Bathinda, August 19
The police booked a woman and her paramour for an attempt to kill her in-laws. In a complaint to the police, Swaranjit Singh, a resident of Bhodipur village, stated that his wife Raman Kaur had illicit relations with Kuldip Singh. He alleged that on August 16, she, along with Kuldip Singh, hatched a conspiracy to kill them and added poison to the food of his parents.

The next day, when his brother woke up and went to the room of his parents, he found them lying unconscious. Later, he found Raman absent and came to know that she had run away with her paramour.

Investigation officer Sewak Singh said Raman Kaur had an illicit relation with Kuldip Singh. When her brother-in-law came to know of it, she tried to poison her in-laws, along with her paramour, and fled.

The police have registered a case against the duo under Sections 328 and 34 of the IPC. 

Bathinda, August 19
With the recovery of three stolen vehicles, the Bathinda police today claimed to have busted an inter-district gang of vehicle lifters. The police arrested two persons while several others are still absconding.

As per the information, the gang has a vast network in Punjab and neighbouring states. Several cases have already been registered against them. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said they had arrested two persons with three stolen vehicles.

He said ASI Balwant Singh, along with the CIA staff, was checking vehicles on the Malout road when they got the information that Jagsir Singh, a resident of Moga, Surjit Singh and Pawan Kumar, residents of Faridkot, Satish Kumar, alias Romy, and Rajinder Kumar, residents of Muktsar and Raj Kumkar of Ludhiana were involved in the theft of vehicles.

Acting on the tip-off, the police registered a case under Sections 379 and 411 of of the IPC at the Sadar police station and arrested Satish Kumar and Rajinder Kumar, travelling in a stolen Scorpio, car from Budhladhewala village in Bathinda district.

The police claimed that Satish Kumar and Rajinder Kumar had admitted that they had stolen a white colour ed Indica car and a Tata Magic car, which were recovered from the parking of the railway station at Muktsar. They confessed that the vehicles were stolen by Surjit Singh, Pawan Kumar and Jagsir Singh and they handed over the cars to them.

Bathinda, August 19
Silver medallist (shooting) in the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Gurpal Singh, said he is now eyeing the gold medal in the Olympics, which are scheduled to be held at Rio de Janeiro in Brazil in 2016.

Gurpal Singh, who won a silver medal in the recently held Glasgow Commonwealth Games, today, returned to his native Virk Kalan village and received a rousing welcome from the villagers at the international event.

Panchayat, youth clubs of the village along with some sports persons welcomed him. Gurpal Singh before going to his village visited the government school at Behman Diwana village and sought blessings from the principal of the school.

On way to Balluana village, the panchayat and the Shaheed Udham Singh club welcomed him.

Later, when he reached his native village Virk Kalan, happiness was visible among the villagers who had gathered in large numbers to get his glimpse. Gurpal Singh was honoured by the village panchayat, the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Club and the Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee with a memento.

Gurpal Singh said it was a great honour for him to win a silver medal for the country at such a high level games. He dedicated his silver medal to his parents and announced Rs 5,000 for the Behman Diwana and Rs 11,000 for Virk Kalan schools.

Gurpal also gave all the credit for his success at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2014 to his paternal family especially Dr Jagtar Singh, who always motivated him to take up the game.

Dr Jagtar Singh, while recalling Gurpal’s childhood, said: “Since childhood, he (Gurpal) was fond of targeting and shooting and at times he used to target even bottles due to which I brought him an air gun.

After the death of his father at very young age, he went to his paternal uncle’s place at Virk Kalan village where he completed his schooling. He was then selected in the Army and is still a part of it.

Talwandi Sabo, August 19
With their demand for potable water and proper sanitation facilities pending for long, the students of Government Senior Secondary School in Jaga Ram Tirath village of Talwandi Sabo today staged a protest at the school gate and did not allow anyone to enter. Later, the villagers too joined in the protest.

Candidate of the Aam Admi Party (AAP) Baljinder Kaur too belongs to Jaga Ram Tirath village and had raised the issue a number of times.

The students protested at the school gate early on Tuesday morning. "There has been no water to drink and the water that is available is not worth consuming. Frogs and insects are found in the water and it gives a foul smell. We have been demanding potable water for long but in vain," claimed a student protesting at the gate.

However, with the intervention of the senior villagers and the sarpanch besides the police, the students gave up the protest but in the meantime, many of the students left for their home.

Gurnam Singh, a villager, said, "My brother's son used to study here and had informed us about the poor quality of water in the school. Students sometimes used to bring their own water but many cannot afford to do so. There is no reverse osmosis (RO) system in the school while the village RO is located far away. The water tank in the school is in bad shape and nobody cleans it. The sanitary conditions in the school are also bad and the wash room stinks. Nearly 550 students study in this school."

District Education Officer (DEO), Bathinda, Amarjit Kaur, said, "Earlier, no one had informed us that the school was facing this problem. We would request the authorities to install an RO plant in the school but there is no provision for giving RO plants to schools. The school authorities had never submitted a demand relating to provision of better sanitary conditions and washrooms otherwise it would have been sanctioned. Proper facilities for sanitation would be provided in the schools soon as the matter has now come to my knowledge."

Talwandi Sabo, August 19
Development works in Talwandi Sabo are not going down well with some of the residents as complaints are pouring in this regard.

Terming the works an attempt to woo the voters, several complaints have been received by the the Election Complaint Cell.

"So far, we have received 10 complaints, nine pertaining to the development works in various areas of the constituency. These complaints are related to the construction of streets and the boundary wall of a religious place," said an official.

He, however, added that the most of the complaints were not entertained as no major 'flaw' was detected by the officials who visited the areas from where the complaints were received.

The officials said since most of the development works were launched before the implementation of the election code of conduct, the work on them was going on at a slow pace.

Avtar Singh, a resident of Mahin Nangal village, said a complaint was lodged against the construction of a siphon near the village but it was found that the same was built much before the imposition of the election code of conduct.

It is pertinent to mention here that the political leaders associated with the ruling SAD-BJP alliance got instructions from the district administration to launch the developmental works, comprising repair of roads, removal of electricity poles and other works ahead of the byelections.

"Leaders of the ruling alliance have taken advantage of the system under which such works cannot be stopped once started before the election code of conduct," said Pala Singh of Talwandi Sabo.

The officials at the complaint cell said only one complaint against the AAP candidate's dual vote was pending with them and the rest against the developmental works were being disposed of within the stipulated time.

Taking full advantage of the works in many areas, the residents are meeting top political leaders to get their work done. "Since a large number of ministers and MLAs are visiting our constituency, we have got our-long pending works done," said a senior political leader.

SDM, Talwandi Sabo, Sakattar Bal said all the complaints were taken into account and a special attention was being paid to the written complaints. 

Bathinda, August 19
The Punjab Government Pensioners’ Joint Front today staged a protest by holding a massive rally against against the policies of the state government at the grain market in Talwandi Sabo today.

The rally was headed by the conveners of the joint front, Mahinder Singh, Darshan Bajaj, Sagar Sharma, Kewal Singh and Om Parkash. While addressing the rally, the speakers lashed out at the state government and condemned its alleged anti-pensioner policies.

They demanded the constitution of the Sixth Pay Commission, 15 per cent interim relief, a hike of Rs 1,000 in medical allowances, DA installments and the formulation of a pensioners’ welfare board. They demanded the implementation of the old formula of commuting pension, 50 per cent concession in bus fares for pensioners and their families, 50 per cent inflation allowance with the basic pay and an increase the basic pay by 25 per cent.

They threatened to intensify their stir if their demands were not met. The joint front had also planned to stage a silent protest after the rally and when the protestors started moving towards the main road, they were stopped by the police. 

Bathinda, August 19
The recent spurt in road accidents, mostly due to rash driving in the city, has brought to light the failure of the traffic police in checking overspeeding on roads. Nearly 33 persons were injured and two killed in various road accidents in the city in the past four days.

In the last 24 hours, seven persons have been injured in various road mishaps in the city. Two motorcyclists collided at Power House Road. Three persons were injured in the accident. The injured have been identified as Balbir Singh (50), his son Tejinder Singh (19) and Varinder Singh of Jeewan Singh Wala village.

In another incident, a motorcyclist was hit by a tractor on the Mansa overbridge. Balkaran Singh (24), a resident of Budladhewala village and Amarjit Singh (35) of Barnala were injured in the road accident.

At Santpura Road, two cycles collided with a motorcycle. The cyclists, Mahesh Yadav and Rajinder, were injured in the road mishap.

In 2013, of the nine lakh challans issued by the traffic police for the violations of traffic rules in the state, only 1,200 were penalised for overspeeding.

Notably, 100 persons were injured in various road accidents last month. PP Maheshwary, an advocate, said commuters drove rashly as they knew they won’t be caught. “There is a lack of will power as well as equipment to tackle the violators. To bring about behavioural changes in those who drive rashly, enforcement of the rules is a must,” he said.

Meanwhile, a traffic policeman said, “We don’t have speed radars to check the speed of the vehicles. So, we cannot penalise the people.”.

Bathinda, August 19
In a blatant violation of the traffic rules, private buses continue to ferry passengers on rooftops. Overcrowding of buses has become a routine affair putting the lives of passengers at risk. Despite several road accidents, the authorities seem to have turned a blind eye towards the violation of the traffic rules.

Commuters can be seen risking their lives by sitting atop the buses. Many of them avoid buying tickets.

The inaction of the authorities concerned has evoked a sharp criticism from all quarters of society.

Most of the buses cater to the villages as other means of transportation are not easily available.

“We have no other option. Transporters do not allow us to travel in vans and buses as we don’t pay for the ticket everyday. So we travel on rooftops,” said Sandeep Singh, a student.

Rajinder Singh, another resident, said they did not want to risk their lives by climbing atop the buses but to reach their destinations on time, they had been forced do so.

“We do not force the people. They put their lives to risk as there is no other mode of transportation available in the villages,” said the conductor of a private bus.

Traffic officials said they had issued challans many a time but this was not a solution to the problem.

Bathinda, August 19
The Rural Post Office Employees’ Union staged a daylong dharna outside the head post office today. The protesters raised slogans against the Union Government.

Their leaders, Nachatar Singh Khemuana and Balwinder Kaur Kara, while addressing the protestors, said the Union Government had been exploiting the rural post office employees and had failed to provide any facilities to them.

They said the government did not pay any heed to their demands. “We have been paid Rs 4,500 to 8,000 per month and are working on contractual basis,” they said.

The protesters said the postal department was taking a lot of work from them but failed to pay them a decent salary.

They said the government had promised to fulfill their demands earlier but nothing had been done. They threatened to intensify their stir if their demands were not met.

Bathinda, August 19
Dr Nagpal Hip and Joint Replacement Centre has introduced a new mobile bearing technology. This type of knee implant offers patients the advantage of a near normal knee motion combined with less wear and tear, which means that the patients can now perform daily activities like brisk walking and gardening without any difficulty.

Dr Parampreet Singh Nagpal, consultant and head of the orthopaedics and joint replacement wing at Nagpal Superspeciality Hospital, Bathinda, said only a few centres in India had started this type of knee replacement.

Explaining about this knee replacement surgery, Dr Nagpal said knee bones of the Indians were smaller in comparison to the Westerners. For the knee replacement surgery, there is always a need to cut the knee to fit the knee prosthesis but with this knee implant, the cutting of bone is less.

The new designed Sigma PS 150 accommodates up to 150 degrees of knee bending and lasts longer. He further said that this type of surgery would be beneficial for the younger and high demanding patients as they wanted to live an active life.

Several clinical studies on the mobile bearing technology show a lower rate of wear and tear compared to the other fixed bearing designs.

Implants like these are also suitable in cases of severely deformed knees like in cases of rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis can be a debilitating disease. It is not only a painful joint disease but also leaves the patients immobile.

Inderjeet Kaur (68) from Muktsar, who has been suffering from rheumatoid arthritis for the past 20 years, was forced to be bed-ridden. Later, she got a new lease of life due to the new treatment.

Gurdev Kaur, a 75-year- old woman from a village near Moga, and Veena Rani (64) who were suffering from rheumatoid arthritis for the past many years, also benefitted from this fourth generation surgery technique.

Dr Aaron Ng, who has done his FRCS from the UK, was here in Bathinda to oversee the surgical procedure.