Ludhiana, August 24
Road rage is not uncommon on the city roads. In the latest incident of road rage that turned ugly today, blows were exchanged between two groups, causing injuries to over 10 persons in the Division No. 3 area.

The incident took place when Himanshu, a resident of Kadwai Nagar, was headed for his shop on a motorcycle. When he reached Mochpura, his motorcycle collided with another motorcycle being driven by Amandeep Singh. Both hurled abuses at each other and blamed the other for causing the accident.

The situation turned bad when they called their friends. Tempers rose and both groups exchanged blows. The incident was reported to the Division No. 3 police.

Councillors Gurpreet Singh Khurana and Rakesh Prasher and Vipan Sood, president of the Field Gunj Street No. 5 Residents Association also reached the spot. After a three-hour-long verbal argument, the matter was finally resolved.

Ludhiana, August 24
Old enmity cost three brothers dear, who were stabbed by their rivals in the fish market near the Gaushala road this evening.

The incident took place at around 9.30 pm when the brothers identified as Akash, Ajay, and Kaser were selling fish in the market. They were allegedly attacked by Nandu, Lucky and Laddy. The brothers sustained stab injuries and were rushed to the Civil Hospital for treatment.

The incident led to panic in the area and residents ran for cover. The condition of Ajay is stated to be serious.

The SHO Division No. 3 said the incident was an outcome of old rivalry. He said both the groups had fought many times in the past.

The police has caught Laddy while a manhunt has been launched to nab the other two accused.

Ludhiana, August 24
When A2Z Waste Management Ludhiana Ltd was outsourced the work of solid waste management, residents thought that their miseries would be over now. But this doesn’t seem to be working at the moment. In the past 30 days, three residents have lost their lives due to negligence on the part of A2Z company officials.

A 10-year-old girl, Neha, drowned in a ditch dug up near a dumping site at the rear of Orient Cinema in Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar on July 23 while two city residents, Satvir Singh (50) and Nand Lal (40), were crushed to death by a garbage truck of A2Z company near Vardhman Chowk yesterday.

Washing their hands of the responsibility, the company officials said the drowning incident was “just” an accident while in yesterday’s incident the company's truck was not involved.

Manoj Misra, deputy general manager of A2Z Waste Management Ludhiana Ltd, claimed that the day when Neha drowned, his staff had not dug up any ditch. “My staff was not responsible for that particular incident,” he claimed.

Interestingly, on July 24, Misra had told this correspondent, “After the incident, the driver of the JCB, Jatinder, as well as the supervisor, Amandeep, have been suspended by the company. I have come to know that a ditch already existed at the site and the driver had dug up a small portion so that rainwater could be soaked. He did not do it intentionally, but certainly there was negligence on their part and which was why we have taken action against them.”

Even an inquiry conducted by the Ludhiana municipal corporation had blamed A2Z for negligence. In his inquiry report, MC health officer Dr Charanjit Uppal had mentioned that the employees of A2Z Waste Management Ludhiana Ltd are certainly to blame as after digging up the ditch they failed to install barricades around it. “A security guard is also deputed at the site and as a precautionary measure, they should have deputed him on the spot. The dump was full of rainwater and the ditch was not visible at all. That is why 10-year-old Neha failed to notice it and lost her. I have strongly recommended that strict action should be taken against the A2Z company so that such incident is not repeated in future,” Dr Uppal had stated on July 24.

Similarly, Misra also shrugged off responsibility. “Our garbage truck was not involved in the accident. It was later that our truck driver was arrested and the vehicle was impounded. No person saw our truck killing two persons yesterday," claimed Manoj Misra.

When contacted, Raj Kumar, SHO, division number 7 police station, claimed that the truck of A2Z company (number PB 07 AE 4159) was involved in the accident.

“The driver has been arrested and booked under Section 304 A of the IPC. He has confessed to have committed the crime," said Raj Kumar.

It is learnt that even the civic body has ordered an inquiry into the matter. “The inquiry has been marked to Dr Charanjit Uppal,” stated AS Sekhon, MC Joint Commissioner.

Ludhiana, August 24
A day after issuing a notice to the sanitation contractor to keep the premises of Lord Mahavir Civil Hospital clean or face the music, the Deputy Medical Commissioner, Dr AK Handa, conducted a random check again at night.

Dr Handa, who conducted the inspection on the instructions of the Civil Surgeon, Dr Subhash Batta, said: "I visited the emergency ward, labour room, blood bank, male ward, female ward and trauma centre. I could observe that there was an acute shortage of staff. There were as many as 51 indoor patients in the male ward and only one staff nurse was catering to them. She was surrounded by 15 patients who were requesting her to listen to their grievances. There was no Class IV employee, rather only a safai sewak."

He said the situation was the same in the female ward, where there were 46 patients and only one safai sewak and a saff nurse. He said: "I can well imagine the plight of the nurses and the problems they face."

The labour ward had 23 patients and two were in the labour room. Though the Deputy Medical Commissioner found the staff members doing their work well, but found cleanliness lacking. "The filthy washrooms and stinking corridors were suffocating. Despite issuing a notice to the sanitation contractor, there was no cleanliness on the premises," he said.

On August 22, the DMC had instructed the Senior Medical Officer of the hospital to issue a seven-day notice to the contractor to maintain cleanliness on the premises or his contract would be terminated.

Dr Handa had conducted random checks in the hospital on August 8, 14 and 20 and found that the indoor wards were filthy and garbage had been dumped near the staircase and under the beds. Hospital washrooms were also in a deplorable condition.

Ludhiana, August 24
The race for the post of Mayor has once again hot up as it is likely that the newly elected councillors would be administered an oath on September 10. Ever since the June 10 elections of the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation, the councillors have not been administered the oath. The term of the present MC House is till September 6.

The Ludhiana MC is the richest civic body of the state, with Rs 741 crore as the annual budget for 2012-13. As per an arrangement between the SAD and the BJP, the post of Mayor will go to the Akali Dal while the posts of Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor will remain with the BJP.

The main contenders for the post of Mayor are three-time councillor Pal Singh Grewal, outgoing Mayor and five-time councillor Hakam Singh Giaspura and youth leader from the Bains group, Kamaljit Singh Karwal. Earlier, the Akali Dal wanted a Hindu face to be Mayor and that is why, Harish Rai Dhanda was allotted ticket from Ward No. 28. But after his defeat, the Akali Dal had to change its plan.

Pal Singh Grewal, a confidant of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, comes from a well-connected family of landowners. One of his brothers is a member of the Punjab Public Service Commission while another brother is a Deputy District Attorney in Ludhiana.

Ever since Ludhiana got a Municipal Corporation, Hakam Singh Giaspura has been a councillor. Also a confidant of Badal, Giaspura is hoping for a second term as Mayor.

Karwal comes from the Bains group and it is learnt that his candidature is backed by PWD minister Sharanjit Singh Dhillon. Pal Singh Grewal's candidature might face opposition from Sharanjit Singh Dhillon as both the leaders are known to be arch rivals.

Former Cabinet minister Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal, who was recently appointed adviser to Badal, will also play an important role in the selection of Mayor.

Sharanjit Singh Dhillon said the oath-taking date would be finalised once Badal returned from abroad. "He is scheduled to reach back on Sunday and the date on which the councillors will be administered oath will be fixed after consulting him. But one thing is sure that the councillors will be administered oath in the second week of September," he claimed.

Ludhiana, August 24
Officials and coaches in the sports department faintly remember the time when the Government of India had released grants to establish libraries in all the district sports headquarters.

A "few signs" of a sports library can be seen at the District Sports Complex. Some coaches from the city said at one time the library was functional, but with the passage of time, the library is just the "name of a room".

District Sports Officer (DSO) Kartar Singh said the government released grants only once to open the library, but after that, it did not release any funds for their maintenance. In the absence of funds, the library could not be kept properly.

Former Director Sports Pargat Singh said: "I am not sure, but as per my information, these libraries were established in 1992 after funds were released by the Central Government. The then sports officials showed keen interest in constructing the infrastructure where sports literature was kept. Books can play a vital role in inspiring and developing the performance and character of a player. These libraries should be revived."

Besides a handful of veteran sportspersons, no one knows when the libraries were constructed at the sports complex. But there are a few sportspersons who like to read and want that the libraries should be a part of the sports complex.

At the same time, there are others who feel that sports is a practical subject and books can't really help a player.

Ludhiana, August 24
As many as 281 persons lost their lives in the past seven months in road accidents in Ludhiana district, including Jagraon, Khanna and Fatehgarh Sahib. The figure is eight times more than persons killed in incidents of crime.

The police said seven killings had been reported in these areas in the corresponding period. But there is hope that precious lives being lost in accidents could be saved as for the first time, the police, district administration, NGOs, Punjab Roadways and private bus operators have joined hands to check accidents on highways.

Bus drivers and commuters would be sensitised. "Bus drivers need to realise that driving is a full-time profession and it should be undertaken sincerely. Meeting a deadline is vital, but driving cautiously is far more important. Many a time it has been observed that in order to meet a deadline, buses are driven recklessly and often meet with an accident. This has to be stopped," said DIG MF Farooqui.

"Compared to incidents of crime, more people are dying in road accidents. It is an alarming situation and we need to be proactive in our approach. I am thankful to the DTO who has offered full support for making roads safe for commuters," he said.

Ludhiana, August 24
Even after one week, the Ludhiana municipal corporation has not repaired the damaged sewer line located near the Sidhwan Canal bridge on the Ferozepur Road here.

The MC officials have been trying one thing or the other, but have failed to repair the damaged portion of the sewer line.

When the digging work for the Sidhwan Canal expressway project was going on, the main sewer line along the Ferozepur Road got badly damaged on Friday night. The MC officials came to know about the damaged line on Saturday morning and ever since they have been repairing the sewer line 24X7, but to no avail.

It is learnt that due to the incident, even the water supply of areas such as Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar, Rajguru Nagar, Barewal Road and Aggar Nagar has been cut by almost 50 per cent. If it rains, these areas will face serious problem of water accumulation.

Earlier, the MC officials had claimed that they would repair the sewer line by Tuesday, but it did not happen.

Manjit Singh, Additional Commissioner (Technical) of Operations and Maintenance Branch, claimed that the sewer line would now be repaired by Tuesday.

“We have now decided to dig up a 45 feet deep well adjoining the spot where the line is damaged. Once the well is dug up, we will dump the water in it and then we will repair the sewer line. We hope to complete it by Tuesday evening,” claimed Manjit Singh.

Ludhiana, August 24
The Ludhiana municipal corporation has decided to spruce up four parks. A comprehensive revamp plan in this regard was discussed in a meeting held today. These parks include Nehru Rose Garden in Civil Lines, Mini Rose Garden in Kidwai Nagar, Leisure Valley in Sarabha Nagar and Rakh Bagh in Civil Lines area of Ludhiana.

For the purpose, the MC will be calling tenders from private companies and it plans to spend at least Rs 2 crore on the development. MC Commissioner Rakesh Kumar Verma, who chaired a meeting today, has ordered that a detailed project report (DPR) in this regard should be prepared, so that the public funds could be spent in a proper manner.

A senior MC official said the civic body had also planned to add new attractions to these parks. “And some existing things, that are either out of use or the residents are not showing any interest, might be replaced with new attractions,” said an official. For carrying out the revamp, the MC will be floating tenders, after which expression of interest will be called from private companies for the preparation of designs, execution, supervision and maintenance for these parks for a period of three years.

Then the proposal will be sent to the Finance and Contract Committee for approval and once it is approved, the technical bids of applicant companies will be checked.

At present, the civic body is least bothered when it comes to maintenance of the existing greenbelts and parks in the city. Due to callous attitude of the MC’s horticulture wing, the greenbelt along the Sidhwan Canal in Model Town Extension area has turned into a dumping site used by private contractors to dispose of debris. Same is the state of greenbelt near Budha Nullah, near Dholewal Chowk, opposite Grain Market near Gill Road, besides other areas. Even the 25 acre Nehru Rose Garden, 10 acre Rakh Bagh, 3.5 acre Leisure Valley and three acre Mini Rose Garden are in a bad shape.

Confirming the development, MC Commissioner Rakesh Kumar Verma said, “Right now I have asked my staff to prepare a DPR so that public money is not wasted. Once we have the DPR in our hand, we will proceed further. Our main aim is that we should create our existing parks into spaces of recreation where residents can come and spend some quality time,” said the MC Commissioner.

Ludhiana, August 24
As per government regulations, a school must have one urinal for every 50 students studying there. Government schools in Ludhiana, however, seem to be oblivious of this rule. Government Middle School at Gill Chowk is one such school where this correspondent found the urinal in an appalling condition. Some of the schools surveyed, moreover, had only one urinal for as many as 150 students.

School teachers, while giving a lecture on health-related subjects stress on keeping the environment neat and clean; however, in most of the schools these lessons are not put into practice, as observed by this correspondent. Students are forced to study in unhygienic conditions in the absence of proper water and sanitation facility. Worst are the urinals that emanate foul smell throughout the day.

There are some schools in the city where urinals are well constructed, but due to a shortage of sanitation workers, urinals keep stinking. According to a school teacher, "Over 50 per cent posts of safai karamchari are lying vacant in government schools."

A school principal said the government gave no separate grant for maintenance of urinals at schools. "We never received any separate grant for maintenance of urinals. Schools receive Rs 15,000 annually for the overall maintenance," the principal said.

It was observed, moreover, that urinals and toilets in girls' schools are in a more pitiable condition as compared to boys' schools. Karanmjit Kaur, principal of Shaheed Sukhdev Thapar Government Senior Secondary School, put the blame on the government's policy of exempting girl students from paying school fee. "The government has exempted the fee of girl students, so we do not have funds for the maintenance of schools," she said.

Ludhiana, August 24
The Punjab government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a Germany-based GIZ company to establish four multi-skill development centres in Ludhiana, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur and Bathinda.

"The government has sanctioned Rs 240 crore for the project," said Anil Joshi, Minister, Industries Commerce and Technical Education and Industrial Training, here today. Anil Joshi was in the city to inaugurate the technical upgradation of motor mechanic vehicle trade unit at Industrial Training Institute (ITI). Anil announced that the government would chalk out a new industrial policy to facilitate industrialists soon. "We will solve all the problems being faced by industrialists," said Joshi.

He said the government was putting in efforts to provide skilled workers to industrial units.

"Industry in Punjab has been facing an acute shortage of skilled industrial workers," he said. He asked industrialists to start practical diploma courses in multi-skill development centres as per requirement.

"We aim at imparting training to 1 lakh youngsters every year. The move will generate employment and solve the problem of industrialists."

The minister appreciated the efforts of the ITI centre.

Ludhiana, August 24
The capacity of cards being issued by the district health department to BPL families under Rashtriya Swasthya Beema Yojna has been enhanced from 32 KV to 64 KV. This will help in incorporating other future schemes of the state government in the same card.

District Medical Commissioner of Ludhiana Dr AK Handa, who is also the nodal officer for the scheme, said,"We are issuing cards to the BPL families as per the data of 2003. The card can be used by any five members of a family for availing medical facility up to Rs 30,000. "

Today these cards were issued at Rada Sahib Gurdwara, Basti Jodhewal Gurdwara, Government Dispensary of Janta Nagar at Gate No. 31, Hanuman Mandir at Sector 32 opposite Vardhman Mill. However, these cards will also be issued to these families at Lord Mahavir Civil Hospital Ludhiana from August 25 to August 27 from 9 am to 5pm. At the committee room of Jagraon, the same camp will be held on August 27 from 9 to 5 pm.

Ludhiana, August 24
Coming down heavily on the Punjab government, representatives of the industry said in the wake of prevailing policies with respect to taxation, stringent pollution control norms, dismal power scenario and poor infrastructure, the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) were facing annihilation.

Setting up of new industry and growth of existing units being a far cry, their very survival was under threat, they added.

A meeting of more than six industrial associations was held here today.

They discussed in detail the challenges facing the domestic industry from their global counterparts due to liberalisation, change in manufacturing strategies and turbulent and uncertain market scenario. It was the unanimous view that unless the government came out with radical changes in its policies, the future of the MSME sector was bleak.

Jaswant Singh Sagar and Narinder Singh, chairman and president, respectively of the Ludhiana Machine Tools Manufacturers Association (LMTA), criticised the recent government's decision for online intimation to the excise and taxation department about normal transactions up to Rs 2 lakh and those involving heavy machinery over

Rs 3 lakh. Terming the move as unwarranted and ill-conceived, they called for its withdrawal without any further delay.

The industry leaders said stringent, and especially whimsical norms for pollution control framed by the Punjab Pollution Control Board, coupled with the harsh regulatory measures with respect to power supply to the industry were other major constraints in the way of smooth working of the MSME sector. "The power supply is not only erratic and inadequate, but the industrial; consumers remain at the receiving end due to frequent upward revision of tariff which renders the industry uncompetitive.

"The roads are in a pitiable state, there is no provision for parking and sewerage network.

The speakers called upon the state government to take effective remedial steps to mitigate the suffering of the MSME sector which was making a significant contribution to the state economy by way of taxes and providing employment to lakhs of people. "In the absence a comprehensive package for relief and suitable amendment to growth-retarding policies, many units will be forced to shut down or else forced to think in terms of shifting to other states like Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Gujrat which are offering huge concessions and incentives to the industry.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, August 24
The legislature of Ontario, Canada, has agreed to explore possibilities of exchanging knowledge in the field of agriculture with Punjab. This was revealed by Charanjit Singh Atwal, Speaker of the Punjab Legislative Assembly, who recently returned from Canada after attending a meeting at Ontario.

"The consent was given by Deputy Speaker Bass Balkissoon of Ontario Legislative Assembly, and the Minister of Government Services, Harinder Singh Takhar," Atwal said.

Atwal expressed hope that the exchange of agriculture expertise would be mutually beneficial for Punjab and Ontario as both states were known as food bowls of their respective countries.

He further said Balkissoon and Takhar had assured that a team of agricultural experts would soon visit Punjab to explore chances of further strengthening agricultural economy by exchanging expertise and technological know-how.

"Ontario has highly productive agricultural land in Canada and any exchange programme will surely benefit our farmers, as over 57,000 farms in Ontario account for almost a quarter of all farm revenues in Canada," said Atwal. Harbans Singh Jandali, who mediated the talks, will oversee the follow-up of the exchange programme. 

Ludhiana, August 24
Over 300 persons including students, teachers and Rotarians participated in a rally to spread awareness about dengue here today. The event was jointly organised by the Rotary Club Ludhiana Greater and Baba Srichand Public School, Gobindgarh. The participants formed a human chain to propagate their message.

Addressing the rally, Dr AS Nagpal, president of the club, lauded the school children for participating in the event to educate the masses about the preventive measures available to tackle dengue.

Teams of children visited houses as well as shops and distributed pamphlets besides interacting with the people.

Ludhiana, August 24
The star cast of upcoming Punjabi Movie "Raula Pai Gaya" Ravinder Garewal, Surbi and Binu Dhillon visited the city today.

Ravinder Garewal said, "It is my first movie. We have been working on the project for the past two years."

Garewal added, "My village Gujarwal is just 15 km away from Ludhiana."

Surbi said, "My character in the film has many shades and I am glad that I have got an opportunity to act in a comedy movie." She said the team had worked hard. 

Ludhiana, August 24
Government school teachers have raised an objection against the rationalisation policy introduced by the state education department that has revised the student-teacher ratio for different classes.

District president of the Elementary Teachers’ Union Satbir Singh said the ratio set by the department was contradictory to the ratio set under the Right to Education Act.

"The student-teacher ratio set by the education department of Punjab under the rationalisation policy is contradictory to the ratio set by the central government under the Right to Education Act," he said.

The teachers also alleged that the rationalisation policy was too flexible as officials could change any of the conditions with an order or a circular.

"The government and the education department are not serious about uplifting the standards of the school education. We can not consider the new rationalisation policy as a policy as it can simply be altered with a telephonic message from officials of the education department," said Satbir Singh.

He alleged that the policy was introduced as the government wanted to abolish vacant posts from schools.

The union members met District Education Officer Ranjit Singh Malhi to discuss various issues regarding the new policy.

Ludhiana, August 24
The inter-school district chess competition (U-14,U-17 and U-19) and inter-school carrom competition (U-19) for girls were organised by the district education department at Bhartiya Vidya Mandir, Kitchlu Nagar, today.

Results

Carrom (U-19) girls: BCM, Shastri Nagar, 1; BVM, Kitchlu Nagar, 2 and BCM, Civil City, 3; chess (U-14) girls: BCM, Shastri Nagar, 1, Green Land School, Jalandhar bypass, 2 and Sacred Heart Convent School, BRS Nagar, 3; chess (U-17) girls: Ryan International School 1; Sacred Heart Convent School, BRS Nagar, 2 and BCM, Shastri Nagar, 3; chess (U-19) girls: Green Land School, Jalandhar bypass, 1; Sacred Heart Convent School, BRS Nagar, 2 and BVM, Udham Singh Nagar 3.

RK Gupta, member, BVM Trust, OP Sabharwal (manager) BVM School, Kitchlu Nagar, Santosh Mehra (principal) BVM School, Kitchlu Nagar, gave away prizes to winners. Baljeet Singh Gill, director, sports, BVM School, Ludhiana, was also present on the occasion. 

Ludhiana, August 24
The Mahindra NBA Challenge hosted the Generation Adidas Players Programme Clinic as part of the ongoing third season's activities at the Guru Nanak Stadium. After the Delhi and Kochi leg of the Mahindra NBA Challenge, Ludhiana is the third city to feature the new player development programme.