Ludhiana, November 19
In defiance of the Punjab and Haryana High Court orders, senior medical officers (SMOs) in the district have failed to register cases against quacks.

Out of thousands of quacks operating in the district, the health department has been able to register cases only against 12 quacks in the past month following a formal notification from the state department of health and family welfare.

Requesting anonymity, a senior physician, who is also a member of the Indian Medical Association, stated that 500-1,000 quacks were carrying out their practice under one SMO.

Also, the failure of IMA members (authorised to report cases against quacks at the nearest police station) to act against quacks points towards their unwillingness to fight for the cause.

They usually take the plea that private practitioners who are members of the IMA are not authorised to do so, however, Dr OPS Kande, chairman of the legal cell of the state IMA, said: “Every member of the IMA is authorised to report a quack provided there is will to do so.”

Civil Surgeon Maninderjeet Singh said: “I will ensure that a case is registered against every quack at the earliest. The SMOs would have to comply with the High Court orders.”

Ludhiana, November 19
Hooked to English liquor and drugs, five unemployed school dropouts found migrants an easy target. These youths, four of them are in the police net, did not hesitate to kill migrants for money.

The SSP, SS Gill, claimed that Avtar Singh, Hardev Singh, Iqbal Singh, Amarjot and Gurpreet, residents of Rania and Bhani villages, were behind a dozen cases of snatching and assault at Dhandri, Focal Point and the surrounding industrial area.

Such was the terror of the youths -- known as the biker gang -- that the migrants had started commuting in groups while returning home.

While four of them were nabbed by the Focal Point police following a tip-off, Gurpreet, kingpin of the gang, managed to give the police the slip.

The SSP said the gang was behind the brutal murder of Manoj Kumar, a migrant, who succumbed to his wounds at the PGI a few days ago.

Recently, the gang had attacked another migrant, Rajinder Kumar, who is struggling for life at the CMCH. The police said the accused cracked during interrogation and confessed to having committed the crime.

The police seized iron rods and other sharp-edged weapons from the possession of the accused.

The accused did not know that they had killed a man and the other was struggling for life. The youths said they were intoxicated and did not know the extent of the injury inflicted on the victims.

They would attack the migrants for money to buy liquor and drugs. The accused said on the night of November 11, they waylaid Manoj Kumar and his friends near the Focal Point, Phase-VIII. While his friends fled, he was nabbed by the accused and thrashed. He sustained serious head injuries and was referred to the PGI, where he died on November 13.

The youths attacked Rajinder Kumar when he refused to hand over the money and mobile phone to them.

A source said while being taken to court, the accused got violent and sought drugs or liquor. The accused were produced in court, which sent them to police remand.

Ludhiana, November 19
The MC removed around 300 encroachments in B-zone here today. The MC squad undertook the drive from Baba Than Singh Chowk to Samrala Chowk and later towards Jamalpur.

Both temporary and permanent encroachments were removed during the day-long drive. The MC officials had divided themselves in various teams for undertaking the work.

While ATPs Kamaljeet Kaur and Nirmalpreet Singh were leading the teams and clearing encroachments, MTP Hemant Batra was following his assistants with a special team to inspect if any encroachment had been left.

Batra was also seen helping the tehbazari wing to remove a vegetable market at Sector 32 on the Chandigarh road. He said: “The vegetable market creates a lot of chaos on the road and people park vehicles haphazardly. Since the area was being covered, I directed the tehbazari superintendent not to spare anyone and demolish the structures.”

He said temporary encroachments had become permanent with the passage of time and it was better to nip these in the bud before they start mushrooming.

The MC officials also removed telephone poles in the middle of the road, rendering it dangerous for motorists. Tehbazari superintendent Naveen Malhotra said: “We have not spared any handcart or shanty encroacher. Everything was removed and the encroachers were given warning not to come back to erect temporary encroachments. Zonal Commissioner MS Jaggi was taking rounds to take stock of the situation.”

The officials said the anti-encroachment drive would continue at B-zone tomorrow.

Ludhiana, November 19
Refusing to buckle under political pressure, municipal corporation officials are going forward with a major crackdown on encroachments in the city, which was launched to following the Punjab & Haryana High Court’s directions.

Yesterday local politicians including Punjab legislative assembly deputy speaker Satpaul Gosain, Minister for Jails Hira Singh Gabria and MLA Harish Bedi had attempted to stall the action under the garb of a purported ‘agreement arrived at with Inderjit Singh Bindra, who was DC cum administrator of the municipal committee in 1972-73.

The latter was known for being tough during his tenure, when he had launched a sustained drive against encroachments notwithstanding strong opposition from the top Congress party leaders like Joginder Paul Pandey and Satpaul Mittal. Bindra refused to bow to their dictats and the Congressmen eventually held a big demonstration against him in the district administrative offices. Zail Singh who was then chief minister of the state reprimanded the Congress leaders including Pandey and Mittal and patted Bindra for his bold drive.

This reporter recalls an agreement that was reached with shopkeepers in Chaura Bazaar under which they were allowed to have small steps in front of their shops and hoardings of uniform size as well as neon signs. This was done to give a better look to the market that was then the city’s main commercial centre.

During the current drive the shopkeepers with the help of politicians of the ruling coalition have tried to take advantage of the understanding reached between them and Bindra. However, there was no such agreement that they could extend their shops by two and a half feet on both sides of the market.

The politicians had then held a meeting with MC officials and tried to bully them to halt the anti-encroachment drive for two days to ascertain the facts regarding the purported agreement with Bindra. However, the officials stuck to their guns and did not relent.

When contacted by The Tribune today, Gabria denied they had put any pressure on the MC officials to halt the drive. He added they had simply been asked to ascertain the facts on the understanding reached with Bindra.

Additional municipal commissioner Kamalpreet Brar told The Tribune the drive was going on vigorously and there was no question of halting it. She added the civic body had already demolished about 500 encroachments and illegal constructions. Today was the fourth day of the drive.

Shopkeepers in the city’s main commercial centres have extended their shops by about three feet on both sides of the markets. Enquiries by The Tribune have shown they had further leased out the extended areas in front of their shops at exorbitant rates to vendors.

MC officials as well as politicians are responsible for such illegal encroachments in different parts of the city. The entire stretch of GT Road starting from the Jagraon bridge to the Jalandhar bypass has also been encroached upon by shopkeepers and auto-rickshaws.

Meanwhile, during his visit to Ludhiana on November 16 Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal went around of the city at nighttime to get a first-hand look at the problems of vehicular traffic and illegal encroachments. He was reported to have told the DC and the MC commissioner to remove all hoardings bearing pictures of Akali and BJP leaders that have come up in different areas of the city.

Ludhiana, November 19
The Mall Road area, with rampant building bylaws violations, seems to be the next target of the MC’s demolition drive.

According to sources, assistant town planner (ATP) SS Bindra of D-zone and his team today conducted a survey here and earmarked various violations by “elite” encroachers.

Sources said barring a handful of constructions, most multistoreyed buildings would face MC action. These include Kunal Tower, Elite’s Tower, Nilibar showroom building and Saubhagya restaurant. The survey was conducted after Municipal Commissioner AK Sinha received a complaint about parking violations in the area, the sources said.

“Almost every multistoreyed building on Mall Road is using its parking for other activities while the plans sanctioned by the MC have marked the area only for parking vehicles. Since mall owners are bigwigs with political connections, no one has ever bothered to take action against them. But after this survey, we are hopeful that the city’s elite would also face action,” a senior official said.

A mall was using its parking for running an eating joint, which was a clear violation. “Due to the failure of these mall owners to provide parking space to customers, the road is often blocked due to haphazard parking. When the town planning wing had sanctioned building plans of these malls, parking space was left before every building,” he added.

Bindra, however, termed the survey as a routine affair and refused to comment further.

Ludhiana, November 19
Hundreds of non-teaching employees of the PAU cast their votes here today.

Employees working in various departments reached the venue early to cast their votes. Polling was held from 9 am to 4.30 pm. VK Dutta, chairman of the election committee, said 93.4 per cent employees had exercised their franchise. Out of a total of 1,649 voters, 1,463 employees cast their vote directly while 21 sent it through post.

He said counting would start at 9 am tomorrow and the result was expected to be declared around lunch at Pal Auditorium.

Paramjit Singh Gill from the PAU Employees Forum, Harbans Singh Mundi from PAU Employees United Front and Kewal Kumar Sachdeva from PAU Employees Welfare Front are in the fray for the post of president while Avinash Sharma from PAU Employees United Front and Jaswant Jirath from PAU Employees Welfare Front have locked horns for the post of vice-president.

Ludhiana, November 19
Peeved at certain objectionable remarks made against Guru Gobind Singh by former head priest of Akal Takht Darshan Singh during his recent visit to the USA, activists of the Sikh Students Federation-Mehta (SSF) today blocked traffic at the Jagraon bridge and burnt his effigy.

Leading the protesters, SSF district president Paramjit Singh said it was unfortunate that Darshan Singh who at one time held the post of head priest of the highest temporal body of the Sikhs, made derogatory remarks about the 10th Sikh Guru.

Pointing towards anger and resentment among the Sikhs, SSF activists urged the government to book Darshan Singh under Section 295, IPC, for committing sacrilege and hurting their religious sentiments.

“The head priest of Akal Takht should also take cognizance of the issue and pronounce an exemplary punishment to the guilty.”

Prominent among those present were Jaspal Singh, Baljit Singh, Gurdip Singh Gosha, Bhalinder Pal Singh, Khushjit Singh, Balwinder Singh Bhullar, Charanpreet Singh, Avtar Singh Lovely, Maninder Singh, Sukhdev Singh Malwey, Paramjit Singh Rana, Gurdev Singh Nagi, Paramjit Singh Sant, Tejinderpal Singh, Bharpur Singh, Gagandeep Singh Hansrey and Gurdeep Singh.

Ludhiana, November 19
Lok Bhalai Party president BS Ramoowalia has urged Home Minister P Chidambaram not to accept the resignation of Gurdwara Chief Election Commissioner Justice JC Verma.

Describing Justice Verma a noted figure, Ramoowalia said: “The SGPC is against the appointment of Justice Verma just because he belongs to a different religion. If you take an insight into his five-decade-long court career, it will be clear that Justice Verma has never given any anti-Sikh decision and he should not be denied of his job due to religion politics.”

Removing Justice Verma from the post of Gurdwara CEC just on the basis of his religion would not only be non-secular but would be a disregard to Indian Constitution too.

Reminding Chidambaram of old times, Ramoowalia said: “You and I have worked together in the Cabinet and at that time I headed the Wakf Board representing around 18 crore Muslims. When I was never denied that position on the basis of my religion, why should such a treatment be given to Justice Verma. It’s time to rise above religion politics,” he added.

He said: “The CEC has nothing to do with running the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). His duty is just to ensure neat and clean elections. If you accept Verma’s resignation due to the reason that he is a Hindu, it would send a wrong message to people.”

He added that Justice Verma was a competent person for the post and had a personality just like other six judges of the panel as recommended by the Punjab government.

Ludhiana, November 19
The District Congress Committee-Urban (DCC) and the District Youth Congress (DYC) jointly celebrated the 92nd anniversary of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at Congress Bhawan here today.

Paying tributes to the first woman Prime Minister of the country, DCC chief Jagmohan Sharma said during her tenure, India emerged as a front-line nation in the world community.

“During her life, she led the nation with courage, conviction and dynamism and she died for the sake of unity and integrity of the the country.”

DYC president Dimple Rana exhorted the youth to follow in the footsteps of the leader and serve the country with dedication and devotion.

The District Congress Sewa Dal (Urban) distributed exercise books and pencils free of cost among students of Government Primary School, Suraj Nagar, near Shimlapuri, to mark the birth anniversary of the leader.

District Congress Committee former president Krishan Kumar Bawa recalled various steps taken by the slain Prime Minister to bring the country among the top few nations of the world.

“During her tenure, India inflicted a crushing defeat to Pakistan in 1971, which led to the creation of Bangladesh, banks were nationalised, privy purses of erstwhile princes were abolished and the country achieved all-round development.”

Other speakers, including Sewa Dal president Nirmal Singh Kaira and Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee secretary Shashi Sood said Indira was a dynamic and committed leader who initiated several measures for empowerment of women during her regime.

A prayer meeting was also organised at Shahi Mohalla wherein PPCC secretary Chander Shekhar Sahota along with other party functionaries paid tributes to the former Prime Minister.

The speakers recalled various policies and programmes chalked out by the government under the leadership of Indira Gandhi for the elimination of poverty, child labour, atrocities against the Dalits and women and caste-based discrimination.

Khanna, November 19
The construction work on the Lalheri Road flyover will begin soon as all technical modalities for the purpose have nearly been completed.

This was stated by Khanna SDM Dr Abhinav Tekha in a press release here today.

He said beside panchayat members and villagers from adjoining villages having expressed their desire for construction of the bridge by passing resolutions in their respective villages, many organisations and figures of the town had desired the same.

He said a section of people had been falsely propagating that construction work would not begin due to lack of space and other technical hitches. “It is made clear to all residents that the construction work will begin soon. Space for the bridge will be made available by removing encroachment from adjoining the construction site on the Lalheri road,” he said.

He said people had been demanding the construction of a bridge on the stretch as patients had to face difficulty reaching the hospital due to a level crossing. Many accidents had also been reported on the road.

The proposal of an under-bridge was also discussed but as people residing in nearby buildings were to face problem and many streets had to be closed permanently, the proposal was rejected.

He urged people to help the administration in completing the work on the flyover within the stipulated time-frame.

Ludhiana, November 19
An interactive session with clients of the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector was organised by the PNB here today. The meeting was attended by around 100 existing as well as prospective clients of the bank. Deputy general manager, Ludhiana circle, GS Chauhan, AGM JK Gupta, AGM CL Mahajan and other staff members of the bank attended the meeting.

In his inaugural address, Chauhan expressed his views on the special focus towards the role of MSMEs as growth engine. He said the total business of the bank had increased to Rs 39,4382 crore by the end of September. Out of this, gross advances stood at Rs1,63,559 cr and the share of MSMEs at Rs 31,030 cr.

Chauhan said the Ludhiana circle had made advances of Rs 1,877 cr to the MSME sector up to September 30 and proposed to achieve Rs 2,205 cr by March 31, next year.

He said the government, based on the performance of the bank, had conferred five awards on the PNB under the banks category, which was the highest number of awards given to any bank in recognition of its services to the MSME sector.

He added that the PNB’s MSME portfolio of around Rs 31,030 cr constituted around 19 per cent of total bank credit.

During 2008-09, the bank had achieved a growth of 30 per cent and during 2009-10 it was up to 63.67 per cent. He highlighted the MSME schemes launched by the bank to boost the flow of credit to these sectors.

Jagraon, November 19
The anti-encroachment drive on the Ferozepore road, Ludhiana, has been appreciated by residents of Ludhiana as well as others.

Recently, a massive demolition drive had been carried out on both sides of the national highway from Bharat Nagar Chowk to the octroi post on the Ferozepore road.

Though the demolition squad faced criticism for a pick-and-choose policy on the first day, residents welcomed the neutral demolition drive from the second day.

Baljinder Singh said the departments should know that the people residing in satellite towns and rural areas had the same right to living as Ludhiana residents.

Jatinder Kaur said the demolition drive should continue till at least all encroachments along national highways were cleared.

Dr Hari Singh stated that liquor shops alongside roads had been causing major problems for commuters in the evenings as those consuming liquor at the ‘ahatas’ on the road turned national highways into parking lots.

The stretch of the Ferozepur road from Jagraon to Mullanpur had been termed bloody road due to a large number of deaths in accidents in recent years.

Liquor vend contractor Pardeep Kumar had opened his vend and ‘ahata’ just 10 feet from the national highway at Mullanpur on on PWD land.

The vend had been operative for the past two years.

Not only Mullanpur, Jagraon and Moga had been facing the same problem.

The satellite towns on the Chandigarh road, the Delhi road and the Jalandhar road also gave the same look in the evenings.

Ludhiana, November 19
The city traffic police impounded 11 rice husk trucks for violating traffic rules as part of a drive against the plying of overloaded vehicles here today.

The action was taken following a Ludhiana Tribune report published on November 13, highlighting the plying of overloaded rice husk trucks on the Ferozepore road, which had led to fatal accidents.

The police today laid a trap at various entry points of the city and impounded 11 overloaded trucks and trolleys plying rice husk.

DSP traffic Harmohan Singh said, “As winter has set in in the region and fog can be expected any time, it will lead to limited visibility. Under such circumstances, the plying of overloaded rice husk trucks can prove fatal for commuters, especially on the Ferozepore road.”

Anil Bhanot, SHO traffic, said the impounded trucks and trolleys were overloaded and were plying without documents.

The trucks confiscated belonged to influential rice millers and they were pressurising the police to release the trucks impounded.

Rice husk is used as a fuel in dyeing units.

During winter, the demand for rice husk multiplies as dyeing units have to meet the demand of hosiery manufacturers.

Ludhiana, November 19
Having been cured of epilepsy following surgery at the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) here, Harpreet (19) and Sukhjinder (15) beamed with joy as they narrated their journey from pain to pleasure on the International Epilepsy Day today.

It was the psycho-social rehabilitation programme initiated by the hospital that had helped them step into the mainstream with confidence, they revealed.

Harpreet used to get three or four fits every month since he was three months old, but what was more disconcerting was the public rejection that he had to face as a child, rued his mother Dalip Kaur.

“We supported him to carry on with his studies despite his frequent long absence from school. The best thing happened after his diagnosis at the DMCH, wherein he was operated upon this August. Not only has he recovered from his fits, but the team at the DMCH has infused confidence in Harpreet,” she added.

Dr Gagandeep Singh, the epileptologist at the DMCH, stated that one of every hundred persons suffered from epilepsy and ignorance about the disease and its advanced treatment was the main hindrance in curing it.

The primary components of the pre-surgical evaluation were detailed clinical history and physical examination, advanced neuro-imaging, video-EEG monitoring, neuropsychological testing and assessment of psychosocial functioning, said Dr Gagandeep Singh.

In a majority of patients with epilepsy, seizures could be controlled with appropriate medication, but current estimates indicated that between 20 and 30 per cent of patients with epilepsy were refractory.

These medically intractable patients were candidates for surgical treatment so as to achieve better seizure control, he observed.

Dr Daljit Singh, principal of the DMCH, called upon the people to do away with misconceptions attached to epilepsy, referred to as ‘mirgi da daura’ by rustic populace.

“It is traumatic for the epilepsy patient when he is pinched, slapped or gagged or made to smell a shoe. The patient should immediately be taken to the nearby doctor or hospital,” he added.

Raikot, November 19
Eight members of the co-operative agricultural society of Tugal village have been declared elected unopposed.

Elections to the nine-member society was scheduled for 9 am on November 17, but the nomination papers of only eight candidates were received by returning officer Hakam Singh and his assistant Rala Singh.

Those who were declared elected were Nachhatar Singh, Malkait Singh, Gurbax Singh, Jeeta Singh, Gurmukh Singh, Piara Singh, Jagraoj Singh and Gurdev Singh.

On the other hand, Gurbax Singh, vice-president of the society and a former sarpanch of the village, levelled allegations against the returning officer.

According to him, nomination papers were to be filed till 11:30 am, but the returning officer, acting under political pressure, refused to accept the nomination papers of Shangara Singh, Gurcharan Singh, Jasmail Singh and Ranjodh Singh on the pretext of filing their nomination papers late.

He claimed that had the nomination papers of his supporters been accepted, it would have resulted in the defeat of SAD candidates.

Supporters of Gurbax Singh raised anti-government slogans when they were turned out from the election venue and he threatened to approach the Punjab and Haryana High Court over the issue.

Hakam Singh and Rala Singh were firm that the four candidates were trying to submit their nomination papers after the scheduled time limit.

Ludhiana, November 19
Students of Ram Lal Bhasin Public School have donated for the underprivileged children through the Smile Foundation.

The foundation reaches out to over one lakh children per year through various education and healthcare projects across the country.

They have special programmes like Swabhiman, Smile on Wheels, Individual Support Programme and Health With Smile.

Parents and students made efforts to support street children, bonded child labour and child victims of natural calamities.

In appreciation of the efforts put in by the students, the foundation gave medals, certificates and badges to the children for their contribution.

Ludhiana, November 19
A large number of tiny tots took part in various fun games on the opening day of the 25th annual sports meet at Nankana Sahib Public School Gill Park, here today.

Students, representing four different houses, took out an impressive march past. Sahibzada Jujhar Singh House was declared the best contingent in the march past, while Sahibzada Ajit Singh House and Sahibzada Zorawar Singh House followed in second and third place, respectively.

MLA Darshan Singh Shivalik and councillor Paramjeet Kaur Shivalik inaugurated the two-day meet.

Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee member Harsurinder Singh and Nankana Sahib Education Trust director Gurcharan Singh along with school principal Harmeet Kaur Waraich, parents and students were present there.

Results: Nursery: obstacle race (boys): Satnam Singh 1, Jobanpreet Singh 2 and Baldeep Singh 3; girls: Akaljot Kaur 1, Ekampreet Kaur 2 and Avneet Kaur 3.

UKG: banana eating race (boys): Harshpreet Singh 1, Gurkirat Singh 2 and Gagandeep Singh 3; girls: Muskan Khanna 1, Salwinder Kaur 2 and Mehak Khurana 3.

Class I: frog race (boys): Karan Sandhu 1, Jaskaran Singh 2 and Dhurinder Singh 3; girls: Navpreet Kaur 1, Sukhnimrat Kaur 2 and Paramdeep Kaur 3.