Bathinda, September 12
Preparations for the World Kabaddi League (WKL) matches to be held at the Rajindra College Astroturf hockey stadium in Bathinda on September 13, 14 and 15 are in full swing.

Blue mats have been laid all over the ground on which the matches will be played. Cameras have been installed for the live telecast of the matches by Sony channel.

A special VVIP route has been made for the ministers and officials. Punjab Kabaddi Association president and Education Minister Sikander Singh Maluka also visited the stadium today and took stock of the preparations.

“All arrangements for the smooth conduct of the event have been completed. Considering the overwhelming response to the league across the world, we have decided to hold six matches in Bathinda,” said Maluka.

Later in the evening, Deputy Commissioner Basant Garg and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar visited the stadium and reviewed the preparations.

Punjabi singers Inderjit Nikku, Bai Amarjit and Jaswinder Brar will enthrall the spectators with their performances during the matches.

Six matches of the circle-style kabaddi league will be held in Bathinda. Punjab Thunder will play against Yo Yo Tigers in the first match on September 13.

The second match will be between Khalsa Warriors and Royal Warriors. On the second day, Punjab Thunder will play against Vancouver Lions and California Eagles will be against Royal Kings.

On September 15, Yo Yo Tigers will face United Singhs. The second match of the day will be between Khalsa Warriors and California Eagles.

The residents will be able to watch top circle kabaddi raiders, including Jasmanpreet Raju ( Khalsa Warriors), Ahafiq Ahmed and Akmal Shazad Dogar (Lahore Lions), Manmindr Singh (Yo Yo Singh), Sucha Singh (Vancouver Lions) and Jagmohan Makhi (California Eagles) during the matches.

The best stoppers, including Gurpreet Singh (Khalsa Warriors), Jaskaran Singh (Royal Kings), Sandeep Singh Sandhu (United Singhs), Yadwinder Singh (Punjab Thunder) and Balkar Singh (California Eagles), will also take part in the matches.

Bathinda, September 12
Lewd remarks made to a number of Auxiliary Nurses and Midwives (ANMs) and multi-purpose health workers at the Bathinda Civil Hospital over the phone left the Health Department in a tizzy. The nurses alleged that the person who made the calls to them used lewd language and expletives. Following the complaint, the department filed a complaint with the police.

There are around 200 ANMs in Bathinda and on Thursday evening, the ANMs and multi-purpose health workers of Bhagta, Nathana, Goniana and Talwandi blocks received the calls.

An ANM said, “It was after 7 pm yesterday that I received a phone call. The person over the phone first asked me to identify him and then immediately started using obscene language. I disconnected the phone but later heard from my colleague that they received similar calls yesterday.”

A staff member said,” All these numbers are provided to the nurses in a series and on government expense. The accused severely abused some of the nurses. Some of the married nurses also received the calls.”

The paramedical staff at the hospital demanded an immediate action against the guilty.

District president of the Paramedical Employees’ Union Resham Singh Jalal said, “The ANMs and the multi-purpose health workers received the calls yesterday. The accused did not call in Bathinda block only but in four other blocks also. We have lodged a complaint with the Senior Superintendent of Police.”

Bathinda Civil Surgeon Tejwant Singh Randhawa said, “We have already written to the SSP, apprising him of the case but it is for the nurses to lodge the complaint.”

SSP Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, however, said he was yet to receive any such complaint. 

Bathinda, September 12
Lovely (22), a resident of Balraj Nagar, died under mysterious circumstances at her house today.

Investigation officer ASI Gurmail Singh said the father of the deceased, Chotte Lal, had stated that after he returned home yesterday night, she served tea to him and after that she received a call on her mobile phone. Later, she started vomiting.

She was rushed to the Civil Hospital, from where she was taken to a private hospital. But, she was not treated at the hospital and she was again taken to the to Civil Hospital at around 7 am this morning.

Bathinda, September 12
The health authorities have started making preparations to tackle ebola virus in Bathinda. Earlier this month, The Union Government had brought back the Indian working in the countries where the virus has spread. Passengers at airports were examined and 112 Indian nationals and four Nepalese working with Afcons in Liberia were brought back by the International SOS on the request of Afcons.

As per the guidelines, the high risk category includes those who were isolated at airports. The medium risk category includes those who have history of close contact with the people affected by ebola virus. The low risk category includes those without any symptom and contact with the affected people.

The Centre has already requested the state governments to keep an eye the people coming from the African countries. According to experts, ebola virus is not an air-born infection, hence it does not spread through air. The virus travels to the person who is in closed contact with an ebola virus affected person.

The Bathinda district health authorities have been instructed to spread awareness among the masses about the virus. The state government had issued an alert in August and directed the health authorities to take necessary precautions.

Bathinda Civil Surgeon Dr Tejwant Singh Randhawa said, “We have already taken necessary steps. We have constructed several teams to spread awareness among the masses. The condition is sensitive in other states or districts but we are ready to tackle every situation.”

Bathinda, September 12
Though the authorities claim of expediting the work on the multi-level parking project, which is to come up after the shifting of the Government Elementary School building on Mall Road, there seems to be no imminent respite from the parking woes.

The Bathinda Development Authority has planned to construct a multi-level parking at the site, which it got vacated from the school under the Optimum Use of Vacant Government Land (OUVGL) scheme.

People are facing problems due to the dearth of parking space in highly congested areas and around the main city markets. “The situation worsens during the peak hours. We fail to find space for the parking of vehicles on Mall Road, Railway Road, Dhobi Bazaar, Sirki Bazaar and the other nearby areas. The recently marked yellow lines put commuters in a quandary as vehicles are usually lifted for wrong parking,” said Manoj Kumar, a resident of Aggarwal Colony.

Owners of many commercial establishments in the city said that they witnessed heated arguments and brawls among motorists due to the lack of parking space everyday.

Advocate Jasdeep Walia, a resident of Kikkar Bazar, said he used to visit the District Courts Complex everyday in his car and it takes at least 15 to 25 minutes to reach his destination due to haphazard parking of vehicles along the main roads. “To escape the ordeal, I have stopped using my car and go to my office on foot. It hardly takes 10 to 15 minutes to reach my destination on foot,” he said.

“Though there is a facility of paid parking near the railway station, hardly people bother to park their vehicles in the paid parking area,” said Arvind Kapoor, owner of a cloth shop.

He said the multi-level parking was the need of the hour. As per the details provided by District Transport Officer (DTO) Latif Ahmed, 10,844 vehicles were registered with the transport Department between January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2013, in Bathinda city. These vehicles include 8,213 two-wheelers and 2,631 four-wheelers.

As many as 1,660 four-wheelers have been registered with the office this year and 6,021 two-wheelers have been registered with the Transport Department during the same period.

“A total number of 7,681 vehicles have been registered with the department in the city alone,” the DTO said.

Municipal Commissioner Dalwinderjit Singh said with the rise in the number of vehicles, the space for parking of vehicles had declined. “Modalities are being worked out to create an extra space for the construction of the multi-level parking, for which a lot of paper work is yet to be done and clearances from the Centre and state government are required,” he said.

what residents say There was ample space for the parking of vehicles in the city five to seven years ago. But, with the sudden rise in the number of vehicles no space has been left for parking four- wheelers. The authorities should think about creating more parking spaces. Gaurav Monga There is no dearth of space for the parking of vehicles. People should park their vehicles properly. The haphazar parking leads to chaos, which gives an impression that there is a lack of space for the parking of vehicles. Kamaldeep Singh Dhobi Bazar, Kikkar Bazar, Mall Road, Sirki Bazar and Railway Road are the worst affected. There is an urgent need for parking spaces on the lines of the multi-level parking at Chaura Bazar in Ludhiana Diesh Vicky

Bathinda, September 12
As the flood situation in Jammu and Kashmir is improving and the water level is receding, relief and rescue operations have picked up pace. Doctors and medical equipment were airlifted today for Jammu and Kashmir where more than one lakh people have been evacuated and moved to safe places while more than four lakh are still stranded.

With the floods, the threat of epidemic looms large over the Valley and doctors and medicines are badly needed to control the situation.

At this moment, the Indian Army that has been on the fore front of relief and rescue operations has now inducted additional teams of medics and para-medics from various military stations.

Additional supplies and resources from ‘Chetak Corps’ were airlifted from Suratgarh on September 11 while a team comprising highly professional doctors from the Bathinda Military Station along with essential medical equipment and life saving medicines was airlifted today from the Bhisiana Air Force Base to Srinagar.

Bathinda, September 12
World Kabaddi League (WKL) may not receive the same response enjoyed by the kabaddi world cup as organisers of the WKL have failed to properly publicise the event. A majority of people doesn’t know about the kabaddi league matches organised in the city.

Bathinda has been hosting the opening ceremony of the kabaddi world cup for the past three years. Every time, city residents were seen crazy for the event. But this time around, it seems that people are not much interested in the tournament. Moreover, there are no posters or boards to publicise the event.

The kabaddi world cup is organised by the state government, so they leave no stone unturned to make it a grand success. While WKL is being organised by a private company, which, it seems, has not put much efforts to make the event a big hit.

Though advertisements are seen on various channels and newspapers, they have failed to connect with the local residents.

Sachin Gupta, a resident said he was unaware of any such WKL event being organised in the city.

Another resident Mansher Sidhu said it was quite disappointing that such an event was happening in the city and most of the city residents were unaware about it. Organisers should have fully advertised the event.

Punjab Kabaddi Association president Sikander Singh Maluka said advertisements regarding WKL were being carried out every day on various Punjabi channels and national broadcasters of the event.

Bathinda, September 12
Jagsir Sahota, who along with his wife has been booked by the police for cheating and forgery, today met the chairman of Bathinda Zila Parishad (ZP), Gurpreet Singh Maluka, seeking to quash the case against him.

Sahota accepted that he had committed a mistake and requested the ZP chairman to help him reach a compromise.

“The teacher was here to meet me to request if the case could be quashed. I told him that despite repeated warnings, he and his wife didn’t mend their ways and finally a case has been registered. The matter is not in our hands now. He wanted me to arrange for a compromise with the complainant, Karnail Singh, who is a Zila Parishad member,” said Maluka.

He said when he had conducted a surprise check at an elementary school in Ghandabanna, three out of five teachers were absent from the school. One of the teachers, Sahota, had taken a half day’s off but the students told Maluka that he didn’t come to school at all.

Sahota’s wife, Archana Bohra, who is also the headmistress of the school, was also found absent without any record.

Maluka then directed his officials to collect the records of Sahota’s attendance and his signature and handwriting samples and sent them to the office of the Additional Deputy Commissioner (D) for further action.

Maluka said the handwriting scan result and his mobile phone location records had proven him guilty and established that his signatures had been forged in the attendance records.

Meanwhile, Sahota alleged that since he was the leader of the ETT Teachers’ Union, the government was settling scores against him to suppress his voice.

“The union had been active in articulating its demands and the government tried to suppress our voice by targeting me. An inquiry had been conducted into the case and my one day’s salary was deducted. I wonder why the same case was brought up in front of the police again,” Sahota questioned.

Sahota and his wife have been booked by the police under Sections 420, 467, 468 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code.

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