Dr Vineeta Munjal, Gynaecologist, Obstetrician and Infertility Specialist, Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, said the pregnant woman, if exposed to high intensity fireworks, can sustain irreversible side-effects.

* Even pre-term labour pains start due to exposure to high intensity sounds.

* Problems like jaundice and even death of the baby in the womb can occur if there is any injury to blood vessels.

* Women in the second and third trimesters should avoid exposure to fireworks, which produce very loud noise.

* In case of any doubt, blood analysis for detection of foetal cells in the mother's blood is essential to have a favourable prognosis.

Ludhiana, November 2
Awareness created by schools and NGOs on eco-friendly Diwali is being looked as a major factor in the "overall recession" in the cracker market. If the dealers of crackers are to be believed the cracker sales are down by about 80 per cent this year.

In the absense of buyers, cracker dealers fear losses this Diwali. Photo: Inderjeet Verma

Ashok Thapar, a wholesale cracker dealer, said earlier children used to come with their parents to buy crackers in bulk and they would go for expensive crackers. "But this time, there is no such scene. There is an overall recession in the market. Children themselves are staying away from crackers. Even if their parents tell them to buy crackers of their choice, children prefer to buy a few crackers. Now, they do not pressurise their parents to buy expensive crackers," said Thapar.

The dealers in the wholesale market maintain that there were about 78 shops in the designated market and each shopkeeper had a stock worth about Rs 20 lakh. "But there is no buyer. There were times when one or two days before Diwali, we had no stocks," said Karan, a salesman at a cracker dealer's shop.

As if it was not enough, the government has also banned cracker chains, carrying 1000 and 500 crackers, this time. Apart from that, Chinese crackers are dominating the market because they are cheaper than the local ones.

Principal of GMT School Amrjit Dhaliwal said it was high time and as responsible citizens, we need to lay stress on a green Diwali as pollution was taking a toll on people and environment.

Ludhiana, November 2
This Diwali, residents will get respite from traffic challans as ACP (Traffic) Deepal Hilori has given clear instruction to the traffic police to abstain from challaning vehicles and to manage traffic effectively instead.

"Traffic management is on the top of out priority list. Already, the rate of challans has dropped by 50 per cent. On an average, we issue nearly 500 challans per day but for the past one week the rate has dropped to 250 challans a day," said Hilori.

The ACP appreciated the efforts of the traffic volunteers who are helping the traffic police in managing traffic in Chaura Bazar and Ghumar Mandi. He has requested the residents to use two-wheelers or go for carpooling to lessen traffic in the city on Diwali.

"Currently, we are observing an opposite trend. The city roads are not capable of accommodating so many vehicles. Suppose, if there are four cars in a family, its members will use all four cars for shopping instead of using one vehicle. If the city residents do not want to face traffic snarls, then they should also act responsibly," said Hilori. 

Ludhiana, November 2
Exactly after one month since property tax was implemented in the city, the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation finally has some reason to cheer. The civic body has managed to collect more than Rs 4 crore as property tax in the last one month, which is also probably the highest collection by any municipal corporation in the state.

The Ludhiana MC had started the process of property tax collection from October 2 and since then several city residents have deposited their property tax.

If any city resident files his property tax return before November 30, he would get 10 per cent rebate.

Since this tax is based on a self-assessment method, residents can themselves calculate their property tax. The MC officials would also help the public in assessing tax. For further information, they can log on to the MC website, www.mcludhiana.gov.in.

Speaking to The Tribune, MC Additional Commissioner Isha Kalia said the collection of more than Rs 4 crore is certainly an achievement for the MC. "Very soon we will have surplus funds, which will be utilised for the overall development of the city. I appeal to the residents to file their property tax returns before November 30 if they want to avail themselves of 10 per cent rebate," she said.

The residents can inquire about the tax and its calculation on helpline number 97800-22410. Those who fail to pay their tax by November 30 will not be given 10 per cent rebate up to December 31. After December 31, they would have to pay tax with 25 per cent penalty and those who would not clear the tax amount by March 31, 2014, would be liable to pay 50 per cent penalty and 18 per cent interest.

Jagraon, November 2
Keeping in view the reports of use of adulterated “khoya” in preparation of sweets in various parts of the country, a team of Health Department officials conducted raids in various areas of Jagraon today. The team members visited several sweets shops of Jagraon.

The Health Department team led by senior doctor Arun Gupta examined several sweet shops where sweets and other eatables were being prepared. The team members first visited the sweet shops near local bus stand. The team members examined various sweets prepared by the shopkeepers.

Following this, the health department team visited a famous sweet shop situated on Tehsil Road, Jagraon and examined the preparation of eatables in the shop. But the team members did not find any wrongdoing there as the sweets were prepared in a hygienic way. However, the team instructed the shop owners to maintain proper hygiene while preparing the eatables.

Later on, the team members visited several other shops located on Raikot Road, College Road, Railway Road, Old Grain Market, Subhash Gate and other areas of the town. At couple of shops the team found stale sweets which were destroyed on the spot by the officials. The officials instructed the workers to bear gloves while preparing sweets and other eatables. The team members also asked the shopkeepers to sell only the fresh sweets to the people.

The team also examined the fruits being sold by the roadside vendors at Old Sabzi Mandi Road. The officials destroyed a large number of rotten fruits and vegetables during the occasion. The vendors were warned to sell only fresh fruits and maintain hygiene in their surroundings.

SMO Jagraon Civil Hospital Karanveer Goel said the health department would continue to conduct such kind of raids. "The instructions have been issued to the shopkeepers to maintain complete hygiene while preparing the sweets and other eatables. We have also asked the shopkeepers to provide gloves to their workers who prepare sweets." he said.

"We would not allow anybody to sell unhygienic eatables and play with the health of the consumers. If any shopkeeper is found selling eatables in unhygienic conditions, a strict action would be taken against him," he added. 

Ludhiana, November 2
Although weather has changed but dengue cases are still on rise. Today as many as 20 new cases of dengue have been reported from the city hospitals. Out of these 14 are from city, 5 from rural areas of Ludhiana district and 1 from Jalandhar.

By now 1,159 patients of dengue have been admitted in different hospitals of the city. These include 704 from Ludhiana district, 335 from other districts and 120 from states.

District Epidemilogist Dr Anil verma said,"Team of health department found dengue larva in 3 drums (1in Mushtaq Ganj and 2 in Pataka market) during a drive. We held 6 group meetings with residents and told them all the preventive measures about needed to avoid dengue."

The information of the same was given to sanitary inspector of Ludhiana Municipal Corporation. Pamphlets were distributed. Spray of pyrethrum was done in and around the houses of dengue patients. 

Ludhiana, November 2
The completion of the Lakkar Bridge project doesn’t seems to be in sight anytime soon as the railways department has failed to get clearance for installation of concrete girders on the Lakkar bridge project. Earlier on October 19, the railways department had claimed that it would be able to get the necessary permission within a week, but still they yet have to obtain clearance.

Whenever such construction activity is to be carried on the railway tracks, the department requires a clearance from Commissioner (railway safety), New Delhi.

Earlier, the railways department had planned to erect concrete girders on around 35-metres portion of the Lakkar Bridge on October 19. But the contractor could not complete the construction as he failed to get the necessary clearance.

On that day, the contractor had rued that due to this goof up by the railways, he has suffered loss of more than Rs 10 lakh as he had hired additional equipment and specialised manpower for this work.

For ensuring the construction is completed on time, some officers from the Public Works Department also held a meeting with Deputy Chief Engineer of Railways in Chandigarh today.

It is learnt that some construction activity is already going on platform number 6 of the Ludhiana Railway Station and if the contractor is to erect girders on the Lakkar bridge portion, the rail traffic of platform number 4 would be shut down.

“Maybe that is why, the railways department first plans to complete the construction activity on platform number 6 and then go ahead with the Lakkar bridge project. And it is likely that rail traffic on platform number 6 would resume in next 15 days. Till that time we don’t think railways would be able to get the necessary permission,” informed a senior PWD officer, requesting anonymity.

Ludhiana, November 2
While the festival of lights, brings joy and happiness to everybody to celebrate, the fire brigade personnel of the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation have to remain vigilant and in the highest degree of preparedness till the next morning in order to bring incidents of fire under control.

These officials will remain stationed at their respective fire stations on Diwali night.

But the fire brigade officials always put up a brave face and say that remaining on duty, especially on Diwali night, is a part of their job.

“Every Diwali, I remain on duty and my family supports me for that. They also know that my job requires me to remain toes the most during the festival because several fire incidents take place in the city due to fire crackers,” said a fireman.

Another fireman said the residents should celebrate Diwali responsibly. “Sometimes, people burst crackers in such a manner which leads to fire incidents. They should understand that when they would be enjoying with their families, we would be on duty,” he said.

A driver said when he joined the department, he knew that his job required utmost devotion towards city residents. “For the residents, Diwali means joy and festivities, but for us, it’s just like another day on duty. But Diwali also means that we have to perform our duty really well so that people can remain safe," he said.

Mandi Ahmedgarh/ Payal, November 2
Residents of the region are prone to any fire mishap during Diwali, as the successive governments have failed to establish a fire brigade at any of the localities.

Although, the civil administration has earmarked special areas for the sale of crackers, none of the shopkeepers has come forward to organise vends at designated places.

As majority of the shopkeepers have set up godowns outside the limits of civic bodies, the authorities have failed to take action against them. Some of the godowns are situated at discrete places which will be almost inaccessible in case of rescue operations if required.

Regrettably none of the shopkeepers or have bothered to make any required preventive and remedial arrangements to douse accidental fire.

But the administration is claiming to have made ‘sufficient’ arrangements to meet any exigency.

Officials at civic body offices claimed that the meagre paraphernalia available with the organisations were updated for emergency use. Attempts made by the civic bodies to set up a fire brigade at Ahmedgarh had proved futile.

“Though we had initiated the process of having a fire brigade yet it did not bear any fruit due to technical reasons," said former president of the Municipal Council, Ravinder Puri, maintaining that management of Shryans Industries Limited had been lending their fire brigade in case of need during past years.

Indu Puri, president of the Nagar Panchayat, Malaudh, said staff of the civic body had been directed to get water tanks ready to meet any emergency.

Dr Rajesh Garg, an ophthalmologist at the Ahmedgarh Civil Hospital, said sufficient arrangements had been made to handle cases of eye injuries, caused due to bursting of crackers.

Jagraon, November 2
With low turnout of people in the local markets on the occasion of Diwali, the shopkeepers of Jagraon area fear financial loses. The shopkeepers claim that they have done little business this year during this festival season compared to that of the previous years.

"I had invested 1.50 lakh rupees in crackers. But the their sale has not picked up yet. I may suffer heavy financial losses if the sale does not pick up," said Kapil Kumar, a vendor who has put on stall of crackers at local Grain Market. The delay in paddy procurement and release of the payment to the farmers as well as the labourers are considered the main reason behind the slump in sales.

Doraha, November 2
Paddy with more discoloured content is still heaped up at the grain markets. As a result, the already persisting problem of accumulation has aggravated all the more.

“Discoloured paddy up to 3 per cent is acceptable. But the one freshly gutting the mandis is discoloured to a greater extent. The one that arrived initially had fortunately escaped the fury of nature but the present one is badly discoloured and may be unfit for human consumption as well,” said president of the Artiya Association SP Verma.

“The team from the centre visited the mandi last week and took the samples to report back till Monday,” said a former chairman of the Market Committee, Doraha, Sarabjit Singh. “But whatever is the situation, the farmers have no other option but to bring it to the market. The centre has to pay adequate compensation or relax the condition of 3 per cent discolouration. No other solution to the present crisis can be sought. But if nature has refused to stand with the farmers, at least the government should support them in the hour of need. If maximum grain, arriving in the mandis, is of a similar category, then what is the government waiting for?” he asked. Chairman Mandi Board, Ajmer Lakhowal, said: “Procurement is in no way less as compared to the past years. I have myself visited a number of mandis also and found that if the centre relaxes the conditions for the discoloured paddy the procurement can be more than normal. 

Ludhiana, November 2
Cute and carefree, as the character 'Pihu' she played in 'Bade Acche Lagte Hain', little Amrita Mukherji is the same bubbly girl in real life. Candid and childlike, she said she doesn't want to become an actor when she grows up. She was here as a brand ambassador for Tru Milk for an exhibition organised at a city hotel.

Her mother, Mrinmoyee Mukherji, said she is very candid and childlike in everyday life. She said she bagged the role of 'Pihu' because of her natural spontaneity.

"We were at a mall when the auditions were Balaji Telefilms were going on. She just auditioned there and she was selected as she fitted very well with the role for the way she naturally is,” said her mother. She added that earlier, Amrita was shooting for three days a week. But now, she is shooting only for four days in a month. “We don't want Amrita to feel stressed, lose her natural bubbliness and her health should not suffer. In this way, her studies also don't get affected,” she said. “It is just that she naturally enjoys the acting so it is natural,” she said.

Ludhiana, November 2
The Ludhiana Municipal Corporation’s health and sanitation branch has asked its staff to pull up its socks for November 4, the day after Diwali as there would be litter all around.

Over the years, it has been observed that the morning next to Diwali, almost all city roads are full of litter from bursting of crackers. Piles of waste from crackers is a common sight which leave several city residents fuming.

So to make sure that the streets are swept properly the next morning, the MC officials have asked the staff to make sure all streets are litter free.

Dr Rajwinder Kaur, a research fellow in Punjab Agricultural University, suggested that the residents should celebrate Diwali responsibly.

“It has been observed that whenever people burst crackers, they simply throw away waste on the streets, which presents a very unpleasant picture of the entire area. Residents can simply throw away the waste in dustbins or collect it in polythene bags and later hand it over to the sweepers,” she said.

Another resident rued that people burst crackers on Diwali night but don’t bother to get the area cleaned the next morning.

“Ironically, in most of the cases, the litter is strewn in front of their own houses,” said the resident.

AS Sekhon, MC Joint Commissioner, and head of health and sanitation branch, stated that he has asked all his staff to sweep all the streets on November 4. “All we want is that the city should present a clean picture,” he said. 

Ludhiana, November 2
Markets are crowded and abuzz with activity. Commotion and cacophony reigns supreme amid the traffic snarl-ups. But in the middle of the chaos, is the sweet celebration, as the joy, smiles and elation precede the festival of lights. Everyone seems to be busy and smiling for making the best of tomorrow-Diwali-they wait for throughout the year.

The festival that brings joy of meeting loved ones, exchanging sweet greetings during the day and lighting up the night with lights, candles and diyas is finally here, said Sunil, a resident as he smiles.

Traditional things reign the markets. "No matter how many things one may buy, without the traditional things and rituals, you don't truly feel you are celebrating the festival," said Neeraj Diwan, a resident.

Candles, including floating candles, of various colours, shapes and varieties are all being bought by people in the markets.

The lanterns, symbolic of light along the newer shapes, sizes and designers adorned the markets. The traditional red 'gadvadas' were selling alongside the newer types of lanterns. Many new types of hanging lamps, including Thai and other types were lamps now adorn the lamps.

Different rangoli colours were also adorned the markets. “Thanks to rangoli competitions in schools and colleges, this beautiful tradition of rangoli colours has been flourishing. I learnt rangoli for competing in youth festival, and it stands me in good stead every year during this time of the year," says Ipshita, another resident.

The traditional sugar toys are sacred for their use in Diwali prayers, these are as much a delicacy for their sugary sweet taste. "These are very interesting. We used to have these in childhood. But we have started buying these again to make our children taste and enjoy the tradition," said Kiran, a resident.

Ludhiana, November 2
While the chocolates and pastries seemed to have temporarily overtaken traditional sweets on many occasions but Diwali has still managed to retain its traditional flavour with "mithai". Diwali and mithai are inseparable and one cannot detach sweets completely from the Diwali platter.

Markets are flooded with rich, nutty sweets made with contemporary flavours like orange, kiwi and more. With only one day left, people are making a beeline for sweets packaged in attractive boxes.

Gopal Sharma, owner of a sweetmeat shop at Brindaban Road, said with the passage of time, chocolates and dry fruit may have taken over the traditional sweets. But you cannot ignore sweets (mithai) on Diwali. "Sweets are like a tradition on Diwali," he added.

Fusion sweets is the flavour this season, which includes exotic fruits, chocolates and coffee flavours. With people going health conscious, sweetmeat owners are also cashing in the idea by preparing mithai with kiwi, orange, rose and mango flavour.

“You eat chocolates all year round, but during Diwali, traditional sweets bring in an additional festive mood.” With sweets getting funkier each year, it's no surprise that the first choice for gifting also happens to be sweets boxes instead of chocolate/cookie boxes,” said Nisha Rana, a city resident.

Sweets also top the list when it comes to corporate gifting. An entrepreneur, Akahay Shah said, “No matter how modern you are, gifting sweets to clients during Diwali is a tradition you can't change.”

Ludhiana November 2
Lotus flowers are selling in large numbers on the eve of Diwali across the city. National flower hardly sells throughout the year, but this time of the season, the demand for the Lotus rises as it is considered auspicious on Diwali.

Residents were seen purchasing the flowers in the morning. "It is said that Lakshmi, the goddess of money, rides on Lotus. So during the worship of the goddess, Lotus is offered for prayers and is especially used as a ritual and the worshipping,” said Kundan Bansal, a resident Civil Lines.

The sale was available at various places in the city, including near Durga Mata Mandir, Civil Lines and various florists said that all their stock of flowers was sold before noon.

The flowers that are generally available between Rs 2 to Rs 5 during the rest of the year, were selling for Rs 30 and above due to the festival season.

Imported Lotus flowers from Thailand were also available in the city. These were available for Rs 80 and above. The lotus flowers in the market have also been brought from Kolkata.

Some residents buy the flowers not only for worship, but also for decorative purposes on the festive occasion. "After offering prayers, I keep more lotus flowers in the water bowl and along side I keep floating candles. The flower looks fascinating," says Sakshi, a resident. "Without the lotus flowers, Diwali is incomplete," she added. 

Ludhiana, November 2
Though the ‘cash-rich’ residents in Ludhiana are giving a reason that because of overall recession in the market, Diwali has been a very low-key affair this season yet even during the "recession" phase, the sale of luxury cars in the city has witnessed about 25 per cent growth in just one day-Dhanteras, which was celebrated yesterday.

While for an average middle class man, the shops of utensils, remained the best option to buy something for their homes, the la' creme society preferred adding luxury cars to their fleet to celebrate the auspicious occasion.

Starting from simple small cars to expensive luxury brands, the residents brought the vehicles to their homes.

Commenting on good sales, Rishi Dada from Dada Motors said Dhanteras witnessed 25 per cent growth this time, while last year, it was 20 per cent.

“Residents purchased good number of cars ranging from Jaguar to Tata, Nissan, Mahindra etc. Yesterday, we were able to sell five Jaguars and each car costs about Rs 50 lakh on an average,” said Rishi Dada.

Another car dealer, Ajay Sandhu, from Sandhu Automobiles said this year, the sales were amazing. “We are up by about 10 per cent as compared to that of the last year. On the day of Dhanteras, we delivered 40 cars to residents and the popular cars included Swift, Swift Dezire and Alto. Being an auspicious day, buyers prefer to get vehicles on this particular day only," said Sandhu.

Similarly, Radiant Toyota dealers got good business here yesterday. The Group General Manager for Toyota, Dr Rajiv Aggarwal, told The Tribune that as compared to last year, the sales were up by 25 per cent this Dhanteras. "We delivered about 35 cars yesterday. Innova, Toyota Altis and Etios remained the favourites amongst the buyers, said Aggarwal.

Jasmit Singh (name changed), an industrialist said he wanted to purchase a luxury car for long. But he was not able to make up which car to choose. "Since it was Dhanteras, I bought a new Volvo, worth Rs 40 lakh," said Singh.

Ludhiana, November 2
The festival celebrations turned sour for a family after a 19-year- old girl, who was being stalked and teased by a youth of the locality, committed suicide by hanging herself from a ceiling fan at her house in Bank Colony, near Basti Jodhewal, here today.

The police has registered a case against the youth, identified as Bablu, under section 306 (abetment to suicide) of the IPC and launched a massive manhunt to nab him.

The victim's father said Bablu was harassing his daughter. He said he did not raise the issue due the fear of social embarrassment.

This emboldened the youth and he started stalking the girl to the school. The girl's parents were forced to pull her out of the school. She was in Class XI. The abandoning of studies drove the girl into depression.

Today, when her family had gone to market, she hanged herself from a ceiling fan. When the family returned home, they found her hanging. Soon, neighbours gathered at their house and someone informed the police.

Later, the family told the police how the girl was being teased by the youth.

Meanwhile, the boy's family claimed that the girl and the boy were in love and the girl committed suicide as her family was opposed to their relationship. 

Ludhiana, November 2
With the arrest of three persons in a fake registry gang has alarmed a section of industrialists, who have made money by taking multiple loans against properties.

The police sources said some of the leading business houses of the city are thriving on the tactic.

A man’s name, who owns a prime shopping centre, located at Ghumar Mandi has also figured among persons who had benefitted by taking multiple loans. The officials are conducting raids to arrest the property owner.

“Detecting such frauds is difficult. These incidents come to light only when the land owners fail to pay the loan installments," said Sumit Sood SHO Division No 7.

In the meantime, more such cases have been reported from other parts of the city.

Today, the Haibowal police has registered a case of fraud against seven persons, including a woman, for formulating a fake registry of land and selling it further.

The accused have been identified as Jaspinder Kaur, Harpreet Singh, Hardeep Singh, Sunny, Kawaljit Singh, Amandeep Singh and Balwinder Singh.

A case has been registered on the complaint of Kuldeep Singh, a resident of Karnail Singh Nagar near Pakhowal Road.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP-IV), Swapan Sharma, said efforts were on to nab Balbir Singh, a clerk at the office of Sub-Registrar (East). He has not ruled out the involvement of other employees of revenue department in the gang.

The police had yesterday arrested Rajiv Aggarwal, Kamal Krishan Jaiswal and Gurinder Singh, alias Gaggi, for running the fake registry racket along with revenue department employee Balbir Singh.aThe accused were booked under Sections 420, 465, 467,471, 406, 474, 475, 476, 166, 167, 120-B of the IPC.