Ludhiana, September 13
Irritated over repeatedly being asked by her mother to work and earn for herself, Aalia (name changed), a 13-year-old girl, tried to immolate herself this morning. With 90 per cent "second degree" burns, the girl was taken to the Civil Hospital, where her condition is stated to be serious but stable.

The girl, a resident of Paramjit Colony, Mundiankhurd, had a fight with her mother Najma (name changed) today as Najma was "compelling" her to go out and work to earn a livelihood. Earlier, too, the girl had tried to take a similar step, but was saved by her neighbours.

Upkar Singh, Emergency Medical Technician, here said they got a phone call about the incident and rushed to the place. "At around 11.30 am, the girl fought and argued with her mother over some issue. While the mother was sitting in the verandah, the girl went inside the quarters, bolted the door and poured kerosene in a bid to immolate herself. The mother raised the alarm and neighbours reached there. They took out the girl, who had received 90 per cent second degree burns. By then, we reached her home and took her to the Civil Hospital," said Upkar Singh.

The girl has two brothers, who were away on their duties while the mother works in a factory to earn a livelihood.

Ludhiana, September 13
With a change in the social set-up, children, especially adolescents, are becoming impatient and aggressive these days. Unable to control their impulsive behaviour, children take the extreme step in several cases. Unable to tolerate daily arguements with her mother over the issue of earning a livelihood, a 13-year-old girl today tried to immolate herself.

Asked why children were taking such "harsh" decisions, a city-based psychologist, Dr Ravinder Kala, said times had changed and children needed freedom these days. "The scenario has changed. Instead of children obeying their parents, the latter were now obeying their children. As the demands of children are increasing, parents often feel helpless. Children do not want restrictions; they want to live with freedom," said Dr Kala.

Blaming parents to an extent for such behaviour of children, experts feel that parents need to do a balancing act. They should neither be too harsh nor too lenient with their children.

"Parents must ask their children to shoulder responsibilities, that too with a lot of care and affection. When a child says no to his or her parents, the latter start feeling helpless and give up to the situation, which is wrong. Children have to be tackled with extreme attention. He/she must not be insulted. A patient hearing is must to know what exactly the child wants," said Gunjan, another child psychologist.

Ludhiana, September 13
Terming the flow of sewage from Lord Mahavira Civil Hospital here into an open drain as illegal and against the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the municipal corporation cut off the main sewer connection of the hospital yesterday. As a result, the hospital faced the threat of sewage flowing back on its premises and in some wards. Dirty water from sewer lines had started accumulating by late in the evening behind the OPD in the hospital.

Unaware of the reason for the disruption in the flow of discharge from sewer lines, officials of the hospital made frantic calls to officials of the operations and maintenance wing of the MC when they learnt to their horror that the sewer line of the hospital had been disconnected without any prior information or notice.

Dr Karam Vir Goyal, Senior Medical Officer of the hospital, said MC officials should have taken the hospital administration into confidence before taking any such action that could easily turn into a major public health disaster for the institution and a large number of patients visiting or admitted to it. "Accumulation of dirty water and sewage can pose a threat of an outbreak of diseases," he said.

Kamlesh Bansal, Superintending Engineer of the operations and maintenance branch of the MC, said sewage discharge from the hospital had been temporarily diverted to the open drain when work for covering the drain was being carried out. "Now that the work has been completed, the sewage discharge should have been restored to the main sewer lines. Since the disposal of sewage into the drain is against the court directions, the sewer line had to be cut off."

He, however, added that staff of the B and R branch of the MC, who were overseeing the project for covering the open drain, had been asked to coordinate with the hospital authorities to make their sewer system functional.

Dr Goyal confirmed that the MC staff had taken up the work to drain out the accumulated water from sewer lines.

Ludhiana, September 13
Shopkeepers of Mullanpur Dakha today held a protest rally and staged a dharna against a demolition drive being carried out for the four-laning of a road. The authorities of the Nagar Panchayat, Mullanpur, had served notices on owners of 41 shops/buildings asking them to demolish their shops within a specified time period or else the authorities would demolish these. The Nagar Panchayat had served these notices to facilitate the four-laning of the national highway from Ludhiana to Talwandi Bhai.

The shopkeepers held a rally on the streets of Mullanpur and raised anti-government slogans. They later staged a dharna at the main chowk of the town on the national highway. However, they allowed the traffic to pass through the sides of the road. On a call for a bandh and protest by the Shopkeepers Welfare Association, the shopkeepers kept their shops shut and gathered in the main market. All shops in the town remained shut till 12 noon in protest. The shopkeepers, led by president of the association Sarvinder Singh Cheema, handed over a memorandum to the state government through president of the Nagar Panchayat Amit Sharma.

The Nagar Panchayat president assured the shopkeepers that he would place the matter before the state government with the help of Dakha MLA Manpreet Singh Iyali.

Ludhiana, September 13
They come all the way from Odisha and create idols for worship every year. With Ganesh Chaturthi round the corner, six artisans from Odisha are now giving the final touches to idols of Lord Ganesha here.

While most of the idols are about 3 ft in height, a few of these are 6 ft in height and the one to be installed for worship at Kidwai Nagar is about 12 ft in height.

These artisans are adept in making idols. Ajay Kumar Behra, an artisan, has been making idols for the past 24 years. He says coming to the city is always a good experience and all idols are handcrafted. They are paid on a daily wage basis by the Baba Ganpati Sewa Sangh, organisers of the programme.

They keep going to different places because of their expertise in the art of making idols, he says. “We make idols at various places and have been to Andhra Pradesh, New Delhi and various places in Punjab to create idols of gods and goddesses like Durga Mata, Kali Mata and Lord Shiva,” he adds.

It takes a person a week to complete a 6-ft idol, he says. They have created 108 idols of Lord Ganesha during their stay for the past three months and the final touches are being given to a 12-ft idol that will be taken out during a procession on the occasion of the “visarjan”. The idols will be sent to various temples in the city, according to Mani Bedi, one of the organisers of the festival.

The basic structure of the idol is created from rice husk and is tied with ropes to give it the basic shape. It is then coated with clay. After a couple of coatings of clay, the details are modelled and carved. The idols are then covered with a cloth to give better resistance. After drying, these are given the finishing touches and are then painted.

Ludhiana, September 13
Increase in the prices of diesel by Rs 5 has given yet another blow to the common man. With petrol prices already skyrocketing, the increase in diesel prices has not gone well with the people.

“It is a mortal blow of Rs 5 increase in the diesel prices and will cause hardship. The increase will have a cascading effect on the economy as a whole. Prices are already not under control, so this is going to contribute to the overall inflation. Problems of the industry will increase further, as diesel is used in gen sets in the absence of continuous power supply,” said Badish Jindal, president of the Federation of Punjab Small Industries Association.

Harjinder Singh, a bank employee, rued, “It seems the government has decided to make the life of a common man a hell. Petrol is already out of reach of people and now diesel prices seem to follow the suite. An increase of Rs 5 is difficult to digest. Instead of controlling inflation, the government is putting oil into it.”

Ludhiana, September 13
Deputy Commissioner (DC) Rahul Tiwari today instructed officers of all departments to ensure that there is no stagnant water in their coolers and these remain dry. The DC said action will be taken against those not following the instructions.

The DC issued these instructions here today while addressing a meeting of officers of the Health Department and other departments on preventive measures to keep diseases at bay.

Tiwari asked the officers to identify places with stagnant water in their respective areas and prepare an assessment report.

He asked the officers to ensure chlorine in drinking water and check the sale of rotten vegetables. He said there was a "control room number" at the Civil Surgeon's office where one could contact for providing any information. The number was 0161 2444193.

Doraha, September 13
Two persons were killed while one was injured when lightning struck Doraha this afternoon.

All three of them were sitting outside a ghee mill at Doraha when lightning struck. Doraha SHO Satwant Singh Bains said, “The identity of those killed is yet to be ascertained. We are making efforts. We will keep the bodies in a morgue for the next 72 hours in the hope that their relatives may come to enquire about them. The injured could also not be identified as he left the place without speaking to anybody.

Ludhiana, September 13
Taking a serious note of pending mutations at tehsil offices, circle revenue officers (tehsildars) have been asked to complete their pending mutations within one month or else they will be charge-sheeted with major penalty.

Giving stern warning to all tehsildars in the district, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Rahul Tiwari today said if any mutation, more than three-month old, was found pending, the tehsildar concerned will be charge-sheeted.

Following complaints by the public that mutations were not being sanctioned for more than two years in various cases, Tiwari took serious note of the issue.

Tiwari was holding monthly review meetings with representatives from various departments at the Bachat Bhawan today. He asked executive officials concerned from nagar councils and nagar panchayats to ensure that people get clean drinking water in villages.

He asked mandi board officials to speed up the construction work of linking roads at the Grain Market, Jagraon, and upgradation of Guru Nanak Stadium, so that before the World Kabaddi Cup, the project was completed.

The executive engineer from the PWD briefed that the construction of Koomkalan work station was completed, while Dehlon work station will be completed within three weeks. Tiwari ordered that patwaris should start working from the Koomkalan work station.

The Deputy Commissioner asked the officials concerned from the municipal corporation to ensure that the fused streetlights were replaced within two days.

District transport officer Manpreet Singh Chatwal during the meeting of road safety committee said the district education officer (secondary) in association with the traffic police organised 15 seminars in different schools and colleges.

Besides, the transport department gave training on road safety rules to drivers and conductors at the bus stand.

Dr Bakshish Singh Chahal, chief agricultural officer, briefed Tiwari that 1,297 farmers were given training on new techniques. Besides, various exhibitions were held to provide guidance to the farmers in various villages, said the chief agricultural officer.

Ludhiana, September 13
The Director General of School Education (DGSE) has shot letters to all district education officers (DEOs) to ensure that students in government schools cover their books and notebooks with plain covers rather than with paper featuring models and actors.

Letter to the DEOs reads, “It has been observed that covers on books and notebooks are not related to education, but are photos of actors, models and singers. Students pay more attention to such covers and discuss films and models rather than focusing on studies.”

The letter further stated, “So, it is the responsibility of every teacher to ensure that the photos of actors, models, singers or any pictures that motivate them towards vulgarity should not be on the covers.”

DGSE Ashok Kumar Singla said, “Letters have been written to the DEOs of all districts, who will further instruct principals to ensure that the students in the government schools cover their notebooks and books either with brown paper or with any other plain paper. The books and notebooks should not have pictures of singers, models and actors, as it distract them from their studies.”

“This is a good step taken by the education department. It is a general practice among the students to buy registers and notebooks with the pictures of actors and singers, while others cover them with the papers, featuring actors and singers. This practice should be checked,” added Rajinder Kaur, a parent.

Ludhiana, September 13
Deputy Commissioner (DC) Rahul Tiwari has ensured nambardars that their problems will be dealt immediately at the district level, while those, which were to be taken up at the state level, will be sent to the Punjab government for early redressal.

Chairing a meeting of the Punjab Nambardar Union today, Tiwari asked all tehsildars to give proper space to the nambardars and they must be provided thorough respect by officials.

He also asked the officials to clear pending dues of the nambardars and told that monthly lump sum amount be given to them.

Submitting memorandum to the DC, the nambardars said their kin should be recognised as nambardars on compassionate grounds. Besides, SDMs must convene two meetings with the nambardars in a year.

The union members also demanded that they must be given due respect during the Independence Day and Republic Day functions.

Ludhiana, September 13
Dr Joginder Dayal, a member of the central executive committee of the Communist Party of India (CPI), has criticised the decision of the Punjab government to allow private medical colleges to admit non-resident Indian (NRI) candidates on their own will and the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, which was to conduct this admission, has been pushed completely out of the process for admission.

Charging the Punjab government having connived with the managements of private medical colleges, Dr Dayal said it was most unfortunate that both Central and state government had washed their hands off from the medical education in the private institutions and the crucial sector of healthcare and medical education has been left open for the private institution to exploit. The CPI leader demanded that the decision be revoked and the admission procedure should be conducted by the Baba Farid University of Health Science. “It is a known fact that most of the private medical colleges are charging hefty amounts, as under-hand money in the name of capitation fee for the admission in both undergraduate and postgraduate courses.”

“This is making a mockery of the medical education and healthcare. According to the Indian Constitution, the reservation can only be given only to those who come 
from socially, economically, educationally and culturally backward background. But it is the economically well off section (NRIs), which will take the benefit in this particular case,” Dr Dayal added.

Ludhiana, September 13
Sikh organisations submitted a memorandum to the Commissioner of Police and Additional Deputy Commissioner (General) demanding severe punishment to those who show disrespect to Guru Granth Sahib.

About 100 representatives from various Sikh organisations gathered at the mini-secretariat to express concern over the recent increase in the incidents in which disrespect was shown towards the holy granth.

The representatives said certain people having “vested interests” were trying to create communal riots and disturb the peace and tranquility in the country. They further added that the state government should follow the example of the USA where the administration had given authority to the management of a gurdwara to deploy armed security staff with the authority to even fire at anti-social elements.

The Sikh leaders demanded that special law must be exacted in the state.

Ludhiana, September 13
The Tobacco, Cigarette and Beedi Wholesale Dealers Association today met the Civil Surgeon, Dr Subash Batta, and demanded to extend the date of ban on sale of gutka and paan masala in the district.

While handing over a memorandum to the Civil Surgeon, association president Vijay Jain said, “Himachal Pradesh has extended the ban up to October 2. We want that we have already purchased gutka and paan masala worth lakhs of rupees and as the ban has been imposed, we will be under great loss. So, we request the district health officer (DHO) and Civil Surgeon, Ludhiana, to give us exemption of its sale till October 2.”

On the other hand, DHO, Dr Kulwinder Singh said, “It is impossible for us. I told members of the association that we will not be able to give them any kind of relaxation.”

While, Civil Surgeon, Dr Subhash Batta said, “We will have to abide by law. How can we allow them to continue the sale of these products when these have been banned in the state?”

Ludhiana, September 13
With the winter season round the corner, it might be the time for many residents to take fans off the ceilings or disposing them.

But, now, a new variety of fans are available in the market that can now be utilised for the winter season as well in addition to serving well in the summer. These were showcased at an exhibition held today.

“Although all-weather air-conditioners have been available in the market, which serve as heaters in the winter, it is fans now, doubling up for the use in winter as well,” said a resident.

“These fans can rotate both clockwise and anti-clockwise. As the air when heated rises up, cold air comes down as a natural phenomena, these fans can rotate clockwise because of which warm air gets re-circulated down from the ceiling during the winter,” says R Venkat, CEO, W-Lifestyle India. — TNS

Doraha, September 13
Stray animals continue to roam freely along national highway-1 (NH-1). Animals suddenly appearing on the busy NH-1 has become a routine affair but the authorities concerned seem unmindful of the situation. At night it becomes more dangerous as vehicles move at a greater speed.

“ A few days back when I was about to cross the flyover near Doraha, an animal bumped into my car with such a force that the bumper of my car was completely destroyed,” a commuter said.

“I simply fail to understand why we are paying heavy toll? The so-called assured facilities of timely maintenance, speedy evacuation of the vehicles who meet an accident, strict check on stray animals are not being provided effectively. The extraction of toll has not assured safe travel,” other commuter said.

“Even today we are facing innumerable problems on the toll road as vehicles continue to be stranded for want of repair, stray animals continue to pose risk to life.The problem of stray animals is so grave that it results in accidents occasionally,” another commuter said.

Rajesh Kumar Kundal, project director of the National Highway Authority of India said, “The problem cannot be solved at one level alone. Besides, the enforcement of rules education plays a great role. Even on the fully-constructed roads there is no dearth of stray animals. We can find out ways and means to reduce the problem only if the administration and public join hands with us.”

Mandi Ahmedgarh, September 13
Children with rural background can perform better in aerobics than their urban counterparts. This was stated by the experts during the concluding session of the seventh National Sports Aerobics and Fitness Championship at Guru Harkrishan Public School, Phallewal, recently. Some of the rural students had received information about the event only two days before the commencement of the championship.

The organisers received encouraging response during the event, which was organised for the first time in a village school. Earlier, the event was being held in cities. While only 250 students had participated in the previous event at Amritsar, more than 400 students exhibited their skill in the present event.

Sayeed Alam, secretary of the Indian Sports Aerobics Fitness Federation, said rural children were more suitable for the event as they were having more nutritious diet and pollution-free environment. "If we had known about the potential of the rural children before, then we would have organised earlier championships in rural institutes," Alam said.

While claiming that experts had identified 39 games for inclusion in recognised events, Ravinder Singh Ravi, organiser of sports for the Punjab Education Department, said he had already submitted his suggestions to the department for the recognition of aerobics as a game for schools children.

Doraha, September 13
With the recent incident of drivers and conductors alleging stoning Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) bus at Guru Nanak Engineering College by the students, it now seems to be the turn of the latter. The bus pass holding students of local colleges have complained about the ill treatment and discrimination done by the drivers and conductors of the Panjab Roadways and PRTC buses that finally forces them to retaliate in such a manner.

“We fail to understand why has the scheme of bus passes been made available to the students after all? If we are going to wait endlessly for the buses to stop for us so that we may reach our institutes, what is the good sense in continuing with such a scheme?” shared Malkiat Singh, a BA final year student of a local college.

“The students with bus passes have a new tale of humiliation and embarrassment to narrate every day. Not a single day passes when one or the other student is not caught up in an altercation with either conductor or driver of a roadways or a PRTC bus. The reason being simple that the students have to in all cases board the bus and the drivers and conductors, in majority of the cases, allegedly ignore them, insult them and sometimes even leave them hanging mid way,” was Rajinder’s version.

“We have to miss one, two or even three classes in the morning and, reach college even by 11 o’clock and return home sometimes after six. The transport authorities are literally testing our patience,” rued Sahil, A BA second year student.

“Boarding a moving bus is dangerous but we have to do so as there is no other alternative. The drivers and conductors are never willing to let us board the bus. Many a time, they declare openly that the bus pass holders will not be entertained. One can imagine that a student standing at his or her station sometimes has to keep standing for more than an hour. The bus comes, stops hundreds of meters before the stop or ahead and goes away. Another bus arrives, stops at the station only for the conductor to declare that there is no place for pass holders. Then we do not have any other way out but to cling to the moving bus,” said Shashi, another student.

“We find not many roadways buses on either side in the morning and afternoon. If at all there are, they are of long routes, which care a fig for the pass holders like us. The PRTC buses do not approve our roadways pass. Two passes of different transports are not allowed. Then whom should we go for the redressal of our grievances? We are really hard pressed at this time,” rued another pass holder student who commutes from Ludhiana to Doraha.

While GM Roadways, Rajeshwar Grewal, was not available for comments, District Transport Officer, Ludhiana, Manpreet Singh, said: “I am astonished to hear about such an issue. If the students are not allowed to board these buses honourably, then what is the fun in continuing with the bus pass scheme? After all what is the fault of the students who are facing tough time? I will enquire about the same from the General Manager, Roadways as well as General Manager, PTRC and get it resolved at the earliest.”

Ludhiana September 13
Although the state government has been stressing diversification in agriculture since 1986, yet due to non-availability of assured markets for alternative crops and horticulture, most of the efforts to give spurt to diversification have proved fruitless.

National Horticultural Mission (NHM), a Centre Government's initiative to promote the horticulture for diversification in agriculture and to ensure the nutrition food security, has been celebrating the year 2012 as the Horticulture year but no significant increase in the area under Horticultural has occurred in the state after the implementation of the NHM, 2005.

According to the statistics of the horticultural department, there is about 70,000 hectare area is under horticulture in state.

According to the horticulture experts, the major hurdle in the increase of the area is non availability of assured market for fruits.

Dr Pushpinder Singh Aulakh, head of department, Horticulture Punjab Agriculture, said, “Some fruit processing plants are needed in state to increase the horticulture in state. Agro based industry can develop the market of fruits”.

Dr Jagtar Singh Dhiman, Additional Director Research (Natural Resources and Plant Health Management) Punjab Agricultural University, said, “A number of problems are being faced due to which the area under horticultural has not been increasing according to the expectations. No doubt, unsure market is the major reason for this but farmers still deprived from disease free good quality plants is also a reason. Compared to other crops, production of fruits starts after 4-5 years so small farmers cannot afford this risk. Moreover the fruit is perishable and require more care so farmer don't feel comfortable with it.”

Phillaur, September 13
A villager identified as Ram Saroop was allegedly physically assaulted and injured by two policemen in Apra. Now the victim Ram Saroop is admitted in the Apra Civil Hospital. When contacted the Apra police incharge, ASI Pushap Bali confirmed the incident. He informed The Tribune that after a domestic dispute between the Ram Saroop and his sister Lajwinder Kaur, one constable Amandeep and a home guard jawan Sarabjit were sent to the spot where the policemen and Ram Saroop indulged in scuffle and Ram Saroop sustained injuries. Kashmir Kaur, wife of the victim has alleged that both the policemen beat her husband up mercilessly in her presence.

Ludhiana, September 13
Vaibhav Kalra’s excellent performance with bat and ball helped Kundan Vidya Mandir (KVM), Civil Lines, registered a 38-run win over Green Land Senior Secondary School, Jalandhar bypass branch, and got its berth booked in the semifinals (U-14) in the Punjab Schools Zonal Cricket Tournament (PAU Zone) being organised by the Punjab education department at GRD Academy ground, Hambran road, today.

Vaibhav played a cracking innings of 40 runs, which came off just 17 deliveries, inclusive of four sixes, and then grabbed three wickets conceding only seven runs.

KVM, batting first, scored 92 runs for the loss of two wickets in the allotted 12 overs. The highlight of their innings was a whirlwind batting by Vaibhav, who remained unbeaten on 40.

Other notable contributor was Bhuvnesh, who scored 17 runs, while Shubham Dyal Singh and Parth Sharma chipped in with nine and six runs, respectively.

Ritik of Green Land School consumed both wickets and gave away 20 runs.

Chasing the target, Green Land School made 54 runs after losing nine wickets, as they fell short of balls. Only Harsharan was able to reach the double figure, as he top scored with 15 runs, followed by Aman (eight), Mukul (seven), Ritik (five) and Puneet (four).

For the winners, Vaibhav Kalra grabbed three wickets, while Kartik Joshi, Akshit Bhardwaj and Parth Sharma claimed one wicket each.