27082023-LT-01.qxd 8/27/2023 12:54 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune FIVE GET LIFE IMPRISONMENT FOR MURDERING MAN MARGOT NEARLY STARRED IN AMERICAN HORROR STORY... DUA LIPA SAYS SHE IS NOT READY TO HAVE CHILDREN The court has sentenced convicts to rigorous life imprisonment and imposed a fine of ~35K each. P2 Margot almost joined Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story: Asylum, casting director Eric revealed in a podcast. P4 Singer Dua Lipa doesn’t rule out the prospect of having children but for now, she’s focused on her career. P4 » » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 34°C | MIN 24°C YESTERDAY MAX 34°C | MIN 23°C SUNSET SUNDAY 6.56 PM SUNRISE MONDAY 5:59 AM SUNDAY | 27 AUGUST 2023 | LUDHIANA Worker falls off 15th floor, dies Tribune News Service Ludhiana, August 26 A worker died after falling off 15th floor of a building on the Mullanpur-Ferozepur road on Friday night. He was installing a railing in a flat. The flats were being constructed by a private company. Since pieces of the railing had pierced into his body, a cutting machine was used to Was working without wearing any safety gear remove the same. The deceased was identified as 20-year-old Suhaib. Hailing from Uttar Pradesh, he was staying in the company’s flats along with other labourers. His co-workers said Suhaib was working without wearing a safety belt. After his death, the workers in flats staged a protest, seeking compensation for the victim’s family. They also protested against the company. After assurance from the police, the protesters were calmed down. The labourers demanded that the company should provide safety equipment to the workers. They work in dangerous conditions and Suhaib was not wearing a safety belt at the time of the incident. There were no safety nets or measures underneath the flats either. ASI Paramjit Singh said kin of the deceased had reached a comprise with the company. Hence, inquest proceedings under Section 175 of the CrPc were initiated in the case. Dengue on the rise, district sees four-fold spurt in positive cases 93 found infected, 623 suspected cases so far; no death reported Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Ludhiana, August 26 Cases of dreaded dengue fever, a mosquito-borne viral disease occurring in tropical and subtropical areas, are on the rise and have recorded almost fourfold spurt in positive patients in Ludhiana district this season, the Health Department has confirmed. However, cases of malaria, a serious and sometimes fatal disease caused by a parasite that commonly infects a certain type of mosquito which feeds on humans, are on the decline in the district this year, officials have said. With no death due to dengue reported this year so far, Ludhiana has reported 93 confirmed cases till Friday, which were 258 per cent more than 26 positive dengue patients registered in the district till August 25 in 2022. Civil Surgeon Hitinder Kaur Sohal told The Tribunethat the district Health Department had launched a massive information, education, and communication (IEC) campaign to aware the public about do’s and don’ts to curb the rising trend of dengue fever. She said special wards had been set up at government and private health institutions to admit and treat the dengue patients. “An extensive drive to test and treat the suspected/ con- Civil Surgeon Hitinder Kaur Sohal leads a health team in checking breeding of mosquitoes in Ludhiana on Friday. TRIBUNE PHOTO Situation under control: HM FOUR-FOLD RISE DENGUE YEAR POSITIVE SUSPECTED 2023 93 623 2022 26 345 ON DECLINE MALARIA 2023 4 2022 9 NA NA (SOURCE: HEALTH DEPARTMENT, FIGURES TILL AUGUST 25) firmed cases, besides door-todoor campaign to check the mosquito breeding, has been underway across the district to contain the further spread of the disease,” she said. Dr Sohal led the team of the district Health Department in a door-to-door campaign to check the breeding of mosquitoes in the city on Friday. PO stayed in city for 12 yrs under fake identity held Cops address mediapersons in Khanna. TRIBUNE PHOTO Khanna cops crack blind robbery case, arrest three suspects Tribune News Service Ludhiana, August 26 The Khanna police today claimed to have solved a broad daylight blind robbery case with the arrest of three persons. The police recovered gold ornaments, cash and weapons used in the crime. The suspects have been identified as Baljit Singh (26) of Iqbal Nagar, Mandi Gobindgarh, Harmanjot Singh (23) of Officers’ Colony, Malerkotla road, and Rabbi Khan (24) of Kotak Bagari village in Khanna. The police recovered 67 gm of gold ornaments, Rs 5,000 in cash, a motorcycle (PB43E4816) and sharp weapons used in the crime. SP (Investigation) Pragya Jain and DSP Rajesh Sharma addressed a press conference regarding the matter. On August 20, three bikeborne miscreants had barged into a house on the Malerkotla road where they held an elderly woman, Surjit Kaur, captive and also beaten her up badly before committing the robbery. The SP said under the leader- ship of the SSP Khanna, , Amneet Kondal, a special team was formed to crack the case and the police succeeded in solving the case in a few days. On August 25, the police got major clues about the robbers, after which teams were formed and the suspects were arrested. Since the suspects were drug addicts, they committed the crime to buy drugs with the looted gold and cash. The arrest of the trio might also give leads to the police about drug smugglers with whom they are connected, she said. Among the nabbed suspects, only Rabbi has previous criminal history as two drug cases were registered against him at Kapurthala in 2019 and 2020. One of suspects was victim’s neighbour SP Pragya Jain said one of the suspects, Harmanjot, was the neighbour of the victim. Since he knows the elderly couple was residing alone in the house, considering it a vulnerable target, he, with two of his friends, committed the crime. tered in Ludhiana till August 25 last year. On Friday, 25 fresh suspected dengue patients were reported in the district. The District Epidemiologist said four confirmed cases of malaria had been reported in the district this season so far, which were less than half of nine malaria patients reported here till August 25 in 2022. However, no casualty due to dengue was reported till date. Also, no case of chikungunya was reported in the district this season as yet. Ludhiana, August 26 The CIA wing of the Ludhiana police today arrested a Moga-based man, a proclaimed offender (PO) in a fraud case, who had been staying in the city under fake identity for 12 years. The suspect had got made a fake Aadhaar card and driving licence by befooling the authorities concerned. He has been identified as Nitish Jain, a native of Ramganj Road, Moga. At present, he was staying in Chandar Nagar, Haibowal, under fake identity. CIA in-charge Inspector Beant Juneja said a tip-off was received that Nitish was booked in a fraud case by the Moga police in 2005 and he was also declared a PO by court in 2010. To prevent the police from identifying him, he changed his name from Nitish to Vikas Kumar and also changed his father’s name from Vivek Jain to Ashok Kumar. He also made a fake identity proof with the connivance of some officials. Action would be taken against them as per law. Inspector Juneja said the suspect had been into income tax return filing work here. Now, his further police remand was being taken to inquire if he committed any fraud in the past 12 years. Besides, the CIA also nabbed another PO who had been absconding since 2022 after the registration of a criminal case against him at the PAU police station in 2019. — TNS District Epidemiologist Ramesh Kumar said 12 fresh patients had tested positive for dengue on Friday, taking the total count of the confirmed cases this season so far to 93, of which 18 patients were in serious condition and were admitted to different private hospitals for treatment. He revealed that of the 12 fresh confirmed cases, seven were reported from rural areas while five more patients were on Friday tested positive from urban areas. Of the total 18 active cases so far, 12 were from rural areas while five active patients were from urban areas. He said 623 suspected cases of dengue had been reported in the district this season till Friday, which were almost double than 345 suspected dengue patients regis- “I have reviewed the situation of vector-borne diseases postheavy rainfall in the state, which is under control. The departments concerned have been directed to make collaborative efforts to control the spread of dengue, malaria and chikungunya. The Local Government and Rural Development departments have been asked to ramp up cleanliness activities,” said Dr Balbir Singh, Health Minister. Fully geared up: CS “We are fully geared up to tackle the onslaught of dengue, malaria and other vector-borne diseases. Besides roping in private health institutions, government hospitals and dispensaries have been fully equipped to test and treat patients. Weekly activities against breeding of mosquitoes are also underway across the district,” said Dr Hitinder Kaur Sohal, Civil Surgeon. Kin of man swept away into Pak allege no help from authorities My husband has no criminal history, says victim’s wife Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, August 26 Wife and children of Harwinder Singh are facing sleepiness nights after he swept away to Pakistan in the Sutlej on July 26 last month and was arrested by Pakistan rangers on charges of drug and arms smuggling. His friend Ratanpal of Khaira Mustarka in Mehatpur, Jalandhar district, was also accompanying him when they were arrested in Pakistan. Harwinder is a sand tipper driver and was the only bread winner of his family. With no other source of income, his family is facing a difficult time in his absence. Harwinder’s wife Sikandar Kaur while talking to The Tribuneon Saturday said her husband with his friend Ratanpal had gone to help Harwinder’s cousin whose home in Chandiwala village of Ferozepur was flooded. The duo were swept away by floodwaters towards the Pakistan side on July 26. Now, accusations have been made against them. “My husband has no criminal record, a false case has been slapped against him by the Pakistan authorities. We have videos of both of them made from a distance, as they were said to be caught in floodwaters,” the victim’s wife alleged. She said their children Manpreet Singh (5) and Dilpreet (2) were asking her every day about their father Harwinder Singh's wife Sikandar Kaur with their children at Parjian Biharipur in Ludhiana on Saturday. TRIBUNE PHOTO but she had no answer to their questions. Harwinder’s sister Balwinder Kaur, who is a panchayat member in Parjian Biharipur village, said the matter was raised before AAP MLA Saravjit Kaur Manuke, Union Minister Som Parkash and some administration officials. But all are making only hollow promises. “What to expect from these politicians when nobody even came to Harwinder’s house to see the plight of the family which is in the midst of a crisis and suffering from financial woes. Now, we have decided to write to the Prime Minister, which is now the only hope for their immediate release,”she said. NRIs assure help Jasvir Singh, village sarpanch, said some NRIs of the state, who are in touch with some social workers in Pakistan, assured to help both guys, as per law. “We have been told by them to make passport of the duo and send those to Pakistan. Afterwards, after taking some writen representation from the family, they would find a legal course,” he said. Decreasing sunshine hours spell trouble for state: Research Tribune News Service Ludhiana, August 26 The state is seeing a general pattern of decreasing sunshine hours or an increase in cloudy weather, which is damaging for crop growth and development, especially the rice crop, as a result of climate change, a research has said. The research was conducted by scientists from the Department of Climate Change and Agricultural Meteorology, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), here. The findings have highlighted significant changes in weather patterns and climate conditions in Punjab, said Dr Prabhjyot Kaur, Principal Sci- c m y b PAU study finds climate change impact on agri production, rainfall patterns entist (Agrometeorology), PAU, who has compiled the report. The locations included in the study were — Ballowal Saunkhri (Nawanshahr) in north-eastern part, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Patiala in the central region, Faridkot in the western plain region, and Bathinda, Abohar towards the western part of the state. “One of the key findings of the research indicates a decline in the number of sunshine days in Punjab. This reduction can be attributed to the changing climate, which has implications for agricultural productivity. Reduced sunshine affects crop growth, development and overall yield. With fewer sunshine hours, crops receive less energy for photosynthesis, leading to slower growth rates and potentially lower yields,” Dr Kaur shared. She said the impact was particularly pronounced during the Rabi and Kharif seasons, which were critical for the state’s agriculture. “Crops such as wheat, rice and various vegetables are significantly affected by changes in sunlight availability. It is essential to recognise that these changes not only impact individual crop yields but also have broader implications for food security, income generation and the overall rural economy,” the scientist noted. Gurpreet Kaur, campaign head of Clean Air Punjab, said: “We must recognise the profound significance of agriculture as the backbone of Punjab’s economy. The pivotal role that sunlight plays in safeguarding our crops cannot be overstated, ensuring their growth and prosperity.” However, the looming specter of climate change casts a shadow over this vital sector, bearing potential economic repercussions not only for our state but for the entire nation, given Punjab’s role as a crucial food source. “Amid discussions of transitioning to renewable energy, particularly solar power, the concern arises that a decline in sunshine hours could present an arduous challenge for our state’s environmental protection endeavours. Balancing the imperative of sustainable energy with the preservation of our agricultural heritage has never been more critical,” she added.