Ludhiana, July 10
While some ran bare feet, others wore socks to beat the scorching heat during the second day of the ongoing Army recruitment drive at Guru Nanak Stadium here today.

The day was marred by complaints and counter-complaints. While the youths participating in the selection drive were complaining that the trials were taken in inhuman conditions, the Army was upset at “the declining physical standards of the job aspirants as the reason behind the poor show”.

Many youths were seen slipping and falling due to exhaustion, as sultry weather took it toll on candidates.

Refusing to participate in the 1600m running competition, a group of candidates from Moga complained that the recruitment agency was making them run in a group of over 125 candidates.

“We saw in the morning also, candidates were pushing and knocking each other in order to win the race. Many boys got injuries on their legs and arms during the race event. We are here to get selected in Indian Army, not to sustain injury,” said a youngster from Moga.

The candidates complained that the hot and humid condition were the reason that their poor performance.

“It is nearly impossible to run bare feet on the Astroturf track as it is burning hot. I could not afford shoes so had no option but to run bare foot,” said Rajinder Singh dejectedly, while returning home.

On the other hand, the Army recruitment committee claimed that it was facing a tough time, as the youths from both Ludhiana and Moga could barely match the physical standards required to serve in the Army.

Ludhiana, July 10
Instead of coming to the rescue of the park management committees by increasing their monthly grants, the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation has not released funds to the committees for the past five months.

Fresh agreements with these committees were to be signed from March 1, 2010, onwards, but no payment has been released to the committees since then.

As per previous rates, the park management committees were given Re 1 per square metre for maintaining parks coming under their preview. As the rates of plants, fertilisers and salaries of gardeners have increased manifold, the committees had asked the MC to increase their monthly grants from Re 1 to at least Rs 2 per square metre.

Since the cost of maintenance of parks was decided by the high court, the MC maintained that rates would be increased after sending a representation to the state government. As per the new agreement, the small parks were to be given Rs 1.50 per square metre while the big parks Re 1 per square metre.

Ludhiana, July 10
Four car-borne robbers snatched Rs 3.77 lakh at gunpoint from collection agents of a liquor company in Subash Nagar late last night.

The incident took place at around 11 pm on Friday when four members of the Gaurav Malhotra and Company were collecting money from eight liquor vends in Jodhewal Basti area of the city.

Ajay, manager of the liquor company, said when they turned their vehicle towards the Subash Nagar area, robbers, who were travelling in a white Swift car, waylaid their vehicle.

Before they could react, one of the robbers fired a shot in the air and told the agents to handover the bag containing cash. After snatching the bag, the robbers also took the keys of their vehicle and fled. Ajay said the robbers had their faces covered and could not be identified.

Defunct water tanks pose major safety risk
Shivani Bhakoo
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, July 10
A major tragedy was averted in the city yesterday when the roof of a huge water tank located in Mata Gujri Park in the Kot Mangal area of Simlapuri collapsed due to the incessant rain during the past few days. Luckily no one was hurt. Though area councillor Simarjit Singh Bains had earlier urged civic officials to demolish the structure as it was considered unsafe, his pleas were ignored.

Bains, the elected representative of ward no 71, told The Tribune he had requested MC officials to either repair the water tank or pull it down as it posed a threat to residents and passersby but no one in the civic body bothered to address his frequent complaints. "The result is before all of us. The water tank’s roof has collapsed and it now poses a bigger danger to the public", he added.

This is not an isolated case in the city. Several such unsafe water tanks in all the four zones pose a clear and ever present threat to residents. More shocking is the fact that these tanks do not serve their original purpose with most of them remaining empty throughout the year. Many water tanks including the one outside the office of police division no 2, Kidwai Nagar Chowk, Balmiki temple near Habibganj and Gill Road have remained dry for years.

Ward no 42 councillor Gurdeep Singh Neetu said these empty water tanks should either be properly repaired or demolished in the interests of public safety. "We’ve been asking the MC to provide water-connections to tanks so that they could be properly utilized. But due to shortage of water in city, many of these could not be filled. If the civic body wants to construct a huge water tank for storage today, it will take about Rs 1 crore to build the tank. You can well imagine how much public money has been wasted on these tanks which remain without water, serving no purpose at all", said Neetu.

Congress councillor Parminder Mehta said: “90 per cent of the water-tanks in the city have become defunct. Those few that in a working condition have not been cleaned for ages”.

Senior deputy mayor Parveen Kumar Bansal agreed many of the water tanks in the city served no purpose as residents had installed motors and submersible pumps for water supply at their places.

Ludhiana/Mandi Ahmedgarh, July 10
Taking cognisance of higher rate of failure of saplings under social forestry programme, the forest department has earmarked a substantial amount for spending on tree guards for protecting saplings.

Rank and file in the department, along with civil administration have been asked to rope in constituents of social, religious and educational organisations for achieving the target of saving environment.

With extension of the forestation programme to NAREGA scheme, thousands of persons have started digging pits for anchoring over ten lakhs saplings of fruit and shade trees in villages falling under 12 blocks of the Ludhiana district.

Investigations by the The Tribune revealed that a large number of rural workers had started preparing for planting trees under the NAREGA and social forestry programme launched jointly by the forest department and the department of rural development and panchayat. At least 1,200 pits had been dug at common land and along link roads falling under Pakhowal Block.

Daljit Singh Brar, district forest officer, Ludhiana, claimed that over ten lakh saplings of fruits and shadow trees had been raised by 11 nurseries at Kauri, Pawa, Mattewar, Salem Pur, Rampur, Baddowal, Mand Sukhewal, Harion Kalan, Sudhar, Akhara and Sidhwan Bet villages.

Block development officers at Dehlon, Doraha, Pakhowal, Machhiwara, Raekot, Khanna, Sudhar, Samrala, Jagraon and Sidhwan Bet, besides Ludhiana I and Ludhiana II Blocks have requisitioned only about five lakh saplings.

About one lakh tree guards will be provided to protect saplings, planted at unprotected places.

Referring to decisions taken at a joint meeting of officials of two departments; presided over by ADC (development) Davinder Singh IAS, on Friday, Brar said the administration had realised the need of improving survival rate of planted sapling. At least 40 per cent of the budget was earmarked for safeguarding saplings grown under the scheme.

Ludhiana, July 10
The city police is grappling with the shortage of not only male police personnel but also women cops.

The problem came to fore during the protest by the Aanganwadi Employees Union, Punjab, at Mini-Secretariat yesterday.

Barring a few women cops, there was hardly any woman volunteer available to control the strong crowd of over 1,000 aanganwari workers.

The yesterday’s protest has sent alarm bells ringing among the rank and file of the police department.

With around 80 women cops, the city police is simply incapable to handle women protesters.

Concern was evident on the face of senior officials, including ACP Raj Kumar, who was seen requesting the agitating workers to calm down.

Heaving a sigh of relief, a male official, who was standing on guard to tackle any eventuality, said, “Thank God, the protest was peaceful and the protesting women workers did not go on rampage, as there were only 10 women cops to stop nearly 1,000 protesting women. I feared if male police had intervened to stop them, aanganwari workers would have levelled allegations of molestation against us.”

The protest was held for various demands, including enhancement of allowances to provide Grade III and Grade IV to aanganwadi workers to fill vacancies in the state, reservation in the ANM and ETT posts etc.

It is learnt that police source mingled with the agitating workers who were giving every bit of details to the police about their move.

Further, the police officials and bureaucrat handled the situation responsibly and did not allow the circumstances to go out of hand.

“Had the women aanganwari workers gone berserk, it would have been difficult for us to tackle them. We don’t have adequate staff to manage protests by women. Things could have turned ugly had the workers resorted to violence,” said a senior police official.

Several cases have been reported in the past where women levelled serious allegation of molestation against cops while the latter tried to detain the protesting women.

An SHO-level official had to face suspension when a protesting veterinary student levelled allegation of molestation against the SHO. However, the SHO faced a lot of embarrassment due to the incident.

Ludhiana, July 10
The Computer Teachers' Union (contractual), Punjab, held a protest rally and blocked traffic at Jalandhar bypass for over two hours to press their pending demand of regularisation here today.

Over 1,500 computer teachers, including 200 women, from all over the state joined the protest.

Long queues of vehicles were stranded on the Jalandhar bypass as protesters blocked traffic.

The state-level protest was addressed by leaders of the union who acquainted the gathering with demands and problems being faced by computer teachers. The protesters also burnt the effigy of the Punjab government for failing to fulfill their demands.

Gurvinder Singh, state president of the union, rued that the Akali-BJP alliance, during elections, assured them to fulfill their demands within a year and had also included their demands in their respective manifestos. The party leaders also held a meeting with computer teachers last year in Chandigarh and assured them that their demands would be fulfilled soon. He added that the newly appointed contractual computer teachers were promised regularisation within three years, whereas they had been working since five years but were still not certain if their demands would be fulfilled.

Gurvinder said Cabinet Minister Hira Singh Gabria had called for a meeting of the state committee of the Computer Teachers' Union on Monday and assured them support.

Meanwhile, teachers threatened to intensify their stir in case their demands were not met soon.

Ludhiana, July 10
The death of a Delhi-based scientist after consuming lauki (bottlegourd) juice and bittergourd has raised questions against the traditional system of medicine.

The bitter lauki or bitter kheera (cucumber) are known as poisonous substances, but in this particular case its mixing with bitter guard masked its taste and the person could not distinguish that he was having bitter lauki juice.

Noted Ayurveda physician Dr R Vatsyayan has cautioned people against self-use of herbal or ayurvedic medicines. Such practices not only harm patients, but also give bad name to the age-old traditional system of India, he stressed.

Over the past two decades there has been growing interest in natural and organic products. "The promotion of some herbs by pharmaceutical companies or by certain ‘babas’ on TV gives an impression that commercialisation has overshadowed the principle of adopting certain checks and balances associated with the use of herbal medicines.

Ayurveda believes that the same drug, depending upon its method of use, can act as a poison or nectar. Self-medication or unsolicited use of any herb, otherwise useful, can have adverse effects on patients", cautioned Dr Vatsayan.

Ayurveda says that every medicine has different effects on different persons depending on the individual constitution (prakrkti) of the patient. No ayurvedic medicine should be consumed simply on mere recommendation of a friend or a colleague or by watching it on TV.

Now a days markets are flooded with various types of Alloe vera juice products. Agents of network marketing target people to use it as a panacea of many ailments. Aloe vera, though is useful in dyspepsia, colic, constipation, burns, painful menstruation, abdominal tumours, obesity and sciatica. "Prolonged, unmonitored and overuse of Aloe vera may not only lessen its effects but can also impair electrolyte balance by reducing potassium thus disturbing cardiac rhythm in heart patients", stressed the ayurveda practitioner.

Ludhiana, July 10
Department of orthopaedics, DMCH, organised an International symposium on “Revision and High Performance Knee” at Dumra Auditorium here today.

The symposium also included live surgery workshop on knee replacement surgery for participants.

The symposium was inaugurated by the DMCH principal Dr Daljit Singh in the presence of vice-principal Dr Jagdeep Whig, dean academics Dr Rajoo Singh Chinna and medical superintendents Dr Sandeep Puri and Dr BS Shah.

Course director Dr Mohammad Yamin (Professor and Head of Orthopaedics at the DMCH) said the aim was to provide professional education to medical fraternity, updating them with recent surgical techniques, procedures and advancements in arthroplasty.

Organising secretary Dr Sanjeev Mahajan said the morning session started with lecture by Dr Peter James from the UK, who spoke on achieving high flexion in total knee replacement (TKR) followed by live demonstration of rotating platform flex (RPF) knee.

Dr Peter James also elaborated upon “Rotating Platform Knee Implant” which was based on a revolutionary technology. Unlike traditional, fixed-bearing knee implants, rotating platform knee implants were designed to reduce this natural movement.

Associate professor of orthopaedics at DMCH Dr Sanjeev Mahajan spoke on “Achieving Alignment in Valgus Knee.”

Dr Sanjeev said arthritis was the world’s leading cause of disability, as it causes pain, swelling, inability to walk, reduced bending of knee, inability to sit cross legged, deformity and so on. Conventional total knee replacement was a well-known treatment for advanced knee arthritis because it provided excellent results to the patient, relieving him from pain.

Ludhiana, July 10
When one thinks of Dharmendra, one automatically sees a romantic star as well as a He-Man, a trait that is not quite common in Bollywood heroes. No wonder he is known as "Garam Dharam" in Bollywood. He has the looks of a gentleman, the masculine body of a he-man and even today looks young at the age of 75.

The superstar of the yesteryear was in the city to inaugurate Little Bee store here.

Dharmendra’s charisma still lures public more than any other young Bollywood star. The crowd today was difficult to control and everybody at the mall wanted to catch a glimpse of the "Punjab da Puttar". A sea of humanity had gathered at the Mall and it was difficult for Dharmendra to reach his car.

Dharmendra continues to enthral the audience with his performances. "Work has always been my stimulant. Since childhood, films have been my dream world and today, I am a major part of that world. I want to die with my make-up on," he says.

He continues to make appearances in movies every once in a while, and everyone know that it will be quite some time before he throws in the towel. "I try to work in a couple of quality movies every year. Coming up next is "Yamla Pagla Deewana" with both my sons Sunny and Bobby and "Cheers" with Bobby Doel," said Dharmendra whose unfulfilled wish was to play the role of Devdas in a film.

When asked about working with Hema Malini and Esha Deol, he smiles, "The film need to be very special and if I catch hold of any good script, we three will definitely work together."

Commenting on the changes in the film industry, he said change is the law of nature. Films are made according to the taste and choice of the audience. "Youngsters will obviously not like the music and songs of the movies which were made 10 years back," said the superstar. But today’s films are like fast food, people see and forget these, he adds.

Dharmendra says that this place can be a wonderful place if everyone puts in his/her efforts towards their motherland. Putting a question before the public he said, "Stop blaming the politicians for not doing anything for the country. Have you done anything for your country? Every individual need to put in efforts towards the country which will definitely bear fruits one day," says he.

Dharmendra has no plans of making any Punjabi film in future. "My films are more of a Punjabi films and I try to portray a Punjabi fare through them. Hats off to those who are making Punjabi films in today's time," he added.

Ludhiana, July 10
Exquisite counters at jewellery showrooms, glossy hoardings, snazzy print and television commercials, tie-ups with national and international brands all trying to lure teens.

Innovative designing and trendy styling have brought in a new group of customers “teenagers” who go in for diamond rings, earrings, bracelets and pendants leaving aside junk jewellery.

Today’s teens don’t wait for trends to set in rather they make their own style statements and create trends as they are more susceptible to changing fashion. Jewellery plays a major part in the development of their identity and efforts to either blend in with the crowd or establish their own unique personality. Lets check Gen X’s new style statement:

Following movie stars, celebrities that teenagers see in music videos, television programmes or in TV serials are largely responsible for dictating trends among teenager jewellery fashion.

Ludhiana, July 10
Centralised counselling of BCom (I) started here today at SCD Government College in which both the government colleges of the city - SCD Government College and Government College for Women - took lead by filling all seats in the general category.

All 78 seats under general category in Government College for Women were filled within two hours. The last student admitted to the college stood at rank 172. At SCD Government College, 78 students were admitted, the last one ranked at 434.

Elaborate arrangements were made by Dr Tankeshwar, director, computer centre, Panjab University, Chandigarh. He was accompanied by a team of computer experts. The position of vacant and filled seats was displayed on an LCD screen both inside as well as outside the Sahir Auditorium.

The counselling will continue for remaining seats in different colleges till July 13. The counselling for reserved category seats will be held on July 13.

Ludhiana, July 10
The Division No 8 police booked a hoax caller who had threatened to blow up the railway station here a few days ago.

The police managed to trace the location of the caller. The police did not divulge further details. The caller was booked under Sections 504 and 506 of the IPC.

Meanwhile, another hoax caller, identified as Santosh Kumar, a migrant labourer from Bihar was nabbed by the GRP.

He told the police that he wanted to “settle a score” with the GRP police, as the latter had caned him during his visit to railway station few days ago.

The accused posed as a suicide bomber of a terrorist organisation and had threatened to blow up the railway station.

Ludhiana, July 10
Nishi Bala of Ludhiana Unit III overpowered defending champion Ritu from the divisional office, Ludhiana, to romp home as champion in the women's section of the Life Insurance Corporation of India Divisional Level Badminton Tournament held at Shastri Hall near Guru Nanak Sports Complex here today.

Nishi Bala faced a little challenge from her rival Ritu, whom she defeated 21-7, 21-3.

In a match to decide third and fourth positions, Madhu Bala from the pension and group insurance scheme (P&GS) branch survived some anxious moments before coming out triumphant 9-21, 21-19 and 21-18.

In the men's section, holder Vineet Kumar from the Jagraon branch proved his class to tame Amarjit Singh from Ludhiana divisional office 21-5, 21-6 to retain the title.

In the match for the hardline cup, Sunil Kumar of Mansa branch managed to squeeze past his determined opponent, Nitin Sofat from Ludhiana Unit III 21-17, 21-18.

Earlier, Darshan Singh, manager, personnel and industrial relations, LIC of India, Ludhiana, inaugurated the tournament. Maan Singh, secretary, LIC of India Sports Club, along with Rajinder Kumar, member of the LIC Divisional Sports Committee distributed the prizes to the position holders.

On the basis of their performance in this tournament, Vineet Kumar and Nishi Bala have been selected to represent Ludhiana division in the North Zone LIC of India Badminton Tournament slated to be held at Ajmer in Rajasthan on July 22 and 23.