Bathinda, February 27
The death of two ‘kanwarias’ in an accident on Mahashivratri sparked off protests. A mob also burnt a truck canter near Ghunas village in Barnala.

Kanwar is the annual pilgrimage of Hindu devotees who bring holy water from Haridwar and other religious places to sprinkle it in the temples of Lord Shiva.

The 'kanwarias' were walking on foot by the roadside when a speeding truck canter, rashly driven by an unidentified driver, crushed them, injuring two others seriously.

The devotees of Lord Shiva and various other religious groups also announced a bandh in view of the two mishap.

A complete bandh was witnessed today in Rampura, Bhucho and Balianwali mandis.

The accident took place at around 5.30 am. The vehicle driver fled from the spot immediately after the accident. The deceased were identified as Suresh Kumar, 33, a Rampura resident, and Gurmel Singh.

The duo along with many others was returning to Rampura after taking holy water from Haridwar on the pious occasion. The three other seriously injured were taken to the Rampura Hospital from they were two were shifted to Bathinda Civil Hospital. One of them was further referred to Ludhiana and another to the PGIMER, Chandigarh. Two of the three injured are said to be critical.

The injured were identified as Ramesh Singla and Deepak Kumar, residents of Rampura.

Son of Punjab Education Minister Sikandar Maluka and Chairman of Zila Parishad Bathinda, Gurpreet Maluka, reached Rampura to condole the death of kanwarias.

Maluka announced Rs 5 lakh for the kin of the deceased.

Meanwhile, heavy police force was deployed in and around Rampura Phul in view of the incident to maintain law and order.

The local NGOs and residents alleged that though the state government provides unprecedented security and safety to the VIP vehicles across the state, it hardly pays any attention to the annual pilgrimage of the 'kanwarias'.

Bathinda, February 27
ETT teachers too have jumped on to the bandwagon of repeated protests and dharnas being witnessed in the city. Irate over the government not accepting their demands, the ETT Teachers Union held a dharna at the Teachers' Home and raised slogans against the state government.

ETT teachers hold a protest inside and on the rooftop of Teachers’ Home in Bathinda on Thursday. Tribune photos: Pawan Sharma

President of the union Jagsir Singh Sahota, MC teachers' union president Jasvir Singh Saini and Manga Singh Khanna said a panel under Chief Secretary SK Sandhu was formed on January 9 which was to meet with a panel of the union.

They alleged that instead of holding meetings, efforts were on to spoil the careers of ETT teachers. They demanded shifting of schools that are under the Panchayati Raj department to the Education Department.

On behalf of the Deputy Commissioner of Bathinda, SDM Bathinda Damanjit Singh Maan held a meeting with the agitating teachers.

A panel was called to the Deputy Commissioner's office late in the evening for deliberations.

Their demands include promotion to master cadre, implementing seniority since 2006, cancellation of panchayati directorate and others.

Bathinda, February 27
A Talwandi Sabo-based doctor has been booked for causing death due to negligence and threatening the relatives of a 22-year-old youth who died in a mishap.

The boy, identified as Lakhwinder Singh, a resident of Chathewala village, was hit by a tractor on Tuesday evening.

Lakhwinder was returning to his village after enquiring from a nearby village about a generator set for the marriage function of his sister. He was the only son of his parents and had two sisters.

Investigating Officer ASI Amreek Singh said the youh was admitted to Raj Nursing Home in Talwandi Sabo with multiple injuries on his face and mouth immediately after the accident.

A case under Sections 304 and 506 of the IPC has been registered against Dr Dinesh Bansal on the complaint of the boy’s uncle Mehma Singh.

“Since most of the family members were occupied with the marriage arrangements, they told the doctor to carry out the treatment and they will soon get in touch to clear all the bills. The doctor”as per complainant” however kept on demanding money,”€� said Amreek Singh, adding that the case was registered after completing investigations in this regard. The relatives alleged that the doctor threatened them and did not allow them to take the body before clearing all hospital bills. The Investigating Officer said, “The doctor is yet to be arrested. Further investigations are under way.”

Bathinda, February 27
At a time when the number of nuclear families are increasing, the Bathinda Development Authority (BDA) has come up with the project of naming Model Town phase III park, near community centre, as Dadi-Poti (grandma-granddaughter) park.

Member of Parliament Harsimrat Badal will inaugurate work at the park tomorrow. Built at a cost of Rs 1.16 crore, the existing park is being given facelift with additions being made to it in terms of infrastructure and facilities. BDA Chief Administrator Varinder Kumar Sharma said the basic idea was to develop a park that could provide recreation to people from all age-groups.

"Being located in the heart of a huge habitation, people from many localities visit it for morning and evening walks. We decided to give it the theme of Dadi-Poti so that the elderly as well as children could feel comfortable here," said Sharma.

Tenders for the project have already been floated. Overcoming the problem of narrow walk paths, the BDA has decided to widen it by 2 feet. The BDA had got representations from people who had demanded to widen the walking path.

The area would have public conveniences, library, shelters, benches and better landscaping. For developing the library, the BDA plans to take up the issue with the Deputy Commissioner's office so that an NGO or some good Samaritan can fund the library. People will have the facility to walk in and read. It aims at inculcating reading habits for which ample newspapers and magazines would be provided.

Sharma said the BDA would not be able to maintain structures in the park for which the park management committee would be roped in and asked to play a pro-active role. Already the park has been given a facelift with its damaged boundary wall restored and painted anew.

Bathinda, February 27
With Lok Sabha elections round the corner, Member of Parliament Harsimrat Kaur Badal continued with the inauguration spree. At a string of different events, she visited various villages of Bathinda where she addressed the villagers, conducted sangat darshan programmes and inaugurated projects.

Speaking on the occasion, she praised the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) for introducing and executing many development schemes in the state. She accused the Congress government of doing nothing but siphoning the money off on useless things.

She visited Katar Singhwala, Buladewala, Deon, Bazigar Basti, Burj Mehma, Karamgarh Satran, Behman Diwana, Katar Singhwala, Bhagu and Kotshamir villages. She distributed utensils, sports kits and sewing machines to the villagers.

Deputy Commissioner Kamal Kishore Yadav, SSP Gurpreet Bhullar, ADC (Development) Sonali Giri and Deputy CM's media advisor Harjinder Sidhu were also present on the occasion.

Bathinda, February 27
A city doctor Vitull Gupta will attend and deliver a lecture at the 6th annual International Congress of Cardiology (ICC) in Hainan International Convention and Exhibition Centre, China.

The event will be held from November 13 to 16 with the theme of "Best Solutions for Happy Family". “ICC-2014 is designed for interacting with specialists and professionals from all over the world to share and enhance knowledge on the latest international research and developments in the field of cardiology and networking among peers,” said Dr Vitull. — TNS

Bathinda, February 27
The two-day annual athletics meet of Giani Zail Singh Punjab Technical University campus, began here today. Former Mayor Baljit Singh Bir Behman inaugurated the event. Postgraduate, degree and diploma students are participating in it.

In the 800m race event for men from the degree section, Vishaldeep Romana secured the first place and Sunny stood second. In the same event for diploma students’ category, Vicky secured the first place, while Gaurav got second. In the 400m women race, from the degree section, Satwinder Kaur stood first while Ashima second.

In the long jump for men, Lakhpreet Singh from degree section stood first, while Gaurav came second. For the same event in women’s section Gagandeep Kaur stood first and Karamjeet Kaur came second. In the 800m race for women, Swati Rana from degree section stood first and Jaskirandeep Kaur second. In the long jump for men, from diploma section Jalwinder Das and Harpreet Singh secured first and second place. In the short put event for women, Zarina from degree section stood first and Ashima came second.

In the 110m hurdles for men, from degree section Gurdeep Singh and Varinderpal secured the first and second place. In the 100m hurdles for women, from degree section Shapanpreet and Gagandeep secured the first and second places, respectively. In the 400m for women, from diploma section Gagandeep and Kamalpreet got the first and second positions. In the long jump women, from diploma section Kamalpreet Kaur and Ramandeep Kaur secured first and second positions.

Col Honsra, Commanding Officer, 20 Punjab Battalion, NCC, was the guest of honour. Campus Director Dr Jasbir Singh Hundal welcomed the guests. Col Honsra advised the students to take care of their health and to stay away from drugs.

Chief Coordinator and president, sports, Bhupinder Pal Singh briefed about students’ achievements in sports at national and state level. The march past for the inaugural ceremony was led by the batch captains Sunil Yadav and Shapanpreet Kaur for postgraduate students, Jeet Singh and Manpreet Kaur for final year, Gurpinder Singh and Rupinder Kaur for third year, Jatin Saini and Dolly Rani for second year and Janamjot Singh and Ishani for the first year.

Coordinator of annual athletic meet Neeraj Gill presented a vote of thanks. Registrar Prof GS Bath, principal polytechnic wing Prof Darshan Singh, all heads of various departments, assistant president, sports, Dilbagh Singh, and others were also present.

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