Ludhiana, October 5
Taking note of increasing dengue cases in the city, local government principal secretary D.S. Bains today asked the municipal corporation to go strict on residential and official premises and fine residents whose houses are found to have stagnant water in coolers, broken pitchers, tyres, etc.

He held a meeting with municipal corporation officials here today and also directed them to buy more fogging machines.

We are giving three days, starting Monday, to residents to clean up stagnant water in and around their houses. They are liable to pay Rs 500 as fine per violation G.S. Ghuman,  MC commissioner

“It’s not possible for the municipal corporation to run after every person in the population of 36 lakh people. People should act responsibly,” said Bains, during the meeting. The officials who attended the meeting included health officers Dr Chawla and Dr Mangla.

Talking to The Tribune, municipal commissioner G.S. Ghuman said: “We are giving three days, starting Monday, to residents to clean up stagnant water in and around their houses. If they fail to do so, they are liable to pay Rs 500 as fine per violation.”

He warned residents against taking the directions lightly.

Expressing dissatisfaction over the number of fogging machines, he directed the corporation to buy more machines.

Giving details about fogging machines, Ghuman said: “We have placed the order for the equipment and it will take two days for the arrival of machinery, as it has to come from Delhi.”

The principal secretary also directed the corporation to tighten its noose for recovery of various taxes, including house tax, as they were important sources of revenue for development.

He later visited Gyaspura, the site where flats for the economically weaker section are coming up, and met contractors involved in construction work.

He directed the MC commissioner to ask contractors to speed up work so that the central government could be requested for the next grant and work could be finished as per schedule.

Ludhiana, October 5
In the absence of adequate equipment, the district health department is unable to assess the “IQ” of mentally challenged children and those with hearing disability. This has resulted in harassment to parents who depend on special assessment camps organised by the Sarv Sikhsha Abhiyan (SSA).

File photographs of special children and their parents at a special assessment camp organised by the SSA in Ludhiana.

Consequently, parents of such children are being forced to go to private hospitals, including the CMCH and the DMC, to get their assessments and IQ tests, which are mandatory to procure disability certificates, done. Also, there is no provision of audiometry to test the hearing disability of children at government hospitals in the district.

The process takes much longer, thus hampering the process of procuring the certificates, without which such children are deprived of their right to special pension schemes, travel concessions and jobs against special quotas.

It also causes inconvenience to special children and their parents who cover long distances and wait for hours for their turn at assessment camps. Due to lack of cooperation from the directorate of health and family welfare, officials dealing with the SSA have been unable to provide disability certificate to those in need.

Children are even sent to faraway places like Amritsar and other districts thereby adding to their problem. Saloni Kaur, an official at the office of director general school education, said doctors (psychiatrist) at private hospitals are being paid Rs 1,000 under the SSA per day for the assessment of these children.

“We regularly organise camps in the state but are helpless when it comes to giving the disability certificate as the prerogative lies with the health department.”

The indifferent attitude of government officials in the directorate of health and family welfare in the region is in stark contrast to the work being done for children with special needs across the world. The head of an NGO rued: “Health officials are not even aware of the latest terminology being used to safeguard the sentiments of the disabled children as very few can relate to the word ‘intellectual disability’.”

Ludhiana, October 5
is being merciless to the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB), which continues to get a beating on account of elusive rains and extended spell of hot and humid weather conditions in the region.

Even after imposing two compulsory weekly offs and peak load hour restrictions on industry all over the state, the PSEB is still left with an average daily gap of over 250 lakh units between total availability and demand of power. This has translated into power cuts of six to seven hours in urban areas and erratic supply of electricity to agricultural sector in rural areas of the state.

Feeders in the three groups in the city are being subject to a minimum of one-hour power cut in the morning and four to five hours of cut in the afternoon. The prolonged outage disrupts the water supply and upsets daily schedule of residents, besides having adverse impact on trade and industry.

Sources in the PSEB headquarters said miscalculation of weather conditions during this particular season had led to deepening of power crisis in the state. As the state had widespread rains during July and August and the temperature had dropped considerably, the top brass at the PSEB expected outset of an early winter, which would have eased the load on power consumption in the urban areas.

Moreover, with harvesting operations of paddy crop already on, the demand for power from the farm sector was also expected to drop significantly, thereby making more power available for the urban population.

Keeping this in view, the agreements for power purchase from other states were signed only till September 30. But, the weather took yet another turn during mid-September when the day temperature shot up and there was a sudden spurt in the demand for power from major towns and cities.

According to sources, as there were no sources from where power could be purchased or obtained under power banking arrangement on such a short notice, the PSEB was left with no other choice but to reimpose drastic cuts and other restrictions on power consumption. “As things stand now, another spell of widespread rains and drop in the day temperature remains the only hope in an otherwise dismal power scenario,” the sources added.

Ludhiana, October 5
The tall claims of the district administration to provide adequate security arrangements during Ramlila have fallen flat as closed-circuit television (CCTV) and door-frame metal detectors (DFMD) are yet to be seen at Ramlila grounds across the city.

SSP R.K. Jaiswal had issued instructions to Ramlila organisers and briefed them about necessary steps to be taken for guarding Ramlila venues.

In spite of the orders, not even hand-held metal dictators have been made available to frisk visitors to various venues of the city.

Armed commandos deputed at certain venues prefer to sit rather than patrol sensitive areas in the ground.

The organisers are also busy putting up billboards, showing scant regard to the security of visitors.

Eateries are openly flaunting rules by using residential cooking gas cylinders, instead of commercial ones, blatantly flouting the regulation laid down by the administration.

Also, the conduct of volunteers manning parking lots near Ramlila venues has come under question.

They reportedly charge Rs 10 per two-wheeler and Rs 20 per car as parking fee inside the venue whereas the rates for parking vehicles are much lower.

No rates have been mentioned on the parking slip, which encourages these volunteers to overcharge visitors.

“If someone objects to overcharging, they are misbehaved with,” said Rohit Khurana, one such victim of volunteers manning the parking at Daresi Ground.

Also, there were complaints of use of vulgar language by circus organisers to attract youth.

Daresi Ground Ramlila Committee chairman K.K. Marwaha said: “The DFMD will be installed on Dasehra day on October 9 by the administration.

However, one DFMD, which was purchased by us, has already been put in place.”

He added that visitors were thronging the venue and the committee had been successfully managing things.

Ludhiana, October 5
This is a Ramlila with a difference. For, this 30-member troupe involves well-educated performers — some holding doctor’s degree, others pursuing their PhD and the remaining studying in the theatre department at Punjabi University, Patiala.

The members of Navkiran Art Group from Patiala are all passionate about theatre and are committed to carrying forward the legacy of Ramlila. They are here these days to enact Ramayan at Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar.

Most members, especially girls, have gone against their parents’ wishes to be part of this group.

Dr Deepika said her parents had never allowed her to act in Ramlila, as it was not held in high esteem. Though her father had performed in Ramlila, when it came to her, he was hesitant to give her the permission.

“Let alone act in one, we were not allowed to even see Ramlila when we were younger. But after meeting everyone from the group, my mother was convinced that I was among educated and good people. Today she feels happy to see my photographs in magazines and newspapers,” she says.

All performers would have chosen some lucrative profession and earned lots of money but for the satisfaction of their souls. “Performing on stage gives us immense pleasure as it gives us satisfaction from within, something that would have never happened had we chosen some other profession,” say group members.

Theatre comes first to them. Though some of them are not full-time performers and are in different jobs, they are even ready to leave their jobs if not allowed a leave, says Vijendra, who is doing PhD in music from the university.

Group director Ashish Kaushal adds that they do not call it Ramlila and prefer calling it “Ramayan”, as it is different from the traditional Ramlila.

“It is a theatrical Ramayan and we also interact with the audience in between the scenes,” he adds.

Pursuing his doctorate on Ramayan, he keeps experimenting on the presentation of different scenes. While last year he showed the positive aspect of Kekaiyee, this year he was lending a mixed treatment to her character.

The group also has the privilege of staging plays in the open-air theatre opened by Naura Richards.

Richards was behind the inception of theatre in Punjab and had students like Pritivi Raj Kapoor, Balraj Sahni and Balwant Gargi.

“Every year, we perform at the open-air theater at Amreta to celebrate the birth anniversary of Richards and the feeling we get after each performance cannot be put in words,” adds Prince Bhardwaj, another member of the group.

The group members are also into social work. They hold street plays on different social issues like drug addiction, dowry and female foeticide. “We are committed to theatre until our last breath. Nothing can stop this passion now,” they add.

Ludhiana, October 5
The canine fear still rules the city as the municipal corporation, also responsible for checking the growth of stray dogs, has failed to take a serious action against the problem.

Large numbers of stray dogs are witnessed on streets making it difficult for kids and elderly to walk. Residents of various localities, including Dugri, Sarabha Nagar, Model Town, Shastri Nagar, Urban Estate, Haibowal and BRS Nagar, complained that these 
dogs virtually ruled the city at night.

Talking to The Tribune, Model Town resident M.K. Gupta (70) said, “Aged people like me who love to take morning and evening walk, have to think twice before selecting a place. City streets are no safer due to these stray dogs and at this age we cannot run to save ourselves.”

Similarly, Sonica, a resident of Sarabha Nagar and a mother, said, “It is difficult for us to allow small children to go alone on streets due to the dog terror. Since kids are fascinated to puppies, one has to be very vigilant as they sometimes just pick up the pups and dogs start following them.”

Notably, 334 cases of dog bites were reported in the district in 2006 and 469 last year. Mohinder, who owns a chemist shop, said there were various vaccinations available in the market like Verorab, Rabipur and Vaxirab, which costs Rs 350, Rs 369 and Rs 320, respectively. All these injections are available in packs and have either five or six doses.

A team of experts from Hyderabad were called to the city by the municipal corporation in July this year to take stock of the situation and chalk out a programme, but nothing could be initiated to reduce the population of stray dogs that was around 20,000.

Talking to The Tribune, municipal commissioner G.S. Ghuman said many NGOs who work for welfare of animals were against killing of stray dogs so the MC would be initiating steps for sterilisation within a week.

Meanwhile, joint commissioner B.K. Gupta said in the last meeting of the finance and contract committee it has been decided to sign an MoU with Rahul Sehgal of Ahmedabad who would be taking sterilisation programme of stray dogs. He added that the MoU was likely to be signed soon.

Ludhiana, October 5
Terming media as a lifeline to run democracy, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said newspapers were more responsible and projected a wider picture as compared to the electronic one.

He said the media was a lighthouse for every government as it guided them about their shortcomings and also suggested how to overcome them.

Urging the media to be constructive and not fall prey to anti-social elements, he said the media should try to come with more positive news. They should not become a medium for those, who try to harm national interests by using them, he added.

Preaching the same old lesson of the opposition and ruling government to sit together and chalk out development plans, the CM said, "I know it is tough but not impossible." The ruling-opposition conventions could be held at least for 2-3 hours once a month so that both of them could present their views on a topic, he added.

Lashing out at oppositions in both the state and the Centre, Badal said parliament and legislature sessions were always paralysed either by walkouts or disagreement between the ruling and opposition parties. This hampers the working of the government and as a result presiding officers had to adjourn the sessions. He added that the step would help the government and opposition to build a healthy relationship.

Advising people to raise voices against the social evils, Badal said every person had a role to play for the development and he should not shun himself from his responsibility.

Meanwhile, the CM's media adviser Harcharan Singh Bains refuted the claims that there was any difference of opinion between Punjab finance minister Manpreet Badal and the CM.

He said, "The Chief Minister is not trying to snub any of his ministers and there was complete consensus on all issues between various ministers."

He added that finance minister Manpreet Badal was wrongly quoted by a section of media, who later corrected it.

Jagraon, October 5
The Punjab Union of Journalists and Press Club, Jagraon, submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today. He was here to attend the marriage of the daughter of Junesh Jain of Hira Bagh, Jagraon. The CM was acquainted of the threats issued by a youth Akali leader and member zila parishad, Ludhiana, Chand Singh Dalla, to a correspondent of a regional newspaper being published from Jalandhar. The said reporter had published a report regarding this youth leader on July 11 about his involvement in poppy husk peddling and flesh trade, which annoyed him. The reporter is getting threats to be eliminated since then by the youth leader and his supporters. Incidentally, the said reporter is the former president of Press Club, Jagraon. Earlier, a similar memorandum was given to public relation minister of Punjab Bikram Singh Majithia on September 14. Thereafter a formal complaint was also lodged with SSP (Ludhiana rural) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar. No action has been taken against the erring youth leader yet.

The memorandum was submitted by state secretary of Punjab Union of Journalists Jaspal Heran, its tehsil president Harvinder Singh Khalsa, Press Club, Jagraon, president Amarjit Singh Malwa along with a number of members of the union and the press club.

They narrated the whole incident to the minister. Through the memorandum the union has sought appropriate action as per law and party disciplinary action against the youth leader.

Badal assured appropriate action against the erring youth leader and said the freedom of press will be maintained at all costs. He also informed that a coordination committee of the government and press is being formulated and will be effective soon.

Mandi Gobindgarh, October 5
One month free ration was distributed among 65 needy families on the annual day celebrations of the Manav Bhilai Manch in Amloh today. Chief guest Harinder Singh Bhambri, secretary, Panjab Pardesh Congress Committee, lighted the jyoti. The function was presided over by Varun Bansal, general secretary, Panjab Youth Congress.

Arts cultural club Mulepur (Ludhiana) team staged a play on social evils and choreography, while civil surgeon Dr Satwant Bhalla inaugurated the exhibition of the health department. Chairman Som Nath Lutava and secretary Manohar Lal Verma of the Manch welcomed the guests. Speaking on the history of the Manch, project director Parveen Singh Mittal said, the Manch in the beginning had adopted six needy families for free monthly supply of ration. The number has now grown up to 65 such families, he added. 

Ludhiana, October 5
Lions Club, Ludhiana Greater, along with Public Social Welfare Council, organised a mass marriage function in which marriage of five needy girls was solemnised at Santan Dharm Mandir in the new model town here today.

District governor of the club, K.K. Verma (distt 321-F), zone chairperson Lalit Gupta, secretary, Nakesh Garg, treasurer, Govind Puri, and Parminder Singh, attended the function and offered blessings to the newly weds. Articles of daily use were given as wedding gifts to each of the five couples by the organisers.

Ludhiana, October 5
Immediate medical attention and hospitalisation without any loss of time is the key to successful recovery of victims of heart attack. Patients suffering from chest pain, suggestive of Ischemia, should be given aspirin as a first-aid measure and shifted to nearest hospital for proper management.

This was stated by Dr K.K.Talwar, head of cardiology and director, PGIMER, Chandigarh, while speaking on "acute coronary syndrome" at a CME organised by the Physicians Forum here last evening. He stressed that the patients should be assessed in the wake of family history and basic investigations for the coronary artery disease even if ECG were normal.

Dr Manmohan Singh, president, the Punjab Medical Council, lauded the initiative of the forum for their commendable work through the CMEs. He said, "We shall make provisions of credit hours for online CMEs to make it user friendly. Teachers in medical colleges will be given additional credit hours for the CMEs so that they can keep abreast with latest technique and developments in their respective fields."

Dr G.S. Wander, chief cardiologist at the Hero DMC Heart Institute, moderated the panel discussion in which queries raised by the doctors were discussed by guest speaker.

Among others Dr S.B. Khurana, Dr L.S. Chawla, Dr Devinderjit Singh Walia and Dr Vikas Loomba were also present on the occasion.

Ludhiana, October 5
The National Integrated Medical Association (NIMA) today opposed the state government’s decision to open the registration for quacks.

Dr Kamal Bharti, state president, NIMA, while addressing a press conference here said, “To give authorisation to quacks to run their self-styled medical outlets is a mockery with the health services and a practice that would further malign the image of the professionals in medical services.”

Taking a strong notice of the state government for forming the committee for the same, the association members said they would oppose the government’s move to promote quacks who are already playing havoc with the health of the people. “It is unjustified to allow the unqualified lot of quacks to treat people and is a purely political move which the association members would fight against,” said Dr Rajesh Thapar on behalf of the association.

Further pointing towards the occupancy in Ayurvedic colleges across the state, the association members said more than 80 per cent of the seats were vacant.

Mandi Gobindgarh, October 5
Desh Bhagat Ayurvedic College and Hospital, Mandi Gobindgarh, organised a blood donation camp at Desh Bhagat Hospital yesterday.

Under the directions of the department head- Blood Bank, GMCH- Sector 32, Chandigarh, a team from Government Medical College, Chandigarh, collected the blood units. Dr Zora Singh, chairman, congratulated the entire team of the college for organising the camp.

Speaking about the importance of blood donation, Dr Loveleen Kaur Ahuja, college principal, said before transfusion, proper blood tests should be conducted to avoid any transmission of infections.

In the camp doctors put the light on various myths concerning blood donation and called on people to donate blood. Exhibition, poster competition and declamation contest was also organised on the occasion.

Ludhiana, October 5
The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) organised flag-in ceremony to celebrate the successful completion of a mountain expedition at 26th Battalion headquarters at Baddowal here.

Inspector General (NW) P.P. Singh, who was the chief guest, honoured the 33-member team of the North-West zone of the ITBP yesterday for successfully climbing two peaks. It is for the first time in the history of the ITBP that two peaks have been climbed in one expedition.

The team was flagged off from Kumba Hall, Leh, on September 2. It successfully climbed two peaks - Kakstet (6,461 m) and an unnamed peak (6,580 m) - on September 18 without any loss of life or property. According to P.P. Singh, the team displayed highest standards of physical fitness and dedication during the expedition. He congratulated the expedition leader and team members for their achievement.

During a Power Point presentation, unit head Mahesh Kala, second in command, ITBP, highlighted the problems faced by the team during the expedition.

The team sought more facilities like trekking gear for high altitudes, more time for training and more ponies for high-altitude expedition.

The personnel addressed their problems to the chief guest. P.P. Singh said: “After receiving a positive response from such programmes at the sector level, we decided to start this programme on the zonal level and invited suggestions from personnel to train at high altitude.”

Ludhiana, October 5
The 12th state conference of the Punjab Istri Sabha concluded here today with a note to wage struggle for 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and state assemblies, jobs and implementation of laws for security of women at work places.

Paying homage to the martyrs who laid down their lives during freedom struggle, the conference demanded that the sanctity of Jallianwala Bagh be maintained by preserving the originality of the place and demanded that the plan of improvement to restructure the monument be shelved.

The conference also raised its voice against communalism, slammed the Indo-US nuclear deal, gave a call to the people to rise against female foeticide, drug addiction and domestic violence while calling upon the government to curb the rise in prices of essential commodities.

According to Jit Kumari, secretary of the sabha, it was decided to increase the membership of the organisation, setting a total membership target at 1,00,000. New office bearers of the body were elected to carry forward the work of the sabha, which includes Sheela Didi, advocate, as president and Mohinder Sambar as general secretary. An executive committee was also elected.

Amarjeet Kaur and Promila Loomba, vice-presidents, National Federation of Indian Women, Nisha Sidhu and other women activists from all over Punjab were honoured at the conference. Gurcharan Kocher proposed a vote of thanks to the delegates.

Ludhiana, October 5
International Institute of Fashion design (INIFD), Ludhiana, welcomed freshers and bid farewell to its passing out batch in a grand extravaganzas organised at Friends Regency yesterday. The party was named “Casino Royale” and had a formal dress code in black, white or red to match the theme.

Ludhiana, October 5
“Koshish-2008” 9th intra-institutional festival of Punjab College of Technical Education (PCTE) honoured eight schoolteachers from various schools of Ludhiana with "best teacher award" here yesterday.

B.K. Chadha of Kendriya Vidayalaya, Baddowal Cantonment, Bhupinder Cheema of New Senior Secondary School, Sarabha Nagar, Ludhiana, Dimple Seth from Ryan International School, Ludhiana, Gurcharan Kaur Thind, Government Senior Secondary School, Dakha, Kiran Saini from BCM Arya Model School, Shastri Nagar, Ludhiana, Rajni Dhingra from BCM Arya Model School, Parminder Kaur from Khalsa College for Women, Civil Lines, Ludhiana, Neeraj Anand from Kundan Vidya Mandir, Civil Lines, Ludhiana were given the award during the festival.

Dr K.N.S. Kang, director general, PCTE, informed that PCTE started awarding the teachers of various schools from Koshish-2006 onwards. The award is given 
on the basis of best teachers survey done among first-year students of PCTE for choosing their best teacher during their schooling tenure.

Wg Cdr H.S. Gill, chairman, PCTE, congratulated the teachers. 

Raikot, October 5
The two commission agents booked for fraud by the Raikot police on Thursday are said to have fled the country. Kewal Krishan, an NRI, has reportedly fled to Canada, while Paramjit Singh has fled to the US to evade arrest.

The two ran an arhtiya shop under M/s Kissan Trading Company at grain market here.

The police had booked the two on the complaint of a farmer, Shamsher Singh, of Bhaini Baringa. During inquiry, DSP Narinder Pal Singh Ruby had found the allegations true.

The two had been accused of having duped the farmer of over Rs 27 lakh and had been booked under Sections 406, 420 and 120-B, IPC.

The two are said to be defaulters in repaying farmers’ money worth crores of rupees.

Ludhiana, October 5
Ludhiana wing and Kairon wing, Taran Tarn, drew 22-all in the last super league handball match and were declared joint winners in the girl's under-19 section in the 54th Punjab Schools Inter-District Games organised by the Punjab education department simultaneously at Guru Nanak Stadium, Government Model Senior Secondary School, and Government Senior Secondary School, Bharat Nagar Chowk ground, which concluded today. Ropar girls finished third.

Earlier in the day, Kairon wing scored an authentic win over Hoshiarpur 22-9 while Ludhiana wing defeated Ropar 24-9 to settle for the title clash match.

In football (girls’ u-19), Ludhiana secured top honours, followed by Hoshiarpur and Barnala, who finished at second and third place, respectively. In the super league phase, Ludhiana got the better of Mansa 2-0; Hoshiarpur prevailed over Barnala 1-0; Ludhiana managed to squeeze past Hoshiarpur 1-0 while Mansa drew with Barnala 1-1.

In the u-17 section, the last super league fixture between Sangrur and Ludhiana ended in a goalless draw and on the basis of better goal average, the former emerged champions. Muktsar had to content with the third position.

In the super league matches played today, Ludhiana beat Mansa 2-0; Sangrur outplayed Muktsar 2-0 and Muktsar blanked Mansa 4-0.

District education officer, Sudesh Bajaj along with Rupinder Singh Ravi, assistant education officer (sports) was present at the final matches. Pritpal Singh from Sangrur, an observer, appointed by the department supervised the proceedings. Varinder Sharma, Gurbachan Singh Grewal, Ajit Pal Singh and Gurmit Singh Sodhi, who coordinated the tournament, teachers of various schools and a large number of students also witnessed the matches on the concluding day.