Ludhiana, August 23
A 35-year-old man was stabbed to death by unidentified assailants at Maharaj Nagar near Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) today.

The victim, identified as Mahinder Singh, was a native of Rajasthan. He was working as a manager at a sweetmeat shop on College Road and living in a rented accommodation at Maharaj Nagar.

Neighbours spotted the blood-soaked body of Mahinder Singh.

Soon after the incident, panic gripped the area. The police team led by PAU station house officer (SHO) Surinder Chopra reached the spot and begun investigations. The victim’s brother, who lives at Gill Road, was also informed about the incident. Prima facie it is 
suspected that stab wounds led to the death of the victim. Personal enmity is suspected to be the reason behind the murder.

What surprised the police was the fact that Mahinder Singh was sleeping outside his house, but nobody saw the assailants.

Two or more persons were involved in the crime, said the police.

SHO Surinder Chopra said one assailant would have gagged Mahinder while the others would have stabbed him.

Vipan Jain, owner of the factory unit, said Mahinder was hard working and had no enmity with any of the employees.

Mahinder’s younger brother was inconsolable. He told the police that Mahinder was married and had two sons. His wife and children live in Rajasthan.

The police have registered a case of murder under Section 302 of the IPC against the unidentified assailants. The body was sent to the Civil Hospital for postmortem. The police are visiting houses where CCTV cameras are installed. 

Ludhiana, August 23
Cars were bumper-to-bumper on the service lane of Hotel Park Plaza today. As an exhibition is under way at the hotel, traffic scene went haywire. In the absence of traffic police, visitors had a tough time reaching the hotel.

Sanjiv Kumar, a visitor, said there was not even a single police official to regulate the traffic. He held parking attendants responsible for the jam.

Khanna, August 23
Students of AS College for Women, Khanna, today blocked traffic in front of the college on Khanna-Amloh road. They were protesting against the alleged harassment of a college lecturer by the college management. Led by college student union president Iqbal Kaur the students alleged that college management is trying to terminate the services of a college lecturer Amanpreet Kaur without any reason and had cut short her salary and forcing her to leave the college. 

Ludhiana, August 23
The various teachers’ organisation of the district organised under “Sanja Adhiapak Morcha” against the implementation of new system to mark the attendance through Short Message Service (SMS). The teachers across the district will hold a protest rally on August 26 outside the office of Deputy Commissioner.

Delegations from various teachers organigations met Supreet Gulati, Additional Deputy Commissioner, (Development) and urged him not to implement this system in schools.

The teachers alleged that ADC was adamant on the issue and ignored them. Irked over the response of the administration the teachers formed “Sanja Adhipak Morcha” and gave call of protest rally.

Charan Singh, district president, Democratic Teachers Front stated, “Schools sent online attendance of teachers to office of Director General of School Education (DGSE) daily. We mark our manual attendance on registers in the presence of school head/principal. Then there is no need to mark the attendance with mobile. Moreover, most of the time there is network problem at far flung schools.”

Daljit Singh, another teacher said, “Why ADC is implementing this system on teachers which are regular in comparison to the staff of Deputy Commissioner Office. It should be implemented on the officials of the revenue department first. But no one paid heed to our demand at the DC office so we are now going to stage a protest against the implementation of this system.”

“The attendance through mobile is an impractical method and it is just a waste of time and money. The purpose of checking attendance can be served by a single SMS sent by the school head or the principal,” said another teacher.

It is worth mentioning here that the district administration has installed new software to ensure the arrival of teachers at schools on time. The teachers have to send the SMS within 10 minutes of the opening of the school.

Ludhiana, August 23
The fate of more than 300 applicants for the stenography course hangs in the balance as the Language Department, Punjab, has not sent any positive communication for the continuation of the centre at Ludhiana.

The department has already decided to wind up the centre here, which provides free of cost education to 30 applicants every year.

The last date for the submission of applications for the general category students was August 20, while Scheduled Caste category students could apply till August 22.

But with the decision coming just two days before the last date of the submission of applications, the department has left several applicants in the lurch as they were not informed about the development.

It was only on August 20 and August 22, that more than 300 applicants visited the district-level centre of the Language Department at Punjabi Bhawan, wherein they were informed that the course had been discontinued at the centre.

The reason is attributed to the shortage of instructors.

Raman Kumar Sahota, District Language Officer, Ludhiana, said, “On the instructions of the Director of the Language Department, Punjab, classes for stenography and high-speed stenography for 2014-15 have been discontinued due to administrative reasons.”

“Earlier, the interview of applicants was slated for August 25 and August 27. But now the applicants should not come until further instructions. They should wait for the announcement of fresh dates. We don’t want them to face any harassment,” he added.

Meanwhile, the applicants and their parents have been making rounds of the district-level office of the Language Department. Sikandar Singh, an applicant’s brother, said, “On the one hand, there is unemployment and on the other, the state government is discontinuing such courses that can provide jobs to the youth.”

The centre at Ludhiana has been running these courses for the past more than 40 years.

The junior stenography course has 15 seats under the general category and 15 under the SC category. In the high-speed stenography course, there are a total of 15 seats, including both of the general and SC category. Students who pass the junior stenography course are admitted on the basis of merit (in all districts). 

Ludhiana, August 23
Assistant Town Planner (ATP), Monika Anand, has alleged that though bailable warrants were issued in her name by State Information Commissioner — during the first hearing of the case on March 23 — the then ATP, Rajinder Sharma, did not attend the court.

Anand, ATP of Zone B and D2, alleged that even during the second hearing on May 6, Sharma was not present at the court.

Anand said she was given additional charge of the office on July 8 but was unaware about the case and the information sought by the RTI applicant.

“The Public Information Officer Rajinder Sharma did not respond to State Information Commissioner Narinderjit Singh on all these hearings. Whereas I received the latest orders on August 19, after the date of hearing of the case. As such, I could not respond to the case on time. The former PIO, Rajinder Sharma, should be held responsible for the delay”, said Anand.

Bailable warrants were recently issued against Anand by the State Information Commission for not providing timely information to an RTI Activist. 

Ludhiana, August 23
In a joint rescue operation, the District Administration with the help of the Municipal Corporation, Police Department and a non-government organisation today rescued as many as 70 beggars from different places in the city. These included 59 men and 11 women.

The beggars were rescued from the Shri Durga Mata Mandir, Jagraon bridge, Bharat Nagar Chowk, Dandi Swami Mandir etc. They were taken to a night shelter at the Hambran Road.

Of the 70 beggars, 12 needed urgent medical assistance and were sent to the Lord Mahavir Civil Hospital.

Neeru Katyal, Additional Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation, and Assistant Town Planner Monika Anand also accompanied the rescue team.

Katyal said, “Legal action will be taken if they took to begging again.”

She said, “The Administration will help the beggars in the rehabilitation process.”

The raiding team caught 19 beggars from different places. Katyal said, “We decided to conduct a second raid at places adjoining their favourite haunts. We rescued 70 beggars.” More than 40 beggars were served meals by the Ann Jal Sewa Trust at the Lord Mahavir Civil Hospital, Ludhiana.

Ludhiana, August 23
To streamline the working conditions in all the four zones, Municipal Corporation Commissioner Pradeep Aggarwal has deputed a team of four officials, who will inspect zones independently for the next one month.

The random inspections by senior officials will help streamline things in the civic body, feels the Civic Body Chief.

Talking to The Tribune, Aggarwal said, “Till now, this practice was prevalent in the Deputy Commissioner’s office. This will help improve things. If regular inspections are conducted by the officials, other employees will also act in a more responsible manner. They will be more cautious regarding proper management of records, which currently is missing in the civic body,” said Aggarwal.

As per the MC Chief, all the four zones — A, B, C and D — will be inspected by officials, including Rishipal Singh, AS Sekhon, Ghanshyam Thori and Neeru Katyal, respectively.

These officials will independently check the offices in the four zones and if discrepancies 
are found, appropriate action will be taken against the erring officials/employees.

Lauding the step taken by the Commissioner, spokesperson of the Congress councillors, Parminder Mehta, said, “This move was the need of the hour. There is no maintenance of records. The clerks/staff are least bothered about important documents. Visitors/councillors are called time and again as they misplace important files/documents. There is no accountability. But now, the staff will ensure to maintain documents as inspections can be carried out any day, thereby inviting necessary action.”

“This will help to improve things in the Municipal Corporation to a large extent and fix accountability,” said Mehta.

Rishipal Singh, AS Sekhon, Ghanshyam Thori and Neeru Katyal will inspect the four zones — A, B, C and D. These officials will independently check the offices and if any discrepancies are found, appropriate action will be taken against the erring officials/employees. The move is aimed at streamlining things at the civic body and to ensure that records are maintained well. 

About 90 contestants competed in the final round. Seema Sood started the function with a prayer followed by a formal welcome by Ms Reena Kapoor. The panel of judges comprised Poonam Sharda and Dr. Rita Rai (Phase-I) and Gunjan Gumber and Mamta Bhatia (Phase-II). The young dancers put up an awe-inspiring show and different modes and shades of dance mesmerised the audience. The graceful moves of the dancers on rhythmic beats were indeed spectacular. The stage came alive with electrifying performances and colorful costumes and judges had a tough time deciding the best performers in each category. —TNS

Samrala, August 23
The police have arrested two persons, allegedly involved in drug-trafficking. They were arrested in Dabbi Bazar, Samrala. The two arrested youths were identified as Tejpal Singh Dhillon and Sanjeev Kumar, both residents of Samrala.

However, the driver of the car managed to escape. The driver was identified as Kinda of Hargana village. The car used in crime was bearing registration number HR-70B-0001. The police recovered 6 kg of opium from the accused. The value of recovered opium is said to be about Rs 30 lakh. The accused said they often brought opium from Madhya Pardesh, using vehicles bearing VIP numbers, and sold it in Punjab. They also revealed names of other smugglers involved in inter-state drug trafficking.

Ludhiana, August 23
Ludhiana players dominated the proceedings on the second day of the 60th Punjab State Inter District School Games being organised by the Punjab Education Department at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Punjab Agricultural University campus today.

In handball (boys U-19), Ludhiana scored a facile 74-3 win over Fazilka. In the girl’s section, city players toiled hard to outplay Faridkot 6-3.

In softball (Boys U-19), Ludhiana was victorious at 16-0.

Second day’s results: Handball (boys U-19)- Ferozepur bt Nawan Shahri 17-13, Faridkot bt Jalandhar 14-11, Muktsar bt Mohali 8-2, Ropar bt Tarn Taran 14-9, Patiala bt Muktsar 27-14, Sangrur bt Tarn Taran 16-4 and Moga bt Amritsar 19-16.

Handball (girls U-19): Ropar bt Sangrur 8-3, Amritsar bt Moga 6-1, Kairon wing, Tarn Taran bt Patiala 10-4.

Softball (boys U-19): Gurdaspur bt Fazilka 12-2, Mohali bt Tarn Taran 18-5, Patiala bt Bathinda 16-2, Sangrur bt Faridkot 20-4, Amritsar bt Muktsar 11-0 and Jalandhar bt Mohali 10-0.

Pranaav Jerry Chopra

Ludhiana, August 23
Pranaav Jerry Chopra of Ludhiana added another feather to his cap as he will represent the country in the Li-Ning-BWF World Badminton Championship-2014 to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark from August 25-31.

Pranaav has already established himself as a doubles player at the international circuit. He, recently spearheaded India’s campaign in the 20th Commonwealth Games held at Glasgow, Scotland.

He will pair up with Akshay Dewalkar from Maharashtra. The duo will play their first round match on August 25 against Yun Chian and Chun Li from China.

Other Indian players who have been selected for the championship include star shuttlers Saina Nehwal, Jwala Gutta, Ashwani Ponnapa and P Kashyap.

Pranaav started playing badminton at the age of 7 and has represented India in various international meets since 2007 in the sub junior and junior categories.

The Badminton Association of India (BAI), selected Pranaav for the elite group of players and he became the youngest Indian player at the age of 18 years to represent the nation in the World Badminton Championship.

Pranaav has represented the country in prestigious tournaments such as Thomas Cup, Sudhirman Cup, World Championship, besides Commonwealth Games.

Meanwhile, the Ludhiana Badminton Academy where Pranaav began as a novice a decade ago, wished him success at Denmark.

Ludhiana, August 23
Fine bowling by Ludhiana skipper Nikhil Chaudhary and Hartejasvi Kapoor enabled Ludhiana to gain a vital lead of 39 runs against Kapurthala on the second day of the Punjab State Inter District Cricket Tournament (U-19) for the Dhruv Pandove Trophy being played at PAU grounds today.

The hosts won the toss and decided to bat first. Their first innings folded at 130 runs after 73 overs. The main contributors were Kashish and Deepin Chitkara who scored 40 and 17 runs, respectively.

For the visitors, Karan Bhargav claimed four wickets after conceding 41 runs.

Kapurthala batsmen scored 91 runs in 48.1 overs. Except for Danish Mehta and Yudhveer Singh, no other batsman could stay at the wicket for long. Danish made 40 runs, while Singh scored 16.

For Ludhiana, Nikhil Chaudhary and Hatejasvi shared the bowling honours. Nikhil chipped in with four wickets for 34 runs, while Hartejasvi grabbed three wickets for 31 runs.