting the next academic session. 

Bathinda, October 15
The Bathinda chapter of the Indian Society of Anaesthetists will be celebrating the World Anaesthesia Day tomorrow.

In a press statement issued here today, the patron of the society, Dr Shyam Lal Thukral said that October 16 is celebrated as the 167th anniversary of the world's first recorded successful use of ether as an anaesthetic agent which took place at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA Harvard School of Medical Sciences in 1846.

President of the Bathinda chapter Dr JC Garg, secretary Dr Sushil Garg and cashier Dr Rohit said that the role of the anaesthesiologist in the field of medicine will be discussed at the celebrations.

Bathinda, October 15
A two-day book exhibition is being organised on October 17-18 at the city campus of Central University of Punjab, Bathinda. Prof (Dr) SS Gill, Vice-chancellor, Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot, will inaugurate the exhibition.

As many as 40 book vendors and 11 leading publishers like Springer, Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Sage, VIVA books, Taylor & Francis and Orient Blackswan will display their latest publications.

The CUP will also sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot to foster mutual cooperation to promote high end research and academic programmes in biological and medical sciences and other areas. The book exhibition is open to general public from 9 am to 5 pm on October 17-18. — TNS

Bathinda, October 15
The 70th Corps Day of the Corps of Electronics & Mechanical Engineers (EME) was celebrated with enthusiasm at the Bathinda Military Station. The Corps of EME is responsible for providing engineering support to all categories of equipment held by the Indian Army, including tanks, artillery guns, radars, communication equipment, helicopters, medical equipment, etc. and has played a crucial role in operational sustenance of this wide variety of equipment at all times.

The Corps of EME is continuing its tradition of creativity and innovation by making significant contribution in weapon development programmes and product improvement initiatives.

Corps Day events commenced with EME veterans meet, which was graced by as many as 85 retired officers and soldiers. A fun-filled Pagal Gymkhana was also organised which was well-attended by the soldiers, veterans and their kin. — TNS

Bathinda, October 15
A three day cluster-level golden jubilee celebration of Kendriya Vidyalaya schools, which were established in 1963, were held at Kendriya Vidyalaya No 5, Bathinda Cantonment.

Deepa Rawal, wife of Brigadier Sanjay Rawal, chairman, VMC KV No 5, inaugurated the function. Group song, group dance, skit, solo classical, essay writing, drawing and painting were held for primary and secondary level. — TNS 

Bathinda, October 15
The Millennium School, HMEL Township, organised its first annual athletic meet recently. Headmistress of the school, Anju Nagpal, inaugurated the event by lighting the ceremonial lamp.

In her inaugural address, she emphasised the importance of games and sports in bringing out the hidden talent of students by developing the spirit of cooperation, discipline, tolerance, sportsmanship and physical fitness.

Chief operating officer of the Guru Gobind Singh Refinery, Martin Earl Hawkins, was the chief guest on the occasion. Rupinder Singh Sidhu and Rajwant Singh Mann were the guests of honour.

The event began with a march past by the students and teachers. This was followed by athletic events like 100m, 200m, long jump, high jump, shotput, shuttle run, sack race, balloon race, and other competitions. Close to 200 students participated in the competitions. The tug-of-war competition between the teachers was enjoyed by all.