Bathinda, June 17
The urban health centre at Lal Singh Basti is crying for attention due to lack of adequate staff and no infrastructure since its inception in September 2012.

The foundation stone for the centre was laid by Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal in 2009. Later, a double storey building was built in a large area but the department has till date failed to provide all the facilities to the patients.

The centre was opened to provide round-the-clock 20-bedded hospital, four cabins for doctors, a laboratory, reception desk, operation theatre, an emergency ward and much more. But at present, for the last two years, it has been working as a dispensary with only one doctor and a pharmacist.

The centre was to have one dental, two MBBS and one specialist doctor. But at present, the centre has only one permanent MBBS doctor and a child specialist doctor who visits here only on a Wednesday. Many windows of the centre are lying broken as youngsters have turned the health centre into a cricket ground.

The administration also uses the first floor of this building for the stay of the police officials during the elections. It is also used for the same purpose during VVIP movement in the area.

Residents living in the nearby areas are an affected lot as they still have to travel to the Civil Hospital for treatment despite the centre being located in their area.

Manjit Kaur, a resident of Lal Singh Basti, said: "This urban health centre is of no use for the residents as it does not have any emergency facilities. Why has public money been wasted on a building to open a dispensary which can be housed in 2-3 rooms also.

Sandeep Singh, another resident, said, "The condition of this centre is quite pathetic as the department has no staff to run it. The state government is constructing buildings without any infrastructure. Even the sports stadium is sans coaches and facilities for the players. This clearly shows that the government is befooling the people."

A pharmacist at the health centre, Darshan Singh, said, "The doctor has gone to the Civil Hospital for some meeting and he is attending to the patients today."

He admitted that there is a shortage of staff and infrastructure due to which the centre is not working to its capacity. At present, just the general OPD is functioning as only one permanent doctor is present here.

Bathinda, June 17
Bathinda and its adjoining areas may experience a temporary relief from the hot and harsh weather as the agri-met department of the Punjab Agriculture University regional centre in Bathinda has predicted that the region may receive light showers over the next two days.

As per the fresh forecast released from the regional centre, there is a possibility of light showers and cloudy development over the region on Wednesday and Thursday thereby causing a dip in the temperature.

While the region simmered at 45.2 degree Celsius during the day, the nights also didn't offer any relief from the heat and humidity as the minimum temperature also soared to be recorded at 32 degree Celsius on Tuesday.

After the city received light showers a few days back, the humidity levels have also increased considerably. While till a week back, the humidity level during the day time was recorded at 10-15 per cent, on Tuesday, humidity level during the morning was recorded at 46 per cent while the daytime humidity was recorded at 23 per cent.

The high humidity levels made the residents of Bathinda sweat. Hot air, blowing at the rate of 3.5 kilometre per hour, added to the hot and humid weather. Even the most crowded markets of the city wore a deserted look as the residents preferred to stay indoors not only during the day but also during the night and in the evening.

As per the forecast released by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) for the region for the next four days, the region will reel under hot and humid weather with the maximum temperature hovering around 45 degree Celsius and the minimum temperature around 30 degree Celsius. The IMD has also predicted the possibility of thunderstorms followed by rains and overcast sky on Wednesday and Thursday.

Rampura, June 17
Upset over the rising monthly power bill and unannounced power cuts, a section of the progressive farmers in Bathinda have installed rooftop solar power plants for domestic purposes.

Though a one-time investment between Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakh creates a hole in their pockets, the farmers claim it is a big relief from daily diesel expenses, exorbitant power bills besides the benefit of round-the-clock power supply.

Having installed a solr plant at a cost of Rs 3.73 lakh, Darshan Sidhu, a progressive farmer, claims to have avoided a power bill of Rs 5,000 every month.

The plant, having a capacity of 3 KW, has the ability to run a cooler, refrigerator, LCD, seven to eight fans and a 0.75 tonne air-conditioner round-the-clock. The batteries of the plant are required to be changed after four or five years depending upon its maintenance.

"The reason behind opting for solar energy is the one time expenditure with uninterrupted power supply and less maintenance," said Sidhu. "Despite the tall claims of the government, the power situation in the state has onl;y aggravated, " said Sidhu.

During winter or rainy season, charging could be done by drawing power provided by the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL).

Another farmer, Rupinder Singh of Chak Ram Singhwala village, said the solar system also helps them in cutting the cost of diesel. Rupinder has installed a solar panel at his farmhouse to draw water for irrigation purposes. "All I need to do is clean the panels using a dry cloth every morning," said Rupinder.

A majority of these farmers, however, blame the tedious and irritating policies of providing subsidy by the government. They termed the irksome process as the reason for the little interest people show in opting for subsidy.

"To claim subsidy, one has to make repeated rounds of the government offices and the amount deducted from the cost is too meagre in view of the days spent in making rounds of the government offices," said Darshan Sidhu.

A progressive farmer and winner of numerous district, state and national-level awards for his innovative techniques introduced in agriculture, Sidhu got all the agricultural tools, including the solar panel without any subsidy.

Demanding easy available subsidy to purchase the system, Sidhu said if the government offers a subsidy on 5 kw panels, then power problem could be tackled in Punjab to a great extent.

Rahul, a representative of the Dashmesh Akshay Urja, a private company selling the solar systems, said they have so far sold 15 plants of 80 kw in Bathinda.

"Only those people opt for it who understand the importance of solar power in their houses. The system could be installed in a house at a cost ranging between Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakh and could be upgraded gradually," said Rahul.

The panels harness the maximum solar energy during the day time and the same is utilised to run appliances round-the-clock. It also stops the electric meter.

Bathinda, June 17
A case of gang-rape after making a girl consume cold drinks laced with intoxicants and then while filming her has come to light. The police have arrested the five accused in the case, while one is still at large.

Investigating officer in the case, ASI Gurdarshan Singh said the 21-year-old victim had given a statement to the police in October last year in which she had accused Ajay, Mani Bhullar, a resident Amarpura Basti, Hani, Gagan, a resident Lal Singh Basti, Arshi, a resident of Ajit road and another youth of making her unconscious by giving her cold drinks mixed with an intoxicant and then gang-raping her.

The accused also filmed her and when she regained conscious, she started screaming loudly. Seeing this, the accused left her at Thandi Sadak and fled. They also threatened her that if she informed anyone about the incident, they would kill her and family members. Out of fear, she did not disclose the incident to anyone for sometime. But later on October 26, she gave the information about the incident to the Canal police station.

A medical examination was conducted and a DDR was registered at that time. Later, the medical report confirmed that the victim was gang-raped. The police have registered a case against the accused under Sections 363, 366 and 376 of the Indian Penal Code.

Jalandhar, June 17
As part of the anti-drugs campaign, the city traffic police today conducted a meeting with city taxi drivers to seek their participation in tackling the problem of drug peddling.

Chaired by ACP (Traffic), Dalbir Buttar, and other traffic police representatives, the traffic officials urged the taxi drivers to keep a tab on the passengers who hired their taxis.

The police motive behind issuing an advisory to the taxi drivers is to curtail the use of private taxis for drug peddling.

The traffic police took the initiative after going through the past incidents of drug smuggling in which smugglers used hired taxis to supply drugs. “We have inquired some past drug smuggling incidents in which it has come to the fore that smugglers used hired taxis to supply drugs, while the taxi driver was unaware of the purpose of hiring the taxi by the passengers,” a traffic police official said.

The police told the taxi drivers that if they suspected that any passenger hired their taxi for supplying drugs, they should immediately inform the police. It also instructed the taxi drivers to get a copy of the ID proof of the passenger hiring a taxi.

The taxi drivers were also told to submit their complete record to the traffic police. The record includes the name of the taxi owner, copies of vehicle documents and name of the taxi stand where the vehicles were being parked.

Bathinda, June 17
To review the steps initiated by the Health Department to check the dengue menace this rainy season, MLA-cum-Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sarup Chand Singla today held a meeting with the officials of the district administration, Health Department and the Municipal Corporation at the Mini-Secretariat in Bathinda.

While addressing the meeting, Sarup Singla said during the monsoon, adequate steps should be taken to check dengue. He said to create awareness regarding dengue, help from the non-government organisations (NGOs), social welfare organisations and the Indian Medical Association (IMA) should be taken.

In each ward of the city, awareness drives regarding dengue should be carried out and a board carrying vital information regarding the tests should be put on display.

He also directed the officials of the Municipal Corporation that fogging should be carried out in each part of the city. He said the schedule regarding fogging should be made and a provision should be made to monitor that fogging is done in the areas as per the schedule planned.

Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development) Sonali Giri directed health officials at the meeting that to create awareness on dengue, they should reach out to more and more people and distribute pamphlets.

The District Health Officer told Chief Parliamentary Secretary Singla that the Municipal Corporation and the Health Department have formed 25 joint teams which have started a ward-wise survey from June 3. Till now, 22,811 houses have been covered. He said no cases of dengue have been reported so far.

Bathinda, June 17
The State Bank of Patiala today organised a loan fair for farmers in Nathana. Over 500 farmers participated in the fair.

While addressing the farmers, general manager of the bank, MV Krishna, said the loan fair would focus on debt swap, agricultural limit, gold card, car loan, rural godowns, dairies, green house, house and repair loan among other things.

He said the bank was extending its financial support to the farmers to use advanced technological support to increase the yield in their fields. The bank has directed all the branch managers to process the loan applications at the earliest.

Bathinda, June 17
After the new Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to use Hindi to interact with foreign diplomats and other head of states, now the railway ministry has directed its officials to communicate only in Hindi.

The insistence of the railway minister that his officials should use Hindi in their official language has put many officials in a fix. In fact, he has also instructed the senior officials to not look into the files having notings in English.

This direction has created a fuss amongst the officials who prefer to use English. Sources claimed that the decision was taken by the ministry after the Prime Minister Office (PMO) recently directed the other departments to use Hindi as their official language among the officials. Even senior railway officials at Bathinda have started learning typing in Hindi these days. One of the senior railway officials said, "They are facing problems these days in writing letters in Hindi to the higher authorities. Earlier, writing a letter in English hardly took 15-20 minutes, whereas now it takes nearly two hours to write a letter in Hindi."

The ministry has also specified that officials having accounts on social sites Twitter, Facebook, Google, Blogs should use Hindi or both Hindi and English but have to give priority to Hindi.

Superintendent, Bathinda station, Pardip Sharma, said they have been asked to communicate in Hindi.

Bathinda, June 17
Young researchers at the Centre for Biosciences, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, have identified a new species of green marine algae which is responsible for forming massive green tides in Goa.

Green tides are ecological phenomenon in which explosive growth of seaweeds occur in response to increased nutrient inflow and they cover large coastline at once, hindering maritime activities such as shipping. A research paper by the team head Dr Felix Bast, assistant professor, and two MPhil students, Aijaz Ahmad John and Satej Bhushan, has recently been accepted for publication ina leading marine research journal, Indian Journal of Marine Science. The authors used microscopic and DNA techniques to substantiate their finding and has been named "Cladophora Goensis Bast" the newly discovered species.

According to Dr Bast, it is believed that world's oceans harbor rich biodiversity; however, more than 70 per cent of the marine alga species are yet to be scientifically documented. The last new species of marine algae discovered from Indian coastal region was in 1969 by Prof V Krishnamurthy, a pioneer in marine biology who passed away last month.Marine flora like the newly discovered species has huge potentials as spharmaceutical drugs.

Bathinda, June 17
Joint deputation of various organisations demanding cancellation of false cases and release of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Ekta Ugrahan and Punjab Mazdoor Union leaders from jail today met Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar and submitted their charter of demands.

They demanded justice and said that fasle cases have been registered against them. They demanded release of leaders and workers who were arrested while they were protesting against the police inaction in Gandhar minor girl rape case an.

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