Ludhiana, December 24
With December 30, the last date for submitting survey forms of beneficiaries of the Atta-Dal scheme fast approaching, the district administration has asked the authorities of five departments, including the DEO (Primary), the DEO (Secondary), the Chief Agriculture Officer, the District Food and Supplies Controller and the District Welfare Officer, to provide staff to conduct the survey. However, the move has been condemned by teachers, who feel that their winter vacations will be spoilt. Moreover, they say, conducting the survey is not the work of the teachers.

The general secretary of the Government Schoolteachers Association here, Parveen Kumar, said letters had been issued to schools by the DEOs. "This is not justified. Why should the teachers be asked to perform a duty which is not even part of the education system, that too during the vacation. There are thousands of other government employees, who can be asked to do this duty; why only teachers every time?" said Parveen Kumar.

For the survey, the teachers are required to go to areas (falling under the municipal corporation) to identify beneficiaries of the Atta-Dal scheme. The list has to be sent to the authorities concerned in Chandigarh. In rural areas, patwaris have been asked to do the job by the SDMs concerned, while in the city, employees from the five departments have been assigned the task.

Additional Deputy Commissioner (General) Neeru Katyal said the administration had conducted a meeting in this regard. "Though the responsibility of such jobs lies with the MC also, since it is busy with the collection of property tax and work relating to legalising unauthorised colonies, we have decided to involve other departments as in Ludhiana city alone, there are about one lakh verification forms. Since this is a task of the state government and we all are its employees, we should perform such duties diligently," said Katyal. 

Ludhiana, December 24
Homoeopathy and ayurveda doctors appointed under the NRHM are up in arms against the state government as they have been asked to shut the OPDs for the time being and work for the Rashtriya Bal Swasthaya Karyakram (RBSK). The NRHM Homoeopaths Association has demanded that AYUSH doctors should be recruited for this scheme on the lines of states like Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa.

At a state-level meeting of homoeopathic and ayurvedic medical officers, homoeopathic dispensaries and "upvaids" posted under the NRHM at Chhattar Singh Park, Dr Balwinder Kumar, president of the NRHM Homoeopaths Association, said, "This year, the Centre had introduced the RBSK under the NRHM for which it had directed the states to recruit mobile health teams comprising two AYUSH medical officers (one male and one female), one ANM/staff nurse and one pharmacist to assist them and to give first aid or emergency treatment on the spot. These teams were required to screen children up to the age of 18 years in anganwadi centers and government schools for 30 diseases and refer them to hospitals for free treatment."

He said several states, including Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Bihar, had recruited new AYUSH doctors, ANMs and pharmacists to implement the scheme, but the Punjab Government had failed to do so. The state government had now decided to shut all AYUSH OPDs in rural hospitals and shift AYUSH doctors to the RBSK. This will deprive people of these health facilities.

Dr Anil Vashisht, president of the NRHM Ayurvedic Medical Officers Association, Punjab, has condemned the move of the Punjab Government. He has urged state Health Minister Surjit Kumar Jiyani to let the OPDs function as usual as daily at least 40 to 60 patients come for consultation and free medication from AYUSH doctors. He has asked the government to recruit new AYUSH doctors for the RBSK.

Ludhiana, December 24
Judicial Magistrate Amrinderpal Singh has convicted Bhupinderpal Singh (husband), Gurbax Singh (father-in-law), Surjit Kaur (mother-in-law) and Gurpreet Kaur (sister-in-law), all residents of Jujhar Singh Nagar, Gumtala, Amritsar, in a dowry harassment case.

They have been ordered to undergo rigorous imprisonment for three years each.

They were booked under Sections 406, 498-A, 307, 324, 323, 506 and 34 of the IPC in Feburary 2002 at the Haibowal police station following a complaint lodged by Sukhwinder Kaur, who got married to Bhupinderpal Singh in 2000.

Delivering the verdict, the court held that it had been proved beyond doubt that all accused were treating complainant Sukhwinder Kaur with physical and mental cruelty. Moreover, on February 14, 2002, they inflicted injuries on the victim and his brother Jaspreet Singh with sharp weapons, observed the court. The allegation of a demand for Rs 5 lakh was also levelled against the husband and the in-laws. 

Sahnewal, December 24
An 11-year-old boy was electrocuted when he came in contact with high-tension wires at Lakhowal village here this afternoon.

Village sarpanch Tarsem Singh said, “Amandeep Singh, son of Moti Ram, a resident of Lakhowal village, came home as the school closed early today. He went to the Community Centre and climbed on to the rooftop of the anganwadi centre and started flying a kite. He came in contact with high-tension wires and died on the spot”. The police has registered a case and sent the boy's body for a postmortem examination.

Ludhiana, December 24
Thieves struck at a computer showroom in Kitchlu Nagar opposite the Lions Bhawan and decamped with laptops, mobiles phones and computer accessories worth Rs 15 lakh.

The incident came to light when Naveen Verma, owner of Bama Info, opened the store and was shocked to find it ransacked.

He raised the alarm and informed the police about the theft. He said thieves entered the premises by breaking the grills on the rooftop.

The thieves, believed to be three, were caught in the CCTV camera installed in the computer store.

Naveen said the thieves stole 20 laptops, 14 mobile phones and computer accessories.

The police is scanning the CCTV footage to identify the thieves. 

Ludhiana, December 24
Armed assailants entered the house of a scarp trader at Radha Swami Satsang Road in Shimlapuri and decamped with Rs 1.5 lakh and gold ornaments worth over Rs 3 lakh by taking the family members "hostage".

The incident took place last night when eight armed assailants entered the house and overpowered Sita Devi and her two children. Shankar, Sita's husband, was not present in the house when the incident took place.

The assailants threatened to kill Sita and her children. They asked for valuables. To save herself and her children, Sita handed over the entire cash and gold ornaments lying in the house to the miscreants, who then fled from the house.

When Shankar returned home, he was shocked to find his family members handcuffed and the house ransacked.

He raised the alarm and informed the police about the incident. After recording Sita's statement, the police registered a case of dacoity against the eight unidentified persons.

Ludhiana, December 24
City residents have alleged that the private company, A2Z Waste Management Ludhiana Ltd, which has the contract of solid waste management in the city, has failed to perform well. They say the company has not able to operate properly in some areas where the facility of door-to-door garbage collection was started.

Company officials admit that there was some problem in lifting of solid waste in some areas and claimed that the problem had been sorted out now.

Ever since the contract was allotted to A2Z, it has remained in controversy. MC officers have several times warned A2Z to either "perform or perish".

Manjit Singh, a resident of Guru Nanak Colony, which falls in Ward No. 61, said though door-to-door collection of solid waste was started in their area a few months ago, it had failed to click.

“Earlier, it was operating fine, but over the months, A2Z is performing poorly. So far this month, employees of A2Z have come only thrice to collect waste. We have been repeatedly calling company officials, but to no avail. Fed up with the company, we made our own arrangements to get the garbage cleared,” said Manjit Singh.

AS Sekhon, Joint Commissioner and head of the health wing of the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation, said the matter had come to his notice and he had asked the company to resolve the problem. “If the problem still exists, I will look into it,” he said.

BPS Chauhan, vice-president, A2Z, said there was a delay in lifting waste from some areas. “The problem has been resolved and I assure the residents that they will get proper service now,” he said. 

Ludhiana, December 24
The branch manager of a nationalised bank and a loan officer were caught red-handed while taking graft by a team of the Central Bureau of Investigation at Jamalpur here today.

Neeraj Chawla, president of the Anti-Corruption Federation of India, said a raid was conducted following a complaint received from Sanjay Kumar, who runs his business from Bhadaur House.

Sanjay Kumar had contacted the bank authorities, requesting them to increase his loan limit from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 24 lakh.

The bank manager and the loan officer demanded a bribe of Rs 20,000 for the purpose.

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Ludhiana, December 24
Lectures on cooperative extension in California, role of Prasar Bharati in agriculture sector and achievements in research at Punjab Agricultural University were delivered on the concluding day of the second alumni meet of the farm varsity and 51st meet of the alumni association of the College of Agriculture.

Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan, Vice-Chancellor, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad (UAF), chaired the concluding technical session.

Dr Khan said, “In Pakistan Punjab, around 84 per cent of farm households survive on less than 10 acres, whereas 60 per cent hold less than five acres.”

There has been a jump in the production of potato and corn in Pakistan, while the production of other crops remains stagnant, he added.

Stressing on bridging the gap between the two nations, Dr Khan urged the gathering to learn from each other.

Dr GS Kalkat, chairman, Punjab State Farmers’ Commission and former PAU Vice-Chancellor, was the chief guest.

Dr MS Gill, member, Rajya Sabha, and former Union Minister and Chief Election Commissioner, was also present on the occasion.

Dr Gill said as Punjab is an agricultural state, everything depends on Punjab Agricultural University.

“PAU has done a great service to the state as well as country and we are proud of it,” he said.

Ludhiana, December 24
Christmas no longer remains a festival which only Christians celebrate. Not at least in the city where people from all walks of life come together to be part of the celebrations. Though, according to rough estimates, 20,000 Christians live in the city and there are more than 200 big and small churches here, a good number of residents from other communities, including Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims, take part in the Christmas celebrations, spreading a message of love and brotherhood.

A resident who lives near the Christian Medical College and Hospital, Brown Road, John Samuel said Christmas was the biggest festival of Christians but in the last few years, people from all walks of life joined the community in celebrations. "In fact, we invite our Hindu and Sikh friends to come for a feast at our places during the celebrations. We make different kinds of cakes, puddings and share it with the friends and their families and they have become an integral part of the celebrations," said Samuel.

Father Koshy of IPC Church, Kidwai Nagar, said the Christmas celebrations start from December 1 and continue till the end of year. "And welcoming New Year is a part of the celebrations. I have been living here for the past several decades and have observed that residents from various religions join us in the Christmas celebrations and we appreciate this. The festival spreads the message of love and brotherhood too. Not that just prayers are held in Churches, we go to our neighbours, shopkeepers and offer them sweets and cakes. We do a lot of carol singing which the residents like very much. There has never been a feeling that we are a minority community here because several hundred others join us in the celebrations," said Father Koshy.

Not only the schools run by Christians celebrate the festival but other schools also celebrate Christmas as children like Santa Claus, X-mas trees, buntings, bells, snowballs, etc, very much. 

Ludhiana, December 24
The bright sunny morning began with carols echoing through the whole premises of Tagore Public School on the Christmas eve today. The kindergarten section was decorated with colourful buntings, balloons and stars. Tity tots came dressed as little Santas and fairies.

At SDP Senior Secondary School Santa Claus distributed candies among students. A tree was decorated with bells, lights and buntings.

Christmas was celebrated with zeal at St GDS Convent School. During a special morning assembly, students praised the Almighty. Speeches were delivered to make the students aware about the festival.

To mark the festivities, students of GNPS, Model Town Extension, made greeting cards. Students of Classes I and II used stickers, ribbons and glitters to prepare cards.

Green Land Convent School, Civil City, too, feted the birth of Jesus Christ. Tiny tots presented dance items. The entire campus was festooned with colourful balloons.

At Atam Devki Niketan, the function began with the singing of “Jingle Bell”. All the students were given gifts and sweets by Santa Claus.

Fun games were organised for both children and parents at Babies Paradise Playway School.

Indus World School wore a festive look as students prepared decorative items. Children presented a dance drama to depict the birth of Christ. The assembly ended with a peppy dance number.

There was festivity in the air at Green Land Convent School, Sector 32. The principal advised the children to follow the righteous path of non-violence and serve humanity.

Childhood Kindergarten Playway School, Punjab Mata Nagar, celebrated Christmas with enthusiasm. Teachers told students about Jesus Christ and Mother Mary. All the children had a feast after cutting a cake.

Ludhiana, December 24
The Punjab Fish Farmers’ Association is organising a training programme on fish culture at the fish market in Chawani Mohalla. The 10-day programme is being organised in association with the National Federation Fisherman Cooperation, a body of the Indian Agricultural Ministry.

Over 75 per cent of participants are women. Kawaljeet Singh Sidhu, president, Punjab Fish Farmers’ Association, said these women could start farming of ornamental fish as it did not require much space and investment. He said the government provided subsidies to initiate fish farming.

“They can develop small tanks even in their backyards. We will try to make self-help groups,” said the official.

He called it a step towards women empowerment.

“Punjab has only 12,000 hectare under fishery. Around 1.72 lakh hectare is water-logged in southern Punjab which can be used for fish farming,” he said. 

Mandi Ahmedgarh, December 24
The Dehlon police have solved the case of murder of a woman of Lohara village. Her body was found dumped under a heap of chaff at her niece's house, where she way staying, at Bhutta around two months ago.

A migrant juvenile from Jharkhand, who worked as a domestic help at the house, confessed of having killed the woman, Jasvir Kaur, after she reprimanded him for sitting idle. He has been sent to a juvenile jail at Ludhiana.

After the murder on October 29, the accused continue to stay at the house, posing to be innocent.

Investigations revealed that he used a spade to hit the victim's head from the rear, when others were not home. He allegedly continued hitting till she died. Then, he dragged the body to another room, said the police. Having buried the body under wheat chaff, the accused dumped the blood-stained duppatta and footwear of the deceased in a gutter and cleaned the floor. He then left the house and returned only after other members of the family came home, said the police.

The Assistant Commissioner of Police, Gill, Gurpreet Singh Sikand, cautioned residents against employing strangers without getting their antecedents verified.

Ludhiana, December 24
The moderate rain during the night of Saturday provided respite to residents from dense fog. Though the residents have been enjoying the sunny days after the rain, the nights remain very cold in the city.

The Agro-meteorology Department at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) recorded the minimum temperature at 7.0 degrees Celsius and maximum at 17.6 degrees Celsius on Tuesday.

A weather expert said the clear weather will not continue for long as there is a possibility of isolated fog within the next two days. The sunny days will revive the dense fog.

Dr Kulwinder Kaur Gill, Agro meteorologist at the PAU, said: “The city witnessed moderate rain (10.4 mm) two days ago. The rain washed the dust particles in the air. The increase in moisture resulted in clear weather”.

“The fog will make a comeback within a few days, but in isolated form. The increased moisture will lead to dense fog. There are no chances of rain the next week,” said Dr Gill.

Meanwhile, residents were seen basking in the warm sunshine in parks, grounds and roofs.

Amrit, a resident of the Pakhowal Road area, said: “The fog had made our lives tough as we can’t sit outside even in daytime. Sunny days are pleasant. I have spent the whole day on the roof. I expect that days should remain sunny like today”. 

Mandi Ahmedgarh, Dec 24
Charanjit Singh Channi, a youth from the local Jagera Road area, is an artist with a mission to convey diverse messages to humanity through the nests made by him.

Having installed a large number of nests at various localities of the area, Channi is all set to design special nests to be installed at Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal's residence. The Chief Minister had invited the artist to his place on the recommendation of legislator Manpreet Singh Ayali. Channi was felicitated by Badal during the Mela Chhapar.

Born in a poor family of daily wage earners, Channi had to drop out of school after clearing Class VII examination at MGMN Senior Secondary School. Later, his craze for studies saw him joining a degree course in civil engineering at a private college after completing schooling as a private candidate. He has already completed the ITI diploma in carpentry after doing graduation in arts.

Unlike traditional carpenters, Channi tries to convey diverse messages through the nests made by him. A multistorey nest made by him, when inhabited by a large number of birds, is symbolic of a joint family system which is almost on the verge of collapse in urban areas. His nests with deep cavities were inhabited by parrots while sparrows liked the traditional small nests with one chamber. Besides being a carpenter, Channi is also a writer and painter. Badal's sketches made by him were appreciated by one and all during the Mela Chhapar.

Channi has been imparting training to students in vocational courses at the local institutes. Though he wishes to provide nests to volunteers free of cost, people do not accept these for obvious reasons.

"Normally, people do not accept nests for free and give me money. I use the money to buy more material," said Chhani, adding that a philanthropists had also supported his mission.

"Though the Chief Minister wanted to give me a cash award when I presented him a sketch of him, I declined the offer and he assured me of a job in some government department," continued Channi, regretting that none of the government or non-government agency has ever bothered to encourage his mission.

Ludhiana, December 24
A wagon of an Army train was derailed at Damoria Bridge near railway station early this morning. The train was heading towards Pathankot after shunting at the railway station. The incident led to the blocking of the track for two and half hours. According to the railway authorities, more than 10 trains got delayed by 3 or 5 hours.

Ravinder Sharma, Station Superintendent, said: “The train was derailed early in the morning. It took more than two hours to clear the route. Our staff cleared the track at 8.45 am with the help of cranes. We will investigate the reasons behind the incident.”

Ludhiana, December 24
Two motorcycle-borne miscreants, who were trying to escape after snatching a woman’s purse in the Shastri Nagar area, were nabbed by alert residents near Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital.

The snatchers have been identified as Neeraj and Gurpal Singh of Dashmesh Nagar. They were thrashed before being handed over to the police.

The incident took place this afternoon when Gurpreet Singh along with his wife was travelling towards Shastri Nagar on a rickshaw.

When they reached near Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Narinder and Gurpal came from the rear on a motorcycle and snatched the purse that Gurpreet Singh's wife was carrying.

Gurpreet raised the alarm and tried to chase the snatchers. Passers-by too followed the fleeing snatchers and nabbed them.

Ludhiana, December 24
Two motorcycle-borne miscreants snatched a purse containing Rs 15,000 from a newlywed woman at Kidwai Nagar here today.

The victim has been identified as Shivani (23). The incident took place this evening while she was travelling by a rickshaw along with her mother. As the snatchers snatched her purse, she fell off the rickshaw and suffered injuries.

The police have registered a case and started investigation. — TNS

Ludhiana, December 24
The 59th Punjab State School Athletics meet concluded at Guru Nanak Stadium here today. Three players from Ludhiana won gold medals on the concluding day. Daljit Kaur from district Ludhiana clinched the gold medal in 5000 metre walk in the under-19 category while Amritpal Singh bagged gold in the 400 meter race in the under-17 category. Upneet Kaur won gold in hammer throw (u-19 girls). The sports wing of the Education Department did not declare the overall winner from the district as the authorities had failed to compile the data till late evening.

Results: Walk 5000 metre (u-19 (Girls): 1 Daljit Kaur from Ludhiana, 2 Siksha Chaudhary from Muktsar and 3 Rupali from Amritsar; 600 metre race (u-14 boys): 1 Amandeep Singh from Roopnagar, 2 Varun from Ludhiana and 3 Dilraj from Gurdaspur; hammer throw (u-19 girls): 1 Upneet Kaur from Ludhiana, 2 Gurleen Kaur from Taran Tarn and 3 Savreen Kaur from Ludhiana; triple jump (u-19 boys) 1 Vishaldeep Singh from Sangrur, 2 Harjot Singh from Ludhiana and 3 Parminder Singh from Ludhiana; 100 metre hurdle (u-17 Girls): 1 Mandeep Kaur from Muktsar, 2 Preeti from Ludhiana and 3 Haramanpreet Kaur from Taran Taran; 100 metre hurdle (u-17)

1 Gurpreet Singh from Gurdaspur, Dilpreet Singh from Ludhiana and 3 Joban Singh from Amritsar; 400 metre race (u-17 boys): 1 Amritpal Singh from Ludhiana, 2 Sidharth from Ludhiana and 3 Vinod from Jalandhar. 

Ludhiana, December 24
The 28th edition of the Jarkhar sports festival, popularly known as modern rural mini-Olympics, will be held from January 16 to 19 at Mata Sahib Kaur Sports Complex, Jarkhar, on the Ludhiana-Malerkotla road, about 15 km from here.

Narinder Pal Singh Sidhu, Chairman, Mata Sahib Kaur Sports Club, said a meeting of the club was held today during which the dates for the forthcoming sports festival were finalised. Invitations had been sent to the kabaddi and hockey teams from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, said Sidhu.

During this four-day festival, competition will be held in various sports disciplines, including hockey, basketball, handball, volleyball, kabaddi (academies and one village), wrestling, athletics and cycling.

Popular singers Kanwar Grewal, Harbhajan Mann, Sain Ghulam Jugni and Happy Jassowal among others will entertain the spectators during the course of this festival.

The statues of Flying Sikh Milkha Singh and hockey wizard Dhyan Chand will be unveiled on January 17. Milkha Singh, his son Jeev Milkha Singh and former hockey star Ashok Kumar, son of Dhyan Chand, will be the chief guests during the opening ceremony, said Jagroop Singh Jarkhar, spokesman for the club.

Ludhiana, December 24
It was a proud moment for five students of Green Land Senior Secondary Public School, Jalandhar bypass, when they were accorded a warm reception on their arrival at the school today. Five students from the school took part in the National CBSE Chess Championship (u-19) held from December 19 to 22 at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. They created history of sorts as the players from Punjab bagged silver medal for the first time in the national meet.

The students namely Shubham Shukla, Jashanpreet Singh, Divyanshu Jain, Dilbagh Singh and Samyak Jain played well to secure nine out of 12 points to finish the runners-up at Varanasi.

As the students reached the school this afternoon, they were greeted by the Chairman of the chain of Green Land Schools, Rajesh Rudhra, and Principal Baldeep Pandher.

They congratulated the students and their coach, Pir Khurshid Ahmad, for this outstanding performance. Appreciating their achievement, Rajesh Rudhra announced a cash award of Rs 5,000 for each for them.

Speaking on the occasion, Rudra said Green Land School had stamped its superiority in sports by winning three trophies in national-level tournaments. “Students of the school have won gold in badminton and two bronze medals in table tennis. We have produced as many as 115 players of national repute in different games,” said Rudhra.

He said this was the only school in India which housed infrastructure for 28 indoor and outdoor games. The school has employed coaches to train students during the school hours.

Results: Round 1: Green Land Public School beat Navrachna Academy, Gujarat (2.5 - 1.5); Round II: The school lost to Sunbeam School, Lahartara, Varanasi (1.5-2.5); Round III: The students beat Indian School, Abu Dhabi, UAE (3.5-.5); Round IV: Green Land Public School beat Sunbeam School, Bhagwanpur, Varanasi ( 2.5- 1.5); Round V: Green Land Public School drew with Narayana Vidyalayam, Nagpur (2-2); Round VI: Green Land Public School beat Emerald Heights, Indore (4-0).

In the individual rapid tournament, Shubham Shukla secured the third place and in the sports quiz, the team of Jashanpreet Singh and Dilbagh Singh bagged the third place.