Ludhiana, May 6
The finance and contracts committee of the municipal corporation (MC) today approved development projects worth over Rs 65 crore at its meeting presided over by the Mayor Hakam Singh Giaspura.

The meeting that lasted for over two hours held detailed discussions on quite a few items while the rest of more than 400 items were taken as approved without any opposition.

Among the items which were given a go-ahead were estimates for inviting tenders, bids awaiting work orders and other development projects for carpeting of roads, construction of internal streets, extension of water supply and sewerage, providing streetlights, road markings, maintenance of parks and green belts, recruitment of staff on contract basis, purchase of material and equipment and reimbursement of allowances to civic employees.

According to information, some items, including financial sanction for the Rs 20-crore project to cover the drain from Gurdwara Dukh Niwaran to Shingar Cinema road were put on hold. The clearance of the project was opposed on the ground that the revised estimate for the work exceeded the technical sanction granted by the state government. Members were of the view that the government should again approved the estimate.

There was an uproar over several development projects proposed to be carried out by the MC in outer wards, specifically in “undeclared” areas. According to sources, road and street works well over Rs 2.5 crore were proposed in the agenda in the areas represented by an SAD councillor.

A majority of members objected to the “pick and choose” policy. They said a uniform policy should be adopted for development projects in such areas. The MC should set the process in motion for regularising these areas after collecting development charges and only then carry out development projects, they pointed out.

“The proposed projects in all such cases (undeclared areas) have been put on hold for the time being and a meeting will be convened on Tuesday to discuss the matter,” sources revealed.

Ludhiana, May 6
The continuous tracking operations of the Sadar police led to the arrest of the man who is said to be behind his father’s murder and who also allegedly killed a 13-year-old boy in Amritsar a few days ago. The suspect, a taxi driver, appeared to be normal and no one had a clue he had committed two homicides besides abducting a minor girl in Simla.

After collecting enough evidence that proved his involvement in the double murder case, a police team led by Balbir Singh nabbed Gurvinder Singh, a resident of the city’s Bachittar Nagar locality situated near Gill Road, and recovered a .315 pistol and a live cartridge from his possession.

The matter was soon reported to police station house officer Swapan Sharma who ordered the cops to conduct a thorough investigation into the suspect’s role in the murders.

However what emerged from his preliminary interrogation was astonishing - Gurvinder was wanted by the Shimla police since 2002 for kidnapping a 16-year-old girl. He told the police the girl had “eloped” with him after he promised to marry her. He claimed the Dehlon police had arrested him in July and October last year and he was then handed over to the Simla police, but on March 11 he fled from Shimla during his appearance in a the court and began living with his wife, Navpreet Kaur.

Gurvinder, who is chronic drug addict hooked to habit forming medicines, broke soon and narrated the gruesome murders of his father, Jaswinder Singh, and a 13-year-boy he had committed recently. He confessed to the police he had killed Jaswinder, who was also a taxi driver, on July 7 2010, saying he was infuriated with his father for having “cheated” him.

"He (Jaswinder) took Rs 40,000 from me promising he would settle the case and work out a compromise with the girl’s parents. But instead he usurped the entire amount of money," Gurvinder told the police.

According to DCP Yurinder Singh, Gurvinder wanted to settle a personal score with his father and was looking for an apt opportunity. On July 6 he strangulated his father. He placed his body on the driving seat and then set the car on fire so that it should appear to be an incident rather then a killing.

The Dehlon police even questioned him in connection of his father mysterious death, but on finding that Gurvinder was on the run from Shimla the city police handed him over to the Shimla police. While in jail he was nursing a grudge against his wife for informing the cops about his murky past, which led to his arrest.

After fleeing from custody in March Gurvinder began living with his wife, telling her he was a “changed man” and would never repeat his “past mistakes”. But the criminal element in him was planning to execute another crime. In order to teach her wife a lesson he killed her 14-year-old nephew, Asdhdeep Singh while he was visiting Amritsar on April 19 and fled the scene.

Since then Gurvinder was in hiding and was reportedly planning to execute another crime. “Perhaps he might have been carrying the weapon for this purpose,” said Yurinder while congratulating the team led by Sadar SHO Swapan Sharma and Merado police post in charge Balbir Singh.

On Friday Gurvinder was produced in a court that sent him to police remand.

Doraha, May 6
Even after a month has passed since the commencement of the new session in schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), teachers and students are at their wits’ end as they are in classrooms, but have no books.

Teachers are facing difficulty due to the short supply of books. They are worried that they will have to literally rush through the syllabus once the books are made available. Students are also in a spot as some books of classes IV, VIII, IX and X are also in short supply.

Swati Aneja, principal, Tagore International School, Sahnewal, said they had contacted book shops several times, but got the same hackneyed reply that the books were yet to arrive.

Suzie George, principal, Green Grove Public School Mohanpur, said: “The CBSE has asked us to follow the books of the NCERT. But the books are not readily available. These are available at the Panchkula office and teachers have got them, but it is not convenient for students to make such arrangements.

“The teachers have to download the syllabus and get it photostated and then distribute it among students. It is a cumbersome process. The short supply of books, especially the English book for class X, is a matter of concern.”

‘‘The first term will start in September and if the working days are lost, how will the students cope with the bulk of the syllabus in the reduced time period?” asked Bal Krishan Aneja, managing director, Tagore International School.

The owner of Ravi Book Shop, Ludhiana, said some of the books were being made available while the others were in short supply and it would take some time for them to arrive.

Ludhiana, May 6
Today being Akshaya Tritiya, the ‘most auspicious’ day to buy yellow metal, jewellers have made efforts to attract customers by offering them discounts and offers. Owning a piece of gold in any form on this day reportedly brings prosperity and most people prefer to buy gold on the occasion.

With jewellers expecting that the high prices this year may spoil the party, they are offering up to 50 per cent discount on making charges on gold jewellery and up to 25 per cent discount on diamond-studded ornaments.

“In India, jewellery is not seen only as an investment, but holds a lot of emotional significance. Akshaya Tritiya is one of the biggest day of sale. We expect an increase of at least 50 per cent over any regular day,” says a salesman at Reliance Jewels.

Jewellery brand Orra is offering 25 per cent off on diamond jewellery and 50 per cent off on making charges of 24-carat gold, silver bars and coins. Reliance Jewels is offering up to Rs 100 less per gram on gold jewellery and up to 100 per cent off on diamond jewellery making charges.

Kirtilals at Civil Lines is offering up to Rs 75 off per gram on gold price and up to Rs 6,000 off per carat on diamond price. It has declared 6 am as an ‘auspicious time’ to buy jewellery today.

PCJ is offering a 1-kg gold coin free on the purchase of diamond jewellery worth Rs 25,000 and 0.5-gram gold coin free on the purchase of gold jewellery worth Rs 40,000. Due to the festival, the showroom was opened at 8:30 am today.

Tanishq has come out with a 25 per cent discount on making charges of all plain gold jewellery and a 15 per cent off on diamond-studded gold jewellery.

According to a company official, the offer starts today and will continue till May 8.

Suman Raheja says she buys something in gold this day every year since Akshaya Tritiya is considered auspicious for buying yellow metal. “Offers by showrooms are an advantage and we get some respite from high gold prices,” she says.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, May 6
Farmers of the area were forced into an exercise in damage control after a squall caused enormous loss to the reaped wheat and wheat chaff in fields besides damaging the stocks lying in grain markets and purchase centres of the region. While heaps of wheat got submerged in the rainwater at some places, wheat chaff staked in fields got scattered due to the wind.

The farmers have been hit for the second time since harvesting and procurement operation began in the second week of April. Parminder Singh of Jandali Kalan said reaped wheat crop got affected after yesterday’s downpour. Now, he will have to wait for it to dry before undertaking thrashing work. Quality and quantity of grains and chaff are sure to get adversely affected, he added.

Bagga Singh was fortunate to have shifted bags of wheat to safer place before the downpour started yesterday evening. “Though I had to pay extra money to labourers for calling them, about 100 wheat bags could be saved from getting wet,” he added.

Pawan Kumar Sharma and Surinder Kumar said they had already made additional arrangements for protecting heaps of unsold wheat and bags of procured commodity.

Commission agents said the situation had arisen due to the late arrival of the produce in grain markets this year. Unlike previous years, a few farmers were yet to harvest their crops even after first week of May whereas procurement season used to end by the end of April.

Ludhiana, May 6
India can become an agriculture superpower, like it is in information technology. This was stated by the CIPHET Director, Dr RT Patil, during the inauguration of a 14-day training programme on ‘NAIP National Training Course on Rapid and Nondestructive Evaluation of Food Quality and Safety Factors Using Spectroscopy and Biosensing’ at the Central Institute of Post-Harvest Engineering and Technology (CIPHET) today.

Saying no country grew as many varieties of crops, fruits and vegetables as India, Dr Patil said there was a huge market for Indian agricultural products abroad if we could provide them fresh quality.

“Non-destructive methods, which are new emerging technologies, can be of immense use for establishing quality of fruits and vegetables,” he said, adding that the basic idea was quality of fruits and vegetables without cutting or damaging those.

Revealing that technology had found its place in automobile and other industries, he said techniques like ultraviolet filming, radiography and biosensors could be used for knowing the state of the fruits and vegetables. “Methods can be of use as quality of a large number of fruits and vegetables cannot be ascertained physically,” he said.

Dr SN Jha, head of the Atmosphere Structures and Environmental Control Division, said resource persons would deliver lectures to participants. He also spoke on the scope of the new emerging field of non-destructive methods.

Around 13 participants from across the country were taking part in the training programme. Dr SK Nanda, project coordinator, and Dr K Narsaiah, senior scientist, were present on the occasion.

The training would include lectures on spectral data analysis for rapid and non-destructive prediction of food quality, label-free optical sensors, food safety and HACCP, requirements of pesticide residue analysis, food toxicants and contaminants responsible for health hazards, visible EM spectrum and capturing images and applying image processing algorithms to extract information.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, May 6
For the first time in the history of the nation, educated persons holding higher posts of greater responsibly will be receiving salary, lower than those of illiterate unskilled employees. A cook of government school hostel will be drawing higher wages than the warden and accountant of the organisation.

Disparity leaving apart a few employees, supposed to work round-the-clock, will be drawing a meager salary of Rs 2,500 per month.

Wardens of five proposed school hostels to be established in Ludhiana, Amritsar, Ferozepur, Gurdaspur and Taran Taran districts will be drawing Rs 6,000 whereas the cook working in the same organisation will be paid Rs 6,500 per month. While anyone with unspecified experience can be appointed as the cook in the hostel, the warden has to be at least a graduate with one-year experience as an account and office management. Similarly, an accountant whose eligibility has been fixed as B.Com with minimum experience of one- year will be drawing Rs 4,000 per month.

The Sarav Shikhiya Abhiyan Authority of Punjab has decided to open residential hostels in the state for academic year 2011-2012.

The director general of school education has already directed the district education officers concerned to appoint people after seeking applications from eligible candidates. Public announcement systems installed at gurdwaras and temples in localities falling under respective hostels will be used to invite applications for these posts.

Perusal of communication sent to the district education officers revealed that the cooks preparing and serving three meals, tea and milk to 50 students will be paid Rs 6,500 per month whereas the warden of the same hostel will draw Rs 6,000.

Helper, washer man, waterman and peon will draw Rs 2,500 per month whereas the sweeper will be paid Rs 3,000 per month.

Ludhiana, May 6
The Greater Ludhiana Area Development Agency (GLADA), the nodal agency designated by the state government to process and approve cases for the rehabilitation grant of Rs 2 lakh each to victims of the 1984 riots, has received supporting documents from 918 applicants by May 5, the last date for submission of documentary evidence in support of pending claims.

GLADA Additional Chief Administrator Jaswant Singh today said that the documents were being processed to ascertain if the applicants fulfilled the parameters fixed by the Central Government for eligibility.

“Some 3,000 applications are pending with the district administration for want of supporting documents like red card, arrival to Punjab from other states between November 1984 and December 1985, and stay in the state of Punjab thereafter,” he said.

Files which are found complete will be sent to the district authorities in the next few days to be forwarded to the state relief and rehabilitation department to enable the government to claim the funds from the Centre by May 13, the last date fixed by the Centre.

However, the Ludhiana Sikh Migrants Welfare Board demanded that the condition of arrival of Sikh migrants to Punjab from other states between November 1984 and December 1985 was irrelevant.

Talking to The Tribune, chairman of the board Kartar Singh Patna said there was no mention of any such condition in the notification issued by the Centre. “The period of arrival to Punjab was fixed by the then Punjab Government headed by Surjit Singh Barnala in 1986 to identify genuine claims. But now, after more than 25 years, imposing such a condition is arbitrary and unjust,” he stated.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, May 6
With an intent to sensitise residents against ban on the use of polythene bags, activists of local units of the Rotary Club distributed cloth bags among those found carrying goods in polythene bags today.

Appreciating the initiative taken by the Rotarians, office-bearers of various trade associations urged their members to stop using polythene bags and supply materials in cloth or paper bags.

Dr Ravinder Sharma, former president of the Rotary Club, said the organisation had decided to sensitise people against ban on the use of polythene bags after noticing that people were using these even after it was banned on May 1.

Rotarians found that majority of them were women purchasing fruits, vegetables and grocery.

Office-bearers of various trade associations said they had already asked their members to replace stocks of polythene bags with those made of cloth.

“Though cloth bags are not easily available, yet we have told our members to desist from using polythene bags,” said Pawan Garg, an office-bearer of the Chaura Bazaar Welfare Association. Garg admitted that besides being eco-friendly the alternate bags were reusable, hence more economical too.

Ludhiana, May 6
Following the CBSE’s guidelines, numerous city schools have been holding orientation programmes for parents to acquaint them with the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) system.

With these programmes being conducted on week days, working couples, apparently worried about taking a leave from work or bunk office, rued that it was difficult for them to be able to attend these sessions in their wards’ schools.

Parents demanded that such programmes be held on Sundays instead of week days which would enable them to attend the sessions.

“My husband and I are both working and it gets difficult, almost impossible at times, to avail a leave from work on week days to attend these workshops. It would be great if schools understand parents’ problems and hold such important sessions on Sundays instead of week days,” said Rituparna, mother of two.

Another parent Shikha Trehan said: “Such orientation programmes are aimed at acquainting parents with the new grading system of the CBSE and are hence very important.”

Trehan added that considering parents’ convenience, schools should conduct such programmes on public holidays or Sundays.

“When my child’s school held an orientation programme on the CCE on a working day, my wife and I were stuck in a dilemma as to how to manage an off from office,” said Atul Manhas, a parent.

He stated, “We did not want to miss the session but taking a leave was not possible, so my mother-in-law accompanied our son to the session, but that did not help much as she does not live with us and thus, is not directly involved in the child’s studies.”

While working parents rue having to compromise either on the work front to attend their wards’ numerous school sessions or miss the crucial workshops like the one on the CCE, parents of nursery students, on the other hand, feel that there is no need for them to be part of such workshops.

“It is a bit too early to acquaint parents of nursery kids with the CCE. But for some strange reason, schools make it mandatory for parents of students from Nursery to Class X to attend the session, which is ridiculous,” said Sarita Mehta, a housewife.

Sushma Dhanda and Roop Bhullar, parents of nursery students, too, feel that schools should exempt parents of nursery students from attending orientation programmes aimed at acquainting them with the CBSE’s guidelines and new systems.

“There will be enough opportunities for us to attend numerous school events ones our kids grow up. Right now, we can do without having to bother about something our children are not directly affected by,” the duo remarked in unison.

Ludhiana, May 6
With the harvesting season in full swing there has been corresponding rise in the incidence of snake bites as the reaping period coincides with the advent of summer when snakes come out of hibernation.

Dozens of cases of people being bitten by the scaly elongate reptiles been already reported in various hospitals, both private and state run, in the district’s rural areas over the past one month. In most farm labourers and their family members working in the fields were bitten by both nonpoisonous and venomous snakes. 15 snakebite cases have been reported at the city’s Dayanand Medical College & Hospital (DMCH) alone.

From causing swelling, redness and blisters, tissue death to anaphylactic reactions, a bite by a nonvenomous snake may even lead to a heart attack, resulting in death in many cases.

At the same time snakebites, although painful, help in saving the victim. However, in the instance of nonpainful bites many people tend to adopt a careless attitude thinking the snakes that bit them was nonpoisonous, which is not always the case.

"In many cases of nonpainful snakebites the victims die due to a nervous breakdown or heart failure in the absence of proper medical assistance. In some recent cases, the patients had to be put on ventilation as they suffered respiratory failure but the worst were the cases wherein the poison content was so intense that the patients nervous breakdown," said Dr Sanjeev Uppal, who heads the emergency wing at DMCH.

Said Rehman, a farm labourer from Sunet village: "A friend of mine was recently bitten by a snake as we were harvesting in the fields. We immediately took him to a private doctor, who gave him an anti snake venom serum thereby saving his life."

The snakes come out in search of the food, which mainly consists of rodents and insects. The region is known for cobra bites as the venomous species is found in abundance in Punjab and other northern states of India.

Referring to snakebite cases Dr Kanwal Masih, medical superintendent of Christian Medical College & Hospital, , said: "Almost three-fourths of snakebite victims who come here lose consciousness due to shock

However, in those cases where the patient has been bitten by a venomous snake he or she is immediately administered an injection of anti snake venom serum.

It is helpful when people bring the snake they have killed along as it saves precious time to ascertain the nature of the snake”.

Ludhiana, May 6
The state government is going to set up 250 skilled training centres and 43 ITI centres across the state that would impart technical education to nearly 30,000 students.

This was stated by technical education minister Swarna Ram during the concluding day of annual cultural and sports meet of ITI held at Guru Nanak Bhawan here today. He said not only training, the government would also lay emphasis on the recruitment of students.

For the purpose, the state government has roped in MNCs, including Tata and Cheema boiler, where students will have to attend a six-month training programme. — TNS

Kasba Bharal, May 6
Satnam Singh, a Nihang of this nondescript village and his wife Manjinder Kaur, are cursing themselves for planning to pay obeisance at a religious place in Raikot.

They had to return with the bodies of Gurpreet Singh (12) and Dharam Singh (9), their sons, who were eager to visit Gurdwara Tahliana at Raikot. The duo drowned in the gurdwara’s sarovar while taking the bath. The unfortunate parents were relaxing in Dewan Hall of the gurdwara when this incident took place.

It is suspected that one of the brothers might have slipped into the water and the other lost his life while trying to save his brother. A few sevadars, who noticed the duo drowning, jumped into the sarovar to rescue them. But they failed to save them. The two brothers were shifted to a local private hospital where doctors declared them brought dead. Sources said the parents came to know about the tragedy after the bodies were recovered from the sarovar.

Satnam Singh and Manjider Kaur are still in the state of shock. Family members and friends alleged that the family lost the sons due to the callous attitude of authorities at the religious place.

“Had the authorities posted some guards near the sarovar lives of the children could have been saved,” said Ranjit Singh, a close friend of the aggrieved family.

Ludhiana, May 6
The Punjabi number ‘Gaddi moudange, sare de sare signal todange’ has invited the ire of a traffic expert in the city, who has written to Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni, demanding a ban on the song for sending a wrong message.

The Punjabi number in the film ‘Dharti’, written by Sameer and sung by Mika, may be enjoyable in movies, but real-life adventures that end in blood and gore on the roads are a spot of bother, said Dr Kamaljit Soi, traffic expert and vice-chairman, Punjab State Road Safety Council, in his letter to the minister.

“We want youngsters to learn good lessons while watching movies, follow rules and obey all signals. This song is going to have a wrong impact on youngsters and can cause them to break traffic rules, leading to accidents and deaths on the roads. The lyrics say break all signals and take your vehicle wherever you wish. This song should be banned immediately so that further damage can be stopped,” he said.

“We should not be surprised if we are exposed to some real-life tragedy due to these songs. It is said that learning by doing and watching gets established in your brain forever. This song can distort innocent minds and can push youngsters into disobeying traffic rules. It will thwart efforts of the police and road safety experts to instill some traffic sense among the youth in India and in Punjab in particular, he claimed.

“Even minor mistakes like jumping a signal and overtaking from the wrong side claim many innocent lives on city roads. This song will motivate negligent driving and overspeeding, causing mishaps. It will invite youngsters to break traffic rules, putting lives at risk. Punjab is number two in road accident fatality rate. Instructions should be issued for banning this song so that human lives are not put to risk,” he added.

Ludhiana, May 6
Accountability is a key factor governing the success of a nation in turbulent times. This was a major suggestion at a panel discussion on “Business and politics thriving in turbulent times” conducted by the Ludhiana Management Association yesterday.

The discussion was between MP and AICC spokesperson Manish Tiwari and Bharti Enterprises’ vice-chairman and MD Rajan Bharti Mittal.

Tiwari said business and politics were thriving. He advocated the need for robust regulatory systems, with no influence of corporates on government policies.

India had entered the third decade of liberalisation and maintaining a growth rate of 9 per cent was fair enough, especially when the world was going through economic crises, he said.

Mittal said they had set the pace for the growth of the Indian economy as entrepreneurs had come out on their own, with not much government support.

He strongly advocated the need for a public-private partnership to bridge the gap between ‘India’ and ‘Bharat’.

LUDHIANA: To celebrate Mother's Day, a card-making competition was held at Ram Lal Bhasin Public School, Dugri, on Friday. Students of all classes participated in the competition. Participants made beautiful cards by using their creative ideas in different ways. Some participants used original photographs on the cards. Kids poured their hearts out in the cards, along with immense love for their mothers.