Ludhiana, July 15
The tehbazari wing of Municipal Corporation removed around 200 makeshift shops of vegetable and fruit vendors near the MC Zone D office at BRS Nagar here today. The team of the tehbazari wing was provided security cover by the police. Certain vendors opposed the drive but the presence of the police force prevented them from hampering the drive.

Meanwhile the team did not allow the holding of car bazar at the Gian Singh Rarewala market on the third consecutive Sunday and bulldozed some other makeshift shops on the Dugri Road.

According to the tehbazari officials, this demolition exercise is a part of routine functioning of the department.

This market is known as "Apni Mandi" and vendors have been selling vegetables and fruits here for years. It was first such action by the department when all the makeshift shops have been removed.

According to the Superintendent, Tehbazari wing, Naveen Malhotra, the vacant land where the mandi was established belongs to the Municipal Corporation so they removed the encroachments.

It was also reported that some self-styled contractors collected money from vendors to provide them place and other infrastructure. They charge about Rs 150 per day from vendors.

According to sources, a person claiming himself to be a Mandi Board employee opposed the drive. He reportedly said the mandi was established to facilitate marketing of their produce farmers under a scheme of the Mandi Board.

However, the Superintendent, Tehbazari, said: "That particular land belongs to the corporation. So how the Mandi Board can establish a market there. Moreover, if the Mandi Board has provided the place to vendors then why they don't have any slip of the Mandi Board. The market was illegal, so our team demolished it like other illegal markets".

"Residents are happy with our effort because these type of markets lead to traffic chaos," he added.

Ludhiana, July 15
The snatchers, who fled after snatching gold earrings of a 52-year-old woman two days ago, have been caught on the camera.

The two youngsters, riding a black motorcycle, had snatched the gold earrings of Harjit Kaur, a resident of Lal Kothi, in the Haibowal area, while she was visiting her neighbours on the evening of July 13.

The motorcyclists, after snatching the gold earring of the woman, took a U-turn and even teased the victim.

But they were oblivious of the fact that a close circuit television (CCTV) camera was recording their activities.

Following the incident, the man at whose house the CCTV camera was installed, informed Harjit Kaur's son Prabhjit.

Harjit identified the snatchers.

The victim's family handed over the CCTV footage to the police.

Ludhiana, July 15
Raising demand for setting aside the recently held elections at Ward no. 28 of the Municipal Corporation, an independent candidate, Rakesh Kumar Marwaha, has filed an election petition.

The petition was filed against elected Councillor Maharaj Singh Raji of the Congress, Amardeep Singh Bains, returning officer, presiding officer for the ward no. 28 election and defeated Akali-BJP candidate Harish Rai Dhanda. Taking cognisance of the petition, the presiding officer of the Election Tribunal-cum-SDM of Samrala, Jasbir Singh, has issued notices to all the parties for a hearing on July 24.

In its petition, Marwaha has alleged that Raji as well as Dhanda indulged in malpractices in connivance with the election staff.

The petitioner has alleged that both the Congress as well as the SAD-BJP nominees distributed money, liquor and utensils among voters. The duo were also charged with bribing polling officials for carrying out bogus voting in their favour by hacking EVMs.

Ludhiana, July 15
Various non-government organisations and government bodies plant lakhs of saplings every year but according to forestry experts, no significant increase in the state green cover has been witnessed. The Punjab government had recently announced that it would plant 4 crore saplings in the state in the next five years.

However, the experts from Punjab Agricultural University appreciate all these initiatives of the government and non-government bodies but they suggest the survival of plants is very important.

According to the statistics of the Forest Survey of India-2011, the area under trees (outside forests) has increased by 100sq km in a year. Now, the area under forests in the state is 6.87%.

Dr Avtar Singh, Head of the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, said Punjab could expand its 15% area under forests. Farmers prefer to plant those trees which have commercial value over other saplings. So the area under trees has been increasing outside forests.

"Aftercare of saplings is an essential practice for their survival. Most of the time people lay emphasis on plantation but they forget saplings after planting them and leave them on nature. We think that our responsibility starts after planting a sapling," said Dr Avtar Singh.

"It is a fact that organisations plant thousands of trees every year but after plantation no one cares about them. After some time the saplings are damaged by stray animals or wither in adverse weather conditions. Organisations and the government have to count the trees survived instead of the saplings planted," said Yudhveer Singh, an environmentalist.

Ludhiana, July 15
About 25 per cent addicts registered at the Opioid Substitute Treatment (OST) Centre at the Lord Mahavir Civil Hospital, Ludhiana, are HIV positive.

Disclosing this, Dr SS Dhir, in charge of OST Centre, Ludhiana, said, “We have registered as many as 235 drug addicts at the centre. Out of these, about 25 per cent are HIV positive, as they used to take injectable drugs earlier.”

Due to infections like tuberculosis, HIV and hepatitis, 20 had died out of 235. The centre came into existence in October, 2010, along with four other centres at Taran Tarn, Amritsar, Batala and Jalandhar as the pilot project of NACO under the Punjab State AIDS Control Society. Recently, five more such centres were opened in other districts of Punjab.

Dr Dhir said, “We receive about 80 per cent addicts belonging to the below poverty line who come to us through NGOs. Out of these, 20 per cent are street-based addicts, who have no family support. We tested blood samples of these addicts and found that 25 per cent were Hepatitis B positive and 42 per cent were found Hepatitis C positive although they do not show clinical symptoms. A majority of the addicts are in the age group of 22 to 28 years. However, 15 per cent are aged 18 to 22 years.”

The addicts who come to us on their own have better compliance because their motivation and will power is more than other addicts.

Sahnewal, July 15
The construction of Sahnewal railway overbridge seems to be taking a heavy toll on residents especially during the rainy season when the wet slippery mud spreads all over the road and becomes risky for commuters.

A commuter fractured his arm as he fell from his scooter while passing from the road. "This is the worst part of the construction work that is going on. As I was passing through the road, my scooter lost balance and before I could realise what had actually happened, I found myself on the hospital bed. The doctor said that there are multiple fractures and it can take months together to heal. The day the work on the overbridge started, I was overjoyed but today I feel that why did the work ever start. The troublesome leve-crossing was far better than the present condition at least our limbs were intact at that time."

"Whenever an overbridge or a road is to be constructed, the authorities have to first accommodate the existing rush by erecting a temporary service road on the either side but nothing was done in this case. As the vertical pillars are being erected the clay from under them has made life miserable for residents," viewed a resident.

"Our business has suffered largely due to the ongoing construction. No shopper dares to cross this clay filled slippery road unless and until there is a dire need for it. Everybody does not have a four wheeler. A majority of residents have to cross on two wheelers. The authorities will have to think about it at the earliest otherwise more people will meet the same fate in the near future," complained a resident.

"I pray to God every day before going to bed that there should be no rain as I have to attend college. I too had a bad experience the other day. I was on my Activa and was carefully driving through the road when it slipped and hit another scoote. I panicked and fainted. From that day, this path has become a nightmare for me and I don't want it to rain at any cost," rued a college student.

Ludhiana, July 15
Prices of tomato have once again headed north. Due to the rainfall, tomatoes are coming from neighbouring states and are priced at Rs 50 per kg. Due to its perishable nature, vegetable wholesalers do not buy it in large quantities and hence priced highly. Housewives have once again switched to tomato purees.

Tomatoes are being brought from the neighbouring states, as the produce in our state has finished due to the rain. The wholesalers do not buy this vegetable in large quantities, as it is perishable. Tomatoes like onion and potatoes are used in every dish, so people cannot skip buying them, said Mian, a vegetable vendor at Aggar Nagar.

Shweta Makhija, a housewife, said, “It is impossible to buy tomatoes at Rs 50 per kg. Whenever the prices go up, I switch to tomato purees, as they are economical. It was only for a short while that the rate of tomatoes went down to Rs 20 per kg, but now again it is the same old story with the tomato prices,” she said.

Kamla Devi, a migrant from Bihar, said she no longer used tomatoes while cooking. We cannot afford to buy vegetables at such a high cost.

It is becoming impossible to manage two square meals a day these days,” she rued.

Meanwhile, Rakesh Singla, an owner of a departmental store, said the sale of tomato purees had once again gained momentum. Generally customers do not ask for purees and it is only when the prices of raw vegetables shot up, the demand for purees go up, he added.

Ludhiana, July 15
Not a single case of ragging has been reported at the Punjab Agricultural University since the ban on ragging in colleges and universities some years ago. "It's my fourth year in the university; no one ragged us in the first year, and later on, even we did not harass any junior," said Yadwinder Singh, a PAU student.

Most of the students interviewed said: "We feel good when someone from village comes to study at the university; why would we harass them?"

Most of the PAU students are from rural background and there is bonhomie when new students arrive at the university. "I personally feel that most of the cruel ragging happens among inter-state students. Here in PAU, most of the students are from villages; therefore, we don?t like harassing them," said a student. Dr Jagtar Singh Dhiman, Additional Director Communication, said, "We take extra care to prevent ragging. We have clearly mentioned the penalty for ragging in the prospectus. We have pasted phone numbers to report such incidents to the university authorities in all the departments. Our deans and teachers also conduct checks time to time."

Ludhiana, July 15
The employment exchange, a joint initiative of the state government and the United Cycle Parts Manufacturers Association (UCPMA), has proved a damp squib.

The exchange was kickstarted on the Labour Day this year and was expected to solve the labour problem being faced by the local industry.

Till date, the exchange had received only 45 applications. Though all candidates had been absorbed in the industry, not many came forward to get themselves registered.

"We had expected nearly 25,000 resumes, but to our utter shock, we received only 45 applications till date," said Gurmeet Singh Kular, UCPMA president.

"On an average, we receive between five and seven resumes a month. Everybody who submitted their resumes was employed in the local industry, but not many came forward for jobs," he added.

Kular blamed government policies for the shortage of labour in the state. "On the one hand, there is shortage of labour and on the other, the government gives unemployment allowance. Who will work if he or she gets allowance at home," he asked.

"The Centre's schemes like the MNREGA have also lured labour to go back to their hometowns, where they get guaranteed employment living close to their families. In the circumstances, shortage of labour is increasing by the day," he added.

Another industrialist, Rakesh Mehdiratta, said he had great hope from the employment exchange and expected it to provide skilled labour, which was much-needed by the industry at present.

"Not many have come forward to register themselves. The employment exchange has dashed the hopes of the industry, which is in dire need of labour," he added.

Ludhiana, July 15
A rare surgery of repairing a blocked kidney laparoscopically has been done at the department of urology in the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital here.

The surgery has been done by a team of surgeons led by Dr Baldev Singh Aulakh, professor of urology and head of the transplant unit.

According to the doctor, a 25-year-old male patient from Patiala had blockage in the kidney due to a rare condition known as retrocaval ureter. The human body had two ureters, one for each kidney. Ureters were long and thick tubes that helped urine move from the kidneys to the bladder.

A ureter of the patient had got wrapped around the biggest blood vessel, which was called the inferior vena cava. This blood vessel carried blood from the lower half of the body to the right upper chamber of the heart.

In such a condition, blood vessels pressed the ureter, leading to blockage of urine, damage to kidney and secondary stone formation.

The patient was operated upon endoscopically for kidney stone removal earlier and surgeons realised some congenital block in the kidney.

After undergoing various investigations, the patient was diagnosed to be suffering from retocaval ureter.

It was decided to do this surgery laparoscopically and it was done with small three ports, through which a camera and instruments were used to repair the kidney, without a cut.

At the DMCH, surgical procedure of performing nephrectomy for renal transplant and prostatectomy for carcinoma prostate were being done laparoscopically. Dr Aulakh said congential blockage of kidney should be evaluated and repaired whenever kidney stone was diagnosed, otherwise a stone could recur.

Ludhiana, July 15
Skirts, shorts and one-pieces are increasingly becoming popular among city girls. Take a walk down the malls, step into a party hall and girls can increasingly be seen browsing through the malls in shorts, skirts and one-pieces.

These dresses are getting popular among the elite class of the city, says Swastika, a resident. “Such dresses would be worn in more confined places like private parties or clubs. But now, the mindset is becoming more permissive when it comes to dressing,” said Divya, a resident.

It was not long back when short dresses would only be seen on TV and people would express surprise seeing girls in metros wearing these dresses. It was only till a couple of years back, if any women wore such dresses, people would gawk at them in surprise in this region.

Girls, meanwhile, shrug it over, saying it is just a part of the changing fashion. “I think fashion is changing and skirts are just a part of that change,” says Ritika, a resident. These dresses make girls look cute and women more girly. I wear shorts and jumpers regularly and these look good,” she says.

“It all started only a couple of years ago when capris came in vogue. These became surprisingly ubiquitous and then capris led to acceptance of skirts and one-pieces as well,” says a city-based fashion consultant.

Confirming the trend, Aarti, working at a fashion store in a mall, there has been quite an upswing in the sales of one-pieces and skirts this year. Parents have also started accepting to an extent. “As long as she looks decent, it is fine with me," says Sudha, a parent. “I think change is inevitable and it is the time when these dresses gained acceptance here as well. With so much exposure to global fashion and media, our way of life and dressing is becoming more cosmopolitan, so it is all part of the change,” said Akhilesh, another parent.

Ludhiana, July 15
It was scrumptious food, sumptuous treat with a dash of Blackberry. Members of the Foodies Corner, a BBM (Blackberry messenger) group, had a get-together for the first time for a food jamboree.

Brought together by the penchant for food on the messenger, the group members share their gastronomic exploits, culinary discoveries and share their tales and experiences with different cuisines, uploading pictures of food and share information about the hottest food paradises, as they visit different parts of the world.

Although the social media has often been blamed for decreasing face-to-face interaction, online interaction through the social media is also becoming the stepping stone to face-to-face interaction in the social groups.

Chatting and sharing experiences in real makes all the difference, says Maninder Sobti, a restaurant owner.

Many of the restaurant owners of the city are part of the online group. “It was amazing to know and meet one other face-to-face,” said Nishant Jairath, one of the initiators of the group.

Ludhiana, July 15
To motivate drug addicts against drug addiction, the Ann Jal Sewa Trust, a non-government organisation (NGO), staged a play last evening. The play “Dukhadi Rag Punjab Di” was staged by amateur artistes of the Akas Rang Manch, Samrala.

The play depicted the ill-effects of drugs on the life of drug addicts and their sufferings.

Commissioner of Police Ishwar Singh was the chief guest on the occasion. ADCP (crime) Harjinder Singh Sandhu, ACP Swapan Sharma, deputy chief, Powercom, Rashpal Singh and district transport officer Manpreet Singh Chhatwal were also present on the occasion.

While trust chairman Siv Ram Aroy and secretary Seema Jain said the aim of the play was to end drug addiction. People from different localities of the city were made aware about the ill-effects of drugs through this play. The Commissioner of Police also appreciated the efforts of the NGO for this social cause.

Ludhiana, July 15
The Sangita’s Studio of Performing Arts organised a Sufi evening, “Nur-e-khuda”, under the series “Baithak” on the occasion of the opening of third branch of SSPA. It is an intimate performing session by an eminent artiste with students of the institute and art lovers.

Artiste, Ustaad Younus, a noted Sufi singer and qawwal, began the evening in praise of the Almighty with the kalam singing for Mohammad Nat Shareef, followed by “Allaf Allah Chambe Di Butti”, a kalam by Hazrat Babu Sabh, and “Ni Mahiya Tenu Vekhan Nu”, a kalam by Bulle Shah.

The evening concluded with “Damadam Mast Kalandar”, followed by “Bol Mitti De Bawea”, which lest audience awestruck.

Ludhiana, July 15
The Ludhiana Management Association (LMA) organised an inter-corporate debate based on the pattern of British parliamentary debate. Twelve teams consisting of three senior executives each representing top corporate houses such as Vardhman Group, Ralson Group, GNIMT, Eastman Group, Beetle Teletech, Chemical Brothers, TCY Learning Solutions, Nanotech Chemicals and other organisations participated in the programme, which started on July 11.

Ramson Cycles Group and TCY Learning Solutions entered the final. The final debate was held before the open house on July 13, in which most of the members of the LMA were present. The team representing TCY Learning Solutions were declared winners and Ramson Group as runners-up. DL Sharma, MD Vardhman Yarns and Threads, gave a presentation on managerial effectiveness through organisational processes. LMA president JR Singal declared that the inter-corporate debate will be an annual feature of the LMA.

Ludhiana, July 15
Six persons were injured after an over speeding auto-rickshaw overturned near Oswal Cancer Hospital here this evening.

The incident took place at 10 pm when the auto-rickshaw, ferrying six passengers, was heading towards Cheema Chowk. The injured were rushed to a nearby hospital. The condition of victims is stated to be serious.

Ludhiana, July 15
The Punjab government seems worried about global warming and environment, as the government recently instructed the education department to start “Green Punjab” campaign to make people aware about environment conservation.

In a circular issued to various officials of the education department, the government discussed various factors that are polluting the environment.

The government considers deforestation, stubble and garbage burning, excessive use of fertilisers and insecticide in fields, flow of contaminated water in rivers from industrial units the major threats to the environment.

The government appreciated educational institutes, teachers and students for their contribution in social campaigns. So, the government appealed to teachers and students to make society aware about the environment issues.

According to the instructions, the school teachers and students have to motivate people to plant the saplings in public places during the monsoon season.

Ludhiana, July 15
The education department of the state would provide computer training to all principals and headmasters, along with one of the computer teachers to upload data about their schools on a website.

The department has launched a new website under the management information system where all information of each school would be uploaded. All senior secondary and high schools of the state would upload the information about their schools.

The education department is going to conduct these training sessions to train the schools staff for data entry. According to the instructions of director general of schools education, all schools have to submit all information about the schools till August 5.

The department has established three training centres in Ludhiana for 239 schools of the district. A total of 22 sessions will be conducted at Government Senior Secondary School, Bharat Nagar; Government Senior Secondary School, Cemetery Road; and Government Senior Secondary School, Haibowal Khurd.

“The department’s initiative is appreciable, as one can collect all information of any school from the website,” said Harjit Singh, a headmaster.

Ludhiana, July 15
The income tax (I-T) department is observing a rectification fortnight from tomorrow onwards to ensure fast clearance of refunds, rectification petitions and other related matters.

Ashok Kumar Juneja, president of Punjab Tax Bar Association, said the fortnight pertains to the jurisdiction of Chief Commissioner, income tax, which covers districts of Ludhiana, Jagraon, Kapurthala, Moga, Hoshiarpur, Nawanshahar, Phagwara, Khanna, Malerkotla, Nakodar and Dasuya. “People who want to rectify any information can do it now during the fortnight, as it will be done speedily. While GS Randhawa, Chief Commissioner, income tax, said refunds worth Rs 397.9 crore were issued up to March 2012, an increase of 27 per cent as compared to the last financial year. — TNS