Ludhiana, December 9
The infighting among the ruling SAD councillors is all set to intesify further with an MC official today making a complaint against SAD councillor Simarjit Singh Bains for obstructing demolition drive at Dabba road yesterday. It is not common for a ruling party to call for police action against its own party leaders, elected by the public to the MC.

Bains, once a hot contender for the post of the mayor, had stunned his party leaders more than any one else by making allegations against the commissioner Vikas Pratap openly in the MC general house a few days ago.

In what is termed as a retaliation, MC assistant town planner H S Ghai lodged a complaint with the Focal Point police today calling for action against Bains and two other MC councillors, including Jagbir Singh, for allegedly obstructing a demolition drive at Dabba road yesterday.

The police has so far lodged a DDR only on the complaint with the sources saying that the complaint was not cognizable. The complaint obviously could not have been made without clearance by the MC commissioner Vikas Pratap and the mayor Hakam Singh Giaspura.

Sources reveal that Giaspura, who was facing more challenegs to his seat within the party than from the opposition, is going all out against Bains now after the young councillor courted controversy by using the MC general house for levelling corruption allegations instead of using the party forum for this.

Sources said the police has played it safe by not registering an FIR immediately as the complaint was clearly an outcome of political upmanship. The sources said unless a clearance from the top police brass or political leadership was made, no FIR would be lodged.

Ludhiana, December 9
Having levelled unsubstantiated charges of corruption against the commissioner of municipal Corporation (MC) in the general house meeting on Friday, the SAD councillor Simarjit Singh Bains is finding himself almost isolated, with the senior officials as also the staff of the civic body mounting pressure for his disqualification and taking other steps to restrain such conduct of the elected representatives in future.

Highly placed sources in the SAD here said that in making such an open attack on the MC chief without proof, Bains had bitten more than he could chew. The councillor, a relatively new entrant to the fold of SAD, had also overestimated his support base of some half a dozen councillors, who failed to stand by him when allegations made by Bains attracted an angry reaction from all political parties, including mayor Hakam Singh Giaspura, also from SAD, in the house meeting.

That the MC top brass will not take the things lying down from a councillor, who did not apparently enjoy the full support of his own party, was proved when some "selective" demolitions were carried out on Daba Road, the stronghold of Bains, on Saturday and a few officers of C zone of the MC, reportedly close to the councillor, were also shifted.

The MC employees, most of whom had been at the receiving end from Bains, known for his bullying tactics, have stood with their senior-most officer. A meeting of the officers and staff members of the civic body held here last evening, made a unanimous demand from the government to initiate action against the councillor and remove him from his post for violating the sanctity of the MC house.

Ludhiana, December 9
A year after an old couple, having a live-in relationship, was found brutally murdered in an abandoned rice mill in Machiwara, the Khanna police is groping in the dark to trace the killers.

The couple, Amarjeet Singh and the woman in late 60s, were found dead on December 6 with their heads smashed with a stone in a dilapidated room of the rice mill where they lived. The man worked as a night watchman. The woman added to the income by rearing cattle and selling their milk and cow dung.

Khanna police sources said they worked on several theories, including robbery, enmity initially. Later, they got information that the woman had a suspected shady past and she was still in touch with some notorious persons. She was found semi-naked.

However, the lead could not be developed. Cops got busy with elections after which there were some frequent transfers that delayed the investigation work. Gradually, the case went into the cold storage.

Ali Hussain, a milkman of nearby village Bhattian, was the first to spot the bodies. He told the police that the man had gone out of station to attend marriage of his granddaughter. On December 6 morning, he went to the mill after a few days only to come across the bodies. He described it as a ghastly sight.

Amarjeet Singh Samrala, owner of the Punjab Rice Mill, had told the police the man had been old and serving as chowkidar in the mill for the last three years. He also disclosed that the old lady was a widow and had been living with old man since 1999.

There were no clothes on the lower half of the bodies suggesting the couple was sexually assaulted or forced to act on the dictates of the killers.

The post-mortem examination, however, did not reveal any such thing leaving the cops more confused.

Samrala, December 9
Cutting party lines, activists of various political and social organisations of the area have started demanding upgradation of local subdivision to the district level.

A delegation of office-bearers of these organisations sent a memorandum to the government through local SDM yesterday demanding establishment of district level offices at the town.

According to Arvinder Pal Singh, SVP SAD, office-bearers and activists of various political and social organisations, had presented a memorandum to the SDM at his office.

The delegation, led by Jagjiwan Singh Khirnia, MLA, Samrala, and a senior SAD leader demanded that the subdivision should be upgraded to the district level. Former Congress legislator Amrik Singh Dhillon and Balbir Singh Rajjewal, a BKU leader, accompanied the delegation.

Though earlier, leaders of different political parties had been demanding formation of district here, senior leaders of Congress and party in regime joined hands to impress upon the Chief Minister to expedite process for upgrading the present status of the town.

The leaders alleged that the successive governments had been ignoring demands of the residents till now. Claiming that the Samrala was one of the oldest subdivisions, the leaders claimed that residents of Machhiwara and Khamanon segments would benefit from the reorganisation. At present more than 100 villages of the area, besides some town were being governed from Ludhiana.

Referring to information received from residents, the leaders stated that hundred of them had to travel more than 70 km distance to get official works done at Ludhiana. As Samrala was situated in the centre of the area, nobody would be required to travel more than 30 km distance, they claimed.

Ludhiana, December 9
While holding Hutchison Essar (Hutch now Vodafone) guilty for deficient services, the District Consumer Forum has directed the company to pay a compensation of Rs 5,000 to a customer for the mental agony and harassment on account of ill services.

The directions were issued on a complaint by Vijay Kumar who stated that he had a Hutch connection and deposited the security amount of Rs 1,000 for activating the roaming during his visit to Gujarat but the company had failed to activate the roaming facility.

Forum president and members also directed the Hutchison Essar to refund the security amount Rs 1000, deposited by the complainant for roaming purpose.

The complainant claimed that he had a mobile connection in his name and he deposited Rs 1,000 on September 12,2006, as security for availing the roaming facility as he had to visit to Gujarat.

Vijay further claimed that when he reached Gujarat, th company did not provide him the roaming facility and even his incoming and outgoing calls were also barred. When he contacted the local office of the company at Vadodara, it was intimated that roaming facility was not provided to him.

After hearing the arguments of the complainant, forum president A S Narula, its members, Puja Dewan and Daljeet Singh Bakshi, stated that it was established that the mobile company failed to provide roaming facility, even after receiving Rs 1000 as security from the consumer, which established the deficiency of services by the respondent company.

Ludhiana, December 9
Rich tributes were paid to the late Lala Lajpat Rai, former MP and senior BJP leader, at a ‘shardhanjali samaroh’, organised on the occasion of the late leader’s Kirya, here today. A large number of people cutting across social and political lines thronged the ‘shardhanjali samaroh’ to pay their tributes to the great leader.

Paying tributes, Parkash Singh Badal, Chief Minister, Punjab, said Lala Lajpat Rai was a great leader with a broad vision, who had served the country on a number of fronts like politics, education, religion, and social service. He said Lalaji as member, Rajya Sabha, had strongly advocated for the interests of the state in Parliament.

Badal added that Lalaji had been a formidable force to strengthen the understanding between the SAD and the BJP and in many a crisis, Lalaji had played a vital role in overcoming adverse situations. He said with his demise, a big vacuum had been created in the state policy.

Prof Rajinder Bhandari, state president of the BJP, said Lala Lajpat Rai was a multifaceted personality, who had served the people all his life.

He said Lalaji had made a substantial contribution in social, education and political fields and had been associated with many educational and religious institutions and was instrumental in setting up of Law College of Panjab University in Ludhiana.

Behan Kiran Ghai, national secretary, BJP, said Lalaji was a far-sighted leader, who had served the people with full dedication and played a vital role in shaping the policies of the BJP at national level.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, December 9
Accusing the police of acting at the behest of politicians, activists and office-bearers of the Sant Sipahi Dal, a human rights organisation, have called upon the functionaries of various social and political organisations to impress upon the government to reform the Police Act.

They stressed that the security forces and the police should either be free to act or be under the direct control of judiciary.

While addressing a meeting convened on account World Human Rights Day, that falls on Monday, Samsher Singh Jagera, president of the organisation, alleged that political leaders, irrespective of their allegiance, had been 'using' the police to settle scores with their political rivals.

He called upon the office-bearers of various political and social organisations to impress upon the state government to bring amendments in existing rules of the Police Act.

"It has been observed that police officials have been violating rules to please leaders of parties, owing allegiance to the ruling group. Investigations have proved that innocent persons have been harassed at the instance of politicians," maintained Jagera, adding that he was also victimised at the instance of former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh during the Congress regime.

Prof Amarjit Singh Sidhu, coordinator of the organisation, claimed that prominent lawyers, educationists and retired government officials had offered to fight for the cause of innocent persons facing victimisation. G S Grewal, former Advocate- General, Punjab, and B S Verma, former Chief Justice of India, would supervise such 
cases at Chandigarh and New Delhi. 

Ludhiana, December 9
Migrant labourers engaged in agricultural operations in Punjab have approximately earned about Rs 1,142 crores during 2006-07. But out of these, about 27 per cent was utilised on expenditures incurred in the state and about 73 per cent were remitted to their native states. The total remittances during 2006-07 were estimated to be about Rs 829 crore. This has been revealed in a study conducted by M.S.Sidhu, A.S. Joshi and Inderpreet Kaur of the department of economics and sociology, Punjab Agricultural University. The study pertains to migrant agricultural labourers in the state.

The study has pointed out that the increasing inflow of labour in the agriculture sector has far reaching consequences. The positive side is that the labourers improve their economic standard, acquire new skills and supply labour to meet ever-increasing demand. Another consequence of such migration may emanate from the process of accumulation of migrant groups when they return home. They may find themselves imbibed with new cultural traits from the region from where they migrated. Besides, it has much wider policy implications in the context of land reforms in progress and modernisation of the agriculture in the country.

Interesting aspect of the study was that a few migrants in the rural areas have adopted state’s social customs and changed their food habits. A large number of migrant labours have not only started using “Singh” after their name but also started wearing “karas” (iron bangles), a religious symbol of Sikhs, in their right arm. Before migrating to the state, their dress used to be “dhoti” and “kurta”. But now, under the influence of society, they have started wearing “pajama” and “kameez”. Their women folks prefer “salwar and kameez.” It has been pointed out in the study that there has been stagnation in the state agriculture as a result of which the demand for the labour has not increased much during the past decade. Moreover, the machanisation of agriculture particularly use of combine harvesters and threshing of paddy and wheat has replaced the labour on a large scale. This has also resulted in slowing down of the migrant agricultural labourers’ wages from 1995-96 and 2006-07.

The study has found that due to higher employment opportunities in the state, about 60 per cent of migrant agricultural labourers were keen on permanently settling in Punjab. During 1983-84 when militancy was at its peak in the state only 11 per cent wanted to settle here. The migrants found that the caste system was not so rigid in the state thus they were willing to permanently settle here. On the other hand, the caste system happens to be very rigid in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and labourers don’t get due respect there. The Punjabi society is more liberal and advanced in this regard. Due to this, migrants were willing to settle in the state due to the socio-economic reasons.

Regarding their savings, the study says that 58 per cent of labourers saved between Rs 9,000 to Rs 16,500 during 2006-07. Only 5 per cent was able to save less than Rs 1,500 per annum and 2 per cent saved between Rs 1,500 and Rs 3,000 per annum. About 1 per cent was able to save between Rs 3,000 to Rs 6,000 and 19 per cent between Rs 18000 and Rs 22,500, about 2 per cent saved Rs 24,000 and above. Small savings were with those who were coming on seasonal basis and their income was less than that of the casually and permanently employed labour.

The local labour did not view favorably the influx of the migrants as they feel that they have depressed their wages and employment opportunities. 

Khamano, December 9
Lok Sabha deputy speaker Charanjeet Singh Atwal, BKU president Balvir Singh Rajewal, Samrala MLA Jagjivan Singh Khirnia and former MLA Amrik Singh Dhillon paid rich tributes to P.S. Batra on the occasion of his bhog ceremony at Dana Mandi, Samrala, today. Batra had died in a road accident at Machhiwara.

While addressing the gathering people appreciated his contribution towards society. Koom Kalan MLA Isher Singh Meharwan, EX. M.L.A. Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal, Kamaljit Rattan, adviser Reliance group, S.P. Jagdish Singh Kahlon and a few other prominent personalities were also present on the occasion. A large number of reporters from Samrala, Khamano, Machhiwara, Kohara and Khanna and even Chandigarh were present on the occasion.

Punjabi Tribune editor G.S.Sidhu Damdami, The Tribune’s associated editor Nirmal Singh Sandhu, chief reporter Amarjeet Singh Thind, former Pradesh Congress president Shamsher Singh Dullo also paid tributes to the departed soul.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, December 9
The Raikot police has booked two persons, including a crime prevention society activist of Sangrur, under various sections of the IPC for allegedly attempting to extort money from a municipal council official.

One of the accused was arrested from Hari Singh Nalwa Chowk yesterday. Though the accused, besides posing as an activist of the All-India Crime Prevention Society, claimed to be working for the CID, the police was yet to verify their claims.

Paramjit Singh Dhiman of Noor Pura Mohalla, Mehlan Road, Sangrur, and Nahar Singh of Bir village in Malerkotla subdivision were booked for allegedly blackmailing and attempting to extort money from Niranjan Kumar Sharma, an official posted at municipal council Raikot.

While Dhiman was arrested by a police party led by Gurdial Singh SHO, Nahar Singh was missing.

According to an FIR registered on the statement of Niranajan Kumar Sharma, accountant, MC Raikot, Dhiman had introduced himself as an official of CID and an office-bearer of the All-India Crime Prevention Society, Sangrur. He along with Nahar Singh had come to him on November 25 and told him that some persons had complained against him. But instead of furnishing details about either the complaint or the complainant, they started demanding Rs 1.5 lakh to hush up the matter. The suspects had also threatened to submit a report that Niranjan had been working as a travel agent.

However, Niranjan Sharma declined to succumb to the pressure of the duo and told them that they could submit the report.

Though Sharma had conceived that the "CID official" might have come after receiving a false complaint, he later became suspicious about their identity when they continued calling on him and insisted on "hushing up the serious complaint". He then reported the matter to Narinder Pal Singh, DSP, who directed Gurdial Singh, SHO, to do the needful.

Ultimately Niranjan Sharma, under advice of police officials, pretended to have agreed to the offer of the suspects. "When Dhiman came to receive 'money' from Sharma at Hari Singh Nalwa Chowk yesterday, our team nabbed him," said Gurdial Singh, adding that Nahar Singh had remained away from the scene.

Investigations revealed that the suspects had targeted Niranajan Kumar at the instance of one of his neighbours. "One of my neighbours who had a dispute with me had instigated them to extort money from me. But as I had never done something against the norms, I took a stand and got them booked," said Niranjan. 

Ludhiana, December 9
After the tremendous success of its flagship store in Ludhiana, Sundri Apparels has opened the showroom for fairer sex in the city.

Style-conscious women in the city were already buying the finest of Indo and ethnic wear of the Vasari brand from other outlets, including leading chains of departmental stores and having been totally taken in by the exquisite styling, detailed craftsmanship and impeccable finish of the garments they now wished to indulge their fashion fantasy on a grander scale. Sundri Apparels obliged with an exclusive showroom to pamper and delight the women.

Ludhiana, December 9
The Rotary Club, Midtown Ludhiana, in association with Top Careers and You, organised a CBSE mock test (mathematics) for Class X students at BCM Arya Model School, Shastri Nagar, here today.

About 800 students from top schools of the city and its suburbs took part in this brainstorming exercise. Earlier, on December 2, a similar test was conducted in science. The students came from as far as Khanna, Phillaur and Jagraon to take these tests.

This year there is lot of apprehensions and anxiety in the minds of students due to the change in curriculum and syllabi for CBSE papers. It is an endeavour to make the students feel comfortable before they sit for their finals in March.

“These mock tests would go a long way in boosting the confidence of students because they got much-needed exposure to the actual test conditions,” said TCY project manager (STEPS),” Viji Raj said.

Ludhiana, December 9
Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School,BRS Nagar, organised a fete on the school premises today for raising the funds for helping the underprivileged and the poor children.

The fete was inaugurated by director Father Davis and principal Sister Sobel.The whole school wore a festive look with a few stalls decorated with charts and buntings.

A large number of people took part in tambola and fun games. Joy rides were an added attraction. Stalls with eatables like Chinese, South Indian, Amritsari naan, pizzas were thronged by one and all. A lucky draw was taken out at 4.30 p.m.The winners were awarded prizes like LCD TV, split AC, digital camera,food processor and home theatre.

Ludhiana, December 9
Ryan International School, Ludhiana, started their annual night camps keeping in mind the necessity of providing leisurely stress-free moments. The camps were conducted From December 7 to December 9. The first phase had tiny tots between four to five years and the second phase had senior children. Each day, the camp started with prayers, a confirmed ritual at Ryan School, followed by a conglomeration of adventure activities, games, melodious enchanting music, all committed to providing an apt environment enhancing the leadership skills, team spirit, time management and adventure skills, comprising a host of activities like commando crawl, tent pitching, zorbing, jumarin, Burma bridge, trust fall, river crossing, hopscotch, Tarzan swing, rope ladder climbing.

The campers enjoyed the funfilled activities in the presence of experienced professionals. Principal Jaishree Gupta said such adventurous activities and camps would help in bringing about positive changes in life be it physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, December 9
Accusing the district administration of acting against the interests of ailing humanity and practitioners of alternative systems of medicine, the homoeopathic doctors of Sangrur district have urged the Chief Minister to impress upon the deputy commissioner to restore about 12 Red Cross dispensaries that had been closed two years ago.

In a communiqué addressed to Parkash Singh Badal, CM, Punjab, doctors led by Dr Bhupinder Singh have alleged that the administration had acted against the interests of ailing humanity by closing at least 12 dispensaries about two years ago. They have urged the CM to impress upon the deputy commissioner, Sangrur, to expedite the procedure to reopen these dispensaries immediately.

According to Dr Bhupinder Singh, the administration had opened 12 homoeopathic dispensaries under the aegis of the district Red Cross Society in 1988. Besides providing cheaper and more effective treatment to residents of about 50 villages of the district, the dispensaries provided jobs to at least some homoeopathic doctors and paramedical staff .

The Red Cross homoeopathic dispensaries at Rajindra Puri, Gurbaxpura, Nadam Pur, Mehal Kalan, Bhotna Kalan and Sheron villages were reported to have functioned successfully. A large number of patients, suffering from chronic diseases, made use of the expertise of homoeopathic doctors for about 17 years. But the administration suspended these services without assigning any reason about two years ago.

The doctors said the equipment and material provided by the Red Cross Society were still lying at these dispensaries and they were hoping to receive orders to restore the services. Disappointed over the delaying tactics of the successive chairmen of the society, these doctors have now urged the Chief Minister to intervene in the matter and impress upon the administration to expedite the process to restart the dispensaries.

"Though we were not being paid full salary, the jobs provided means of livelihood to us which were withdrawn without assigning any reason. Now when we have become overage for applying for service, our future has become dark," argued Dr Bhupinder Singh. 

Ludhiana, December 9
As part of its social welfare services, Christian Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) organised a medical camp for the members of Lions Club. The camp was conducted by the eye and dental departments where all the attending club members were examined for various ailments.

The dental team, comprising Dr Ravinder Kaur and Dr Reshma Sood, provided tips for oral health care for better teeth, in addition to conducting thorough dental check-ups and rendering follow-up advice.

The ophthalmology team of Dr Rupali Chopra and Dr Amit Austin examined the club members and prescribed medicines. The doctors also examined the eye sight of patients, and accordingly recommended spectacles for correcting vision problems.

Many laboratory tests like HB, RBS, cholesterol level and blood urea were also performed free of cost for the club members.

Over 125 club members availed themselves of these medical check-up services at the camp. Lauding this initiative, K.K Bagai, president, Pawan Goel, secretary, and Bhushan Thakral, treasurer, expressed their appreciation for the quality services rendered by the CMCH.

Dr John Pramod, director of CMCH, in his message, spoke on the commitment of the institution towards providing quality health services in this area. 

Ludhiana, December 9
The inaugural match of the XI All-India Mohinder Partap Singh Grewal Women's Hockey Tournament played between Dhanoa XI, Punjab, and Sports Authority of India (SAI), North (Sonepat) here today at Prithipal Singh Astroturf Stadium of Punjab Agricultural University ended in a 2-2 draw. The two teams were tied one-all at half time.

After wasting scoring opportunities in the initial moments, SAI eves drew the first blood in the 8th minute of the encounter through a field goal scored by Nehal Kaur.

However, their joys were shortlived as in the very next minute, Dhanoa XI restored parity. Sapna Saini, student of Shaheed Sukhdev Thapar Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Bharat Nagar Chowk, Ludhiana, sounded the board to level the score.

Stunned at this reverse, SAI players went all out to gain the lead. They exhibited mobility and depth in their attacks but their repeated attacks were well thwrated away by the Dhanoa XI defenders.

In the second half, Dhanoa XI started the proceedings with vigour, showing better coordination and made concerted attempts. On a couple of occasions, they managed to pierce through SAI defence but fumbled at goal mouth.

Dhanoa XI's relentless attacks finally yielded result in the 42nd minute. Sapna Saini successfully convereted a penalty corner to put her side ahead (2-1). They forced three more penalty corners in quick succession, however, failed to capitalise on these chances.

Undeterred by the lead, SAI girls continued to attack rivals' territory and eventually scored the equaliser in the 68th minute through Nehal Kaur.

Earlier, chief commssioner of Income Tax M S Rai inaugurated the the tournament in which eight teams are taking part.

Monday's fixtures: Northern Eastern Railway, Goarkhpur vs SAI, North at 9 am; Northern Railway, Delhi vs Dhanoa XI, Punjab at 10.30 am; Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala vs Madhya Pradesh Academy, Gwalior at 12 noon and South Eastern Railway, Kolkata vs Western Railway, Mumbai at 2.00 pm.

Ludhiana, December 9
With an NRI kabaddi organisation paying over 10-time fee to the sports department for booking Guru Nanak Stadium for a kabaddi tournament, the football fans of the city and Phagwara will miss the most eagerly awaited encounter of the ONGC, Indian Professional National Football League (IPNFL) between defending champions Dempo Football Club and Runner-Up JCT to be played on December 16.

The match will be played at Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi, instead of Guru Nanak Stadium, which will host a kabaddi tournament.

The decision has came as a blow for the football fans of the city as after the 3-0 drubbing to Churchill Brother at Guru Nanak Stadium yesterday, they were eagerly waiting for some action.

This is for the second time since the beginning of the National Football League that the host JCT has to search for another venue to organise a football match. Earlier it was in 2002 that the match was shifted to some other venue due to elections.

Shivtar Singh Bajwa, president, Ludhiana Football Association, said, "The All-India Football Federation (AIFF) got late in releasing the match fixture. In the meantime, kabaddi organisers booked the stadium. However, I am feeling sad that the host city will miss the most eagerly awaited encounter of the season."

On the other hand, the sports fraternity has sought a ban on organising the kabaddi tournament and a cultural programme at Guru Nanak Stadium.

According to Pargat Singh, director of Sports Punjab, the department charges Rs 1 lakh per day for organising a kabaddi tournament.

Teja Singh Dhaliwal, secretary, Punjab Basketball Association, said, "What kind of sports NRIs are promoting by organising an unrecognasied kabaddi match and cultural event at the stadium. Such tournaments not only ruin the ground and sport infrastructure but people also create a lot of nuisance in the stadium. On December 2 last year, the stadium was littred with bottles and leftovers after one such event there by causing inconvenience to the players who practise in the stadium."

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, during his previous regime, gave strict instructions to the Sports Department to not organise any cultural event in the sports stadium. A letter to this effect was also sent to the sports department in 1997.