Bathinda, August 12
After the three terrorists who were nabbed from Jammu recently (reportedly had plans to strike in Punjab on August 15, the Independence Day), security in the city has been beefed up. The police today conducted a search operation at the railway station, bus stand and other main points of the city.

Sources said the trio (terrorists) had received orders to orchestrate the strikes from their handlers in Pakistan, Khalistan Zindabad Force chief Ranjit Singh Neeta and Khalistan Liberation Force head Harminder Singh Mintu. Sources said the terrorists had done most of the planning to carry out the strikes and were only awaiting the supply of arms and ammunition.

Even the Central agency has warned the security machinery and the Ministry of Home Affairs that apart from a possible direct attack on the PM, groups like LeT and SIMI may carry out bombings in the markets and on the outskirts of the capital and other parts of the country to disrupt the celebrations.

In view of the security alert, the police have set up check-points in all major areas of the city.

The police are keeping a close check at the bus stand and the railway station with a special checking drive going on with sniffer dogs and metal detectors. Another reason for the security is that on August 15, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal is expected to unfurl the Tricolour at the Multipurpose Stadium.

With the Talwandi Sabo bypoll scheduled to be held on August 21, the police will also have a tough time keeping protestors at the bay during the Independence Day celebrations.

It is worth mentioning that the Punjab Police commandos’ barricading is already underway in the city. They are keeping a close eye on the movement of the traffic and bad elements at various points in the city. They are checking the vehicles and penalising traffic rule offenders along with traffic police.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) City Gurjit Singh Romana said commandos have already even deployed in the city and anti-sabotage teams have arrived from Talwandi Sabo. Moreover, checking has been intensified more at public places like railway station and bus stand ahead of the Independence Day.

Bathinda, August 12
Bronze medal winner (triple jump) in 2014 Commonwealth Games, Arpinder Singh said now, he was eyeing the gold medal in the upcoming Asian Games, which are scheduled to be held at Incheon in South Korea next month.

A 21-year-old medal winner Arpinder Singh today visited his Malwa College along with his coach, SS Pannu, after returning from Glasgow.

Talking about his experience, he said he would have easily won a gold medal if his coach was allowed to accompany him in the games, as personal coaches know the technical problems better and can give last-minute advice. But still, he was quite happy with his performance at the games as he was able to win a medal for the country. Arpinder won the bronze in the triple jump event for India by jumping a distance of 16.64 meters in the recently concluded games.

Speaking about his life, he said he was born and brought up at Shina village in Amritsar. His father was serving in the Army and was a kabaddi player. He motivated him to go for sports. At first, he participated in 200m in the Under-14 category in the district games. After that, he went to sports school, Jalandhar, at the age of 14, where he took the game seriously and started triple jump.

His coach SS Pannu said the country didn’t lack talent, and there were sufficient talented players but the problem lied with the system. This was the only reason due to which India could not perform better in the Olympics.

About Arpinder, he said, “This was for the first time that a young athlete had won a medal. For the last six years, he was under my training and he will be a shining star for India.”

He also stated that Arpinder would have easily won the gold medal as recently in the National Games, he created a new national record of 17.7 meters and this time the gold medal in the 2014 Commonwealth Games has gone to the player with a score of 17.3 meters. He said that the reason behind getting the bronze was the different climatic conditions as here it was 48 degree Celsius now, whereas there, it was 9 degree Celsius and strong cold winds affected his performance.

He also urged the state government that there was a need to change the sports policy as there was a time 15 to 20 years ago when most players from Punjab used to represent the country in the games, but then Haryana changed its sports policy and Punjab lagged behind. So now, Punjab should follow their policy and announce prize amount for the winner before going for the event as this will encourage and boost the players.

It is worth mentioning that earlier, this year, only in June 2014, Arpinder Singh crested a new national record in triple jump by giving his best in the National Inter-State Championship in Lucknow and qualified for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Malwa College management honoured Arpinder Singh and SS Pannu with the trophy and also gave Rs 11,000 in cash to the coach. Arpinder refused to take the monetary honour and in return, announced Rs 51,000 for the college.

Bathinda, August 12
Continuing their strike, the PRTC workers in Talwandi Sabo have been on strike for more than one week while the police had arrested a number of protestors in the last few days. Today, the police arrested four more protestors under different Sections of the IPC.

The protesters of the PRTC Workers’ Union Azad are all set to intensify their agitation and disseminate their pamphlets village to village carrying messages on the failure of the state government to meet their demands.

The employees are on an indefinite strike for more than a week and since Wednesday, they had been trying to meet the Deputy Chief Minister in Talwandi Sabo where the by-elections would be held on August 21.

It’s noteworthy that on Thursday, the protestors of the PRTC union, after holding a fruitless meeting with Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, were cane charged by the police leaving around five people injured.

The police termed the incident as clash and alleged that the protestors broke the police barricade and then pelted stones at the police leaving three policemen injured. The police then booked around 200 unidentified persons and arrested 50 identified protestors under Section 309, 332, 353, 186, 148, and 149 of the Indian Penal Code.

The protestors were also cane charged on Thursday after they wanted to hold a protest march following their fruitless meeting with the Deputy CM.

Gone on strike, the employees of Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) Workers’ Azad Union are raising slogans against the PRTC management and the state government demanding that buses running under kilometer scheme should be stopped as the owners of these buses in connivance with are causing losses to the PRTC worth Rs 7 crore every month.

The employees alleged that the drivers of these buses, running under the kilometer scheme, are pilfering 20 liters of diesel daily and causing losses to the PRTC in connivance with the PRTC management.

Workers are demanding that the contract system should be abolished and they should be regularised, overtime should be paid, suspended employees should be reinstated, pay grade of workshop employees, the deserving categorically promotions, and in-time pay and pensions should be given are some more demands that should be fulfilled immediately.

The PRTC Workers’ Azad Union, Bathinda, president, Harbans Bhola, said, “The police today again arrested our five protestors who were sitting inside a gurdwara. We would intensify our agitation and will get our demands fulfilled as our demands are our rights. The police had become puppet in the hands of the state government and thus was turning brutal on all those who were demanding their rights from the government.”

SHO Talwandi Sabo confirmed that the police had arrested four PRTC employees today.

Bathinda, August 12
The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president, Partap Singh Bajwa, today strongly opposed the move to hike the power tariff and said that the people were further going to be penalised by the state government to fill its own coffers and asserted that the Congress would oppose this hike tooth and nail.

He added that the people of Punjab were infuriated with the SAD-BJP government and vent their anger most in Bathinda where several villages had openly boycotted Harsimrat Kaur Badal when she was out to campaign before the Lok Sabha elections.

He added that the Akali leaders enjoyed political patronage for engaging in drug smuggling which had ruined the youth in the state.

The economy of the state was at its lowest ebb ever and the state had a huge army of unemployed and unemployable youths. Such was the effect of the drugs that the youth from the state were failing to qualify for recruitment in armed forces and the police.

People on the border of Haryana were shifting their businesses to Haryana and also buying agricultural lands there, he stated and added that in Haryana, they are getting better business environment and better law & order situation. Petrol and power tariffs were much lower there making it financially more prudent for investments and business. He said old age pension in Haryana was Rs 1,200 per month, while it is merely Rs 400 per month in Punjab.

He slammed the state government for the power cuts despite the tall claims repeatedly made by the Deputy Chief Minister, Sukhbir Singh Badal, of making the state power surplus within three years. He asked as to when the countdown for the three years would start.

Bathinda, August 12
The DGSE has taken up the matter of inculcating healthy eating habits among students of government schools. It has directed that no junk food will be sold at the canteens in government schools.

Shops, located in proximity of school premises, have also been banned from serving junk food.

The Health Department has been entrusted with the task of making sure that the directions are followed and regular checkings are being conducted.

As per the directive, the students or the staff members will be free to inform the district health officer about the sale of junk food inside or near the school premises.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) had earlier issued guidelines to its affiliated schools to make sure that their school canteens don’t serve junk food.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) had issued an advisory, following a survey on reasons behind increasing obesity among students. The organisation had advised the schools to keep a tab on the eating habits of the students and try and impose a ban on junk food.

Aiming to emphasise academic life and its importance, the Director General of School Education has directed the cash-strapped government schools to hold annual prize distribution functions or observe annual days at the end of every academic session.

Stating that the aim of education is not only to create students who earn money, but also to turn them into better human beings, the DGSE has directed the schools to call upon the parents of the students to create an environment conducive to education in their houses.

Through these functions, the schools are expected to make the students aware of social issues, humanity, rich heritage of Punjab and drug menace among other issues.

The schools have also been directed to hold a meeting every Saturday during which the panchayat members and the school management committee members would discuss the problems being faced by the schools. 

Bathinda, August 12
Residents of street number nine of Guru Gobind Singh Nagar today lodged their protest against Hotel Highway Inn situated on Barnala Road here. They were irked at the hotel throwing garbage on the road and blocking the road by wrong parking of cars, which affects the commuters.

Residents’ welfare committee president Sarup Singh said alleged that the hotel staff throw garbage on the road, due to which the area stinks. The commuters who pass through the road have to face many problems, he added.

He said they were left with no option but to protest. The other problem, which the residents face, is that people visiting the hotel park their vehicles in the street, which disrupts traffic, he added.

Residents said they would intensify their protest if the hotel owner didn’t stop throwing garbage on the road.

Rajinder Jindal, a hotel official, said garbage had been lying scattered over the place for the last five days as no worker had come to pick it up due to strike of safaikaramcharis in the city.

Bathinda, August 12
To protect their habitation from pollution in Ghaggar River that has affected many villages in Sardulgarh, a group of villagers has started distributing pamphlets on Ghaggar pollution.

The pamphlets carry information about the reasons for Ghaggar being polluted, its effects on ground water in villages situated on the banks of the river and the villagers suffering from several diseases, including skin diseases and cancer.

The group is being guided by a government teacher of Mansa, Bikkarjit Singh Sadhuwala, who has MA Punjabi, M Phil Punjabi, MA Education, MA English and B Ed, UGC- NET to his credit.

The river is directly affecting more than two dozen villages, including Jhanda Khurd, Rorkee, Bhunder, Sadhuwala, Sardulgarh, Phoosmandi, Meerpur Kalan, Meerpur Khurd, Bhagwanpur Heengna, Dhalladwala, Ranjitgarh Bandar and Lohgarh of the Mansa district.

The state government, however, had always attempted to save its skin claiming that it was an interstate issue, the villagers said.

The main cause of pollution in the river is said to be the effluents discharged from the distilleries in Punjab and the soap factories in Haryana.

Residents have approached the local authorities several times for the resolution of the issue but in vain.

Last year, the Mansa Deputy Commissioner wrote to the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) to zero-in on the cause of pollution in the river, following which a team of PPCB officials visited the affected area. The team blamed the Sardulgarh Municipal Committee for discharging effluents, besides pollution from Haryana.

Industries and soap factories in Ratia in Haryana have also been blamed for Ghaggar’s pollution.

“We are distributing pamphlets to disseminate information about pollution, its causes, consequences and the promises made by the government that had never been fulfilled,” said Bikkarjit Singh.

Bathinda, August 12
Many close competitions were seen today on the second day of the district school summer games in the city. District Education Officer (Secondary) Dr Amarjit Kaur Kotfatta directed AEO Pavitar Kaur to review the games.

She was satisfied with the manner in which the games were being conducted by various schools.

DPI Deon Kuldeep Singh said in the basketball (boys) Under-19 category, Bathinda zone-1 defeated Talwandi Sabo and Bathinda zone-2 defeated Sangat Mandi Zone.

In the next round, Bathinda zone-1 defeated Goniana. In Under-14 boy’s event, Bathinda zone-1 defeated Goniana while Bathinda zone-2 defeated Mandi Phul.

In the kabaddi events, which were held at Girls School, in the final match, Mandi Kalan zone defeated Maur Mandi zone in girls (Under-17) category.

In volleyball under-14 girls, Mandi Kalan defeated Goniana Mandi. While in Under-19 (girls) category, Mandi Kalan defeated Goniana and Bathinda zone-2 defeated Sangat Mandi zone.

In Under-12 boys kabaddi, Maur Mandi defeated Bathinda zone-1 and Bhagta defeated Mandi Kalan. Goniana won the match against Sangat Mandi. Kabaddi Under-17 (boys), Sangat Mandi zone defeated Bathinda zone-1, Mandi Kalan won against Maur Mandi and Bhagta defeated Goniana.

The competitions are being held under the supervision of Ramandeep Singh, Mandeep Kaur, Harmander Singh.

Bathinda, August 12
A resident of Niamiwala near Bajakhana has been awarded 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1 lakh. The court (fast track) of Paramjit Kaur awarded the imprisonment to the accused Jagsir Singh.

Jagsir was arrested by the Bathinda police in 2012 along with 250 tablets (contraband), which he was trying to sell to some drug addicts in the city. The police stated that the accused was coming from the Model Town area towards Bibiwala Chowk and was arrested during at a check post. The court ordered the accused to undergo one year of imprisonment in case of default of fine. — TNS

Bathinda: The police have booked a person on the charge of abetment to suicide. In a complaint, Malkit Singh, a resident of Harraipur village, has stated that his daughter Amanpreet Kaur had married the accused, Lakhvir Singh, a resident of Chughe Khurd village, in 2011, but he started harassing his daughter for bringing more dowry. Under pressure, she committed suicide by consuming some poisonous substance, he said. A case against the accused has been registered under Sections 498 A and 304 B of IPC at the Nandgarh police station.

Two held with 5 gm smack

The police have arrested two persons and seized 5 gm of smack from their possession. They were arrested during a checking at the grain market in Bathinda. The accused have been identified as Harpreet Singh and Sarabjit Singh, both residents of Mehna Chowk. A case under Sections 21, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against them at the Kotwali police station.

Illicit liquor seized, 1 held

The police have arrested one person and recovered 17 bottles of illicit liquor during a checking on the outskirts of Ghuman Kalan village. The accused has been identified as Balwinder Singh, a resident of Ghuman Kalan. A case under Sections 61, 1 and 14 of the Excise Act has been registered against him at the Maur police station.

Two booked for assaulting woman

The police have booked two persons for assaulting a resident of Rama Mandi over a dispute. In a complaint filed with the police, Pappi Kaur said she was attacked by Suresh Kumar and Bunty of Rama Mandi. A case under Sections, 453, 323 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code has been registered at the Rama police station.

20 kg poppy husk seized

The police have arrested three persons, including a woman, and seized 20 kg of poppy husk and a Maruti car bearing number DL 2 CJ 0190. A police official said the accused were arrested from Badal Kanchian during a checking. A case under Sections 15, 25, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against the accused.

One booked for threatening resident

The police have arrested a person for threatening a resident of Goniana Mandi. In a complaint, Raj Kumar has stated that the accused Balram Kumar, a resident of Goniana Mandi, and five unidentified persons threatened him to leave his shop or face dire consequences. The police have registered a case under Sections 341, 506, 148, 149 of the Indian Penal Code at the Nehiawala police station. — TNS