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Adda fee issue
CCTV cameras not functioning, city rly station haven for anti-social elements
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Miscreants break windscreens of cars on New Year’s eve
NSS volunteers celebrate New Year at Govt Rajindra College
Mobile phone tower opposed
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Pvt bus operators go on strike
Tribune News Service
Bathinda, January 1 President of the Mini Buses Operators Union Baltej Singh said, “There are different agencies controlling bus stands in different cities. For instance, the Bathinda bus stand is under PRTC, while the Rampura bus stand is under the Municipal Council. All these bus stands have different adda fees. Even if our buses don’t enter the bus stand premises, we are forced to pay the fees,” he said. Since every city has a bus stand now, the private bus operators end up paying adda fees after every 10 to 12 kms. The private operators are demanding that the adda fees be waived off. Many owners of buses were present at the bus stand since early morning. They lined up their buses outside its premises. However, a few buses of Orbit Company operated from inside the bus stand. Traffic police in-charge Bharpur Singh said the traffic was navigated through different entry and exit points of the city to ensure that there was no traffic jam. The traffic was diverted to Bhagu road, Power House road, Rose Garden, ITI chowk and Jodhpur Romana and Jassi Pau Wali villages.
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CCTV cameras not functioning, city rly station haven for anti-social elements
Bathinda, January 1 Despite being one of the largest and the busiest railway junctions of Asia, the Bathinda junction lacks miserably when it comes to ensuring safety and security to the passengers, especially late at night and early in the morning. Although the officials of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the Government Railway Police (GRP) claim that they are working overnight to make the junction a safe place, the absence of metal at the entry and exit points, dysfunctional close circuit televisions (CCTVs) or absence of CCTVs at some crucial points of the junction and freely-roaming sadhus punch hole in the claims. During a conversation with Bathinda Tribune, the station superintendent, Pradeep Sharma, said, "There's a tussle between the Railway Protection Force and the civil police personnel regarding the issue of security right outside the railway station. While the RPF says it is not liable for what's happening outside the boundary of the station, the civil police say it is not their headache." He said there was the need for both the RPF and the police to work in tandem. Although as many as six CCTVs were installed at the junction in April, two each inside and outside the ticket booking counter, one in the waiting area and at least two on the footover bridge, none of the cameras have a recording facility which essentially means that in the hour of need, the railway police personnel will not be able to collect any data from these cameras. As per Jagsir Singh, who keeps an eye on the live feed transmitted by four of the CCTVs, stated that the GRP had conducted a survey of the junction in 2012 and submitted a letter with the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) requesting procurement and installation of as many as 29 CCTVs at various points of the junction. He added that no action has been taken since. The parcel room, where goods worth lakhs are stored before they are loaded and after they
are unloaded, is also bereft of round-the-clock surveillance. The fact that the junction has several entry and exit points and is open from all sides is another factor which adds to its tag of being unsafe. Metal detectors, which are a staple at most public places and offices, are conspicuous by their absence at the junction. Although the RPF inspector, RK Kanojia, did not mince words when asked if the force was short-staffed, the RPF assistance room on the platform, which can be seen locked almost through the day, is an indication of the same. More than 60 trains, including those starting from Bathinda and those halting here as a transit point, leave for different destinations daily. These also include mail trains and passenger trains. Apart from ferrying the passengers to their destinations, the junction is also used by traders and the Army to ferry goods worth crores from and to various parts of the country. Justifiably then, it would not be too much to ask for round-the-clock presence of security personnel, which are seen in large numbers only when a senior official of the railways visits the junction. |
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Miscreants break windscreens of cars on New Year’s eve
Bathinda, January 1 Last night they broke windscreens of a Maruti 800 and an Indica Vista car parked in the streets. According to investigating officer Kaur Singh, the vehicle owners do private jobs. The area residents said despite the claims of ‘heightened security’ on the New Year eve, the police failed in preventing incidents of such kind. “The young boys apparently, to pacify their destructive instinct, have broken the windowpanes of the two cars,” said Amreek Singh. He added the incident created panic in their area and the tenants were requesting their house owners to allow parking of vehicles inside the houses in the wake of last night’s incident. Amreek said the relatively peaceful area where people used to have strolls in the night were quite panicked after the incident. The accused used bricks and other material to break the rear windscreens of both the vehicles. Civil Lines SHO Jaskaran Singh said no case was registered yet and they were trying to trace the culprits. Around seven or eight youngsters on two wheelers, whose images were captured in May last year by a CCTV camera installed at a house at Model Town, Phase-III, are suspected behind
the crime. |
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Teachers’ union observes black day
Bathinda, January 1 State president of the union Devinder Singh said the teachers had been rendered unemployed after they were relieved. He added after staging several protests and demonstrations, they were given opportunities to meet some of the top political leaders of the state, all of whom assured that they would be reinstated. Devinder said the leaders were yet to fulfill their promises. He also pointed out that while the world was celebrating the first day of the New Year, the STRs had no option but to observe it as black day as they were unemployed. Stating that a deputation of the union was scheduled to meet Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, he threatened that if that meeting also remained fruitless, they would turn Bathinda into a city of protests. |
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Ludhiana farmer booked for attempt to murder
Bathinda, January 1 Gurmukh also garnered a grudge against the son of his servant who eloped with his sister and tied a wedding knot with her. The servant’s son belongs to SC category and the farmer belongs to jatt community. Gurmukh suspected his cousin Tari of helping his servant’s son to elope with his sister. He tried to kill his cousin by firing gun shots. He, however, failed to kill Tari and the Ludhiana police booked him for attempt to murder and registered a case under Sections 452, 307, 323, 324, 148 and 149 of the IPC at Hathur police station in January last year. Gurmukh could not be arrested and was declared absconder. With the help of his friends in Bathinda, he procured five illegal weapons from Rajasthan at a cost of Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 per weapon. They decided to eliminate Tari and the servant’s son using these weapons. Gurmukh along with few others were trying to check the illegal weapons in Bathinda on December 26 last year, when a bullet hit Gurmukh’s back. Gurmukh was admitted to a hospital. When the police came to record his statement, he concocted a story of attack by his cousin Tari. He complained to Dyalpura police, Bathinda, wherein he accused his cousin and few others of attacking him with firearms. Believing injured Gurmukh’s story true, the Bathinda police registered a case under Sections 307, 148, 149 of the IPC and 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act against Tari, his brother and few others at the Dyalpura police station. The Bathinda police when rounded up the accused including Tari, were informed about the the other side of the story. SSP Gurpreet Bhullar formed a team comprising DSP (D) Ranjeet Singh, SI Jagdish Sharma and others to further enquire into the incident. The police found Gurmukh Singh at fault, who was presently undergoing treatment at a hospital. The police have now registered a fresh case against the farmer under Sections 182, 192, 193, 195, 201, 211 and 120 of the IPC in addition to a case already registered against him in Ludhiana. DSP Ranjeet said two of Gurmukh’s accomplices had been arrested and the hunt was on to nab others. |
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MP flays Cong for stalling projects
Bathinda, January 1 Interacting with the mediapersons at Bhisiana village where she held a sangat darshan, she said a number of important projects were hanging fire because the Union Government had not granted the permission to initiate them. Citing an example, she said the Bathinda Airport had been completed, but the Union Civil Aviation Ministry was not granting the permission for starting the flights from there. She added that she, along with Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab, Sukhbir Singh Badal had taken up this matter with the top brass of the Union Government but of no avail. She also blamed the UPA Government for causing undue delay in setting up new projects in the state and laying down stringent conditions to deprive the state from Central grants. She also addressed a series of sangat darshan programmes at Bhisiana, Virak Kalan, Jhumba and Baho Yatri villages of the district and listened to the grievances of the people. She also disbursed grants in these villages. Prominent among those who accompanied the MP were local (Rural) MLA Darshan Singh Kotfatta, Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav, SSP Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, ADC Sonali Giri among others. Congratulating everyone the New Year, she said, "Punjab's prosperity and development have been on top of our agenda. My vision for 2014 and even beyond is to see Punjab become self-reliant in all respects. I want the rural and urban areas to flourish alike." "My primary fight and that of my NGO Nanhi Chhaan is to empower every woman. I look forward to seeing Punjab free from the ills like female foeticide, dowry and drug addiction. We have also to generate more employment opportunities for the youth, provide better health care and educational facilities to the people of the district as well as rest of the state," she added. |
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DC inaugurates counter at Suvidha Centre
Tribune News Service
Bathinda, January 1 At the newly inaugurated counter, Aadhaar cards could be made from 9 am to 5 pm. Besides enrolling new people, the counter will also take care of getting anomalies rectified and will provide all kind of help regarding cards. Yadav said those who wanted to enroll anew should approach the counter with identity and residence proof. After all the formalities are completed, the Aadhaar cards would be despatched on the addresses of the applicants.
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Dance troupe from Chandigarh entertains city residents
Bathinda, January 1 A dance troupe from Chandigarh and orchestra dancers entertained the guests at the HBN Country Club and hotel Bahia Fort, respectively. Inspired by the performance of the troupes, the guests also shook a leg or two to the music being churned out by the DJ. Hotels Comfort Inn and Best Western Stella made sure that the atmosphere remained decent as majority of the guests had come with their families. Apart from dancing and dining, the guests also participated in fun games and competitions such as the best dressed couple, the best dancing couple. The children also didn’t feel left out as they also competed for surprise gifts. As promised, the Hotel Country Inn roped in Russian dancers to entertain the guests. The guests couldn’t help but get on the dance floor as DJ Priya and DJ Sam from Delhi also belted out Hindi, English and Punjabi dance numbers. Thanking God for being benevolent in the past year and requesting Him to be kind to all in the coming year, ceremonies were organised at several temples of the city. Shri Mahavir Sankirtan group organised a sankirtan at Shri Pracheen Sankatmochan Hanuman Temple in the Post Office market. Shri Salasar Yatra Sangh Goyal and Party also organised a programme at the Shri Budh Giri Hanuman temple. A sankirtan was also organised at Jhumbawali Mata temple in Shakti Nagar. |
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NSS volunteers celebrate New Year at Govt Rajindra College
Bathinda, January 1 On the New Year's eve, the students enjoyed till late night. The students presented a cultural programme wherein they presented songs, stand-up comedy and dance items. To celebrate the first day of the new year, special food was arranged for for the students by the college authorities. Prof Sultan Singh also congratulated the students and wished them a successful year ahead. He requested the students to spare time and read good books which would add to their knowledge not only about the courses they were pursuing but also make them
wordly-wise. |
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Former MC starts grievance redressal camp
Bathinda, January 1 He said every complaint would be taken up with the department concerned. “If the issues are not resolved within 15 days, we will go in for public action against the departments,” he said. The camp will be held everyday for two hours at the Paras Ram Nagar chowk. As many as 10 teams comprising 11 members each have been formed, which are visiting people and listening to their grievances. Besides this complaints are also being received through SMS. Area residents Gurcharan Singh, Alamjit Singh, Vijay Mangla, Baldev Kumar, Yash Kumar, Babu Ram, Anil Bakshi, Anjali Kumar, Vikramjit Singh, Tarlok Chand and others are working hard to remove the grievances. |
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Mobile phone tower opposed
Bathinda, January 1 Area residents Gulshan Kumar, Jarnail Singh, Jasvir Singh, Surjit Singh and others alleged that the tower was being illegally installed in the residential area. The residents said they would not allow the tower to come up as the radiations emitted from it had harmful effect on health. MCB officials SDO Gurpreet Singh Buttar and JE Som Dutt Sharma reached the spot and stopped the work going on. Gurpreet said the owner of the house had applied for permission to install the tower but did not get the same.
— TNS |
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