Issewal, December 3
Three persons from Issewal village, including a son of the sarpanch Owing allegiance to the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), were booked for killing a 35-year-old ragpicker and assaulting his two friends.

The deceased was identified as Manoj Kumar, a resident Partap Singh Wala village. He succumbed to injuries on Monday night. His brother-in-law Pankaj Sahni and Manjit Singh suffered injuries in the attack.

Station house officer of the Mullapur police station Dilbagh Singh said the incident took place on November 27 when Gurinder Singh, son of Surjit Kaur, sarpanch of Issewal village, along with his accomplices Jatinder Singh and Kulwant Singh, caught Manoj Kumar suspecting him to be a thief.

Gurinder posed as a police official and called Pankaj and Manjit Singh at Issewal village. They were allegedly thrashed by Gurinder, Jatinder, Kulwant and other residents of the village, said the SHO.

The role of Mullapur police has also come under the scanner for allegedly hushing up the matter and not taking action against the accused after the victim died.

High drama was witnessed at Partap Singh Wala village today when the victim's wife, Sumitra Devi, along with her relatives demanded arrest of the accused.

She said the victim died in police custody. Instead of registering a murder case against the accused, the police imposed a minor section of the IPC against them.

"I have to look after four children. Instead of helping me, the police were shielding the accused," lamented Sumitra Devi.

On the other hand, DSP, Mullapur, Navreet Singh refuted the allegations and claimed that Manoj and his accomplices were not kept in illegal custody.

"Manoj Kumar was brought to the police station after villagers thrashed him. The villagers claimed that Manoj, Pankaj and Manjit were thieves and were caught red-handed. We had refused to register a case and told them to rush Manoj to a hospital. On Monday night, we came to know that Manoj succumbed to the injuries following which we registered a case under Section 304 of the IPC for culpable homicide not amounting to murder and started investigations," the DSP said.

Tension gripped Partap Singh Wala village and surrounding areas after the victim's relatives refused to cremate the body and threatened to block the road. The police, however, managed to pacify the crowd. The body was cremated after post-mortem.

"We came to the city to earn a livelihood. We were not treated as humans. My brother- in- law was thrashed to death, while I along with another ragpicker, Manjit Singh, suffered injuries. We are hardworking people not thieves," said Pankaj.

Ludhiana, December 3
The eight-laning of Ferozepur Road has failed to take off as the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation is yet to finalise the modalities of the contract with the bidders.

The reserve price of the project was Rs 209 crore, but two companies interested in the project quoted a much higher price of Rs 243 crore and Rs 256 crore, respectively.

As the quoted price was much higher than the reserve price, the MC authorities could not take a decision and have asked the Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES) to rework the project.

Tagged as the dream project of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, its foundation stone was laid on November 15 and Badal had claimed that the project would be ready within 18 months. The eight-laning will be done from the Sidhwan Canal bridge to the Jagraon nridge.

The tenders for the project were opened on November 11 and a Hyderabad-based company — Navyug Engineering Company Ltd — quoted Rs 243 crore. Another company — SP Singla Constructions — quoted Rs 256 crore. But the MC authorities failed to negotiate with the companies.

Ludhiana (West) MLA Bharat Bhushan Ashu said instead of negotiating with the companies, the MC should float new tenders.

“I suspect that the state government wants to favour a particular company and maybe that is why they are not cancelling the tenders. How can a company quote more than the reserve price? If the state government as well as the MC wants that they should get appropriate price, they should divide the work into four parts and float tenders accordingly. This way, the number of bidders would increase and the project would complete on time,” said Ashu.

MC Commissioner Rahul Tewari claimed that RITES has been asked to have to rework the project. “We want that RITES should prepare a new report so we are able to start negotiations with the companies. RITES is expected to submit the report in a few days,” he said. 

Mandi Ahmedgarh, December 3
With polls in Delhi round the corner, local leaders, with intent to appease their political masters, have left the region with bag and baggage.

Social functions, including weddings, inaugural functions, anniversaries and bhog ceremonies, which earlier used to be crowded with political leaders and their supporters, are now missing even local leaders.

Former councillors and aspirants for next civic body elections are prominent among those whose absence is being felt during these functions.

It was probably for the first time that sitting and former MLAs got their presence marked through proxy during social functions, including weddings and bhog ceremonies.

Office-bearers and activists of political parties were seen urging the organisers to announce that their leaders could not attend the functions due to preoccupied schedule as a part of the election campaign of candidates of their respective parties.

Paramdeep Singh Deepa and Jagrup Singh, SAD leaders of Dehlon, said they had to procure letters on official letterheads of their leaders for getting their presence felt during some bhog ceremonies held recently.

“As a majority of senior leaders of our party have already left for Delhi to join the election campaign of candidates launched by the SAD, we had to represent them during functions where they were invited as special guests. However, we have procured messages to be presented during these functions," said Deepa and Singh.

Acknowledging the tendency, former president of the municipal council Ravinder Puri admitted that he had to change his schedule for attending these functions.

Vikas Tandon and Ravinder Superfine, office-bearers of the block and local units of the Congress, said they had been asked by senior leaders of their party to represent them during functions which could not be attended by them due to Delhi elections.

Munish Singla, president of a wing of the BJP, said he along with members of his team attended functions on behalf of their senior leaders. 

Former councillors and aspirants for next civic body elections are prominent among those whose absence is being felt during these functions. The sitting and former MLAs got their presence marked through proxy during social functions, including weddings and bhog ceremonies. Office-bearers and activists of political parties are seen urging organisers to announce that their leaders could not attend the functions due to preoccupied schedule as a part of the election campaign of candidates 
of their respective parties in Delhi. 

Ludhiana, December 3
The 18-member contingent of the Pakistani women kabaddi team is feeling at home here as all of them are from the Punjab province of the neighbouring country.

Naaddia, captain of the team, said: "Only political boundaries divide both the Punjabs. Our culture and traditions are the same. I hope that kabaddi will bring the two nations closer."

However, the team is not upbeat after facing defeat at the hands of Denmark on Monday. The Pak team will now take on India in semifinals. Members of the team were interacting with The Tribune after their practice session at Guru Nanak Stadium today.

Affiz Bhatti, deputy director (sports), Punjab State, Pakistan, and in charge of the Pakistani team, said, "Our team is new and it will be difficult for us to beat India in the semis."

"We received an invitation from the Punjab Kabaddi Association for the world cup and the team was selected. Kabaddi is a male-dominated sport and not a single girl used to play kabaddi in Pakistan. All girls in the team play other sport," he said.

"Our girls play in tracksuits as they are not allowed to wear shorts in Pakistan," he added. Mohamand Ali, the coach of the Pakistan team, was also present during the practice session. 

Ludhiana, December 3
The crusaders of faith have taken up the responsibility to save environment. Gurdwaras and temples in the city are spreading the message of “Go Green”. Gurdwara Dukh Nivaran Sahib, Field Gunj, began the mission around three years ago and started distributing saplings among devotees. The gurdwara management is still continuing with the practise.

Flower shows are a regular feature at the gurdwara. Flowers are nurtured at Gurmat Missionary College, Jalandhar bypass.

Pritpal Singh, president of gurdwara management committee, said: “It is the little bit we can do to preserve and conserve nature. Preserving nature is like worshipping God. Flowers and plants are the creations of god and we need to conserve them,” he said.

The management of Gurdwara Shree Guru Singh Sabha has also launched "Balhari Kudrat Vasya". The gurdwara committee planted around 500 saplings in Sarabha Nagar and is also nurturing them. Tress around the gurudwara road have been adopted by the gurudwara.

A pink-coloured bicycle has been displayed in the lawn of the gurdwara to encourage cycling which in turn will keep a check on vehicular pollution.

Shree Geeta Mandir on Pakhowal Road has creations of Nek Chand, which are a part of the garden on the temple premises. About 20 statues, including ducks, gardener, watchman, women and Lord Shiva, catch everyone’s eye.

Most of the statues are placed in flowerbeds surrounding a well at the centre of the temple complex. 

Ludhiana, December 3
Since the final match of the fourth World Kabaddi Cup is being organised at Guru Nanak Stadium here on December 14, the Deputy Commissioner, Rajat Aggarwal, held a meeting with the higher officials here today to see that the grand event was held in a smooth manner.

Aggarwal said that the final match would be held between the two men teams at Guru Nanak Bhawan on December 14. Besides, many Punjabi comedians will entertain the huge gathering at the stadium during the closing ceremony. Bollywood Actor Ranbir Singh will be the star attraction of the event.

Instructing top officials, the Deputy Commissioner said that arrangements were to be made for safe drinking water, first-aid, panel of doctors, transport, parking, traffic plan and security during the mega event. He said that such games motivated the youth towards sports and would keep them away from deadly drugs.Amongst others present at the meeting were DCP Harsh Bansal, ADC G Neeru Katyal, ADC D Baldev Singh and Assistant Commissioner (G) Shena Aggarwal.

Ludhiana, December 3
The Ludhiana Municipal Corporation's third General House meeting will be held on December 6. The last meeting was held over four months ago.

The meeting may witness fireworks as councillors have not been able to carry out development works in their respective wards for want of funds.

Reeling under fund shortage, Congress councillors as well as Independents have been holding protests against the MC.

"Ever since the formation of the house, the MC has been making efforts to carry out development work in the city. All of us are elected representatives and when we fail to develop our wards, residents complain. It is due to the bad policies of the state government that the state's richest body is now mortgaging its properties for meeting its expenses," lamented Sanjay Talwar, a Congress councillor.

Even contractors are shying away from participating in some of the projects as their payments were delayed in the past.

Jagraon, December 3
Recession-proof business of tantriks is proving highly lucrative, with more and more residents of the town approaching them to get rid of their problems.

One can see their shops or offices in every nook and cranny. Most of the shops are located near the railway station, alongside the railway line, Tehsil Road, near the bus stand and residential areas.

A large number of tantriks are running business in Sidhwan Bet, Mullanpur Dakha, Hathur, Gurusar Sudhar and Raikot areas.

Advertisements of such tantriks continue to appear in various newspapers on a regular basis.

They make tall claims of tiding over health-related problems, family disputes and martial disputes.

Not only poor and illiterate people fall a prey to these tantriks, but also the ones who are highly educated fall in their trap.

A number of cheating cases have been reported in the town in the past.

A tantrik was arrested with 250 gm of opium a few months ago. Out on bail, he is doing a brisk business.

"Some of them earn thousands per month," said sources.

"It is a strange paradox that as people are becoming more educated and aware, the number of people becoming a victim to the tantriks is also increasing," said Balwinder Singh Gholia, vice-chairman, Ekta Human Rights Bureau.

"The false claims made by the tantriks in their advertisements violate the Prevention of Treatment Through Religious and Magical Remedies Act, but the administration has failed to act against them," said Gholia, demanding action against them.

Jagraon SSP Ashish Chaudhry said, "I have already issued instructions to all police officers asking them to act against the tantriks." 

Ludhiana, December 3
Teachers of primary aided schools have not received salaries for the past eight months. Savinderjit Kaur, district president and Davinder Rehan, press secretary of the Aided School Teachers and Other Employees Union, Ludhiana district, said only 28 employees were working in seven primary schools in the district. In September 2013, teachers of high and secondary schools got their salary with effect from April 2013.

Members of the union said the High Court had issued directions to the Punjab Government to release the salary.

They said the state should be held responsible, if a teacher was forced to move the court.

Paying no heed to the High Court directions and a notification issued by the Governor of Punjab, the government has failed to release the salary of the teachers. The teachers said the state government should merge government schools with aided schools on the lines of the Haryana Government. 

Ludhiana, December 3
Ludhiana Mediways Hospital organised a free multi-specialty medical camp at Pamal village, wherein a team of senior doctors comprising Dr Pawan Katyal (cardiologist), Dr Devjeet Dhillon (ophthalmologist), Dr Manish Garg (MS orthopaedics), Dr Manisha Mittal (gynaecologist), Dr. Bharati (dental) and Dr. Lalit (general medicine) provided consultation and complete health screening to about 170 patients.

ECG, blood sugar, BP and other routine investigations were also carried out at the camp. Free medicines were distributed during the camp and patients were offered considerable concession on follow up treatment and investigations at Ludhiana Mediways Hospital.

The camp was organised with cooperation of village ex-sarpanch Amarjeet Singh, members of Kalgidhar Sports Academy and all the village residents.Meanwhile, a medical check-up camp was held by Pancham Hospital at Gurdwara Guru Gian Jawaddi Taksal under the leadership of Dr RP SIngh. The camp was inaugurated by Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee president Avtar Singh Makkar. As many as 300 patients suffering from different health problems came for free checkup and were distributed free medicines. 

Ludhiana, December 3
Come winter and bright colours soothe the eyes. Bright shades of blue, magenta, yellow, orange and green are ruling the roost, with velvet and khadi silk being the fabrics of the season.

People prefer different colours, now. Unmellow yellow, electric blue, fig, wine, tea rose, tangerine, fern green, mulberry are some of the colours that are the flavour of the season.“It is mix and match of unusual colours, which is in fashion these days. Different hues of yellow colour are riding high, followed by green,” said Shristi Acharya, a student of fashion designing.Kittu Sidhu from Designer Threads Lounge, spoke about the colours in vogue. She said, “During summer neon shades catch the fancy of the youth, while in winter, edgings of bright shades like royal blue, orange and green will be in. Khadi silk, velvet, caudrai and tweed are the materials that will make waves this season,” she said.

“In winter, I will be adorning mix and match of bright colours. Firozi will gel with steel grey or magenta will go with faun. This winter, my wardrobe is full of bright and vivid colours,” said Saakshi, a college student.

Ludhiana, December 3
World Disability Day was observed by the Education Department here at Braille Bhawan, Jamalpur, today.

As many as 125 differently abled students enthusiastically participated in various cultural items and their efforts were appreciated by all present at the event. The programme was organised under the Sarv Siksha Abhiyan. The students presented dance numbers, sang songs and conveyed the message that with the will in mind, anything was possible. Disabilities must not stop onefrom achieving goals in life. 

Ludhiana, December 3
More than half a dozen non-government organisations working for people with disabilities celebrated "Badhte Kadam", a programme based on the international day for persons with disabilities at Dugri Phase I market.

Based on the UN Theme "Breaking barriers, opening doors- for an inclusive society and development for all" the NGOs, including Muskan, Darpan, Nirdosh, VRC(ATI), Ek Prayas, Bharat Vikas Parishad, Balaji Pram Ashrma, Ek Jot Special School, Ashirwad and VRTC for the Blind participated in it.

A rally was held with the help of students of MGM Public School who made people aware about the rights of disabled persons by raising slogans. It was observed that people passing along side the road not only stopped, but also listened to the whole programme including a skit, songs and lecture related to the differently abled and also interacted with the members of these NGOs."

Dr Neelam Sodhi, founder of the NGO Ashirwad, said, "The smiles on these faces were enough to encouarge us. Chief Judicial Magistrate KK Singla also was present and participated in the event with enthusiasm. He also spoke about legal aspects of the disabled."She further said that every child should be given right to admission under the RTE and none should be denied of it. She appealed to the public in general that people having children with "down syndrome" should apply for admission in schools and the schools should admit such children.

Ludhiana, December 3
It may sound strange, but a number of players from other countries have no sports background and they were selected just for the sake of participating in the World Cup Kabaddi. Some of the players in the women kabaddi team work as laundry worker, nanny, domestic help, trainer at kindergarten and helper at shops in their native countries.

Many students who never play any professional sports at their native place have been playing in international teams for the kabaddi cup. The Punjabi coaches or mangers “arrange” 12 to 15 youths and teach them some basics of kabaddi to constitute the teams in foreigner countries. A number of players of different sports are also playing in the international women kabaddi teams of Kenya, Denmark, and Mexico.

These arrangements can be seen almost in all the women teams.

The Denmark team was the first runners up in the third Edition of the World Cup last year. Surprisingly, only two girls from the last team came to participate this year.

Jasmine, player from Denmark, said, “All those who visited last year were busy in school or some other work, so they did not come this time.”

Bikramjit Singh, the coach of Denmark team, said “We constituted our team three months ago and they have been practicing for the last two months. Only five players from our team have sports background. Others have been selected, as
they were interested in participating.”

Reacting on these “arrangements” the sports lovers and players have condemned the practice.

“The government is organising a show for entertainment and not sports. The players in the state are being deprived of basic facilities and our government is entertaining foreign players, who don’t even have any sports background”, said Niku Grewal a sports organiser.

“Why is our government spending crores on the kabaddi cup. The government will give away prizes in lakhs to the participating teams, who have never ever entered a kabaddi ground before” said a coach requesting anonymity.

Ludhiana, December 3
Women players from Mexico, who are here to take part in the World Cup Kabaddi, are impressed by the Indian culture and they want to go deep into its roots.

Two cousins representing Mexico- Triana and Maria, of 24 and 26 years respectively, not just love Indian culture and values, but have been trying hard to adopt these in their lives.

Triana, born to a Roman catholic couple, has started practicing Sikhism. A dietician by profession, Triana studied at Miri Piri, Amritsar, for four years, starting from 2004. Wearing karas in both her arms, Triana said that the teachings of all the Gurus had great impact on her mind and she recited Gurbani in routine.

"The family is non-vegetarian, but I am vegetarian due to Sikhism. I like doing kar-sewa and love to eat langar in gurdwaras. I am trying hard to take my team to Amritsar to visit the Golden Temple, but if for any security reason, we are not allowed to go then we will go once the matches are over. I have told them so much about the Golden Temple that they are eager to visit the temple at the earliest", said Triana adding that India was like a second home to her.

Besides, cousin Maria is simply bowled over by yoga and meditation. She has got “om” tattooed on her left arm. Maria said, “Önce the tournament is over, I will go to Rishikesh to attend one-month yoga and meditation camp. The Indian culture is so rich that it motivates you to lead a stress-free life".

Maria has been practicing yoga for the past many months and she feels that it gives her relaxation. “Once you are into meditation and yoga, you are free from stress and worries. It is the best way to keep the diseases away", stressed Maria.The members of the Mexican team had great fun while practicing with the New Zealand team. The foreign players are fond of Indian food and thay are waiting for the tournament to be over so that they can visit other Indian cities.

Ludhiana, December 3
Spring Dale Senior Secondary School, Sherpur Chowk, warded off a stiff challenge from hosts Shifali International School, Rahon road, before coming out triumphant 2-1 to lift the winners trophy in the Swami Vivekanand and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Volleyball Tournament (boys U-19) that concluded here today.

Teams from 22 schools from all over the district competed in the two-day tournament. Jagroop Singh, Sports Department, PAU, and Akali Dal leader, Surinder Pal Singh Grewal inaugurated the tournament.

Earlier, in the semifinals, Shifaly International School and Spring Dale Senior Secondary School wrapped up their respective matches to assure themselves berths in the final.

Shifali International School got the better of Green Land Senior Secondary School 2-1 and Spring Dale Senior Secondary School overpowered DCM Presidency School in an identical fashion (2-1).

In the match for hardline cup, Green Land School pipped DCM Presidency School to secure third place. Usha Jain and Parmod Jain gave away prizes to the winners. Rosy Jain, principal of the school, congratulated the winners.