Ludhiana, March 21
Day after the double murder that rocked the city, the police today booked Arun (27) for killing his sister-in-law Usha and her daughter- in-law Punam in a fit of rage following an argument at Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar. The case was registered following a complaint lodged by Ram Lakhan, elder brother of Arun.

Ram Lakhan told the police that Arun used to suspect that his wife was infidel and used to quarrel with her.

Usha used to object to the constant domestic quarrel between Arun and his wife. She despised Arun for unnecessarily suspecting his wife.

Following a fight, Arun’s wife took shelter at Usha’s house. Usha thought that violence in the house would affect the psyche of the child and due to sheer concern she allowed Arun’s wife to stay in the house.

On February 19, Arun arrived at the house and fought with Usha and Punam for providing shelter to his wife. Arun went on to the extent of alleging that his wife was having illicit relation with Ram Lakhan and the latter’s son Rahul.

This led to a heated argument between them. Arun was thrown out of the house. Arun came to the house the next day and enquired about his wife. Usha and Punam retorted that his wife had left the house leaving the child.

In the fit of rage Arun got hold of a bat and bludgeoned Usha and Punam to death and fled with his son.

He left the child in his house in Vishal Nagar and fled. A case has been registered against Arun under Section 302 of the IPC. 

Ludhiana, March 21
Deputy Commissioner Rahul Tewari today ordered registration of an FIR against the Reader, Ahlmad of the SDM (West), for tearing the Will (a legal document declaring a person’s wishes regarding the disposal of property when he or she dies) of a party.

Giving details about the case, SDM (West) Kuljitpal Singh Mahi told The Tribune that the incident took place in April 1995 when Devinder Singh, a resident of Alamgir, got a fake Will prepared of Sham Kaur. Not only this, the particular Will was secretly kept in the office record by tearing away the original one. And this could not be possible without the connivance of official staff, which was a serious offense.

“When the case came to light, I had conducted an inquiry, which was submitted to Additional Deputy Commissioner (General) Rupanjali Garg. On March 5, particular case was discussed by the ADC. The records and inquiry report were submitted to Deputy Commissioner, who finally issued the orders today,” added Mahi.

In the inquiry report submitted by Garg, it is clearly mentioned that without the connivance of the custodians in the SDM’s court, such manipulations were never possible. And the custodians in the SDMs court were the Reader and Ahlmad. The Additional Deputy Commissioner also suggested if an FIR was registered against both government employees, truth would definitely come out and the party (beneficiary), too, would to held responsible.

Ludhiana, March 21
Even as some parks are in poor condition, but a few residents have developed and are managing parks on their own by forming park management committees.

There are 754 parks in the city and 297 park management committees in the city. These committees manage 350-odd parks, most of which are in good condition.

These committees were set up a decade ago by former Municipal Commissioner SS Sandhu. With the setting up of these committees, Sandhu had planned to involve the residents for maintaining parks in their respective areas on their own.

Before the committees were set up, the municipal corporation used to maintain these parks and residents often complained about the inefficiency on part of the civic body. That is why, the park management committees were set up and since then, they have been functioning in a perfect manner.

There are several localities in the city where residents have maintained parks on their own. These include Sarabha Nagar, Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Civil Lines, Chandigarh Road, Kitchlu Nagar, besides some others.

Gurdish Singh Grewal (74), a lawyer and resident of F Block, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, has taken a leap forward by converting a piece of land into a well-maintained park. He took up this matter with the Ludhiana Improvement Trust in 2008, which then got a boundary wall made, grills installed, pavements made and benches installed inside the park.

“I spent Rs 80,000 on this park, which is frequented by residents in large numbers. I had purchased a plot in this area in 2008 and at that time, the land where park stands now was a vacant piece of land having wild bushes. But it was in my mind that I would get a park made on that land so that the area gives a much cleaner look,” added Grewal.

He pays Rs 3,500 per month to two gardeners. In addition to this, he spends around Rs 3,000 per month on the plants and trees.

Similarly, Avtar Singh, a senior citizen, who resides in Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar, has formed a committee with the help of residents. “We are paid as per the size of our park by the corporation and in case we need to spend more, we pool in money ourselves. I wish that all parks in residential areas should be maintained by residents themselves because they can maintain them in a better manner than the corporation,” he claimed.

The municipal corporation pays Rs 1,500 for maintaining a park of up to 1,500 sq meter, Rs 1.5 per sq meter for park between 1,500 and 4,000 sq meter, Rs 6,000 for 4,000-6,000 sq meter park and Rs 1 per sq meter for parks above 6,000 sq meter. 

Ludhiana, March 21
“Imposing tax on the common man is not a solution to improve the economic health of the nation,” said Ajit Lakra, president, Federation of Knitters & Textile Association, Ludhiana, while discussing Budget-2012 with the MBA and MCA students of GGN Institute of Management and Technology (GGNIMT) here today.

Lakra said the Budget-2012 did not provide relief to the ‘aam admi’. He added that growth of a nation was directly related to the development of labour intensive industries which in turn led to multiplicity of benefits accruing to people. He said the reforms pertaining to the textile industry had been completely overlooked in the Budget.

DS Chawla, former president, UCPMA, said tax with tears was a curse for the government. He said once again the politicians had failed to understand the needs of the common man. He highlighted his concern for the regulation of telecom, power sector, retail trade; and the governance of NREGA. He motivated students to raise their voice against the unfulfilled commitments of the politicians. He questioned the non-existence of policies pertaining to curbing inflation and huge fiscal deficits.

Amanjot, a CA, spoke on various amendments in the Budget and highlighted the fact that the 2 per cent increase in service & excise tax was further adding to the vicious cycle of inflation. She said the Budget had shades of mixed emotions where a few sectors on the one hand had been imposed with higher taxes while on the other 17 services had completely been kept out of the purview of taxes.

Prof Arvind Malhotra termed the Budget as a “Directionless Budget” and “A Budget for Survival”. He said the Budget could have acted as a good roadmap for future, had it included policy announcements to attract the FDI and frameworks to kickstart the economic growth. He added that there was no attempt made to bring back the unaccounted money stacked in foreign banks. 

Jagraon, March 21
Residents of different residential localities of Jagraon have been facing a harrowing time due to the presence of dairies in these localities.

A large number of dairies are located in residential localities like Shastri Nagar, New Shastri Nagar, Disposal Road, Sant Nagar and New Moti Bagh. The waste of these dairies have been causing a lot of trouble for the residents of these localities.

The residents said the waste kept flowing into the drains due to which the sewerage remained choked most of the time. And due to the blockage of the sewerage, dirty water started gathering on the streets.

“The workers of some of the dairies have been even dumping animal waste on roadsides and streets as a result of which we are forced to live under highly unhygienic conditions,” complained Lal Chand Sharma, a resident of New Shastari Nagar.

The residents of Hira Bagh, which is considered among one of the posh residential areas of the town, are, too, facing a tough time due to the presence of a dairy in the locality. The residents lamented that the local administration was not serious about solving the problem of the residents.

They said though they had taken up the matter with the dairy owners as well as local municipal council authorities several times during the past, yet their problem had not been solved so far.

“We have requested the MC authorities a number of times to shift these dairies to some other place, but all our requests seem to be falling on deaf ears,” said Kanwardeep Singh, a resident of Hira Bagh.

The residents have now demanded from local SDM Isha Kalia to instruct the local municipal council to start the process of shifting the the dairies.

Civic body president Baldev Krishan Dhir said he was aware of the problem of the people, but it was not possible to shift these dairies out of the town with immediate effect. “We are in talks with the dairy owners and looking for alternative locations to shift these dairies. But most of the dairy owners are not cooperating with us and they are demanding huge compensations as well as alternative land for setting up their dairies out of the town which is a major obstacle in this direction,” he added.

Ludhiana, March 21
Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana, inaugurated its 12th Pashu Palan Mela here today on the theme “Kheti Vibhinnta da eh uttam badal, Machhi Palan te Pashu Palan nu karo safal”

(the best option of agriculture diversification is to develop fisheries and livestock professions).

Dr GS Kalkat, chairman, Punjab State Farmers’ Commission, inaugurated the mela. He said livestock professions were emerging as noted professions. A number of farmers were diverting towards dairy, poultry and fisheries. Dr BS Dhillon, VC, PAU, was the guest of honour on the occasion.

Dr VK Taneja, Vice-Chancellor, GADVASU, said diversification within the livestock profession was the need of the hour. Not only dairy farming but fisheries, poultry, piggery and goat farming were the fine diversification options in livestock. Value addition of products might diversify these professions in a different mode.

Tota Singh, Minister of Agriculture, Punjab, inaugurated the afternoon session of the mela. The minister said GADVASU and PAU, both the universities, were the torch bearers of the farming community of Punjab.

GADVASU showcased all his research, education and extension programmes at the mela for the benefit of livestock farmers.

The two-day event at the mela ground provide a platform to farmers, scientists, extension workers, dairy officers, fodder and fisheries officials, veterinary pharmaceuticals and agri business firms and banking sectors for showing their experience and information about the latest technologies and schemes which have come up in the livestock sector.

Ludhiana, March 21
A guest lecture on “Hurdles in renal transplant” was held today at the Dumra Auditorium of DMCH by Dr Balhinder S Brar, attending physician, nephrology and transplant.

As per recent estimates, the number of people in need of organ transplants are growing every year. A living person can donate organs, after natural death or after “brain death”. After natural death only a few tissues can be donated (like cornea, bone, skin and blood vessels) whereas after brain death almost 37 different organs and tissues can be donated, including critical organs such as kidneys, heart, liver and lungs. The successful implementation of organ donation programme in any country depends on the education of masses and a proactive attitude towards organ donation from brain-dead patients, counselling for relatives of such patients and adequate hospital infrastructure.

However, it is yet to make any significant dent in India. A country with a population of over 1 billion people, India lags behind as far as the implementation of a cadaveric donation programme is concerned. Annually, while over 100,000 Indians suffer from end stage renal disease, only a mere 3,000 are recipients of a donor kidney, of which only a small percentage are cadaver organs.

Professor and head of nephrology Dr JS Sandhu said the Indian society, mired in traditional beliefs, was not very amenable to the idea of cadaver organ transplants, as they wanted the last rites to be performed without any damage to the bodies at all.

“What they fail to realise is that in a country with a long waiting list for transplants, they are spoiling the chance of somebody to lead a normal life for, say another few years, just because they want to consign the whole body to flames. The government can make it compulsory to donate organs,” added Dr Sandhu.

Ludhiana, March 21
On the concluding day of Saras Mela, more than 10,000 persons swarmed to the fair organised at Government College for Women by the District Rural Development Agency in collaboration with the Central government.

Additional Deputy Commissioner Pradeep Aggarwal said the total sales figure had touched Rs 1.5 crore. The 11-day mela received more than 2 lakh visitors from March 11 to 21.

Some of the visitors who could not visit earlier made sure that they did not miss out the colours and sights of kaleidoscope of India’s culture. Robina Kaur, who had not been to the fair so far, said she had heard from her neighbours that intereseting artifacts were on display, but she did not get time. “I made sure that I visited the fair before it was over,” she said.

Ashok Kumar, a BRS Nagar resident, said he wanted to collect some interesting artifacts for giving these as gifts during festivals. “I had seen very beautiful artifacts on my earlier visit, so wanted to make sure that I come again and buy gifts for friends,” he said.

Those from the self-help groups were also satisfied with the response they received from the visitors. Masoom Khan from Saharanpur said the wrought iron and wooden furniture that he had displayed was sold for Rs 2 lakh.

Suresh PK from Kerala said he was happy with the response.

Ludhiana, March 21
A blood donation camp was organised by the NSS unit of Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College, Ludhiana, in association with Salaam Zindagi Foundation, an NGO that helps thalassemic children. The volunteers donated as many as 511 units of blood.

The camp was inaugurated by Ashish Chaudhary, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Ludhiana, who himself is an avid blood donor. He applauded the efforts put in by GNDEC, Salaam Zindagi and Rotary Foundation in organising the camp. Dr MS Saini, director, said it was a regular feature.

Dean (administration), Prof Sandeep Gill lauded the efforts of the team. Guest of the honour Jaspal Singh, ITO, Ludhiana, said it was a noble cause for society.

Teams of doctors from the DMCH, Shri Krishna (charitable ) Hospital, Civil Hospital, Guru Teg Bahadur (c) Hospital, Deep Hospital and Red Cross Society collected the blood. Bhagwan Singh and Mukesh Sahni, patrons, Salaam Zindagi, appealed to the youth to shun drugs.

Ludhiana, March 21
“Vadhh rukha nu parindeya de ghar dha gya, 40 pinda di zameen Ludhiana kha gya (axing of trees ravaged the homes of birds; Ludhiana ate up the land of 40 villages),” read some lines of a song by 73-year-old Hardev Dalgeer, a resident of Threeke village in the district. The poetry lyrics and poetry epitomises the concern for society that poets from the city have been weaving into their rhyming words.

As World Poetry Day is being celebrated across the world, the budding and veteran poets feel that poetry is a beautiful form of literature and language. As the city salutes its legends and veterans, including Surjit Patar, Sahir Ludhianvi, Mohan Singh, Ajaib Chittarkar, it looks to the emerging poets to carry on the legacy of producing great poets.

Among the more contemporary names that include Tarlochan Lochi, Manjinder Dhanoa, Ravinder Bhathal. Amongst the women poets are Sukhwinder Amrit, Avtar Kaur, Gurcharan Kochar and Dr Talwinder have been carving out a name for themselves.

“The beauty about the poetry emerging from the city is that although love and romance find place in the lines, it evocatively takes up social issues as well,” he said.

“Poetry can bring about potent change if it reflects the social change,” he said. He wrote about the subject of female foeticide and it was then taken up by many other poets followed by songs it generated. Urdu poets have also been emerging in the city, as mushairas are organised every year. But many of the residents feel that not many poets of English have emerged from the city.

Ludhiana, March 21
A two-day "Golden Jubilee Kisan Mela" of the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) kicked off with the theme of "Pawan Guru Pani Pita, Mata Dharat Mahatt (Conservation of air, water and soil health)."

More than 200 stalls of PAU and private entrepreneurs were displayed on the Mela ground. The seeds of paddy varieties PR-114, PR-118 and maize variety J-1006 were in great demand. Six thousand vegetable kits were also sold. Four progressive farmers were awarded with the Chief Minister Award.

According to the PAU authorities, PAU was supporting the development of small cluster of villages such as barley, gram, durum wheat, turmeric, baby corn popcorn and groundnut to improve the profit of small farmers. The university was going to begin a campaign to educate farmers about the rational use of pesticides and fertilisers especially on basmati.

On the occasion, Dr GS Kalkat, chairman, Punjab State Farmers Commission, said, "PAU has been serving Punjab and its agriculture since inception", he, highlighted the combined efforts of the farmers and scientists that helped Punjab emerge as a leading state in heralding the green revolution in India. He also advised the farmers to impart good education to their wards for their bright and prosperous future.

In his address, Dr Baldev Singh Dhillon, Vice-Chancellor, PAU, noted that unmindful of the consequences, farmers were making excessive use of fertilisers and water. Their use should be made as per need, he stressed.

He informed that PAU has developed two new varieties of paddy, including RYT 3129 and RYT 3240, which are being experimented upon by the farmers. Referring to the "Daisy Tangerine Propagation Plan," Dhillon said that it was a new mandarin hybrid, budded on carrizo rootstock. It has given good performance and the multiplication of rootstock through tissue culture has also been planned. 

Ludhiana, March 21
The Rising Youth Association organised a meeting at Abdullapur Basti and celebrated 'World Water Day'.

The theme of this year's celebration is "Water and Food Security." Amarjit Singh Bhatia was the chief guest. He said that it was important to launch a campaign to create awareness about water conservation. There was a need to tell people how water wastage could be checked.

Gurinder Chahal, president of the NGO, said, a step to conserve water is a step to secure the future. The most essential among all the natural resources on earth is water.— TNS

Ludhiana, March 21
Eleven aspiring contestants have filed their nomination papers staking claim for the different posts of the District Bar Association, in two days. The annual elections of the association are scheduled for April 4.

Staking claim for the coveted post of the secretary of the association, Gurvinder Singh Sodhi, flanked by his supporters filed the nomination papers. Sukhwinder Singh Bhatia filed nomination papers for the post of finance secretary. Earlier, Gurjinder Singh Sahni had filed his nomination papers. RK Battish and Yashbir Chowdhary filed nomination papers for the post of vice-president of DBA. For six posts of the executive of the DBA, five lawyers filed nomination papers, including Daisy Singla, Vineet Nijhawan, Deepak Kumar, Naveen Gupta, Kuljinder and Alka Rani. Supporters of the contestants distributed sweets after the filing of nomination papers.

The Returning officer apprised that the any contestant could file his nomination papers till March 23.

Ludhiana
Students shine: MBA students (fourth semester) of MTSM College for Women performed well in the MBACIT third semester examination conducted by Panjab University, Chandigarh. The overall result is 100 per cent. Sarika stood first in the university with 79.33 per cent. Kanika and Ashima Sood secured second and third positions, respectively, with 76 per cent and 74.88 per cent, respectively. Principal Dr Parveen Kaur Chawla congratulated students and staff.

Ludhiana, March 21
The General Secretary of Punjab chapter of Shiv Sena Hindustan, Amar Takkar, his wife and mother has been booked for thrashing a woman.

The victim identified as Sonia, a resident of Savroop Nagar in Salem Tabri area, has stated that she had strained relationship with her husband Raj Kumar.On February 18, she visited the house of Takkar as the latter had promised help and assured her that she would get divorce. On reaching the house, Takkar tired to illtreat her. When she resisted Takkar thrashed her, said Sonia. Later, the wife and mother of the leader also thrashed her. She reported the matter to the police and a probe in the case was initiated. After carrying out detailed investigation, the police today booked three persons, including Amar Takkar, his wife and mother. The trio is on the run. — TNS

Ludhiana, March 21
A large number of students representing different houses competed in various sports events in addition to fun games in the annual sports meet of Ryan International School, held here today.

Surjit Singh and Parveen Bansal, District Sports Officer, Ludhiana, and Senior Deputy Mayor, respectively inaugurated the meet. Satwinder Singh, senior cycling coach, Dr Raminder Singh from the Punjab Agricultural University and school principal, Parveena John were among others who were present there at the inaugural ceremony. Some events for the parents were also organised on this occasion

The following are the results:

(Boys) 40m race: Yuvraj Paul 1st, Abhishek Kansal 2nd and Raghav Vij 3rd;

60m race: Atin Bansal 1st, Harsimar Singh 2nd, Daksh Mehta and John Artlay 3rd;

80m race: Gurarmaan Singh 1st, Arshjot Singh 2nd and Rushal Jain 3rd.

200m race: Prabhjot Singh 1st, Jashan 2nd and Arshdeep Singh 3rd;

400m race: Simranpreet Singh 1st, Harshdeep Singh 2nd and Jasjyot Singh 3rd;

600m race: Baljot Singh 1st, Dikshant Gupta 2nd and Aayush Sharma 3rd;

800m race: Jatin Gupta 1st, Shrey Suri 2nd and Newton 3rd.

(Girls) 40m race: Tisha Ahuja 1st, Sakshi Vij 2nd and Jasmine Kaur 3rd;

80m race: Disha Johar 1st, Tamanna Jain 2nd and Jasnoor Kaur 3rd;

200m race: Amitoj Kaur 1st, Samridhi Gosain 2nd and Yashvi Sehajpal 3rd;

400m race: Tisha Joshi 1st, Shatakshi Dogra 2nd and Muskan Tandon 3rd;

100m race: Navdeep Kaur 1st, Puneet Kaur 2nd, Mansi Raizada and Gurman Kaur 3rd.