Ludhiana, July 2
The Health and Family Welfare Minister, Satpal Gosain, who launched “Atal Swasthya Sewa: dial 108 in emergency” in at function organised at the civil hospital, Ludhiana, today said he would take stern action against those who failed to perform their work diligently.

“People, who consider themselves as important as the President of India, call me after 11pm. They project themselves so after consuming a peg or two and then call me. But I attend to every call. Feel free to call me, if you have any problem. But, I want all of you to work with utmost dedication or face the consequences,” he added.

Publicizing his fitness mantra as usual, he said, “I get up at 5 am and practices yoga for one-and-half hour. It keeps me calm and poised throughout the day. Whereas people like you keep sleeping till late and come to office at around 11 am. This is unfair. You people should work with utmost dedication or I will take action against you. The doctors are next to God, so perform your duty with utmost dedication and work hard.”

He also addressed a monthly meeting of civil surgeons at Circuit House. He also warned to take stern action against doctors if they fail to perform their duties well or acted irresponsibly.

He said, “Dispensaries are being constructed in some cities and Rs 350 crore will be spent on these. These dispensaries will be completed by November this year.”

Ludhiana, July 2
The morning walkers at the Rose Garden here had to struggle hard today to shoo-away a stray dog, which had attacked rabbits and ducks in a small cage. The door of the cage, where more than twelve ducks and rabbits were kept by authorities for “recreation” of visitors, reportedly remained opened at the time of the incident. While one rabbit was killed, another was seriously injured in the attack by the stray dog.

The incident took place around 6.15 am today. The witnesses told The Tribune that one of the tea-stall vendors put his utensils in a cage where ducks and rabbits were kept. “In the morning the vendor must have forgotten to shut the door due to which the dog entered the cage and attacked the rabbits. I saw a morning walker holding a stick in his hand, trying to hit the dog when it attacked the rabbits. Later, a friend of mine pelted stones at the dog, following which it came out from cage. However, one rabbit was killed by that time and another was badly injured by the dog,” said Naresh Sharma, a morning walker.

Ramesh Kaushal, another morning walker, said proper caretakers were needed to be kept for the safety of these animals.

Member of the Punjab State Board for Wildlife Sandeep Jain said animals were kept in unhygienic conditions by the authorities. “We have been requesting wildlife authorities to shift the animals/birds as were not kept in a proper manner. If we cannot take care of these animals/birds, we should shift them to a safer place,” said Jain.

Ludhiana, July 2
Contrary to the belief that cooking is the job of girls and men just do outside work, more and more boys in Indian society are coming forward to learn cooking, as the profession offers lucrative salary packages.

“With the trends changing, cooking styles have also changed,” said Chef Hitesh Arora, while teaching culinary skills to women here today.

The chef said people in the city had started showing interest in cooking. “This industry is blooming in India, whereas in the USA, it is already a reputed profession. If you learn the art of cooking, you would not only get a good salary, but also a lot of appreciation,” said Hitesh.

Hitesh’s career began in the world renowned Culinary Arts Programme of Florida Culinary Institute. When he was doing graduation, he was awarded a scholarship for attending the “World Pastry Championship” in 2009. He also won a silver medal in the recently held event in America- ACF Knowledge Bowl, Anaheim, California. Besides, he has also worked with The Marriott Hotels, Cafe L'Europe, The Islander Tiki Bar and PGA National Resort and Spa.

He said, “The cooking style has totally changed these days. The traditional ‘chapati’ and ‘daal’ have become boring for foodies in India. They want traditional food with a lot of fusion these days. I felt so good to see that women here asked for good food packages- they want to cook sumptuous food and learn good presentation. If we present the food in an excellent manner, it adds to the taste.” 

Ludhiana, July 2
Instead of playing a blame game, one should come forward and join hands to generate awareness among the masses to save green and healthy Punjab.

Several organisations, religious bodies, industrialists and students who were putting in their share to save the environment from degradation, need to provide support to each other to bring fruitful results.

With this objective, environmentalists from various walks of life got together at Ramgarhia Girls College, Miller Ganj, here to “preserve green and healthy Punjab”. Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal, a leading environmentalist, said there was a need to preserve and restore the glory of green and healthy Punjab.

EcoSikh, the organisation which organised the event today, had invited all environment groups, social and civic organisations, gurdwara committees, active institutions and young leaders to discuss the issue.

“There is a need to spread green activism to save and preserve the rich environment in Punjab and other areas,” said Dr Rajwant Singh from EcoSikh group, Washington, the USA.

The dignitaries felt that society must realise, where it was going wrong in degrading the green environment. “It is not that only industrialists are polluting everything, the common man, too, is behaving in an irresponsible manner. The land, air and water-the three important natural resources need to be saved from pollution,” said Rajbir Singh, Pingalwara Society, Amritsar.

Ludhiana, July 2
After struggling for life for nearly 25 days in the PGI, Chandigarh, the woman, who had escaped strangulation by dowry seeking in-laws, succumbed to injuries last evening.

The victim, identified as Manjit Kaur (27), mother of eight- month-old daughter, had tied the knot with Vijay Kumar of Chanderlok Colony near Jodhewal Basti two years ago.

Kishan Lal, father of the victim, alleged that his daughter’s in-laws had been torturing her for dowry ever since she got married. Kishan Lal claimed that atrocities on her continued even after Vijay left to work in Middle East. In the absence of her husband, her in-laws started harassing her even more.

After spending a few moths in Middle East, Vijay returned home, he, too, joined his parents and started beating up Manjit, claimed the victim’s father.

On June 6, neighbours of Vijay Kumar informed Kishan Lal that Manjit was not well and there was no one in the house. When Kishan Lal reached the house he was shocked to see his daughter lying unconscious in bed. She had strangulation marks on her neck. In her complaint, she alleged that her in-laws and husband tried to strangulate her to death.

Manjit was immediately rushed to hospital, from where she was referred to the PGI, Chandigarh, where she died yesterday.

Soon after receiving the information about the death of Manjit Kaur, the Jodhewal police swung into action and nabbed Vijay Kumar for murdering his wife. The accused was produced in the court, which sent him to judicial remand. The police said the hunt was on to nab the other members of the family who were involved in the killing of the victim.

Phillaur, July 2
A villager, identified as Malagar Singh (50), was mercilessly beaten to death by Gurmail Singh at Thalla village in Phillaur sub-division last night.

Phillaur SHO Sarwan Singh Bal told The Tribune here today that the deceased was preventing the Gurmail from consuming liquor and went to his house to insist his family members to advice him not to consume alcohol in the uniform of a ‘nihang’. Enraged over this, the accused attacked him with a rod and Malagar Singh died on the spot.

The victim was taken to the hospital, but was declared dead on arrival by doctors. The body was handed over to the family members of Malagar after conducting the postmortem examination in the Civil Hospital. The police has arrested the accused on the charge of murder.

Jagraon, July 2
The Ludhiana (rural) police has arrested a youth and recovered a huge amount of habit forming drugs from his possession. The accused has been identified as Amitabh Kumar, alias Monu, a resident of Agwar Ladhai village, near Jagraon.

The accused was arrested from Malak village, about 3 km away from Jagraon, by a police party from Jagraon Sadar police station yesterday.

The police arrested the drug peddler on a tip off, who was going to deliver some drugs to his customers in Malak village.

The police had set up a check post outside Malak village. On seeing the police party, the accused tried to escape from the spot, but was chased down by the police personnel. The police recovered 44 cough syrups and around 3,000 habit forming tablets from his possession.