Ludhiana, May 7
A newly appointed teacher at St Thomas School allegedly beat up a Class VI student for not seeking permission to take out a water bottle from a cupboard in the classroom here today.

Rohit Bhatia was reportedly thrashed as the teacher was annoyed at the “indiscipline” shown by him.

Anupam, who was appointed English teacher only a few days ago, slapped Rohit repeatedly due to which his spectacles also got smashed.

The boy reached home and told his parents. He also complained of pain in the ear.

His father took him to the civil hospital where he was discharged.

He also lodged a complaint with the police against the teacher, Anupam.

He said, “It is cruel on the part of the teacher. If a student has committed some mistake, the teacher should call his parents.”

The school authorities tried to hush-up the matter, but relented after the boy’s parents lodged a formal complaint against the teacher.

The principal, H. Malaki, said they would discuss the matter with the teacher and take action if necessary.

About two years ago, the elder brother of Rohit had to face a similar situation when a teacher rubbed red chilly powder on his face as punishment for creating indiscipline in the class.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, May 7
Jasakaran Singh, who was cremated by his relatives assuming that he had died a natural death about two months ago, was reportedly killed in cold blood by his brother and an accomplice.

Dispute over property and a woman, who is also one of the accused, is reported to be the reason behind the crime.

The police, acting on a complaint lodged by Jasakaran’s father and the prime accused, arrested the accused yesterday and recovered blood-stained clothes, a mattress, a baseball bat and a string used to strangulate the victim.

A joint team of the Sangrur CIA wing and the police arrested Sanjit Singh of Dasmesh Nagar, Harvinder Kaur of Chandigarh and Pardeep Singh for allegedly killing Jaskaran and cremating his body for destroying evidence on March 11.

Manjit Singh, in a statement to the police after about a month of the incident, had alleged that his son Jaskaran (26) was killed by his second son, Sanjit Singh, Pardeep Singh and Harvinder Kaur.

Though the complainant and his relatives had noticed injury marks on Jaskaran’s body, they cremated the body at Sanjit’s insistence.

Manjit Singh became suspicious of Sanjit when he started enquiring about property and sought its transfer in his name.

The Malerkotla DSP, Gurpreet Singh Sikand, said the accused had reportedly killed his brother as Jaskaran had suggested his father not to transfer property to Sanjit.

Investigations revealed that Sanjit had divorced his wife and developed relations with Harvinder Kaur. Jaskaran opposed them when she, along with her 11-year-old son, started living at Dasmesh Nagar.

Though Jaskaran was inebriated at the time of the attack, his blood-stained shirts and mattress suggest that he had struggled a lot before being strangled.

Ludhiana, May 7
At least four unidentified youths allegedly beat up and robbed a paanwala near Sarabha Nagar Market at 10.45 pm late last night.

The youths, in a Mahindra Scorpio car, attacked Chaurasia Pan Bhander owner Chotey Lal (45) and his employee Rattan Kumar (18).

The elder brother of Chotey Lal, who was at a nearby shop during the time of the incident, said the youths armed with chains and rods beat up his brother and the servant.

The took away a gold chain and Rs 4,000 in cash. They damaged the furniture of the shop. Chotey Lal sustained a head injury and fractured his left arm while Rattan Kumar sustained injuries in his stomach and the right elbow. Both were admitted in DMC.

Bare Lal blamed the police for not acting quickly. "We immediately called the police control room and asked for help, but there was no sign of any PCR officer for 20 minutes. Finally we decided to take the injured persons to hospital."

Said Sahwinder Singh, SHO, Division No 5: "A case will be registered after the statements of the victims are recorded."

Ludhiana, May 7
Confusion prevails among officials while deputing government employees on zila parishad and panchayat election duties.

Almost 20 lecturers of Government College of Science Education and Research, Jagraon, have been put on election duty at two places. When they brought it to the notice of the officials concerned, they were told to give it in writing and opt for one of the two places.

They performed rehearsal duty at the places they had opted for, but were served with show-cause notices yesterday to explain why they did not report at the other place.

The lecturers said instead of admitting to its mistake, the administration was punishing them for no fault of theirs.

Prof P.S. Sidhu, a lecturer at Government College of Science Education and Research, Jagraon, was put on poll duty at both Doraha and Khanna. He opted for Doraha and went for duty rehearsal as instructed by the administration.

“We had given it in writing to the officer concerned the next day after receiving duty letters for two places on May 2. But no acknowledgement was given to us. Barring some, all lecturers have been given notices. How can one person be present at two places at the same time?” he asked.

Priyank Bharti, additional deputy commissioner, development, said there must be some misunderstanding. “They need not worry. They should give us in writing that they are already performing duty at one place. No action will be taken against them,” he said.

Ludhiana, May 7
As many as nine candidates, seven of them contesting from panchayat samitis and two from zila parishads, were elected unopposed as candidates opposing them withdrew their nominations here yesterday.

Those elected unopposed from the panchayat samitis were Baldev Kaur from Andloo zone in Raikot, Baljit Kaur from Sohian in Dehlon, Gurtej Kaur from Barmali Pur in Doraha, Ajmer Singh from Kohara in Ludhiana-1, Surinderjit Singh from Siahar, Charan Singh from Mangat and Amarjit Kaur from Khwajeke, all from Ludhiana-2.

Malkiat Singh from Hambran and Paramjit Kaur from Gill Zila parishads were elected unopposed. Four candidates had filed nominations from Humbran and the papers of two were rejected while one withdrew at the last minute ensuring a smooth win for Malkiat Singh.

Three persons had filed papers from Gill and the papers of two were rejected. Hence, Paramjit Kaur was declared the winner. Baldev Kaur from Andloo was named winner after 14 candidates withdrew their papers and the candidature of five was rejected.

All 37 candidates who had filed nominations against Baljit Kaur from Sohian withdrew from the contest. The papers of five were rejected from Doraha and 29 withdrew their names, making Gurtej Kaur the winner.

The candidature of one person was rejected in Ludhiana -1 and 32 withdrew from the contest leaving Ajmer Singh victorious.

With seven candidates from five panchayat samitis out of a total of 12 in the district elected unopposed, the battle lines are now drawn for seven samitis.

Doraha, May 7
“The government is planning to grant permanent commission to women in all three Services of the Armed Forces contrary to the earlier policy of considering them for the medical branch and military nursing service (MNS) alone.” This was stated by branch recruiting officer, Ludhiana, Col S. Azimuddin, during a seminar conducted at the Sidhu School of Nursing, Doraha, today.

The main aim of the talk was to inform and educate the students about the avenues that exist and are now opening up, especially for the women in the Armed Forces. “The induction of women in the armed forces is virtually as old as the armed forces itself. The Nightingales have been looking after and caring the sick and wounded soldiers. The medical branch of the Armed Forces was the first one to offer permanent commission to women. Then the process of granting short service commission to women in the non-combat branches of the services started. Gradually their induction into the flying branch of the Air Force opened up more challenging avenues for women officers” the resource person added.

While elaborating on the minimum educational qualifications and age factor as the criteria for entry into the officer cadre, Col Azimuddin mentioned that by enhancing one’s educational qualifications there would be a larger choice of options available for women to choose from, while joining the Armed Forces.

Capt Jarnail Singh Jalajan (retd.), Air Commodore N.S.Chahal, chief department manager Sidhu Nursing School and Sidhu Hospital, Doraha were also present on the occasion.

Ludhiana, May 7
“Fashion adoption should be up to some limit and according to the Indian social setup. Young girls prefer Indian dresses during summer and western outfits in winter. A large proportion of girls observe and adopt those dresses that are acceptable to Indian social fabric, says a study-Globalisation and clothing patterns: a sociological study of university resident girl students in Punjab and Chandigarh-conducted by Dr Satnam Kaur Dhillon, associate professor, department of clothing and textiles, PAU, under the guidance of Dr G.S. Bhatnagar.

It revealed that girls did not differ significantly in their clothing pattern except in case of possession of Western style dresses of less educated fathers and some other significant factors.

The study was conducted on hundreds of girl students of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Panjab University, Chandigarh, and Punjabi University, Patiala. A majority of respondents preferred Indian dresses to western outfits for different reasons.

Salwar-kamiz remained the favourite dress for both informal and formal occasions except for nightwear.

Besides salwar-kamiz, other favoured dresses for university daily wear were jeans-top and churidar-kurta.

A majority of respondents were aware of western outfits like mini and midi dresses, tunics, coats, jackets, hipsters, wraparounds, shorts, etc. but for formal occasions, Indian outfits were more preferred.

As far as western dresses were concerned, higher proportion of mothers and siblings of the respondents liked these dresses and allowed them to wear as compared to their fathers and grandparents.

According to the study, majority of respondents adopted Indian dresses as, according to them, these looked graceful and dignified, and were accepted in every social circle and for every type of occasion. Many of these young girls were of same view that they should feel proud of Indian culture.

Ludhiana,May 7
Kilns would discontinue moulding by May 30 and firing by the mid of June due to the steep hike in coal prices. This decision was taken at a meeting of the Punjab Brick Kiln Owners Association held here today.

"Coal is our major raw material and its prices have increased by more than 70 per cent within three months. Thus, we have decided to shut operations for the season in advance," said Kuldip Singh Makkar, president, Punjab Brick Kiln Owners Association.

Kiln owners expressed their gratitude towards the state government for meeting their long-pending demand of paying lump sum tax on a monthly basis.

Earlier, kiln owners were required to pay the tax every quarter under the Punjab VAT Act. "We are relieved and thankful to the government for agreeing to allow them pay the lump sum tax. It would also increase revenue inflow to the government."

Chairman S.P. Bansal and vice-presidents Kuldeep Khanduja and Ashok Mittal were present on the occasion.

Ludhiana, May 7
A large number of radiological investigations like X-rays, CT scan and mammography are being carried out annually in the country. However, there is a lack of awareness about the possible harmful effects due to the improper use of these facilities.

These remarks were made by Dr Lavneesh Garg, senior consultant and coordinator, department of radio diagnosis, SPS Apollo Hospitals, here during a radiation safety workshop. In his opening address, he urged medical professionals to observe safety while carrying out radiodignostic procedures.

Dr Garg suggested that a safer method of investigation should be chosen wherever possible. For instance, ultrasound and MRI were safer as compared to x rays and CT scan.

Women patients of child-bearing age should disclose information about their menstrual cycle and the possibility of their being pregnant to their doctor and to the technician in the radiology department before the procedure.

He stressed on the need to get all radiology investigations done at a centre that conformed to radiation safety regulations, as investigations conducted in a safe setting could be more expensive but cheaper tests on obsolete machines could prove costly in the long run.