Ludhiana, August 25
A con woman and her two accomplices have been nabbed for duping a forex trader for ` 2 lakh. The accused, identified as Shafia Begum, her husband Saleem Aalam and a relative, Suraj, were nabbed by the police, but another accused, Ishfaq, managed to flee.

The police said the gang had been operating in various parts of the city. Shafia would visit the forex outlet and lure traders on the pretext of selling dollars at cheaper rates and her husband would dupe traders.

The police said she visited a crockery shop and showed the owner, Pankaj, a $10 currency note. She told him that she had plenty of US dollars and wanted to sell those in the market.

Pankaj introduced her to Ajit Singh, a forex trader. After a brief discussion, Shafia called him at the Shivpuri road on August 20. Ajit arrived and met Saleem, Shafia and Suraj.

He handed over ` 2 lakh to the trio and in return, Saleem gave him a packet, supposedly containing the dollars.

The trio then fled the scene and Ajit lodged a complaint with the police that the packet contained newspapers.

The police received a tip-off last night that the gang was putting up in the Meharban area. Sources told the police that the gang was planning to pull off another con.

The police laid a trap and nabbed the accused. Ishfaq, however, escaped.

According to SHO Davinder Kumar, the police has launched a manhunt to nab Ishfaq. Sources said Ishfaq would arrange dollars for the gang.

The accused had allegedly committed fraud in Kolkata and had recently shifted to the city. The accused were produced before the court and sent to police remand.

Ludhiana, August 25
Efforts of the state excise and taxation department to put a check to the dubious activities of “peti mafia” which play a vital role in massive tax evasion by facilitating the transportation of goods by railways have suffered a setback as the Northern Railway authorities have refused to permit construction of a permanent sales tax check post near the parcel office.

The railways are understood to have turned down the plea by the excise and taxation department for providing a place adjacent to the parcel office where a check post could be set up. Instead, the department has been asked to operate from its existing makeshift check post at the entry point to the parcel office, that too on payment of rent/lease on market rate.

The “peti mafia”, employing musclemen as operators, has been a thorn in the flesh of the excise department as it puts a huge drain on tax collection by inward and outward transportation of goods without proper bills, invoices and payment of taxes. “Tax evasion worth several crores is taking place by way of transportation of goods through the railways, but our hands are tied,” remarked a senior taxation official, requesting not to be identified.

The department has to fight against the mafia and non-cooperation by the railway staff. While lower rung railway employees at the parcel office allegedly extend support to the mafia, higher officials have been asking the department to operate from outside the railway station as goods having been brought inside for booking could not be permitted to be seized or inspected.

However, denying that the railway employees had anything to do with alleged tax evasion by the trade and industry with active assistance of the mafia, a senior railway official maintained that the excise and taxation staff was blaming the railways for their own shortcomings. Railway officials said even the rules governing the transportation of goods through the railways did not permit inspection by any agency once the goods had been brought inside the parcel office. 

Ludhiana, August 25
Variation is the key to survival in today’s fast-paced world, says the son of legendary Sufi singer Padmashri Ustad Puran Chand Wadali, Lakhwinder.

Lakhwinder, Sufi and pop singer-cum-actor, admits that succumbing to the demand of the urban youth, he has to bring in western influence in his singing and make a gradual shift towards pop music.

“That does not mean I have drifted away from Sufi music. It still remains my first love and carrying forward the Sufiana legacy passed on to me by my father and uncle is my dream,” says Lakhwinder, who was in the city today as part of a promotional tour of his forthcoming Punjabi film “Chhevan Dariya” at Master Tara Singh Memorial College for Women.

“Sufi music is the legacy of the revered gurus of music and has the rare quality of touching the soul. It has no comparison. Contemporary form of music has short life,” he says.

“However, just as it is important to keep the legacy of our gurus alive, catering to the popular demand is also essential to sustain in today’s times. The youth is highly aware and have their own tastes and likings,” he states.

“After a number of requests as well as complaints from my younger fans, I decided to venture into pop singing and it has been an interesting journey,” he remarks.

The junior Wadali reveals that his first Sufi album with his father Puran Chand Wadali and uncle Pyare Lal Wadali will be ready for release in October. His first audio-video album with his father, “Mahiya”, was well received and Lakhwinder is expecting a better response to the second one.

He is also excited about his second Punjabi movie, “Chhevan Dariya - The Sixth River”, which is set for September 3 release. “This is a movie with a strong social message and depicts the condition of Punjabi youths getting into drugs -- the sixth river. I am excited about this project,” he says.

He had earlier worked in “Akhiyan Udeekdiyan”, which revolved around the burning issue of foeticide. “Sending out a social message through movies and singing gives me immense satisfaction and helps me connect with society,” he says, adding that his third Punjabi film is in the pipeline.

“That, too, will be based on a relevant social issue and have a strong message. The audience will relate to it,” he says.

On acting, Lakhwinder says: “Acting in films is not very different from acting in music videos. However, music videos give a singer ample exposure as well as help to strike a cord with film directors,” he says.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, August 25
Unaware of the fallout of their inability to retain students in classes and impart instruction till the schools close for day, teachers and heads of most state-run schools have aggravated problems for parents as well as la enforcement agencies.

Falsifying attendance registers maintained by their class teachers, a large number of students in school uniform can be seen flouting traffic rules on roads, teasing girls on streets and near educational institutes and frequenting restaurants situated far away from their schools.

Students who are ignored by teachers haven been often found taking drugs after bunking classes.

Admitting it was the responsibility of school principals and teachers to keep their students busy in their classes, the director general of school education has asked all district education officers to ensure no student was allowed to leave school before the classes were over. “School heads should ensure no class was without a teacher”, the official added.

Investigations by The Tribune revealed the apparent unconcern of school principals and teachers about attendance in classes had resulted in a situation wherein the administration was finding it difficult to maintain law and order in the society. The situation was worse in government-run schools.

Senior education department officials have also noticed this trend. “It’s been observed that students go home after recess in a large number of schools. No efforts are being done by the heads of these schools to keep students in class and teach them,” reads a communication received from senior officials by all government schools in Ludhiana and Sangrur districts.

Inadequate interaction between teachers and students’ parents has also been identified as a contributory factor. While parents, presuming their wards were attending school and tuition regularly, do not hesitate in providing them facilities like motorcycles and extra money for refreshment, the latter often misuse these.

Money received from parents on pretext of payment for private tutors is used for meeting expenses on loitering. By the time parents come to know about fate of their child, it is too late to mend his (son’s) habits in the normal way.

“Had I known school officials didn’t bother to keep track on my son’s progress I would have withdrawn him from the school last year. It was towards the end of the session that I came to know that he (son ) had fallen into bad company,” rued Karnail Singh of Lohgarh. He wondered how could the teachers show his son present in the class whereas he along with his friends had remained absent for weeks and months together.

Observing that reckless driving by school students had become a nuisance for society, an SHO of the area regretted the administrations of educational institutions had done nothing to check the menace. “If students aren’t permitted to go out during school time the situation can be ameliorated to some extent”, he averred.

Khamano, August 25
A no confidence motion was presented against the acting president of Nagar Panchayat, Khamano, by eight councillors out of eleven.

They gave the copy of no confidence to Surinder Kumar, enforcement officer, Khamano, for further action.

The no confidence motion includes the signatures of councillor Balamjit Singh, Ravinder Kumar Babla, Balbir Singh, Amarjit Singh Billa, Jaswant Singh Jassa, Baljeet Kaur, Gurdeep Kaur and Sarabjit Kaur.

In their letter, they alleged that acting president was paying deaf ears to their concerns regarding the development works in the town.

Enforcement officer Surinder Kumar confirmed that he had received a no confidence motion against the acting president and he has forwarded a copy of the motion to the acting president.

Meanwhile, acting president Kamlesh Kumari, however, denied all the allegations against her and said that she will fight back.

Ludhiana, August 25
Dr Anil Kumar Sharma, assistant director (TV), Centre for Communication and International Linkages, has been selected by the Foreign Fulbright Scholarship Board (FSB) in Washington and approved by the United States Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and the Government of India (GOI) for a Fulbright-Nehru Environmental Leadership programme fellowship.

Dr Sharma will work for four months starting from September at Albama Cooperative Extension System, Auburn University-College of Agriculture, Auburn, Albama, with Dr Paul Mask on "Transfer of Technology System in Agricultural Universities from the US.”

Dr Sharma is the youngest scientist to have successfully bagged the Fulbright fellowship.

Meanwhile, Heidi J Exline, master's student in Urban Planning, at Hunter College, New York City, has been awarded a Fulbright US student programme scholarship to India in economics to conduct study at Punjab Agricultural University.

She will be conducting research with Prof Kamal Vatta of department of economics and sociology at PAU for nine months to understand the effects of malnutrition and hunger on different household types.

Exline, who is at PAU, said after completing her research “The Effects of High Food Costs on Indians”, she would develop a project team with the support of PAU to conduct community food assessments (CFA) in Punjab and Uttrakhand.

The CFA will consist of a process of interviews, focus groups, and surveys with local food vendors and community residents that will provide information about their food access and nutrition rated challenges and accesses.

The study will analyse factors of availability, utilisation and access to food, said Prof Vatta adding that the comparative analysis of Punjab with 28 per cent population below poverty line (BPL) and Uttrakhand with 40 per cent population BPL will help understand how to mitigate some of the effects of food prices and food price spikes in relation to people having access to food within their communities.

The Ludhiana College of Engineering and Technology organised a two-day national conference on the “recent trends in mechanical and automobile engineering” with the objective of providing a common platform to researchers, academicians, industrialists and professionals to interact on this topic.

The programme started with the recitation of shabad kirtan. Dr Pawan Kumar, college principal, welcomed chief guest Dr Anil Jain, president, Vaiseska Electronics Devices, Ambala. Head of the mechanical and automobile engineering department, Ajay Singh Rana, welcomed the delegates and briefed them about the college and the department.

Dr Jain shared his views on mechatronics, providing unlimited scope for the mechanical engineering to work in the field of technology for better environment. Dr Sehajpal Singh, head of mechanical engineering department, Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College, delivered a keynote address on the subject of hybrid machining, another fascinating area for the engineers to advance in the area of fine machinery.

Dr Ravinderjit Singh Walia, assistant professor, PEC Chandigarh, delivered on the subject of optimization of experimental observations to find the best alternative.

World Earth Day was celebrated in Tagore International Senior Secondary School, Sahnewal, with great enthusiasm. An interactive function was organised on the school campus to make students aware of their duties towards the earth. Students delivered speeches on the importance of this day and vowed to make earth green and clean.

Samrala, August 25
Mata Kaulan Ji Bhalai Trust of Amritsar organised a two-day religious examination at Nanakana Sahib Public School in which 4,000 students took part. According to organisation’s president Lakhvir Singh Balala, a seven-year-old speech challenged boy Balbir Singh of Jharr Sahib village was specially honoured for writing “Waheguru” one lakh times.

Abdul Rehman called “fateh” and presented several ‘sakhies’ orally. About 1,500 sampling were also distributed among participants along with certificates.

SGPC member Jathedar Kirpal Singh Khirnian and a few other religious leaders of the area were present on the occasion. 

Doraha, August 25
This town, as far as ensuring adequate heath facilities by the health department is concerned, seems to have been abandoned altogether.Leave aside the shifting of a civil dispensary suddenly to a village, the only hope left of ensuring better health services to the town i.e. the sub-center, is in hopeless condition.

There is, however, no dearth of facilities at the centre that fully ensure in making a healthy person a patient for the rest of his life. The sub-centre only helps in aggravating the ailment rather than easing the pain of the indisposed.

The reason is not difficult to understand-unsafe surroundings, over grown grasses, moss and azure, stagnant water pools all around, fear of water animals even snakes and much more. “So much so that the foul smell emitting from the pool and the flies and mosquitoes that multiply on the stagnant pool are befitting carriers of any sort of contagious diseases,” rued a villager.

The parents of the kids earlier used to bring them regularly, in order to get the vaccination administered but from the time the position of the sub-center has turned from bad to worse, they desist from taking any risk. Hence the health center is being visited nowadays by only few patients as they believe that they are sure to invite disease for themselves, rather than getting cured, rued the villagers.

Ludhiana, August 25
The death of a 15-year-old student of Sacred Heart Convent School, Mayank Jain, on Saturday, has once again brought to the fore the issue of underage driving. He had died in an accident when he was driving a motorbike gifted to him by his father.

This is not the first instance where parents let underage children drive vehicles.

The vice-chairman of the Punjab Police Apex Committee on Road Safety, Dr Kamaljit Soi, referring to the danger of underage driving said the best way to address the issue was to provide road safety education to both children and parents.

“Teenaged drivers (16-19 years) are four times more likely to crash.

They are also more likely to speed, jump lights, make wrong turns and drive after consuming alcohol or drugs. Inexperience is the reason why they are more likely to underestimate a hazardous situation,” he said.

Citing facts from an international report, he stated that the presence of teen passengers increased the risk of accidents by underage drivers and these mostly occurred on Friday and Saturday between 9 pm and 6 am.

The high number of underage drivers going for a joyride could be attributed to peer pressure and a feeling of youthful invincibility, he remarked.

Research also indicated that teenagers had the lowest rate of helmet and seat belt use.

Dr Soi said parents could be held liable for the negligent acts of minor drivers and most parents were not even aware of the extent of the liability.

The law had laid down punishment for owners/parents who allowed minors to drive. “Section 3 of the Motor Vehicles Act bars minors from driving and spells out punishments of up to three months, or Rs 1,000 (or both).

The same punishment can be handed out to a person held guilty of allowing a minor to drive like parents/elders/friends/ relatives,” he added.

Ludhiana, August 25
A woman and her two daughters suffered burns after the gas cylinder in their house caught fire in the Mayapuri area near the Tibba road.The victims are Asha Rani (37), Renu (16) and Aarti (14).The gas agency authorities effected a compromise with the woman and compensated her with Rs 5,000. They, however, did not take the victims to a hospital.

The incident took place when Asha Rani was cooking dinner in the one-room quarter and the cylinder suddenly caught fire.

She was engulfed with flames and was rescued by her daughters, who sustained burns in the process.

Later residents doused the fire and informed the gas agency about the incident.

Ludhiana, August 25
Workers of power loom units at New Shakti Nagar held a demonstration outside the labour office here today. The main demands of the workers include increment in wages and implementation of labour laws at industrial units. They handed over a charter of their demands to the Labour Commissioner.

Karkhana mazdoor union president Rajwinder said their demands included the implementation of labour laws and they be issued identity cards, ESI cards and PF. “Workers are grossly under paid and increment in wages is one of our major demands,” he said.

Ludhiana, August 25
Till Saturday night, the Lal’s residence was just like any other house where children cracked jokes and parents talked about old days. But things have changed now.The Lal’s residence in Durgapuri Haibowal wears a deserted look. The locked house narrates the gory tale of an illicit relationship led to the brutal killing of the four family members.

Ramit Bhandari, a resident of the Jassian road, mercilessly killed Roshan Lal (72), his wife Shankutla (70), children Rajesh (34) and Nisha (32) on Sunday morning.

The bodies of four family members have been kept in a mortuary and are waiting for the last rites. The only member left in the family is their eldest daughter who is married and lives in England.

According to distant relatives, who reside in Phagwara, the elder daughter wanted to see all family members for the last time.

“She will arrive in India tomorrow, following which we would decide whether to perform the funeral in Ludhiana or Phagwara,” said Sukhwinder, one of their distant relatives.

Confusion prevails about who would actually cremate the bodies. According to Hindu rituals only a male family member can perform the last rites. Since the entire family has been eliminated, distant relatives have left it to their elder daughter to take decision in this regard.

However, Ramit, who is said to be a distant relative of Lal’s, has maintained that Nisha was blackmailing him and was seeking money. But his claims seem to hold no ground as the victim’s family was well off and recently sold a property worth Rs 70 lakh.

It was Bhandari who saw the house for Lal’s in Durgapuri a few months ago and pursued the latter to purchase the property.

Ramit also borrowed money from Roshan Lal on interest and was reluctant to return it.

Bhandari, who got married four years ago and has a three-year-old daughter, hold evil intentions for Nisha. The girl was a divorcee and was living with her parents in Durgapuri.

Bhandari succeeded in his evil designs and developed relationship with the girl.

He reportedly told Nisha that he would desert his wife and start living with her. Their relationship went on smoothly for sometime, but soon Nisha became impatient and started reminding Ramit about his promise.

The indecisiveness on the part of Ramit resulted in frequent quarrel. According to sources, a night before the incident Nisha called at Ramit’s residence and narrated the entire story to his mother. 

Mandi Ahmedgarh, August 25
“Caution and care make accidents rare” reads an SMS sent on behalf of the SSP, Ludhiana, by the police. These SMSes are being forwarded to the residents who in turn are passing the same to their friends.

Acknowledging initiative taken by the Ludhiana police, a local branch of the Rotary Club, led by SP Sofat has launched a movement to make people aware masses of the causes and consequences of the attention diverters while on the wheels.

Labeling use of mobile while driving as the most dangerous factor in causing vehicular accidents, Sofat maintained that majority of the conversations were unnecessary and could easily be avoided.

Referring to the tendency of making phone calls, on seeing friends or relatives driving his or her vehicle on the same busy road, the Rotarians regretted that a large number of inattentive drivers (using phone) were creating circumstances leading to accidents daily.

The organisation has drafted a plan to organise seminars on the issue.

Ludhiana, August 25
A 24-year-old youth committed suicide by hanging himself from a ceiling fan at Haibowal here yesterday.The deceased has been identified as Vijay Kumar. He got married in January and was working as a daily wage earner.

According to the police, he committed suicide in the wee hours. He was reportedly suffering from depression due to frequent domestic quarrels.

The other members of the family were sleeping at the time of the incident.

Ludhiana, August 25
Judicial Magistrate Vipindeep Kaur has convicted Jaspreet Singh, owner of M/s Satpal Hosiery Factory, in a cheque bounce case. He has been sentenced to undergo two-year imprisonment. A fine of Rs 2,000 was also imposed on him.

The judge also asked the convict to pay Rs 5,000 as compensation to the litigant who pursued the case for years.

The orders came on a complaint of Amarjit Gupta, owner of M/s D R Enterprises. The complainant had submitted before the court that he dealt in acrylic yarns and the accused had purchased yarn from him worth over Rs 3 lakh in 2006 on credit.

The accused issued him two cheques for Rs 1,25,000 each and a cheque for Rs 57,000 in November 2006. However, the cheques were dishonoured by the bank. A legal notice was served on the accused, requesting him to make the payment, but he failed to do so.

On the other hand, the accused pleaded innocence and claimed false implication. He said the cheques were given as security and the complainant failed to supply the yarn as promised and he demanded his cheques back several times. It was also pleaded that the complainant could not prove that the goods were supplied to him, the accused added.

The court, however, observed that it had been established that the cheques were issued for discharging liability.

Ludhiana, August 25
Girl students of Everest Public Senior Secondary School, Moti Nagar, won the title under-19 year category in the District Inter-School Throw ball Tournament organised by the local education department at Sacred Heart Convent School, Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar, yesterday.

In the under-17 year final, they defeated RS Model Senior Secondary School, Shastri Nagar, 2-0 to romp home as champions. However, in the under-19 year final, they went down fighting 1-2 against RS Model Senior Secondary School, Shastri Nagar.

Director and principal of the school, Rajinder Sharma, appreciated the outstanding performance by the students and their coach.

Ludhiana, August 25
Players of the Ludhiana Badminton Academy (LBA) won four titles in addition to finishing runners-up in two categories in the Sub-Junior Punjab State Badminton Championship held at Jalandhar, recently.

In the under-13 girl's double, Raunak Gilhotra and Neha Rani came out triumphant while the pair of Sania Singla and Simranjeet romped home victors in the doubles section (under-10). In the singles (under-13), Neha Rani proved her class to emerge as champion and Dhruv Kalia won title in the boy's singles (under-13).

Besides, Sania Singla and Diksha finished runners-up in the girl's under-10 and 13 years group, respectively.