Ludhiana, July 21
As many as 10 persons, including two PUDA employees and a cop, sustained minor injuries when enraged devotees threw stones at the police and PUDA officials following the demolition of illegal shrines situated at Jamalpur Colony near Chandigarh road here today. The police has registered various cases against shrine members and Bajranj Dal activist for clashes.

The police was forced to resort to cane charge to disperse the rowdy crowd.

The incident took place this morning when PUDA administrator Indu Malhotra reached the spot and ordered the demolition of the alleged illegal structures.

The situation became tense when around 70 Bajrang Dal activists emerged on the scene and started erecting a temple adjacent to the shrine.

Rakesh Singla, a PUDA official, said the family, which resided in the shrines, along with the devotees, posed obstructions before the officials when they to came to demolish the structure on July 15.

This time the PUDA authorities took full measures and conducted the demolition drive in the presence of the police. After demolishing the structure the PUDA authorities quickly planted sapling at the demolished structure.

Ludhiana, July 21
Every monsoon, it’s the same story. Just a few hours of showers and the city dips in water, making various areas virtually a nightmare for commuters.

While the ire of residents comes out often during this season against the civic body, one is really astonished what has been a battalion of 75 councillors doing to save the city from waterlogging.

Today was another example for the city. The two-hour rain virtually brought life to a halt and the most affected was the old city area where shopkeepers and residents had no option but to step out in streets filled with 2 to 3 feet of water this morning.

A visit to the old city markets like Meena Bazaar, Saban Bazaar, Chaura Bazaar and other surrounding areas brought to fore what people had been going through every rainy season. Due to heavy showers, the water collected on the road and entered the shops and residences. As soon as showers came to halt, people were witnessed busy draining water out of their buildings using generators or buckets.

“I am really peeved up. Every time, this happens and I got a small wall constructed in entrance to keep the water at bay. But since the shop in basement, water enters,” said Ramesh, a shopkeeper, who along with his salesman and helper, was busy trying to take stock of losses.

Similarly, 12-year-old Surbhi, who goes to her school on bicycle, today got stranded on a waterlogged road. “My mother suggested me to go on a rickshaw, but since it was not available, I had no option,” said Surbhi, adding that she had to come back from midway.

The other areas that too were waterlogged with showers were Haibowal, Hambran Road, Transport Nagar, etc. The condition in some areas was so bad that caving in of roads was also reported. One such incident happened in Model Town, where a car had a narrow escape after a small portion of road caved in.

Ludhiana, July 21
Heavy rain left the Sub-Registrar (East) office and the basement of the Mini Secretariat complex inundated.

The parking lot of the Sub-Registrar (E) office in Transport Nagar here was waterlogged after the rainfall. Knee-deep water was collected in the area as the visitors had a tough time wading through it to come out of the office.

Several cars and two-wheelers also broke down in the middle of water as water entered into the machines. The visitors, including women, were seen waiting for help to get the vehicles started. Cars had to be pushed before these could get started.

Car mechanics had a good time as they helped the visitors in getting the fault rectified. Employees of the office said this was not for the first time that the office got waterlogged. This was the condition during every rains. All requests to the authorities to do something for the office had failed.

They said the Sub-Registrar office that housed the revenue tehsil of the area made several crores to the state exchequer every month. Still no attention was paid to provide amenities to the staff. Such public dealing offices should be on the priority list of the administration as many people visited here everyday.

The basement of the Mini Secretariat was also waterlogged. The typists, who sit in the basement, had a tough time completing their work.

They said they had to face this problem every monsoon. As they dealt with paper work, their material got spoiled on rainy days.

Incidentally, this office is located under the DC office. Earlier, Sub-Registrar offices were also housed in this building. Due to protests by residents, these offices were shifted out. Conditions remain the same at Sub-Registrar (E) office even after shifting. Things have gone better after further shifting of West office in Sukhmani centre in Sabrabha Nagar.

Ludhiana, July 21
Six new cases of gastroenteritis were detected in three different localities of the city. The patients have been admitted to Krishna Charitable hospital, Model Town.

The patients are residents of Kochar Market, Jawahar Nagar Camp and Model Gram, who were admitted to the hospital on July 19 and 20, following symptoms of gastroenteritis.

The hospital authorities immediately called the district epidemiologist GP Mangla informing him about the “contaminated water” being the source of infection.

The district epidemiologist said a team of health officials had visited the areas and had collected water samples. “The areas are in a state of neglect as there is no cleanliness. The residents have complained of contaminated water, which becomes hazardous during the rainy season," the district epidemiologist said.

A team of health officials and paramedical staff having visited the problematic areas in Model Gram, Jawahar Nagar Camp and Kochar Market found that many a times water supplied for drinking is murky and also foul smelling.

Dhanwanti, a resident of Jawahar Nagar Camp, rued: “There is no proper sewerage in many streets in this area. Rainwater gets collected in potholes and ditches, making it a perfect breeding ground for bacteria and virus.”

Despite repeated complaints, the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation (LMC) has failed to take any action. Also, there has been no move by the health officials for distribution of chlorine tablets or awareness campaigns in the affected areas, allege resident.

Ludhiana, July 21
Perturbed over the failure of the Municipal Corporation to find a solution to the problem of waterlogging, shopkeepers staged a dharna and blocked the old GT Road at the Mata Rani Chowk for around an hour.

The agitated shopkeepers said they had been facing the problem for the last five years since the flyover came into being. Due to the failure of the drainage system, water enters the shops, they alleged.

“If you visit any shop in old city area today, you will see the sitting arrangement is completely soaked in water and so are the dress materials and other things.

This loss may run into lakhs, but who cares,” rued an agitated shopkeeper.

Speaking on the behalf of the shopkeepers’ association, Davinder Singh Jolly said: “The seriousness of the officials can be gauged from the fact that none of the officials came to listen to our problems even today.

It shows how serious the civic body is for the public.”

The protesters said: “The MC budget runs in crores and it cannot spare a small amount of it for the old city, which is an important commercial area.”

Mandi Ahmedgarh, July 21
Heavy rain threw normal life out of gear beside obstructing working at government offices, including local municipal council office and the police station, here today.

Flooded roads and compounds of government buildings, including town hall, exposed the inadequacy of the authorities to check flooding, especially in low-lying areas.

However, the civic authorities claimed to have strengthened the sewerage system to cope with the future situation.

Normal life came to a halt in morning when heavy rain flooded low-lying areas, including railway road, Jawahar Nagar, Mahavir Road, Dehliz Road, Gandhi Chowk, Bhagat Singh Chowk areas, police station and the office of municipal council.

The rainwater entered some houses located in Guru Nanak Colony and Jawahar Nagar areas. Owners of these houses had to drain off the water with the help of buckets and mugs. Disposal pumps were pressed into service to drain out rainwater compounds of some schools, including MGMN Senior Secondary School.

Councillors of the badly affected wards were seen consoling residents of their respective areas.

The situation also forced students, teachers and employees of various government offices to wade through knee-deep waters at certain places to reach their respective destinations.

A large number of two-wheelers were seen stranded on inundated roads. People preferred hiring rickshaws to taking their vehicles back home after attending duty in the afternoon.

However, president of the council Usha Sood claimed that the authorities had tried their best to tackle the situation.

"Beside pressing into service disposal pumps available with the office, we deputed manual labour to clear blockades in the drain system," she said.

Ludhiana, July 21
Besides bringing down temperature, today’s showers will also benefit crops and fruits, said Dr GS Bains, head, department of agricultural meteorology, PAU.

The weather in the first week of July remained hot for the growth and development of crops. During this period, both the maximum and minimum temperatures remained above normal, Dr Bains said.

He said the second week of July was comparatively cool with maximum temperature below normal by 1 degree Celsius and received 61.9 mm rainfall against normal of 58.2 mm, while the first week of July remained dry against the normal of 54.5 mm.

Discussing the prevailing weather, he said currently cloudy conditions prevailed in Punjab. Today, the maximum temperature in Ludhiana was recorded at 33.4 degrees Celsius and minimum was 23.2 degrees against the weekly normal of 33.6 degrees and 25.7 degrees, respectively.

The maximum and minimum temperatures are below normal, he said. The relative humidity of morning and evening hours is near normal (86 and 67 per cent for the current week. The rainfall during the week till today is 100.8 mm against the normal of 53.2 mm. The monthly rainfall figure for July is 164.7 mm as against the monthly normal rainfall of 232.1 mm, said Dr Bains.

Highlighting the crop outlook in the prevailing weather, Dr Bains said the above normal rainfall during the current week had saved the irrigation requirement of the farmers and was also helpful in upgrading the lower water table to some extent.

The current rainfall is beneficial for the kharif crops, particularly for paddy. He said only late transplanted paddy crop has adverse affect so farmers can drain out excess water from the fields to save the crop.

Farmers are also advised to drain out excess water from cotton, pulses and vegetable fields. Rainfall is also good for crops like sugarcane, maize, vegetables and orchards in the region, he added.

Partly cloudy weather with possibility of light rainfall/ thundershowers is likely to be expected over Punjab and its adjoining areas during next 24 hours, said Dr Bains.

Ludhiana, July 21
They faced worst kind of violence, lost loved ones and somehow managed to survive the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Now they are struggling to get allotment of flats in Dugri area for the last 25 years.

The riot victims, who were promised 1,700 houses in various cities of the state, have knocked at every door of babudom to get their due. But several of them in Ludhiana are yet to get the residences.

Six months ago, the state government had passed the orders to district administration to allot the flats to ‘‘genuine’’victims, but several claim the sop still eludes them.

Of the 364 flats in the CRPF Colony in Dugri here, only 143 riot victims have the possession. The rest are occupied by retired government employees and relatives of several riot victims, who were not the victims.

“They occupied the flats forcibly. But the district administration has not been able to do anything. We are running from pillar to post, but to no avail. There are several counterparts, who are still looking for some shelter. They have not been able to get their due,” said Surjeet Singh, an office-bearer of a riot victims’ organisation.

He said recently some people tried to take possession of some more flats. They were prevented by them. ‘‘It is a major scam. Nobody, however, seems interested in it. The land in Ludhiana is sold at such skyrocketing prices that people are not even spared the flats meant for riot victims. Most of them are in possession of those people, who had nothing to do with the riots. Still nobody is shooing them away,’’ said Surjeet Singh.

The victims will now take a delegation to the Chief Minister and make him abreast of the situation. ‘‘Everything is happening in connivance with the authorities. If they have the will, they can always get the flats vacated. But nobody cares,’’ he added.

Ludhiana, July 21
The Hotel and Restaurant Association of Punjab (HRAP) launched a website "Punjabtourism.in" here today.

This website, which is dedicated to the nationwide programme “Atithi Devo Bhavah - Guest is God”, of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, has been launched to promote Punjab among tourists from different corners of the world.

President of the association Manjit Singh Nagpal said promotion of tourism in Punjab was the need of the hour and even the state government was taking many steps to attract tourists here.

General Secretary Amarvir Singh said: "The website is an exhaustive compendium of information on Punjab with complete details - Punjab's history and facts, location, regions, districts, how to reach, travelling tips, places to stay, places to eat, places for shopping, tourist's Interest in and around Punjab with maps etc., which will be helpful to both tourists as well residents for easy access.”

Ludhiana, July 21
Irked over the derogatory remarks made by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi against Lord Rama and the epic "Ramayana", activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal today staged an angry demonstration at the Mini Secretariat here, demanding his arrest for hurting religious sentiments of the Hindu community.

In a memorandum addressed to the President of India, submitted to the deputy commissioner, the VHP and Bajrang Dal leaders said Karunanidhi had hurt the religious sentiments of the Hindu community in a bid to appease the minorities.

The Congress also came in for sharp criticism for keeping mum over the derogatory remarks.

Certain political leaders had got into the habit of fomenting communal passions for their ulterior motives and the trend, if not checked soon, would have serious repercussions on the secular fibre of the country.

Ludhiana, July 21
People will witness the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century today, a rare opportunity to witness the majestic event for the people in the west, central, east and north-east India.

The longest solar eclipse of 6 minutes and 39 seconds is the first to occur in the 21st century, and will not be surpassed in duration until June 13, 2132.

As some people prepare to watch the total solar eclipse for scientific study or curiosity, but the majority is gripped with fear, rather than excitement.

An undeclared battle is on between scientists on one hand and astrologers on the other over this celestial event. The astrologers are apprehensive that the eclipse can prove inauspicious for some star signs and especially for pregnant ladies.

In the grip of fear expectant mothers scheduled for caesarian deliveries on July 22 have asked the doctors to change the date. While some parents have decided not to send their kids to schools, others have engaged priests to perform special ceremonies to ward off its evil impact on their lives.

This year there will be three solar eclipses within a span of thirty days. While one had already occurred on July 7, another solar eclipse will occur on August 6. Three solar eclipses in a span of thirty days are being considered inauspicious by astrologers. While scientists have advised the public not to be in the grip of fear as it is a normal celestial activity.

The countries to witness the path of the Moon's umbral shadow are India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and China.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, July 21
Accusing canal department officials, posted at Dadhahoor division, of harassing farmers by not redressing their issues regarding irrigation, the Punjab Kissan Sabha has announced to launch agitation against the erring officials.

The decision was taken following murder of two peasant brothers of Jalaldiwal village due to a petty dispute over watering right.

Reacting to complaints received from office-bearers of the outfit, SDM, Raekot, Jaspal Singh Jassie, has directed the SDO to submit a report on pending complaints.

Activists of the Punjab Kissan Sabha, led by Jagan Nath, president, and Baldev Singh Latala alleged that the SDO posted at Dadhahoor division had been harassing farmers by not redressing their long-pending issues regarding irrigation.

Accusing the official of absenting from headquarters, the activists rued that all their visits to the office to meet him had proved futile.

Union leaders argued that the SDO should have deputed any junior engineer in case he could not afford staying at the headquarters.

Demanding immediate redressal of all pending cases, the activist threatened to launch agitation in case the erring official did not shun his anti-peasant attitude.

Sikandar Singh Jartoli, state body member, Faqir Chand , Mukhtiar Singh, Tirlochan Singh Raekot and sarpanch Saudagar Singh Dadhahoor were present on the occasion.

Ludhiana, July 21
Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) has established a technology marketing and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) cell for creating awareness about IPR and Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act (PPV&FRA) among 
farmers.

Dr Sandeep Kapur the IPR cell said farmers were being apprised of the significance of the Act through deliberations during kisan melas and other farmers-expert interaction meets.

The scientists of the cell were arranging lectures by experts, he said.

Efforts were also on to popularise the Act among farmers through pamphlets and articles in farm publications of the university. The useful information about the PPV&FRA has also been incorporated in the PAU package of practices for crops of Punjab for wider publicity among farmers, he added.

IPR covers patents, trademark, industrial designs, geographical indications, protection of plant variety and farmers' rights, etc, he said adding that PPV&FR Act-2001 was implemented on October 19, 2006, to protect the rights of breeders and farmers encouraging them to register their varieties.

Dr Kapur said various objectives of the Act include recognition and protecting the rights of farmers for their contributions made at any time in conserving, improving and making available plant genetic resources for the development of varieties. It also encourages the development of new varieties of plants for accelerated agriculture development, said Dr Kapur.

He added that it facilitates the growth of seed industry also.

Breeder of a registered variety has an exclusive right to produce, sell, market, distribute, import or export of the variety, said Dr Kapur.

A project 'Centre for Research on Plant Variety and Farmers Rights Protection and Training in North India' is operating at the PAU under which farmers are being sensitised about the relevance of the Act.

Ludhiana, July 21
To curb the menace of ragging, College of Dairy Science and Technology of Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animals Sciences University (GADVASU), Ludhiana, initiated an innovative move.

The college authorities introduced senior students with new-comers. Dr Onkar Singh Parmar, dean of the college, said it was our primary duty to check the ragging not only by displaying the notices, rules and legal slogans but to provide the common platform to senior students and new-comers to intimate themselves.

He said in this introductory programme, students shared their belongingness, family background, tastes and hobbies. They also exchanged their views for their future plan.

Dr Singh hoped that with this effort, the students would cover the distance of intimacy with a long leap. Dr Parmar explained the negative aspects of ragging. He said it was a blot on the society, which can ruin the future of many families in a single jolt.

Old students assured their full cooperation to the new entrants. They extended their hand to help them not only in studies but for other needs also.

The students staged cultural items. They presented songs, jokes and mono acting.

Faculty members of the college threw light on various topics of students’ concern such as organisational set up of the university, hostel facilities, NCC, NSS, scholarships, stipends and loans.

The programme was organised under active efforts and supervision of Dr Shiva, Dr Amandeep, Dr PK Singh and Dr Inderpreet Kaur.

Students also enjoyed the event as the first day treat of their seniors and teachers. They expressed their satisfaction and hoped that the interaction would be more beneficial for future days.

Ludhiana, July 21
Management Entrance Test (MET), a state-level test for admissions to MBA and MCA course was held.

The result of the test will be declared on July 26 and the counselling is expected to be held in first week of August on Punjabi University campus. Through MET, candidates can seek admission in all universities of Punjab, including PTU- Jalandhar, GNDU- Amritsar, Punjabi University- Patiala and its affiliated colleges. The main centres were Chandigarh, Patiala, Sangrur, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Amritsar, Bathinda, Ferozepur, Moga, Mohali and Gurdaspur.

Abhishek from Shimla said a business aptitude section was entirely on current topic, which was quite difficult, while Shivani from Punchkula said English section was quite easy.

On the other hand, Pooja Sharma from Shimla said the paper was quite lengthy and was time consuming. Anshu Kataria, chairman, ABS, said an overall paper was easy, but turnout in the centre in all over Punjab was quite low.

Ludhiana, July 21
Shree Atam Vallabh Jain College (SAVJC), Jalandhar bypass, celebrated its foundation day here.

Manmohan Singh Jain, chairman and managing director of the MS Jain Group of Industries, Chennai, was the chief guest on the occasion. Ashwani Jain, a noted industrialist and president of SAN Jain Education Board, presided over the function. The chief guest remarked that education itself was not sufficient until the attitude to work hard also developed.

While reading the annual report of the college, principal, Dr Anuradha, told MBA and BBA students were sent to about 30 companies of national and international repute with specific industrial projects, including textile, financial services, fast moving consumer goods, tyres and steel industries.

Ludhiana, July 21
Members of the Punjab State Municipal Karamchari Dal today submitted a reminder of their demands to Mayor Hakam Singh Giaspura.

Warning the MC authorities of dire consequences, association chairman Vijay Danav said: “We had been consistently struggling for our demands that have been approved by the Punjab government. But due to indifferent attitude of the civic body, nothing has been materialised till date.”

Our demands include regularisation of employees of Mohalla Sanitation Committees, recruitment on compassionate grounds to be decided in Ludhiana only and the files should be not sent to Chandigarh for approval as its time-taking process.

He said: “We have submitted a 21-point demand charter to the Mayor asking him to implement them immediately.”

The other demands included promotion of various employees working at lower levels, equipment for sewermen, safai sewaks and restarting of building loans to employees.

Ludhiana, July 21
Dr Jagdip Madaan, senior orthopaedic surgeon at GTB hospital, Ludhiana, participated in orthopaedic summit, recently held in Cario (Egypt).

Dr Jagdip Madaan talked about the latest methodology in fracture fixation and spine surgery. Many surgeons, like Dr S Bhojraj, spine consultant at Beach Candy Hospital, Mumbai, Dr Sen, Singapore Hospital, Dr Sajan Hegde, spine surgeon from Chennai, Dr Sanjay Aggarwal, chief of Hinduja Hospital, Dr Arun Mulaji, Dr Suran Narayan from Chennai were present in the summit.

As many as 100 delegates from various parts of the world attended the summit, wherein detailed a discussion of difficult fractures of acetabulum, knee joint, hip joints and various kinds of spine surgery were held.

After success of cervical disc replacement, now doctors are focussing on lumber canal disc replacement, said Dr Madaan.

In routine disc patients, after removal of discs, two vertebras are fused, but it causes more stress on disc above and below the level of fusion. But the advancements in methodology will enable the patients to get lumbar disc replaced and have near normal life of activities.

In depth disc discussion on treatment of lumbar canal stenosis and spondylistesis, very common cause of chronic low backache, were also discussed, which was followed by deliberations on conventional plating system vs locking plates.

Jagraon, July 21
The Sidhwan Bet police has nabbed three members of a gang of snatchers, involved in over 20 incidents of crime.

The gang was operative in the periphery of Jagraon for the past over one year. The accused have been identified as Mandeep Singh alias Laddu, Sukhveer Singh alias Sukha and Julfkar Ali alias Khan alias Jal all of Ramgar Bhullar village near here.

Julfkar was the kingpin of the gang. The gang used follow their targets till an isolated place and then used to rob them of mobile phones, cash and jewellery.

Yesterday, when they snatched the purse of one Krishna Rani of Sidham Mustadi village near Nurmehal at knifepoint, some youths identified them and informed the police.

They were arrested from near their village. The police has recovered the purse along with cash and gold jewellery from their possession. The police has also recovered sharp-edge weapons from the accused.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the accused were drug addicts and used to snatch money to buy drugs. The accused have confessed to 13 cases of snatching and nine cases of looting.

A local court has remanded the accused in police custody.

Ludhiana, July 21
Surgeon Gurdip Singh Sidhu and Dr Naveen Laiker, in news after the death of BJP leader Jagat Bhushan Johal at Sidhu Hospital, have got reprieve from a local court, which has granted them interim bail till July 28.

Additional Sessions Judge GS Saran held: “In case the applicants are to be arrested, they are ordered to be released on interim bail to the satisfaction of the arresting officer subject to the condition that they will join the investigation and comply with the provisions of Section 438(2) of the CrPC.”

In their bail application, these doctors claimed that Jagat Bhushan, suffering from diabetes, hypertension and severe sleep apnea syndrome, was admitted to Sidhu Hospital for conducting bariatric surger as he was suffering from severe obesity. It was claimed that it was the life-saving surgery and not a cosmetic surgery to reduce weight.

Referring to a recent judgement of the Supreme Court, Martin F. D'Souza versus Mohd. Ishfaq, the lawyer representing the doctors stressed that no such case could be registered against the doctors without the report of the committee of competent doctors.

Even after the report of committee a notice should be served upon the doctor facing accusation. This was necessary to avoid harassment to the doctors who may not be ultimately found to be negligent. This was clearly laid down by the Supreme Court in this case, he added.

The counsel also claimed that the death was due to cardiac arrest. Moreover, the committee constituted by the Civil Surgeon, Ludhiana, to examine this case, had not submitted its report yet.

It was alleged that after the death, a mob launched murderous attack on their hospital and gave beatings to doctors, staff and broke the articles. A case under Section 307 of the IPC was registered against them, but none was arrested allegedly under pressure from the ruling party.

Ludhiana, July 21
Students of primary and middle wings of the Bal Bharati Public School, Dugri, here, competed in various sports disciplines, beside fun games during the sports meet organised today.

Punam Dogra, principal of the school, congratulated the winners and distributed the certificates.

Results:

Hurdles’ race: Boys group-I: Nishay 1, Nimish 2 and Janvir 3;

Girls group-I: Ria 1, Shruti 2 and Vani 3;

Boys group-II: Grace 1, Amrinder 2 and Ishaan 3;

Girls group-II: Gaganpreet 1, Mehak 2 and Meera 3;

Boys group-III: Gurkirat 1, Nitish 2 and Aks 3;

Girls group-III: Arshya 1, Navleen 2 and Simranpuneet 3.

Sack race:

Boys group-II: Agandji 1, Gopesh 2 and Paramdev 3;

Girls group-II: Gurnaaz 1, Mansi 2 and Aarshee 3;

Boys group-III: Aks 1, Nitish 2 and Shivam 3;

Girls group-II: Navleen 1, Arshya 2 and Harleen 3.