Ludhiana, April 12
Even as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener, Arvind Kejriwal, sought to project himself as a leader conversant with Punjab and its issues during his road show in Ludhiana, the candidates of the Congress and the Akali Dal continued trading charges.

Kejriwal tried to strike an emotional chord with the public by raising the traditional slogan "Jo Bole So Nihaal". Apart from the AAP candidate from Ludhiana, HS Phoolka, Kejriwal had another Sikh leader of the AAP accompanying him during the road show.

Meanwhile, the Congress claimed the Shiromani Akal Dal (SAD) sarpanch of Jhameri village, Gurvinder Singh, had joined the Congress. The Akali Dal, on its part, claimed a complete support by the Bharat Swabhiman Trust and Patanjali Yog Samiti.

The Akali Dal candidate, Manpreet Singh Ayali, flayed the Congress for having "failed" to deliver on its promises. Focusing on the development plank of the SAD-BJP alliance, he claimed the SAD-BJP government's main agenda was development of the state.

The Congress candidate, Ravneet Singh Bittu, while criticising the Akali Dal for "neglecting" development of the state, highlighted the "achievements" of Ludhiana Member of Parliament Manish Tewari. "Tewari brought many Centre-sponsored projects to the Ludhiana constituency," he claimed.

However, for the people of Ludhiana city, the highlight remained Kejriwal's visit. The AAP national convener's visit continued to dominate the poll talk today. 

Ludhiana, April 12
Now, there are 22 candidates in the fray for the Ludhiana Lok sabha seat. The Returning Officer today issued the election symbols to all candidates. Some of symbols, such as “green chilli”, “mixie”, “gas cylinder”, “cot”, “battery torch”, are interesting.

Rajiv Kumar Kalra (43), who is contesting the election as an Independent, has chosen "green chilli" his election symbol. He said: "Fighting drug addiction is one of my election planks. I chose “green chilli”, which, I believe, will sting those leaders who have been promoting drug addiction in the state."

Another Independent, Jai Prakash Jain (34), a comedian who is popularly known as Titu Baniya, said: "I opted for "gas cylinder" as people are facing problems relating to LPG subsidy and its sale on the black market. I want to stop LPG sale on the black market. It is one of my election planks."

Independent candidate Simarjit Singh Bains has succeeded in getting “letter box" as his election symbol. He had contested the Assembly elections in 2012 as an Independent candidate on the same symbol.

A total of 30 candidates had filed 44 nominations till April 9 (some candidates filed more than one nomination). During scrutiny of the nominations, 21 nominations were cancelled. Today, the day for withdrawal of nominations, only one candidate, Balwinder Singh, who had filed his nomination papers as Independent candidate, withdrew his papers.

Ludhiana April 12
The various cadres of teachers working in government schools of state were hopeful that they will receive salaries after March 31. But even after the end of the fiscal year a large number of teachers are still deprived of salaries. Some of the teachers had not been receiving salaries from last seven months.

Teachers of government-aided primary schools have not received salaries since September 2013. Computer teachers, too, have been awaiting their pay for past three months. Teachers working under zila parishads, meanwhile got their last paycheck in December 2013. Master cadre teachers are also waiting for their salaries for last three months.

Gurvinder Singh, president, Computer Teachers Union Punjab said, "We have met the senior officials several times and made them aware about inconvenience being faced by teachers. Every times they said the salaries will be given soon.

Davinder Rehan of Aided School Teachers Union said, "Our teachers had not received the salaries for last seven months due to negligence of finance department. The Punjab Government should release the salaries.

Ramanjit Singh, general secretary, Democratic Teachers Front said, "Most of the teachers had not received the salaries for last three months. 

Ludhiana, April 12
Though the administration has set up three night shelters in the city for the poor, these remain empty most of the times these days. A few persons (around 60), who use these night shelters, said the night shelters were a great help during the winters while in summers, people preferred to spend nights in the open. Social activists, however, said thin occupancy at night shelters was because of a poor state of the “rain baseras”. They allege the authorities have neglected these night shelters and no facilities were provided there.

The night shelters are located near Clock Tower (Zone A), Manju Theatre and near Haibowal Dairy Complex. An RTI activist, Rohit Sabharwal, said as per the directions of the court, night shelters should have a capacity of at least 100 persons and there should be a separate shelter for women. "At these night shelters, there is no separate enclosure for women. It is really tough for them to sleep in the open along with their children. The authorities are not taking these shelters seriously," said Sabharwal.

Net Ram, a migrant from Bihar, said with the onset of summers, the homeless preferred to sleep in the open. "In the winters, we find these very cozy and we get great respite from biting cold. But in summers, we prefer to sleep in the open. Besides, a majority of the inmates of these shelter homes are drug addicts and they often pick up fights. We feel insecure in their company. The authorities need to keep a check on such persons," he said.

Shiv Ram Saroye, a member of the Ann Jal Sewa Society, said maximum inmates were found at the night shelter situated near Clock Tower. "But these days, it also witnesses a thin occupancy. There are hardly takers for the night shelter situated near Manju Theatre. Most inmates are migrant labourers. These days they prefer to stay nearby workplace. Earlier, we used to provide them with a meal a day but now they arrange it on their own," said Saroye.

Commenting on thin occupancy at the night shelters, Sabharwal said it was due to the negligent approach of the officials in maintaining these shelters. "They never inspect them. Responsibility of officials should be fixed. Only then will they make sure all facilities are provided to the poor and needy,” he said. 

Ludhiana, April 12
The Aam Aadmi Party's road show turned out to be a pain the neck for commuters. Traffic jams were witnessed at various places in the city.

Starting from the Jalandhar bypass, the rally showered chaos on the city.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, April 12
Expressing resentment over the 'opportunistic' behaviour of senior politicians changing loyalties frequently, office-bearers and activists of various organisations have decided to remain aloof from election campaigns of candidates.

However, they will play an important role in the electioneering process by motivating voters to exercise their right.

Murlidhar Gupta and Jagjit Singh Jajjie, social activists, said the 'opportunistic' attitude of senior politicians, irrespective of their political allegiance, had disappointed them to the extent that they had decided to distant themselves from campaigns of various candidates contesting the Lok Sabha elections from the Fatehgarh Sahib constituency.

The tendency seems to have affected supporters of all candidates, including those contesting the elections as nominees of the SAD and the Congress.

Citing examples, residents regretted that senior politicians had been using them as a commodity of trade and bargaining with their masters on the basis of their clout in the region.

Some activists, who had supported Congress MP Sukhdev Singh Libra, lamented that the MP did not bother to take them into confidence before changing loyalty to the SAD after he was denied ticket by the party this time.

Social activists, who had supported former legislator Surjit Singh Dhiman during the last elections, are also among the disappointed lot as Dhiman, who is now supporting Congress nominee Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, had earlier announced to contest the Lok Sabha elections as an Independent candidate from Sangrur.

"The leaders we support forget us after every poll while their opponents after coming to power do their best to teach us a lesson," said Murlidhar, maintaining that he and his associates had to pay a heavy price for supporting defeated candidate Dhiman during the last elections. Airing similar views, Jagjit Singh Jajjie said he and his associates had decided to remain aloof from campaigns. "We will stand by the residents of our town," said Jajjie. 

Mandi Ahmedgarh, April 12
Contrary to expectations of leaders, traditional gusto for the election campaign will be missing among farmers in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections.

Consistent occupation of peasants and farm labourers in harvesting and following agricultural chores during the coming weeks has been cited as the main reason behind apprehended political indifference among rural masses.

However, the rural youth is expected to devote more time to campaigns. Investigations revealed that a majority of farmers, who had earlier been taking part in politics, had disappointed their senior leaders by not accepting responsibility to organise meetings and rallies in their respective areas.

With wheat crop almost ready for harvesting, farmers will remain busy in reaping and realising the price of their produce.

As peasants in the state practise both early and late sowing of wheat, farmers will remain occupied in harvesting and transporting their produce to grain markets and preparing their fields for the next crop. In case food agencies fail to procure wheat and mustardon time, farmers will not be in a position to participate in election campaigns in concluding phase of the electioneering in the state too.

Ludhiana, April 12
The activists of Private School Parent’s Wing today observed hunger strike at Jagraon Bridge seeking implementation of Right to Education Act (RTE) and action against private schools for fee hike.

Private School Parent’s Wing has been staging protest outside the Sacred Heart Higher Convent School, Jamalpur and Sacred Heart Convent School, Bhattian for last some days. The office bearers of Private School Parent's wing will observe the hunger strike till April 15.

According to the activists, they had given memorandum to district administration and officials organised a meeting with managements of both the schools.

Kunver Rajan Singh, one of the office bearers of Private School Parents Wing stated, "Our fight is not only with the managements of these two schools. We want to stop the loot of parents. Even after the four years, the Right to Education had not been implemented in the private schools. The education department has to be strict with private schools for the implementation of the RTE."

The office bearers of wing stated that parents should be free to buy the books and uniform from anywhere. "The Central Board for Secondary Education and Punjab School Education Board change the syllabi every year. So, the students have to buy the new books every year, which led to the financial burden on parents. The syllabi should not be changed every year. Moreover, even after the guidelines of CBSE, schools have been selling books on school premises", said Vinod Jain, another activist. "The schools charge building fund from the students, which is unjustified," said Kunvar Rajan Singh. 

Ludhiana, April 12
"Stress can cause cancer," said cardiovascular and cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Naresh Trehan, who is also the chairman and managing director of Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon.

On a visit to the city today, Dr Trehan said researches have found that stress was linked to cancer. "Early detection was the only cure," said the expert, adding that excellent medicines were available both in India and abroad but ayurveda could also be of great help in curbing cancer. "Research has to be done on ayurveda medicines and these could do wonders," said Dr Trehan.

On being asked if Medanta intended to open its branch in Ludhiana or Punjab, Dr Trehan said the quality would be diluted if any such thing happened. He said in an attempt to make a quick buck, doctors were taking the profession lightly. "Some of the them have adopted unfair practices. A doctor has to be dedicated towards a patient," he said.

Ludhiana, April 12
Employees of Christian Medical College and Hospital lamented that some unidentified persons took away a patient's dead body without paying bills this morning.

Tulsidharan Pillai, member, CMCH Employees Society, alleged that a patient was admitted to the hospital 15 days ago."He had fallen off the roof of a factory on Sua Road. The patient, Ranjit, was a migrant and could not afford the treatment. We helped him," alleged Pillai.

He said Ranjit succumbed to his injuries yesterday and some persons claiming to be close to a politician reached the hospital and asked us to release the body. "An amount of Rs 1 lakh was spent on his treatment. A group of six to seven persons came to the hospital today. They threatened the employees, including me, and took away the body by paying Rs 3,000," claimed Pillai. No police complaint has been registered in this connection. Dr AG Thomas, director, CMCH, said he was unaware of the incident. — TNS

Ludhiana, April 12
The Anti-Copying Teachers' Front stated that allegations levelled against a school headmistress turned out to be true. The headmistress is accused of collecting funds from students.

Inquiry officer Nahar Singh probed the matter and submitted a report to the Education Department.

The front had filed a complaint against Smriti Bhargav, headmistress of Government High School, Kot Mangal Singh, in September, 2013. Seeking action against the headmistress, the members accused her of not refunding fee. In 2010, the government had exempted girls studying in classes VI, VII and VIII from paying fee.

The inquiry officer stated: "The headmistress collected Rs 75,085 from students between September 2009 and March 2013. Teachers and students had given it in writing. Smriti Bhargav did not spend the amount on conducting examinations." The official said Smriti knew that she had violated the Right to Education Act. The inquiry officer said: "I have submitted the report to the department." Paramjeet Kaur, District Education Officer, said: "The report has been sent to the higher authorities." 

Ludhiana, April 12
A 35-year-old woman was killed after being hit by a truck on Gill Road here this morning. The deceased has been identified as Ranjit Kaur, a resident of Mair Colony in the Daba area.

Ranjit Kaur was going with her husband and two children on a scooter when a truck hit the two-wheeler from the rear side. Ranjit fell on one side while her husband Pritpal Singh and two sons (one 10 years old and the other three years old) fell on the other. Ranjit Kaur was crushed to death under the wheels of the truck, the investigation officer in the case said.

“All four of them were on their way to attend the wedding of Ranjit Kaur’s cousin in Jalandhar. They had planned to park their scooter in a parking lot at Gill Chowk and take a bus from there. The truck was on its way to Dasuya,” he said.

Ludhiana, April 12
An MSc-I student was injured after he was allegedly attacked by a group of five students at hostel number 7 of Punjab Agricultural University late Thursday night.

An FIR has been registered against five students, three from the PAU, one from Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University and one unknown person.

Gurpreet Singh, a student of MSc first year, who hails from Kalyan Sukha village in Bathinda district, in his complaint to the PAU police, has alleged while he was going towards the water cooler, he was stopped by five students, who were in an inebriated state.

“They asked me to perform bhangra. After some time, when I told them that I was taking leave of the as I had to prepare some important lectures, they attacked me with swords and sticks,” he told the police. Gurpreet has suffered injuries on his head, arms, legs and thighs.

The PAU police station authorities said a case under sections 323, 324, 341, 452, 506, 148 and 149 of the IPC had been registered against Gurjeet Singh (MSc Agriculture), Dildeep Singh Sandhu (BSc Agriculture), Anmol Singh Gill (MSc Agriculture), Gundeep Singh Gill, alias Gunna (GADVASU), and one unknown person.

“The accused will be arrested soon,” they said.

Meanwhile, Dr Ravinder Kaur Dhaliwal, Director, Students Welfare, PAU, said she had forwarded the complaint against the students to the Dean, College of Agriculture.

Ludhiana, April 12
The Punjab Athletics Association (PAA) will hold trials to select state contingents (boys and girls) at Guru Nanak Stadium on April 15 from 9 am onwards.

The selected athletes will represent Punjab in the National Youth (U-18) Athletics Championship to be held at Panjim from April 20 and the Federation Cup National Junior Athletics Championship scheduled to be organised from May 9 at Chennai. Interested players should are required to bring their age proof certificates at the time of the trials.

Ludhiana, April 12
Gurmeet Singh from Khanna clocked 34.56:04 minutes to finish ahead of others in the gruelling 10,000m race in the Open Ludhiana District Athletics Championship that concluded at Guru Nanak Stadium today. Chhinder Singh (36.06:57 minutes) and Rohit Kumar (37.48:78 minutes), both from Ludhiana, followed him to secure
the second and third positions, respectively.

Today's results

200m race: Girls (U-18) Abhiti Sharma of BVM, Kitchlu Nagar, 1, Asha Rani of Government High School, Lall Kalan, 2 and Ravinder Kaur of Ludhiana 3; girls (U-16) Shikha of Khanna 1, Jaspreet Kaur of Utala 2 and Vani Bhandula of Bal Bharti Public School, Dugri, 3; girls (U-20) Sukhbir Kaur of GNGC, Model Town, 1 and Deepa Rani 2; women: Veerpal Kaur of Khalsa College for Women, Ludhiana, 1, Sandeep Kaur of GNGC, Model Town, 2 and Harpreet Kaur of GNGC, Model Town, 3.

Long jump: Boys (U-14) Lal Choudhary of Government High School, Utla, 1, Vikrant Kumar of GTB, Khanna, 2 and Haranmol Joshi of KVM 3; boys (U-16) Jaskarn Singh of BM Senior Secondary School, Raikot, 1, Ramneek Singh of Bal Bharti Public School, Dugri, 2 and Sumeet Kumar of Doraha Academy 3; boys (U-18) Harpreet Singh of SAI Training Centre 1, Satnam Singh of Hambran 2 and Ravinder Singh of Government School, Daduahar, 3; boys (U-20) Vinod Kumar of GTB, Khanna, 1, Mukul of Hambran 2 and Kunal Sharma of Ludhiana 3; men: Anil Sharma of LCET, Katani Kalan, 1, Nishan Singh 2 and Sonu Dev 3.

Long jump: Girls (U-14) Geeta of Khanna 1, Himanshi of Giaspura 2 and Priya Jha of Giaspura 3; girls (U-16) Navneet Kaur of Samrala 1, Simranpuneet of Bal Bharti Public School, Dugri, 2 and Alisha Joshi of KVM 3; Girls (U-18) Ravinder Kaur of Issa Nagar 1, Pallavi Jethi of GTB, Khanna, 2 and Komal Shelly of Sargodha Khalsa School, Ludhiana, 3; girls (U-20) Deepa Rani of Sargodha Khalsa School 1.

400m hurdles: Boys (U-18) Suraj Kumar of GMT Public School, Ludhiana, 1, Nav Sharan of GGN Public School 2; boys (U-20) Simranjeet Singh of Arya College, Ludhiana, 1; women: Rajni of GNGC, Ludhiana, 1. 200m race: Boys (U-16) Amritpal Singh of Nav Bharti Public School 1, Mohit Kumar of GNPS, Sarabha Nagar, 2 and Ravinder Kumar of GTB, Khanna, 3; boys (U-18) Suraj of SAI Training Centre 1, Raghav Sharma of KVM 2 and Gurdev Singh of Raikot 3; boys (U-20) Raju Kumar of RS Model School, Ludhiana, 1, Gurdeep Singh of SDP School, Ludhiana, 2 and Gurvinder Singh of Government School, Manpur, 3; men: Vishal Bector of Government College, Ludhiana, 1, Anil Sharma of LCET, Katani Kalan, 2 and Labh Singh of Sahnewal 3.

800m race: Girls U-18) Manmeet Kaur of Samrala 1, Laxmi Chauhan of Khanna 2 and Neha of SN Senior Secondary School 3; girls (U-20) Sukhbir Kaur of GNGC, Model Town, 1; women: Gurpreet Kaur of Khalsa College for Women, Ludhiana, 1 and Manpreet Kaur of Samrala 2.

The victorious bunch

In javelin throw (boys U-16), Lovepreet Singh of Dadhahoor stood first while Hardeep Singh of Dadhahoor and Gurinayat of Ryan International School finished third. In the boys U-18 category, Jagbeer Singh of Government School, Dadhahoor, secured the first position, Gursewak Singh of Government School, Dadhahoor, stood second and Hardeep Singh of TSSM School finished third.