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Dark Diwali for these families
Ludhiana, October 27 Dr Valsa Varghese, in charge, trauma centre and deputy medical superintendent, Christian Medical College and Hospital, said,"We received eight patients with minor burn injuries. They were give first-aid in the hospital and sent back to their respective places. However, we did not receive any patient with major burn injuries." Dr Sanjeev Uppal, professor and head of the plastic surgery department of Dayanand Medical College and Hospital said,"We received 22 patients yesterday night in the burns department. Out of these, 11 had minor eye injuries while one had hand injuries due to crackers." Dr Ramesh, founder of Punarjot Eye Bank, said,"This time I received 70 per cent less patients with eye injuries. The one which I received today is a young boy from village Ghamnewal, who got the eye-lid of his right eye injured while bursting a cracker. I think he will not lose his vision, but we will keep him under observation for a few days." Medicity Hospital received seven, SPS Apollo Hospital received one and Shri Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital got four patients with different burn injuries.
58-year-old shoots himself
Ludhiana, October 27 Investigating officer said the victim, identified as Jatinderjit Singh, was sitting in the drawing room of the house when he shot himself in the temple from a point-blank range. Sources said Jatinderjit was holding the revolver and asked his servant to fetch a glass of water from the kitchen. As soon as the servant left for kitchen, the victim allegedly pressed the trigger and ended his life. Jatinderjit's, wife and son were sitting in a separate room when the incident took place. They soon rushed to the drawing room and were shocked to see the victim lying dead. Jatinder's son had recently returned from abroad. Manjinder Singh, SHO, Sarabha Nagar, said depression was stated to be the reason behind the suicide. "But we are probing the matter from all angles," said the SHO. The police has took the weapon in its possession to check fingerprints. The cops were also recording the statement of the persons present in the house when the incident took place.
Woman suffers miscarriage
Ludhiana, October 27 The victim, identified as Rosy Verma, was accompanied by her husband Arun Verma. The incident took place at around 9 am when the victim was exchanging pleasantries inside the house while her younger brother was bursting crackers on the street. According to the residents, the brother of Rosy threw a cracker at two youths riding a motorcycle. This led to a fight and the duo thrashed the boy for playing a “nasty prank”. Witnessing commotion Rosy and Arun rushed outside to resolve the issue, but the motorcycle-borne youths attacked the duo as well. Rosy alleged that one of the youths kicked her stomach due to which she suffered a miscarriage. After thrashing the family, the youths fled the scene. Rosy
is undergoing treatment in Civil Hospital. She was three-month pregnant. In the meantime, the police has recorded the statement of the victim and launched a manhunt on nab the suspects.
Man dies after falling from house
Ludhiana, October 27 The incident came to light here this morning when the house owner, Charanjit Singh, saw the body of the servant and informed the police. According to SHO Navreet Singh, the victim Hemraj was stated to be drunk and had fallen from the top floor of the house in an inebriated condition. Hemraj was working Charanjit Singh’s house for the past four years. The police found a liquor bottle from the room of the servant. "We are waiting for the autopsy report to arrive at any conclusion," said SHO Navreet Singh. Meanwhile, the incident spread panic in the Model Town area. Residents, especially elderly persons, who were visiting a gurdwara to pay obeisance following Diwali, were shocked to find the body of a man lying in a pool of blood. Soon the PCR officials reached the spot and started investigation. Fingerprint experts also visited the spot to probe whether the victim was pushed from the top of the house. Not case was registered till the time of filing this report.
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Crackers worth Rs 20 crore go up in
flames
Ludhiana, October 27 Cracker-dealers said customers walked in on the last two days to buy crackers, otherwise it was a "dull" season. Various cracker-dealers, whole-sellers and retailers maintained that though the sale of crackers was over Rs 20 crore, the quantity sold was too low compared to previous years. The residents did not turn up for shopping early. "The last two days were good when buyers came out to buy fire-crackers. This time, the prices of crackers were too high, so residents preferred to buy these in less quantity. But we got a lot of cooperation from the police this time. There was no confusion or harassment while getting the stalls allotted at several places in the city," said Pradeep Gupta, president, Pataka Fire Association here. Sanjay Singla, vice-president of the association, said being expensive, buyers took less fire-crackers this year. "Crackers were available from Rs 20 (simple red-cracker) per pack to Rs 10,000 per piece, which was a chain of about 1,000 crackers, that continue bursting for at least 10 minutes. Apart from that, colourful crackers were available between Rs 3,000-Rs 7,000 per piece. Obviously, poor preferred to buy simple crackers while the elite bought the expensive ones," said Singla. Pradeep Gupta said wholesale dealers were allotted 10 sites for putting up their stalls and there were 50 wholesale dealers who sold crackers, while the number of retailers was not more than 80 in the city. "On the whole, we consider it a poor show as far as the sale of crackers is concerned. "The dealers have got a cracker stock worth Rs 3 crore left with them. On an average, each dealer has got with leftover (stock) between Rs 2 lakh to Rs 7 lakh. Now the stock will be cleared during marriage season," said Gupta. ‘Meagre sale disappointing’
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42 fire incidents reported
Ludhiana, October 27 Sandeep Jain, owner of Atam Textile Private Limited, said, "We had stored yarn raw material in the godown at Papita Street. Due to fireworks, it caught fire yesterday night around 9 pm. The loss is in lakhs of rupees. We immediately informed the Fire Brigade and more than 10 fire tenders were pressed into service. It came under control around 2 am." Additional Divisional Fire Officer Kartar Singh
said," This was one of the major fire accidents. It took about five hours to douse the high-rising flames. It was a hosiery godown which caught fire from a cracker. Another fire accident occurred at Arun Scooter Shop, near Tikona Park at Model Town. Some petroleum products were kept stored in some containers, which caught fire with the sound of a blast. Fire-tenders were immediately pressed into service." The ADFO said that about 40 small fire accidents were also reported due to fireworks. Meanwhile, Jatin Malhotra, cluster head of Ambulance 108, said, "We did not receive any hoax call yesterday and also no call about any burns injuries." |
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Three leave behind eyes
Ludhiana, October 27 Dr Ramesh Chand, founder of the eye bank, said: “We received three sets of eyes of people who died yesterday or in the wee hours of today. The first pair came from Tarsem Lal Sachdeva (48), a resident of New Basant Vihar Colony, Dugri, who died in a road accident yesterday.” The remaining two pairs were donated by families of Umesh Kumar (55) from Maur Mandi and Kashmir Kaur of Amritsar. |
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When Diwali showered happiness on these women
Ludhiana, October 27 Harbhajan Singh, father-in-law of Harvinder Kaur, who has been blessed with a baby girl at CMCH, said, “We are from Shergarh village of Ludhiana district. My daughter-in-law gave birth to a girl child at 10.30 am.” Gurdeep Singh, father of the newly born, was equally happy. When asked if they had thought of some name for the girl, he replied, “That we will decide at the gurdwara.” Deepika from Doraha has been blessed with a baby girl. She delivered the baby at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital. Unable to express his happiness, Rohit, a resident of Jagraon, whose sister Shilpa gave birth to a baby boy at DMCH this morning said, “Asin te asli Diwali savere 2 baje manai (For us Diwali celebrations started at 2 am when my sister delivered a baby boy).” Meenakshi, who hails from Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, has also been blessed with a baby boy at DMCH. At Lord Mahavira Civil Hospital, Ludhiana, Dr Kanwaljeet Kaur, gynaecologist, said, “Three deliveries occurred in the hospital last evening and this morning. While one baby had intra-uterine death, the other two are in the pink of health.”
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Interest rate hike Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, October 27 The rate hike will be 13th since March, 2010, which will make home and auto loans even costlier. The current interest rate for auto loans is around 11 per cent and for home loan it is between 10.5 and 11 per cent. Jatinder Khurana, president, Young Lawyers Association, says the RBI is continuously increasing the interest rates of loans. “A person takes the loan for his convenience as it is difficult to get anything on down payment. But the way the interest rates are being increased, customers are finding it difficult to pay the hefty amount of installments. There should be some time limit before interest rates are increased,” says Khurana. Monika, a home-maker, says her family is planning to construct a house but looking at the costly home loans, the construction seems to have become a distant dream. “My husband is a trader. We are paying Rs 7,000 as rent for our accommodation. If we get the home loan, we will have to pay monthly installments for three to five years depending on the amount. It becomes quite difficult to spare around Rs 25,000 (for loan and rent of accommodation) a month. We are rethinking before taking the big step,” said Monika. A bank manager with the State Bank of India, on the condition of anonymity, says while the RBI has announced the interest rate hike, banks will take the decision after sometime. “Banks have not increased the rates immediately. Some may have raised the rates with immediate effect but in most cases (banks), the revised rates are implemented once a decision is taken by their boards of management. Since the RBI has announced the hike, banks are bound to increase their interest rates sooner or later,” adds the official. Banks yet to follow suit
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Administration’s norms go up in smoke
Jagraon, October 27 In fact, the local administration including the police as well as civil department had adopted a very strict position as far as sale of fireworks was concerned. To prevent occurrence of any unpleasant incident due to the crackers, the senior police officials including SSP Ludhiana (rural) Amar Singh Chahal held series of meetings with the traders of the city before Diwali and had instructed them strictly to follow the guidelines issued by the administration. Though the traders dealing in fireworks were not happy with the guidelines and even objected to some restrictions. But the administration looked intractable and it seemed the officials were very serious on the sale of fireworks. The administration had approved some specific areas which included the college, railway, tehsil, raikot and disposal roads for the sale of fireworks to the traders and had declared that anyone found selling crackers in the areas not approved by administration will be taken to task. Even SSP Chahal, during a meeting with the fireworks traders, had made it clear that a strict action will be taken if anyone is found violating the guidelines. But finally, the strictness of the administration proved mere eyewash and all the guidelines went in smoke as sale went on unchecked in majority of the areas of the town. Ironically, the crackers were also sold in many congested areas of the town including old city, which was considered highly sensitive by the administration for the sale of crackers. During the eve of Diwali, it was found that a large number of temporary stalls of fireworks were put up by the traders in areas like as Kamal Chowk, Rani Jhansi Chowk, Old Sabzi Mandi Road, Lajpat Rai Road, Nehru Market and Old Grain Market and some others. Though the administration had not approved these areas for the sale, it was found that the sale of fireworks was going unchecked. SSP Amar Singh Chahal, when contacted said, “We had issued strict guidelines regarding sale only to prevent any unpleasant incident. We did not want to disturb the business of the traders and our basic motive was to create awareness so that they keep proper precautionary measures while selling the crackers to prevent any unpleasant incident. As no unpleasant incident has taken place, our motive has been achieved.” Cops have a blast Many policemen were seen making rounds of shops selling crackers and leaving with boxes free of cost. Sources said many policemen took away crackers free of cost. “Many policemen took crackers worth Rs 10,000 from our shop without paying any money. Had we objected, they would have troubled us,” said a local dealer requesting anonymity. SSP Amar Singh Chahal said if any trader was coerced by the police, they should lodge a complaint and action would be taken accordingly.
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Residents unrelenting as they burst crackers past midnight
Gurvinder Singh Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, October 27 Although this is nothing new to the city, the residents went ahead with polluting the air further by bursting firecrackers even as the city has earned the notoriety. The display of fireworks went on well beyond midnight, cocking a snook at the directions of the Supreme Court, banning the bursting of firecrackers between 10 pm to 6 am. “Only when people’s loved ones or members of family start falling sick because of the polluted air will they realise the need for curbing pollution. People kept bursting crackers throughout the night. With so much smoke in the air, I was finding it hard to breathe,” says Navita Puri, principal, KVM School. “And the culprits were not the poor. Educated people from rich families were the ones burning these crackers.” Not just the smoke, but the noise generated by the firecrackers was unbearable. Gurjot Singh, a resident of Dugri, said he couldn’t go to sleep early as people in the neighbourhood went on bursting firecrackers till 1 am. “The administration just makes regulations, but doesn’t care about enforcing these,” he said. Not everybody is against the use of fireworks though, as these add charm to the festival. “The problem of pollution persists. A single day of festivity cannot be blamed for rising pollution levels,” says Ranjodh Singh, president, Punjab Lalit Kala Academy. “I am not against the use of firecrackers. But there should be a check on those that create noise or leave too much smoke. As it is a festival of lights, some fireworks that light up the sky cannot be dispensed with,” he says. SC order up in smoke The display of fireworks went on well beyond midnight, cocking a snook at the directions of the Supreme Court banning the bursting of firecrackers between 10 pm to 6 am
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City generates double the garbage
Gurvinder Singh Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, October 27 According to the MC, around 1,400 metric tonne garbage was collected by the evening today, which is around 40 per cent more than the average daily garbage generated in the city. The overall waste generated on Diwali is much higher as these figures exclude the waste generated by the burning of firecrackers across the city on the Diwali night, as the entire garbage is not collected. According to AS Sekhon, MC Assistant Commissioner, the garbage collected excludes the waste from firecrackers. “Only lifting was done today. Sweeping was not done in the city as sweepers were on leave owing to Vishwakarma Day today,” he said. At least 32 tippers and nine JCBs were utilised today, according to the Assistant Commissioner. He said the maximum garbage was generated from Zone-D. On slum-dwellers or scavengers collecting potentially harmful firecracker boxes for creating bonfire, he said the work of garbage collection could have been done much more swiftly, but following the impasse regarding the privatisation of the garbage collection system, the machines of the private company with better capacity had been standing idle. Empty firecracker boxes, burnt firecrackers, gift packs and wrappers were seen on roads in some areas in the city in the morning. Small heaps of burnt firecrackers were also spotted along roadsides. As sweeping could not be done, scavengers were seen collecting boxes of firecrackers. “We will collect these and sell these or store some for creating fire,” said Kalavati, accompanied by another woman, collecting firecracker boxes along the Ferozepur Road. 1,400 MT collected
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Festivity blurs religious
divide
Mandi Ahmedgarh, October 27 Though the traditional worship of Goddess Lakshmi was restricted to Hindu families, illumination of premises, relishing of special dishes and bursting of crackers was common among all communities. Besides illuminating their residential and commercial premises with decorative lighting, the Muslims and the Sikhs exchanged gifts and greeted their friends and relatives on the occasion. Claiming that a large number Muslim entrepreneurs had distributed gifts and sweets among their clients and members of staff, Amjad Ali, chairman, The Sohrab Group of Industries, said special dishes, including pakoras and kheer, were prepared at his house on the occasion. Muslim children also burst firecrackers. “When we have been living and working together for decades now, what is wrong in celebrating the festivals of other communities. Instead, efforts should be made to make members of other communities aware of the significance of their festivals,” said Amjad. He regretted that leaders of certain radical groups had been trying to keep members of various communities apart. Terming the trend a means of eradicating hatred from the minds of members of different communities, Rafiq Mohammad, secretary general, Rotary District 3090, maintained that religious festivals like Diwali, Id and Gurpurb were now being celebrated by members of other communities as well. Diwali, being a festival of fascination and enjoyment, was obvious to attract the attention of members of other communities living together in India. Mohammad said mobile companies had also played an important role in connecting different communities on such festivals. “The involvement of the Muslims in religious festivals, other than Id, increased when they started receiving SMSes regarding festivals of the Hindus and the Sikhs and circulated these to their friends belonging to other communities,” said Ali, adding that non-Muslims had been participating in Id celebrations similarly.
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Mandi Ahmedgarh, October 27 Besides illuminating their houses and business establishments, the residents commemorated to take care of memorials of martyrs and freedom fighters too. Sources said almost all statues and memorials of martyrs of freedom struggle and those of major wars fought; were illuminated after being cleaned. Office bearers and some social organisation activists whitewashed the premises of the memorial. As it had been practice in the region to light lamps and diyas at common places including temples, inns and crematoria, a large number of enthusiasts lit candles and lamps at statues of Shaheed Bhagat Singh and Mahatma Gandhi at local SBS Chowk and MGMN Senior Secondary School. Villagers were seen illuminating statues of the martyrs from their respective villages.
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Workers worship tools, machines
Ludhiana, October 27 According to belief, Vishwakarma was the divine architect and one of the 14 precious born of the Samudra Manthan (the churning of the ocean to gain Amrita, the nectar of immortality). He was the creator of many fabulous weapons for the gods. The day is observed by the manufacturers to pray for their equipment so that they work well and make profit during the year ahead. Krishan, a worker working at a hosiery unit said the day had an equivalent importance like Diwali. “We gathered on the factory premises; worshipped our tools and machines so that they provide us our livelihood throughout the year. We paid rich tributes to the Lord Vishwakarma, the creator of our tools. City, being an industrial hub, observed the day with true religious fervour. The employers distributed sweets to the workers,” said Krishan. A factory owner at Sunder Nagar Sanjeev Kapoor said all the workers and employers had gathered on the factory premises in the morning to perform the ‘puja’. “The tools are properly cleaned and worshipped with flowers and essence sticks. We offer our sincere prayers and gratitude towards Lord Vishwakarmaseeking his blessing throughout the year. The festival is mainly celebrated in Bengal, Orissa and Tripura. But in other parts of India, where there are industrial belts, the day is observed traditionally. It is a holiday for the manufacturers. Artisans, craftsmen, mechanics, smiths, welders, industrial workers, factory workers and workers of all kinds worship Lord Vishwakarma on the day and pray for a better future, safe working conditions and above all success in their respective fields. Workers also pray for the smooth functioning of various machines,” said Kapoor.
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Vishwakarma Day celebrated at DMCH
Ludhiana, October 27 Secretary of DMCH Managing Society Prem Kumar Gupta, chief cardiologist Dr GS Wander, dean academics Dr Rajoo Singh Chhina and medicals superintendents Dr BS Shah, Dr Ashwani Chudhary and Dr Sandeep Puri were present on the occasion. During the day, the employees of different departments were also seen worshipping their tools and instruments, which are used in their profession.
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It was like homecoming for this South African couple
Ludhiana, October 27 Impressed with Diwali, Silva Devi said, "We have visited India for the fourth time. We have seen Diwali in Delhi and Mumbai but never saw so much enthusiasm at any place. The people here were meeting each other with warmth and emotions, exchanging gifts.” Her husband H Sewnarayin who has served as a motor mechanic in Mercedes company, Durban, and now running his own business said, “Punjab is like South Africa. People are very affectionate. I have already planned my next trip from Australia to Dubai via India and will visit Ludhiana again.”
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LMA initiative to promote women entrepreneurship
Ludhiana, October 27 Sachit Jain, senior vice-president, LMA, and Divya Dhanda, chairperson, women cell (LMA), said the association in coordination with Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, and Goldman Sachs participated in a programme “10,000 Women” recently. At least 30 women from the city were shortlisted by the organisers. Around 10 women will finally be picked for training at the ISB, Mohali. The selected women interacted with the head of the programme in India, Geetha Krishnan, who highlighted the programme and the training process. The successful candidates will attend a 16-week programme to be funded by Goldman Sachs, an investment banking firm based in New York. Instead of leaving their businesses, the shortlisted women will undergo a 19-day training programme at the ISB in Mohali. To encourage the women entrepreneurs, the LMA has further offered a scholarship up to Rs 20,000 to the successful candidates to meet incidental expenses. The final interview of the shortlisted candidates will be held in the second week of November and the training will start from December 19.
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Pickle, sweets samples fail
Ludhiana, October 27 Manoj Khosla, Food Safety Officer, Health department said,"The samples of the pickles sent for testing had failed. The pickle has been found unfit for human consumption as there were worms and fungus in it." The health department had seized 200 quintals of pickle from Madan Lal's godown near Dera Udo and 25 quintals of pickle from Vickey's godown near Dera Bazigar on Bahadur Ke Road. Khosla said the samples of 9.5 quintals of sweets which were seized a few days ago from Super Lovely Sweets at Lakkar Bazaar had also failed. From here the health department sent samples of ‘khoya burfi’, rasgulla and ‘burfi’. These too have been found unfit for human consumption."
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Headless body, severed arm of woman found
Ludhiana, October 27 The incident took place around 7 am on Wednesday when Sonu, a resident of Geeta Nagar, who was playing with his friends in Gurmail Park, spotted stray dogs running with the head of a woman. He raised an alarm and ran into the house. Sonu's father Satvir Sharma further informed the police about the incident. A police team soon reached the spot and recovered the head of the victim. The victim could not be identified as the face was badly damaged due to dog bite.
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Suffering from TB, boy commits suicide
Ludhiana, October 27 The girl, identified as Mandeep Kaur a student of calls VIII, was suffering tuberculosis. Her father Rashpal Singh said Mandeep was undergoing treatment but used to remain depressed. He added that Mandeep's mother had died few years ago. The incident came to light when Rashpal returned home from work and found his daughter hanging with ceiling fan. He rushed her to a private hospital where the doctors declared her brought dead.
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