Ludhiana, November 8
The ongoing tussle between government employees occupying residential flats in CRPF Colony in the Dugri locality took an ugly turn today when a clash took place between a group of riot victims and government employees, leading to the death of one Jaspal Singh (51), who was admitted to a nursing home allegedly after sustaining injuries.

A woman shows her injured arm following the clash. (right) A man being kicked during the clash in Ludhiana on Monday. —Tribune photos: Himanshu Mahajan

Ludhiana, November 8
For "petty" internal politics, reputed institutions are taken for a ride at times. Two enquiry officials from Government College, Jandiala, who came to SCD Government College for inquiring into the "embezzlement of PTA funds" ended up spending an entire day inquiring into what turned out to be ‘much ado about nothing’. For, despite spending an entire day on the college premises,inquiry officials found no discrepancy in the records.

Dr Vinod Joshi, one of the officials from Government College, Jandiala told Ludhiana Tribune that despite sending registered letters to complainants, no body had come forward with specific complaints.

"The anonymous complainants, in a letter written to the Punjab Education Minister had alleged that there was embezzlement of Parent Teachers' Association (PTA) funds in SCD College. I had sent registered letters to the addressees (complainants) but all the letters were returned. Still, I have come here with a superintendent to check the records myself. I have failed to find anything wrong. If there is a specific complaint, the complainant should come forward and we will take immediate action in case the college management is found guilty. But anonymous complaints are a sheer harassement", rued Joshi.

College Principal Dr Jasbir Kaur Makkar said that she was cooperating with the enquiry officials as they were doing their duty. "But such fake complaints bring disrepute to the institutions. For petty politics, leading institution is taken for a ride. If someone has problem against me or committee managing PTA funds, he or she should come forward without any hesitation, we will look into the matters. These fake complaints are disgusting and wastage of time", said Makkar.

Prof Jaipal from SCD Government College, who is also the president of Government College Teachers' Association, Punjab said that there can be no discrepancy in funds as committee members approve all the esolutions.

"The audit department of DPI Colleges and CAs of college check all the records regularly, one can not hide embezzlement of funds. These complaints are of general nature and there has been no specific charge against anyone", said Prof Jaipal.

Ludhiana, November 8
With most of the cops busy handling a violent protest by riot victims, robbers had a field day in the city. Three armed men attacked two employees of a mobile phone store in broad daylight and fled with Rs 7.24 lakh in cash today.

The incident took place in the afternoon when Vikas, 25, and Raman, 21, both employees of the Gabba Electronics store located on Tajpur Road visited the State Bank of Patiala branch in Sector 32 to deposit the money. The duo, who were riding a motorcycle, were intercepted by three men, two of them wearing a turban, at a deserted stretch near the LIG flats in the Sector 32 area.

Vikas stated the suspects carried sharp-edged weapons. “Before the two of us could react the assailants caught hold of Raman, pulled out a pistol and trained it at him. However, he managed to run away and immediately informed our employer, Rajesh Gaba, about the incident”, he added.

Raman stated the three men snatched the bag from him and fled from the scene on their motorcycle. “We couldn’t note the bike’s registration number as the robbers had parked it at a distance”, he added. Mohammed Ishfaq, who runs a food joint on the roadside near the LIG flats, claimed he saw three men fleeing from the scene before he could realize what was happening.

However, the police has expressed suspicion about the veracity of the robbery. Jodhewal Basti SHO Jaswinder Singh said the cops were still investigating the incident. “We’re taking the statements of both store employees to ascertain whether the latter were giving the actual account of the incident or had concocted stories to usurp the money”, he added.

However Gaba, owner of the mobile phone, store, backed the account given by his employees. He told The Tribune: “I had planned to visit the bank to deposit the money but due tosome urgent work I had to rush home and told my two employees to deposit the cash. I don’t perceive any foul play in theincident.”

While Vikas has been working at the store for the past two years, Raman was employed recently. 

Ludhiana, November 8
Members of the city’s dreaded “autorickshaw gang”, who had been lying low for some time, appear to have become active again. In the latest incident of snatching, a bank manager was robbed by three youths in a moving autorickshaw near Shivpuri here today morning.

The victim, later identified as Balbir Chand, 54, a resident of New Subash Nagar near Jodhewal Basti, who is a manager in the Corporation Bank branch in Paonta, was in the city along with his family to celebrate Divali. The incident took place at around 4:30 am when he was on his way to the train station in the autorickshaw.

Chand said he hired the auto from Jodhewal Basti. “Two youths who appeared to be in their early 20s were also traveling in the vehicle. When it reached near Shivpuri Chowk they requested the auto driver to stop in order to get down, saying they had to urinate. Soon the duo returned with sharp-edged weapons”, he stated.

“Sensing trouble I tried to run away but the auto driver caught hold of me. The two youths also came and overpowered me. They put a knife on my neck and the driver started the auto. The youths then snatched my bag containing ` 3,300 in cash, five ATM cards, chequebooks, PAN card, ID card and other important documents and threw me out of the moving vehicle”, he added.

Chand said he soon reported the matter to the police. 

Ludhiana, November 8
Children in the city are in the tight grip of violent video games and flicks, which are adversely harming their mental well being by making them aggressive and prone to violence.

A random survey of schoolchildren and their parents by Ludhiana Tribune revealed that close to 95 per cent children studying in top educational institutions of the city between the age group 8-16 years were hooked to various video and online games. Almost all boys conceded having an addiction for violent video games.

The boys also expressed great affinity for action-oriented sci-fi Hollywood flicks, many of which contain material, unsuitable for viewing by children their age. Most of these movies come with a statutory warning about the same and contain ghastly images, extreme violence, bloodshed and other disturbing things. Interestingly, the boys find these games and movies "stimulating", "challenging", "super-exciting" and "thrilling".

The most popular video games among boys include Cannons, Shoot and Throw, Tower Defence, Wreck of the City, Strategy, Art of War, Space Invaders, Arena Fighting, Battle of Gonder and Bomb Man, Tetris, The Time Machine, Pajama Sam, The New Adventures of the Time Machine, Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, Grand Theft Auto III, Halo and Shadowrun - the names clearly hint at their violent character.

"I simply love Art of War. It gives me a high every time I play it," says 14-yar-old Siddharth. His friend Arush, too, loves playing action-packed video games and watching similar Hollywood flicks.

"The movies are disturbing no wonder! My mother hates them and cannot stand the sight of all the bloodshed. But I like them," asserts the teenager.

The girls, too, admitted being hooked to online and video games. But instance of violent game addiction among girls is found to be far less than among boys in the same age group. However, around 50 per cent girls did say they love playing violent games and fighting it out with their virtual opponents, breaking rules and doing their own thing.

The violence fixation of their children has the parents worried. Almost all parents questioned said their kids were hooked to gaming and spent 4-5 hours daily playing them. The parents also confirmed that the extreme violence in these games was affecting their children's behaviour.

They complained that their wards were becoming prone to aggression, impatience, impulsive behaviour, irritability, anger, frustration and rapidly increasing tendency towards fights, including fisticuffs.

"I don't understand my children's weird love for violent games. All-day long, they play with guns, tanks and missiles on their computer and refuse to be taken away from them," says a mother of two teenaged boys. Another one adds, "I have seen a drastic change in the behavioural pattern of children due to such games. A child who was shy, introverted just two years back is today aggressive, assertive and even abusive."

Mandi Ahmedgarh, November 8
Not bothering about the orders of the higher authorities to provide facilities to passengers, officials at the local railway station continue to lock bathrooms and toilets meant for passengers.

Unhygienic drinking water that was earlier supplied to taps has since been withdrawn for fear of being checked by health authorities.

Members of the staff and daily passengers cope up with the problem by carrying water bottles with them.

The railway station here has remained in a state of neglect for months. Thanks to the apathetic attitude of the railway authorities. The passengers visiting the station cannot avail the basic amenities, including toilets, pure drinking water and a proper waiting room. Failing to get the toilets cleaned, the authorities had locked these permanently.

Though the higher authorities, taking cognizance of media reports on locking of toilets, had directed the local authorities to provide proper facilities to all passengers with valid tickets, they (local authorities) have not bothered to open these facilities to the public and have restricted the use of facilities for the staff and vendors of the railway station only.

Investigations further revealed that the key of the toilet lock remained with a vendor and the same was available for the members of staff or anybody agreeing to pay certain price for the same.

The taps, which allegedly supplied unhygienic water earlier, also went dry in the past few days. Sources revealed it was done to evade apprehended action by some health authorities.

Maintaining that keys of the toilets were available for passengers free of cost, the authorities at station said that these had been locked to prevent local residents from using them. They alleged that the shopkeepers from nearby areas had started using the amenities meant for passengers.

The town has one of the largest wholesale markets. Thousands of passengers board trains for Amritsar, New Delhi, Mumbai and Madras everyday. Those coming from surrounding villages have to wait for hours at times.

There was no security arrangement at the station at night and it was frequented by anti-social elements. The Tribune had been highlighting woes of the passengers and the higher authorities had directed the local officials to ensure proper facilities to passengers. 

Mandi Ahmedgarh, November 8
The Union government has approved the state government's plan to organise educational tours for class X students of government schools, the parents of students studying in private-aided schools have urged the authorities to extend the scheme to these institutes as well.

Meanwhile, the authorities in the state education department have directed heads of all government high and senior secondary schools to submit proposals for educational tours to be organised between November 15 and December 15.

Buildings and places are to be finalised according to schedule and draft proposals suggested by the department.

Under the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan, the Union government has approved the state government plan to organise educational tours for class X students of state-run schools. The government has announced to spend Rs 200 for each student. While Rs 50 will be spent on refreshment, the balance amount will be utilised for transportation and entry fee for the place to be visited (if any).

Maintaining that the private aided schools are governed by same rule and regulations, parents of wards studying in these schools have urged the authorities that the facility should be made available to their children too.

"When our wards are pursuing same courses and appearing in exams conducted by the same authority why should they be deprived of right to visit places of educational importance," argued Kuldeep Singh father of class X student of local private-aided school.

Endorsing demand put forward by parents of students, Kedar Kapila, manager of the Ahmedgarh Vidya Parcharak Sabha, said the organisation would take up the matter with authorities concerned in the department.

Perusal of records revealed that heads of all high and senior secondary government schools had been directed to submit their proposals for educational tours with the District Education Officers of their respective regions before November 10.

To streamline the project, the authorities have prepared a draft proposal according to which schools situated in Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Kapurthala and Tarantaran districts will take their students to Pushpa Gujral Science City at Kapurthala.

The Thermal Plant, Bathinda, National Fertilisers, Bathinda, and Gurdwara Damdama Sahib, have been suggested for students of Bathinda, Barnala, Mansa and Mukatsar districts.

Students from Ropar, Fatehgarh, Patiala, Mohali and Sangrur districts will be visiting Rock Garden, Art Gallery and Punjab University at Chandigarh besides Chhat Bir Zoo.

Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Nawansehar, Ferozepur, Faridkot and Moga district schools have been suggested Jallian Wala Bagh, Wahga Border, Golden Temple and Durgiana Mandir at Amritsar.

Ludhiana, November 8
The Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India - Marxist (Cpthe M) have strongly opposed US government policy to make India a strategic partner in their designs while calling upon the Government of India not to surrender to the US hegemony.

As part of the nationwide campaign to observe November 8 as anti-imperialism day, hundreds of activists of the two parties today staged a dharna at mini secretariat here. Speakers at the protest dharna warned that the deals to be finalised between India and US during the visit of President Barrack Obama would further push India into an open market of the US multinational corporations (MNCs).

"The US administration serves the interests of military industrial complex and the big monopoly houses who dictate their policies which are implemented by the government of the day. The visit of US President Obama has to be seen in the light of all these developments," the left party leaders observed.

They further said that nuclear deal was going to be the main agenda during the visit of the US President. Under the influence of the US government, the Indian Parliament was made to pass the Nuclear Liability Bill in a hasty manner to please the US government. But the US government is not satisfied even with that and wants to dilute the clauses further to their interest and they do not want to commit to any liability as a supplier.

"On the fight against terrorism also, the US government does not practice what it preaches," pointed out the CPI and CPM functionaries. "Their talk of fighting terrorism together is a hoax. They never shared the information about David Hadley - who was being used as a double agent, with the Indian intelligence agencies in time otherwise the 26/11 terrorist attack on Mumbai could have been averted."

The speakers asserted that the US President had made it amply clear that he was coming to India to double their exports and job opportunities for the US citizens. "He has made no commitment to support India's claim for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council; rather he chose to put off the matter by saying that it was a very complicated issue."

The left leaders cautioned that the US wanted to bring education cartel as a big business to India. But what the Indian people need in education requires basic reforms with increased public spending and not education business. "The US is also pitching in for more concessions in the field of agriculture to export to India which will prove detrimental to the Indian peasantry."

Prominent among the speakers at the dharna were Kartar Singh Bowani, secretary, CPI, Sukhwinder Sekhon, district secretary, CPM, Jatinder, Dr Arun Mitra, OP Mehta, DP Maur, Jagdish, Gulzar Goria, Ramesh Ratan, Vijay Kumar, Gurnam Sidhu, Gurnam Gill, Avtar Gill, Surinder Singh Jalaldiwal and Mewa Singh.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, November 8
Responding to a call given by Left-wing parties to stage a countrywide protest during US President Barack Obama’s visit, the office- bearers and activists of these outfits organised protest marches and rallies at various places in the area.

Accusing the US government of pressurising the Indian government to adopt economic policies, which are detrimental to the interest of the people in the name of a strategic alliance, protestors urged Barack Obama to review the policies keeping in view the interest of common man in India.

Various speakers, including Baldev Singh Latala, Sikandar Singh Jartauli and Paramjit Singh Ghungrana, office bearers of the Punjab Kissan Sabha regretted that that thepeople seemed to be disappointed over continuation of the anti-India policies of the United States of America even after regime of George Bush. They (common Indians) were more upset because expectations of positive changes after Barack Obama did not materialise, alleged the speakers.

The leftists demanded that the US should also stop pushing India to give up liability claims on the US nuclear suppliers and open its retail, farming and educational sectors to the US multi-national companies.

Ludhiana, November 8
Muslims in the city today burnt an effigy of US President Barack Obama. They raised slogans against him at Field Gunj while burning his effigy.Shahi Imam of Punjab, while addressing the gathering, said they were protesting against Obama, “as many people had become martyrs to US bombs”.

"India is a secular nation and everybody here lives in peace and harmony, while the USA is not a secular nation. It appears as if Obama has become the ambassador of East India Company," he said.

He added that the USA had waged a war against the Muslims in the entire world and the latter were being tortured everywhere.

Ludhiana, November 8
In a clear indication of how red tapism has adversely affected the working of the civic body, developmental works worth Rs 39 lakhs, which were sanctioned during the Sangat Darshan programme of the Punjab Chief Minister about two years ago, finally got a green signal after the Municipal Corporation (MC) Commissioner visited the spot here on Monday.

During a ‘Sangat Darshan’ programme held in 2008, residents of Amarpura, Ajit Nagar, Mushtaaq Ganj, Kidwai Nagar and Issa Nagri localities led by area Councilor Gurdeep Singh Neetu had appealed to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to get constructed the two major roads of the area following which he had sanctioned Rs 13.80 lakh for the construction of a road from Amar Pura to Ajit Nagar and Rs 26 lakh for constructing a road from Mushtaaq Ganj to Issa Nagari Pulli. However, construction of the both the roads lingered for almost two years. But following an intervention by the area Councillor, MC officers finally called tenders for the work in July 2010 and placed it before the Finance and Contract Committee for approval in October 2010.

Though the high-powered committee approved estimates for the work this year, they placed the condition that the MC Commissioner must first visit the area and then approve the work. Eventually, MC Commissioner AK Sinha accompanied by Additional Commissioner Kuldeep Singh, Joint Commissioner MS Jaggi and a few officers from the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) branch and the Building and Roads (B&R) branch visited the spot along with the area Councilor. During the visit the area Councilor showed the illegal encroachments on the road that require removing before commencing construction of the road. Suqsequent to the visit, Sinha asked the MC officers to start the developmental work. When asked for reasons behind the delay, Sinha said, “Construction was delayed because we frst had t lay sewerage pipes. Elese we would have had to dig up the roads”.

Ludhiana, November 8
Punjab Local Bodies and Industry Minister Manoranjan Kalia today disagreed with the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi's contention that the state governments were responsible for the rising prices. "Inflation is the direct result of the wrong policies of the central government."

Kalia, along with other senior BJP leaders, was at the office of Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) here today where the newly appointed chairman MM Vyas assumed charge of his office.

Talking to mediapersons, he said the NDA government had not allowed the prices to go up despite several adverse factors. He alleged that the UPA, led by the congress party, had created an artificial scarcity, leading to inflation in the country.

When asked about the claim of the SAD-BJP government of not indulging in politics of vendetta against its political opponents, Kalia said at the same time, serious cases like the Ludhiana City Centre scam, involving hundreds of crore of rupees, would not be withdrawn.

He claimed that the post of Chief Parliamentary Secretary (CPS), lying vacant after the resignation of Jagdish Sahni (BJP legislator), would be filled within a week.

Earlier, MM Vyas took over as the new chairman of LIT after the earlier chairman Ashok Juneja had tendered his resignation from the post last month on health grounds.

Senior BJP leaders, including state president of the party, Ashwani Sharma, both BJP legislators from the city, Sat Pal Gosain and Harish Bedi, Punjab Minister for Tourism, Cultural Affairs and Jails, Hira Singh Gabria, City Mayor Hakam Singh Giaspura, former LIT chairman Ashok Juneja, senior deputy mayor, Parveen Bansal and deputy mayor, Sunita Aggarwal, among others, were present on the occasion.

While taking over the charge of the office, Vyas said it would be too early to say anything about the working of the institution (LIT), but it was evident that some changes needed to be made so as to make the working more people-friendly and the staff and officials accountable as well as accessible to the members of the public.

On the face of it, the major hurdle in bringing about improvement in the day-to-day work as well as carrying out short-term and long-term development projects, was severe shortage of staff. "In the absence of adequate staff, it will be practically impossible to carry out the assigned task," Vyas commented.

Ludhiana, November 8
An incident that took place yesterday has once again brought to the fore the gross inefficiency of the municipal corporation’s ‘tehbazaari’ wing, which is entrusted with the task of removing encroachments in the city. Even as the employees assured their boss to work overtime to remove illegal structures in a particular locality none of the officials bothered to visit the site despite repeated calls by the police to conduct a joint drive in Chaura Bazaar.

On Monday afternoon a team of traffic cops led by their in charge, Mandeep Singh, arrived at the congested Chaura Bazaar locality to remove temporary encroachments as the Divali deadline given by the MC and the police to shopkeepers had already expired. Though the police team swung into action and asked shopkeepers in Chaura Bazaar, Ghanta Ghar Chowk and Saaban Bazaar to remove their encroachments, to their sheer surprise the MC staff, which was required for the joint action, had not reached the spot. The police officer then called up officials of the ‘tehbazaari’ wing but the latter expressed their inability to join the drive due to their “engagements”.

Even the police’s demand to deploy the staff with them was also turned down by the MC staff that had no time take part in drive. This despite the fact that only a few hours ago the ‘tehbazaari’ staff had been told by the MC commissioner at a meeting to work overtime to remove encroachments.

When contacted Mandeep confirmed he had called up the ‘tehbazaari’ officials but was told they would not be able to take part in the drive. The police team then decided to go it alone and, a few minutes after the drive began, the temporary encroachments in the congested bazaars suddenly disappeared and vehicles were properly parked in the area.

However, the police was harsh on those shopkeepers who violated the law after the team went ahead in other bazaars. The cops also confiscated some of the goods displayed outside the shops and even fined a few motorists.

Ludhiana, November 8
With the municipal corporation (MC) and the district police joining hands to streamline the traffic in the city, there seems to be some silver lining to solve one of the biggest problems being faced by the residents for the past many years.

To find a solution to the problem, officials of the civic body and the police department conducted a meeting here today.

The meeting, in which MC commissioner AK Sinha, police commissioner Ishwar Singh, MC additional commissioner Kanwalpreet Kaur Brar and other top officials of both departments took part, had a detailed discussion for finding out some viable solution to this problem.

Apart from discussing the general problems regarding the traffic management, officials laid emphasis on the streamlining of the traffic in the city so that the chaotic situations could
be avoided.

The officials were of the opinion that the basic infrastructure required for managing the traffic needed to be updated. For this, the police asked the MC to get the proper demarcation of the zebra crossings and the parking lines conducted so that traffic could be streamlined properly. Police officials also enquired from the MC officers about the functioning of the streetlights and asked them to ensure that the traffic lights work properly during the peak hours of traffic.

Police officials also asked them to expedite the work of installing the streetlights at the points where they had been proposed earlier. Likewise, new points for the installation of streetlights were also discussed. Making slips roads at the places where they were needed for ensuring the smooth running of the traffic was also discussed.

Discussing the issue of nuisance caused by auto-rickshaws in the city, the police officials, on their part, assured the MC officials that they would not allow the haphazard parking of the auto-rickshaws. However, it asked the MC staff to provide space to the auto-rickshaws owners for parking their vehicles so that the load of traffic could be reduced. Both departments also looked forward to cooperation in the field of removing the temporary illegal encroachments, for which a joint action of both departments was proposed.

Confirming the matter, MC commissioner AK Sinha said that the basic motive of the meeting was to find some practical solution to the traffic problem of the city. He expressed the hope that in the coming days, the situation of traffic would be improved to a great extent. 

Ludhiana, November 8
In what has come as a major embarrassment for the municipal corporation, a councillor has asked its officials to find a ‘nullah’ (open drain) that he said had been “lost” after unauthorized structures were constructed on it.

Parminder Mehta, a Congress party councillor, had in a letter written to MC commissioner AK Sinha said a nullah flowing from Mohalla Nau Ghara towards Sarafa Bazaar, which had been used for disposal of contaminated water from the locality, had suddenly “disappeared” a few months ago. Laying emphasis on the thorough enquiry of the matter so that the nullah could be “found” again Mehta had told the commissioner that “some people have allegedly constructed illegal buildings on the nullah and other public places”.

“These people are now proving to be a hindrance in the MC’s functioning as they are not allowing civic officials to complete developmental projects in the area due to which residents are suffering”, he added.

Sinha later marked an inquiry into the matter to additional commissioner Kuldeep Singh to ascertain the facts. A delegation of residents of the area led by Mehta met Kuldeep in his office on Monday to request him to complete the probe at the earliest so that a loss to the MC could be averted.

Mehta said he told Kuldeep the residents had been demanding the developmental works from the civic body from last many years but as the civic body has not been able to provide the with the basic amenities so they are disappointed from it. “I asked him to immediately deploy a team of the officers of the building branch so that public property could be saved”, he added.

Kuldeep reportedly assured Mehta the matter would be looked into and a “comprehensive inquiry” on illegal encroachments would be conducted, adding “suitable action” would be taken if required.

Ludhiana, November 8
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has ordered M/s Tata Teleservices Limited, The Mall, Ludhiana, and its senior nano officer Sandeep Kumar to make the payment of ` 8,000 as compensation to an aggrieved consumer for causing un-necessary harassment to him. Pronouncing the order, forum president TN Vaidya, Priti Malhotra, Rajesh Kumar also directed the company to pay ` 2,000 as litigation expenses.

The orders came on a complaint moved by Hukam Singh of Daba Road, Ludhiana.The complainant had submitted that he had opted for a plan under which, Tata Teleservices was to provide one landline and one mobile connection.

He gave ` 17,00 as demanded by the opposite party. It was assured that connection would be provided within 24 hours.

But it was not installed despite his repeated requests. He made a complaint to the SSP, Ludhiana, on October 30, 2009. During the enquiry, he was provided with the two connections on November 13, 2009.

After few days, he received one bill raised by Tata Teleservices dated November 9, 2009 for the period October 7, 2009 to November 6, 2009. He requested the company to withdraw the bill but they failed to do so. After this they disconnected the connection on the ground of non-payment.

The opposite party in their reply conceded most of the allegations of the complainant. It pleaded that the mischief was committed by Sandeep Kumar, sales associate, who failed to handover connections to the complainant and they were not at fault.

After perusing the record, the forum held that the master was liable for the acts, deeds and mis-deeds of their servant or employee.

Ludhiana: On the auspicious occasion of Diwali, Mehta Gurukul Public Senior Secondary School, Doraha, organised an inter-house diya and candle decoration competition for students of Classes III-VIII. Students of all four houses namely Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars participated with great zeal and enthusiasm in the contest.

They decorated diyas and candles with materials like frills, beads, mirrors, colours etc. Their work left the onlookers amazed. In this competition, the group I comprising classes III-V, Simranjeet Kaur of Mercury house stood first, Sunaina of Venus house got second position and Karanjot Kaur of Mars house was placed at the third position.

From the second group comprising classes VI-IX, Yukti Jindal of Venus house, Jaspreet Kaur of Mercury house and Ravinder Singh of Mercury house won the first, second and third positions respectively. Later, principal Ajay Patyal appreciated the students' efforts and encouraged them to participate even more enthusiastically in the forthcoming competitions.

Mandi Gobindgarh, November 8
RIMT-Maharaja Agrasen Engineering College, Mandi Gobindgarh, hosted a pool campus placement drive by New Delhi-based Era Group for B.Tech Civil engineering students passing out in the year 2011. RIMT Group of institutions chairman Dr Hukam Chand Bansal welcomed senior HR officer Sachin Kumar and the team members. He said placements for students graduating in 2011 batch were in full swing and number of IT and core engineering companies were visiting RIMT to hire good talent from this region.

Regarding job profile and packagehe further said that students would be hired as graduate engineer trainee with an annual package of 2.20 lakh per annum. Finally five students were selected for joining from July 2011 and their offer letters wouldbe sent shortly, said company official. — OC

Machhiwara, November 8
A cattle-thief gang operating in the area struck again at Rahimabad village and decamped with eight buffalos.Lehmber Singh, a resident of the village, in a complaint to the Machiwara police has alleged that at night thieves struck at his cattle shed and took away his five buffaloes and three calves.

According to him, he has tied his cattle in his shed at night and when he went there in the morning he found his cattle missing. According to him, he sold milk to make his both ends meet.

He reported the matter to the police and a case was registered against unidentified buffalo thieves under Sections 457 and 380 of the IPC. A cattle-thief gang was operating in Samrala and Machiwara areas and often stuck at late nights. The police officials said that they were probing the matter. 

Ludhiana, November 8
Even before the Canadian police could act and book an NRI for assaulting his wife for seeking dowry, the city police tightened its noose on him and registered a case against him for subjecting his wife to cruelty.

Distance seemed to be no bar for the Jodhewal police, as the accused is a resident of Phagwara, currently based in Canada. The case was registered following the complaint of the victim’s father.

The accused, identified as Ravinder Singh, was married to Veena Rani, daughter of Fakir Chand, a resident of Jodhewal Basti, on February 2009.

Fakir Chand alleged that after marriage, the groom started thrashing his daughter and demanded Rs 10 lakh and a car. After spending a few months at her in- laws’ house, the girl returned to Canada. In December, the groom also flew to Canada. Fakir Chand alleged that the accused did not relent from his activities and continued to assault the newly wed even in Canada.

After receiving the complaint, the Jodhewal police marked an inquiry in the case. SHO Jatinder Kumar said, “Considering the legalities of the case, we further took the opinion of the District Attorney (Legal).” The accused was booked after the DA (Legal) reportedly gave its nod to book the groom.

The accused was booked under Sections 406 and 498-A of the IPC for breaching trust and assaulting a woman for dowry.