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September 22, 2001, Chandigarh, India
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Crores of rupees for city development Ludhiana, September 21 The city Mayor, Mr Apinder Singh Grewal, presided over the meeting, where the others who were present included the MC Commissioner, Dr S.S. Sandhu; the Additional Commissioner, Mr Raminder Singh; the Deputy Mayor, Ms Santosh Aneja; Mr Jai Parkash and Mr Hakam Singh Giaspura, councillors. The other major development works that were approved included providing storm-water pipes in Azad Nagar (Rs 4.18 lakh), carpeting of the road from Dhandari Kalan to Chambal Ghati (Rs 21.46 lakh), widening and strengthening of the roads around Devki Devi Jain College in Kidwai Nagar (Rs 8.09 lakh), installation of streetlights in Adarsh Colony on Barewal Road, purchase of foam compound for fire brigade (Rs 4 lakh), upgrading of sewer lines in Mohalla Hargobind Nagar (Rs 5.31 lakh), widening of roads with perforated tiles in Block A of Sarabha Nagar (Rs 22.81 lakh), construction of main road in Vishal Nagar on Pakhowal Road (Rs 20.66 lakh), laying of tiles on both sides of the main road in Gurdev Nagar (Rs 22.29 lakh), surfacing of the main road in J Block and Housing Board Colony on the Ferozepore Road (Rs 12.72 lakh) and concrete-lining of Sidhwan Canal upto Barewal Road (Rs 22 lakh). The committee allowed the MC to participate in a two-year USAID project — Cities for Climate Protection Programme. Ludhiana is among the five cities of India that have been selected for the project that is to be launched in 400 cities worldwide. The project is to be
launched jointly by the Regional Urban Development Office for South Asia of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the International Council for Local Environment Initiatives. A proposal for a time-bound repayment of interest and principal of a Rs 105 crore loan from the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) was also cleared. The committee approved the grant of housing and computer loans to the MC employees, reimbursement of their medical bills, purchase of uniforms for fire-brigade employees and estimates for new roadworks, sewerage water-supply, parks and streetlight projects. |
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Ahmedgarh kidnapping case solved Ludhiana, September 21 The alleged kingpin of the gang, Major Singh Pehalwan, was, however, yet to be arrested. According to sources, the accused was politically well connected and had remained an office bearer with the state Congress party. Some years ago he had joined the Akali Dal but had left it after some time to rejoin the Congress. It has been reliably learnt that the accused might surrender through a prominent political person of the region. The breakthrough in the identification of the kingpin has confirmed the news reports published in these columns about the involvement of the akhara owner in the kidnapping incident. The news reports had also exposed that the entire plan was hatched in the akhara. The case was in limelight as the accused had demanded a high ransom of Rs 50 lakh from the kidnapper’s relatives and the police of four police districts — Sangrur, Khanna, Jagraon and Ludhiana — was involved in solving the case. According to Mr R.N. Dhoke, SSP, Khanna, the accused were arrested by a police party that had laid a nakka on a road connecting Mehdoodan and Katani Sahib Gurdwara yesterday. The four accused — Jaswinder Singh alias Jassi, of Ajnaud village, Jagjit Singh, alias Jaggi, of Machiwara, Gurpreet Singh, alias Tinku, and Inderpal Singh Rana of Rampur village — armed with guns were travelling in a stolen car. The SSP said initially a case of theft was registered against the accused but on further investigation and interrogation of the accused under the
supervision of SP (D) Gurmail Singh Sidhu and DSP Samrala Sushil Kumar, the police achieved breakthrough in the case. The accused revealed that on September 7, they had kidnapped Abdesh Kumar, owner of Ganesh Oil Mills Industries Ahmedgarh. They kidnapped him on gunpoint and took him away in a Maruti car, which had a fake registration number. The accused kept travelling for several hours. Revealing a cruel way to keep the kidnapped youth quiet, the kidnappers confessed to the police that they injected drugs into him. They spent a night at Jullian village but next morning near Ballion village a police party swooped on them. The accused left the youth and ran on a scooter snatched from a passer-by. The police has recovered a stolen car (DL-3C-A-9226), one air pistol, revolver and a double-barrel gun from the accused. Some of the accused have a number of cases pending against them. |
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Abolition
of octroi to hamper development: Mayor Ludhiana, September 21 Inaugurating the work for paving streets in Mohalla Hargovind Nagar in ward No 58 here, Mr Grewal said octroi was the major source of revenue for the local bodies and this move would dry up their resources. Speaking on the occasion, the area councillor, Ms Ravinder Kaur Chadha, explained in detail about the ongoing development works and other projects, which were in the pipeline in the area. Prominent among those present on the occasion were Mr Surinder Dawar, president, District Congress Committee (Urban), Mr Jasbir Singh Chadha, president, Block Congress Committee, Mr S. Kumar, Mr Surinder Malhotra, Mr Satish Sharma, Mr Dilbagh Singh, Mr Deepak Sood, Mr Somesh Aggarwal, Mr Gursharan Singh Pappu, Mr Shammi Lehar, Mr Sunil Maini, Mr Sunil Sharma and Mr Inderjit Singh. Meanwhile, responding to the call given by the Punjab Municipal Workers’ Sangharsh Committee, a large number of municipal employees held a protest demonstration at Mini Secretariat here to register their opposition to the government move on abolition of octroi. Raising slogans against the government, protesting employees from 17 municipal councils from the district and other nearby places, demanded the resignation of the Punjab Local Bodies Minister, Mr Balramji Das Tandon, whom they charged with pursuing anti-employee policies. Mr Dina Nath Sidhu (Ludhiana), Mr Dharam Pal (Morinda), Mr Satish Kumar (Mullanpur Dakha), Mr Amar Pal (Jagraon), Mr Lovely Pal Diswar, Mr Khelar Chand Gupta (Ludhiana), Mr Balwant Singh Sandhu (Patiala) and Mr Avtar Ram (Kharar), while addressing the rally, alleged that the government had adopted an indifferent attitude towards the municipal employees, who were to be worst sufferers of the ill conceived decision. “While the government has been holding extended meetings and discussions with the members of trade and industry over the crucial matter, the employees are not being taken into confidence.” According to Mr Sandhu, president, Punjab Nagarpalika Karamchari Mahasangh, the municipal employees would further intensify the agitation against the government move and a meeting of the committee would be convened on September 23 at Sunam in Sangrur district to chalk out further course of action. |
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PSEB financial crisis deepens Ludhiana, September 21 Enquiries revealed that the PSEB owes a sum of Rs 400 crore to the central power generating agencies namely National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), National Hydel Power Corporation (NHPC), Nuclear Power Corporation and Grid Corporation of India. Moreover, Coal India Limited has to realise a sum of Rs 60 crore from the board. The enquiries further showed that the PSEB entered into an agreement with the Railways that it would keep deposited a month’s railway freight in advance for speedy movement of coal from the coal heads and in return the Railways agreed to give a concession of 15 per cent. But the board has not been able to keep its agreement. As a result of which it has to pay 15 per cent extra on every rake of coal transported by the Railways. The price of coal is Rs 700 per tonne whereas the freight is Rs 1200 per tonne and with the extra levy of 15 per cent an additional sum of Rs 180 per tonne is being paid to the railways. The sources close to the PSEB disclosed that the basic flow of cash comes to the board during the four summer months of May, June, July and August. But during this period, major share of power is supplied to the agriculture sector with the result that the income does not match the level of expenditure. The PSEB has been able to save its skin from the wrath of the central agencies because of the overall bad financial situation of all state electricity boards. The agencies get the funds deducted from the State Plan by complaining to the Union Finance Ministry. The board has also failed to make use of the recommendations of the Montek Singh Ahluwalia Committee, which studied the financial status of the state electricity boards. Under the recommendations, the state electricity boards were given a package under which they could have secured the dues by February, 2001, but the PSEB even failed to do that. Although the state Power Regulatory Authority has been constituted, yet it has not started functioning. This has also adversely affected the financial position of the PSEB. As a matter of fact, the board wanted to make a petition to the regulatory authority for regularisation of power tarrif, but the state government was understood to have ordered the board not to make any such petition till the Assembly elections in the state. On the other hand, the state government has given some relief to the Dalits and consumers having consumption up to 200 units per month. It has also decided to regularise 45,000 unauthorised tubewell connections in the state thereby causing big loss to the PSEB. The authorities of the PSEB are worried about the poor financial condition of the board. They feel that the financial institutions would also not come to the rescue of the board and the crisis would further aggravate. The state government also does not seem to be in a mood to help the PSEB to tide over the financial crisis. |
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PAU faces serious financial crunch Ludhiana, September 21 The PAU authorities are understood to have written to the state government that the activities of the university would be crippled if such a proposal was put into action. The financial situation is assuming serious proportions as the university is already facing a deficit of Rs 22 crore in the current financial year. According to well-informed sources in the PAU, the university has not been paid an amount of Rs 16 crore by the state government up to June 2001 meant for payment of salaries to the staff. Consequently, the university is facing a deficit at the rate of Rs 1.17 crore every month which is being added in the already existing deficit of Rs 16 crore. Sources disclosed that a committee constituted by the PAU Board of Management comprising the Vice- Chancellor of the PAU, Finance Commissioner (Development), Department of Agriculture and Principal Secretary to the Government of Punjab has written to the state government that the PAU should not be treated as other universities in the state as it had not much sources of income. The committee has also written that the PAU was already facing a deficit of Rs 22 crore in the current year and if the grant was reduced then it would face more deficits. The committee has also requested the state government that ‘’the PAU should be provided an additional grant to meet the uncovered gap under the head salary of staff which is a committed liability, in the interest of smooth functioning of the university.” The matter of reduction of the grant was taken up at a recent meeting of the board of management of the PAU which expressed serious concern over the government’s proposal to cut the grant. In its proceedings, the Board maintained that “the grant-in-aid to the university should not be reduced at any cost as the grant-in-aid already sanctioned was not sufficient to meet the day-to-day financial needs of the university.” Sources in the PAU said that if the government’s proposal to reduce the 10 per cent grant was implemented it would mean severe financial crunch for the university. As this proposal implies that after five years the university will receive only 50 per cent of what it is getting now in the form of financial aid from the Punjab Government. The sources also said that it was impossible for the university to reduce its amount spent on the salaries of the staff. |
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1,650 MT
of paddy purchased Ludhiana, September 21 According to Mr Sandhu, all the government procurement agencies, including the Food Corporation of India (FCI), had procured paddy in the local mandi as well as at Khanna, Jagraon, Raikot and
Machhiwara. Dr G. Vajralingam, Director, Food and Supplies, Punjab, visited the mandis in the district to see the arrangements made for the smooth procurement. During his visit to the Ludhiana, Khanna, Sahnewal and Doraha
mandis, he was accompanied by Mr Girdhari Lal, Joint Director, Food and Supplies, and Mr Parveen
Vij, District Food and Supplies Controller. Later in the evening Mr Madan Mohan Mittal, Minister Food and Supplies, visited the Jagraon mandi and expressed satisfaction over the arrangements made by the procurement agencies. The visiting dignitaries interacted with the farmers and
arhtias, who were generally in a mood of jubilation over commencement of procurement and the elaborate arrangements made by the procurement agencies and the district administration. KHANNA:
In the local Grain Market, which is one of Asia’s biggest
mandis, different government agencies started procurement of paddy. The first purchase was made by the Punjab Warehousing Corporation. SDM Pardeep Kumar Sabhrawal inspected the purchase operation. He stated that the Punjab Warehousing Corporation, the Punjab Agro-Industries Corporation, Punsup, the Food Civil Supply Department, Markfed and the FCI have started the purchase of paddy. The SDM asked officials of different agencies to purchase paddy as per the policy of the government and to see to it that no farmer should be harassed. He urged the members of the Arhitias Association that they should cooperate with the agencies. Mr Ranbir Sood, Chairman, Market Committee, said that they would cooperate with the agencies. Mr Sabharwal appealed to the farmers to bring dry paddy to the market. Sources said that agencies purchased 900 quintals of paddy. |
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Teachers
to block traffic, court arrest Ludhiana, September 21 Talking to media persons during a press conference at Arya College, Prof K.B.S. Sodhi, president of the union, said that members had decided to block traffic and court arrest at Amritsar, Ferozepore and Patiala on September 28, October 5 and 12, respectively. He said that if the government failed to implement their already accepted demands, they would hold protest rallies in the constituencies of the Finance Minister and Chief Minister of October 19 and November 7, respectively. On October 30, the executive committee members would court arrest at Chandigarh, he said. Prof Sodhi said that a deputation of the office-bearers of PCCTU would call on Mr N.K. Arora, Chief Secretary, Punjab, on September 25 regarding their long-pending demands, including implementation of pension-cum-gratuity scheme, payment of arrears on account of revision of grades since January 1, 1996, updated review of posts in colleges, grant-in-aid to unaided colleges, complete parity to librarians with lecturers, UGC-recommended grades to demonstrators and relaxation of PhD as eligibility condition for the posts of principal. Meanwhile, the PCCTU has expressed grave concern over the cases of exploitation and harassment of women teachers in private colleges of the state. Stating this, Prof Sodhi said that a large number of cases were being reported from all over the state regarding underpayments, denial of the UGC-recommended grades and allowances, maternity and earned leave. He said that the union was struggling hard for revoking the suspension of Prof Harbans Kaur of Dev Samaj College for Women, Ferozepore. He said that chairperson of the Punjab
Women's Commission had called him for a personal hearing on October 11 in connection with the case. |
Political leaders seek ban on controversial granth Ludhiana, September 21 Putting an end to the speculation of the alleged support of some political parties to the controversial saint, an all-party delegation submitted a joint memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner demanding an immediate ban on the book and stringent action against persons showing insult to Guru Granth Sahib. Leaders of the Congress, the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (Panthic Morcha), including Mr Gurcharan Singh Ghalib, Mr Avtar Singh Makkar, Mr Sahranjit Singh Dhillon, Mr Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal and Mr Hira Singh Ghabria, urged the DC to take stringent action in the matter as it did not portend well for the peace in the state. While the followers of the self-styled saint alleged that the police was not arresting the main accused in the case, the Sikh Students Federation staged a dharna in front of the Sarabha Nagar police station against the alleged false registration of cases against some of the party leaders and activists. Even though the proposed bandh call for today by the All India Sikh Students Federation was withdrawn yesterday, shops in Pakhowal town, where the situation was tense in the past
few days due to the presence of a large numbers of followers of both the groups, remain closed for the entire day. Shopkeepers said local leaders of the federation came in the morning and announced the bandh call. Shops also remained closed in several parts of the city for some time as confusion prevailed over the bandh call. The activists of the Akal Market Shopkeepers Association also took out a protest march from the market to the Ghanta Ghar chowk demanding a ban on the controversial granth. Mr Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal alleged that the Agriculture Minister in the Badal government, Mr Gurdev Badal and his son, have been frequently meeting the head of the controversial sect and urged the Akal Takh Jathedar to summon both of them and ask for an explanation. |
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Parties
flay act of sacrilege Ludhiana, September 21 At a meeting of the youth wing of the SAD (A) and the other party activists at the residence of Mr Sarbjit Singh Baba, district head of the party, the incident was termed as “most unfortunate”. The participants said the indifference of The SAD (B) government and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee was responsible for it. Mr Charan Singh Lohara, General Secretary of the SAD (A), and Mr Balwinder Singh Bains, President of the party youth wing, said every Akali government headed by Mr Parkash Singh Badal had taken bad decisions. “His failure to take action against the followers of Baba Piara Singh for the act of sacrilege shows Mr Badal in poor light,” they said. The All-India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF), at its meeting at Phase I of Dugri called by Mr Kulwant Singh Ranike, criticised the disrespect shown to Guru Grant Sahib at Ratangarh village near Morinda and demanded strict punishment for the culprits. Activists of the District Youth Congress (DYC), led by Mr Sarbjit Singh Bunty, Vice-President of the party, held a demonstration near Domoria Bridge in protest against the burning of the ‘Bir’ of Sri Guru Granth Sahib. The demonstrators demanded the resignation of Mr Badal. Mr Amarjit Singh Happy, President of the Akal Market Readymade Shopkeepers Association, also demanded strict action against those responsible for the act of sacrilege. At a meeting of the association here today, he said the government should put a ban on the book of Baba Bhaniara. |
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SHSAD charges Badal with inaction Ludhiana, September 21 Mr S.S. Bhaur, General Secretary of the SHSAD, said here yesterday that by remaining mum on the issue and not initiating any legal action against the followers of Baba Piara Singh “for torching” the ‘Bir’, Mr Parkash Singh Badal had proved that he was not an Akali. The SHSAD leader said the ‘dera’ of Baba Piara Singh at Bhania village near Ropar had been built on government land and the Baba was enjoying security cover provided by the government. He said two ministers of the state — Mr Gurdev Singh Badal and Mr Kewal Singh Badal — had been visiting the Baba, which proved their links with him. The SHSAD leaders said the situation was similar to the 1978 situation with the Nirankaris. Mr Bhaur quoted the Supreme Court ruling that the Guru Granth Sahib was a juridic person and its burning was an act of murder. |
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Enforce
ban on female foeticide, says sabha Ludhiana, September 21 The meeting, held at Arya Samaj, Dal Bazar, passed a resolution which said that as a result of the ultra-sound examination and killing of the female embryo, a serious problem had raised its head which would lead to disastrous consequences in the
future. In Punjab, the female-male childbirth ratio was 874 girls to 1000 boys. Children were another form of God and killing them before birth was a sin. Foeticide , which means that an innocent life is killed before it acquires proper shape, was a heinous crime, it said. The resolution further observed that other social practices such as the dowry system, the wish to further expand the family tree, wish to have serving sons in old age and security of girls these days were responsible for the rise in female foeticide. The resolution called upon the state government to ensure that the Supreme Court orders in this regard were strictly implemented. The Arya Samaj should also carry out awareness campaigns in this regard in every town of the state, it added. By another resolution, the core group of the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha demanded that the birthday of Maharishi Dayanand should be declared a public holiday. It said the founder of Arya Samaj had launched the ‘swadeshi’ movement in 1879 and inspired the youth of the day to follow the path of sacrifice in order to liberate the country. It was on the call given by Maharishi Dayanand that Ram Parsad Bismil, Bhagat Singh, Lala Lajpat Rai and other martyrs laid down their lives for the country. The great saint also sacrificed his life while fighting for equal rights for women, removing religious bigotry and eradicating social evils. The Arya Pratinidhi Sabha was of the view that the contributions of Swami Dayanand had not been properly evaluated. The Punjab government should declare his birthday a public holiday, demanded the resolution. The meeting also resolved to ask the state government to deal with cases of police officers involved in excesses during militancy days on merit in such a way that the morale of the Punjab Police was not affected. It observed that militancy was not a normal phenomenon which could be tackled by employing normal means. It was an irony that these police officers, about 500 in number, were running from pillar to post and facing court cases. In another resolution, the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, observed that even after 54 years of Independence, Hindi had not been established as a national language. It said the Punjab government was bent upon finishing Hindi in the state.. The sabha called upon the state government to give a respectable place to Hindi along with Punjabi and take steps for the spread of the language in the state. All official correspondence should be either carried out in Punjabi or Hindi. Posts of Hindi teachers which have been vacant for quite some time should be filled at the earliest. Adequate arrangements should be made for those students who want to pursue their studies in Hindi medium. The state government should also make adequate arrangements for the teaching of Sanskrit. The meeting, which was presided over by the sabha president, Mr Sardari Lal Arya Rattan, was attended among others by Dewan Rajinder Kumar, senior vice-president, Mr Roshan lal Arya, general secretary, Swami Shobhan and Saraswati, Swami Satyanand Mr Ram Kumar Sharma (Jalandhar), Mr Raj Kumar Sharma (Barnala), Mr Anil Laroiyan, (Nawanshahr) and Swami Yagya Muni . It was also unanimously decided that a delegation of the sabha would soon call upon the Chief Minister and the Governor. And if the government did not accept the demands of the sabha, district -level agitational activities would be started. The meeting also decided to work for the spread of vedic culture among the youth, introduction of religious education in various Arya educational institutions and fighting other social evils. |
4 booked in dowry death case Sahnewal, September 21 Kuldip Kaur, daughter of Jaspal Singh of Pawa Khakat village was married to Rajinder Singh of Dharaur village on February 21,1995 and she was allegedly tortured, beaten and harassed for not fulfilling the demands of her in-laws. On September 19 she was reportedly fed up and consumed some poisonous substance and died. She leaves behind a four-year-old son. A case under Section 304-B and 34 of the IPC has been registered against her husband, father-in-law, Ajit Singh, mother-in-law, Mohinder Kaur, and sister-in-law Gurmit Kaur, who have been absconding since the day of the incident.
Killed A man was killed at Sahni village after he was hit by an unidentified vehicle on
Thursday night. According to a case registered at the Sahnewal police station on Thursday, a gurkha, who was about to cross a road near Sahni village died on the spot when a vehicle crushed him at the place. A case under Section 279 and 304-A of IPC has been registered.
Minor girl abducted A minor girl was abducted from her house at Jandiali village on the night of September 19. Banta Singh of Sangrur, Ram Singh of Maharashtra and four others have been booked in a case registered at the Sahnewal police station on
Thursday under Sections 365, 506, 148 and 149 of the IPC in this connection. Manjit Kaur, daughter of Gurdial Singh of Jandiali village, has alleged that her one and a-half-year old daughter, Ramandeep Kaur, was abducted on the night of September 19 from the house at Jandiali. They came in vehicle (PB-11-0911) and took her forcibly and threatened to kill her when Gurdiyal Singh, Jagmohan Singh and villagers tried to stop them.
Motor cycle stolen Gurdeep Singh Deepi of Khanpur village has complained that his red-coloured motor cycle (PB10-Aq-1187) had been stolen. A case has been registered at the Sahnewal police station under Section 379 of the IPC. |
Burkina Faso minister
visits city Ludhiana, September 21 The foreign delegation also met the senior office-bearers of the Chamber including Mr Avtar Singh, general secretary, and Mr Manjit Singh Jhalsa, vice-president of the Chamber, respectively. They said that the
government of Burkina Faso was interested to set up small-scale industries on the joint venture basis in their country. This approach of the aforesaid foreign delegation was substantiated in consequences of aftermath of the WTO agreements.’ The delegation visited various industries in Ludhiana including Hero Cycles, Avon Cycles, Ralson Tyrs, Small Scale Yarn Manufacturing Industry i.e. Swarn Spinning Mill, Sewal Overlock, Nohta Textile (Powerlooms), Jain Shawls, Paradise Textile, Daichi International (Sewing Machine) B.B.K. (Nut Bolt) and Oil Seeds (Oil Expeller Units) from September 17 to 19, 2001 and exchange their views with the local entrepreneurs. The delegation sought for the cooperation and coordination from the chamber which was promised by Mr Avtar
Singh. The delegation also extended invitation to the president and the general secretary of the Chamber to visit their country
along with a similar delegation of industry from Ludhiana to have a reciprocal study about the feasibility of setting up the industry in Burkina Faso on the joint venture basis. |
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Industry
opposes house tax bills Ludhiana, September 21 Mr Arunesh Mishra, leader of the association, said: “This area was with the PSHKDC, that they claim is still with them, but now the municipal corporation has not only collected house tax bills for the past three years, but has also increased water and sewerage disposal rates. The members have failed to understand which department has the jurisdiction.’’ He said the area was totally undeveloped and no serious work had ever been started either by the MC or by the PSHKDC. There were no roads or working sewerage system. The members decided to approach the MC authorities to redress the grievances of the members of the knitwear complex before they started their collection of taxes. An action committee under the president, Mr Arunesh Mishra, Mr Harjit Singh, Mr Parmanand, Mr K.N. Punni, Mr Sham Bansal and Mr Gulshan Rai, was formed to approach the MC. |
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