Bathinda, November 2
As many as 21,000 candidates appeared for the combined higher secondary level examination convened by the Staff Selection Commission in the city today. The examination was conducted under the supervision of SDM, Damanjeet Singh Mann. Candidates from not only Malout, Gidderbaha, Abohar, Faridkot and other nearby districts sat for the examination in centres in Bathinda but also from Dabwali, Sirsa and Sonipat in the neighbouring state of Haryana opted for Bathinda as their centre.

The examination was conducted at 26 centres set-up at schools and colleges in two shifts. While the morning shift was conducted from 10am to 12 noon, the evening shift was conducted from 2 to 4 pm. At the 26 examination centres in Bathinda, siting arrangements for 24,528 candidates had been done while close to 21,000 candidates appeared for the examination.

Bathinda, November 2
A leader of the farmers’ union along with the affected farmers demanded action against private dealers for duping farmers by selling them pesticides of poor quality whereas the Agriculture Department had issued a show-cause notice to the alleged private dealers and had initiated an inquiry into the matter.

The private dealer had allegedly duped farmers by selling them bad quality pesticide that had further caused loss to cotton crop to the farmers. The department of agriculture, Bathinda, had recently issued a show cause notice to firms selling pesticide.

The farmers had claimed of purchasing the pesticides from a dealer in Grain Market, Bathinda, but after spraying it on cotton crop the crop was completely damaged. The Chief Agriculture Officer, Bathinda, had assured the farmers of taking action against the offenders and cancel the licence of dealers only if found guilty.

Jaswinder Singh, a farmer, who had sown the crop in his five acres of field, said, “I purchased the pesticide and sprayed it on my cotton crop on August 2 this year. But, however, the crop was damaged. I went to the dealer here and told him about the condition of my crop after spraying the pesticide given by dealer. At this, the dealer again gave me another spray and asked me to spray over the crop which completely damaged my cotton crop. I suffered a heavy loss and the police and the Agriculture Department have failed to take any action.”

BKU (Ugraha), district president, Shingara Singh Bhullar, said, “Whenever, we have tried to protest against the dealers for duping farmers by selling bad quality and duplicate pesticide making loss to farmers the police had always foiled our protest.”

Chief Agriculture Officer, Bathinda, Rajinder Singh Brar, said, “We have issued a show cause notice to the dealers that sold out the pesticide to farmers but the dealers are licence holders and can sell the pesticides. I had received a complaint from only a single farmer over the bad quality of pesticide of same company whereas no other farmer complained about it. We are investigating into the case and if the dealers are found guilty we would cancel their licence as per norms.”

On destruction of the crop as claimed by farmer he added, “This season, a number of farmers had suffered a loss to their cotton crop with water logging and untimely rain that had damaged crops and the condition of farmer who has complained about the pesticide is no different from others. But we are investigating into it and take action as per laws.”

Bathinda, November 2
Many would agree that one should not mix professional with personal life but for lyricist-cum-writer Amardeep Singh Gill, it happened without his efforts. Away to Chandigarh for eight months to write a story for ‘Yoddha – The Warrior’ that deals with the subject of drug menace in Punjab, Gill returned home in Bathinda to face the cruel truth that his son was reeling under the same.

“I couldn’t believe when I came home and was told that one of my two sons was in the clutches of drug addiction. I was shocked to realise that while I had spent eight months writing a story on the current political ‘goondaism’ and its patronage to drug traffickers, my own son had landed in the trap of drug addiction,” he said.

He added that the saving grace in the situation was the fact that his son had realised that he had taken up a bad habit and wanted to shun it. “He went through de-addiction and rehabilitation programme and is fine now. I accepted my mistake and that’s what strengthened my belief in the story I had written although the premise of the story if the real-life murder of a police personnel in Amritsar in broad daylight while he was saving his daughter from eve-teasers,” Gill said.

Several scenes of the film remind one of the current scenario of the state. There’s no missing the similarity in one particular scene shows a leader threatening a police personnel and intimidating him in the name of his brother-in-law (jija) who also happens to be the Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab.

“Villains will be shown as villains. We are not against any person, we are against the system or the lack of it. We are protesting against the political patronage which is being extended to anti-social elements and generation of revenue by pushing the young generation on the dark path of drug addiction,” he added.

Maker of the critically acclaimed short-film, ‘Sutta Naag’, Gill is associated with ‘Yoddha – The Warrior’ as a story, screenplay, dialogue and song writer. Next, he would be working on another short film ‘Khoon’, based on a short story by renowned Punjabi writer Gurbachan Singh Bhullar. Khoon showcases how blood relations change over property and money matters, Gill said.

Bathinda, November 2
A woman accused the police of inaction into a case in which her husband committed suicide as he was under intense pressure because one of his friends defrauded him. She said she had run from pillar to post seeking justice but in vain.

She has demanded that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) should investigate into the fraud leading to the suicide of her husband.

She said Ashwit Cement Service owner in connivance with some officials of Punjab and Sind Bank, located at Bank Bazaar, in the city defrauded her husband.

Navninder Kaur, wife of the deceased Darshan Singh Dhillon, said her husband gave a guarantee in good faith for a loan to M/s Ashwit Cement Service who never bothered to repay the loan and as a result their properties were auctioned on April 12, 2013 for Rs 1.01 crore.

“My husband could not bear the monetary loss and the indignity and committed suicide on May 1, 2013,” she said.

She said the loan/credit limit amount sanctioned by Punjab and Sind Bank was Rs 1.45 crore and the beneficiary was M/s Ashwit Cement Service through its sole proprietor Monica Garg, wife of Bhagwan Dass, a resident of street number 2, Power House Road.

There were two guarantors for the loan — the first was Raj Kumar, a resident of Kikar Bazaar, and the second was her husband.

Navninder Kaur said her husband’s friend Hemant Kumar asked them to offer the guarantee for the loan.

As the firm never bothered to repay the loan amount, the bank declared the loan as NPA, which led to attachment and auction of the properties of the guarantors, she added.

She alleged that Punjab and Sind Bank in connivance with the M/s Ashwit Cement Service and the other guarantor treated them in an unfair, biased and discriminatory manner.

“The bank sealed our properties and later auctioned them. However, the properties of the other guarantor were neither demarcated nor sealed, and even a public notice was not issued as a result of which no one came forward to submit any bid for the properties of the other guarantor,” she added.

The woman said the transactions in the loan account of M/s Ashwit Cement Service clearly revealed that right from day one when the loan was originally sanctioned their sole purpose was to withdraw money and never to repay it as almost all the withdrawals were in cash and not through cheques.

The beneficiary kept on withdrawing the cash and there were hardly any credits throughout. On November 14, 2011, the entire loan/credit amount was withdrawn and even after withdrawing the total amount, in collusion with certain officials of the bank, they received an overdraft of Rs 10 lakh, she said.

The beneficiary was continuously withdrawing money with very little credits, but still the bank paid no attention to the pathetic repayment track record of the beneficiary and sanctioned a car loan for Rs 6 lakh to the beneficiary, she added.

She said M/s Ashwit Cement Service was a habitual offender and both Monica Garg and her husband Bhagwan Dass had availed credit limits from other banks, namely Punjab National Bank, Kikar Bazaar branch (credit limit of Rs 3.2 crore in the name of their firm through its sole proprietor Bhagwan Dass), Central Bank of India, Arya Samaj Chowk, (credit limit of Rs 2.7 crore in the name of M/s AB Traders through sole proprietor Bhagwan Dass), Punjab National Bank, Bibiwala Chowk (credit limit of Rs 2 crore in the name of Bhagwan Dass).

She alleged that the very sanction of loan/credit limit was faulty, illegal and should not have been sanctioned as the equitable mortgage of the properties of the other guarantor did not meet RBI guidelines — the property was not demarcated, no boundary wall around the property existed and the property was located in an unauthorised location.

She said her husband ended her life as their property worth Rs 2 crore was auctioned and now the bank had filed a case against her for not paying the interest amount of more than Rs 1 crore.

“Why the bank is not registering a case against the accused Monica Garg and Bhagwan Dass Garg, who have taken the loan,” she asked.

She demanded that this case should be handed over to the CBI. She didn’t think that the district police could give her justice as one and a half year had passed since her husband committed suicide but the police have not arrested the accused who are influential people.

She threatened that she, along with her son, would commit suicide if they didn’t get justice.

Bathinda, November 2
To end the problem of marketing of food products, 10 farmers of the nearby villages have decided to put up stalls in Model Town, Phase III, every Sunday. Encouraged by an Agriculture Development Officer (ADO) in the Agriculture Department and then supported by Bathinda MP and Union Cabinet Minister of Food Processing, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, the farmers today put up stall for the first time in one of the most posh localities of the city.

They initially decided to put up the stall in front of the Dadi Poti Park in the locality to exhibit their products between 2 pm to 8 pm every Sunday.

“I brought two quintals of fresh vegetables, including tomato, cabbage, onion and others and people have purchased almost the entire lot within four hours on our first day today,” said Gurdeep Singh from Mehma Sawai village.

Suresh Kumar from the Nandini Lok Sewa Society selling organic manure (vermicompost) said he had brought 100 packets of manure and sold 80 of them at a cost of Rs 20 per packet.

“One packet of manure could be used for five to six flower pots to avoid diseases and proper growth for the plants,” Suresh said. He added that their society also takes orders from the prospective buyers of the organic wheat which is prepared in the fields and is supplied between April 15 to May 15.

The farmers said they were assured by ADC (Development) Sonali Giri to help them provide the building of Community Centre for selling their products.

“We also got a nod from MP Harsimrat Badal to use the centre without paying any charges,” said Gurcharan Mann from Tungwali village. He said they have procured the benches at a cost of Rs 60 each from a private tent house and all are likely to recover the fuel expenses of their vehicles in which they have transported the food items.

GM Qureshi, a resident of Model Town, Phase II, said he sold homemade products, including honey, chutni, pickle prepared of vegetables and fruits.

Gurcharan Mann from Tungwali village said he had brought specially prepared honey, pickle and homemade candles and received numerous queries.

He said the basic aim behind putting up the stalls was to fetch good price for their products by providing genuine food items for the area residents.

“If we manage to get a good response then we will soon shift our temporary benches inside the community center for the sale of food items in a more systematic manner,” Mann said.

Bathinda, November 2
Poor and homeless people losing their lives either in the scorching heat of summers or in the chilling cold of winters may grab the headlines of newspapers but rarely get the attention of the administration or the well established people.

Bathinda, November 2
A video by singer-turned-politician Jassi Jasraj on 1984 anti-riots has once again gone viral on Facebook and other social media websites with the fight for justice for victims of anti-Sikh riots completing its third decade.

The video, uploaded on his official page, witnessed around 7,000 likes and a good number of shares.

Jasraj also appealed on November 1 to his fans to reach and join the candle march in Mohali in the wake of demand of justice for riots victims. His profile status saw 4,200 likes and 118 shares in a single day.

Jassi Jasraj, alias Karan Jasbir Singh, had earlier released his album “Tezaab 1984–Ik Ardaas” in 2012 on the occasion of Sardar Bhagat Singh’s birth anniversary. The album carried songs like ‘Shaitaan laashan te nache’, ‘Saraap lagega’, ‘Tezaab hai risda’, ‘Vartlo Sikh’, and ‘Zameer di maut’.

In one of the status shared on his Facebook official page, Jasraj made an attempt to appeal to the government to give justice that is more important than compensation.

In a picture, it had been depicted that the riots’ victim screaming and burnt alive by rioters. The content in the picture, in Punjabi, has been claiming that Sikhs would pay the government a compensation amount of Rs five lakh each for return of every Sikh killed, imprisoned or hanged to death.

Jassi Jasraj faced a mountain of a struggle as he was given the Aam Admi Party ticket and pitted against two heavyweight rivals Harsimrat Kaur Badal (SAD) and Manpreet Badal (Congress-PPP). Though he got around 87,000 votes in the Bathinda constituency, he remained at ther third position.

Bathinda, November 2
The tall claims of the state government of providing proper roads seem to have fallen flat as deep potholes on the main road near the lakes in the city have become a cause of frequent road accidents.

These potholes on the main road, which remains busy throughout the day, also obstruct the smooth flow of traffic.

City residents lament that the roads have turned

hazardous due to the potholes and the accidents have increased manifold.

The potholes are not only damaging four-wheelers but have also become the primary reason for the accidents.

A motorcyclist fell on the road as his motorcycle hit a pothole on the road near the lake on Saturday night. He was taken to a private hospital.

The situation worsens during the night when cyclists and motorcyclists, unaware of these potholes, fall into the death trap.

Despite the hue and cry, officials concerned hardly pay any heed to the damaged roads, which pose a serious threat to the commuters.

It must be mentioned that the Bathinda Municipal Corporation (BMC) may be penalised as the Central Government is planning to introduce the new motor vehicles bill under which there may be a clause specifying the standards of maintenance for roads and the agencies concerned will be held responsible for failure to comply with the norms.

City resident Ramneek Singh said there was no use of electing representatives of the people as they can’t even provide basic amenities to the people.

He said politicians had repeatedly claimed to turn the city into California but the reality was that people don’t even get basic amenities.

Another resident Hardeep Singh said the administration was hardly concerned about the needs of the people.

A BMC official said the work for the repairs of roads was in progress. The work was delayed due to the imposition of the election code of conduct for the Lok Sabha elections but now all the roads would be covered one by one, he added.

Bathinda, November 2
All-India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) leaders gathered today for the 11th conference of Punjab Bank Employees Federation held at Hilton Castle in the city.

AIBEA general secretary CH Venkatachalam said the association had decided to launch a campaign and a series of protests against the attacks on the banking industry.

He said lately, there had been a number of statements given by the various authorities on the proposals of the government to merge the public sector banks.

“At a time when the government is trying their best to push through their various efforts and proposals to implement banking sector reforms like privatisation and mergers, what is really required today is to address and tackle the problem of alarming increase in the bad loans,” he said.

“The so called reform measures recommended by committee after committee are retrograde and regressive but the recovery of the huge bad loans would alone make our banks more viable, vibrant and effective. From 39,030 crore as on March 31, 2008, there is alarming increase in bad loans, which are now Rs 2,50,000 crore as on March 31,2014,” he added.

As on June 30, 2014, there were 281 accounts amounting to Rs 2,51,611 crore, and out of this, 82 per cent of the loans were given to private companies, he said.

Venkatachalam said of late, the sale of bad loans to private ARCs is on the increase. Last year alone, more than Rs 50,000 crore of bad loans were sold away to Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARC), he added.

“The sale of NPAs is another fraud mechanism. It is a device to take out the NPAs from the books of the banks. It is nothing but a camouflage,” he added.

He said the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) had decided to launch a series of protests, including the All-India Bank Strike on November 12, 2014 and relay zonal strikes from December 2 to 5 demanding immediate settlement of wage revision.

Venkatachalam said revision in wages was their most important demand as prices were rising with each passing day and there was no indication that the government would be able to control the problem.

He regretted the inconvenience caused on account of the strike to the customers and asked for their moral support in their cause as the demand of the bank employees for wage revision was not only genuine but also deserving.

Rajen Nagar, president of AIBEA, said, “We are passing through difficult times as attacks on banking industry are increasing day by day. Labour laws are being amended. These changes are for the benefit of corporates. The government thinks that the labour laws are completely in favour of workers. There are attacks on our jobs and job securities. Bad loans are a loot of public money.”

Bathinda, November 2
A liver and abdominal medical check-up camp was organised at Health Street Hospitals in collaboration with Apollo Hospitals, Ludhiana, here today. Around 103 patients were examined at the camp.

Dr Arindham Ghosh, Dr Harpal Singh, and Dr Harmeet Singh from Apollo Hospital, Ludhiana, attended the camp. An awareness lecture on prevention of liver diseases was delivered.—TNS