Ludhiana, October 19
Though the MC has been trying to take steps to
prevent the rise in the number of dengue cases,
there are certain sites which have been left out
by the authorities.

These areas are waterlogged for the past several days
and are the perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Topping the list is a place on the GT Road where water
has collected over the past few years.

A fish vendor said: “The water has been standing here for the past 10 years. I know it because I started selling fish here.”

The waterlogged site is at a lower level from the road and is visible from the road. Baba Deep Singh Nagar also has waterlogged areas.

Maninder Singh, a resident, said: “There is a leakage in the sewer due to which dirty water comes out regularly and has been standing here for the past few months.”

He said the area was on the main road and even then the MC had not been able to take care of it.

Another resident said despite several complaints and visits by some officials, they had only got assurances.

The industrial estate road, which houses Guru Har Rai Complex, also has such spots. Shopkeepers said the stagnant water here was a result of the recent rain.

Nitin Goyal and Prem Maloo, who have shops in the complex, said: “The road was repaired a few days ago as Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had to visit the trade centre for sangat darshan and his convoy had to pass through the road.”

They said several workers and shopowners of the area were suffering from dengue. The son of a shopkeeper had also died of dengue, they said.

Sewers had been laid in the area, but these had not been connected, due to which water could not be drained out from the road, they added.

Transport Nagar also has huge potholes, which get filled with water. Until yesterday, 1,196 cases had been reported.

Ludhiana, October 19
In what could be a reflection on the unhygienic condition prevailing in central jail, the jail superintendent, Kuldeep Singh, has been rendered ineffectual due to dengue.

This has raised concern about the unhygienic conditions in the central jail as one inmate died in mysterious circumstances today.

This was the third death in less than 10 days due to ailment. The inmate, Manjeet Singh (22), was found unconscious this morning.

He was rushed to the civil hospital where he was declared dead.

Jail officials said his viscera would be sent to a special laboratory in Patiala to ascertain the exact cause of death.

Sources in the jail said two inmates were also suffering from dengue.

Complaints made by jail officials to the MC to clear garbage being dumped outside the jail premises have borne no fruit.

The problem has been aggravated due to the discharge of effluents from dyeing units into the Budda Nullah.

It falls in the proximity of the jail. It has become a breeding centre for mosquitoes.

“We have taken preventive measures inside the jail premises, but we cannot do anything about the filthy conditions outside the jail premises,” a jail official said on the condition of anonymity.

Relatives of Manjeet Singh said he died due to unhygienic conditions inside the jail.

“Only yesterday he was complaining of filthy conditions inside the jail when he came here for hearing at the district court complex and today he died under mysterious circumstances,” a relative said.

Ludhiana, October 19
With the authorities being unable to take care of public parks, it seems residents have taken over the work of maintaining the parks.

Residents have contributed money for the upkeep of a public park on the club road and have set an example for others to emulate.

Residents said the park was in a bad condition and the municipal corporation had only laid tiles as path in the park.

Constructed and maintained at a cost of Rs 1 lakh until now, the residents had been making the contribution from their own pockets.

A resident, Vipin Sood, said: “This park is a result of team work. We formed an organisation named Club Road Association to initiate the work. We also built a shed in the park, keeping in mind the weather conditions.”

Since there was no political motive, no posts were assigned to anyone and work was done through mutual understanding.

Brahm Mahindra, another resident, said similar efforts should be made by residents of other areas.

Raikot, October 19
The police has registered a case of rape against two youths. Harjinder Singh of the Gehlan police picket under the Bhadaur (Barnala) police station has also been booked for allegedly taking away Rs 1,000 and a mobile phone from the victims and making them sit in the police station, along with the accused, for four hours.

He charged a handsome amount from the accused for letting them go without registering a case.

Eighteen-year-old Manbir Kaur (name changed) and nineteen-year-old Manjit
Kaur (name changed) are students of Government Senior Secondary School
at Bassian village.

In their complaint, they said they had never seen the accused before and they became friends only on the phone.

Harjinder Singh, alias Pinda, of Himmatpura (Barnala) and Harpreet Singh, alias Baggi, allegedly lured them with a promise of marriage and kept them captive at Himmatpura and raped them.

In the morning, they told them that they had no intention of marrying them as the “motive” of friendship had been achieved.

They then dropped the victims at their village. The munshi of the Gehla police chowki stopped them on the way and took them to the police post.

After taking away their mobile phone and cash, he struck a deal with the accused and let them go.

In the evening, he handed over the girls to an unknown person and asked him to drop them home.

He kept them at his house in Kalsan village (Raikot) on the night of October 17 and dropped them near a gurdwara at Hathur village the next day.

When they reached home, they narrated the incident to their family, who then approached the police.

Though the medical examination of the victims confirmed sexual intercourse, the report was silent on rape.

The police has registered a case against the three, but no arrest has been
made so far.

Mullanpur Dakha, October 19
Farmers of the area have suffered a huge loss after potatoes stored by them in a cold storage got destroyed due to “poor” management by the owner.

Farmers of nearby villages had stacked about 50,000 bags of potato in a cold store at Mandiani village on the Jagraon road in March.

The potatoes were to be stored till October and they had paid Rs 55 per bag as advance for the period.

When Gurcharan Singh of Dolon Kala went to get his potatoes back, he found 1,600 of his bags rotting. When other farmers got to know of it, they visited the cold store and found more than 20,000 bags rotting there.

Balwant Singh and Khushwant Singh of Mohie village said this happened due to mismanagement and negligence of Kuldeep Singh, owner of the cold store.

Kuldeep Singh, however, said only Pushkar and Pukhraj variety of potatoes were stored in his cold store and these varieties start rotting October onwards.

He claimed that the farmers were late in picking up the produce from the cold store. Other farmers who had stored these varieties in other cold stores had withdrawn those in September, he said.

The farmers said the bags had to be moved about in the cold store. If this was not done, they start rotting and develop sprout.

They said other cold stores charged only Rs 40 per bag for storing potatoes, but in spite of the higher rates, the cold store owner failed to look after their bags.

Khanna, October 19
Residents of Preet Nagar have been going without water for the past three days. The problem arose due to faulty water pipes near the Girls’ College on Amloh road.

A few days ago, a water pipe had burst. This led to collection of water.

Area residents said in the absence of timely repair, minor accidents and traffic chaos were happening frequently in the area.

Also, sewerage work was in progress in the same area, worsening the matter.

“Residents approached the MC and some officials were deputed to fix the problem, but nothing has been done to resume water supply,” Mangat Singh, a resident, said.

People are fetching water from other mohallas in the vicinity. The councillor of the area, Santokh Singh Atwal, said he was unaware of the problem. “I would visit the place and ensure that the problem is taken care of,” he added.

Ludhiana, October 19
The Civil Veterinary Hospital in Haibowal, the only government clinic, is in a dilapidated condition.

A visit to the clinic raises a doubt on how veterinary officers and pharmacists are working at a place, which has nothing in the name of hygiene.

A few rooms with broken windows and doors is what one finds as one enters it. The compound has residential accommodation for the employees but the condition the flats have forced migrant labourers to stay there.

Being a hospital, there is no sign of cleanliness in and around the complex, which is infested with spider webs.

Interestingly, medicines have been stored in the toilet. Even a primary school is being run in the verandah of the complex.

According to information, the land and the building belong to the municipal corporation and an employee, Hari Ram, who has been working here for the past six years, looks after the complex.

Hari Ram said: “Thieves have broken into flats and other accommodations at the backyards on numerous occasions. There is just a small boundary wall around the complex that, too, is broken. So after requesting seniors, we decided to employee a guard who stays there.”

Senior veterinary officer Y.P. Singh, who holds an additional charge of the hospital, said: “The fee received from the daily check-up goes to the municipal corporation. A post of veterinary officer is laying vacant in the hospital.”

Municipal commissioner G.S. Ghuman said the veterinary officers never approached the corporation for any help or discussing the hospital’s condition. “Whenever they will come to us, we will surely solve their problem”, he added.

Ludhiana, October 19
Despite repeated efforts by the district administration, environment-friendly organisations and NGOs, the practice of stubble (residue) burning in open fields continues unabated in this part of the region, polluting the degraded environment.

With harvesting of paddy at its peak, loads of remains of produce are being burnt in various villages.

The surroundings become worse during the festival of lights- Diwali, when smoke from fireworks too adds to the pollution.

In the recent past, a number of fire incidents due to stubble burning have
been reported from various parts of the state, but farmers, it seems, refuse
to learn any lessons.

Seeing no other option to curb the practice, Balbir Singh Rajewal, president, Bharti Kisan Union (Rajewal), said ultimately, the government needed to take an initiative to stop stubble burning.

Farmers, already reeling under financial crunch, cannot afford to buy expensive rotavators - a machine that cuts the produce in depth.

“The cost of one machine is about Rs 1 lakh and the farmer does not feel the need to buy the machine. Burning of remains in fields seem convenient to him as no expenses are involved in the process,” he said adding that the state government had started distributing rotavators to various cooperative societies for destroying the remains according to the demands of villagers, but the process will take some time to become popular.

Rajewal further said raw paper could be made from the remains of (paddy) produce, but the knowledge regarding this had to be provided to the farmers by government agencies. He said farmers had found a way of making fodder from the remains of wheat but from paddy there was no option available.

According to experts in Punjab Agriculture University (PAU), paddy crop occupying an area of around 25 lakh hectare, produced paddy straw to the tune of 20 million tonnes. Efforts were being made to develop technologies to manage this residue through mechanisation and other means, he added.

The department of farm power and machinery at the university has developed machines like happy seeder, straw baler, flat type chopper-cum-spreader, etc. for managing residue. Experts stress not to burn paddy straw in open fields.

Regular burning of residue causes many respiratory problems to the residents. The condition of patients of chronic cough and asthma deteriorates during the season due to pollutants generated by residue burning and crackers.

Ludhiana, October 19
A 38 year-old-man, who lost his right leg in
an accident 26 years ago, gave a gift of an
ability to walk to another who had lost his
leg in the Shingar bomb blast.

Pardeep Kumar, a prosthetics technician
with Viklang Sahayta Kendra of the
Bharatiya Vikas Parishad, worked for two
days to prepare an artificial foot for Pawan
Kumar, a Shingar blast victim.

The foot was donated to him under the
supervision of honorary secretary of the
parishad R.P. Gupta after which Pawan
walked without crutches after a year.
Pardeep lost his right leg in a road
accident when he was just 12-year-old.

He thought of working as a prosthetics technician so that he could help scores like him to walk without crutches.

He took training from the BVP centre, Delhi, and is working with their local centre for the past eight years.

‘‘It gave me immense satisfaction that I have made it possible for many like me to walk. Otherwise they were forced to live a life at a slow pace. Now, all of them don’t need crutches. It’s a great feeling as I can understand their sorrow at losing a limb and at the same time pleasure at getting an artificial one.’’ he added.

It was dream come true for Pawan, who smiled after a long time. ‘‘I am so happy that I am able to walk. Though I have developed a back pain due to my walking with the help of crutches I am told it would go away after some time. I have called my parents today who were too happy to hear the news,” he added.

The office-bearers of the BVP had invited the physically challenged to contact them for an artificial foot.

Naresh Mittal, convener and Dr Kuldip Singh, president of Viklang Sahayta Kender said they had provided artificial limbs to 28,500 physically challenged so far.

Their centre organises free polio surgeries on every second Sunday. They have corrected polio debilities of 292 victims till date.

Ludhiana, October 19
After degree colleges, it is the education colleges that are buzzing with various cultural, artistic and literary activities.

The Panjab University Zonal Diamond
Jubilee Youth and Heritage Festival of
Educational Colleges (Zone A) commenced
with enthusiasm at GMT College of
Education today.

As many as 17 colleges are participating
in the four-day cultural extravaganza.

The festival was inaugurated by Satpal
Gosain, deputy speaker of the Punjab
Legislative Assembly, and Dr T.P. Singh
with lighting of lamp.

The events which were held in morning session included shabad/bhajan, Indian group singing, light music-geet/ghazal, collage making, poster making and cartooning. In the evening session the competitions of classical music, instrumental music, orchestra, group folk orchestra, folk instruments, on the spot painting, still life drawing and clay modelling were held.

The participating teams include students of B.Ed colleges from Mukerian, Hoshiarpur, Khanna, Nawanshehar and Chandigarh.

Gurusar Sudhar, October 19
On the third day of Panjab University, zonal youth and heritage festival (zone-B) hosted by GHG Khalsa College of Education about 19 colleges participated.

The chief guest was S. Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, SSP, Ludhiana (rural), and the guests of honour were Mohinder Kaur Gill and Gurjeet Singh Romana, retired SP.

Doraha, October 19
Theatrical items such as drama, histronics, skit, mime and mimicry were performed by various colleges at zone- A youth and heritage festival.

The festival entered its third day today. Prof S.S. Bari, registrar Panjab University Chandigarh, who was the chief guest urged the students to follow their teachers.

Roop Brar, president college managing committee; Prof Balwant Singh Pangali, general secretary college managing committee; director Jaswant Singh Gill, Tarlok Singh Jaggi and principal R.S. Jhanji were also present.

Ludhiana, October 19
Terming the recessionary trends prevailing all over the world, including the USA and other developed nations as collapse of the capitalism, the Marxist Communist Party of India-United (MCPI-U) today strongly opposed the policies of economic liberalisation and privatisation being pursued by the Congress and the BJP.

The party also questioned the India-USA civil nuclear deal saying it was a betrayal of the nation by the Congress-led UPA government.

A state-level convention of the party held at mini secretariat here expressed
concern over the skyrocketing prices of all essential commodities and ever-
increasing unemployment in the country, which had hit the poor and middle
classes the hardest.

A resolution adopted at the meet, noted with regret that despite sharp decline in the crude oil prices in the international market, the union government had refused to pass on the benefit to the people by way of bringing down the prices of petrol, diesel and the LPG.

Releasing deliberations of the convention, state secretary of the party Kuldip Singh said the meeting observed that rampant corruption in the administration, political set up and judiciary was eroding the very roots of the democratic system.

In particular, the police force had become highly politicised and brutal which
called for a high-level probe into the disproportionate assets of majority of the
senior police officers.

Through other resolutions, the MCPI-U demanded enhancement of bonus on paddy crop, adequate compensation to farmers for crop losses due to inclement weather, revision of minimum wages of the industrial workers and other employees and scrupulous implementation of labour laws with right of unrestricted trade union activities, said Kuldip Singh.

Ludhiana, October 19
A meeting was held here yesterday for highlighting the difficulties being faced by the knitwear industry with specific reference to the excise and taxation problems.

Jagdish Sahni, parliamentary secretary, excise and taxation, Punjab, was the chief guest while O.P. Bhardwaj, district president of the BJP, was the guest of honour.

A memorandum was submitted to Sahni regarding the problems being faced
by the industry.

The meeting demanded that the entry tax on polyester and acrylic yarn be waived off or reduced as in the case of the worsted woolen products and shoddy yarn.

The members said at a time when credit facilities were not being extended to the industry as liberally as on earlier occasions and interest rate on advances was increasing abnormally, withholding of VAT export refund to the tune of lakhs of rupees was further throttling the entrepreneurs.

They said the government had done well in fixing a specific time under the Industrial Facilitation Act for disposing off various issues.

They demanded that a similar time limit be fixed for disposing off VAT export refund so that the entrepreneurs could utilise their blocked funds for productive purpose.

The members said the entrepreneurs were subjected to continued harassment especially under voicing of their goods.

The issue continues to hang fire despite various meeting between the representatives from the industry and authorities of the department. They demanded that such coercive tactics should not be used.

At least 700 senior students of government schools in Humbran, Kalakh and Latala villages were also made aware of various traffic rules and benefits of following them.

Beside this, they also conducted a special workshop on traffic rules for drivers and cleaners of Mandi Ahmedgarh truck union at Pohir village. At least 300 drivers and cleaners attended the workshop.

Ludhiana, October 19
Living in oblivion, city resident Kukku Bakshi has finally got recognition from a US-based association that will honour him for rendering selfless services towards stray animals, particularly dogs.

Resident of Karimpura Bazaar, Kukku is an ardent animal lover and feeds hundreds of stray dogs every morning on the streets of Ludhiana.

Though his selfless love towards stray dogs was never acknowledged by any organisation, he said a US-based organisation has approved his noble work.

Kukku said he had received an admiration letter from the supreme master, Ching Hai International Association, which mentions that he would be presented the “Shining World Compassion Award for the noble and gracious service he had been delivering and for his warm-hearted efforts to improve the world”.

Ludhiana, October 19
The Sarabha Nagar police has booked four person in a case of domestic violence. Complainant Sawaranjit Kaur has accused her husband Hitpal Singh, mother-in-law Gurcharan Kaur and sister-in-law Sukhjit Kaur and Balraj Kaur for torturing and forcing her to indulge in immoral activities.

She alleged that on October 11, her husband and in-laws once again beat up and threatened her after she refused to succumb to their demands.

The accused were carrying the narcotics in an Indica car near Faizgarh village. They were arrested during a special naka near the village. A case has been registered.

Ludhiana, October 19
Hosts BCM Arya Model Senior Secondary School, Shastri Nagar, and DAV Public School, Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar, emerged champions in the boy’s u-19 and girl’s u-19 sections, respectively, in the Ludhiana Sahodaya Schools Complex Handball Tournament held at BCM Arya School here.

In the boy's final, BCM Arya Senior Secondary School got the better of GHG Public School, Sidhwan Khud.

They won the verdict 20-15. For the winners, Sonikbir and Tanwinder Singh contributed eight and five points, respectively, while Baldeep Singh (5) and Gurdeep Singh (4) fought well for the other team. Spring Dale Public School, Sherpur Chowk branch, Ludhiana, secured the third position.

In the girl’s section, DAV Public School, Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar, emerged champions while GHG Public School, Sidhwan Khurd, were the runners-up and BCM Arya Model Senior Secondary School, Shastri Nagar, Ludhiana, had to contend with the third spot.

Ludhiana, October 19
Jarkhar Academy overcame a strong challenge from the Singhu Academy of Delhi 3-2 to set up the title clash with the Sangrur Academy which scored an easy 4-1 win over the DAV Academy, Chandigarh, in the semifinals of the 9th All-India Mata Surjit Kaur Hockey League being held at the Mata Sahib Kaur Stadium, Jarkhar, about 15 km from here, today.

In the first semifinal, the Sangrur Academy lads faced a little resistance from their opponents, DAV Academy. The Sangrur Academy drew the first blood in the 15th minute when Arjun Singh sounded the board.

Three minutes later, Sukhdeep Singh added a goal to increase the lead 2-0. Parminder Singh made it 3-0 in the 52nd minute while the DAV Academy lads reduced the margin in the 55th minute 3-1.

In the 85th minute, the Sangrur Academy players enhanced the lead 4-1
through a field goal scored by Narinder Singh which they managed to hang
on till the long hooter.

The second semifinal played between the Jarkhar Academy and the Singhu Academy turned out to be a ding-dong battle in which the former came out triumphant with a whisker 3-2.

The Jarkhar Academy opened their account in the 7th minute through a penalty corner conversion by Lovepreet Singh. They exhibited fine hockey and managed to sneak into the rival's territory time and again, however, failed to increase the lead.

After changing ends, the Singhu Academy lads enjoyed the upper hand as they started the proceeding in a organised way.

They exerted full pressure upon their opponents and eventually succeeded in scoring the equaliser in the 52nd minute through a field goal by Pardeep Singh.

They went ahead in the 58th minute when Balram Singh found the target to
read it 2-1.

Stung at the reverse, Jarkhar Academy players went all out and made repeated forays into the rivals' area.

The pressure tactics yielded results in the 70th minute when Ishmeet Singh sounded the board to level the score 2-all.

With few seconds to go for the long whistle, the Jarkhar Academy scored the all important goal through Tejinder Pal Singh which enabled them to secure a berth in the title clash match with the Sangrur Academy.

Ludhiana, October 19
Jarkhar XI in u-16 years section while Grewal Academy of Kila Raipur in u-16 years group scored authentic wins in the Punjab State Weekend Hockey Tournament for boys being organised by the Punjab Sports Department at the Prithipal Singh Memorial AstroTurf Stadium, Punjab Agricultural University, here today.

In the first match of the day, Jarkhar XI proved its superiority over Moga 'A' in a group A match in the u-16 years section, whom they blanked 5-0 in which Daljit Singh and Navjot Singh scored a brace each.

Daljit Singh converted a penalty corner in the 12th minute to put Jarkhar XI into the lead. Two minutes later, they consolidated the lead through a field goal which came off Navjot Singh's stick. He again found the target in the 30th minute to lead 3-0.

Four minute before the half time, Gurinder Singh struck which made it 4-0 while Daljit Singh converted another penalty corner in the 37th minute to guide his team to a 5-0 win.

The second match played in group B in the u-14 years section between Moga 'B' and Faridkot ended in 1-1 draw.

It were Moga 'B' lads who shot into the lead in the 19th minute when Satwant
Singh scored a field goal. Faridkot scored the equaliser in the 47th minute through
Sikander Singh.

Both teams tried their best to score the match decider but failed to make use of the opportunities which came their way.

In the third match (group C) u-14, Grewal Academy of Kila Raipur overwhelmed Fatehgarh Sahib 8-0.

The winners went into early lead as Harjit Singh struck in first minute. Sukhwinder Singh made it 2-0 in the fifth minute while Jaspal Singh enhanced the lead as he found the target in the 7th and then in the 8th minute to further cement the lead.