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Patchy
compliance by doctors Anshu Seth Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, March 2 During the past two years doctors working in the private health sector have registered only 290 TB cases, of the total of 35,000 cases reported in the state, for this therapy, state TB officer Dr PK Shridhar told The Tribune at the sidelines of the state level workshop on review of RNTCP in Punjab held in the city. What is more shocking is the fact that lakhs of rupees have been spent to set up 250 DOT centres under the IMA umbrella, wherein 750 doctors were trained at district training programmes. While reviewing the attitude of the doctors who had come to attend the workshop, Shridhar said, "There’s the need for sensitising doctors as well as the state’s residents on TB”. IMA state coordinator for RNTCP Dr KK Bansal admitted to the problem of the doctors, saying, “Of the total 20 districts in Punjab, private doctors from just eight districts have compiled data on TB patients. However, other districts that have the largest number of TB cases have even failed to set up the DOT centers”. Jalandhar and Amritsar have the maximum number of private practitioners in Punjab but not a single DOT centre has been made operational in these districts in the past two years. Ludhiana, on the other, hand has trained 32 private practitioners for administration of TB medicine under the DOT programme but the centers are not operational. The Indian Medical Association had had adopted RNTCP under the public-private partnership to ensure participation of doctors working in the private health sector. Interestingly, the doctors at workshop even raised questions about the meager remuneration of Rs 250 per patient provided by the central government to every doctor treating TB patients under the DOT programme.
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Nursing institute flouting fire-safety norms
Ludhiana, March 2 The information taken under the RTI reveals that as per the Assistant Divisional Fire Officer, "The records show that the management of Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital has not taken the fire safety certificate by the Fire Department of the MC". Besides, in the recent past, the residents of Shastri Nagar have complained against the "illegally" constructed nursing home to the authorities concerned, including the Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Principal Secretary, local bodies, etc but nothing came out of it. Area resident Hardeep Singh complained that the nursing institute had constructed five-floors without leaving setback/building house line, in a certain period of time, which was against building bylaws. The height of the said building was more than the permissible limit. "The illegal building of the institute is posing constant threat to the residents. We have filed several complaints with the department but no action has been taken by authorities. There are over 400 nursing students in the institute, in absence of fire safety norms, the building can not even become operational. But here everything is going on in a normal manner. The management cares a damn about the security of students, employees and the area residents", rued Hardeep Singh. The residents even alleged that the illegal construction was not being stopped "intentionally" as the field staff of the Municipal Corporation was hand-in-glove with the management. Meanwhile, the president of Guru Teg Bahadur Charitable Trust, MS Bakshi said they had got the clearance certificates from all departments and the building was not illegally constructed. He asked TNS to contact administrator MS Kang. Kang, however, said the nursing college principal would be in a better position to comment on the issue. Principal GK Walia claimed that old buildings were complying with the fire-safety norms. "Since the construction is still going on, I am not sure about the new buildings", she said. |
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Residents pull down boundary wall in colony to gain passage
Ludhiana, March 2 The LIT authorities have lodged a complaint with the Haibowal police station, demanding registration of a criminal case. It appeared to be the handiwork of residents of the Haibowal Khurd locality, located adjacent to the colony, where residents wanted a common passage to the main road. Trust engineer Pramod Sharma, who filed a complaint against the demolition of the boundary wall with the police, told The Tribune that a JCB machine was deployed by those responsible for the act, which clearly indicated that this could not have been done without the knowledge and tacit approval of the residents who wanted a passage to the main road in the colony of the Trust. "Not only a portion of the boundary wall has been razed, huge damage has been inflicted on footpaths, iron grills and some electrical lights fitted in the public park." While claiming that the construction of boundary wall a couple of months ago by the LIT authorities had denied passage to the main road of the colony to residents of at least 70-80 houses in Haibowal Khurd, the affected persons rued that the wall was put up despite opposition from them. Rubbishing the safety aspect of the Trust colony being put forth by officials, they alleged that certain influential residents of the the colony had been instrumental in the construction of the boundary wall. "A few residents of Maharishi Valmiki Nagar have been saying openly that common passage will not be provided to residents of Haibowal Khurd, a colony inhabited mostly by people belonging to economically weaker and under-privileged sections," an area resident alleged. LIT chairman Ashok Juneja said there was no provision for a common passage in the layout plan of the colony at this particular location, nor had residents of Haibowal Khurd colony ever approached the Trust for this purpose.
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Man nabbed for stealing hotel items
Ludhiana, March 2 The accused identified as Pramod Kumar of Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, was nabbed with bed sheets, while his accomplice Vinod Mishra from Mumbai managed to flee along with two LCDs worth over Rs 4 lakh. According, to the management of A- Hotel, Pramod and Vinod hired two suites on February 25. They opted for a room, which had LCDs installed on the table. The management smelled a rat when the accused did not pay the room rent of two days. "After checking in the hotel, the accomplices of thieves also joined them and ordered expensive wine and dishes. The bill for the lunch itself was over Rs 20, 000," said the managing staff of the hotel. In the evening, a thief carrying a huge red bag entered the hotel. According to the plan, an accomplice of the thieves involved the front desk employee in a conversationwith him.In the meantime, Vinod put the LCD in a bag and made a quick exit from the hotel. Later in the evening, the hotel employees reached the rooms and were surprised to find it locked. They informed the police and opened the locks in the latter’s presence. The hotels authorities were shocked to find out that the thieves had decamped with two LCD and bed sheets. The police sounded an alert and on the next day, Pramod was nabbed while stealing LCDs and bed sheets from a hotel located in Bhadaur House. During the interrogation, Pramod told the police that the gang was behind series of theft incidents that took place in hotels around the city. Interestingly many theft incidents went unreported as the thieves hired the rooms on fake identities. The hotel managements fearing police action did not report the thefts. Sources said following the arrest of the accused, other hoteliers also complained of similar incidents. The sources said the thieves visited a hotel near Bhai Bala Chowk savoured food and beverages worth Rs 42,000. Similarly, they entered in two more hotels located near Preet Cinema and Bhadaur House. Both hotels have a bill of Rs 16,000 and 18,000 pending against them. An employee of the hotel located near Bhadaur House where Pramod was arrested said the hotel authorities, where the thieves had previously stayed at, had altered them and told them about the description and modus operandi of the thieves. The police has begun investigations and the accused was produced before the court from where he was further sent on police remand. The police said the accused was a member of inter- state gang of thieves, who checked in at hotels posing as visitors and decamped with hotel items. In the meantime, an autorickshaw driver, who ferried the thieves said the accomplices of Pramod had caught a train and fled the city.
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No friction between admn, police: DC
Ludhiana, March 2 “Both the police and the administration are meant to serve people and they would continue to do their jobs in letter and inspirit”, he stated. Tewari held a special interaction with reporters to get first hand information about the problems plaguing the city. Considering its size and population, DC said the district should ideally have four deputy commissioners. “Every big city has similar kinds of problems and I will do my best to tackle the challenges confronting Ludhiana”, said the DC. |
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Murdered boy’s eyes enable youngsters to see again
Ludhiana, March 2 Gurvinder, 47, allegedly killed shot dead Prabhdeep in the head after thrashing him on February 8 night when he saw the latter at his home. Prabhdeep had gone there to meet his girlfriend after she reportedly invited him to her house in Dugri Phase II. The boy succumbed to the gunshot wounds on February 20. However, Prabhdeep’s father, KP Singh, did not let his son’s eyes get wasted. The eyes were donated to a 17-year-old girl from Jagraon and a 25-year-old man from Amritsar so that they could again see through his son’s eyes. KP Singh expressed the desire that the two, who have been given a new lease of life, should meet Gurvinder’s daughter so that she could “recognise the eyes of the man she once fell in love with”. “Gurvinder killed my son but he couldn’t destroy his eyes, which are still alive and showing the beautiful world to two youngsters,” he said. He added Prabhdeep used to donate blood every six months. KP Singh said after his son died the family members decided to donate his eyes. “Dr Ramesh of Punarjot Eye Bank Society took the boy’s corneas during his postmortem”, he added. Nisha Rani, one of the recipients, hails from a poor family and suffering from blindness in one eye since she was one year old. “My parents were worried about my marriage prospects as I was getting old and was suffering from constant headaches due to the strain of being able to see from only my right eye. Now I hope I’ll be able to see clearly with the new eye,” she said. Labh Singh, who hails from Ajnala and is the father of two children, was also blind in one eye for over a year. |
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Board exams begin
Ludhiana, March 2 Tension was in the air since early this morning as students, accompanied by their parents, reached their respective examination centres. Worried about the performance of their children, hundreds of parents could be seen helping their wards make last-minute revision before the exam started. Teachers and principals, too, gathered outside various centres to wish their students good luck. Waiting outside the centre for her daughter to finish with her paper, Harman Chahal, a class VIII student's mother, said, "I am very nervous as this is the first time my daughter is appearing for her board exams. I hope the question paper is simple." Rita Mittal, another parent, said, "Children are very anxious during exams and parents can provide the much-needed moral support at such moments, so I will be here till my son comes out." She added that she intended to be present for all his papers and boost his morale. Meanwhile, the students were all smiles as they walked out of the examination hall. The paper was simple and quite easy, said the students of classes VIII and XII. Pranav Single, a student of class VIII, said, "The paper was easier than expected and I am confident of scoring above 95." Pranav's classmates Payal Khurana and Neeti Sareen nodded in agreement and said they were expecting very good marks. Gurpreet Singh and Parmisha Handa, class XII students, also said their paper was simple. "The students were elated to see the question paper, as all questions were taught in the class." Giving details, District Education Officer (secondary) Bachhitar Singh said, "Both class X as well as class XII exams were easy and went off peacefully with no untoward incident reported from anywhere in the district." He added that in the wake of strict instructions to centre supervisors on the use of unfair means by students by the Education Department, no cheating case came to the fore. "I am personally taking stock of the arrangements at all examination centres across the district since morning," he added. There were 10 flying squads working in the district and 431 centres for classes VIII and XII.
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Award for agronomy prof
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, March 2 The award was conferred on her during the biennial conference of the society held at Raipur (Chhatisgarh). Dr Kaur worked on 'Identification of the prominent weeds in wheat through remote sensing and GIS' under the guidance of Dr RK Mahey, professor of agronomy and her findings have opened up new vistas for site specific and need-based weed management which has the potential to optimise the herbicide use and at the same time save the environment from pollution. Dr Manjit Singh Kang, Vice-Chancellor, PAU, has congratulated Dr Kaur for the honour and hoped that she will continue doing good work in her area of research. Elected
Ranbir Singh Sidhu has been unanimously elected as the president of the PAU Tree Growers’ Association, an organisation operating under the guidance of Director of Extension Education, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. Other elected office-bearers of the association include Ajay Pal Singh Punia, vice-president, Manmohan Jit Singh, secretary, Jagwinder Singh Grewal, treasurer, and Darshan Singh Gill, legal advisor. The association has unanimously decided that those members who earn more than Rs 4 lakh per acre from eucalyptus cultivation will donate Rs 500 per acre to the association. Subsidy
During his visit to the centre for communication and international linkages, Dr GS Kalkat, chairman, Punjab State Farmers’ Commission, said to encourage mechanisation of paddy transplanting in the ensuing kharif season, the progressive growers undertaking mat nursery production will be provided subsidy of Rs 5,000 per acre. He said this would enable the progressive growers not only to provide mat nursery for machine transplanting, but also to earn from the nursery and to grow other crops in the vacated nursery area. Dr Kalkat said the PAU could provide training to the farmers in mat nursery raising.
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City soaks in Holi colours
Ludhiana, March 2 From the narrow labyrinths of the old city area to the plush lanes of Sarabha
Nagaar, BRS Nagar, Aggar Nagar, Dugri and Model Town Extension; the bright colours of Holi were visible everywhere. City residents said over the past few years, the festival had become more of a social event. "Most clubs and other organisations in the field of entertainment hold Holi functions every year. People form all walks of life and from all localities participate with great enthusiasm in the Holi bashes across the city." While Monday's celebrations held centre stage with the city almost coming to a standstill due to Holi festivities, at many places, residents played with colours on Sunday too, extending their celebrations over to Monday. City resident Anuradha Saluja said most residential societies around her place organised Holi parties on Sunday itself on the occasion of
'choti Holi'. "This Holi was very special for me as it was my first after my wedding and first in the city as well. I enjoyed the festival on two days this time. While on Sunday I attended a bash at Lodhi Club; Monday was time for celebrations at home with family and friends," smiled the young woman, colours of Holi still visible on her palms. Another city resident Piyush Prakash added that he had a blast this Holi at his friend's place in Sarabha Nagar with sumptuous food and lots of
bhaang. "Even before Holi, celebrations had begun in our locality in full swing," said the BCom III student. "The extended weekend added to the festivities," remarked a cheerful Sanjeev
Sarna. "We played Holi with organic colours and encouraged all our friends to do so too. The healthy way of celebrating the festival added so much more fun to Holi this time," said Preeti Sharma, a designer. Meanwhile, no major untoward incident was reported from any part of the city on Monday as the celebrations went off peacefully.
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Rs 100 crore demanded from Centre for ponds’ project
Ludhiana, March 2 Ayali was addressing a meeting of the Water Supply and Sanitation at Zila Parishad Complex here today. Ayali said the aim of this project was to provide safe drinking water facilities to villages of Punjab under the people's participation mode. He said the district was taking lead in the implementation of this project. He said that the District Water Supply and Sanitation Committee had approved 190 villages, where clean drinking water facilities would be provided at the cost of Rs 55 crore. He further stated that renovation of ponds had been undertaken in 15 villages like Dhandra, Rurka, Mulanpur , Dewatwal, Issewal Sarabha as part of a pilot project under the Total Sanitation Programme. He said Rajwant Sandhu, Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Rural Water Supply and Sanitation had already visited Rurka and Dhandra, Narangwal and Ayali Khurd villages and inspected the progress of the pond renovation work and water supply project in theses villages.
She appreciated the project and agreed with the view that after cleaning of village sullage water, it can be used for recharging and irrigation purpose. Ayali further stated that Rs 100 crore had been demanded from the Government of India for pond renovation work. This would help in recharging the ground water and help in replenishing the depleting ground-water table and it would solve the drainage problem of waste water from village drains and ponds. Ayali said Ludhiana district was the first district in Punjab to start the pond renovation project. AK Soni, District Programme Director, said the water supply work had been completed in 159 villages in the past two years and the work was in progress in the remaining villages. Mohd. Ishfaq, District Programme Specialist-cum -Executive Engineer, said 190 villages of Ludhiana district had deposited Rs 2.55 crore as beneficiary share for the water supply scheme. He also added that water-borne diseases were increasing day by day because the ground water was highly contaminated and the department had made comprehensive plans to bring these schemes into action. He also said the GPWSC’s in charge of all these schemes would be provided technical assistance by the Department Of Rural Water Supply And Sanitation.
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Kalsian village team, Kabaddi Academy emerge winners
Mandi Ahmedgarh, March 2 The event was jointly organised by the Guru Nanak Sports Club and the Baba Sahib Singh Naujawan
Sabha, Kalakh, near here. Jasbir Singh Khangura, MLA, Kilaraipur, presided over the concluding function and Zabar Singh
Grewal, an NRI sports promoter, was the guest of honour. Randhir Singh
Dheera, convener of the event, said 200 players and owners of bullock carts and dogs had participated in various events held during the fair. As many as 24 teams participated in different categories of the kabaddi tournament. Teams of the Dhulkot Sports Club and the Nakodar Kabaddi Academy bagged second prizes in their respective categories. Peter of Jallandhar team won the best raider award worth Rs 21,000 and Lambar of Nakodar was declared the best stopper. First and second teams were presented awards worth Rs 1lakh and 75,000 respectively. Addressing the concluding function, speakers including
Khangura, Tej Parkash Singh Kotli, legislator, and Malkit Singh Dakha, former minister, called upon the office-bearers of social and political organisations to impress upon youth of their areas to adopt sports as a lifestyle and shun use of drugs and narcotics. Appreciating the role of village sports clubs, speakers claimed that these organisations had played a significant role in creating awareness about hazardous affects of addiction.
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MC asks firm to get registered within month Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, March 2 Besides, a monitoring committee with the MC Commissioner, Senior Deputy Mayor Parveen Bansal, NGOs, veterinary doctors, the MC health officer has been formed which will hold its first meeting on the project on March 9. Chairing a meeting with representatives of Doggie Lane, the company which had been given contract for the project, Parveen Kumar Bansal, Senior Deputy Mayor, said the work on the project was expected to start soon. "The initial hiccups have been removed as the doctor in charge has also resigned from the government job recently. We are going to hold a meeting of the monitoring committee on March 9,” said Bansal. The fate of the project had become uncertain after the Amritsar-based company had failed to obtain the mandatory registration from the Animal Welfare Board. City residents have been complaining for long about the over-increasing population of canines. As per the data, there are over 20,000 stray dogs in the city.
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Prabhjot, Akshita crowned Miss farewell
Ludhiana, February 2 To add colour to the occasion, the students presented an entertaining cultural programme. Several dances and songs were performed. Major highlight of the show was modeling by senior students. In the commerce section, Prabhjot Kaur was crowned Miss Farewell, Monika and Harkiran were declared first and second runners-up respectively. Harleen and Shewta were chosen as Miss Beautiful Smile and Miss Elegant respectively. Meanwhile, in the department of biotechnology and bioinformatics, Akshita Sharma was crowned Miss Farewell and Manjot Kaur and Ruku Verma were declared first and second runners up, respectively. Jatminder Kaur and Amandeep Kaur were chosen Miss Beautiful Smile and Miss Elegant, respectively Fun games were also played and students gave compliments and gifts to their teachers and principal. — TNS
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270 patients examined at check-up camp
Ludhiana, March 2 Minister for Jails and Cultural Affairs Hira Singh Gabria inaugurated the camp. He lauded the initiative of the NIMA and the NGO for providing free medical care to rural population. In his brief address, he urged the people and members of the medical fraternity to continue their fight against the social evil of female foeticide. Dr Surendra Gupta, secretary, and Dr Deepak Kapoor from NIMA, Dr Pandey from Kulwant Heart Institute carried out the medical check-up of the poor and needy patients suffering from diabetes, hypertension, heart diseases and related complications. Diagnostic tests like blood sugar level and ECG were also conducted free-of-cost.
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Union Budget hailed
Ludhiana, Mach 2 Key speaker Girish Ahuja from Delhi hailed the Budget. He said that if the income tax department conducts raid on the premises of a taxpayer, he could further appeal to department's settlement commission. The tax on undisclosed income should be Rs 50 lakh, he said. He said the limit for getting the accounts audit has been increased from Rs 40 lakh to Rs 60 lakh. While for professionals, the audit limit has been increased from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 15 lakh. He said although the government had announced that the income tax return form “Saral II” will be introduced, but it has failed to clarify that it will be applicable for the salaried class or the business class. President of the Taxation Bar Association HO Arora, general secretary Inder Singh Sharma and press secretary Jatinder Khurana were also present.
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Traffic chaos after accident
Ludhiana, March 2 Following the incident, people gathered at the spot and damaged the bus. The incident resulted in traffic jam for over an hour. The police reached the scene and pacified both warring groups. Till the time of filing this report, the police had affected a compromise between both parties.
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Man falls from roof, dies
Ludhiana, March 2 The victim ha been identified as Bahadur (35). He was reportedly drunk and was playing Holi with his relative when he fell
from the roof yesterday afternoon. A few other incidents were also reported from different parts of the city where the youngsters in festive jig reportedly fell from their motorcycle and sustained injuries.
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Murder accused evades arrest
Ludhiana, March 2 Gurvinder Singh allegedly killed 22-year-old Prabhdeep after the accused reportedly spotted the boy with his daughter inside house on February 8. Prabhdeep died in hospital later. The police booked the accused for murder, but the latter has escaped police custody. It is learnt that Gurvinder Singh “enjoys” political backing and that is why he is evading arrest. KP Singh, an MC official and father of the victim, has complained against police inaction. He said the police was deliberately delaying the arrest of the accused and his family so that they could get relief from court. Singh is suspecting political pressure to be the reason behind the accused evading arrest. Sources said Gurvinder and his family were reported to be on the run since the incident took place. Meanwhile, SHO Model Town said the police was making all possible efforts to nab the criminal. Cops were raiding the hideouts where the accused was suspected to have taken shelter. He assured that the accused would be nabbed soon. KP Singh said it was a planned attack on his son. “The girl called my son to her house as part of a conspiracy, which must have been hatched by her father. Neighbours have told me that Gurvinder had not only shot at my son in the head, but also smashed flowerpots on his head and repeatedly hit him with an iron rod, which resulted in grievous injuries,” KP Singh said, adding that the accused took his son to be dead and put his body in a car and were in the process of dumping it at a secluded place when they were intercepted. KP Singh, a resident of Dugri Phase-I, claimed that he was informed about the incident by his neighbours. “The house of the girl is situated in Phase-II, which is around 200 m from my house. When Gurvinder saw my car approaching, he, along with an accomplice, threw my injured son from the moving vehicle and fled.” Relatives of KP Singh said well over
Rs 5 lakh was spent on the treatment of Prabhdeep.
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Youth murders mother
Mullanpur Dakha, March 2 The matter was informed to the police by neighbours, who said Mandeep Singh (25), alias Bunti, eldest son of Balbir Singh, had murdered his mother Gurmeet Kaur (50) by stabbing her. Mandeep is a tabla player by profession and used to assist “Kirtani Jathas”. The police reached the spot and arrested the accused from his house. The cause of the incident could not be ascertained. The police stated that Mandeep Singh was a drug addict and wanted more money from his mother to meet his needs to buy drugs. In anger, he attacked her, killing her on the spot. A case under Section
302 of the IPC has been registered.
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Robbers’ gang busted; 3 held
Phillaur, March 2 The gang members were arrested during a raid near Khalwara and impounded their Maruti car (HR-24F-3525). The police also recovered some sharp-edged weapons from the car. Talking to mediapersons here today, Phagwara DSP Harkamalpreet Singh Khakh said the accused have been identified as Mandip Singh alias Bhura of Neelowal village, PS Bilga, Gurmeet Singh alias Meeta of Kandhola village near Nurmahal and Kulwinder Singh alias Happy of Mangat village. The DSP said their three other accomplices, identified as Tirlochan Singh of Bhojeki village, Pardeep Singh alias Deepa of Nagar village and Sahbi of Muthadha Kalan village, managed to flee in their car (PB-10-7474). The DSP said the gang members were wanted in five different criminal cases for the last three years. — OC
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Man found murdered
Ludhiana, March 2 The victim could not be identified. According to the police, the victim might have come to celebrate Holi with his friends at a 'vehra'. The police said the man was stabbed to death and his body was locked in a roam. His body was spotted after the area resident complained of foul smell emanating from the room.
— TNS
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