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May 14, 2001, Chandigarh, India
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Abducted woman forcibly married off; Ludhiana, May 13 This sensational twist has put a question mark on the working of the Dugri police post in the case. Acting on a petition filed by Chanderpal that his wife Bimla had been abducted by a financier, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had directed the police to trace and produce the woman by April 17 in the court. Not only has the woman been traced but even her husband is missing now. In his bid to clear some mystery in the case, Jagjit Singh Chawla, a lottery trader, lodged a complaint with the division no. 6 police that the financier had threatened him with dire consequences if he did not close his lottery business as it was affecting the lottery trade of the financier. In sworn affidavits, a copy of which has been sent with documents and photographs to the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chief Minister Punjab, Deputy Commissioner Ludhiana and SSP Ludhiana, Mr Chawla has alleged that the financer along with his henchmen attacked and threatened him on April 29 in his shop to close his lottery business and withdraw the criminal case, failing which lest his wife and children would be abducted. Mr Chawla has also produced affidavits of four other persons witness to the attack. The affidavits claim that the financier boasted of having taught Chanderpal a lesson by forcibly marrying off his wife Bimla with a man named Sant Ram Dagri, as Chanderpal had dared to approach the high court against the financier. They cautioned Chawla of staying clear of his way or face similar situation. One of the photographs accompanying the complaint shows the abducted woman Bimla dressed as a bride and Sant Ram Dagri dressed as a bridegroom. Interestingly, the Dugri police, directed to trace the woman, is not only clueless about her whereabouts but has also not been able to find her husband. While Jagjit Singh Chawla alleges that the police knows about their whereabouts and had wilfully sent them away, the Dugri police claimed that Chanderpal and his wife disappeared on their own and could not be traced in spite of the best efforts of the police. ASI Sukhbir Singh claimed that the abduction complaint was wrong and they were preparing a reply to it. When asked that the High Court had set a deadline of April 17, the ASI said the police had conducted several raids but the woman could not be traced. The ASI, however, admitted that the woman was living with Sant Ram Dagri for the past some time as Chanderpal, the petitioner, was in the jail. He said he had no knowledge about the forcible marriage of the woman. Inspector Paramjit Singh SHO division no. 6 said that the police had already registered a case against the financier and his henchman for beating Mr Chawla but he was unaware of the latest complaint filed by him as it had not reached him. It would be pertinent to mention here as per the writ petition filed by Chanderpal in the High Court that he had lost Rs 70,000 in the lottery business and had borrowed the money from the financier. However, as he was unable to pay the amount, the financier allegedly abducted his wife on February 28. After awaiting police action in the case, Chanderpal had approached the High Court on March 31 which had directed the police to trace the woman. |
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Two tubewell diggers buried
alive Ludhiana, May 13 The incident occurred when labourers, Ramkrishan, Avtar Singh, Kamlesh and Nahar Singh, were digging a tubewell at a site owned by a person called Bhagh Singh. Kamlesh said Ramkrishen and Avtar climbed down the well, while he remained outside. All of a sudden, he slipped into the well and, with him, a mound of earth that was near the well, collapsed into it. While, he managed to come out after some struggle, Ramkrishen and Avtar were trapped inside. Nahar was not there at that time. After coming out of the well, Kamlesh told Bhagh Singh about the accident, who then informed the police. A police team reached the spot after receiving the information. Though officials of the Municipal Corporation were informed instantly, it took them about three hours to reach the spot. Five cranes were used to dig out the earth. As the news of the incident spread, a large number of persons gathered there to join the rescue operations. However, Avtar’s body could be dug out only after three hours. The labourers had been working at the site for the past few days. They had already reached the depth of 25 feet when the earth collapsed on them. Residents of the area said the labourers could have been saved if the cranes had reached on time. Those who had gathered there were desperately digging out earth with spades and shovels. However, they could not reach down to labourers in time to bring them out alive. |
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Former Municipal Council chief booked in forgery
case Amloh, May 13 According to an FIR registered on May 12 on the complaint of Mr Chhotta, son of Chanana, a resident of Bhadal Thuha village, who made a complaint to the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Amloh, Mr Gurchain Singh, Harnek, Teja, Tera Khan and Chhotta, sons of Chanan, had a dispute over 42.6 bigha land with Kuldeep Singh and others. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had decided the case on March 28 this year in favour of the four brothers and ordered possession to be taken within 15 days. The FIR further says that the four brothers contacted Mr Keshwa Nand Sharma, son of Ram Partap, resident of Hadal Thuha village, and resident of Amloh, who suggested that Kuldeep Singh and others may appeal in the Supreme Court, so he demanded power of attorney. According to the FIR, they were taken to the Qila Road here, where Chaman Lal and Pardeep Kumar, document writers, got thumb impressions of three brothers while the fourth was not there. Keshwa Nand suggested them to fix the thumb impression of their brother. They suspected some foul play, and got back one of the stamp papers from Mr Keshwa Nand while the later, refused to return other papers on the plea that it was the same copy which was given to them. Later, they came to know that by keeping all three brothers in the dark he had got prepared an agreement of 15 bighas of land without making any payment, whereas Rs 3.75 lakh was shown to have been given to them, while the actual value of land was to the tune of Rs 15 lakh. The report further says that when the brothers approached Mr Keshwa Nand to return the documents, he claimed that he had spent Rs 1 lakh on the case in the Supreme Court. Therefore he would not return the papers. It was further alleged that the agreement was made with the connivance of Baldev Singh Aulakh, Municipal Councillor, and Mr Bhavishan Kumar, former councillor, who had signed as witness on the document. When contacted, Mr Keshwa Nand Sharma said that this false case was framed against him out of political rivalry to ruin his political carrier. He added that copy of jamabandi, stamp papers were taken by the brothers themselves. The agreement of sale which was executed on April 4 was legal and the other party might have fabricated some false story to implicate him. Mr Baldev Singh Aulakh and Mr Bhavishan Kumar said that they had signed the agreement in the presence of both parties, and after seeking their consent. They also alleged that they had been arrested due to political rivalry. They demanded high-level inquiry into this matter. |
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Implementation of CAS snowballs into
controversy Ludhiana, May 13 The campus is abuzz with activity these days as various groups are holding meetings one after the other. While it was resolved in a general body meeting of the Punjab Agricultural University Teachers Association (PAUTA) that it would move the court as university was allegedly misinterpreting guidelines of the ICAR, the other group is opposing it on the grounds that PAU was only following the guidelines. The teachers have fallen apart on ground of number of years put in by them in service. Those who joined the varsity after completing their Ph.D have formed the Direct Ph.D Teachers Committee and those who became Assistant Professors after their MSc have formed the MSc Teachers Association. The Direct Ph.D Teachers Committee has been formed by those teachers who walked out of the general body meeting of the PAUTA organised on May 3. They allege that the PAUTA had no right to pass the resolution to move the court as the decision was not unanimous. Dr O.P. Chaudhary from the Department of Soils while talking on the behalf of the Ph.D teachers committee said usually an assistant professor who joined the service after completing his Ph.D was required to put in four years of service to become a lecturer. On the other hand he, who joined service directly after completing MSc degree, was required to put in six years of service. He said as an assistant professor with Ph.D was made an associate professor after putting in nine years of service, the one with MSc degree, at the time of joining, was promoted after 11 years and there was not disparity among the two as the person with higher degree was given the benefit. He said that the clause 1(a) of the CAS states, “Minimum length of service for eligibility to move into the grade of lecturer (senior scale), assistant professor (senior scale) would be four years for those with Ph.D, five years for those with M.Phil and six years for others, such as assistant professor and lecturer.” He said that it was further stated that the eligibility to move into the grade of assistant professor (selection grade), lecturers (selection grade) and associate professor, the minimum length of service as lecture and assistant professor should be five years. He alleged that PAUTA was taking up the cause to favour a particular group and was harming the Ph.D teachers’ interests. He said that when they had put in as many years of service after MSc as their counterparts had, why they should be made juniors. Dr Hari Singh Brar, president of the PAUTA, said that if the scheme was accepted in
to by the university, as many as 350 teachers would be affected. He said that if university listened to the PAUTA then only 10 to 15 teachers would suffer. He said that the interest of majority should be protected. Dr Brar maintained that starting from the selection of a teacher in the varsity he was required to put in17 years of service to become a professor and minimum eight years of service for a reader to get promoted to the post of a professor. He further said that the scheme required the readers, who had already put in 13 years of service, to work for eight more years to become a professor. It meant that such a reader was forced to put in 21 years of service to become a professor under the scheme. He said that the decision to move the court against the varsity was final and the new development was expected within a day or two. |
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‘Gurcharan erred, but he could take no more’ Machhiwara, April 13 Gurbir Singh Shahi, a boxing coach and Director of the Shahi Sports Centre of Physical Education at Samrala, said, “It is not good on part of Gurcharan at all. Though he was neglected by the state and the Centre, but such hasty decision would not solve his problem.” He, however, said ace sportsmen of India had limited options, given the condition of sport in the country. He said when Lakha Singh had returned to his unit after the 1996 Atlana Olympics, he had to sleep without a bed. “Now, he has become a professional in America and is earning well. Media’s neglect of all games except cricket also discourages players. We may not have a boxer like Gurcharan in many years to come, so the government should try to bring him back and give him due honour. We should heal and not punish him.” Devi Dayal, a senior state kabaddi coach, said the disappearance of a top boxer was unfortunate for the country. He said it proved that our policies on sport were wrong. “Heads of sports bodies should not be politicians because they cannot understand the pressures on players. We should provide our sportsmen with better facilities. If we are not able to bring Gurcharan back, we will lose a sportsman of rare talent. Pakistani players get high ranks in their government services, but our players are not that fortunate. Mr Dayal, who also runs Toni Alankar Kabaddi Academy at Kubba village, said Gurcharan’s disappearance could increase frustration among other sportsmen here. Mr D.L. Jain, a lover of sport and a social worker, said Gurcharan’s disappearance was a proof of biased sports policies of the government. He said he had never expected such a hasty step from Gurcharan. He said Gurcharan was a sensitive person who was not money minded, but the neglect had forced him to take this step. He said the government should trace Gurcharan and bring him back with full honours. Mulkh Raj, head of Dera Bhagti Nath Akhara at Machhiwara and the first wrestling coach of Gurcharan, said, “Gurcharan’s decision is not a patriotic one, but, given the policies of our government, it looks to be a wise one. I hope that Gurcharan woill return soon.” Shammi Kumar Pehalwan, a two-time wrestling champion of Punjab University and a friend of Gurcharan, said the injustice that Gurcharan had faced at every step, had forced him to defect. If government could give attractive cash prizes to other sportspersons, why did it neglect him? He told me that he only used to get Rs 150 for his daily diet. However, I appeal Gurcharan to return.” Yashpal Sharma, a rural-sport commentator, said we should not ignore our sportspersons. He said India had many talented sportspersons, but it was essential to spot the talent and provide them with facilities. |
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Parents strangle
daughter Khamano, May 13 Her parents — father Mohinder Singh, who is a cashier at Punjab National Bank branch Lutheri, and mother Sukhwant Kaur — told her to stay at home and give up her studies as they had come to know about her “suspicious movements”. On May 10, she again left the home but was brought back in the evening. Her parents reportedly told her not to go to Patiala. But the girl insisted to go there. On the night of May 11, the parents allegedly killed her and cremated her on May 12. Meanwhile, certain villagers came to to know about the matter and village chowkidar Satnam Singh reported the matter to the Khanna police. According to DSP Khamano Sudesh Agnihotri, a case under Sections 302, 201, 34 of the IPC has been registered against the girl’s parents and brother Avrinder Singh (17). The police is looking for the absconding accused persons. According to some villagers the girl used to take intoxicants (drugs). |
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CITY SCAN Khushwant Singh paid two visit, to Ludhiana. After his first visit, he wrote a pungent piece about this city, its, wealth and ill-health, imported scents and local stench. On his second visit, the bibliophile in him took him to an unusual book shop leading to a fascinating interview with its owner, Lala Sunder Dass. Lala Sunder Dass was an image-maker of Ludhiana. His establishment, Lyall Book Depot, is part of the history of publication and distribution of books in India. It was started in 1935 at Lyallpur, inspired by the faculty of the Agricultural College, then an institution of its own kind in the East. He failed twice in the matriculation examination of Panjab University. He could make it only in his third attempt in 1927. The goddess of learning was, indifferent to him but the same goddess blesses him with success in the highly specialised task of publishing literary, general and technical books. If formal learning defied him, riches compensated him beyond his wild hopes. Lalaji’s Lyall Book Depot is one of the highest income-tax paying book houses in this region. Teachers of English literature, history, philosophy, ethics, religion, economics, politics, etc visit this shop often. From 1950 till date most of the IAS and Allied Services officers or Army officers who studied or stayed here have made use of this institution-like book centre. Its role is historic, more than mere business. He worked as newspaper hawker at Lyallpur and Ludhiana, and he made no secret of his modest start. The exterior of Lalaji was simple. It was his interior which defied penetration. The exterior of Lyall Book Depot matched his simplicity, hardly a few feet front-opening. The interior of Lalaji’s being was too complex to be studied. He had a sharp memory, a fertile imagination, keen observation, practical intelligence, sociable instincts, and commitment to his chosen profession. The interior of his establishment is equally complex with racks of books, piles of files, rare books as you find in a library, a vast collection of modern books on all subjects. Perhaps it is among the richest book stores of our time. He was born in a semi-educated family of Jampur a small town in Dera Ghazi Khan district (now in Pakistan) in 1909. His headmaster’s son introduced him to H.D. Kitty, an agent of A.H. Wheeler & Co. Ultimately, he got a book-stall at Jehlum. Feeling home-sick, he shifted nearer home to Multan Cantonment. He got meaningful experience at English Book Depot, Ferozepur Cantonment. With hope in the future, he chose Lyallpur and opened his famous book shop. After Partition, he stayed on there till he saw the communal writing on the wall. He migrated to Simla and was advised by an old admirer to settle at Ludhiana and restart his work. Kalyani Publishers now has branches and offices at Chandigarh, Noida, Kolkata, Cuttack, Hyderabad, etc. Lala Sunder Dass printed a thousand titles and sold millions of books in the country. People miss him as a person. His admirers see his presence in his materalised dream, Lyall Book Depot. He served the city for half a century and breathed his last on December 27, 1997. |
Mothers’ Day
celebrated Ludhiana, May 13 A simple questionnaire of 16 questions was given to each child. The same set of questions was given to the mothers to fill in their choices. The questions were all about the mother’s favourite dish or colour. The most hilarious response was for the question, What do your parents generally do together? a) Fight b) Watch TV together c) Scold you, d) Help in homework. Most of the kids chose the first option i.e. fight, while the mothers chose the option d) help in homework. The first prize was bagged by Shobit Mehndiratta, the second by Jasmine and the third by Kamal Aggarwal. The best dressed mother award was bagged by Ms Navita Malhotra. |
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Direct excise share for local bodies:
minister Ludhiana, May 13 He admitted that the share of local bodies, worth Rs 300 crore, was still pending with the government. Funds worth Rs 120 crore would be directly released to the local bodies by the department very soon, he added. Regarding the issue of abolition of octroi in BJP’s past election manifesto, he said,‘‘ The octroi is a dead issue now. No one is talking about it except the Opposition and a section of media. The local bodies cannot survive without octroi which was required in one form or the other.’’ Regarding the collection of education cess from the sale of liquor, Mr Sood disclosed that about Rs 38 crore has been collected during the past year and it has been spent to improve the infrastructure of primary schools in the state. It was in addition to Rs 138 crore provided to the primary education sector. Earlier, the primary schools in the rural areas were provided funds from the Rural Development Fund (RDF) but the schools in the urban areas were not provided adequate funds. He further said the education cess has helped in improving the conditions of schools in the state. Funds worth Rs 60 lakh have been provided to each constituency from this amount. The sales tax collection has also increased to Rs 2757 crore against Rs 1900 crore when the Akali-BJP coalition came to power. The government has fixed Rs 3300 crore as the sales tax collection target for the year 2001-02. The collection of excise duty has been about Rs 1340 crore against the target of Rs 1310 crore during 2000-01. The government hopes to collect Rs 1370 crore as excise duty during the current financial year, he added. He asserted that the tax collection has increased in the state despite decrease in the tax rates on many items. No doubt the industry in the state was passing through recession, but the better tax compliance and lowering of tax rates have helped improve the tax collections. Is there any plan to open the sale of beer in the market? He said there was no such proposal in the state Cabinet at present. Though the drinking was a social menace and no political party was in favour of promoting drinking, but the failure of neighbouring Haryana and other states have made it clear that it was not possible to implement prohibition. We have, however, linked the sale of liquor with the promotion of literacy in the state through education cess. Refuting the allegation that some ministers were responsible for the loss of substantial excise duty due to delay in the auction of liquor vends in Ludhiana district, he said,‘‘ I am in no way responsible for the loss of about Rs 4 crore excise duty that the state has to suffer due to delay in the auction. It was a collective decision.’’ He admitted that about Rs 4 crore was pending with the contractors that had taken liquor vends in Ludhiana during last year. But the department has already initiated the process of attaching their property. The department officials were also taking action against the illicit liquor manufacturers, he added. |
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‘Great leaders don’t appease anyone’ Ludhiana, May 13 His beliefs have motivated thousands of persons to mofify their attitudes. His research, understanding and experience has helped people grow as individuals. “I give advise for money, but still not for it,” said Khera. Dr Norman Vincent
Peele, author of ‘Power of Positive Thinking’ is his ideal. He said, after attending De Norman’s lectures, his life changed forever. The other personalities who have motivated him are Swami Vivekanand and Mother Teresa. On the Mothers’ Day, he paid a tribute to his mother by saying that she had been a wonderful educator and a great influence on him. He said, “One distressing moment of my life was when I failed in my Class X examinations. My mother did not bail me out. She told me, since I had messed up my life, I would have to stay there and clean it up. She told me, sometimes, it was necessary to be unkind to be kind to someone.” Khera said parenting and leadership was not like running a popularity contest. He said, “All great leaders of the world never tried to appease anyone. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi asked the people if they were ready for struggle and Winston Churchill told the English to give him blood, toil, sweat and tears. However, leaders of today are pseudo and they are messing up the system. They are not leading the people anywhere. There are two kinds of politicians in India — those who lose and take to mud slinging and those who win and take to revenge. This is the reason why in the past 50 years, we have made no progress. We blame the British for their policy of divide and rule, but they could take over our country only because we were divided already.” Khera said, “I have asked this question to a number of decision makers all over the world — if there is one thing you would like to change to make your organisation more productive, what would it be? They said if their people had a better attitude, quality, teamwork and the bottomline would improve. So, attitude is the most important word for everyone. Human resource is the most valuable asset of any organisation and more important than capital and equipment.” He said, “It is not our position, but our disposition that determines success. There are only three kinds of persons in this world — those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wonder what happened. All progress is change but not all change is progress. The biggest challenge today is not change, but the speed of change.” Khera also said, “It is not the activity of rascals, but the inactivity of good people that destroys a society. The only solution to save society is to bring good people into the system. Not only good people, but also cheats are fed up with the government because they meet bigger cheats all the time. A nation suffers when popular opinions become more important than values and justice.” “Winners do not do different things. They do things differently,” is the most popular quote of Shiv Khera, which explains why leading companies are his clients.
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Congress
protests Ludhiana, May 13 Congress workers took signatures of hundreds of people for onwards submission to President K.R. Narayanan to seek the removal of the National Democratic Alliance government. Mr Tyagi said, the Congress, under the leadership of its president, Ms Sonia Gandhi, had decided to create awareness across the country about the corruption and inefficiency of the NDA government at the centre. He alleged that the government was not only corrupt, but incompetent as well. The sooner it was shown the exit, the better it was for the country, he remarked. Speaking on the occasion the local MP, Mr Gurcharan Singh Ghalib, lashed out at the NDA for its involvement in corruption. He claimed the Congress had launched a nationwide movement against the corruption-ridden government. Mr Ghalib also criticised the Akali-BJP government in the state for fooling people. He alleged that for the past four years, the government had never cared to take note of the problems being faced by the people and now it had woken up. He claimed that the much-publicised ‘sangat darshan’ programmes of the chief minister were all aimed at getting political mileage in view of the forthcoming assembly elections in the state. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Dawer said, the days of the Akali-BJP government in the state were numbered. Among others present on the occasion were senior leaders like Pawan Dewan, K.K. Bawa, Malkit Singh Dhaka, Harbans Kaur, Nahar Singh Gill, Jeevan Dhawan, Ashwani Sharma, Akshay Bhanot, S.S. Ahluwalia, Harcharn Singh and others. |
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New concepts in flooring Ludhiana, May 13 The concept of flooring has undergone a great deal of change from mud floors, which used to be kept in shape by mopping them with a cow-dung mixture to ordinary floors, made of cement, followed by mosaic floors. Soon people wanted to experiment with new kinds of flooring. Marble flooring, considered royal, came into vogue in a big way. People got marble from Italy and those who could not afford Italian marble, went to Makrana in Rajasthan to get truckloads of it. After a few years, those with a yen for change and desirous of showing off their “rich taste” opted for granite floors. Some went for lush wall-to-wall carpeting of the entire house, but soon found out that it was difficult to maintain carpets in the hot humid climate of North. As Ms Sheela Tyagi says, “I got fed up of removing stains from the carpets. The dry-cleaning bills of the carpets ran into thousands. Moreover, one got tired of the carpets because they got frayed, so I decided to go in for laminated floors. I found that a Swedish company was supplying laminated floors, which had a durability of 50 years. What I liked about these floors that they were made of wood, but one did not have to cut a cherry tree to have a cherry floor. The company had captive forests, which were used for wood and then replanted.” Many people are now going in for wooden floors. Says Mrs Usha Rani, “I removed the old mosaic floors and got wooden floors because they look very classy. But I find it takes a lot of effort to maintain these wooden floors.” On the other hand, Ms Kamini says that laminated floors are easy to maintain. She said, “My architect advised me to go in for laminated floors. They are stain, scratch and heat, resistant. They are easy to maintain. I can vacuum them and clean them with a mop.” So are they here to stay? |
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BSP will contest all Assembly seats: Kanshi Ram Mandi Gobindgarh, May 13 While addressing the gathering he said his party was ready for the coming Assembly elections and will contest all the 117 Assembly seats and will form government in the state. Mr Kanshi Ram termed the Akali-BJP government as anti Bahujan-Samaj. Mr Kanshi Ram suggested to form 11-member committees in every village to solve the problems of their brethren and to prepare the ground for the coming elections. People in the state have already tried the rule of Congress, Akali and BJP parties and now they are looking for a new alternative. Among others, who addressed the conference included Mr Mann Singh Manhera, General Secretary, Mr Harchand Singh Nasrali, president Fatehgarh Sahib, district and Mr Parkash Singh Salani, block president of the BSP. |
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‘Only poor should get reservation’ Fatehgarh Sahib, May 13 Mr Dullo also announced a grant of Rs 50,000 for the mandir to be constructed by Guru Ravi Dass Parbandhak Committee. |
JD leader booked Ludhiana, May 13 The Sadar police station has also booked the two, along with the three other persons, for stealing about 150 bags of cotton from the factory of an industrialist. |
Industrial area
sought Ludhiana, May 13 Mr Inderjit pointed out that in the city, the area starting from Jagraon Railway Bridge, GT Road towards Delhi, Dhuri railway line and towards Sidwan Canal was the area which was covered more than 80 per cent by the industries. This should be declared as industrial area, he demanded. He urged the CM to withdraw the excise-taxation purchase returns that were an unnecessarily burden on them. The requisite information was already available in the sales tax returns. Secondly, the recent decision of the Excise and Taxation Department to file sales tax returns on monthly basis was also causing problems to the manufacturers. |
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