Ludhiana, June 25
The Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted to look into the fake stamp paper scam, has been dissolved and SIT, constituted to look into tehsildar assault case, has been entrusted with investigations into the fake stamp paper scam in the state.

New SIT, which was formed on Tuesday comprising SP-D, Jalandhar, P.S. Parmar, DSP, Phillaur, Sandeep Sharma and DSP (Rural), Parampal Singh and DIG, Ludhiana Range, Dr Sharad Satya Chauhan, was asked to supervise the investigations.

The team has also been asked to investigate the entire scam that is said to run into crores.

This was stated today by Revenue Minister Ajit Singh Kohar, who said the DIG's team has already started investigations into the case.

He said nobody would be spared and all accused would be brought to book.

Earlier, SIT was constituted under the leadership of the SP, City-I, Harsh Bansal, and was accused of not doing anything to bust the scam.

It had just nominated a typist, Jyoti, into the FIR against a prime accused Ravinderpal. It could not reach any conclusion.

Though Major Benipal had named an Akali leader's son to be involved in the racket, he was not booked. Interestingly, while the police could not book him, he had applied for an anticipatory bail in a local court.

Major Benipal had alleged that even after his complaint, SIT had failed to record his statement. Major Benipal, who is Sub-Registrar, Ludhiana (Central), caught hold of fake stamp papers of denomination Rs 20,000 each worth Rs 1.20 lakh on a single day in May. Later in first week of June also, Major Benipal caught two fake stamp papers of Rs 5,000 each.

The fake papers, identified as coloured xerox of originals by Major, were submitted to him by different private parties, who wanted their revenue documents registered. These were incidentally supplied by same stamp vendor Ravinder Pal and involvement of an Akali leader's son was also established by the tehsildar.

Major Benipal confiscated the papers and reported the matter to Deputy Commissioner Vikas Garg immediately. He even submitted a list of persons, who formed a chain of racket. He was asked to sit on the scam till elections as the government machinery was busy preparing for the democratic process.

Ludhiana, June 25
Municipal Commissioner GS Ghuman today held surprise checks on tubewells and found irregularities, including non-functioning of tubewells and their rooms being given for residential purposes.

The Commissioner, along with his team comprising SDOs, XENs and O&M cell in charge Zonal Commissioner BK Gupta, chose tubewells randomly from zone C and D. Out of the six tubewells inspected by him, only three were found in working condition.

However, water pumped out from these failed the chlorination test conducted by MC officials. Various tubewells inspected were at Pratap Chowk, Gill Road, Model Gram, Dholewal and Midda Chowk. Most of them were found to be operated by roadside vendors and migrant labourers residing in it.

The biggest setback was tubewell at Dholewal that had two rooms. The room, where the main equipment were installed, was being used for living by a migrant labourer Rakesh. He was living with his wife and two kids and using power supply of the tubewell for the past three years.

The room also had a cot, kitchen and table fan as luxuries.

The woman, who was found along with her two kids, revealed that they had been paying Rs 500 as rent for the room. Contrary to her statement, the MC officials tried to protect themselves stating that the room was being used by a chowkidar Ram Chander, but the commissioner was disappointed.

Angry with his officials, the Commissioner said, "Action will be taken against both SDOs and contractor, Abana Builders. No one will be spared for such gross irregularity where lives of thousands of people are at stake." He directed the officers to conduct daily checks on these tubewells and he would continue with his surprise visits.

Ludhiana, June 25
In a shocking twist to the murder case of a woman constable here, the son of the deceased was today booked by the police for allegedly killing his mother.

Sunny Shergill, son of slain constable Neelam Rani, and three others, including a woman, have been booked for her murder.

Interestingly, Sunny was the complainant in the case and had alleged that Neelam’s paternal uncle Balwinder Singh had stabbed his mother, who was a constable with the Punjab Home Guards.

However, Kuldeep Singh, SHO of division No. 4, spotted certain flaws in Sunny’s statement that ultimately led to the cracking of the case.

“The fact that a drunken Balwinder Singh could stab Neelam, a well-built woman constable, made me suspicious,” said Kuldeep Singh.

The unfolding of the sequence of events shocked the cops. Kuldeep Singh said when Sunny (17) was questioned by the police, he admitted that he, along with others, had killed his mother as he wanted to grab the entire property.

In order to fulfil his lust for wealth, he hatched a plan and included Happy, Ricky and Kiran Balla in the murder plot and offered them Rs 1 lakh.

As the murder mystery started to unfold, more skeletons started tumbling out of the closet. Neelam, who had remarried Kulwinder Singh a year ago, was seven months pregnant.

Besides, fixed deposits worth Rs 16 lakh, Neelam had properties worth crores in her name. According to the police, huge property and cash was the bone of contention between the mother and son, which led to frequent fights between them.

Sunny, who was eyeing the entire property, was miffed when his mother got pregnant. It is learnt that Neelam was in the process of disowning her son from the property.

The police claimed that the paternal uncle of the deceased Balwinder Singh joined hands with Sunny to grab a share in her property. According to SHO Kuldeep Singh, Sunny and his accomplices have been arrested by the police.

Ludhiana, June 25
In a major development, a city resident has become the first student to return from Australia, after allegedly being racially abused by students at the Box Hill Institute of TAFE in Box Hill Melbourne.

Talking exclusively to The Tribune, Jupinder Singh Walia, a student of commercial cookery, thanked the Indian media and the government for highlighting in the issue.

He said, “All is not well there, we are being racially abused for just everything. The classrooms are no different. Some teachers of mine used to make stinging remarks at me and other Indian students.”

Regretting his decision to study in Australia, Jupinder Singh said, “I have spent more than Rs 20 lakh on my studies, and I am telling you honestly it was not a wise decision. I am feeling that I have paid the fees for getting humiliated for two years.”

Narrating the incident that took place just four days before he was scheduled to return to India, Jupinder got emotionally charged, “It was like last nail in the coffin, and I decided that I will not live in this county anymore.” Jupinder, who is 6 ft tall, found himself helpless in front of four students of the automotive department who were physically far stronger than him. They stopped him and started ragging him.

“They asked me whether I was Indian, to which I said yes. On this, one of the students abused me and said what you think we are, colourblind. Don’t we know? What’s the colour of Dhoni (M.S. Dhoni, captain of the Indian cricket team),” Jupinder said.

It was only after his classmates arrived on the scene that he was let off by the youths.

He said tough competition posed by the Indians coupled with recession is the real reason behind the spurt of attacks in the recent past. “Indians are far more hardworking people than their counterparts. This has given them a run for their money. You can easily spot an Indian cab driver being beaten up anyday.”

He alleged that cops are the last ones to reach for the help of Indians. He said the Indian students are not raising voice against such attacks, as they are more inclined towards taking a permanent residency (PR). As a majority of Punjabis have gone to study in Australia have either taken huge loans or sold off their land. So returning to India is not an option for them. “I would suggest except going to Australia, go anywhere, you are safe,” said Jupinder.

Ludhiana, June 25
The town planning and the tehbazari wings of the Municipal Corporation today held an anti-encroachment drive and razed more than 100 shanties from different parts of the city.

Giving details, ATP Ramesh Chabbra said: “The drive started from Gyan Singh area near Rarewal Market, where around 50 kiosks were removed. Similarly, we went to different parts of the city like the Dugri Road, the Feroze Gandhi Market, etc, and razed other shanties that had encroached upon either roads or the MC land.” Encroachments from the green belt were also removed, he added.

Tehbazari superintendent Naveen Malhotra said, “The roadside encroachments like dhabas, vegetable and fruit vendors were removed by us on the orders of the municipal commissioner. Though we faced a little resistance, but we managed everything well. Dugri railway line, Dhyan Singh Complex and roadside on way to Bharat Nagar Chowk were some of the sites where illegal kiosks were removed.”

This was the second big anti-encroachment drive carried out by the MC in just three days.

Ludhiana, June 25
Old things are not left easily. Additional Deputy Commissioner (G) Kuldeep Singh seems to believe in the statement truly.

It has been more than four months since the official joined the district administration as ADC (G), but till date he has been using the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation vehicle.

Prior to his posting in the administration, he was posted as Joint Commissioner in the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation and was allotted a white Ambassador number (PB10 BZ 0127). However, the official has failed to return the civic body's vehicle.

The car with blue-beacon could be witnessed on roads and parked in the mini-secretariat often and it seems that neither the official nor the civic body officials have tried to take up the matter seriously.

Though his official service in the Municipal Corporation spanned for just six to seven months, his love for the vehicle seemed to have become so intense that he has not left his blue-beaconed VIP Ambassador car.

Interestingly, officials from the Municipal Corporation till date have not gathered courage to ask Kuldeep Singh to return the vehicle as he has been promoted. Besides, they didn't even try to inform about the MC vehicle being used by the ADC to the Municipal Commissioner G.S. Ghuman.

"Even the driver is an employee of the municipal corporation and his salary is being paid by the civic body," said senior officials requesting anonymity. They said, "Earlier it used to be residences which were not to left by the government officials easily, and now it's the vehicles." They added that the vehicles in the Municipal Corporation are already limited and if the car is returned, those who had been waiting for long to get an official car could be benefited.

Despite repeated attempts, ADC (G) Kuldeep Singh could not be contacted.

Ludhiana, June 25
The Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) orders of shutting down of all furnaces and re-rolling mills for 12 hours from June 25 to July 2 has come as a jolt to the industry.

Condemning the step-motherly treatment meted out to them by the state government, the industrialists feel that with this blackout order, labour in the steel industry will be affected and the steel user industry like cycle parts, engineering goods and motor parts industry will also suffer huge losses.

Addressing a press conference here today, K.K. Garg, president of the Induction Furnace Association of North India and Ludhiana Steel Re-rolling Mills Association said in the absence of raw material, the steel user industry will have to bring raw material from other states at exorbitant rates.

Garg said these orders would directly or indirectly affect 5 lakh workers. Also, there were many engineering and textile units in Punjab which were using electricity between 1 MW and 10 MW which were never covered for power cut along with the steel industry.

“Every year the steel industry is subjected to step-motherly treatment, resulting in losses running into crores,” rued Garg, adding that this could be avoided by rationalising the power cut to all sectors instead of targeting the steel industry alone.

The association has urged the Chief Minister to intervene and give minimum possible power to the steel sector to adjust labour and also avoid financial losses.

Ludhiana, June 25
A city hospital - Ludhiana Mediciti Hospital - in collaboration with the Smile Train International, an NGO, is offering surgical correction for cleft lip and cleft palate free of cost.

The surgeries, for which registration is open, will be performed by plastic surgeon Dr Rahul Tandon and his team. For the corrective surgery, there will be no procedure charges, hospital stay or nursing charges.

Besides, medicines, diagnostic tests and diet will be provided free of cost to the patients.

A hospital release said the patients of cleft lip, a congenital deformity, were exposed to the risks of breathing disorders, speech and voice problems along with adverse effect on the teeth.

The deformity of face was so disturbing for the affected kids and their parents that many of them went into depression, or else become superstitious about the problem.

A majority of people, who had kids with cleft lip or cleft palate, did not have the idea that the defect could be surgically corrected, and some of those who know about the surgical treatment did not go for the same due to its prohibitive cost.

Ludhiana, June 25
It was a moment of joy for children, learning the traditional arts, during a summer camp under way at Punjab Bhavan when famous Punjabi folk singer Pammi Bai visited the camp to give some useful tips on folk music and dance.

Pammi Bai, known as the king of folk music, was also enthralled to see children close to their folk music and curious in learning it. The summer camp is being held by the Punjab Culture Society to impart training for folk dance like giddha, bhangra, music, language and turban tying.

Pammi Bai said it was a pleasant surprise to see youngsters interested in the folk arts and learning these. "The young generation is getting attracted towards the western culture and forgetting their own rich culture. We should take the positive sides of their culture and at the same side should not forget our own culture which has abundance in its store," he said.

Ravinder Ranguwal, who is the in charge of the camp, added that this camp was an annual feature of the Punjab Culture Society and every year they trained youths in giddha and bhangra. "Apart from the singing and dancing, turban-tying classes are also held," he added.

Ludhiana, June 25
Fire broke out at Rajan Traders in New Model Town here today, reducing material worth thousands to ashes.

However, no loss of life was reported.

Officials from the fire department revealed that three fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flames. They added that around 200 mattresses burnt.

They suspected a spark produced by a generator as cause of the fire as the it was kept on the same floor.

However, the building owner claimed that short-circuit in power cables had caused fire.

According to information, the building owner used to rent out mattresses and sell disposable utencils.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, June 25
Encroachment on common land, including the government land, continues unabated, particularly by farmers of the area, with the authorities turning a blind eye to the menace.

Large number of drains, which had been constructed in the 60s to check waterlogging and floods, and sides of link roads have been encroached upon by farmers. A major part of the land that was once surrendered by farmers of villages falling under Sangrur district in response to a call made by then SDM, Malerkotla, Dr Indu, three years back, has also be re-encroached.

What to talk of persuading farmers to surrender encroached land, the authorities have failed to initiate action on reports of illegal possession of the land at various villages, including Chhapar, Latala and Dhulkot in Ludhiana district.

Though the office-bearers of the civic bodies feel that the restoration of the encroached land to the Public Works Department and the Drainage Department will help fight the menace of vehicular accidents, overflowing ponds, waterlogging and frequent floods, nobody has taken a stand on the issue, for the obvious reasons of losing votes.

Many farmers of the area had ploughed land belonging to the PWD and the Drainage Department. This has resulted in narrowing of roads and closure of drains, which used to carry away rainwater and saves ponds from being overflowing. The encroachers included village panchayats and their office-bearers too.

According to the Revenue Department report, at least 30 persons of Chhapar village had been cultivating crops on a drain measuring 55 kanals and 5 marlas.

Twenty-eight farmers of Dhulkot village were found to have encroached land of the same drain measuring over 72 marlas.

About 100 kanal meant for a drain in the jurisdiction of Latala village is being cultivated by 22 families of the same village. Moreover, about 285 kanals was found to be illegally possessed by a few civic bodies. No action has been initiated on the report yet. The land encroached from a network of link roads is yet to be measured.

Investigations by the Ludhiana Tribune revealed that a large number of farmers of villages falling in Sangrur district had surrendered the encroached land in response to an appeal made by then SDM Dr Indu. But majority of these farmers, allegedly due to administrative apathy, started tilling the surrendered land.

Though the PWD has erected measuring stones along the boundaries of roads, no action is ever taken against farmers who plough beyond the demarcated line.

Amloh, June 25
Owing to the “indifferent” attitude of the state government, the Amloh Civil Hospital has virtually become a white elephant.

Its new building was setup in 1999 costing Rs 1 crore. Moreover, the state government spends over Rs 6 lakh per month on the salary of the staff and medicines, etc. However, it only gives first-aid to patients and refer cases to other hospitals.

The hospital was upgraded as a community health centre in 2003 with one post of senior medical officer (SMO), five posts of medical officer (gynaecology, medicine, surgeon, child specialist and MBBS) and one post of dental doctor was provided to the hospital.

The post of surgeon has been lying vacant for the last one year, gynaecologist for three months and out of six posts of staff nurses, three are lying vacant and one has been shifted to the Mandi Gobindgarh Hospital.

Under National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), five posts were filled with staff for 24-hour duty in delivery cases, but with the posts of gynaecologist and child specialist are lying vacant, the expenditure on the staff goes waste. Three posts of class IV employees are also lying vacant.

The hospital has been provided two X-ray machines but the post of operator has been vacant for the last three years and the patients have to pay heavy fee to the private clinics.

An ambulance was provided in 2000, but only one driver has to perform the 24-hour duty. Patients say that in cases of accident, each member of the patient’s family is charged Rs 5 per km even in a single trip.

Besides, only one clerk has to perform multifarious duties in a five-day week.

Ludhiana, June 25
A majority of government schools in the district are without regular principals and headmasters.

All these schools are having officiating principals/heads. Since 1997-1998, no regular principals have been appointed by the state government and many people have retired waiting for their promotion.

According to Amarjit Kaur, District Education Officer, there are only two schools in the city with regular principals, Government Senior Secondary School for Boys, Jawahar Nagar Camp, and Shaheed-e-aazam Sukhdev Thapar Government Senior Secondary School for Girls, Bharat Nagar.

According to information, some schools of Ludhiana district are having officiating principals - Government Senior Secondary School for Boys, Samrala; Government Senior Secondary School for Girls, Samrala; Government Senior Secondary for Boys, Jagroan; Government Senior Secondary School for Boys, Machhiwara; Government Senior Secondary School for Girls, Machhiwara; Government Senior Secondary School for Girls, Khanna; Government Senior Secondary School, Jandiali; Government Senior Secondary School, Bhani Sahib; Government Senior Secondary School, Dakha; Governemnt Senior Secondary School, Dhanansu; and Government School, Humbran.

The officiating principals rue that teachers don't respect them and treat them as their equals. They can't wield their authority and work suffers.

According to H.K. Mayer, officiating principal, Government Multipurpose School, he has been serving as officiating principal for the past five years and has 25 years of service, just two years are left for his retirement. He could have been any senior officer on the basis of his seniority and good service record. Still he is just an officiating head. If an officiating principal can run the school, why can't he be regularised.

All teachers are eagerly waiting for their promotion. Every election brings them a ray of hope that their demands will be fulfilled by the state government and now the poll code is over and the government should fulfil its promise.

Ludhiana, June 25
The three-week-long summer holiday occupational camp - Masti ki pathshala - concluded on June 25 at Love Dale. The grand finale was celebrated by the participants and the staff by holding an equally fun-provoking function. The members gave vent to their artistic throbs by giving stage performance in their respective arts.

Ludhiana, June 25
The Health Education Cell of Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) today successfully conducted a first-aid and basic life support (BLS) session for staff members of a hotel here.

Dr Anju Grewal, associate professor of anaesthesiology and AHA-accredited instructor for BLS courses, and Dr Pankaj Mahindra, assistant professor of orthopaedics at the DMCH, conducted the sessions which included lectures and demonstration on basic life support skills, choking and first-aid of fractures, minor cuts, bleeding, burns and other trauma-related injuries. The staff members of the hotel interacted with the faculty and showed keen interest in learning these skills on mannequins.

The faculty told the hotel staff that BLS was an important life-saving emergency first-aid skill practised throughout the world for an unconscious victim on whom breathing and pulse could not be detected. "The BLS encompasses a combination of rescue breathing and chest compressions which aim to provide a small but critical amount of blood flow to heart and brain. These skills are performed in a standard sequence for victims of cardiac arrest."

The doctors emphasised calling for medical help after assessment of unresponsiveness in collapsed persons. Timely intervention by a person trained in BLS skills could save a person’s life and keep him or her alive until medical help arrived.

The first-aid measures for minor cuts, bleeding, burns and methods of splinting in case of suspected fractures were elaborated in a pictorial manner. The doctors laid stress on measures that did not cause any further harm and also in seeking expert medical opinion without delay, especially in case of sprains or fractures.

The medical superintendent and convener, Health Education Cell at the DMCH, Dr Rajoo Singh Chhina, said the hospital was now taking a lead in training health care providers and members of public on a regular basis.

Mandi Gobindgarh, June 25
Technical and Further Education (TAFE) New South Wales (NSW) Australia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Desh Bhagat Group of Institutes to further the cause of imparting vocational skills to its students.

The students will be enrolled for the first year here in the institute and will complete their second and third year at TAFE Hunter New Castle Campus.

The students will have the option of completing their studies either in India or Australia.

Ludhiana, June 25
Intex Technologies unveiled its latest dual sim (G+G) mobile phones: Intex IN 4488 and IN 3080 here today.

Both handsets are positioned as mid-level mobile phones promising to deliver convenience along with satisfying the communication needs of users having two GSM connections.

Announcing the business plans for Punjab region, Sudhir Kumar, NSM mobile phones, said Ludhiana being the richest districts in Punjab had a huge potential and was an appropriate city for the launch of two models.

Samrala, June 25
A bank guard was booked by the police for accidental firing in the Samrala branch of HDFC Bank last evening.

The gun went off accidentally while the bank staff, along with the guard, were taking away the cash from the bank.

The police has registered a case against the bank guard, identified as Jatinderpal Singh of Sampla village in Fatehgarh Sahib.

Police officials said the bullet first hit a wooden door and then ground but nobody got hurt in the incident.

This is second such case of accidental firing in Khanna as earlier gun went off in Khanna wherein a juice vendor was injured on the G.T. Road a few days back.