Ludhiana, October 30
With dengue fever claiming three more lives in the city during the past one week, the number of total deaths has gone up to 25.

Despite dip in temperature, many dengue cases are constantly coming to city hospitals, causing concern to doctors.

The total number of dengue patients as per figures of private hospitals has crossed 1,500 in Ludhiana, but the department of health and family welfare has given confirmation of 884 cases only.

Doctors from leading private hospitals, while pointing towards the "laxity" on part of the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation (LMC), have stated that cases are pouring in from every nook and corner of the city.

"It is a must to take a re-check on the sanitation conditions in the city, which will include clearance of garbage and clean/stagnant water, the breeding ground of the mosquitoes," opined a senior doctor.

District epidemiologist Dr GP Mangla said it was important to control man-to-man transmission of dengue through the adult Aedes mosquito, adding, "Fogging plays an elemental part to control the spread of dengue at this stage. We have called upon the LMC officials to go in for comprehensive fogging in all low-lying areas with poor sanitation conditions."

He clarified that fogging was "ineffective" to kill the larvae of Aedes mosquito, but was effective in killing the adult mosquito.

Ludhiana, October 30
One can well imagine how development works in the densely populated city will suffer once 12 out of 40 engineers working in the local municipal corporation retire. Despite repeated requests made by the commissioner and the mayor, the Local Bodies Department, Chandigarh, has failed to recruit more staff.

Mayor Hakam Singh Gyaspura has in a letter written to Manoranjan Kalia, Minister for Local Bodies, urged him to look into the problem of staff shortage in the municipal corporation. According to Gyaspura, just four, instead of 75 engineers needed, are managing the work of all departments. In the absence of any supervisory staff, the works in departments like B and R, O and M, health and the electricity wing are suffering. The residents in city have been complaining about the problems faced by their wards due to the shortage of the staff since long.

The municipal authorities have already written seven to eight letters to the Local Bodies Department, but to no avail. Hundreds of posts of supervisory staff, junior engineers, SDOs, and XENs are lying vacant. The mayor has asked for at least 55 junior engineers, two SDOs, two XENs, four surveyors and eight drafts men. The top-level of the municipal corporation is already heavy. But there hardly any employee to obey the orders of seven commissioners. The municipal corporation, presently, has 18 superintendents (40 required) and 21 inspectors (50 more required) and four junior engineers against 75 required.

By 2012, at least 12 engineers out of 40 would retire. The development work in the city will suffer badly with just 28 engineers on roll. A junior engineer with the B and R department said, “Complaints of sewerages blockage and water-pipe leakages are received everyday in the city. With just four junior engineers, we cannot cater to all complaints.

Thus the roads start getting damaged and lot of money is spent on their repair. The state will have to spend about Rs 5-crore annually for recruiting new staff, but it will save several crores of rupees spent on the repair works. But government is not paying any attention towards this serious problem.”

The serving junior engineers feel overburdened, as they have to obey the orders of several municipal officials. They had gone on an indefinite strike a few months ago. It was only after the municipal commissioner’s intervention that they agreed to continue in the present conditions. Still the situation remains the same.

Doraha, October 30
Acute shortage of LPG cylinders in the town has made life tough for consumers. The consumer will get the cylinder but on the condition that he will have to stand in a queue for 12 hours before he is ultimately delivered the same.

The consumers were seen standing in the queue since last evening till the daybreak in order to get the cylinders.

For the past one month there has been shortage of LPG gas cylinders. The consumers, who have been standing in a line to get their cylinders rued that, “There is literally no check by the authorities as LPG is being used to run vehicles and for commercial purposes as well. Apart from gas geysers, sweet owners are openly using LPG in the festive season.”

The consumers are in no way prepared to agree with the companies giving a general hackneyed statement i.e. ‘shortage due to backlog of booking by the consumers’. The shortage of LPG cylinders has disrupted the normal life of the people here. On the other hand, the LPG cylinders are openly being sold on the black market.

“A cylinder that otherwise costs Rs 325 is being sold more than Rs 500. As the consumers are left with no other option, they are forced to buy it at this cost”, a consumer said.

A consumer complained that procuring a cylinder had become a tedious process. “Although some sort of normalcy had been restored but the situation is still far from satisfactory. Why does the administration not rise to the occasion at such a time? It is always when there is a shortage of LPG cylinders and that the consumers begin to run from pillar to post that the administration wakes up, especially during the festive season, when there is a sudden spurt of the demand of the LPG cylinders”, he added.

Ludhiana, October 30
The sexagenarian couple, which died on October 12 at Pawa village near Sahnewal, was done to death by the man's nephew, who was eyeing their property worth Rs 7 crore.

Claiming to have solved the double blind murder case here today, the Sahnewal police said the couple, identified as Nirmal Singh (65) and Palwinder Kaur (60), was done to death by two contract killers, hired by their nephew, Beant Singh and his female friend, Sukhwinder Kaur Sukhi.

Davinder Attri, SHO, Sahnewal said Beant Singh (32), son of Nirmal's younger brother, Malkiat Singh wanted to be the only claimant of their inherited property in the village,as the couple was childless.

Beant, who is divorced, hatched a conspiracy with the help of his friend Sukhi and her two other friends, including Sonu and Mandeep, and decided to eliminate the duo. Beant promised Rs 2.5 lakh each to both her friends for eliminating his uncle and aunt.

Finally, on October 12 night, Sukhi knocked at the door of the couple. The woman opened the door and was gagged by her. Sonu and Mandeep, entered the house and slit the throats of the couple with a saw blade used by iron smiths. They were left to bleed to death. The incident came to light when Jeet Singh (73), elder brother of Nirmal Singh along with his milkman reached the house of the couple next morning and spotted the blood soaked bodies of the couple lying on the bed.

Nirmal owned four acres of land worth over Rs 6-7 crore. Their being childless with so much of property made the police focus on Beant, who was the only male in the family of three brothers of Nirmal. Police zeroed in on Beant. Sukhi, Beant and Sonu have been arrested. Mandeep is still absconding.

Ludhiana, October 30
Lavish preparations are synonymous with Diwali - the festival of lights. Contrary to popular belief, dressing up the home for festivals doesn't necessarily mean burning a hole in one's pocket. This Diwali, use a little creativity and imagination to transform your home into a beautiful haven.

Most important of all perhaps is decorating the house with festival specific artifacts. Start with the main entrance. Place a large mirror either near the main door or in direct line of sight as you enter. Toran or door hanging is another option. But a traditional colourful one with mirror work and tiny tinkles dangling down. Complete the look with a beautiful rangoli. Add diyas to accentuate the pattern.

Remove the clutter, organise the stuff that is just lying around and burn incense sticks to clean the air.

Look to lighting, the most important element of the festival. Interestingly, restricting lighting to just the outside of the house is passé. Light up the interiors of your home with beautiful candles and diyas in all shapes, sizes and colours.

Place candles on every table and corner. Designer ones look smashing while scented ones are alluring. Floating candles are sensuous and add that oomph factor to the decor. For an economical option, place dozens of ordinary white candles on a mirror or a big pail and watch them glow.

Buy designer diyas or decorate them at home with paint, mirrors, glitter, sequins and ribbons. Earthenware and wax diyas are easy on the pocket while metallic and glass options are expensive. Take your pick. Place them artistically at the main entrance in a row or a pattern of your choice, on balcony, windowpanes or line them along a decorative piece in the drawing room.

Transform your room with strings of vibrant hued electric lights smartly wrapped around pillars.

Bring colourful flowers. Put them in delicate vases and place all over the house - drawing room, bedrooms, washrooms, kitchen and on dining table, for that fresh look. Roses, sunflowers, chrysanthemums, gladioli, carnations, marigold are good options. Mix and match.

Idols of Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi are a must have for the festival. Choose from myriad options available in the market and lend a personal touch by decorating with leaves and flower petals. Place a diya in front or beautify the centre table with them.

Ludhiana, October 30
The residents, who were duped by Max Forex, a bogus foreign exchange company, had invested their lifetime savings in the company by selling their houses with a hope that their money would multiply within a few months.

Most of them have moving stories to narrate. Roshan Lal, a resident of the Jalandhar bypass, had sold his house for ` 11 lakh in September to invest in the company. “I was promised a return of ` 2 lakh every month starting October 11 for a year. I thought I had hit a jackpot. Before I could get a penny back, the company manager fled,” said Roshan, who is working for a telecom company.

“I wish, I had not listened to one of my friends, who had himself invested several lakhs and is facing the same future,” rued Roshan.

Similar tales were narrated by a large number of people duped by the investors. Most of them said they didn’t twice before investing their lifetime savings. “It was a kind of wave. We were all swept by it. I asked all my relatives to invest here and see the returns. They all listened to me. All of them have invested ` 20 lakh in the company. We don’t know what will happen now,” said Amit Kumar, a resident of the Books’ Market, who is unemployed and was waiting for the returns.

Neelam Vadhera, who has been duped of ` 1.5 lakh was in Australia visiting her son, when his friend called her up. “He told me, he had found a treasure. I was very excited. The first thing I did after returning was to put all my saving into the company’s account,” she added.

Two days after hundreds of investors lodged a complaint against Max Forex for allegedly duping them of crores, the police is groping in dark as the complainants have failed to provide any transaction proof.

Except a print out of homepage of company’s website, the complainants have not been able to hand over anything to the Basti Jodhewal police that is finding it difficult to register a case on their complaint. Despite rounding up a few persons in connection with the case, the police has not been able to reach any conclusion.

With the helplessness of the police coming to the fore, the worries of investors, who had invested their lifetime savings, are increasing with every passing day.

“We are ready to head Mauritius to investigate the fraud. But we have nothing in hand. We don’t know where to start. All these people have no evidence to prove their claims. After all, we will have to hinge our investigation on something,” said Jatinder Singh, SHO, Basti Jodhewal police station.

He added like several such companies in the past, a few smart operators, too, started the Max Forex. They knew how to fleece the innocent people. Several of the duped victims are educated and well aware of such frauds in the past. Still they chose to be duped,” the SHO added.

Investigations revealed that the company managers in Ludhiana had got news inserted in a vernacular newspaper that said the company was growing and investors were satisfied. The printed word made an impact on these people, who invested lakhs on the basis of that news report.

The police is investigating how the news made its way into the press. “May be then we are able to reach some point,” said Jatinder Singh.

The company closed down their website on October 13 and the managers, who were in the city fled with their families. This spread panic among the investors, who lodged the complaint with the police.

Ludhiana, October 30
About 254 items were passed in the municipal corporation’s F and CC meeting held here today. The main items passed by the members was the revised estimate of indoor stadium on the Pakhowal road. The total expenditure incurred on the construction of this stadium will be around Rs 25.89 crore.

Besides this, the F and CC committee stopped many incomplete items during the meeting today.

Senior Deputy Mayor Parveen Bansal said items sharing-charges was not approved by the members. "Sharing charges meansthat the civic body will share the burden of sewerage laying pipes, water-pipes with educational institutions, hospitals and industries. Members were of view when residents or these establishments were already paying several taxes, why should they be paying more? So we dismissed the item,” said Bansal.

Ludhiana, October 30
A total of 500 delegates from all across Punjab and other parts of India attended the 9th national conference on “Growth Development and Behavioural Paediatrics” organised by the department of Paediatrics, CMCH, Ludhiana.

The two-day conference organised under the aegis of the Indian Academy of Paediatrics concluded here today. Punjab health minister Prof Laxmikanta Chawala while inaugurating the conference said the department of health and family welfare was going to start a campaign for kids born and brought up on the roadside.

"Most of the children on streets are suffering from malnutrition and the health department has chalked out a programme to provide them with the supplements so as to promote good health," the minister added.

The director of the CMC and hospital Dr Abraham G Thomas and Vice-Chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences Prof SS Gill were also present.

Dr GS Grewal, member of the Punjab Medical Council, briefed Prof Laxmi Kanta Chawala on the ongoing malpractice of sex determination among doctors. Dr Grewal also pointed towards the menace of "quackery" and "commissions by doctors”.

Dr Gurmeet Kaur, organising chairperson, professor and head of department of paediatrics said the issues and concerns pertaining to childcare discussed during the conference would unveil several problems along with their solutions.

Ludhiana, October 30
The department of computer science, Khalsa College for Women, organised a one-day UGC-sponsored national seminar on "Research in e-Commerce: Issues and Challenges" here today.

The seminar focused on research issues and challenges in e-commerce that needed attention. Principal Dr Varinder Kaur Thind welcomed the guests. The event was then inaugurated by Harish Rai Dhanda, who also released a souvenir.

A total of 95 delegates were present. The keynote address was given by Dr Lalit Awasthi, professor and dean, NIT, Hamirpur, HP.

Dr Tankeshwar Kumar, director, computer centre, Panjab University, Chandigarh, enlightened the audience on "Transition from Traditional to Virtual Enterprise". Dr Yogesh Chaba, professor, department of computer science and engineering, Guru Jambeshwar University of Science and Technology, Hissar, illuminated the young minds with his views on "Latest Trends in Wireless Communications for m-Commerce". — TNS

Ludhiana, October 30
Punjab and Sind Bank, Jalandhar, along with Punjab National Bank, Delhi, in the senior men's section and Mehta Gurkul Academy of Doraha in the junior boy's section began their campaign on a sound note in the seventh edition of the All-India Guru Gobind Singh Gold Cup Hockey Tournament being organisd by the Ludhiana Sports Welfare Association at the Prithipal Singh AstroTurf Stadium of Punjab Agricultural University campus here today.

In the inaugural match, Punjab and Sind Bank, after trailing by a goal till mid way through the second half, managed to bounce back and win it 2-1 against Punjab Police XI, Jalandhar.

It were the Punjab Police who drew the first blood in the 8th minute through Satnam Singh. They enjoyed the lead till 53rd minute when Parminder Singh of Punjab and Sind Bank restored the parity. He again struck in the 65th minute, which saw his team to clinch the issue 2-1.

In another match, Punjab National Bank, Delhi, drubbed Border Hawks 5-2 in which main contributions were Damandeep Singh (3) while Jatinder Singh and Yudhvir Singh, who chipped in with one goal each.

For the losers, both the goals came off Ramandeep Singh's stick in the second half. In the third match (senior men), Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala, survived a scare before romping home victorious against Indian Air Force (IAF), Delhi 3-2.

RCF, Kapurthala, surged ahead in the 25th minute when Simardeep sounded the board. BS Brar of IAF scored the equaliser in 46th minute and seven minutes later, B Kumar found the target to read it 2-1 in favour of Delhi outfit.

Gagandeep Singh of RCF levelled the score in the 56th minute and again struck in the very next minute to anchor his side to victory (3-2).

In the junior boy's section, Mehta Gurkul Academy of Doraha proved too good for Grewal Academy of Kila Raipur whom they blanked 3-0.

Bikram Singh contributed two goals (13th and 43rd minute) while Harpreet Singh found the target once (29th minute) to complete the rout.

Punjab Cabinet Minister, Hira Singh Gabria inaugurated the tournament. He announced a grant of Rs 2 lakh for the orginisers. Dr MS Kang, Vice Chancellor, PAU, presided over the inaugural ceremony.

Inderpreet Singh Chadha, chief organiser of this tournament, gave a cash assistance of

Rs 5 lakh followed by one lakh cash assistance each by Devinder Singh Ghuman and Dr AP Singh Mangat, respectively. Ashok Kumar Prashar, a prominent local Congress leader too gave Rs 51,000 in cash to the Ludhiana Sports Welfare Association.

Ludhiana, October 30
Students of Alpine International Senior Secondary School gave good account of themselves and bagged two out of three titles in the Ludhiana Sahodaya School Complex West Zone Chess Competition (boys) organised at Alpine International School campus here, today.

In the under 17 category, Shubham of Alpine International School got the better of his immediate opponent, Rishab, also of Alpine International School. Simerleen Singh of Amrit-Indo Canadian Academy secured third position. Nitish of Alpine International School had to toil hard to overcome his rivals and won the title in the under 19 category. Another student from this school, Sumit finished as runners up while Vineet of Partap Public School secured third position.

In the under 14 gorup, Taranpreet of Jesus Sacred Heart School scripted victory to wrap up the title. The second and third positions were bagged by Harshdeep of partap Public School and Nittindeep from Alpine International Senior Secondary School, respectively.