Ludhiana, March 2
Three unidentified persons allegedly killed a woman and injured her sister in their house in Mangat village today late afternoon allegedly due to some personal enmity.

The police claimed in the evening that it was close to solving the case. Sources said some youths had been detained and the killers have been identified.

The police was not disclosing further details on the plea it would hamper investigation.

The deceased woman Daljit Kaur and her injured sister Paramjit Kaur were married to two brothers. The police said Daljit was married just a month ago. She and Paramjit were alone in the house when three youths came asking for her husband, Gholi (nick name).

When Daljit told them that he was not at home, they said they had a telephone talk with him and he was coming home only. The woman allowed them to sit in one room then.

The police said as per the statement of the injured woman Paramjit Kaur, the youths attacked them and strangled Daljit Kaur. Paramjit Kaur was beaten and left unconscious.

SP Detective Gurpreet Singh said personal enmity seemed to be the motive behind the crime. "The youths did not try to search for any cash or jewellery. Even the ear rings and gold chain worn by the deceased were intact."

Ludhiana, April 2
In a typical case of an enforcement agency becoming a violator, the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation (MC), which is the governing authority to remove any illegal encroachment, has actually encroached several rooms in Guru Nanak Stadium.

While MC officials sit pretty in their offices which can be used as changing rooms, the stadium authorities see red.

MC official working at the stadium office said, "The three offices functioning here are horticulture, health and the project cell. They occupy three rooms and a gallery." Guru Nanak Stadium is perhaps the only stadium in the state which is equipped with all facilities to host an international tournament.

The District Sports Department and various sports associations rue over the existence of MC offices in the sports stadium. Changing rooms can easily be built in the area from where the MC operates its offices, but the corporation does not seem ready to vacate the premises.

Sources in the Guru Nanak Stadium said the MC had encroached the space in the stadium, as during the National Games 2001-2002, the corporation spent approximately Rs 10 crore for the renovation of the stadium.

"This place belonged to the MC in the past, so some of its offices are still here. The MC has spent crores of rupees on the stadium, so if the civic body keeps possession over a small portion of its area, what is the harm in it. I think the MC has every right to use the stadium premises, just like the sports department," said a senior functionary of the MC.

On the other hand, Pargat Singh, director of sport, said "We have requested the MC authorities to vacate the offices from the stadium so that the sports department could handle its affair independently. It was the government’s money which the MC had spent for the infrastructural development of the stadium but spending money does not give them the right to occupy the place".

Shiv Partap Singh Bajwa, vice-president, Punjab Football Association, said, "Guru Nanak Dev Stadium is one of the best in Punjab but it lacks proper changing rooms, making it impossible to organise international tournaments, especially football. Even during the Federation Cup, we requested the basketball authorities to vacate some room so we could convert it into changing rooms. They were kind enough and allowed us to make temporary changing rooms."

"The Punjab government talks about promoting sports. It should ask the MC why it is operating from the stadium. The site should be handed over to the sports department and funds should also be provided to them to make changing rooms," he asserted.

MC commissioner Vikas Partap said, "I will first go through the documents and accordingly the respond to the matter.

If there will be any dispute, it will be settled between the ministry of the local bodies and the ministry of sports."

Guljar Singh Ranike said, "I have no information that the MC is running its offices from the stadium which is solely dedicated to sport. I will soon ask the sport department to file the report in this regards so that the matter can be solved as soon as possible."

Ludhiana, April 2
A bridge, on which worth Rs 22 lakh was spent on its construction, over ganda nullah at Shingar cinema road has come under a scanner amid allegations of lack of planning and proper engineering that had gone into its construction.

The Municipal Corporation is accused of wasting the public money as the height of bridge was not raised while constructing it three years ago. The bridge blocks the flow of water into the nullah after garbage gets stuck under it. It threatens to cause flooding of some colonies upstream during monsoons.

Residents of colonies located upstream the nullah, including Shivaji Nagar and New Shivaji Nagar, said as the flow was obstructed it made its way on the roads thereby flooding these.

During monsoons when there was more inflow of water the colonies, including Ram Nagar, Hargobind Nagar and Transport Nagar, too faced threat of floods as water did not pass smoothly from under the bridge.

The residents said the bridge was 100 feet wide so the MC workers did not go under the bridge to remove the garbage for the fear of drowning. The garbage was getting collected on the bed and flow of water was obstructed.

A shopkeeper said a resident had even fallen sick after drinking water mixed with nullah water due to flooding. He was admitted to a hospital.

‘‘The bridge is touching the water flowing through the nullah in this season when the city does not generate so much of waste water. What will happen to it during monsoons,’’ said the residents.

Former councillor of the area Pran Nath Bhatia met city MLA Satpal Gosain yesterday and made him abreast of the situation. He demanded that the bridge should be demolished and constructed afresh after raising its level. The shopkeepers, who accompanied him, threatened that if the problem was not solved within a month, they would be forcd to stage a dharna.

The MC demolished the old bridge over the nullah three years ago as it was stated to have worn out. The MC had decided to widen the bridge but nobody thought of raising its height.

‘‘We have such qualified engineers in the MC. If they cannot think beyond certain years what is the use?’’ asked a resident. 

Ludhiana, April 2
The Ludhiana Autorickshaw Association today demanded a ban on permits to stop more autorickshaws to ply on the city roads in the interest of smooth traffic flow.

The drivers were holding a protest, carrying black flags, against the challans issued to them at the Ghanta Ghar chowk here today.

The president of the union said more and more permits were being issued and everyday more autos were added on the city roads. This was causing traffic problems. A ban on issuing of more permits for the time being will check the menace, said the association president.

He also rued that many autos were challaned during the day for wrong parking. The drivers could not do anything as the MC had not provided them with any place to park their vehicles or even stop to pick a passenger.

When they stopped on the roads, challans were issued and they had to go to the DTO office to pay the fine that was in thousands unlike earlier when they were asked to pay only in hundreds. 

Ludhiana, April 2
“World Autism Awareness Day” was celebrated for the first time ever at Darpan, the only centre for autistic children in Punjab, here today. Amrit Varsha Rampal, municipal councillor, was the chief guest.

At the outset, some of the autistic children enacted two small plays and rendered a prayer.

Niranjan Kumar and Poonam Kalra, who run the centre for children with special individual needs, emphasised the need for equal opportunities for autistic children. They said UN convention on the rights of persons with disabilities had declared certain rights for such children.

Niranjan Kumar said the UN charter further made it the responsibility of countries that were signatories to the convention to ensure that people with disabilities were able to enjoy these rights.

Poonam Kalra said it was regrettable that in many countries the human rights of persons with autism spectrum disorder were yet to be recognised. She also stressed that people with disabilities themselves, and their representatives, be made aware of the rights which were guaranteed to them that they could rightfully claim and enjoy those rights.

Principal of local Wylie Memorial School, Sunil Pillai, along with students of the school attended the function and presented gifts to them.

Ludhiana, April 2
A renowned figure in the field of Punjabi culture and former Congress legislator Jagdev Singh Jassowal today pledged to donate his body to Dayanand Medical College and Hospital to further medical education and save the life of critically ill and needy people.

Announcing his decision at a press conference, convened by "New Hope", an NGO set up by a local hotelier N.S. Nanda here, Jassowal remarked that he was motivated by a similar decision of Nanda. He said there could be no better use of the human body than advancement of medical education and transplantation of body organs.

Jassowal said he would leave instructions that his body be used for dissection by medical students and all organs like eyes and kidneys be transplanted on those who needed them.

Nanda said the NGO intended to launch a campaign to enroll more like-minded people who would not only fight for eradication of social evils but also educate and motivate the masses towards body and organ donation.

Doraha, April 2
While the Punjab School Education Board has constantly been in the limelight due blunders being committed by it in the planning and conduct of the Class V examinations, it seems that yet another discredit might be made public i.e. the result list of Class V that was sent to Shri Guru Harkrishan Public School sans results.

School authorities received the list yesterday evening. It came as a bolt from the blue for them. According to the school’s management, the result list issued by the board bears nothing except for names of the students, fathers and mothers besides the date of births. The entire list is blank with project officer’s stamp on its reverse.

This came as a surprise not only for students but for their parents as well. One of the disgruntled parents, rued the callous attitude of the authorities, flung the list in the air and went away. Anger and desperation was writ large on the face of parents that they were openly abusing the board authorities for playing with the future of their kids who got demoralized after receiving shocks one after the other.

According to headmistress of Shri Guru Harkrishan Public School Manju Shah Vinayak, board officials were informed about this faux pas. One of the officials wanted the authorities to personally approach them if they want to get the list amended. The parents too alleged that when they tried to contact the official concerned, his behaviour was no better.

According to sources, more than 50 schools had gathered at the board’s office to collect their result lists today.

One of the parents rued, “The sorry state of affairs is that our children are now at the board’s mercy. We are meekly undergoing the torture being meted out to our kids by the board every now and then. The thing is that is their no authority to question the mismanagement and mistakes being regularly committed by the board?”

The students and the parents complained that prior to this the board had suddenly announced that the students studying in private schools will have to sit in board examination despite the fact that they were being taught entirely different syllabus than one taught at the govt schools. Not only these students had to pass tough difficult phase when due to the board’s fault students had to appear in the Punjabi paper twice as its setter had set it wrongly. 

Ludhiana, April 2
To explore the world of toddlers and broaden the thinking of parents, a talk show ‘Catch Them Young’ on innovative child rearing practices was organised at BCM Arya Model Senior Secondary School, Shastri Nagar, here today.

Parents of Kindergarten kids largely attended the show. The unique and interactive show aimed at cultivating awareness among parents regarding the holistic growth of children in present scenario where bringing up children was the most arduous, complex and delicate task.

This talk show made the parents visualise and understand the emotional, social and educational complexities of the environment in which their children live, grow and often struggle. The main issues highlighted during the show included motor, language and emotional development, sense of belongingness and security, self esteem, self confidence, brain games for kids and promoting learning through rhythmic movement.

During the interactive session, K. Sudesh and Shelly Chopra illuminated the psychological journey that all kids must undertake in order to grow and develop.

Havan ceremony: A havan ceremony was organised to mark the beginning of new session at BCM Arya Model Senior Secondary School, Chandigarh Road, here today. The tiny tots along with their parents attended the havan.

The school was specially decorated on this occasion. S.D. Kalia, principal of the school, welcomed the guests. Chief guest Satyanand Munjal, chairman of the school, wished the students and staff members well.

Fools’ party: Lovely Lotus School held ‘All Fools Party’ to mark the beginning of the new session. The school celebrated this day to convey the message to the little children that the school was fun and teachers were their friends. The teacher and children had a gala time. Many funny games were also organised.

Class V results: Students of Class V of Bhartiya Vidya Mandir, Udham Singh Nagar, came out with flying colours in the Class V board exams. Eight students got above 90 per cent marks.

Meanwhile, Sunali Sharma of Gupta Model High School scored 92.8 per cent. She got first position in the school.

Aarti Tondon was second with 87.7 per cent marks.

Kamalpreet and Amanpreet got third position by scoring 87.5 per cent marks.

Dr G.S. Mann and Principal Dr Kulwinder Kaur Minhas honoured the students for their achievement.

Ludhiana, April 2
PCCTU and GCTA have decided to boycott the annual examination starting from April 8 onwards against the anti-higher education policies of the Punjab government. PCCTU general secretary Dr Kuldip Singh and GCTA president Jaipal Singh said this in a joint statement issued today.

It is the first time that both organisations have decided to hold a joint agitation. Due to their boycott call, the examination scheduled to be held on April 8 would not be conducted in the three state universities. Both leaders said they had also requested the principals’ federations of three universities (Amritsar, Chandigarh and Patiala) and non-teaching employees union to join hands in this regard.

Jaipal Singh has condemned the “rationalisation” policy of the government. He said despite assurances by the education minister, the accepted demands like feeder grade, total service benefits, relaxation of refresher courses up to June 2007 etc had not been implemented as yet. He argued that at one hand about 700 posts of lectures were lying vacant in 54 government colleges whereas on the other the government under the garb of rationalization was going to abolish 150 such posts.

Dr Kuldip Singh and S.S.Hundal argued that teachers working in non-government colleges were compelled to resort such an agitation. “For the past seven months we have desperately been waiting for the government’s move to implement our demands like CAS for DPEs and librarians, full 95 per cent grant in aid, lifting of ban on recruitment and conversion of posts, HRA for rural colleges, arrears of DA merger, difference of allowances worth Rs 55 crores etc”, said Dr Kuldip Singh.

The PCCTU had deferred its court arrest agitation on October 4. Education minister Dr Upinderjit Kaur had met office-bearers of the union on August 31 and October 1 and promised in writing to implement the demands but nothing had been done so far. 

Ludhiana, April 2
Mohan Dai Oswal Cancer Hospital here is organising the first-ever "breast cancer survivors" meeting in the hospital auditorium on April 12.

Giving this information, the medical director of the hospital, Dr Satish Jain, said female breast cancer was the most common cancer seen in this region. Every year nearly 600 new patients were registered in addition to the victims of the disease who came to the hospital for follow-up.

The meeting will be addressed, among other specialists in the field, by Dr Ritu Joseph from Pune, who is herself a breast cancer survivor. She will discuss the awareness part of the cancer, her personal experience, as also different aspects of treatment and treating doctors. Dr Joseph will also show a documentary made by her on prevention of breast cancer.

Dr Jain said all breast cancer patients, either treated in this hospital or elsewhere, could attend the programme and derive benefit from the experience of their fellow patients. All young normal women are also invited so as to gain knowledge about prevention and detection of this condition.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, April 2
Amit Kumar and Meenakshi emerged fastest runners at annual athletics meet of Guru Nanak Group of Educational Institutes, Gopalpur, which concluded at college premises yesterday.

Dr Balwinder Singh Walia, chairman of the educational trust, presided over the concluding function and Mukesh Arora, member of senate, Panjab University, Chandigarh, was the chief guest.

While exhorting the students to fulfill the expectations of their parents and teachers, Dr Walia and Arora said sports had become an inseparable part of curriculum at all levels. “Though bookish knowledge can enable a student to get a degree, elements of sports prepare him for practical aspects of life,” claimed the speakers.

Dr Iqbal Singh Walia, general secretary, assured the authorities that the management committee would try to provide facilities needed for the promotion of sports and extra-curricular activities.

The organisers felicitated winners in various events. Principal Dr R.P. Kaushal lauded prizewinners and delivered vote of thanks.

Over two hundred students from Guru Nanak Ayurvedic Medical College and Research Institute, GN College of Education and GN College of Law participated in various events.

Results: Sumit of GNAMC won table tennis (single) by defeating Haripal of the same college. Sumit and Bhupinder won doubles by dragging Haripal and Sheron to runners up position.

Table tennis (single, women): Swati of GNMAC was first and Gurpinder Kaur was declared runners-up. Swati and Gurpinder defeated Tanuja and Devindra in doubles.

Badminton team (girls) of GNMAC comprising Pallavi, Anupam and Shilpa won first position by defeating that of Law College (Satinderpal, Manpreet and Neha). Namita and Sikha of Education College won third prize.

Boys of GNMAC (Sachin, Virender and Jaspal) defeated Varun and Kusagar of Law College to bag first prize in badminton. Jeet Bahadur and Dharampal of Education College stood third.

Other results:

100m (women): 1 Meenakshi, 2 Richa, 3 Pooja; 100m (men): 1 Amit Kumar, 2 Charanjit, 3 Harpreet Singh.

400m (women): 1 Meenakshi, 2 Poonam, 3 Virpal Kaur; 400m (men): 1 Amit, 2 Haripal, 3 Bhupinder Singh.

200m (women): 1 Virpal Kaur, 2 Meenakshi, 3 Rajvinder; 200m (men): 1 Amit Kumar, 2 Haripal, 3 Manjit Singh.

Three-legged race (men): 1 Bhupinder Singh and Sumit; three-legged race (women): 1 Meenakshi and Amdhurama, 2 Poonam and Nisha, 3 Amita and Rajinder.

Long jump (women): 1 Shelja GNMAC, 2 Raimpy BEd, 3 Richa GNMAC; long jump (men): 1 Amit Kumar GNMAC, 2 Sukhjeet BEd, 3 Amritpal.

High jump (women): 1 Manpreet Kaur, 2 Richa Acharya, 3 Pooja; high jump (men): 1 Sachin, 2 Sandeep Sheron, 3  Amit Kumar.