Ludhiana, May 18
A saxophonist with a band was allegedly stabbed to death by his drunken colleague following a heated argument near Domoria Bridge here late last night.

The police has detained the accused, Laxman Singh (30), in this connection.

The victim, identified as Ashok Kumar Yadav (29) from Bihar, was stabbed to death with a kitchen knife at the office of Surya Band located near the bridge. The band members would stay at the office itself.

Davinder Kumar, SHO of Division No. 4, said the incident took place around 12.30 am when Ashok Yadav, Laxman Singh and Munna were drinking liquor. Munna reportedly told the police that Ashok and Laxman were heavily drunk and while cooking dinner, they entered into a heated argument and blows were exchanged.

As Ashok was stronger, he beat up Laxman. In a fit of rage, Laxman took a knife and stabbed Ashok in the chest before fleeing.

Munna immediately informed the other employees of the band. He was taken to a charitable hospital where he was declared brought dead.

Later, the police took the body of the victim in its custody and sent it for a postmortem. The police launched a massive manhunt and nabbed the accused. However, no case had been registered until the filling of this report.

Some shopkeepers alleged that Laxman was hotheaded and used to drink a lot. He would then quarrel with them, too.

Ludhiana, May 18
If you think government employees have to brave only the scorching sun in undertaking enumeration work for next year’s population census then you are wide off the mark. They have also to reckon with rude servants, insensitive gatekeepers and ferocious dogs while performing their duty.

When these census officials, some of whom hold plum positions in various government departments, visit homes in the city’s more upmarket localities they are often shooed away by servants who take them for door-to-door salesmen.

The administration is receiving a wide range of complaints from the government employees assigned to conduct the headcount in posh colonies. Many of them say the city’s rich and famous are “insensitive” to them.

Census officials deployed in Sarabha Nagar, Gurdev Nagar, Model Town, Mall Road, Civil Lines area and other upscale areas in the city have been grumbling that most residents are not cooperating and many have even refused to open the door when they visited their homes.

"It’s become almost a daily routine for me now. Only today I narrowly escaped an attack by a ferocious dog when I entered a house to collect information for the census. Whenever we visit homes of the well to do the occupants refuse to meet us. The gatemen posted there often tell us to visit the house after taking an appointment with the owner. If we somehow manage to get the excess inside the house than the servant shoo us away taking us as door-to-door salesman. We face a lot of problems while conducting the survey during the afternoon as women refuse to divulge any details in the absences of their husbands," said a government schoolteacher assigned census duty.

However, those deployed in apartment complexes appear to be the worst hit. Narrating their woes, a group of government employees who were conducting the census survey in flats located in Sant Ishwar Singh Nagar, Sham Singh Road near Ghumar Mandi and on Mall Road said: "It’s getting very tiring - we begin the exercise on the ground floor and finish on the top floor in every block. It’s like starting from scratch time and again. The apartments constructed in Sant Ishwar Singh Nagar and near Ghumar Mandi don’t have elevators. At these places the whole thing gets very exhausting in this scorching weather."

Some government officials deployed on census duty have been smart enough to manipulate the task to their advantage. For example, a teacher was said to have employed some ‘anganwari’ (childcare centre) teachers to do the survey for him.

At some homes officials only ask about the basic details about members of the family, filling out most of the other columns in survey forms by themselves.

Meanwhile, deputy commissioner Rahul Tiwari could not be contacted for his comments as he was said to be busy in several meetings in the city.

Ludhiana, May 18
Charity begins at home, but not for the Ludhiana municipal corporation, which has actively been engaged in removing encroachments from the entire city.

While encroachers have spread their tentacles right under their nose at the Kartar Singh Sarabha Municipal Market, the authorities have so far preferred to look the other way.

In this market near the Campa Cola Chowk, around 60 shops (in the building of the civic body itself) have encroached upon the passageways meant for the convenience of general public. But the authorities have failed to get these cleared under their much-publicised “anti-encroachment drives”.

In the building, the LMC has given shops and offices on lease, where all kinds of businesses, including wine, confectionary, eating joints, spares, etc. are being run. Outside these shops, are passageways for public. However, almost all five-foot-wide passageways have been encroached upon by shopkeepers for their personal use.

While some have extended their counters right across the passageways, others have blocked these by keeping their goods there.

“Why can the authorities not get these passageways cleared? In their own building, people have encroached upon public property, which creates nuisance. It is not a matter of a single day. The shopkeepers have taken around five years to extend their shops but due to the lack of will, they have not been stopped. We can set an example only if we are clean ourselves,” said Sarabjit Singh Kaka, councillor from ward No. 44.

Ludhiana, May 18
After the felling of nearly three lakh trees and plants in the district for the widening of the National Highway-I, it appears that the city is heading for another ecological crisis as the government has ordered the axing of nearly 10,000 trees for the construction of the Rs 400-crore expressway on the southern bypass along Sidhwan Canal.

Ecologists are concerned at the indifferent attitude of the forest department, which is “planting” saplings only on paper.

Today, 1,000 neem and eucalyptus trees along the Gill road and in BRS Nagar were cut down. Landscapist BS Bath said the green cover along the GT Road was removed in the name of development and now these trees had been chopped. “The day is not far when people would visit zoos to see green cover,” he said.

The felling has also miffed shopkeepers -- a majority of them motor mechanics -- for now there is no shade and they have to brave the heat. They said the government should have undertaken the project in winter.

“At a time when the power supply is disrupted, the shade of these trees was the only respite from scorching heat,” Darshan Singh, a motor mechanic, remarked.

Meanwhile, the expressway project, under which a 26-km stretch of road along the canal would be four laned, has caught the fancy of investors and real estate agents and developers are being bombarded with enquiries.

Ludhiana, May 18
The tattoo culture is adding to the number of "Hepatitis C" cases among youths as they surrender to the temptation of getting themselves tattooed from roadside artists. These artists use the same needle for more than one person

The doctors from private and public health sector have termed the situation alarming, as using an infected person's razor, toothbrush, being born to a mother with hepatitis C, having sex with an infected person and sharing drug needles with an infected person are the other common causes of this deadly infection.

Dr Harish Verma, who is running an NGO, Vaidya Kirpa Ram Health Foundation in Khanna, while referring to some cases that had come for treatment at the foundation, said, "It is rather shocking that young boys and girls actually get themselves tattooed with unsterilized instruments and needles. There have been cases, wherein, people have become carriers by using nail cutter of an infected person, as the Hepatitis C virus remains alive for seven days," said, Verma.

He also called upon medical research institutions and doctors to evolve a cost-effective treatment for such patients adding that a large number of people lived with Hepatitis C and died with it as the treatment was out of their reach.

Dr Harmeet Singh Saluja revealed that Hepatitis B and C were two such viruses that together killed approximately one million people a year. Unlike hepatitis C, hepatitis B can be prevented through effective vaccination.

Emphasising on the need for screening of Hepatitis C, Dr Dinesh Singla, the gastroenterologist and liver disease expert at Mediciti hospital in Ludhiana said, " As many as 170 million persons worldwide are chronically affected with the virus and 10-30 per cent of them will develop cirrohsis, the fatal liver disease."

“The problem has increased manifold in Punjab due to the unrestrained practice of quacks in villages, who use multiple vials. The blood transfusions made prior to 1993 when screening for Hepatitis B and C was not done too has resulted in many cases of Hepatitis C," revealed Singla.

Ludhiana, May 18
Thanks to the “lackadaisical” attitude of the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA) and the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation, property developers are out to exploit gullible people as scores of illegal colonies are mushrooming not only in the periphery but in the city as well.

A property developer has almost completed internal layout of plots, earthwork for roads and streets for development of a residential colony on the Sherpur-Jalandhar bypass stretch of the GT Road without obtaining approval or licence under the Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation Act (PAPRA).

Information gathered by The Tribune revealed that some owners of over eight acres of land, with around 250 feet along the GT Road, have been carrying out works of internal development of the area in violation of the PAPRA, which lays down that a licence ought to be obtained on payment of development charges for carving out plots for residential or commercial purpose in an area exceeding 1,000 square yards.

Residents of the area accuse that some officials of the building branch of the MC have turned a blind eye to the development of the colony. "The possibility of some influential political leader being in league with the developer also cannot be ruled out. If this was not so, why have the MC and PUDA not taken any notice of the illegal colony coming up right along the national highway?" questioned an area resident.

When contacted, MC Commissioner AK Sinha, who also holds the charge of the chief administrator of PUDA, said the officials of the building branch (Zone A) have been directed to inspect the site and submit a report. “The MC is committed to curb all unlawful and unregulated building activity in the city limits," he asserted.

An official of PUDA handling regulatory matters confirmed that a complaint had been received about the illegal colony. "We have initiated action as per the law. A location plan has been prepared, copies of revenue record of the land under development are being obtained and on receipt of the documents, a criminal case will be lodged against the developer,” said the official.

Ludhiana, May 18
Cracking a whip, Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) chairman Ashok Juneja has banned the entry of unauthorised persons to the LIT office.

The action came after a file pertaining to a residential plot in Rajguru Nagar went missing. Henceforth, only those person carrying proper authorisation or related documents will be allowed to meet the officials concerned after obtaining a visitor's slip.

Talking to The Tribune, Juneja said, "At any given time, a lot many people are seen moving inside the office. Unregulated entry of people to the LIT office causes disturbance to the staff and officials. Quite often, visitors keep sitting in the offices where they have no work and taking advantage of such a situation, the staff also entertain their personal acquaintances during duty hours."

Now onwards, the LIT chairman said, only the original allottees or buyers in case of commercial sites or trust properties, or their authorised representatives and power of attorney holders will be allowed entry to the office.

"Such persons will first meet the public relations officer or any other official at the reception counter, produce authorisation and documents pertaining to property, explain the nature of work, obtain a visitor slip and then go on to meet the official concerned," he said.

Juneja said the staff and officials of the LIT have also been directed not to allow any unauthorised person to enter their offices or entertain such persons in connection with any work relating to residential or commercial properties.

Further, in a bid to streamline the working of the sales branch of the LIT, 18 employees, from the clerk to the superintendent level, have been reshuffled with immediate effect. "The move does not reflect on the performance or track record of the shifted employees, but just an administrative measure to tone up the disposal of pending work,” the chairman added.

Ludhiana, May 18
The 50 per cent reservation for Sikhs studying in the SGPC-run educational institutions has evoked sharp criticism from students across the state.

A group of students, who appeared for the engineering and medical entrance examinations this year, are alleging that the SGPC is giving 50 per cent reservation to the Sikhs against the 2008 Supreme Court’s ruling wherein it has been clearly mentioned that Sikhs are not in minority in Punjab.

However, the SGPC maintains that the Supreme Court had stayed the order.

Mukesh Arora, an engineering student from Ludhiana, said the SGPC was playing with the careers of hundreds of students in the state by giving uncalled for 50 per cent reservation to the Sikhs. “It is not a matter of community, but giving admission to the deserving candidates. Almost all good colleges in the state are run by the SGPC and they should not deprive non-Sikh students of this opportunity,” Arora said.

Dr Hardeep Singh, president, Punjab Civil Medical Services Association (PCMSA), while speaking against the reservation policy stated, “Granting reservations in medical and engineering colleges will only deteriorate the professional standards and the politicians should refrain from formulating the reservation policies.”

He also stated that all good streams in engineering colleges were taken by the reserved category students and those from the general category despite their better results have to take admission in remaining streams.

Shail Mittal, a resident of Punjab, had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chandigarh, against the Punjab government’s notification that provided 50 per cent reservations to the Sikhs in the SGPC-run educational institutions on the ground that they were from the minority community.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had ruled against the state government and the SGPC on the issue but it contested the High Court’s verdict in the Supreme Court.

SGPC chief, Avtar Singh Makkar, said, “The Sikhs are minority community and there is no doubt about it. The Supreme Court had given us a stay on the issue and we have admitted the students last year also as per the stay given by the apex court.”

Mullanpur Dakha, May 18
A tantrik has absconded from the town after duping residents of lakhs of rupees by promising them cure to their problems through black magic. The police is on his lookout.

Gulab Khan, the tantrik, who had been active in the town for past several years, landed in trouble when he asked a woman to cohabit with him to ward off bad time.

The woman complained to her relatives, who in turn complained to the police. Sensing trouble, the tantrik vanished from the town yesterday.

According to the police, a woman of Raikot had approached him to resolve her domestic dispute. Gulab Khan initially demanded Rs 1,600 from her but later sought Rs 9,000, claiming that they were under the influence of a ghost.

However, the deal was struck at Rs 7,000. Yesterday, when she went to the office of the tantrik at Sekhon Complex on the Raikot Road, he offered her the “indecent proposal”.

She returned home and narrated the incident to her family. Her family members today complained to the Raikot police regarding the issue.

When the police reached the tantrik’s office, Darshan Lal, a local resident, also reached there along with people from the Tarksheel Society. He alleged that the tantrik had also duped him of Rs 3,000 while claiming to “treat” his wife Chindo Rani, who had some neurological problem.

The tantrik had demanded Rs 25,000 from him but the deal was struck at Rs 7,500. He paid Rs 3,000 but had no relief even as the tantrik demanded more money to continue her “treatment”. However, the complainant started demanding his money back.

The tantrik, like other tricksters, had placed a signboard in front of his shop offering solutions to domestic disputes, love marriage, foreign trips, service and business matters.

He had also televised his advertisements on the local cable TV to attract customers and had been successful in doing so.

After he left the place, more complaints against him started pouring in.

The accused has been identified as Gulfam Kureshi, alias Gulab Khan, of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh.

Earlier, the accused had threatened to cast a spell through his black magic on those who complained against him.

Ludhiana, May 18
With an aim to create awareness among women against female foeticide in village and to inculcate a sense of responsibility among their students, the management of Synetic Business School (SBS) carried out a door-to-door campaign in Kaneja village to educate people against the "dire consequences" of the falling ratio of females in Punjab.

Accompanied by Professor Gurinder Singh and Professor Rupinder Dua, a group of students from SBS interacted with villagers on the prevailing problem of pre-natal sex selection and post-natal gender discrimination in the state.

Winning the confidence of the women in the village, students and teachers called upon them to report about the sex- determination cases to the local health authorities or at the nearest police station.

The professors during their interactive session revealed that Punjab had topped the list of having maximum cases of female foeticide in the past three years.

Citing examples of the deteriorating social fibre of Punjab, the group from SBS was able to convince the village elders, especially the women, to come forward in support of "female child".

The students called upon the people to do away with their stigma to have sons as they referred to the upcoming trend of nuclear families, wherein, even boys lived separately from their families.

It is the time to come out of the trap of "patriarchal and patrilineal" society and start treating boys and girls at an equal level, which is the only answer to bridge the widening gap between the male-female ratio in Punjab, the SBS team advocated.

Ludhiana, May 18
Officials of the State Bank of India, administrative office, Civil Lines, Ludhiana, yesterday took the possession of a property mortgaged to M/s Sandali Darwaja Resorts and Restaurants Pvt Ltd (erstwhile M/s NIF Pipes (P) Ltd.) having its registered office at Industrial Area-A and works unit at Latton Joga village through Bhagat Singh (managing director), Jarnail Singh Khela (director) and Tapinderjit Kaur (director).

They had availed certain credit facilities from the branch and had defaulted on the repayment of the bank dues to the tune of over Rs 1.41 crore as on November, 2009.

The bank had served a 60-day notice period in January to the borrower(s), but the party never came forward.

The bank then took the possession of the property mortgaged in the aforesaid account.

The entire procedure was carried out with the assistance of M/s GATS Financial Reconstructors Limited.

The officials warned other defaulters against stringent action in case they failed to repay their debt.

Jagraon, May 18
In an effort to uplift infrastructure and provide basic amenities to the rural areas, Ludhiana zila parishad chairman Manpreet Singh Ayali today handed over a grant of Rs 20 lakh to Jangpur village sarpanch Khushwinder Kaur here today.

Of this, Rs 5 lakh would be spent on construction and repair of streets and sewerage, while another Rs 5 lakh would go towards renovation of village pond under the new natural treatment plant system.

Besides, Rs 2 lakh would be spent on village crematorium and Rs 8 lakh on the main sewerage of the village. Ayali also handed over a cheque for Rs 50,000 to the village sports club to help the youth get modern sports equipment.

Ayali was accompanied by Sukhdev Singh Chak, Maghar Singh Bariach and others.

Addressing a gathering of panchayat members and villagers, Ayali said the grant was being released for completing pending works in the village in one go.

He said he had sought project report from all sarpanches of villages in Ludhiana district to come up with details to avail of grants.

Ayali said the government had no dearth of funds for rural development but sarpanches and panchayat needed to work with diligence.

He said under the new schemes, villagers no longer had to deposit the matching grants.

The parishad has disbursed over Rs 2 crore in grants to 10 villages in the Dakha constituency in the past two months. The villages included Sarabha (Rs 31 lakh), Dakha (Rs 20 lakh), Sohian (Rs 20 lakh), Jangpur (Rs 20 lakh), Jodhan (Rs 15 lakh), Sidhwan Bet (Rs 15 lakh), Bhattian Dhaha (Rs 15 lakh), Bassian Bet (Rs 12 lakh), Phallewal (Rs 10 lakh) and Slempura (Rs 10 lakh).

Ludhiana, May 18
Acting and photography are his passions. After trying his hands at acting and making a place in the hearts of youngsters, this heartthrob is now marching forward to satisfy his quest for photography.

Ludhiana-based Abhinav Shukla will soon say goodbye to the small screen and fly off to New York - to pursue his interest in photography.

For Abhinav, who is currently doing a role as an NRI in Star One’s “Geet - Sabse Hui Parayi”, this will be his last show on the small screen, as he craves for something other than acting in soaps.

“I have planned to fly abroad, as I intend to being a DOP (director of photography). Soon after the show, I will take admission in a DOP course at New York University. So, this show will be my last one, after which I will pursue my other dream,” says Abhinav.

On getting the role of an NRI, he says even though he has never been abroad, his looks get him such offers.

“My style probably makes me look like a foreign-return guy. I enjoy playing a Punjabi because I am a Punjabi, so this character comes easy to me,” he adds.

Abhinav is fondly in love with cars and bikes and owns two cars and three motorcycles.

Biking and travel photography are a perfect passion for this speed junkie.

“I recently went on a biking tour with my brother and it was a wonderful experience. Biking and photography are a perfect combination for me,” he quips.

“However, I met with a horrible accident while riding my bike in Sangla Valley. The accident was a wakeup call for me stop getting too adventurous and concentrate on less dangerous passions,” he adds.

Ludhiana, May 18
Judicial Magistrate Yukti Goyal has convicted Harjinder Singh, partner of Jang Singh Charan Singh, New Grain Market, Khanna, in a cheque bounce case. He was awarded two years imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5,000.