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February 27, 2002, Chandigarh, India
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Too less, say industrialists
Ludhiana, February 26 They were expecting that in view of the claimed initiation of third generation reforms, the Railway Minister would announce some bold steps to improve the competitiveness of the recession-hit hosiery and engineering industries and to boost exports from the region, which already suffer from locational disadvantage. Mr M.S. Bhogal, chairman of the Bhogal Group of Industries, said,‘‘ As far as bicycle and bicycle parts industry is concerned, we are not using railway services due to problems in delivery and inadequate service. We want that the Railways should enter into some pact with the road transporters to load and unload the goods at the factory premises, but no steps have been announced in this regard in the current Budget as well. It is not the small increase or decrease in freight charges that we are concerned with, but we want improvement in service and decrease in delivery time.’’ In fact, the Railways, which earned two-third of its income from freight, had been witnessing hard competition from road transporters in recent years. Interestingly, freight-loading target in the current fiscal was revised downward from 500 million tonnes to 489 million for 2001-02, resulting in Rs 625 crore less earning than the budgeted figure of Rs 25, 235 crore. Mr Ajit Singh Kular, another industrialist, lamented that in the name of rationalisation, the Railway Minister had tried to mop up additional Rs 450 crore in the next fiscal year. He had announced marginal increase in rates of coal, iron ore and raw material to steel plants. It would subsequently raise raw material costs, including electricity charges in the near future. Echoing the sentiments of exporters, Mr S.C. Ralhan, chairman, Engineering Export Promotion Council ( EEPC ), NR, said, ‘‘We have been left in the lurch by the Railway Minister. Despite our repeated reminders he has not announced any move to privatise the CONCOR, The Railways’ subsidiary, engaged in the transportation of goods. It is charging Rs 17,000 per 20 tonne container for transporting load from here to Nav Shiva port, which is very high. Once it is privatised, the entry of other players would cut down our expenses on transport.’’ Mr Satish K. Dhanda, vice-chairman, EEPC, added that the government should have announced some kind of concession to the exporters in the freight charges to boost exports, especially in North India, which were far away from the ports. Mr Ralhan, pointed out that in China, the government provided 100 per cent subsidy to the exporters for transport expenses in the country. The industrialists said that the government had not even spared basic commodities such as salt, vegetables grains and pulses from freight hike. Mr V.P. Chopra, president, Punjab Small Industries Association, said, ‘‘Though no across-the-board increase in freight rate has been proposed by the Railway Minister, however, tariff has been hiked by as much as 11.84 per cent for groundnut oil at 700 km followed by 7.89 per cent increase for grains and pulses. It will imply that their costs will increase for the public. The government should give some thought to the improvement in the services and delivery system and cut down the operational costs.” Mr Vinod K.Thapar, president, Federation of Knitwear and Allied Industries Association ( FEKTAA) said,‘‘We have been disappointed by the present Railway Budget, as instead of providing any relief to the industry, the government has increased the freight charges, though marginally. When we are facing low demand and high competition, it will not be possible to pass on even this marginal increase in transport costs to the consumers.’’  |
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Morcha made it easy for Congress Ludhiana, February 26 But for the division of votes between the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) and the Panthic Morcha, the Congress would not have been able to win at least three seats of Ludhiana rural, Payal and Dakha. The number of votes polled by the Panthic Morcha candidates is slightly less than the victory margin. But had the two parties contested the elections together, it would have created an entirely different impact. In Ludhiana rural Mr Milkait Singh Birmi polled 60,638 votes, while Mr Hira Singh Gabria of the Panthic Morcha and Mr Amrik Singh Aliwal of the SAD-B polled 30,305 and 30,535 votes, respectively. Obviously had there been a single candidate the results would have been different. Similarly in Payal, where Mr Tej Prakash defeated Mr Jagjiwan Pal Singh of the SAD-B by a margin of 7,601 votes, the Panthic Morcha candidate, Mr Kirpal Singh, polled about 7,000 votes. Almost a similar situation prevailed at Dakha, where the Congress candidate, Mr Milkiat Singh Dakha, defeated the SAD-B candidate, Mr Darshan Singh Shivalik. Against a combined face presented by the Congress in the urban area, it was a divided house in a number of rural segments.
Particularly in Qila Raipur, where the district president (rural), Mr Gurdev Lapran, dissociated himself from the official candidate Bibi Gurdial Kaur Khnagura, making the victory of the SAD-B candidate, Mr Jagdish Singh Garcha, relatively convenient. But despite all that Bibi Khangura gave a tough fight and was close to victory. It was for the first time that the Congress could present such a show in the electoral history of Qila Raipur, which was carved out in 1967. Except for 1992, it has always returned an Akali candidate. In 1992, Mr Tarsem Jodhan was elected from here with the Congress support. But the Akali Dal had not participated in those elections. It was, however, more interesting in Jagaron where the official Congress candidate could not even manage to safeguard his security deposit. Here Mr Darshan Brar, a rebel Congress candidate, gave a tough fight and almost defeated the sitting MLA, Mr Bagh Singh Mallah, of the SAD-B. Mr Brar had been denied the ticket reportedly at the behest of local MP, Mr Gurcharan Singh Ghalib, who has himself represented the segment earlier. Against over 30,000 votes of Mr Brar, the Congress candidate Mr Paramjit Singh Sibia could manage 6315 votes only. In Raikote the Congress strongman, Mr Harmohinder Singh, lost to Mr Ranjit Singh Talwandi. However, Mr Talwandi owes it to his father, Mr Jagdev Singh Talwandi, former SGPC president and the senior vice-president of the SAD-B. It was more because of his personal influence that the junior Talwandi could defeat Mr Harmohinder Singh, who had withstood the strong Akali wave in 1997 and broken the Akali
supremacy in the area. |
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Cong leader booked in land-grab case Amloh, February 26 The Amloh police has registered a case against 18 persons, including Shingara Singh Salana, president, Block Congress Committee, Amloh and his father Mr Pakhar Singh Salana. The Amloh police has registered an FIR ( number 22 dated February 25) on the statement of Mr Amar Singh against Mr Nachhattar Singh , Gurri Phalwant, Netar Singh, Jit Singh, Mewa Singh, Dharamjit Singh, Major Singh, Sukhwinder Singh, Major Singh, Pakhar Singh, Shingara Singh, Major Singh, Avtar Singh, Chotta Singh, Baljit Singh, Bhagwant Singh, Sukhdev Singh and Avtar Mohammad under Section 447, 426, 148, 149 of the IPC. The police arrested three persons, Hardeep Singh, Major Singh and Dharamjit Singh, on Tuesday and
has impounded five tractors which were allegedly involved in the incident. Mr Surinder Singh Salana , Sarpanch of the village, said the land had been leased to Amar Singh and Sher Singh from June 11, 2001, for one year. Out of total 18 acre shamlat land, 9 acre was leased to them. Mr Shingara Singh Salana was, however, not available for comments. Mr Harcharan Singh Bhullar, DSP, Amloh, and Mr Devinder Singh Malli, SHO, Amloh, said the rest of the accused too would be nabbed soon. |
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Akali-BJP chasm helped Cong Ludhiana, February 26 In Ludhiana East, the alliance candidate Mr Satpal Gosain lost to Mr Surinder Dawer by over 13,000 votes. In 1997 he had defeated Mr Om Prakash Gupta of the Congress by over 16,000 votes. Mr Gosain had secured 36338 votes of the 61728 total votes polled. However, this time he could manage 18767 of the 53591 total votes polled. The 50 per cent swing against BJP was the obvious result of the dissociation of Akali workers from Mr Gosain. Mr Kulwant Singh Dukhia, a veteran and influential SAD-B member of the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation and Mr Prithipal Singh Pali, president of the Gurdwara Dukhniwaran actively and openly campaigned against Mr Gosain that led to obvious results. Ludhiana East was one of the very few seats, which the BJP was considering to be safe. In Ludhiana North, the alliance candidate Mr Pran Bhatia (BJP) could poll only 16295 votes against 39167 secured by Mr Rakesh Pandey of the Congress. Although the constituency is considered to be the Congress stronghold, yet the BJP had not expected such a poor performance, especially when the alliance has a number of councillors from here, including Mr Sunil Mehra, who was expelled from the party for his alleged anti-party activities. Similarly in Ludhiana West, the alliance candidate, Mr Avtar Singh Makkar (SAD-B) could not bag BJP votes. Mr Makkar managed only 19406 votes against 36006 votes polled by Mr Harnam Dass Johar of the Congress. This was quite contrary to the 1997 elections when the Akali candidate, Mr Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal, had polled 41725 votes. Mr Johar, who was contesting on the Congress ticket at that time also had polled 28832 votes. In fact he could improve by over 7000 votes only. But his victory margin was 16,600 obviously indicating the poor performance by the alliance candidate. It was not just the indifference of the BJP and Akali workers towards each other, but the dissidence and rebellion in both the parties from within that contributed towards their defeat. The Against this inter and intra-party factionalism within the Akali-BJP alliance, the Congress presented a united face this time, at least, in the Ludhiana city. The division of votes between SAD-B and the Panthic Morcha also contributed to the Congress victory at some places like Ludhiana Rural. It was a spectacular performance by the Congress candidate, Mr Milkait Singh Birmi, who polled slightly more votes than those polled by Mr Amrik Singh Aliwal of the SAD-B and Mr Hira Singh Gabria of the Panthic Morcha put together. In this segment, while Mr Birmi polled 60638 votes against 30535 and 30305 polled by Mr Aliwal and Mr Gabria respectively. Had the two been together, it would certainly have made a difference.
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Businessmen don political mantle Ludhiana, February 26 Mr Surinder Dawer runs a top dying unit. He is a self-made man. He was picked up by former Chief Minister, Mr Beant Singh and appointed District Congress Committee president. Since then he has been in politics. The business is handled by his younger brother Avinash. Mr Milkiat Singh Birmi started as a small time labour contractor in Saudi Arabia. And graduated to large scale construction business in the Gulf. He is considered to be one of the most affluent legislators and has deep interest in aviation, with some personal planes also. He was also initiated into politics by Beant Singh. Mr Rakesh Pandey from Ludhiana North joined politics after his father Mr Joginder Pal Pandey was shot dead by terrorists. He has been carrying on politics with business. He has been elected to the Assembly for the fourth time in a row. Mr Amrik Singh Dhillon and Mr Jagdish Garcha have very high stakes in liquor business. Mr Dhillon has liquor shops spread across the entire north. He has been elected to the Assembly for the second consecutive term. Similarly Mr Garcha's younger brother Mr Mann Singh Garcha is also a leading liquor contractor who ruled the roost during the Badal government. Mr Harnam Dass Johar from Ludhiana West is a lawyer by profession and by choice. He started with the Bhartiya Jana Sangh and subsequently shifted to the Congress. He has been elected to the assembly for the third time. Although his sons are into business also, but he has no direct involvement. Mr Tej Prakash from Payal is the son of former Chief Minister, Mr Beant Singh. He was an officer in the Punjab government till the assassination of his father. Politics is now his full time avocation. He claims agriculture to be his profession with no business or industrial interests. Mr Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal from Kum Kalan is the son of Mr Charanjit Singh Atwal, speaker in the last assembly. He has inherited politics from his father and has been actively involved in full time politics along with his father. He contested from Kum Kalan for the first time after his father shifted to Kartarpur. Mrs Harbans Kaur Dullo from Khanna is the wife of the Congress MP Mr Shamsher Singh Dullo. She quit her job in the bank to join politics. The family has no apparent business interests and are full time politicians. Mr Bagh Singh Mallah from Jagaron, Mr Mikiat Singh Dakha from Dakha and Mr Ranjit Singh Talwandi from Raikote have also no obvious business interests. All of them have described agriculture as their main profession. And all the three own considerable landed assets. |
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Health Dept sounds alert against plague Ludhiana, February 26 An official at the Civil Surgeon’s office said that though not a single case of plague had been reported in the district, yet the department had taken necessary steps for the prevention and spread of the disease. The Director, Health Services, has issued directions to the authorities concerned to cautiously treat every patient suffering from respiratory illness or having similar complaints, according to health department officials. Dr Harvinder Singh, Senior Medical Officer, Civil Hospital, while confirming the directions, said that the hospital was taking all precautionary measures in this regard. ‘‘We have arranged separate beds. The antibiotics are also in the stock and the oxygen cylinders, masks and other required
Dr Alka Dogra, a doctor at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, while giving details about the disease said that humans contacted plague from bite of an infected flea, by direct contact with tissues of infected animal or by droplet infection from cases of pneumonic plague. Dr Dogra maintained that cutaneous lesions were seen in the 10 per cent of cases in most epidemics. She further said that no distinct lesion could be seen at the site of flea bite initially. Later, an erythematous plaque may appear, which could then become bulbous and then crusted in 10 per cent of patients. A bubo (regional tender lymph gland enlargement) occurs several days later. A muscular or petechial rash may develop early, necrotic lesions may develop due to vasculitis and umbilicated vesicle or pustules were seen on the trunk, said the doctor. Early treatment with Streptomycin, Tetracycline and Chloramphenicol improved survival considerably. Mr S.K.Sharma, Additional Commissioner, Municipal Corporation and in charge of Health and Sanitation Departments, said that plague and other diseases could be controlled but due to lack of awareness, people panicked. ‘‘What is needed is to educate people on how to tackle the situation. In keeping the city clean, everyone has to contribute. And for that a degree of civic sense is required’’, Mr Sharma added. |
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Ministerial berth? Ludhiana, February 26 As the new government is likely to be sworn in tomorrow, speculations are rife about the possibility of induction of ministers. Besides these four there are other strong claimants as well. Mr Rakesh Pandey has been elected for the fourth time consecutively. Mr Surinder Dawer claims himself to be a ‘giant killer’ for having defeated Mr Satpal Gosain, a BJP heavyweight, with a huge margin. Besides, he is believed to be very close to the Pradesh Congress Committee President, Capt Amarinder Singh. Similarly Mrs Harbans Kaur Dullo, wife of the Congress MP, Mr Shamsher Singh Dullo, whose ministerial ambitions are an open secret. And last but not least, Mr Amrik Singh Dhillon from Samrala has not lost hope either. |
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As the dust raised by the Assembly elections starts to settle down, politicians and candidates, including those who won and those who lost, have started getting down to business as usual. While the reactions of all of them have come along the expected lines, some of them do not waver from making claims too tall to be tolerated. A good number of them have started blaming their own colleagues and party leaders for the internal sabotage, claiming that they would have won had it not been the betrayal by ‘our own men’. However, there are some candidates who view everything positively. They do not blame anyone for their own failures. One such candidate had no hesitation in admitting the defeat. Nor did he buy the argument that his own colleagues engineered his defeat. He pointed out that it was just an excuse. He had a word of consolation for himself and all those who had contested but lost: “Girte hain shahsawar hi, maidan-i-jang mein, woh tifl kya gire, jo guthno ke bal chale”. The heavyweights Every politician will love to be described as a heavyweight. But only as long as the definition is trimmed in terms of politics only. Being described as a political heavyweight, irrespective of the fact whether he is or not, is music to politicians’ ears. Some politicians in Ludhiana are literally and figuratively heavyweights. And that can be vouched for by their supporters. As the tradition of celebration goes in Punjab, a victorious candidate is lifted on shoulders by his supporters and taken out in procession. But supporters of two of the winning candidates in the city found it too difficult to celebrate the victory with the candidates on their shoulders. For the weight of the candidates was too heavy to be lifted by any of the supporters, no matter how strong physically the supporters might have been. These two candidates, instead of being given a shoulder ride, were bundled into the police gypsies, which had been provided to them by the administration for security purposes before elections, and were taken around in their respective Assembly segments.
Motor ride Forty improvised motor cycles introduced by the Ludhiana police last week with much fanfare saw aberration moments after the inauguration. A few senior IPS officers attracted to the bike, resembling American mobikes, left their Gypsies and began making rounds of the Police Lines, for what they termed a test ride. After all going by the precarious financial conditions of the force, each drop of petrol is important. But in this case the ‘Save petrol, save money’ slogan had no takers.
CIA competition The introduction of two CIA wings in the local police has produced an interesting competition between the two. With the image of both in charges are under stake, none of them misses a chance to be one up on the other. Hardly does mediapersons finish filing report about the ‘success’ story of one wing, the other rings up with details about its success. Officials do not miss stressing, “Sadee wee khabar duje wing de brabar lagayio”. If the story of one wing gets better display, the other one does not miss complaining, “Sade naal tusee yari nahi nibhaden.”
The Congress victory has brought the change in the identity of the people who matter in the governance or who have the influence now. While earlier, one could see a number of jathedars wearing blue turbans and now one could see more white turbans wearing people in and around the mini-secretariat and police stations.
PRO without phone Railway officials and passengers here have been complaining for a long time that neither the railway enquiry phone Nos. 131 and 132 properly work, nor the Railway’s PRO, Mr Rajesh Kharea, posted at Jalandhar has been provided any direct phone number. He has been given charge to deal with the Press. Whenever, journalists contact railway officials here, they are simply told: “We are not authorised to talk to the Press”. The official would ask them to contact their PRO, who has no direct phone. “You can go to Jalandhar to get an official response,” say officials.
High hopes With the launch of AirTel mobile phone services in the state, the competition between the service providers has really increased. Most of the customers in the city, who had high expectations from AirTel and Connect, are surprised that these companies have failed to fulfill their expectations. Reacting to this observations, one of the senior officials of the Connect, said: “We are suffering from the high expectations of the customers. Despite our best efforts, we are finding it difficult to fulfill high hopes. Moreover, a section of our lower rank staff have also started following the corrupt practices. You may call it demonstration effect, but we cannot help it”, he added.
Ill-equipped Guru Nanak Bhavan is built at enormous cost to stage plays and other cultural functions, but sadly the green rooms do not have the basic things like mirror, chairs and hooks to hang clothes. This was discovered by Habib Tanveer and his troupe who had come to stage ‘Jis lahore nahin vaikhye........’. Artistes were agitated to find the basic needs of the stage artistes missing from the bhavan. On inquiry it was found that the authorities did not place anything in the green rooms as they get stolen. Even mirrors fixed on walls! What are locks meant for ?
Craze for pix The people have not only a craze to read their names in the newspaper but go overboard if their pix is published in some local paper. A couple discovered that their child’s photo had appeared in a newspaper. But this fact came to them after a few days of appearance of the photo. A round of newspaper agents yielded no results. They learnt from someone that some scribe contributed to that paper. They searched the house and asked if they could have that paper. They were willing to go through mounds of dailies piled up haphazardly to find the newspaper of that date. In the bargain they separated the newspapers, piled them neatly, all to get the daily that had carried the photograph and cleared the mess much to the delight of the scribe. Sentinel |
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Steps for empowerment of physically challenged Ludhiana, February 26 This was stated by Ms Alka Guha, Chairperson, Indian National Trust for Physically and Mentally Challenged, while addressing a meeting of the representatives of Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) held at Bachat Bhawan here today. She said the National Trust Act aimed at making the physically and mentally challenged persons, self reliant as far as possible and to strengthen the necessary infrastructural facilities for making them useful members of their respective families. The legislation, she added, also provided for provisions to promote the security of such persons after the death of their parents or guardians. It would also deal with the problems of those devoid of family support. Ms Guha further observed that under the provisions of the law, parents of such physically or mentally challenged persons, who needed support even after attaining the age of 18 years, should take necessary measures to be appointed legal guardians of their children to avail of various kinds facilities being provided by the government. According to the chairperson of the trust, local committees for the welfare of physically and mentally challenged persons had already been set up in 243 districts all over the country. These committees comprised district officials, representatives of handicapped persons and NGOs and a state-level nodal officer coordinated the work of these committees. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr S.K. Sandhu, provided details of working of the local committee and other activities being taken up for the welfare of physically and mentally challenged persons. Mr A.K. Sinha, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Dev), Mr Harsuhinder Pal Singh, Assistant Commissioner (General), Mr Kuldip Singh Brar, District Social Security Officer and representatives of NGOs also attended the meeting. |
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Murder case: suspects identified Ludhiana, February 26 The police said the suspects hired the taxi from Jagraon and on return from Raikot they murdered the man. Mr Balkar Singh Sandhu, SSP, Jagraon, said in a press note that the suspects had been identified as Gurdeep Singh, alias Kala, and Amrit Kumar. Sahnewal Pedestrian killed:
Somnath, a pedestrian, was killed when a vehicle coming from the Khanna side hit him near the Sahnewal Chowk. A case has been registered. Woman shot at: A woman was injured when some persons fired at her. The injured, Jagir Kaur, alleged that Kali Prithi and Amrit Singh fired at her in front of her house. A case under Sections 307 and 34 of the IPC and Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act has been registered. One killed: A 60-year-old woman was hit by a vehicle at Majara village as a result of which she died on the spot. A case has been registered. Woman killed: A 60-yr-old woman was killed on the spot when she was hit by a vehicle at Majara village. The body has been handed over to the relatives after a post-mortem examination. A case has been registered on the complaint by Mr Sampooran Singh of Majara village under Sections 279, 304-A and 201 of the IPC. Robbery bid: A man reportedly broke into the house of Mr Surjit Singh of Guddowal village on Tuesday night. According to an FIR, Surjit Singh and his wife Jatinder Kaur were sleeping in the house when Pal Singh of Lakkhowal village broke into the house. The miscreant fled the scene when the owners woke up. Police sources said the miscreant had come with an intention of robbery. A case has been registered under Sections 456 and 427 of the IPC, while the culprit is reportedly still at large. Khanna |
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