Ludhiana, October 7
Tension prevailed on the Punjab Agricultural University campus when a group of students from Hostel Number -1 challenged the newly reconstituted body of the Punjab Agricultural University Students Association (PAUSA) by pasting posters of their own "president". PAUSA was reconstituted this morning, after Sahranbir Singh resigned from the post of president. Karanvir Singh Sandhu has been elected as the new president.

PAU security officer RS Grewal (in pink turban) shows the sharp-edged weapons confiscated from students on the PAU campus in Ludhiana on Monday. Photos: Inderjeet Verma

Office-bearers of PAUSA pasted the poster of Sandhu as the new president of PAUSA on the walls of the campus. Soon after, a group of students came and tore away Sandhu’s posters and pasted “their leader”, Teerath Singh Rai’s posters on the walls, claiming him to be PAUSA president. Outsiders and students carrying sharp -edged weapons and hockey sticks were seen roaming freely on the campus. After an hour, the newly constituted PAUSA office-bearers again pasted Sandhu’s posters on the notice boards.

The situation become tense as both the groups shouted slogans against each other.

PAU security officer RS Grewal said a large number of hockey sticks and sharp-edged weapons were recovered from the students of Hostel No. 1. "The situation is under control", he said.

When asked about the involvement of outsiders, Grewal said, "The students called the outsiders, so they entered the campus.

Posters of both the groups pasted on the notice board.

Meanwhile, Sandhu said, "We have fought for students’ rights in the recent strike. So we have the support of the students. There are just a handful of students who are creating nuisance here with the support of gangs from outside".

Rai said," Sahranbir Singh resigned so the students elected me as the president. A majority of students are supporting us". Grewal said, "We will remove the posters of both the groups. The university doesn't tolerate such kind of activities on the campus.

Ludhiana, October 7
Agents had a field day as a large number of residents thronged the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation offices to get their properties regularised. As there was huge rush at the MC offices, the “agents” were seen charging anything between Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 per file from the residents.

Ever since the work for the regularisation of illegal/unapproved colonies and properties located in them started, huge rush of residents could be seen thronging the MC offices. Since today was the last date for getting the properties and colonies regularised, the rush of residents at MC offices as well as at the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority was enormous.

A resident, who paid Rs 1,000 for just submission of his file, rued that the agents were openly operating inside the offices of the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation as well as GLADA. “It seems there is no one to stop them from charging illegally from the residents,” rued a resident, on condition of anonymity.

On the other hand, MC officers refused to admit that agents were operating inside the offices. A senior MC official stated that just to make sure residents didn’t have to wait in long queues, several desks were set up in the MC offices. “Only the applicants were allowed to submit their documents,” claimed the official.

Today, a total of Rs 5.28 crore was generated by the MC as revenue. In Zone A, revenue of Rs 90.57 lakh was generated, Zone B, Rs 1.14 crore, in Zone C, Rs 5.85 lakh, while in Zone D, Rs 2.25 crore was generated. Revenue of Rs 22.21 lakh was generated at the MC headquarters.

Ludhiana, October 7
Hike in the processing fee and division into different categories has irked the traders. Processing fee on zero per cent VAT has further made the scenario worse for them. Trade bodies have decided to submit representations to the government urging them to roll back the hike in fee.

Badish Jindal, president of Federation of Punjab Small Industries Association, said, “Traders are hiring man force to maintain their records and are spending money on infrastructure and still department wants them to give processing charges for the work done by them.”

If we do not submit the papers then we have to face penalty and if we submit the papers we have to pay the fees. We do not know how traders will survive under the present circumstances, said the president of the association.

“Under present scenario, it is very difficult for us to work. The government should take appropriate steps and avoid this unfavourable situation. They should take back their decision to hike the processing fee on zero per cent VAT,” said a trader.

Manish Singla, a trader, said, “Officials are working for the government and they are being paid for it. They are not a private agency that they are charging processing fee from the traders.”

We will be seeking legal opinion on this matter and if things do not work out in our favour, we will be moving to court against this decision, said Singla.

Ludhiana, October 7
Star cast of Ronde Sare Viah Pichhon (RSVP), actors Neeru Bajwa, Harish Verma and Guggu Gill, were in the city for the promotion of their upcoming Punjabi movie. The movie sends across a message that marriage should not be done promiscuously and partners should be carefully chosen.

Neeru, who is the protagonist in the movie, said this movie is not just comedy, but is a complete package with action, emotion and family drama. With the success of her previous movies, expectations from her have increased. “I chooses my roles all the more carefully now,” said the actress.

Veteran actor Guggu Gill said there has been a sea change in Punjabi cinema in terms of professionalism, budget has increased and now experts have entered the industry, which are raising the quality of the films being made. “The primary focus of producers these days is comedy and it is working. Now, the first priority of film makers is commercial success and learning. Issues for social change are a by-product. Now, the industry is focussing on urban audience, and is exploring more issues,” said Gill.

Actor Harish Verma, who plays the male lead in the movie, said, “The Punjabi film industry is dominated by singer-turned-actors who already have a huge fan base and enjoy popularity. But with good acting, one can earn a place here.”

Ludhiana, October 7
Accusing the Punjab Government of meting out step motherly treatment to them, the health staff working under the National Rural Health Mission today went on a two-day strike.

With the clerical staff, ANMs, homoeopathic medical officers and ayurvedic medical officers on strike, the functioning of the district health department was affected.

The district president of NRHM Ludhiana, Dinesh Gulati, said: "On September 23, we held a dharna at Mohali, after which the Deputy Commissioner assured us that he will arrange our meeting with the Chief Minister. However, nothing was done. Under the NRHM, the Centre is making 75 per cent contribution, remaining expenses being met by the state. The state government, however, is releasing our salaries after unjustified deductions.”

Dr Balwinder Kumar, president Ayush, Punjab, said the staff had been working with the health department for long but was not being paid well.

“The doctors deployed under Ayush are being paid much lesser than other doctors, despite working more,” he said.

President of the ANM Union Kiranjeet Kaur, meanwhile, said the notification issued for the regularisation of their services on October 22, 2011, had not been implemented yet.

Ludhiana, October 7
"Although the number of books being published in Punjabi has been increasing, the number of literature enthusiasts has declined sharply,” said Manjit Singh Rajpura, editor of a newly released children’s magazine, "Kikli".

The first volume of the “Kikli” magazine. A Tribune photograph

Rajpura was in the city after releasing the first volume of the magazine at a book fair at Moga yesterday.

He said in order to promote the Punjabi literature among the masses, the roots needed to be strengthened.

“Children’s literature, therefore, should be published on a priority basis,” said Rajpura.

The editor said these types of initiatives were the need of the hour.

“The United Nations Organisation has listed the Punjabi language in the endangered languages list. We have to be serious about the future of the language. The language of Baba Farid, Guru Nanak, Sah Husain, Waaris, Shiv Kumar and Mohan Singh is in danger. So, with the efforts of Punjabi Satth and Chak Sataran Publication, we initiated this magazine,” said Rajpura.

Darshan Singh Banur said the mother tongue was the best medium to gain knowledge in childhood.

“With the emergence of the Western system of schooling, the mother tongue got marginalised. We need to be rooted in our culture; therefore, we welcome this initative,” said Banur.

Punjabi Sahit Akademi president Gurbhajan Singh Gill said, "I remember during my childhood, the primary school I attended at my village had subscribed to around 10 children’s magazines. Today, however, schools are not subscribing to a single magazine due to the scarcity of funds. The government is not supporting the language.

Ludhiana, October 7
Ludhiana is one of the biggest district in Punjab, which perhaps has the maximum number of government schools; yet no teacher from the district was able to get a state award at a function held recently.

On the other hand, the Government School Teachers' Union here feels that only the "near and dear" ones of the ministers were given the honours, whereas the "competent" ones suffered due to political interference.

A state-level function to mark "Teachers' Day" was held at Patiala on October 5. As many as 22 teachers from all over Punjab were honoured at the function but no teacher belonged to Ludhiana district.

According to available information, the District Education Department did send a list of eight to nine teachers from the district who had made sincere efforts to improve the education standards in schools, yet no one made it to the final list.

When the results of class X and XII were declared, maximum number of students who secured top positions in Punjab belonged to Ludhiana district. Parveen Kumar, general secretary,Government College Teachers Union, said that the state awards were "manipulated". "The teachers, who got the awards must have been close to influential people. There is no transparency in the system and the favourites are honoured by the department", said Kumar.

Ludhiana, October 7
As many as six persons were injured after a bus collided with a truck in the Dhandari area here this evening. The bus was ferrying factory workers back home after work when the incident took place.

Accoring to sources, the truck that was moving ahead of the bus suddenly applied brakes. As the bus driver failed to apply the brakes on time, the vehicle rammed into the truck.

The injured were admitted to the Civil Hospital.

Miscreants attack jeweller

Three miscreants allegedly attacked a goldsmith and decamped with his bag containing silver ornaments at the Kundanpuri area here today. The jeweller was rushed to hospital.

Ludhiana, October 7
October is internationally observed as the Breast Cancer Awareness month. To spread awareness among the public, eminent breast cancer specialist Dr Navdeep Singh conducted a session at Women ITI College. 

Ludhiana, October 7
The nursing staff union of the Lord Mahavir Civil Hospital has accused the authorities of making the three nurses and a Class IV employee scapegoats in the alleged child swapping case.

While denying that any child was swapped, the investigating team of doctors had found the three staff nurses--Neelam, Bhupinder and Palwinder Kaur--guilty of committing a clerical error of filing the newborn girl’s gender as male in the delivery register.

The controversy came to the light when the parents--Sandeep and Sushita--alleged that the hospital staff replaced their newborn male baby with a baby girl on September 30.

While condemning the move, the nursing staff union said the nurses were transferred without conducting an in-depth probe into the case.

The nursing staff said while the nurses and the Class IV employee—who had allegedly sought money from the parents while congratulating them—were found guilty, no action was taken against the doctors who were also present on duty. The members said the hospital was grappling with an acute staff crunch. The nurses were hard pressed, they said.

They said the gynaecology department was being run solely by the staff nurses, as doctors and specialists remained absent during the crucial hours.

From looking after the laboratory to the issuing of discharge slips, all the work was being done by the staff, instead of the doctor, who was technically responsible for it, they said.

Many a times the issue was brought to the notice of the senior medical officer (SMO), but no remedial measure had been taken so far, they said.

The union members demanded that a DNA test of the child in question be conducted, and till the time results came, the transfer orders should be stopped.

The union also claimed that none of the Class IV employees had sought money from the child’s parents.

On the basis of the inquiry conducted by Dr Tashinder Goel, Dr Malvinder Mala and Dr Harpreet Singh, Neelam was transferred to the Khanna Civil Hospital and Bhupinder and Palwinder to the Samrala Civil Hospital. The Class IV employee, Paramjit Kaur, was transferred to the Sahnewal hospital.

The probe report was submitted to the Heath Department and was also sent to the Deputy Commissioner and the Commissioner of Police.

Ludhiana, October 7
As many as 22 more cases of dengue have been reported from various hospitals of the city, taking the total number of cases to 358. Of these, eight patients are from the Ludhiana district, 11 from other districts of the state and three from outside the state.

District Epidemiologist Dr Anil Verma said, "Eight patients who reported positive for dengue from the district are undergoing treatment for the past three days. These patients are from Janta Nagar, Baddowal, Brown Road, Tagore Nagar, Shivpuri, Gobind Nagar, Laxman Nagar and Pritam Nagar. Of the other patients, six are from Hoshiarpur, two each from Fatehgarh Sahib and Gurdaspur and one from Mansa. All the three from outside the state are from Jammu and Kashmir."

Ludhiana, October 7
Perturbed by the lackadaisical attitude adopted by the Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) in disbursing their pensions, the retired employees today took out a protest rally against the corporation near Dhayan Singh Complex.

The pensioners said despite the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court directing the corporation to release the pensions before the fifth of every month, they were being made to suffer unnecessarily.

The president of PRTC Pensioners Union, Krishan Lal, said that retirees were facing a lot of problems in the absence of timely disbursement of pensions.

"We have also not been provided the GPF Fund since May 2010. The pensioners also rued that their gratuity was pending since February 2012,” said Krishan Lal.

Suresh Sood, general secretary, district INTUC council, said the installment of dearness allowance was also pending for the past 36 months.

"We have worked for around three to four decades with the PRTC and getting our pension on time is our right. Due to the callous attitude adopted by the authorities, we had moved the High Court, which ordered the corporation to provide pensions on time. The pension was pending for the past two months. Just three to four days back, the pension for the month of August was released by the authorities. In absence of finances, it becomes difficult for us to run our households,” said Gurmit Singh, another pensioner.

There are around 3,000 pensioners of the PRTC in Punjab, paying pension to whom costs the corporation Rs 5 crore each month.

Ludhiana, October 7
Death of two tigresses in the past two days at a tiger safari near Amaltas has sent the alarm bells ringing for the wildlife department. Dr Kirti Dua, head of wildlife centre at Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, has recommended a blood test of the zoo animals to ascertain if the tigresses died due to any infection.

The deaths of the tigresses have raised a finger over the kind of habitat provided to the wild cats.

District Forest Officer (DFO) Dalijit Brar said both the tigresses had died a natural death having completed their life span.

“The meat served to them, however, often weaken their metabolism,” said Brar.

Wildlife expert said the metabolism of tigers weakens as the animal does not hunt for living and remains inactive for a long period of time.

The fact that both died due to a kidney and liver failure has raised many eyebrows. The Royal Bengal tigress, Mohini (15), died on Saturday, while the second tigress, Elaichi (17), was declared dead yesterday.

Both the tigresses were buried following a post-mortem at GADVASU.

Three wild cats, including two males and a female, are now left at the tiger safari. The zoo authorities are planning to bring in more tigresses from Chhatbir Zoo.

Ludhiana, October 7
The Communist Party of Indian, Communist Party of India (Marxists) and the People Party of Punjab, after a joint meeting today, expressed their “strong opposition” to the financial burden being put on the common man by the Punjab government through the imposition of property tax and regularisation of unlicensed colonies.

The parties decided to launch a mass agitation against the imposition of new taxes on the people who were already reeling under the burden of inflation.

While the left parties and the PPP will stage a massive dharna at the Mini-Secretariat here on October 10 to express their resentment against the new taxes, the parties also called upon the affected people to form "lok committees" at the local level to continue the agitation till the new taxes were withdrawn by the government.

The left parties accused the Punjab Government of failing to meet the growing demand for affordable housing in the state.

"The government has not launched any housing scheme in major towns and cities, which has led to the proliferation of unauthorised colonies in every part of the state. Now to cover up its own lapses, the government is penalising the people who had invested their money in unlicensed colonies," alleged district secretary of CPI Kartar Singh Boawani and state committee member of CPI-M Sukhwinder Singh.

Ludhiana: Maya Devi Goel Public School, Pohir, and Doraha Public School, scripted victory in Sahodya School’s solo singing competition at Pohir village. Concluding session of the event was presided over by Sukhjinder Singh Behal and Bajrang Sharma was invited over as the chief guest. Students from across ten schools of the region participated in the competition. Gobinder Singh, Pardeep Sharma and Jaspreet Kaur evaluated the performances of particpants and felicitated Kiriti Singh and Gursimran for their outstanding acts.

Paper reading

English paper reading competition was organised by humanities forum of Classes I and II. Headmistress Namita Raj Singh presided over the function while Maninder Kaur and Pooja Nagpal were adjudged the competition.

Navratra celebrations

Everest Play-way and Nursery School, Maharaja Ranjit Singh Park, and Everest Buds Play-way School, Sector 39, jointly celebrated Navratras. Children dressed in flashy dresses presented a cultural show. Besides children also enjoyed the Dandiya dance prepared for the occasion.

Students stage Ramlila at Saraswati Modern School in Ludhiana. Photo: Inderjeet Verma

Vijaya Dashmi

Vijaya Dashmi (Dasehra) was celebrated on the premises of Saraswati Modern School on Monday. Rekha Vij was invited over as the chief guest. Dance performances were presented by students. To mark the occasion, Ramayana was also well presented by students.

Workshop at BCM School

A workshop under Adolescence Education Programme (AEP) was organised at BCM School, Dugri. Dr Narinder Malhotra, Dr Ajay Aggarwal, Dr Neelam Sodhi and Dr Vidhu Modgill were invited to address the gathering. As many as 400 boys of Classes XI and XII from BCM, Dugri, BCM Arya, BCM Senior Secondary School, Chandigarh Road, DAV, MGM, Nankana Sahib took part in it. The seminar aimed at spreading awareness regarding physical and psychological changes, health and hygiene, eating disorder, importance of gender equality and other issues related to adolescent boys. Students vowed to respect women. — TNS

Check-up camps

A dental check-up and eye check-up camp was organised on the premises of St GDS Convent School. A team of doctors examined students and recommended suitable solutions. Students with no dental problems were given small gifts and those diagnosed with problems were provided with free-of-cost medicines. Doctors demonstrated correct way of brushing teeth and also gave tips to take the care of their dental hygiene. They also advised students to correct their posture while reading books.

Ludhiana, October 7
A domestic help decamped with gold ornaments and cash from his employer’s house located at Brindawan Road in the Civil Lines area today. The incident came to light when Yashpal Singla, returned home along with his family members from a restaurant. He was shocked to find his house ransacked. Domestic help Sushil, a native of Nepal, was also missing.

Yashpal said Sushil was working for him for the past six years and was his trusted employee. Even in the past, Yashpal had left the house under Suhil's supervision. The Division No. 4 police has received the complaint and started investigating. In the meantime, the Commissioner of Police has issued an advisory for carrying out verification of domestic helps, before employing them.

The Commissioner of Police has stated that the increasing involvement of domestic helps behind the growing incidents of theft was a matter of concern. The Commissioner has advised residents to employ domestic helps only after proper verification.

Two travel agents booked

The city police has booked two travel agents for duping a man on the pretext of sending him abroad. The accused have been identified as Rajiv Obroi and Jaspal Singh of the Dugri and Haibowal area respectively. The case has been registered on the complaint of Hardeep Singh of Sham Nagar. The complainant stated that the accused had taken Rs 2.4 lakh on pretext of sending him abroad. The accused persons neither sent him abroad nor returned the money.

Two women caught stealing on camera

Two swindler women entered a shop in Karim Pura in Filed Gunj and sneaked away with a purse of a customer containing Rs 3,000 cash and driving license. The incident took place this evening when Giri Dhuria of Dugri was visiting a shop. In the meantime, two women entered the shop and stood besides Dhuria. In no time, they took away the purse containing cash and documents that was lying in the bag.

Giri said that the matter came to light when she reached the cash counter to pay the bill. She was shocked to find her purse missing. Fortunately, the shop Giri was visiting had installed close circuit television cameras and the swindler women were caught on camera stealing the purse. 

Youth commits suicide

A 23-year-old youth committed suicide by hanging himself from a ceiling fan at his house in Maya Nagar on Monday. The deceased has been identified as Arshdeep. He was married and had a two-year-old son. Manpreet Kaur, Arshdeep's wife, said she was visiting her relatives’ house, along with her son, when the incident took place. When she returned home, she was shocked to find her husband's body hanging from a ceiling fan, she said. Some relatives said Arshdeep was an addict and was also suffering from depression.

Ludhiana, October 7
Additional Sessions Judge Priya Sood today adjourned the hearing in DSP Balraj Gill and Monica Kapila murder case till October 15. The court today recorded the statement of Dr Raj Kaura, who had conducted the postmortem of Monica Kapilla. The cross-examination of prime prosecution witness Jaspal Singh was also concluded by the defence lawyer. Arguments on bail application filed by accused Davinder Pal Singh will be heard in the next hearing.

On January 15 this year, charges were framed against the accused. All the six persons accused of committing the brutal murder of the DSP at a farm house, near Hambran road, on Feburary 1, 2012, have been arrested.

Following a statement by Kashmira Singh, father of the deceased, a case was registered against the accused at Haibowal police station on February 2, 2012, under Sections 302, 379, 465, 468, 471, 474, 201, 120-B, 34 of the IPC.

Ludhiana, October 7
Fine batting by Arjun (60) and an equally valuable contribution with the ball by Ravjot Singh (4 for 22) held hosts MGN Public School to script an easy 51-run win over Kundan Vidya Mandir, Civil Lines, Ludhiana, in the final of the 14th All -India Bhai Gobind Singh Pasricha Prize Money Cricket Tournament (U-19) held at MGN Public School ground, Adarsh Nagar, Jalandhar, today.

In the allotted 20 overs, MGN Public School posted 160 runs after losing seven wickets. Arjun top scored with 60 runs, followed by Bikramjeet and Ravjot who contributed 21 and 20 runs, respectively while Rakshit remained unbeaten on 10.

For KVM, Anmol Sharma grabbed two wickets for 28 runs while Hartejaswi Kapoor and Raghav Sharma accounted for one wicket each after conceding 40 and 10 runs, respectively.

Requiring eight runs per over, KVM failed to meet it as their innings culminated at 109 runs after 18.5 overs. The main contributors were Hartejaswi Kapoor (27), Manan Jain (23) and Raghav Sharma (23).

For the winners, Ravjot Singh came out as the wrecker- in-chief, claiming four wickets for 22 runs. Gagandeep took two for 10 and Bikramjeet captured one for 30.

Former captain of the Indian Test team Bishan Singh Bedi was the chief guest. The winners got richer by Rs 31,000 besides lifting the trophy while KVM pocketed a cash prize of Rs 21,000.

Arjun who steered the hosts to victory in the final was adjudged the player of the tournament while his team mate, Gagandeep was declared the best bowler and Jaskaran Singh of KVM was named the best batsman.