Jalandhar, May 23
A violent windstorm hit the city today leading to the death of a youth and a trail of destruction. A parapet of a dilapidated building collapsed killing the youth who was crossing Company Bagh Chowk on the spot. He had sustained severe head injuries.

The police has registered a case of negligence against the owner of the building in this regard. Though the victim was not identified till the filing of this story, the body was sent for post-mortem examination to the local civil hospital.

As the storm hit the region, the PSEB authorities swung in action immediately and cut off the power supply as a preventive measure to avoid any mishap. Deputy Chief Engineer K.B.S. Kler said no loss to power distribution system had been reported so far.

People have reported fluctuations in power supplying causing damage to their electric gadgets. They also held a demonstration to lodge their protest in this regard.

The windstorm that lasted 15 minutes wreaked havoc in various parts of the city. Trees, billboards and old buildings came down crashing. Traffic was held up for some time. Those driving two wheelers had a tough time, as many were caught in the storm.

Deputy Commissioner Ajeet Singh Pannu said he received the reports of death of an unidentified person, the details of which were yet to be ascertained.

An old neem tree fell in the courtyard of a house. Though no casualty was reported, it damaged the house. Family members saved themselves by taking shelter in the veranda. A teacher from the local government school fell from a vehicle on the Ladowali road during the storm.

Amritsar, May 23
The efforts are once again on for setting up a heritage village on the campus of Guru Nanak Dev University with the holding of a workshop in which various experts from all over the state and Delhi participated. They gave their opinions on the project to be established with the help of the Central and state governments.

The project had been hanging fire for the past several years owing to the procedural hitches and a shortage of funds.

The various experts, while deliberating on the various aspects of Punjab's life, art and culture to be preserved in the heritage village, viewed to mix modernity with tradition in order to attract tourism. Some of them asked for the changes that had occurred in villages with the time, besides preserving the rich heritage of Punjab.

University Research Director Dr S.S. Chahal said a research wing would be attached to the heritage village and the various aspects related to the life of Punjabis documented and preserved on CDs. He pointed out that the village would emerge as research centre of Punjabi culture wherein the students would study the village life and folklore of rural areas that were disappearing.

Registrar Dr Raghbir Singh said it would be an attraction for the tourists.

Workshop Coordinator Dr Gurmeet Singh said the main focus of establishing the village would be documentation, research and tourism, besides highlighting various aspects of old villages. He said the proceedings of today's workshop would be presented in the heritage village coordination committee meet scheduled for May 26.

Among others, Dr Nahar Singh (Chandigarh), Dr Bhupinder Singh Khaira and Dr Baldev Singh Cheema (Patiala), Dr Jaswinder Bhullar (Delhi), Gurmukh Singh Lali (Barnala), Dr Gurbhajan Gill (Ludhiana), Dhaia Singh Shah Sikander (Dina Nagar), Shingara Aajrhi (Preet Nagar) and Dr Joginder Singh Kairon, Dr Dharam Singh, Dr Harchand Singh Bedi, Dr Paramjeet Singh Sidhu, Dr Harish Sharma and Dr S.S. Narang, all from Amritsar, presented their views.

Nawanshahr, May 23
Though the Lok Sabha elections are over, the tug-of-war on the issue of utilisation of Rs 2-crore grant between the SAD-BJP combine and Congress, holding the reins of the local Municipal Council, is far from over.

After the lifting of the model code of conduct, MC chief Rajinder Chopra, though, had put his signatures for the utilisation of municipal fund worth Rs 1.3 crore in the town, he has not done the same on the work orders prepared for utilising the grant of Rs two crore given by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

“As the tenders were opened at a meeting presided by senior vice-president Jinderjit Kaur, hence she should put her signatures on the work orders,” said the MC chief when contacted on phone. However, he added that he would put his signatures on the cheques issued for utilisation of the grant.

Executive Officer V.K. Mehta said the president was the competent authority to approve the work orders, hence the signatures of the president were needed. When asked if the president does not do so, Mehta said in such a situation the matter would be brought into the notice of the Deputy Director, Local Bodies.

SAD-BJP councillors Jinderjit Kaur and Param Singh Khalsa said if the Congress does not oblige, the SAD-BJP combine would mobilise the residents for launching a massive stir in the town.

Jalandhar, May 23
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has expressed shock and concern over the death of Dr Laxmi Garg who committed suicide after being convicted under the Pre-natal and Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) Act in Bathinda on May 18.

Dr Yash Sharma, President of the Punjab chapter of the outfit, said although their fraternity was in favour of the strict implementation of the act, the authorities should have taken into account the facts of the case presented by an IMA committee.

The deceased had more than 30 years of experience and her death had hurt the medical fraternity. In fact, the committee that sifted through the facts of the case was of the view that the provision of the act had been misused by the investigating and prosecution authorities, he alleged.

The committee reported that the aborted foetus was male and not female and this did not make it a case of female foeticide, he pointed out. The decision by the court was always on the facts presented before the court. “We suggest that a case should only be registered by the appropriate authority in consultation with the medical advisory committee.”

Batala, May 23
Pawan Kumar, son of Chaman Lal, and Pikka, son of Raj Kumar, both residents of Gandhi Camp, Batala, were arrested by the Civil Lines police here today in connection with the murder of Rajiv Kumar (40), son of Om Parkash of the local Achli Gate. The three other alleged killers are still absconding.

Rajiv Kumar was allegedly murdered by five persons on Thursday. The Civil Lines police has registered a case under sections 302, 148 and 149, IPC. Both the accused were produced before Chief Judicial Magistrate Harpreet Kaur who remanded them in police custody for one day.