Ludhiana, July 1
There is a bad news for those planning to open new ultrasound centres, IVF clinics and those having facilities of genetic clinic, genetic lab, genetic centre, MRI and CT scan as the state health department has hiked the registration charges by about eight times.

This step has been taken due to the recent amendments in the State PNDT ACT (Pre-Natal Diagnostic Act) on the instructions of Government of India. Civil Surgeon, Ludhiana, Dr Subhash Batta, said: “Registration charges for opening a new ultrasound centre will be Rs 25, 000 for five years. It was Rs 3,000 for five years earlier. And if test centres like genetic clinic, genetic lab, genetic centre, MRI and CT scan are to be stated along with ultrasound centre, then the registration charges will be Rs 35,000. It was Rs 4, 000 earlier. Charges for an IVF clinic have been increased to Rs 35, 000 from Rs 5,000 for the past five years.

Not only for opening new centres, but one will have to shell out half the amount of registration charges for getting old licence renewed, he added.

Ludhiana, July 1
People residing in adjoining localities are fed up with the tardy pace of Ganda Nullah-covering project. They suspect that the incomplete nullah might overflow whenever it rains and the entire area might be flooded in knee deep drain water, which could bring miseries for them.

The municipal corporation has decided to cover the Ganda Nullah starting from Gurdwara Dukh Niwaran Sahib to Shagun Palace. The work on this project was once again started in February, 2011, at a cost of Rs 22 crore. This project was to be completed by March. It has now been extended till December. Sources say this project might not be completed in a stipulated timeframe as only 40 per cent of the work has been completed so far.

Even during the recently held municipal corporation elections, residents of ward numbers 39 and 40 had made mockery of the municipal corporation and the area councillor by pasting sarcastic posters in different areas as the work of covering the Ganda Nullah is going on at a snail’s pace.

Councillor from ward number 39, Sanjeev Talwar, who is from the Congress, had earlier claimed that this situation had arisen due to callous attitude of municipal officials and the contractor. While the municipal officials claim that the contractor has been asked to start the work and construct the sidewalls so that the residents don’t suffer from any problem whenever it rains.

Even the two bridges, which were constructed near Shagun Palace to join Ram Nagar and Dharampura, were demolished by the contractor about eight months ago.

“These bridges were constructed four years ago at the cost of Rs 50 lakh. Now, when these bridges have been demolished, those residing in Ram Nagar, Hargobind Nagar, Mohar Singh Nagar, Gaushala, Dharampura, New Shivaji Nagar, Shingar Cinema Road and other adjoining areas will have to travel an extra kilometer. The bridges connecting Ram Nagar and Dharampura along with sidewalls were demolished eight months ago. In the absence of the sidewalls, the water level in the nullah and the road is almost same. If it rains, Ram Nagar and Mohar Singh Nagar will submerge into knee-deep water,” he regretted.

Talwar claimed that he had taken up the matter with the municipal officials on several occasions, but they are not paying any heed to the project.

Last month, former Health Minister, Satpal Gosain, who is from the BJP, had even addressed a press conference on the construction site where he pulled up MC officials as well as the contractor for using raw material of poor quality and for the delay in completion of the project. Gosain had even alleged that the poor quality material was used by the contractor while the MC officials failed to check it.

Even Senior Deputy Mayor and BJP district president Parveen Bansal had raised questions over the design of this project. But Municipal Commissioner Malwinder Singh Jaggi had claimed that the design was prepared by a team of experts from IIT Roorkee.

An area resident rued, “For so many years, we are living in hell. When this covering project was initiated, we were hopeful of getting rid of all problems, but all hopes have been dashed to ground. Now if it rains, the drain water will enter our houses,” said the resident.

Ludhiana, July 1
Though the city police is patting its back after arresting five persons, who were involved creating a fake cheque for Rs 5.95 crore and withdrawing nearly Rs 80 lakh from the account, Harbhajan Singh Sandhu, owner of Royal Industries and the main accused in the case, is still evading arrest.

It was Harbhajan Singh, who handed over the cheque to Kunal Tanuja of Ramson Tyres for encashing it.

According to officials, Harbhajan Singh Sandhu entered into a deal with Kunal Tanuja a few months ago for purchasing a piece of land.

Harbhajan was to pay Rs 2 crore to Kunal, but he kept on delaying the payment on the pretext that he loan was yet to be sanctioned.

On June 16, Harbhajan called Kunal and stated that Sri Ram Finance had sanctioned loan to him. Sandhu further handed over a cheque for Rs 5.95 crore to Kunal. He told Kunal to keep his share of Rs 2 crore with him and deposit the rest of the amount in his (Sandhu’s) bank account.

The bank officials and Tanuja smelled a rat after money was transferred in Sandhu’s account. The officials established contact with Sri Ram Finance and were shocked to know that the company had never issued such a cheque.

The money transaction in Sandhu’s account was stopped. However, Sandhu managed to withdraw Rs 79 lakh from the account.

Two days after the incident, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP-I) MS Dhesi announced that the case had been cracked with the arrest of Amit Kumar, Ranjit Singh, Balwinder Pal, Harish Kumar and Ranjit Singh. The police also stated that Rs 49 lakh was recovered from the accused.

But Harbhajan’s name did not figure in the list. The city police narrated the entire story to Delhi-based touts Rajiv and Deepak. They got in touch with Ranjit, a resident of Amritsar and notorious in committing economic crimes. Ranjit is wanted by the Jalandhar police after he tried to commit Rs 30-crore fraud by submitting a fake cheque.

The police said Ranjit further roped in Amit, who knew Sandhu’s accountant Harish Kumar. Each one of them had their commission fixed. For example, Rajiv and Deepak were to get 30 per cent from the transaction, while Ranjit was to receive Rs 10 lakh.

Harbhajn, a known fabric manufacturer, enjoys a lavish living and owns a house in BRS Nagar.

These days due to scorching heat, one hardly heaves a sigh of relief. But one can imagine the fate of all those 35 employees who were attending a meeting in a big office under the wings of one old fashioned fan. As the meeting was over, I called up one of the officers of the department. But listening to his dim voice, I was surprised and asked him, "Sir, I think you are not in pink of health!" The officer replied, "Madam, gharon te change bhala aaya si, par ik pakkha te 35 bandeyan vich baiith ke, meri himmat jawab de gai hai. Due to power cut AC was not working, only one ceiling fan was moving and that too on the inverter. So, please talk to me after some time."

Sugar candy

There are very few things that defy time. Although sugar candy of yore may be getting less popular with kids, but Krishan, a vendor near Rakh Bagh has been carrying on the tradition-and manages to sell most of his sugar candy packets. There are very few things that the new generation enjoys, as our generation used to. We would chase when street vendor would come and sell sugar candies. It is great to see the simple sugar being sold here. "We, as children were also as fond of our Mai da jhata", an elderly man taking a walk said.

Servant Power

One of my friends has recently kept a new servant, who looked very "sober" to the friend and she thanked god for sending "good soul" in such severe weather condition. Being a working woman, she has to attend to her office till late evening, during this time, her son remained alone at home. And she was satisfied that the new servant will take care of her son, who was in class II. About three days ago, the servant said that he had to go to meet an uncle; my friend permitted him but told him that he could not go everyday, as her son was alone at home. Again, the servant asked for a two-hour leave yesterday, and my friend denied. The servant said, "Ok, I will not go but you have to buy me a new mobile phone so that I pass my time talking with friends and relatives. And I do not want any ordinary phone, buy me a Samsung Galaxy, which looks attractive". Poor friend kept on staring at him!

Mistaken identity

As I do not belong to this city, I have taken a room on rent on the Pakhowal Road. The breakfast, lunch and dinner are generally taken at dhabas or restaurants as for journos, there are not fixed working hours. Today, while I was taking breakfast at a dhaba in Kochar Market, I received a call from my "boss" who had to ask something about a story. Inside the dhaba, there was so much nuisance and noise, I preferred to go out to get the call and my breakfast, too, was almost finished. While I hurriedly came out to take the call, two attendants at the dhaba came running behind me. While I was talking on phone, the attendants screamed, "Where are you going? You have not paid the bill." After disconnecting the phone, while I was trying to tell them that I came out just to attend the call, another visitor at the dhaba said, "He seems to be a sober man, but look at his guts, he was leaving without paying the bill." And I had to cut a sorry figure!

Contributed by

Anupam Bhagria, Gurvinder Singh, Shivani Bhakoo and Charanjit Singh Teja

Machhiwara July 1
The election for the president of Nagar Council, Machhiwara, was again postponed as the situation became tense and returning officer SDM Khanna PS Sodhi postponed the election due to law and order.

As the meeting started at about 11 am Daljit Singh Gill candidate for the president alleged that he was not informed earlier about the meeting and also questioned the meeting on Sunday. He claimed the support of 5 MCs. On the other hand, another presidential candidate Rupinder Singh Benipal also claimed the support of required number of MCs including 5 of Congress.

It is worthwhile to say that out of 13 MCs in this Nagar Council 7 are of Akali Dal while one of BJP whereas 5 belong to Congress. The situation is becoming unclear, as there are two candidates for the post of president of Akali Dal. When SDM Khanna was contacted in this regard he said that the meeting was postponed as the members stood against each other and a group even tuned table in the meeting room and he deferred the meeting till next orders.

Ludhiana, July 1
The Central Board of Education has decided to facilitate the students who got the top ranks in class XII examinations conducted by the academic session ending April 2012. According to a circular of the CBSE, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India would provide the scholarship to students for further study.

The CBSE is seeking applications from students for these scholarships. According to CBSE officials, the Department of Science and Technology awards scholarships for higher education under Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) to the students who are within the top 1 percent at class XII examination.

The board has set the eligibility for theses scholarships within cut-off score, 471 marks excluding class 6th additional subjects. According to the board authorities, eligible candidates have to collect the letters along with advisory note to the candidate for eligibility in scholarship for higher education componentunderINSPIRE scheme from school, where they studied class XII.

Government of India would provide Rs 80,000 per year for five years in the form of scholarships to the students.

Performance in top one per cent in class XII Board examination and enrollment into basic and natural science courses at BSc, Integrated MSc or MS levels automatically qualify for scholarship for higher education.

"Students from the city have also got a chance as they meet the eligibilities," says Harpreet a teacher at a local school.

Ludhiana, July 1
Entrance to the main ward of the Civil Hospital is a walk through unclean floor. There is a section that stinks, though a change for the better has been observed after installation of new multi-coloured dustbins in the Civil Hospital, as now medical waste cannot be seen dumped in the open.

A washroom near the microscopy centre is in a bad shape. It stinks, making it difficult for patients to use it. A long queue of patients is seen in front of the X-ray and ultrasound units. Some patients are lying on the ground. According to the hospital authorities, more than 40 X-rays are done every day and one X-ray takes 15 minutes.

Seema, a housewife from Jamalpur, who has a skull fracture, is lying in front of the X-ray unit. Seema’s husband Manoj says his wife had to wait for an hour for her X-ray and due to the acute pain she was lying on the floor.

“We have three X-ray machines and all are functioning. Our rates of X-ray and ultrasound are reasonable, so a large number of people visit us for the same,” says Civil Surgeon, Ludhiana, Subhash Batta. Though he admitted that work pressure and staff shortage had led to long queues of patients. “Within the constraint of the available government staff, we are doing our best,” he adds.

Docs on ‘round’!

Santosh, a carpenter from Sherpur, seems upset while sitting on a bench outside the OPD for orthopaedics. His younger brother has suffered serious injuries on head and neck while working in an industry. Santosh has been taking leaves for two consecutive days from his factory for the treatment of his brother. Yet, he failed to meet the doctor. Yesterday, the doctor was busy in the operation theatre and today the doctor was on “round”, as told to him by an attendant present at the OPD.

Another visitor, Bhani Devi, said she had been waiting for a doctor for one hour outside the skin OPD. It was a miserable Saturday for the patients having skin-related infections, as no one was present at the skin OPD. Vacant chairs are enough to communicate to the patient that doctors are absent and they have to come again to consult them.

Dr Batta said there was only a single sanctioned post of the skin specialist in the district. But luckily, the Civil Hospital has three skin specialists. “However, in case the doctor is on leave, we have no other option,” he added.

Breeding ground for mosquitoes

The health department is issuing advisories and guidelines to residents of the city, advising them to take adequate precautions to prevent dengue. But stagnant water can be seen outside the labour ward of the hospital, which has been acting as the breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Overcharging at parking lot

Harassment of the public starts from the entrance, as parking contractor charges five times more than the recommended rate list. The rate written on the board is Rs 2 for two-wheelers, but the contractor is charging Rs 10. Patients and their caretakers express surprise that the government is charging Rs 1 for the OPD slip fee, but they are paying 10 times more for parking.

Whom to call in case of fire?

A few employees are aware of fire equipment installed in the hospital. Though fire extinguishers are installed in the building, no slip about refilling date is available on most of the extinguishers. A list of fire officials with their telephone number is pasted on various walls of the hospital. Ironically, the telephone numbers are outdated. Even fire official Manjeet Sharma was transferred to Jalandhar long ago and the given telephone number is not in use.

No sitting arrangement outside mortuary

It is tough to wait for the body of loved ones outside a mortuary and the Civil Hospital authorities have failed to provide proper sitting arrangements outside the mortuary. People can be seen sitting in open for hours outside the mortuary as post-mortem takes long. Moreover, bodies come in large numbers here. According to hospital officials, an NGO “Samvedna” is going to construct a shed and install a cooler outside the mortuary.

Shortage of staff nurses

According to a staff nurse, the hospital authorities constructed several new wards, but the number of staff nurses is same as earlier. A staff nurse claimed that the ratio of staff and patient is 1:60. We have only 30 staff nurses for hundreds of patients.

However, the hospital authorities denied such low proportion of staff nurses and patient. Dr Batta said 30 new posts of staff nurses had been got sanctioned and there would be no shortage after their recruitment.

Absence of canteen

Patients and their caretakers have to pay more for low quality of food from outside, as the hospital has no canteen. It is a major complaint of caretakers of the patients that vendors are overcharging for tea and snacks. According to the hospital authorities, they are going to renew contract of the canteen soon.

Haven for outsiders

Jagraon, July 1
The long-pending demand of Jagraon residents regarding having a fire brigade station in the town is finally going to be fulfilled, it seems.

The objective of setting up a fire brigade station at Jagraon got a strong push when the local SAD MLA, SR Kaler, raised the issue in Punjab Assembly session.

Raising the issue in the Punjab Assembly, SR Kaler told the house that despite having 'A' grade municipal council, Jagraon still lacks a fire brigade station due to which local residents and businessmen continue to suffer heavy financial losses every year in fire incidents, specially during the summer season.

Insisting upon the dire need of setting up a fire brigade station in Jagraon, Kaler asked Local Bodies Minister Bhagat Chuni Lal about the issue, following which the later assured Kaler that the government will start the work of setting up fire brigade station in Jagraon within six months.

"The residents of Jagraon had been raising this demand since a long time, but unfortunately no step was taken by the respective governments in this direction. This was a genuine and long-pending demand and I have just done my duty by raising the issue in the Assembly," said SR Kaler while talking to The Tribune over the phone.

He further stated that he will continue to follow up the matter on a regular basis so that the fire brigade station is set up within the given time.

He also informed that it will be a joint fire brigade station of Dakha, Raikot and Jagraon sub-divisions, and the station would be set up in Jagraon.

"Whenever there was a fire incident in Jagraon area, the administration had to call the fire brigade from either Moga or Ludhiana which took about an hour to reach. We had been demanding from the government to set up a fire brigade station at Jagraon and now when our demand is getting fulfilled, we hope it will reduce the margin of loss people suffer in fire incidents," said Jagroop Singh, a local shopkeeper.

Ludhiana, July 1
Enter some of the new spaces, including restaurants in the city, and you would be surrounded by words and letters of these alphabets, used not for conveying any intended message. Text and words are not only meant for reading, these are increasingly being used as design element, independent of their meaning, by designers in the city. The trend can be witnessed is some of the restaurants in the city, where words and letters just add to the ambience without any intended meaning or message.

With the changing times, and coming in of fresh contemporary design concepts, city based interior designers are introducing fresh and new trends in design in the city, says Paramjit, a designer.

Although text and alphabet have always been used for reading, but letters and words have their own beauty as forms independent of what they mean, he says. The appropriate font also has to be taken care of, as every font has a character and personality of its own, and subliminally appeals according to the sensibilities of the place and as well according to the likely target audience who would be coming to the place. However, care has to be taken that the design and text suit the need of the design, as the text without the need for it might look tacky. Care also has to be taken that it is not visually too overwhelming, he says.

Although text looks overawing when reading, but these words look beautiful on the walls as a design element, says Sandeep, a student.

Jayant Aggarwal, from an ice-cream parlour on the Malhar Road, says that he wants to organise the karaoke evenings in the parlour, and there had to be connection with words, so words were including in the interiors. At another restaurant, digits have been used simply as a design element that adds a variety to the design. According to a city-based interior designer, Vaneet Khanna, every project is unique and designers can go for text if the project demands it.

Ludhiana, July 1
There has been no rain for the past 10 days in the city but residents of Kucha Number 7 in Field Ganj have been facing water-logging problems like those during the rainy days. People have been living in pathetic condition due to the blockage of sewerage system. Whereas water accumulation on the roads makes life tough of residents, they are feeling threat of breakout water borne diseases.

According to the area councillor, sewers are not installed at uniform level, so after covering of Gandha Nullah, problem becomes more critical.

Pardeep Dang, a resident said, "We have lodged complaints with municipal officials several times, but they never pay attention. Now that Municipal Corporation is claiming that all preparations have been done for the monsoon. But residents are already dreading about how they would tackle the monsoon.”

"Water is accumulated on the roads due to improper flow of the sewerage. Safai sewaks are also helpless, as now they do not visit the area. We have filed several complaints. Last time, the MC ensured us that the problem would be resolved by July 3, but none of the officials have visited the site till date," said another resident Saurav Ahuja.

Rakesh Parasher, councillor of the ward said, "The problem started when the project of covering Ganda Nullah began. I have written to the commissioner about the problem and he promised us that problem would be resolved.

"It is very sure that if Munidipal Corporation does not takes care of the problem, then life of the people residing here would be destroyed. If anything happens during rainy session, the corporation officials would be responsible," said the councillor.

Ludhiana, July 1
In the rat race of earning more and gaining popularity, a majority of people prefer to live in urban areas by leaving behind their villages miles away. But here is a city-based eye surgeon, Dr Rajinder Singh, who dedicated his life to serve needy people of the rural areas, not as a part of his profession, but as charity.

It was about seven years ago when eye surgeon, Dr Rajinder Singh, came up with “Sahayta”, an NGO, aimed for serving children and elderly people of the rural areas.

Dr Rajinder Singh said, “We have been catering to the education of 72 kids of the Red Cross Sahayta School since four years.”

He further said his NGO had also been partially funding 25 children of SG Baal Ghar, Talwandi Khurd, and children of Prabh Aasra Apahij Ashram, Kurali.

The NGO also caters to students of Baba Gobind Public School, Satthiala, and helping more than 10 children in higher education, who are financially poor.

He said, “Sahayta has been running three dispensaries in three villages, including Sareen, Kishangarh Chhanna and Tallewal. Every year, teams of doctors and paramedical staff come from Canada, USA and England, visit these villages and conduct free eye surgeries. We have adopted Tallewal village for health and have vaccinated villagers against Hepatitis-B and as many as 239 girls against cervical cancer.”

But what inspired him to do all this? He said, “I started my career as an eye surgeon from Jodhan village in late 70’s. Since childhood, I observed that residents of villages lack health facilities and awareness. So, I decided at that time that I will serve them. But in 1982 when terrorism was on its peak, I had to shift out to Ludhiana city. So, my dream to serve villagers remained unfulfilled. To fulfill it, it was seven years that I founded the NGO.”

Setting another example is Dr Jaspreet Kaur, who got the state award for conducting maximum cesarean sections under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in emergency at the Community Health Centre, Sahnewal. She said, “Rural hospitals are the best platform for beginners. Free deliveries under the NRHM gave me training and exposure as a gynaecologist.”

Mother of two children, she is presently working as the medical official at the PAU Hospital.

Phillaur, July 1
An alleged case of marriage of convenience and using fraudulent means, including producing a fake matriculation certificate to acquire passport from the regional passport office, Jalandhar, to enter Canada and getting permanent residency in North-East Calgary, has been reported to the Phillaur police. A Canada-based NRI, Jasvir Kaur, lodged a complaint with the police on May 29 on her visit to Punjab.

Jasvir Kaur Saran Dhillon is basically from Dalle village in Jagraon and presently a citizen of North-East Calgary. She has alleged that her husband, Gurpreet Singh Dhillon, a resident of Dalewal village near Goraya, had used a fake matriculation certificate to get his passport to enter Canada. Jasvir, who was a divorcee earlier, said she remarried Gurpreet Singh Dhillon on November 19, 2008, and Gurpreet came to Canada on August 4, 2009.

She alleged that her husband used to harass her, demand money from her and finally left the house in February, 2010.

She claimed that she had registered a complaint against him with the department of citizenship and immigration, Canada, through a Member Parliament from North-East Calgary, Devinder Shory. Jasvir further said she had filed a complaint with the Phillaur DSP office also on May 29.

In her complaint she alleged that, “The actual date of birth of Gurpreet is April 12, 1983, as per the primary school records of Dalewal village, whereas he used fake date of birth of February 28, 1981, and false matriculation certificate to get his passport to enter Canada.”

When contacted, Phillaur DSP Paramjit Singh Pannu said the police had contacted officials of the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) and got details of the alleged fake matriculation certificate and detailed investigation report had been sent to the higher authorities.

It was also learnt that the Goraya police has sought permission from the higher authorities to register a case under Sections 420, 465, 468, 471 and 120-B of the IPC against the alleged accused, Gurpreet Singh.

DSP Pannu said all those found guilty would be booked according to the law.

Jagraon, July 1
The Proclaimed Offender Wing of Jagraon police has managed to arrest a proclaimed offender who was wanted for manufacturing and selling illegal liquor. The accused has been identified as Charanjit Singh alias Channi of Kul Gehna village near Sidhwan Bet.

As per the information given by PO Wing incharge officer Jaspal Chopra, the police had received a secret information that Charanjit Singh had been seen near Bhundri village near Sidhwan Bet. Acting on th etip-off, a police party conducted a raid in Bhundri and arrested the accused when he was walking on the outskirts of Bhundri village.

According to Jaspal Chopra, Charanjit Singh was absconding for the last three years. The case was registered against him in 2009 and he had managed to escape from the police at that time. Later, he was declared a proclaimed offender by a local court, said Chopra.

The accused was produced before a local court later by the police which sent him to two days police remand.

Ludhiana, July 1
Host Ludhiana seized initiative as their bowlers succeeded in restricting Patiala to 250 runs with just two wickets in hand in the first innings on the second day of the four-day match of the Punjab State Inter District Cricket Tournament (U-22). The tournament is being organised by the Punjab Cricket Association at the Punjab Agricultural University campus ground here.

Yesterday, Ludhiana scored 323 runs in their first essay in which Akhil Aggarwal and Himanshu excelled with the bat, contributing 127 and 71 runs, respectively.

Ludhiana bowlers, Anil Siag and Sukhjinder Singh were in their true elements, as they gave no liberty to the visitors who survived many anxious moments.

At one stage, Patiala was struggling with 150 runs on the board, losing five wickets. Then, Amrinder Singh and Mohit Mahindra rose to the occasion to rescue their side from sudden collapse.

In their rescue act, Ludhiana fielders, too, contributed as they dropped as many as four catches that allowed the duo of Amrinder and Mohit to add 90 runs for the sixth wicket.

Finally, Amrinder was out for 64 while Mohit chipped in 39 runs. For Ludhiana, Anil Siag accounted for four wickets and Sukhjinder captured three wickets.

Brief Scores: Ludhiana (first innings)-323 all out in 93 overs (Akhil Aggarwal 127, Himanshu 71, Devinder Sidhu 48 not out and Nikhil Chowdhary 18; Amrinder Singh 5 for 75, Sukhwinder Singh 2 for 80 and Beant Singh 1 for 35).

Patiala (first innings)-250 for 8 in 95 overs (Amrinder Singh 64, Prabhjot 31, Mohit Mahindra 39, Vikrant 21, Jivanjot 20, Robin 17 and Babish 35 not out; Sukhjinder Singh 3 for 59, Anil Siag 4 for 68 and Ashish 1 for 33).