Ludhiana, July 22
The Civil Hospital is short of beds. Patients and their attendants are forced 
to sweat it out in the absence of fans.

Two patients sharing a bed is a common site. Today, a patient writhing in pain was asked to share her bed with another patient at the general ward. She kept asking a doctor to attend to her, but to no avail.

Nurses said the ward looked like a fish market.

Gogi, an attendant, said her ailing sister was not allotted a bed. “She has been sitting on the floor since morning,” she said.

“It is so hot, but there is not even a single fan outside the ward. It is not easy to wait in the sweltering heat,” added Ram Narain, one of the relatives of a patient. Senior Medical Officer Dr RK Karkara said, “There is no shortage of beds at the Civil Hospital. Despite being discharged, patients do not leave the hospital. It is difficult to deal with the heavy rush.

On the non-existence of fans in the waiting area outside the maternity ward, Karkara said Child and Mother Care Hospital would be made operational soon. “All facilities will be available at the new unit which is under construction,” he added.

Civil Surgeon Dr Subhash Batta said, “The hospital will get 100 more beds in a month or so. The problem will be sorted out.” 

Ludhiana, July 22
MC officials say hoardings and signboards put up on private and government buildings generate revenue. Shortage of funds has blinded the civic body. It is no longer bothered about violations.

Flouting norms, a few NGOs have put up posters sensitising residents against social evils at various places in the city, but the MC is not acting against them.

At posh areas such as Ferozepur Road and Pakhowal Road, hoardings and banners of religious functions/Sufi darbar/anti-drug campaign have been put up. The cash-starved Municipal Corporation is not generating any revenue from these hoardings and posters.

Objecting to the hoardings put up by religious organisations, president of the Belan Brigade Anita Sharma said they had put up banners against drugs in Bharat Nagar Chowk, but those were removed by the MC. She said the officials didn’t even touch posters put up by religious organisations. When asked if her NGO had sought permission from the MC to put up the posters, Anita said, “We did not seek permission. We are fighting a social evil and the MC should help us,” said the president.

“If we remove posters put up by religious bodies, we face wrath. Politicians do not let us remove the posters,” said an official of the tehbazari wing of the Municipal Corporation.

Ludhiana, July 22
A constable’s wife poured kerosene on her outside the Commissioner’s office at Mini-Secretariat today.

The woman, identified as Kulwinder Kaur, was rounded up by the Division No. 5 police. SHO Dharampal said the woman’s statement was recorded. ACP (Headquarters) J Elanchezhian is investigating the matter.

Kulwinder Kaur, wife of Manjit Singh, arrived at the Police Commissioner’s office this morning and poured kerosene on her.

The police and complainants stopped the woman from setting herself afire. Kulwinder said a woman named Seema, who was the wife of a police official, was not returning her money.

She said the police official had also refused to help her. Kulwinder said she was stressed and wanted to end her life. Senior officials are probing the matter. 

Ludhiana, July 22
Parking contractors continue to fleece visitors. At some places, they have put up worn-out boards displaying rates.

Ramit Saxena, an activist of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), alleged that parking attendants had damaged the board installed outside Ansal Plaza.

“If there is no board, visitors can be asked to pay any amount. If they have got a contract by quoting a price, they should stick to the terms and conditions and stop overcharging the visitors,” said Saxena. The contract to manage parking lots of Mini-Secretariat and Ansal Plaza has been given to the same company and complaints against the contractor keep pouring in.

The Deputy Commissioner has asked the Police Department to depute officials to ensure that the visitors are not overcharged.

Parking lots at Ferozepur Road have also been given to the same contractor. He should put up boards displaying the parking fee at all entry and exit points.

Sukhminder Singh, a senior citizen, said the contractors who fleeced the visitors should be blacklisted. “If they are habitual offenders, officials should not take them lightly. They should be taught a lesson,” said Singh. Superintendent, Zone D, Jasdev Singh Sekhon said the contractors were supposed to display rates on an hourly basis. “The contractor told me that somebody else had damaged the board installed outside Ansal Plaza. They will have to pay a fine to the MC. On Ferozepur Road, 30 boards need to be put up,” said Sekhon. 

Ludhiana, July 22
MC Commissioner’s second Sangat Darshan witnessed a low turnout today. More than 50 persons showed up. Of them, 30 filed complaints against officials of the civic body.

The session lasted two hours. Most of the complaints were against the building branch department. Some complainants said the MC failed to remove encroachments outside their establishments and that the civic body was “unnecessarily” sending notices to them.

Commenting on the low turnout, Jagat Singh, a resident lamented that there was no point in holding such interactions. “I had gone with a complaint, but the Commissioner told me to come on August 7. Cases should be disposed of on the spot,” he said.

Ludhiana, July 22
Night duty of the staff nurses has become a matter of row between the nurses and the matron at the Civil Hospital. The nursing staff wants rotation in night duties.

Both the parties indulged in allegations and counter allegations. Shortage of staff is one of the major reasons behind all the confusion. Lovey Kalyan, staff nurse, alleged that there are some nurses in the hospital who are exempted from the night duty.”While there are some staff members who are giving night duties regularly from the past two years and still there are some who are altogether exempted from the duty,” she said.

Adding further she alleged, “Matron never takes round of the ward and sometimes they have to make emergency arrangements themselves. Yesterday, there were 19 admissions against 15 beds in the ward but nobody was there to take care and the staff nurses on duty were left alone to manage the crisis.”

Another staff nurse on the condition of anonymity alleged, “Whenever we go to matron to discuss the issue regarding the night duties, she threatens us to spoil our annual confidential report.”

Surinderpal Kaur, matron, said, “There are some members of the nursing staff who are creating problems as they do not want to give night duty. There are nurses who are on duty in the dialysis unit and when I have to relieve them in the evening there is no replacement. Meanwhile, some nurses in the blood bank are doing more than their prescribed duties. If a nurse is imparting duties of a five person during the day, it is injustice to force her to do night duty on the same night,” she said.

She further cleared that every nurse is giving night duty, which is shown in the attendance register but some of the nurses alleged that these nurses put their signatures for their night shift duty, the next day in the morning and do not actually come on the duty. “This is not true,” said matron.

Nurses alleged matron is not putting up in Ludhiana and regularly goes to Jagraon which is against the service rules. Surinder pal replying to this said that she is living in Ludhiana at Sanchar Colony for the past one year and whenever she goes to Jagraon she submits station leave for the same.

Nurses today met Senior Medical Officer Dr RK Karkara and submitted a memorandum and forwarded the same to civil surgeon and health minister.

SMO said he has come to know that some nurses were creating scene after they were assigned the night duty. “I will look into the matter,” he added.

Ludhiana, July 22
Federation of Indian Export Organisations (North) organised a panel discussion in Ludhiana. SC Ralhan, regional chairman of the federation said infrastructure of International standards, availability of continuous power to the industry and timely refund of taxes are some of the steps that should be taken by the state government for increasing exports.

Ashish Jain, Director (Northern Region), FIEO said large numbers of exporters are suffering because of the major problem of VAT refund and funds to the tune of crores of rupees are held up with the government.

Ralhan also highlighted the land bill issue and mentioned that in Punjab unfortunately the cost of land is too high. While disclosing the increased performance of exports from the state in the last FY 2013-14 he said the total exports from Punjab has increased many times as compared to the previous fiscals.

Shakti Sharma, Chairman, Punjab Small Industries and Export Corporation, said there are infrastructure problems but the efforts are being made to improve them. He mentioned that his team had a meeting with Kalraj Mishra, Minister for MSME, for the development of MSMEs and to facilitate them by providing better infrastructure. He ensured that every problem of industry will be dealt on priority and resolved.

Ashwani Kumar, Managing Committee Member, FIEO, emphasised on the huge amounts stuck with the government in the form of VAT. He said entrepreneurs can’t run their business smoothly in the absence of sufficient liquidity at their disposal. He also suggested having a skill development centre to bridge the gap of the requisite skills necessary in the current global environment and also stressed on availability of sufficient funds for participation in international exhibitions. 

Ludhiana, July 22
Heaps of garbage were seen strewn around Saubhagya Hospital, Aare Wali Street, Haibowal. Sanitation workers said they did not have trolleys to lift garbage from the area.

Kailash Sabharwal, a shopkeeper, said the workers cleaned the sewerage system and dumped garbage alongside a road. “Why are we made to suffer. It is not our job to arrange the trolleys,” said Sehgal.

Ludhiana, July 22
The Central Pollution Control Board decided to lift the moratorium on new industries in Ludhiana. Federation of Industrial and Commercial Organisation has welcomed the decision taken by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for lifting ban on Industry. The industry in the city is set to flourish while giving a boost to the already existing units.

“This will boost the industry because from the last two years in Ludhiana no industry was expanding and establishing new units. We requested the government that it should not ban the industry because it will affect our economy,” said Gurmeet Singh Kular, President, Federation of Industrial and Commercial Organisation. —TNS

Samrala, July 22
Sant Parkash Kalra (62), a scribe working for a Punjabi vernacular daily of Samrala, was found murdered near Saloudi village today. His body, spotted in bushes, had multiple wounds and seemed to have been beaten with a stick. Sant Parkash Kalra was missing since last night.

As per the family Kalra had called his wife at about 9:15 pm and said he will be coming soon but after some time his phone went switched off. His family members tried to trace his location but could not find him.

In morning his family members approached local police and later police spotted a body lying near Saloudi village. Family members reached the site and identified the body. Harsh Kumar Bansal, SSP, Khanna and other senior police officials reached the spot. Fingerprint experts were also called by police officials. A revolver of the scribe was also found from the site by police officials. DSP Samrala said the body was naked and a broken hockey stick was recovered from the scene along with a knife.

SSP Khanna said police have some clues and assured that the killers will be identified and arrested soon. His body was handed over to his family after postmortem.

Ludhiana, July 22
Dr KS Sanga was adjudged president of the Punjab Agricultural University Teachers Association (PAUTA) by a large margin, here today.

Sanga, who contested the election from the Kingra group, got highest votes, 400. His rival Dr Mukesh Siaag got only 294 votes. Siaag got lowest votes among all executive members.

Kingra Group conquered all the five executive posts and 15 councillors’ seats.

DK Sharma was elected as the secretary with 362 votes. He defeated his rival Kulbeer Singh Saini. Saini got 339 votes.

Chander Mohan was selected as vice-president. He got 395 votes. His rival Navprem Singh got 307 votes. Dr Tarsem Singh Dhillon defeated Anil Sharma for the post of joint secretary. Dhillon got 386 votes while, Anil Sharma received 312 votes.

Inderjit Singh Grewal was elected as treasurer for the PAUTA. Grewal beat his rival Sanjeev Chauhan by 92 votes.

Gurmeet Sigh Dheri, Naresh Chhuneja, Narinderpal Singh, Jasbeer Chawala, Seema Sharma and Sukhpreet Singh were elected councillors from the PAU campus. While, Amaandeep Singh Sidhu, Jagdeesh Arora, Rajani Bhopal were elected councillors from outstation.

The PAUTA elections witnessed 92 per cent turnout of voters. The poll started from 10.30 am and concluded at 2 pm.

The counting of votes finished late in the evening.

Harmeet Singh Kingra, former president and group leader, said, “The teachers supported our efforts toward the teaching community in the last tenure. We assure that we will continue serving the teachers with same spirit.” Dr Sukhpal Singh, returning officer for PAUTA elections, said, “We are thankful to all the teachers and the PAU Administration for their cooperation and support. The election process was carried out peacefully and in a fair manner. We request teachers to put in collective efforts for their betterment and for upgrading the university.”

Ludhiana, July 22
Only 13 students appeared for the counselling of commerce stream in Senior Secondary Residential School for Meritorious Students, here today. Of the 100 seats, only 50 students had applied for the commerce stream in the school.

Apparently, change in venue at the eleventh hour resulted in the poor turnout of students. Earlier, the Society for Promotion of Quality Education for Poor and Meritorious students had invited students for the counseling session in Mohali but, yesterday afternoon the venue was shifted to Ludhiana.

Students failed to reach at Senior Secondary Residential School for Meritorious Students, Ludhiana, since they were not aware about the change.

Moreover, most of the students have got admissions in nearby schools so, now a few students are interested in getting admission in the meritorious school.

The Society for Promotion of Quality Education for Poor and Meritorious students extended the dates of submission of forms thrice to get more students but failed to do so.

Due to poor management, students are doubtful if the government will be able to start the session on time.

Today, 13 students, including 9 girls and 4 boys, appeared for the counselling. As many as 12 students were from Ludhiana while, one was from Fazilka.

Paramjeet Kaur, District Education Officer, said they have constituted a five-member committee for counseling.

The counselling was conducted from 9 am to 4 pm.

According to education officials, there are possibilities that the department may conduct another round of counselling.

The counselling for medical stream is scheduled for July 23 and the counselling for non-medical stream will be held on July 24. 

Ludhiana, July 22
Investigations have revealed that the three workers, who died after a truck of a bottling unit rammed into their stationary truck near Dhandari on National Highway I, were ferrying animal fats.

The deceased were, reportedly, ferrying animal fat from Uttar Pradesh in two trucks for a local shop unit in 
the city. The fat was being ferried in oil container in order to avoid any controversy. Oil was spilled around the container in order to make it appear like a fuel tanker.

Later during the day, Shiv Sainiks came to know that animal fats were being ferried in the trucks. Agitated, they held a protest at the Focal Point police station and at the site of the accident in Dhandari. Party workers have demanded an immediate action against the company for which the deceased were working.

SHO Dalip Bedi saved the situation from escalating further and said appropriate action will be taken following an investigation.

Meanwhile, kin of killer truck driver Darshan Singh from Jagraon, who also died in the accident, grieved over his death. They said the accident could have been avoided if an indication signboard or reflectors were installed by the workers at the site.

Ludhiana, July 22
Four months after passing out from the INIFD, Pune, Isha Arora has launched her own fashion collection.

“I wanted to launch my collection two months ago, but was preoccupied with client orders. I have always been interested in fashion, but it was only after graduation that I realised my dream,” said Isha.

She pursued her studies to get a better fashion exposure in Mumbai and Pune and then trained in Delhi for a period of six months.

“I trained for the right techniques with fashion designer Harpreet Narula. Right from creation of dresses, colour scheme, tapping the latest trends to exploring the market and clientele, I did learn a lot,” said Isha.

Isha worked for designing Indo-western wear and her latest collection also reflects that. “I design western wear with a touch of Indian crafts and embroidery,” said the designer. The jump suits, corsets, gowns and anarkalis do have an impression of Indian work.

“Rather than going for too heavy embroidery, I like designing with plain and flowing fabric. The creative use of cuts and adding embroidery works in a different way,” 
said Isha.

I believe that rather than machine embroidery, hand-embroidery is much more versatile and looks great, said the fashionista. 

Ludhiana, July 22
Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal today issued a strict warning to all officers who fail to do their duty.

During a review meeting of different departments, the DC told the officers: “Do your duty properly or you will be retired compulsorily. Any type of negligence on the part of any officer will not be tolerated.”

Taking a serious note of negligence on the part of the Block Development Primary Officer (Ludhiana-I), Aggarwal directed Additional Deputy Commissioner (General) Neeru Katyal to write to the department concerned to chargesheet the BDPO.

About a month ago, a chargesheet was also issued against a revenue officer for negligence in duty.

The DC said it had become a habit of officers to not review various developmental works and delegating the responsibility to the lower staff.

Calling it an unfair practice, he said it was a part of an officer’s duties to all developmental works under his or her charge.

Issuing instructions to the Irrigation Department, Aggarwal said all officers should ensure that drains and canals are cleaned properly. He said if any incident of overflowing or flood occurred during the monsoon, the officers concerned would not be spared.

The Water and Sanitation Department was told to improve the quality of drinking water and spread awareness on the importance of keeping the surroundings clean.

Talking about encroachments, the DC said: “These will not be tolerated.”

He, however, told the department officials concerned to issue notices before carrying out any demolition drive.

Aggarwal asked the District Programme Officer to clear all pending enquiries at the earliest besides selecting anganwadi workers and helpers. He also issued instructions to the Dairy Department to start a joint campaign of checking milk quality along with the Health Department.

The District Education Officer was told to conduct checking in government as well as private schools.

Ludhiana, July 22
A Class IV government employee who had applied for an advance from his general provident fund (GPF) to make arrangements for his son’s wedding has been running from pillar to post since the past five months.

Charan Singh, who is posted with the Animal Husbandry Department at Meharban, said: “My son’s wedding is on August 1. He is a daily-wage earner. To make arrangements for the wedding, I had applied for an advance from my GPF on February 7, through my department. On May 19, department director Dr Amarjit Singh approved my application for the release of the fund. To date, however, I have been waiting for the advance of Rs 2 lakh.”

Ludhiana, July 22
On the call given by the Punjab and UT Mulazam Sangharsh Committee, activists of the Punjab Mulazam Sangharsh Committee gheraoed the Treasury Office at the Mini-Secretariat here today.

Members of several unions burnt the copies of Punjab Budget 2014.

Gurmail Singh Maldey, district convener of the committee, said they had been protesting against unwanted restrictions on the Treasury.

Another leader, Ramanjeet, said: “We want reemployment of e-panchayat employees besides regularisation of services of mid-day meal workers, anganwadi workers, ASHA workers, tube-well operators and teachers.

Ludhiana, July 22
The issue of losses being incurred by the City Bus Service in Ludhiana was raised in the Vidhan Sabha today.

Responding to the issue raised by Congress MLA Bharat Bhushan Ashu, the Minister of Local Bodies said an inquiry would be initiated soon.

Talking to The Tribune, Ashu said he told the state legislators that since the City Bus Service was handed over to a private company, it had incurred losses to the tune of Rs 2 lakh a day.

The MLA said the contract signed with the company carried the signature of the manager of the City Bus Service, who himself was on contract.

Ludhiana, July 22
Two Amritsar residents were arrested with a pistol and a stolen motorcycle.

The accused have been identified as Amandeep Singh, a resident of Makbulpura, and Navroop Singh of Mehta area in Amritsar.

Both the accused were nabbed by the Division No. 4 police from a police checkpoint last night.

During the checking, the police recovered a pistol .315 from the possession of the accused.