Ludhiana, January 15
The state government would spend Rs 13 crore to provide better healthcare in the rural areas of the district under various schemes of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) during the current financial year.

This was stated by Manpreet Singh Ayali, chairman of the zila parishad and the district health monitoring and planning committee, at the first meeting of the committee here today.

He said under various Centrally-sponsored NRHM schemes, it was proposed to provide funds to the tune of Rs 2.40 crore for mother and child health; Rs 1.05 crore for family welfare schemes; and Rs 92.10 lakh for village health committees in the district.

The process had been set in motion to provide round-the-clock facility for delivery at 17 primary health centres at a cost of Rs 23.04 lakh each. These facilities would be available at Koomkalan, Hathur, Mullanpur, Dehlon, Humbran, Ladhowal, Ghawaddi, Rampur, Mansooran, Rauni, Chowkimaan, Mehdoodan, Boparai, Talwandi, Mattewara, Purain and Noorpur Bet. Work had already been completed at six centres while the facility would be made available at the remaining centres before the end of the year.

Civil Surgeon Maninderjit Singh said institutional deliveries would be provided free of cost at all government hospitals and PHCs in the district.

To promote institutional deliveries, 67,488 pregnant women had been registered in the district from April to December 2009. A financial assistance of Rs 700 was being extended for delivery to women belonging to BPL families under the Janani Surikhya Yojna and 8,550 women had benefited till December.

There were 231 ultrasound scan centres in the district and inspections had been conducted by the health department to check malpractices with regard to the foetal sex determination test. Action had been taken against 27 centres for irregularities and violation of law.

Ludhiana, January 15
The apathetic attitude of both the police and health & family welfare department officials has added insult to injury for Satish Kumar, 22, who was allegedly sodomised by a CIA constable in Khanna, Jaswinder Singh, on January 13.

A case was filed against Jaswinder and his two accomplices at the Payal police station only after the intervention of Punjab Health Minister Laxmikanta Chawla, who was contacted over phone by Satish’s family on January 14 evening.

The family members, who kept running between police stations to the government hospital in Payal, Doraha and Ludhiana get a medico legal report prepared and a criminal case registered against the suspects, were dealt with rudely at every step.

So much so, the victim was not even provided medical aid as the paramedical staff at the hospital asked his family members to bring along the cops from the Doraha police station.

Satish, a resident of Sunder Nagar Mohalla in Doraha, was taken to Jaswinder's home by their neighbour, Raj Kumar Verma, and his cousin Goga at around 5:30 pm on January 13. The victim was given a soft drink mixed with some sedative that left him in a semiconscious state. Thereafter, Jaswinder reportedly sodomised Satish who was held captive by his accomplices, Raj Kumar Verma and his cousin.

Soon after Satish and his brother went to the hospital in Doraha where the doctors refused to examine him. Thereafter, the duo went to the police station but to no avail. On January 14 Satish was again sent to the Payal police station where he was made to sit for eight hours but even then a case was not registered.

Bharat Kumar, the victim's elder brother, said: "The paramedical staff on duty in Payal as well as the Doraha hospital refused to conduct a medical examination, stating they didn’t have a male doctor on duty. However, I know they were approached by the police who asked them not to attend to us."

Thereafter, Chawla was contacted on telephone and he assured Satish’s family members “the needful would be done”. “Only then did a doctor at the Ludhiana Civil Hospital conduct the medical examination”, Bharat added.

Ludhiana civil surgeon Dr Maninderjit Singh said: "The examination should have been conducted in Payal or Doraha as there are male doctors at health centers in both places. We’ve asked for an explanation from the senior medical officers and appropriate action would be taken in the matter”. 

Machhiwara, January 15
As many as 20 persons were injured when the bus they were travelling in overturned near Budha Dariya today.

The victims were on their way to Jaipur to attend a marriage. They were rushed to a hospital nearby. Some of them had received head injuries, but their condition is reported to be stable.

The police said Gurdial Singh, Parminder Singh and Gurdeep Singh, who were seriously injured, have been referred to a hospital in Chandigarh.

Ludhiana, January 15
It appears the need for setting up public conveniences in the city, which are clean besides being convenient, does not carry much significance for the municipal corporation. Even though the civic body should have been constructing more such facilities, work on many of those that had been planned has yet to commence.

The project for constructing a public toilet on GT Road near Dholewal Chowk has been hanging fire for the past three years with the building meant for the facility having been turned into - of all things - a home. A visit to the site reveals the structure has been built on MC land and is currently being used as a residence by Taiya Balli, who along with his family and another couple has been living there for the past three years.

Balli's wife told The Tribune: "The ‘chowkidar’ (watchman) who used to stay here handed over the building to us more than three years ago. Since then we’re residing here. I along with my three kids and a couple, who are our relatives, reside here. Apart from this there’s nothing more that I know”.

The interior of the building is surprising. The well-built toilets, furnished with green coloured tiles, are now functioning as rooms, a kitchen and a toilet for the two families. The building has a valid PSEB power meter and the families are using electricity without any limitation.

When queried about the matter, several MC officials seemed more interested in blaming others rather than finding a solution or identifying the official responsible for this sorry state of affairs. Most of them requested not to put them on record.

While this partially built toilet project hangs fire, the remaining public toilets in the city too are in a pathetic condition. Investigations reveal neither the MC councillors nor officials have ever pressed for improving such an important civic amenity.

Congress councillor Sanjay Talwar said, "There are five set of urinals in my ward - at CMC Chowk, Khurd Mohalla, Old Civil Hospital, Police Division No 2 and near Chaddha Pulley on Hargobind Marg. I had requested the municipal commissioner and mayor to either lease out these public toilets by renovating them, so that they could be functional or demolish them. Despite promises no action has been taken till date."

Ludhiana, January 15
Residents were witness to a unique celestial phenomenon, an annular solar eclipse, claimed to be the longest of its kind in 1,000 years, here today.

The last time India saw the “ring of fire” was on November 22, 1965, and it will not be witnessed again before June 21, 2020.

The “ring of fire” was seen for 11 minutes and eight seconds over the Indian Ocean, thus making it the longest annular eclipse of the millennium. The eclipse began at 11.55 am and stayed till 3.12 pm. The city witnessed the peak of the eclipse at 1.35 pm.

During the day, some people went on fasting and offered prayers to their deities, others avoided partaking of food.

Preeti Kansal, an astrologer, said the solar eclipse had no ill-effects. “It is good for all zodiac signs. One should avoid eating food during the eclipse,” she added.

Some people avoid cooking and eating during the eclipse. There were others who believed that pregnant women should refrain from sewing during the eclipse, as it could lead to deformities in the child.

“We don’t eat or cook during an eclipse and the food cooked earlier is also discarded,” said Vaneet, a housewife.

“The annular solar eclipse is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I am excited to see this celestial activity. Our teachers told us to avoid watching solar eclipse using sunglasses, smoked glass, colour film, black-and-white film that contained no silver, or photographic negatives with images on them. We saw the eclipse with the help of a special viewer,” said a student at Government Senior Secondary School, PAU.

An annular solar eclipse occurs when the sun and the moon are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the moon’s shadow is smaller than the visible disc of the sun. The covered sun, therefore, appears as a “ring of fire”, with its rays spreading out from the outline of the moon.

PHILLAUR: Thousands of men and women took a holy dip in the Sutlej and sarowars at different religious places, including Gurdwara Sukhchain Sahib, to mark Mahakumbh and solar eclipse here today.

Though most people stayed indoor during the eclipse, they visited the river and sarowars to take a dip after the eclipse.

Several people remained in the river or sarowars during the eclipse and worshiped.

Ludhiana, January 15
In a major operation covering three towns of Malerkotla, Dhuri and Sherpur, over one dozen teams of enforcement officials of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB), drawn from four districts, carried out spot inspection of some 119 industrial and commercial establishments as well as residential premises yesterday and detected as many as 34 cases of theft and unauthorised use of electricity.

A cumulative penalty of Rs 32.40 has been imposed upon the defaulting consumers. Chief engineer (enforcement) HS Randhawa, who supervised the raids, told The Tribune here today that 15 teams were set up from among senior officials of enforcement directorates at Ludhiana, Patiala, Bathinda and Jalandhar.

The officials inspected energy meters and electrical installations in commercial and industrial establishments, especially rice shellers, along with residential premises, coming across mass scale irregularities.

Among the cases which attracted penalty were 10 of power theft, six of wrong metering, eight of unauthorised load and 10 others of use of electricity for the purpose other than specified.

Randhawa said since the enforcement wing had so far been concentrating on industrial units, commercial establishments and domestic consumers only in big cities, there was a common impression among consumers in small towns and the rural areas of the state that they were not under the spotlight, and hence they could indulge in theft and other misuses of electricity without ever being caught.

“A random survey carried out recently in the rural areas of some of the districts in Punjab has led to a shocking discovery that anything from 10 to 15 per cent energy meters in rural homes or small agro-based units are either tempered or the electricity is being stolen through kundi connections,” Randhawa disclosed.

Ludhiana, January 15
Getting lenient with the encroachers in Jawahar Nagar Camp, the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation today gave them more time to remove their encroachments on their own.

MTP Hemant Batra said, “Since the people were removing their constructions beyond the building line on their own, we have given them a little more time. But we did take operations on the Link Road. Kiosks near the ESI Hospital and other encroachments on the stretch between Bharat Nagar Chowk and the bus stand were removed.”

The MC official was of the opinion that the civic body was being strict with the encroachers and was not sparing them. During the drive zonal commissioner PS Ghuman was accompanied by ATPs of all zones, MTP and STP.

However, junior staff of the municipal corporation feels that with every passing day, the demolition drive is loosing its lustre. “The enthusiasm we had is reducing now. In fact even today’s work was meagre eyewash. We are falling flat in our actions and the senior officials are not realising this,” said a group of MC officials present in the drive.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, January 15
The Payal police appears baffled by claims and counterclaims by two groups, who happen to be scions of the late PEPSU chief minister, Gian Singh Rara Wala, on the owner of an unidentified ‘walking stick gun’. Though the cops have begun a probe into the matter it is widely suspected the ‘weapon’ belonged to Rara Wala.

The ‘weapon’, said to be shaped like a ‘stick-like tool,’ was allegedly found from a house owned by Jagteshwar Singh and Rameshwar Preet Singh, both scions of the former CM.

While both have expressed ignorance about the circumstances leading to the recovery of the ‘weapon’ from their house, Harmehtab Singh, another relative of Rara Wala, has urged the authorities the two should be booked under the Arms Act for keeping it at their home without a valid licence.

Harmehtab alleged Jagteshwar and Rameshwar, along with their “associates", had threatened him with dire consequences when he had gone to the Qila a few days earlier.

Investigations by the Ludhiana Tribune revealed that the organisers of some armouries located in Ludhiana district were summoned by the Payal police to inspect an unidentified ‘weapon’ that was allegedly recovered from the house once owned by Rara Wala.

Harmehtab had taken the weapon to the police a few days ago.

According to DSP Payal Anil Kumar Joshi, both parties - one led by Harmehtab and the other by Jagteshwar Singh and Rameshwar - had given contradictory statements about the ‘weapon’. While Harmehtab claimed it was a ‘walking stick gun’ that was once used by Rara Wala, Jagteshwar and Rameshwar, expressing ignorance about the ‘weapon’, maintained it was an “ordinary junk iron rod”.

“While both parties have presented their sides we have sent the ‘stick’ for examination by experts and further action would be taken after we receive their report,” said Joshi, adding “the sequence of events leading up to recovery would also be investigated”.

Meanwhile, experts opine the police will have to search the butt of the ‘weapon’ in case it is found to be a ‘walking stick gun’.

Ludhiana, January 15
Naval Kishore Chhibber was today elected president of the District Bar Association, defeating his nearest rival, Ashok Mittal, with a margin of 136 votes. He had served as president of the DBA in 2006.

Chhibber polled 540 votes; Ashok Mittal 434, SK Pathak 316, Rana Harjasdeep Singh 252 and Anil Kaushal 51.

His victory indicated that lawyers voted keeping in view the achievements during his tenure. Former Bar Council chairman of Punjab and Haryana BK Goel’s group suffered a major setback when their candidate SK Pathak trailed at third position.

Overall, the election was peaceful and the police was deployed throughout the day to avoid any untoward situation. Out of 1,885 voters, only 1,597 voted. Four votes were declared invalid as per the information given by the returning officer, Harpreet Singh Makkar.

Meanwhile, ND Chopra was elected vice-president by defeating his rival candidate with a margin of 623 votes. Chopra got 972 votes while another contestant, Harinder Singh Narang, got 349 votes and Vijay Bhatia 265 votes.

Ludhiana, January 15
A two-day free dental check up camp is being organised at DAV Public School here by Desh Bhagat Dental College and Hospital, Muktsar. Chairman Dr Zora Singh and vice-chairperson Tejinder Kaur inaugurated the camp.

Around 800 students and staff members were checked by a team of dental surgeons, including Dr Manisha Sahni Prabhakar, Dr HS Grover, Dr Amandeep Singh and Dr Upinder Singh.

Ludhiana, January 15
The police department, in a confidence-building measure, today organised a medical camp for migrant labourers, wherein more than 900 factory workers and their family members were examined.

The camp was held at the Focal Point in association with the Punjab Medical Representative Association (PMRA). Medicines worth Rs 30,000 were distributed at the camp.

The police had made announcements in residential colonies in and around Dhandari Kalan and other areas with maximum concentration of migrants regarding the medical check-up camp.

In order to extend the maximum benefit to factory workers, PMRA members urged labour officials in industrial units to give half-day leave to the workers.

Sat Pal from Dhandari who had come for an eye check-up of his daughter said it was a noble move on the part of the police, adding that although people at Dhandari had forgotten the incident of violence, this act would help in restoring their faith in the police department.

Sawan Devi, wife of a factory worker, was overwhelmed with the initiative. “I have not been able to get myself examined for palpitation in heart and pain in left arm due to paucity of funds, but here I could get my ECG done free of cost.” DIG Ludhiana Ranger SS Chauhan and the SSP, while addressing the workers at the camp, said the next camp would be held at Dhandari Kalan.

Rajesh Kaul, general secretary of the PMRA, stated: “This is the association’s first medical camp. We plan to make it a regular feature in every district of Punjab so as to give healthcare benefits to the poor.”

Ludhiana, January 15
Tension prevailed in the Chaura Bazar area after top SAD leaders locked horns over property dispute and staged a dharna against one another at Akalgarh Market here today.

The incident could have turned ugly had the police not reached the scene in time.

The incident took place this morning when supporters of Rajinder Bhatia, son of SAD leader Amarjit Singh Bhatia, arrived at a shop owned by SOI district president Gurinder Singh Gosha and asked the latter to vacate the shop.

Bhatia had reportedly given a huge amount of money to a businessman in Akalgarh market. The businessman failed to pay back the amount and sold his shop to Gosha before fleeing the city.

Gosha alleged that he did not owe a single penny to Bhatia. He further alleged that Bhatia had given money to shopkeepers and that he had no knowledge of it.

Gosha claimed that he came to know about the matter when Rajinder Bhatia and his supporters came to his shop today.

While SAD leader Amarjit Singh Chawla along with his men came out in support of Gosha, Amarjit Singh Bhatia arrived at the market in support of his son.

Police was deployed at the scene to handle any eventuality. Both groups later staged a dharna.

Later in the day, Amarjit Singh Bhatia announced that he would to go on an indefinite fast till the issue was resolved.

Ludhiana, January 15
Around 1,000 street vendors held a protest at the municipal corporation’s D-zone office here today against the treatment meted out to them by the civic body. The agitators raised slogans against the corporation officials and the mayor.

“In spite of the fact that there is a national policy for us, the civic body here has failed severely to work on it. Under the policy, the MC should provide rehriwalas space to do their trade but neither the officials nor politicians have ever worked on it, which has forced us to vent our ire,” said Rehriwala Union president Bal Krishan “Puppy”.

The agitators complained that officials from the tehbazari wing of the corporation often targeted them and confiscated their handcarts.

“These carts are our only means of livelihood. With their taking away our handcarts, we cannot do business and forcing us to go to sleep empty stomach,” rued a protester, Ram Lubhaya.

Bal Krishan said: “If the municipal corporation provides us with a space for trade, we will not only abide by the rules but will also pay a monthly or annual rent to the civic body. It’s not easy to sell things in bitter cold and severe hot conditions. But we do that and residents are comfortable with it.”

He added that they had submitted a charter of demands to Municipal Commissioner AK Sinha and hoped that their voices would not go unheard.

Ludhiana, January 15
It’s green but not clean. This is true for a public park near Dholewal Chowk on the GT Road that has been a victim of MC apathy. The park has a boundary wall, gate and trees but needs a facelift.

Residents and shopkeepers of the area say the public park once had a large number of regular visitors. However, due to overgrowth and poor upkeep, the park is now being used by slum kids.

Rakesh Mehra, an area resident, says: “The park merely needs some attention of the municipal corporation to regain its past glory.”

Installation of swings for kids, benches and plantation of some flowers can give a new lease of life to the park and also add a feather to the civic body’s cap, he suggests.

Similarly, Rahul and Sudhanshu, children living in the area, say: “Our area does not have that many parks and our mothers have warned us against going to the park to play, looking at its current state.”

“We cannot play on the road as it is dangerous. There is no place at home. Streets are very narrow and you cannot play there. Where should we go,” question the children.

Shopkeepers in the area say if the park is beautified, it will bring a big relief to the residents.

“Nobody likes untidy surroundings. Even the green belt on the GT Road is not maintained properly by the municipal corporation. The motto of civic body is ‘Clean and Green City’ but one can hardly find a clean and green area.”

The residents have urged the civic body to initiate steps to revive the park.

Phillaur, January 15
With the prices of sugar skyrocketing and the area under sugarcane cultivation decreasing day by day, increasing the per acre yield was the only solution to tackle the problem, Punjab cane commissioner Dr Mangal Singh Sandhu after visiting Barrapind village, near Goraya, here today.

He visited the fields of a progressive farmer and cane grower, Avtar Singh, who had succeeded in cutting the sugarcane crop according to the specifications of Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana.

Assistant cane development officer Jaswant Singh, agriculture development officer (cane), Phagwara, Paramjit Singh were also part of the team.

The cane commissioner said the yields came out to 713.6 quintal per acre, which was three times more than the prevailing cultivation, by adopting the new single bud cultivation technique.

Paramjit Singh said the new technique could save 60 per cent of water as well as 75 per cent of seed.

He said only seven to nine quintals of seed worth Rs 2,000 was required per acre, whereas currently Rs 7,500 per acre were being spent using the traditional method.

He claimed that farmers could use multiple crops like potato, cauliflower, peas, etc. to increase their income.

He claimed that farmers were speedily adopting the new technique as 650 acre of sowing was done this year as compared to just 60 acre last year.

Urging farmers to adopt the new technique, Dr Sandhu said they could save water and get higher yield.

He said the government was providing trench planters to farmers on subsidy with the assistance of the Farmer Commission, Punjab, Chandigarh.

Dr Sandhu said the single bud cultivation technique was also popular as “Phagwara technique”, which could help increase per acre yield as well put smile on the faces of cane growers.

Khanna, January 15
The police today arrested two persons for forging signatures of NRIs and withdrawing large amounts of money from their bank accounts in Khanna and the adjoining areas.

The accused have been identified as Vipin Saggar, a resident of Vikas Nagar on the Pakhowal Road, Ludhiana, and Sanjay Kumar, a resident of Mandi Gobindgarh. About Rs 13.75 lakh have been recovered from the possession of the accused and further investigation is on.

Police officials said earlier one of the main accused in the case, Jaswinder Singh, was arrested and the two others were nabbed yesterday on the clues provided by Jaswinder, a resident of Mandi Gobindgarh.

A case has been registered on the complaint of the manager of ICICI Bank in Khanna who alleged that the accused withdrew Rs 42.5 lakh from different accounts of three NRIs.

The accused drew the amount by forging signatures on fake cheques. Police officials said efforts were on to nab other culprits associated with the arrested accused. A case in this connection has been registered by the police. Further investigation is on.

Ludhiana, January 15
A large number of students took part in Sportking Institute of Fashion Technology’s annual sports day at Satish Chander Dhawan Government College ground here today.

They competed in various disciplines, including fun games.

In the spoon and lemon race, Niharika finished ahead of others to emerge winner in the girls’ section, while Sumitpal was victorious in the boys’ section.

In sack race, Karan Bedi and Harminder Kaur proved too good for their opponents and came out triumphant in the boys’ and girls’ sections, respectively.

In the three-legged race, Sumitpal and Nishchint won top honours in the boys’ section, while Amandeep Kaur and Harminder Kaur outperformed their rivals in the girls’ section to win the title.

In the 100m sprint, Himanshu and Harminder proved too fast for their rivals to emerge as fastest runners in the boys’ and girls’ sections, respectively.

In skipping race, Nishchint came out winner in the boys’ section and Manishdeep proved her mettle to win honours in the girls’ section.

A cricket match was also held in which Warriors XI outplayed their opponents Day Walkers XI by 62 runs.

Himanshu Kalra, who made 43 runs for the winners, was declared the man the match and Sahil Jaidka was adjudged the best bowler.

Earlier, Anjali Avasthi, president of the institute, inaugurated the meet.

She exhorted students to take part in sports, which helped in the overall development of the youth.