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| Wednesday,
January 2, 2002, Chandigarh, India
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LIC staff allege torture as police questions 50 Ludhiana, January 1 The local LIC managers have accused the police of forcibly picking up several employees of the corporation and beating them up in the CIA wing on a suspicion of being involved in the robbery. At least 50 persons, majority of them LIC employees belonging to different branches, including the head office in Dugri, were picked up by the police in the last two days. A senior LIC officer, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that two employees suffered serious injuries due to the police beating. The picking up of the employees at such a large scale has spread resentment among the LIC officers, unions and other employees. Senior officials of the corporation and union leaders went to the CIA office last afternoon and later to the senior police officers, including the SSP, to register their protest against the police high-handedness. An official said the senior police officers assured them of taking them into confidence before questioning any other employee. At the intervention of the senior officers, all so-called suspects were released. Some of these had to take medical assistance, sources said. Police sources, while denying the beatings, confirmed that a large number of LIC employees were brought to the CIA for questioning purposes as the police had got strong clues about the involvement of some employees in the robbery. The needle of suspicion turned towards employees after the police managed to get details of some calls made to one of the robbers on his mobile just five minutes before he committed the robbery. Certain eyewitnesses told the police that one of the unidentified robbers had received a call on his mobile while he was standing at a shop. An eyewitness had given some estimate about the timing to the police at the basis of the which the police was learnt to have found some major clues about the persons helping the robbers. A senior police official, wishing not to be quoted, said the police had to question the suspects if the case was to be solved. He denied any arm-twisting measures adopted by the police to crack the case. Senior LIC officers said they were angry at the manner in which the police took away the employees. They said they understood that the police was under pressure from the public and its senior officers to solve the case at the earliest but that did not mean that just on the basis of suspicion, the police could pick up anyone and beat him up. The LIC sources said the employees were peeved as only one of the picked up employees may or may have been involved but the stigma would remain attached with all others as well. The officials said they expected the police to use better methods of investigation other than the age old ones of picking up a person and beating him to get some confession. |
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Dance, masti usher in 2K2 Ludhiana, January 1 The Deputy Commissioner, Mr S.K. Sandhu, who is also the ex officio president of the Satluj Club, the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mr S.R. Kaler, the club general secretary Mr A.S. Chawla, Mr Daman and Kamal Oswal of the Oswal Group were among those present on the occasion. As the dancers gyrated to lively music of popular numbers the audience too swayed to the rhythm. Popular Hindi songs like “chura liya hai tumne”, “Churhi jo khanki” , “Yad piya ki aane laggi” kept the audience entertained. To add to the glamour of the evening was the colourful firework display. The songs of Sonu Nigam and the dance numbers of Riya Sen and Deepti Bhatnagar had the audience on their feet and added warmth to the chill of foggy night. New Year celebrations were organised at several other places as well. All the leading hotels in the city, including the Majestic Park Plaza, the Maharaja Regency and Magnet Resorts had organised special functions to celebrate the arrival of the New Year. And there was no count of the private parties held to mark the occasion. And these were organised on no small scale with DJs and dance floors set up every where. The buildings were beautifully illuminated and colourfully decorated to suit the occasion. The city remained awake for the whole night, at least till the wee hours as the parties continued till late. Besides the hoots and shouts of the rioteous youngsters zooming past each other could be heard through out the night. All the main markets like Ghumar Mandi, Sarabha Nagar, Mall Road, Pakhowal Road and Ferozepur Road remained live to the occasion. |
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They still dread wrath of Partition Ahmedgarh, January 1 Residents of Kasba Bharal and Jurahan, two villages of the area which are inhabited exclusively by refugees, had to leave their belongings 54 years ago in Pakistan. These villages were inhabited by Muslim families in pre-Partition period. Barring a dozen pucca houses, Kasba Bharat still has a few hundred kuchha houses. New places of worship have been built by migrant Sikhs but remnants of mosques are still there where they had once taken shelter. Mrs Harbans Kaur had just got married in 1947 when her father told her that they had to leave Sialkot. A friend of her father was a Muslim League leader, who had given them information to leave. She shivers on the idea of war because she still remembers the impact of hatred when the world was not equipped with modern weapons. She fails to understand why the policy makers of two nations are bent on having a war. Piara Singh can barely hear and his voice also trembles, but his tears start flowing when he
narrates the woes of racial hatred. If they were to face the consequences of war again why did nature save them from the jaws of death then, asks Piara. Balkar Singh criticises the government for not bothering about them as langars managed by Mangewal Wale Baba ji had saved them from starvation for six months in 1947 and they had been living like nomads for half a century. He also blames politicians of both nations for their miseries. Sarpanch Sukhwinder Singh was told by his father that even Muslims at Bilock had moved over political decisions. He feels sad that now he would not be able to fulfil his father’s last desire, who had asked him to visit his native village and meet his father’s friends. |
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Suspect in fraud case held Fatehgarh Sahib, January 1 Taking a serious note of the police lapses, the Secretary, PWD, Mr Sarvesh Kaushal, has reportedly written to the Cheif Secretary demanding that the investigation may be entrusted to the CBI since the case had been lying pending for over a year. A finger had also been pointed on the possible connivance between the police and the accused as the accused had been reportedly moving freely. The matter was also taken up with the DGP, where it was decided to entrust the case to the crime branch and appoint a full team to investigate, despite this order nothing tangible had been achieved. Mr Paramraj Singh Umrangal, SP (Crime), said since Mr Sumedh Singh Saini, IG (Crime), had taken up the assignment, he deputed a team to investigate the case. He said the case pertained to the detection of fraud of Rs 1,02,38,695 in the Rural Works Division, Sirhind. He said the local police had also investigated the case and concluded that there was no evidence of involvement of Amar Nath Singh, Senior Assistant, Gurvinderjit Singh, Bank
Mr H.S. Gill, who took the charge after the transfer of Kultar Singh Kultar, detected the fraud. He wrote to the government that a fraud worth Rs 1 crore had taken place in the division. The modus operandi was that the cash was being withdrawn from the department account in the bank and no entries were made in cashbook of the department. The cash was allegedly grabbed by the XEN in connivance with other officials and the contractor. Following the report of the detection of the fraud all officials were put under suspension and an FIR was lodged against the suspects and the Bank Manager. |
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Cancelled train leaves passengers in lurch Ludhiana, January 1 Scores of passengers who had booked a seat in the train were seen running here and there either trying to make an alternate arrangement or to get the ticket cancelled. Chaos and confusion prevailed as the cancellation news was announced on the station just half an hour before the arrival of the train. There was heavy rush at a railway counter meant for stamping a special permit on the ticket, with which the affected passengers could travel by other trains. While a number of families returning to the Capital after spending winter vacations at some relative’s place in the state were at their wits’ end on how to reach New Delhi in time, the cancellation seems to be proving too costly for several businessmen who used to travel by this train in the morning and return by Shatabdi or the same train in the evening. Mr Rohit Sharma, a local hosiery trader, said as the season was on, he had made appointments with several traders in New Delhi for finalising a business deal. The cancellation of the train, thus had caused brought, huge loss to him. A number of other businessmen left stranded had the same tale of sorrow to narrate. Railway sources said the
super fast train became the first casualty of the process of delaying of the trains due to thick fog prevailing in several parts of the country. Sources said the railways cancel a train in rare circumstances as the step is taken only when the train becomes too late. In this case, the train scheduled to leave Amritsar early in the morning, could not leave as the previous day’s train had been delayed. Due to this the Railways had no option but to call off the train. Railway sources said no doubt the passengers had to face were harassment but the Railways also suffered huge loss as it had to return the complete ticket amount. Whenever the Railways have to cancel the tickets due its own fault then the complete amount has to be returned to the passengers. Sources said once a train is delayed, it takes at least 20 days for the train to make up. Meanwhile, several trains continued running late today also. Even the trains starting from Amritsar, just two hours away, were late by over an hour due to the fog. The Shatabdi was also returning late. The worst affected was the Punjab Mail, which was running late by over nine hours.
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LUDHIANA CALLING WORSHIPPING the rising sun. This precisely holds true for people in Ludhiana. More so among the politicians. Recently, the Shiromani Akali Dal-Badal president and the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, appointed Mr Shranjit Singh Dhillon as the president of the youth wing of the party. As soon as the news reached here, hundreds of people thronged the residence of Mr Dhillon to congratulate him for obvious reasons. Even Mr Dhillon was pleasantly surprised over this instant change in the attitude of people. The announcement could not have come at a better time. Particularly when the elections have already been announced. People have started making him feel important and “quite close” to the Chief Minister’s family. So there are scores of people aspiring to contest the elections, who are approaching him for favours. It is learnt that some senior ministers, who did not like to talk to him earlier, called him up themselves to congratulate him. Everybody is somebody Somebody has rightly said about politicians that they will make you believe that they can do things impossible. They seem to have learnt the art after practising it on themselves. Since the elections have already been announced and hectic lobbying is going on for bagging the ticket, there are a number of candidates in the fray. For one particular seat, Ludhiana west, there are about 30 candidates. These candidates are to be heard to be believed. They may be politically too insignificant to be even thought suitable for the job. Yet they claim themselves to be the “most suitable”. And once you happen to listen anyone of them, he will stop almost short of convincing you that he has been allotted the ticket. While one will claim proximity to a particular leader, another will claim to some other leader and so on. One wonders who will really hit the jackpot.
Celebrating New Year Notwithstanding the fundamentalist onslaught led by the like of Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar, the world seems to be getting closer. The New Year celebrations across the world by people belonging to different countries, following different religions and speaking varied languages at same time, speaks well as how much the world has made progress towards cultural unity. Every religion and culture has its own
calendar and the arrival of the new year is celebrated according to their respective calendars. But people enjoy celebrating more the Christian New Year than their own. At least the younger generation. So who says, the world is falling apart. We are coming close to each other, of course culturally, lest some fundamentalists and chauvinists, who are present in every country and belong to every faith, sabotage this cultural integration.
Homecoming for
the Desi Jatt It was nostalgic homecoming for Dharminder, the Desi Jatt. He was in Ludhiana on a private visit in connection with a marriage. For a while Dharmendra was sitting comfortably with his wife (first), Mrs Parkash Kaur, among the guests. As the message spread that Dharmendra, the filmstar, was also attending the marriage, people literally ran amuck. First not many people could notice him. But later on he became the focus of attention. Obviously more people could be seen getting themselves photographed with Dharmendra, than the newly-wed couple. In fact, Dharmendra did not mind being bothered by people so much. This was obviously the love of people that made them surround him. But he had one reservation that he did not want to sign autographs, as he said, his age was already past and now children were signing the autographs. Summing up his experiences, he remarked it was “literally a homecoming”, when people went mad for him. Even the youngsters, who may not be familiar with his movies, were seen rushing towards him for autographs. He was accompanied by Mr Avtar Singh Bhogal, a leading industrialist of the city, and Mr Onkar Singh, the producer of famous Punjabi film, Yari Jatt Di.
Rewri aur moongfali Come winter and you can see the peanuts, nay moongfali, as it sounds more familiar and appropriate, being sold everywhere. And with this the famous rewris (candies). This might be unique to this Punjabi culture only that food habits change with the seasons. With rewri and moongfali there is sarson ka sag and makki ki roti. In fact moongfalis and rewris provide us with a sense of warmth in the cold and chilling climate. And dense fog adds to its romance. The rewri and moongfali sellers say that they have been doing brisk business for the last one week, particularly when the weather is so chilling and atmosphere so misty. Like Keats said, “Autumn has its colour”, so has the winter is mystic romance. (See accompanying photograph)
Faulty railway digital clocks While setting time on one’s watch according to the arrival or departure time of the ‘regularly late’ trains in the country would obviously provide the wrong time, same would be the result if one sets one’s watch according to the time pronounced by the number of digital clocks installed at the local railway station. The station with six platforms has over 15 such clocks but all of them tell different time at any given moment. This confuses the travellers and leaves a bad impression about the care taken by the station authorities. Some clocks have a difference of one minute while other have of more than five minutes. With a number of superfast trains passing through the station after a brief halt, even a single second is important for the passengers.
Clean police image The city police has hit upon a novel method of keeping its clean image. Instead of devising means or taking measures to control the soaring crime graph in the city, the police has begun censoring information to the press. While robbery and snatching incidents have become the order of the day, the police crime file, released daily to the press, does not mention any major or heinous crime. Even the lower officials have been specifically told to deny any spot incident if some journalist enquires from them. The censoring reached at its height this week, when the police without mincing any words, told a number of crime victims not to talk to the press and divulge details about their suffering. The police told them if the crime news come in the papers then the criminals become vigilant. Another method being used was to reduce the enormity of the crime. Robbery is being made into a snatching incident and the snatching incidents converted into a simple theft incident. Sentinel |
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BJP for unity between Badal, Tohra Ludhiana, January 1 Addressing a press conference here today, BJP leaders, who included the state president Mr Brij Lal Rinwa, the all-India secretary, Mr O.P. Modi, who is in charge of the party affairs for Punjab, senior leader and Health and Medical Education Minister, Mr Manoranjan Kalia, the state organising secretary, Mr Avinash Jaiswal, election in-charge for Punjab, Mr Vinod Sharma and the media in-charge, Mr Vineet Joshi, besides local leaders Mr Harbans Lal Sethi, Mr Rajinder Bhandari, Mr Rajinder Khatri and Mr Anil Sareen observed that they were strongly in favour of the unity. However, Mr Rinwa
clarified that the BJP did not want to make any comments since it was their internal matter. When asked whether the party would like to initiate any move in this directions, he
remarked, “Such initiatives can be misinterpreted”. He said in case both the groups showed any interest in BJP’s intervention, the party will be forthcoming with all its cooperation. Mr Kohli
maintained that the Akali-BJP alliance in the state needed to be looked beyond its political context. “It is more than that. It is a socio-cultural alliance that symbolises the Punjabi brotherhood”, Mr Kohli pointed out. He asserted that the mistrust and disharmony that had been caused by Congress rule was removed and a harmonius and peaceful atmosphere was created in the state. The BJP secretary claimed that the alliance had also belied the claims of the Congress that no non-Congress party or alliance could provide a stable and strong government. “We have proved them wrong as we have provided the best government that lasted its full term”. On the issue of seat sharing, the BJP leaders said, they had laid claim on five more seats, including Ludhiana west, Baluna, Sangrur, Budhlada, Balachaur and Gurdaspur. However, they said that it was the discretion of the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, to allot more seats to the party. They clarified that there were no differences between the two alliance partners on the issue. The BJP leaders had a lot to cheer today, as the rallies they addressed witnessed a reasonably good turn out. Braving the severe winter chill the party workers ensured that there was maximum participation in their rally. A visibly relaxed leadership thanked the workers for braving the severe cold and attending the rally. It was a great consolation for them as during the first two days of the rath yatra, the response had not been that good. |
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Include our demands in
manifestoes: SPC Ludhiana, January 1 Mr B.R. Kaushal, president, SPC, said in press note issued here today that the letters in this regard had already been sent to the state presidents of the Congress (I), Shiromani Akali Dal, Bharatiya Janata Party, SHSAD, CPI, CPM, Bahujan Samaj Party and Lok Bhalai Party. He further stated that the demands include revision of pension to the extent of 50 per cent of the revised scale of the post held by the employee at the time of his retirement and merger of 97 per cent of dearness allowance as of July 1, 1993, into the basic pay for purposes of determination of death-cum-retirement gratuity (DCR) in the case of pre 1-1-1996 retiree. The other demands are, grant of additional pension at the rate of 0.5 per cent of the average emolument for each period of six months of service over and above the qualifying service of 33 years, grant of travel concession to both husband and wife pensioners on the span of two years from the actual date of retirement, as it used to be till December 31, 1994, including extending such a benefit to family pensioners also, enhance fixed monthly medial allowance to Rs 5,000, grant of enhanced rates of expenses on health aids, restoration of commuted pension facility in a period of 10.46 years and after retirement, grant of old age special allowance with effect from January 1, 1996, instead of January 1, 2000, reservation of 2 per cent plots and flats to shelterless pensioners under various Punjab Urban Development Authority and Improvement Trust schemes, celebration of ‘Pensioners Day’ on December 17 every year at state expense and grant of full pension to the families of deceased employees who die in service at least for seven years or 65 years or whichever is later. |
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CITY SCAN The year 2001has merged with the past leaving a meaningful balance sheet. In many ways and several aspects, the year repeated what 2000 did. It was correctly discovered by Heraclitus that no man ever crossed the same river twice. Change is sure but imperceptible as is evolution from the monkey to the man. World has undergone change in both the directions, good and bad. So has India: suffering with cross-border terrorism, uniting by national urge to fight it to finish. Punjab is the long and strong arm of the steel frame of the nation. Malwa symbolises the hand that works. It tills and toils. Ludhiana earns and learns. We also make and break. We drink too much. Some of us think well. Those who think to work are one-up. A few make a visible mark on the city’s landscape. The few who put in their efforts to serve the metro are our contemporary heroes. The graph-2001 of all evil acts rose and it is depressing to read so. Some achievements in the field of culture are encouraging and heart-warming. Men of vision swim against the popular current. Men of decision and determination always face odds of all sorts to find remedy. ‘France fell’, wrote Romain Rolland, ‘Because there was corruption without indignation’. It jolted the men of sensibility. It did and does so anywhere, here too. We know this cancer. The field of culture is turning barren. Painters are thirsting for gallery. Noise is promoted. Sadly so, accepted as music, art at that! Poorly written and carelessly produced books make a mere quantity. It is a negation of quality yet people seek a recognition and manage awards. Coal mine is mostly devoid of a piece of diamond. ‘In morals always do as others do’, so remarks Jules Renard and adds, ‘In art, never!’. Art is higher, different. To do differently, a body of aesthetes came up. To provide excellence and further to sustain with a difference, Ludhiana Sanskritik Samagam (LSS) came to the centre-stage about three years ago. The year 2001 witnessed two historic things here. A good part of the XXXI National Games, the city hosted. This was done at the state level. Huge funds were utilised and records broken. The credit goes to the LSS for managing rare specimens of performing arts. A few items stand as events of city-pride. Such events are so rare that they did establish themselves as landmarks in recent history of Ludhiana. Padmashri Shovana Narayan is a living legend of kathak. She is duly recognised as danseuse par excellence. An eye-catching-cum- ear-arresting display of the inner person was seen. Later rare art treat ‘Yudhisthar and Draupadi’ was performed. The insightful text was artistically rendered and aesthetically treated. It was well-received even by the newly-initiated audience. Her sole kathak performance was a milestone in the history of our city. Sumit Tandon gave a wonderful performing and informing support. Colonial Cousins and ‘Roja’ fame holder, Hariharan, presented a musical extravaganza. To see him so close was an unforgettable experience. Reel and real stood apart, totally differentiated. Rasika Mohan is a great name in bharatnatyam. The legendary Bala Saraswathi (Chennai) initiated her and Lalitha Shastri subsequently provided the sustained climate for her further growth. She unfolded the vision of her mentor, Adyar Lakshman, and Guru Kalanidhi Narayanan. It was a rare feast of rhythm, music, expression and spectacle. Ludhiana’s aesthetes enjoyed the delightful presentation insightfully. The heat of June turned pleasant. SPICMACAY (North) and Virasat-2001 collaborated and thereby Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and Sahil Bhatt gave an excellent performance at another prestigious show. That Ismat Chaghtai is a rare story-writer, was never in doubt. That her short-story reading by a non-contemporary can hold the audience spell-bound, was a unique experience. Naseeruddin Shah, his wife, Ratna Pathak Shah, and daughter, Heeba Shah, did the impossible, a rare magic. Audience, not much conversant with literary Hindustani or Aligarh/ Lucknow Urdu, enjoyed the dramatic reading which left them mesmerised. Time fleeted away. Hall was full, none left. The family-trio made history. Ludhiana was richer by this deeply aesthetic experience. By the courtesy of the British Council, the LSS managed musical fusion, which had been dubbed by Maroon Town of the UK. It was a closer scene of the West through our window opened at the Sutlej Club. In the sprawling desert of West Asia, Israel appeared as a land of trees and birds. This is so due to human will to work. In arresting the march of another desert here, Mr Sunil Kant Munjal and his team of the LSS are doing the impossible. They are aiming at a cultural oasis, realising it with conviction and cooperation.
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Miraculous escape for four as car catches fire Ludhiana, January 1 The police on the basis of the statement of some passersby concluded that the incident was a freak accident. The identity of the owner of the car or the passengers, however, could not be ascertained. The police said it was waiting for the owners to file a complaint. It said it was almost sure that the incident was an accident but if there was some kind of sabotage than the truth could be known only after the owner met the police. The police has recorded the chassis number of the car and would get it verified from the District Transport Office. |
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Interesting claim by the police Ludhiana, January 1 The press note further stated that the PO staff had a target of accounting for 1,000 POs by March 15 this year. It also said that the rewards were being sanctioned to all personnel who had done outstanding work in this regard. |
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Market Committee recast Machhiwara, January 1 According to information available with Mr Nachhattar Singh, secretary, Market Committee, the other members include Kuldeep Singh Jatiwal, Nishan Kaur Mubarkpur, Joga Singh Sensowal, Davinder Kaur Powat, Rampaul Singh Panjgrain, Parmjit Singh Lakhowal Khurd, Ajit Singh Rattipur, Irven Kumar Luthra, Rupinder Singh Benipal, Mehar Singh Gogia, Sukhdev Singh Kotala, Dunichand, Amarchander and Sukhwinderjit Singh Jaipura. Besides, the BDPO will also be a member of the committee. In a brief function organised on the premises of the Market Committee, Mr Mithewal took the charge for the second consecutive term. |
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Phone exchange
commissioned Khanna, January 1 |
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