Sekhewal, November 20
“Put us in a pit and blow us up along with the explosives. Instead of the cold weather killing us slowly, finish us at once,” cried Rajwinder Kaur, mother of Guddi who became the first victim of the detonation drive at Mattewara forest when she died of pneumonia.

The seven-month-old baby died at 5.30 pm yesterday. It had earlier been reported that the victim was seven years old. The couple buried the child in the dark because they had to leave the house early in the morning.

“We were paranoid and thought if we buried her in the morning, the police would reprimand us for delay in leaving the house,” Baldev Singh, a daily wage earner and father of the girl, lamented.

When the police arrived to enquire about the incident in the morning, the family was terrified and took it to the burial site. The couple reportedly even told the police that they had no objection if it decided to dig up the earth to substantiate the truth.

Guddi had developed fever two days ago. She was rushed to hospital on Thursday and later discharged. “The doctor had advised us not to expose her to cold, but we were helpless as everyday we have to come to the banks of the river. Last evening, her condition deteriorated and she collapsed in my arms. I could not help her. I could only watch her die slowly in my arms,” wept Ranjit Kaur. Her three other children were scared and huddled together to stay warm.

Ranjit Kaur was full of scorn for industrialists and held them responsible for the death of her baby.

“While iron traders have minted money, our children are suffering the cold. This is gross injustice. People of three village are suffering for no fault of theirs,” Baldev Singh said.

Sekhewal/Kalewal, November 20
Not only residents, but the flora and fauna are also falling victims to the chilly weather conditions prevaling at Sekhewal village. The Sekhewal residents said they would die if the weather remains the same.

Two calves have reportedly died and three head of cattle fallen sick since the day Army began detonation drive.

Sukhdev Singh, a resident of Kalewal village, said his four- year- old cow died in the forest area following a massive explosion.

According to a senior official in the administration, the residents and animals of Sekhewal village are at risk as they are currently putting up at the Satluj river bed. Further the tents erected by the administration are not serving any purpose.

“The tents remain erected throughout the night. These get wet due to the dew and are of no use to the residents,” said Kashmir Singh. Elderly residents are also falling sick due to the chill. The condition of Dalip Kaur (80) and Bhajan Kaur (79), both elderly residents of Sekhewal and Kalewal village, respectively, are stated to be serious.

Sukhwinder Kaur, while cutting the branches of trees said, “I had shown the cow to a vat doctor yesterday. He told me to keep the animal at warmer place. But the animal again fell sick after I had to vacate the house this morning.” 

Sekhewal/Kalewal, November 20
The day after a seven-month-old baby died of pneumonia, facilities are being extended to residents of Sekhewal and Kalewal villages.

The administration has offered a relief of Rs 21,000 to the parents of the baby. SDM (East) Manpreet Chattwal said after a discussion with the Army authorities, it was decided that the exercise would not be undertaken tomorrow.

Keeping in mind the weddings, the authorities have announced a five-day break in the exercise.

“We have come to know that there are weddings on November 26 and 28, so we decided not to carry out explosions on these days,” Chattwal said.

Further, residents would get enough time to irrigate their fields and sow crops, he added.

Sharanjit Dhillon, Director of Markfed, said a veterinarian would regularly visit the three villages to check the health of the cattle. The president of the SGPC, Avtar Singh Makkar, said besides food, the residents of the three villages would also offered “kheer” and other sweet dishes. He donated Rs 70,000 to the village gurdwara.

Kashmir Singh, a resident of Sekhewal, said mockingly: “It seemed all of them were waiting for some tragedy to happen. Till the time the baby was suffering from cold, no one came forward to help and now we are flooded with holidays and sweet dishes.”

Ludhiana, November 20
In another example of chaos at the Municipal Corporation (MC), the civic body authorities have not maintained the seniority list of hundreds of employees, blocking their promotion.

Even the top brass of the MC was not aware of such a lapse. It was only when the employees protested and sought promotion that the MC woke up.

Though the employees were assured that they would soon get promotions, the problem is that not a single branch of the MC has the seniority lists of its Class IV employees.

Neither does the MC know of its staff requirement nor is it certain who would be promoted should a worker retire.

Sources revealed that the Additional MC Commissioner, Kanwalpreet Kaur Brar, had informed MC Commissioner AK Sinha about the matter, who in turn asked all the branches to submit the seniority list so that the promotion process could be started.

However, the sources revealed that owing to the complexity involved, the work has not been completed despite several reminders.

The sources also revealed that the worst situation was in the health branch where owing to a large number of workers, the officials were facing problem.

Commenting on it, a leader of the Sangarsh Committee, Lovely Pal Diswar, said by not preparing the seniority list, the MC officials have done grave injustice with poor employees.

Even now the list was being prepared in a haphazard manner, which was not acceptable to the employees. “We have pointed out more than 100 irregularities in the list, but nobody is ready to listen to us,” he claimed.

Kanwalpreet Kaur Brar confirmed that they faced some problems, but said the list was ready now. “We will be starting the promotion process in the coming days,” she added.

Ludhiana, November 20
The Undergraduate and Postgraduate Board of Studies of Panjab University has asked all colleges and institutes affiliated to it to re-structure BCom/BCom (Honours), MCom (Honours), BBA and MBA programmes and introduce semester system.

It is for the first time that all undergraduate courses in commerce stream will have semester system. The curriculum of the BCom course has been revamped under semester system with choice-based credit system.

Dr Ashwani Bhalla, member of the Post- graduate Board of Studies in Commerce and a special invitee to the Undergraduate Board of Studies in Commerce (PU), said the board had passed the programmes and sent the recommendations to the faculty of commerce in colleges to adopt the new programmes.

BCom (general) course has been divided into six semesters, where emphasis would be on inter-disciplinary, foundation and core courses. In a three-year programme, every student will study 36 courses in all divided into: foundation courses (four) language courses (Punjabi and English, four), interdisciplinary courses (four) and core courses (24).

The focus of foundation courses will be on basic numerical skills, managerial and soft skills development and knowledge of information technology.

The interdisciplinary courses will give the students an opportunity to study courses from other streams of education to update their knowledge and skills. Every student has to select four interdisciplinary courses from a list of 10 courses.

“These courses focus on knowledge of basic computer programming, human rights education, culture and civilisation, operations research, project management, research methodology, disaster management, e-governance, social and ethical issues in business and health management,” Dr Bhalla stated.

The core courses have been divided into four segments with six papers each in every segment. The segments are accounting and finance, business management, and economics and law.

The BCom (Honours) programme has been introduced as separate streams which will have separate regulations, admissions and course structure.

In BCom (Honours), a student has to pass 40 courses over six semesters and the programme will be different from BCom (general), with nothing in common. For revamping the programmes, an expert committee of over a dozen professors was constituted by the university.

The university has also proposed to start MCom (Honours) programme from the next academic session at University Business School (PU).

Ludhiana, November 20
With the 2 degree Celsius dip in the day and night temperature during the past two days, residents of the city have started feeling the chill in the air. The maximum temperature dipped to 25 degree Celsius last evening from 28 degree Celsius three days ago. Metrologists predict that by the end of the next week, the temperature would further dip by 4 to 5 degree Celsius.

While afternoons are still warm, mercury dips in the evening and morning hours.

Jagdish Singh Sadarpura, general secretary, Bharti Kisan Union, Ludhiana, said weather conditions were good for seasonal crops like potato, wheat, maize, peas and tomato. “The crop is growing at its speed, if there are mild rains in November or early December then production will be doubled,” said Sadarpura.

Hosiery manufacturers are in an upbeat mood as fashion savvy people of the city have already started purchasing woolens much before the onset of winter. Manufacturers confirm that due to the hike in yarn prices, woolens have become costlier, but people are still on a shopping spree.

Sandeep Kumar, manager of a leading brand on the Mall road, said, “People expect an acute winter this season. They have started purchasing the woolens while keeping this in mind. They don’t just want light (winter) stuff, heavy woollens, too, are much in demand.” 

Ludhiana, November 20
Surjeet Singh, who runs a gift shop at Talaab Bazaar Mandir, had decided to quit after his shop was gutted. Goods worth Rs 8 lakh were destroyed. However, monetary help of Rs 1.5 lakh extended by the area shopkeeper association boosted his spirit and brought him back on track. He is running his business once again.

The night of October 21 brought misery for Surjeet as his three-storeyed shop was reduced to ashes in a fire that broke out due to a short circuit.

Keeping the forthcoming festivals of Karva Chauth and Diwali in mind, Surjeet had stored gift items worth Rs 8 lakh, all of which were destroyed.

He was shattered and decided never to set up his business again. But the shopkeepers’ association offered him Rs 1.5 lakh, recalls Surjeet. As many as 140 members of the association contributed to the relief. The contributions ranged from Rs 50 to Rs 11,000.

For Surjeet, it was a miracle. His sagging spirit was lifted. He was able to set up a shop and earned a handsome profit during the festive season.

The secretary of the association, Diren Agrawal, said they had done Surjeet no favour, but had helped him on humanitarian grounds.

He rued that neither the government nor political leaders helped an individual in need. He said the government often bailed out farmers, but shopkeepers were never offered help in such a crisis.

“Many people like Surjeet get ruined in such incidents. Why does the government not extend any help to them despite having the provision for funds?” he asked.

Ludhiana, November 20
The death penalty awarded by a court to Punjab police constable Jarnail Singh for murdering a vegetable vendor brought a faint glimmer of satisfaction over justice done on the face of the latter’s widow, who along with her two children have been living in poverty for the past six years.

Pulinder, the 32-year-old vendor from Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, was killed along with two brothers, Beant and Bhagwant, six years ago. For Shrimati Devi, his wife, it was a tragedy that devastated her entire life and forced her to take up menial jobs to earn a living.

Though she now resides in Gorakhpur she persuaded her brother-in-law to visit Ludhiana to thank the sexagenarian couple, Harbans Singh and Malkit Kaur, who fought her case in the courts.

Jatinder Sahni, Pulinder’s brother, flayed administration officials, politicians and the police for
making false promises to the family on resolving the case.

“Everyone used my brother’s murder to their advantage. The administration washed its hands off the matter by announcing a compensation that we never got. The politicians got an opportunity to criticise the police for its ham handedness in bringing the culprit to justice. The police assured a job for one of the members of the victim’s family, but six years on nothing has been done so far,” he lamented.

Jatinder stated Jarnail had a personal enmity with Beant and Bhagwant. “But what was Pulinder’s fault? My brother used to work hard to eke out a living. He was not only supporting the family but also funding my studies. But all he got in return was a bullet that snuffed out his life,” he said.

“My wife fights with me whenever I spend money on Pulinder’s children. His other siblings have declined to offer financial support to his widow and kids. Shrimati curses Jarnail all the time. And why not, due to him her children are suffering and she
is spending the prime years of her life alone,” said Jatinder.

Currently Pulinder’s widow and children - Sadhna, 11, and Paritosh, 9 - are putting up with their relatives in Gorakhpur. However, soon they will be rendered homeless as the other members of the family plan to sell the house.

Harbans and Malkit informed Jatinder about the court’s verdict following which the latter visited Ludhiana and met the elderly couple.

“We didn’t know each other but both of us suffered the same tragedy,” said Harbans.

Malkit, breaking into tears, said: “What did Jarnail get by committing such a heinous crime? The court has sentenced him to death and his family members are spending their lives in jail. His brother is on the run. He ruined everything to settle scores with my children”.

Ludhiana, November 20
The ongoing fashion carnival elicited good response from the city’s elite today. Collections by India’s top designers were showcased on the ramp by models.

Apart from designers, exhibitors from across India are taking part in “Dream Weddings”, which will conclude tomorrow.

“Dream Weddings” is the brainchild of designer Rashmi Bindra, who recently participated in the Wills Fashion Week-2010 Spring Collections.

“There are thousands of faces that have talent but these often go unnoticed. The shortlisted designers have immense talent. This edition will open new doors to fashion lovers when we come to the city for a three-day bridal exhibition,” she said.

Fashionable surroundings have been created for the event, with recycled and basic concepts taken from nature creating the ambience.

The city has been especially picked for the carnival for those who understand fashion, clothing and exhibition, she added.

The designers and fashion houses taking part in the exhibition include Abdul Halder from Delhi, Abhi Rahul, Satya Paul, Debarun, Hemant and Nandita, Raa, Ankur Sen, Sonia Dharmik, Voyala Jewels, Kanhai Jewels, Fiona Moissanite, Qaynat Bling, Shibori Designs, FA Trading Co., Arabian Footwear, Hair by Diana from Goa.

Ludhiana, November 20
Deadlock continued over the issue of regularisation of sanitary workers in the municipal corporation, with employees rejecting the proposal of phase-wise regularisation by seeking the regularisation of all 3,500 sanitary workers in one go. Under pressure from the workers’ union, the corporation is now going to consider the matter.

In order to press for the regularisation of sanitary workers, Sangarsh Committee leaders Lovely Pal Diswar, Hans Raj Gagat, Khelar Chand Gupta, Fazal Ghai, Gurjeet Singh, Gurpal Singh, Pritam Kumar,Vedpal Bedi and others met with MC Additional Commissioner Kanwalpreet Kaur Brar here today.

The leaders rejected the MC formula of regularising 400 sanitary workers as the civic body only had that many sanctioned posts.

MC officers told them that as the state government had asked them to regularise sanitary workers in accordance with the budget, they could afford to spend only on a fixed number of workers, adding that the fiscal condition of the civic body did not allow them to regularise the entire lot of sanitary workers in one go.

However, worker leaders maintained that the MC was not following the directions of the state government.

Brar assured them of regularising all sanitary workers but sought some time to do so.

She assured them that once the fiscal condition of the MC consolidated, they would immediately regularise the workers.

On the demand of the committee regarding the promotion of supervisors in the horticulture branch, the official said the seniority list had been prepared and the promotion process would start soon.

Ludhiana, November 20
In a relief to thousands of slum dwellers, the process of shifting of 1,280 families from slums to flats, being constructed under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), will begin soon.

The flats will be ready by December, 2010 and the rehabilitation will be carried out by the municipal corporation.

A meeting to review the progress of the ongoing work under the basic services to urban poor (BSUP) scheme of the JNNURM was convened by MC Commissioner AK Sinha here today.

The meeting was convened keeping in view the meeting of Union Housing and Urban Development secretary to review the projects under JNNURM in Chandigarh on Monday.

Officers of the building and B&R branches took part in the meeting.

MC officials said of the total 4,832 flats under construction, 1,280 flats at Giaspura would be ready by December, 2010. Families identified during the biometric survey could be shifted to the flats soon after.

However, the officials said 886 people had so far been identified under the biometric survey in three slum areas of Labour Colony, Jamuna Colony and Sarabha Colony.

It was also stated that the building branch had deputed its assistant town planners (ATPs) to identify other slums in the city to complete the process of biometric survey and begin the rehabilitation process.

Officials of the building branch said they had already started the process of identifying slums and the work would be completed soon.

Sinha asked the building branch to complete the process of identification and prepare a map so that it could be submitted for approval.

He also asked the officials to complete the process of issuing identity cards to slum dwellers.

Ludhiana, November 20
With his eye on the forthcoming Assembly elections, Punjab Legislative Assembly Deputy Speaker Satpal Gosain has pulled up officials of the local bodies department for not starting the work on covering the nullah from Gurdwara Dukh Niwaran.

The project for covering the nullah from Gurdwara Dukh Niwaran to Chand Cinema had been a long-pending demand of area residents. Gosain had also won the last elections using the issue as one of his poll planks.

On his insistence, the MC authorities had approved a plan of the IIT, Rurkee, to cover the nullah. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal had laid the foundation stone for the project a few months ago.

The project hit a roadblock after the local bodies department failed to sanction it.

Gosain visited the nullah along with officers of the civic body last night where Residents asked him to find some solution to the problem.

Gosain called up AK Prabhakar, engineer-in-chief of the local bodies department, and censured him for not sanctioning the project.

The officer, however, asserted that the project had already been given the go-ahead and the orders would soon be received by the municipal corporation.

Gosain said area residents had been facing a lot of problems due to the uncovered nullah but the authorities concerned had been delaying the project.

He said a lot of money and resources of the MC had been invested in the project.

Phillaur, November 20
Around 800 trainees of various promotional courses passed out from the Punjab Police Academy during a passing out parade here yesterday.

Addressed the trainees, academy director Rohit Chodhary said policing in the modern world had changed drastically and generated a number of issues and challenges before the police force.

The police had to assume a diversified role in such complex conditions. He stressed the need for staying committed to meet the future challenges with dedication and professional commitment.

He also congratulated the trainees and wished them success.

Academy joint director MF Farooqui said a number of innovative changes had been incorporated in the training schedule.

He said the police was now focussing on attitudinal and behavioural changes coupled with overall preparedness of the force and these steps would go a long way in improving the content and quality of police training in the state.

Ludhiana, November 20
The knitwear and hosiery industry observed a one-day strike as a mark of protest against the high cotton prices here yesterday. The industry requested the government to monitor the prices as well as the quantum of cotton arrival.

The industry wanted the government to first assess the domestic requirement to provide enough cotton to the local market so as to safeguard the livelihood of lakhs of textile related labours and then seek immediate intervention to mitigate the hardships of hosiery players.

“The Indian hosiery industry is going through a rough phase despite a bumper cotton crop. This is primarily because of some special government policies that have been exclusively outlined for the cotton crop, forcing the whole industry and common man to lose out in a big way. The MRP of basic textile items like undergarments, etc. have gone up by 25 per cent over the past one year and are expected to go up further unless there is a halt in cotton export besides monitoring of cotton prices. The Knitwear Club has been incorporated for the growth of the knitwear/textile industry and to cooperate with the industry in case of problems related to policy, fiscal, technical or commercial issues,” said Vinod Thapar, president of Knitwear Club. The unusual hike in cotton prices and other yarns throughout North India is adversely distressing the knitwear industry. Industrialists have expressed fear of total collapse of knitted fabric and garment industry.

Phillaur, November 20
While reiterating her determination to improve the quality of health services in civil hospitals, Punjab health minister Prof Laxmi Kanta Chawla today said the state health department was actively working on a 19-point programme with financial assistance from both union and state governments.

Talking to mediapersons here, Chawla said programmes like National Vector-Borne Disease Control Programme, National Leprosy Eradication Programme, National Mental Health Programme, National Programme for Control of Blindness, Revised National TB Control Programme, National Iodine Deficiency Disorders Control Programme, National Cancer Control Programme, School Health Programme, National Family Welfare Programme, Janani Suraksha Yojna, Implementation of PC and PNDT Act, were being implemented in the state. She said in their initiative to provide ultra-modern facilities in hospitals, digital X-ray machines would soon be installed and dialysis machines would also be provided to big hospitals for proper treatment of kidney patients.

The minister said trauma centres had been set up in Pathankot, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Khanna and Jalandhar.

The minister opposed the appointment of medical staff on deputation. Earlier, the health minister visited and inspected civil hospitals of Phillaur, Phagwara, and Panchhatt and expressed her satisfaction over their working.

Mandi Ahmedgarh,November 20
Cutting across party lines while distributing grants for the development of localities falling under his jurisdiction, zila parishad chairman Manpreet Singh Ayali handed over a grant of Rs 30 lakh to the panchayat of Dakha village led by a Congress-supported sarpanch.

Appreciating the gesture of the SAD leader, sarpanch Jatinder Singh assured of utilising the funds according to the needs of residents without discrimination.

Meanwhile, Ayali has directed officials in the civil administration to get development works carried out according to the standards within the stipulated period.

Ayali was talking Ludhiana Tribune after addressing a public function at Latala village, near here, today.

“All residents have equal right over funds that have been collected as taxes from public. It is not really important who heads the civic body. Funds should be utilised judicially and honestly,” said Ayali, regretting that some Congress leaders had been discouraging their sarpanches from accepting grants from SAD-backed legislators and ministers.

Earlier, Ayali announced construction of Chhappar road and presented cheques worth Rs 55 lakh to civic bodies of Sahauli (Rs 21 lakh), Pammal (Rs 17 lakh) and Kular (Rs 17 lakh).

These grants would be spent for the development of sewerage, waterworks and repair and construction of streets and drains in these localities.

Ishar Singh Dhulkot, Ajaib Singh Chhappar, zila parishad member Sukhdev Singh Chakk Kalan, Gurwinder Singh Lohara, SGPC member Surinderpal Singh Baddowal, Daljit Singh Kular, Kular sarpanch Jugraj Singh, Harpreet Singh Haria, Pamaal sarpanch Paritam Singh, Sahauli sarpanch Jarnail Singh thanked Ayali for his role in fetching grants for development of the region.

Mullanpur Dakha, November 20
Marital discord has left five children of a Jalandhar Colony orphan, whose both parents died under mysterious circumstances here last evening.

The police has handed over the bodies after conducting the post-mortem examination among the allegations of abetment to commit suicide against the local family.

The deceased have been identified as Seema, daughter of Dhanak, a resident of Chhotu Ram Colony of the ward No.3, and her husband Vijay Kumar of Jalandhar.

Though exact cause of their death is yet to be ascertained, it is suspected that both had consumed some poisonous substance allegedly due to marital discord.

Investigations revealed that Seema and her sister had got married to Vijay Kumar of Jalandhar and his brother about 12 years ago.

Five children were born out of the wedlock between Seema and Vijay whose family affairs ran smoothly until a couple of years ago.

Though nothing unsavory happened between Seema and Vijay, she used to complain against other members of her in-laws family. Their behaviour turned so hostile that she started living with her widowed mother about eight months ago. Her children, however, stayed with their father and grandparents at Jalandhar.

When all efforts made by friends and relatives of the Jalandhar family failed, Vijay decided to persuade Seema to return to his house. He came to meet Seema four days ago and made abortive attempt to convince her.

He had brought his youngest son with intent to move Seema emotionally. But this failed to move her.

Both families were shocked when Vijay fell unconscious and died in the afternoon. To add to woes of the children, Seema when confronted with allegations of abetting Vijay to commit suicide allegedly consumed some poisonous substance. She was shifted to a hospital in Ludhiana where she died late in the night.

Friends and relatives of Vijay Kumar, led by his father Balbir Singh alleged that Seema and her mother had allegedly ruined their family by snatching father from five children of the family.

Jang Singh, SHO, said a case under section 174 of Cr P C had been registered on the statement of parents of both deceased. Further action will be initiated against suspects after cause of death is ascertained on basis of chemical examination report of the viscera. 

Ludhiana, November 20
Government College for Women (GCW), Ludhiana, wrapped up all their matches in the knockout phase to emerge champions in the Panjab University Inter-College Hockey Championship held on the university campus in Chandigarh recently. This was second win in a row for the GCW players.

In the first encounter, GCW eves thrashed PGGC, Sector-11, Chandigarh, 9-0. They overpowered Khalsa College, Sidhwan, 17-0 and got the better of Khalsa College for Women, Ludhiana, 1-0 to lift the title.

On this basis of their performance in the championship, eight girls from the college were selected as probables for the preparatory camp for the forthcoming All-India Inter-Varsity Hockey Championship to be held at MDU, Rohtak, from December 20.

The girls are: Jyoti Pandey, Simarjeet Kaur, Gurpreet, Karamjeet, Lakshmi, Reena, Dolly and Manpreet Kaur.

GCW principal Gurminder Kaur appreciated the team’s performance and congratulated team in charge, Asian gold medallist and head of physical education department Sharanjit Kaur, coach Kusum and Prof Balbir Kumar.