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May 22, 2002, Chandigarh, India
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Legislators, women councillors join race for Ludhiana, May 21 Sources in the party revealed that the idea of accommodating four party legislators as city Mayors had found favour with the leadership and the government was obtaining legal opinion before going ahead with the proposal since the post of Mayor was considered to be an office of profit. The underlying idea was to adjust party legislators elsewhere since it was not possible to provide berths to all aspirants in the cabinet. The biggest impediment in the way of having legislators elected as Mayors was various provisions of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act 1976 and rules made
there under and amended from time to time. According to senior officials of the Municipal Corporation, although the legislators were ex-officio members of the General House of the MC, but the Act, did not bestow upon them even the right to vote and the State Government had to amend the rules through an ordinance to grant the right to vote to the legislators. Even after the word “elected member” of the corporation was substituted with “member” for the purpose of casting vote for the election of Mayor, Senior Deputy Mayor and the Deputy Mayor and during other proceedings of the House through an amendment, the PMC Act still describes legislators as “associate members” at several places and the legal experts maintain that an associate member cannot be elected Mayor or any other office-bearer of the MC. However, the government might go in for yet another amendment of the PMC Act to achieve the objective and an ordinance can be issued during the intervening period, the experts added. The reports to the effect that legislators might occupy the august office of the Mayor, came as a dampener for the newly elected Congress councillors in general and the aspirants for the post in particular. The city legislators, who had failed to get ministerial berths, are learnt to have stepped up lobbying for the coveted position. Meanwhile, a section of women councillors were reported to have started a move to mobilise opinion among the senior party leaders and their fellow councillors to elect the city Mayor from amongst women. Some women councillors from the Congress told Ludhiana Tribune that the women councillors had one third strength in the general house and it was only logical that the third corporation should have a woman Mayor. It may be recalled that during two terms in 1992 and 1997, only once in 1997 a woman — Ms Santosh Aneja of the BJP — was elected Deputy Mayor. Although no specific names were being mentioned from
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Typing error causes
confusion Ludhiana, May 21 According to Ms Sunita Rani, who was contesting as an independent candidate and was supported by the Akali Dal
(Amritsar), she was duly elected by a margin of 265 votes. She was issued the election certificate on the same day by the returning officer. However, today in the official record, which was to be re-offered to the official gazette of the government, instead of Ms Sunita Rani, Ms Surinder Kaur of the Congress had been shown victorious. While Sunita Rani alleged it was a deliberate attempt by an official, the SDM (East), Mr Malwinder Singh Jaggi, clarified that it was only a clerical mistake. Senior SAD(A) leader Charan Singh Lohara also alleged that it was being done deliberately. He alleged that when the error was pointed out to the clerk concerned, he refused to correct the error. “It obviously showed the connivance of the official in forging the records”. |
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Murdered
child could have been raped Ludhiana, May 21 The family of the girl child and the police is, however, not willing to buy this theory. Senior police officers said it was hard to believe that the girl was raped or attempted to rape as the condition of the body did not provide any clue to this regard. The family also reportedly had a tiff with the Civil Hospital doctors over the matter. They were more hurt than pained at the disclosure yesterday. The family members said if there was a rapist then he would have kidnapped elder girls instead of the small child. The two-year-old girl was found dead lying partially buried under sand in an abandoned plot in Makkar Colony. Her body bore marks of nails and bites of animals. The marks made the police conclude that the child was eaten by stray dogs. The police claimed this to the media also and conducted investigations under Section 174, IPC in the case. However, the postmortem examination conducted by a board of doctors, including a lady doctor yesterday and whose report was available today have thrown a completely new light on the case. Civil hospital sources said the postmortem examination revealed that there were injury marks on the private parts of the body which did not look like the one caused by dog bites. A doctor, who was part of the board , has confirmed the findings. He said in such cases the postmortem report only suggests that something of this kind had happened and the final confirmation comes only from the chemical examination of the swabs. The doctors also revealed that the exact cause of death could not be known. It was, however, suspected that the child could have died due to asphyxia as a lot of sand was found stuck in her throat. The district police officers were, however, maintaining that nothing of this kind had happened. Mr Shiv Kumar SP(D), and Mr S.S. Sandhu said as per the report given to them by the lower rank police officers in the case, the girl was killed and eaten by stray dogs. They said earlier also such incidents had happened. The officers said they had not seen the report personally. |
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IHRO seeks thorough probe Ludhiana, May 21 Mr D.S. Gill, Chairperson, IHRO, said this while talking to mediapersons here today. He said a three-member team of the women wing, comprising Dr Kanwaljit Kaur Bal, Dr Devinder Kaur Deep and Ms Inderjit Kaur, accompanied by the council member, Mr Sohan Singh, has visited the university twice and met victims, officials, including the VC, Dr H.S. Guram, and ex-officials. Mr Gill claimed that: “We have sufficient evidence to prove that at least 11 women officials, including a sweeper, have been abused sexually.” Mr Gill said investigations revealed that victims, who had made complaints against the VC, were removed from the job on one charge or the other. The Chairperson said the VC, however, defended himself by saying that he was a victim of conspiracy as some of the prospective candidates for the office of the VC were using dismissed employees for defaming him. The IHRO has asked the Punjab Governor and the state government to suspend the VC and restrain him from entering the university. It has also asked for a thorough investigation into the whole episode by the Vigilance Bureau. |
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Poor response
to PU diploma courses Ludhiana, May 21 While the PU had decided to start 17 new vocational courses with an aim to add variety to the existing courses and to help the students become self-reliant, just two or three colleges from Ludhiana have applied for the courses. According to principals and members of the managements of various colleges, they were not informed about the syllabi, prospect for the students and the infrastructure required, therefore, they did not apply for these courses. They could not introduce these course merely on the basis of course titles, the principals said. These courses included diplomas in chemical analysis of food, marketing management, personnel management, management of public enterprises, labour laws, taxation, refrigeration and air-conditioning, international trade, health, family welfare and population studies, clinical laboratory techniques, forensic sciences and criminology, maintenance and servicing of electrical and electronic instruments, besides diplomas in foreign languages. Regarding these courses, Ms S. Verma, Principal, SDP College for Women, said the university did not provide course contents and guidelines for the courses and it seemed that the authorities were pursuing the issue hurriedly. She said she did not want to start any course without ensuring the welfare of students and the goodwill of the institution. Ms Anoop Kaur Bansal, Principal, Guru Nanak Khalsa College for Women, said the college had not applied for the courses. She said it was decided in a meeting with the management that the courses would not be introduced in this session. If the need was felt and the response to these courses in other colleges was found to be good, the courses might be introduced from the next session, she said. Mr Gurdeep Singh, officiating Principal of GGN Khalsa College, said he did not receive any information regarding these courses. He said he came to know about these courses from principals of other colleges and by the time he applied for these, the last date for making application was already over. He said yesterday he received a letter from the university that their application for courses in international trade, marketing management and maintenance of electrical and electronic instruments had been rejected on account of delayed communication. However, Mr Tarsem Bahia, Principal, AS College, Khanna, said he had applied for the postgraduate diploma course in international trade. He said he felt that there was enough scope for the course. He said he had recently received a letter from the university asking him to furnish a certificate that the college would be able to run the course without any government aid. Following this, the college would be inspected for infrastructure and faculty available, on the basis of which the university would grant it affiliation for the course, he said. When asked about the number of applications received from Ludhiana colleges, Dr Ramesh Kapoor, Dean, Colleges, said just two or three colleges had applied for the courses. |
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Pressure
horns make cops deaf, dumb? Ludhiana, May 21 These pressure horns and hooters are frequently used by some so-called smart people, especially youngsters, in the city. They have fully equipped their vehicles with these pressure and musical horns, hooters and even police sirens to move on the roads like VIPs. The very purpose of using these devices is to make way during rush hours on city roads or to make their presence felt by becoming a centre of attraction. Some four-wheeler owners use the musical alarm of the central locking system of their vehicle as horn while driving on busy roads and even in silence zones. Notwithstanding the fact that strict rules have been framed prohibiting the use of these horns and hooters, a large number of commuters are dodged by the users of these devices everyday. These guys use these horns without any fear of being penalised by traffic cops. For them, it is an easy way to get clear the busy roads for themselves. The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, specifically prohibits the use of such horns and hooters, but nobody seems to care about these rules and regulations. According to the Act, any person found violating Section 190 (2), which prohibits the use of these horns and hooters, shall be punishable, for the first offence, with a fine of Rs 1,000 and for any subsequent offence with a fine of Rs 2,000. But perhaps, very few people are penalised for this offence, that is why, a large number of people dare to use these horns and hooters on their vehicles. Moreover, according to the Environment Protection Act, 1986, the sound above 90 decibel is considered as noise pollution. Listening to such a sound can lead to hearing problems and even cause permanent hearing impairment. But these provisions also do not seem to be of any concern to these persons. There are many silence zones in the city like areas around hospitals, educational institutions and important offices where the use of horns is prohibited. But people can be seen using horns in these areas even. The SP (Traffic), Mr Gurdial Singh, was not available for comment on the issue and his subordinate staff refused to given any data regarding the number of people challaned for violating Section 190 (2) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. |
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HIGH Command. The most familiar term used in Congress parlance. Whatever is thought difficult to be done at the local level is “thrown at the high command”. Even small-time politicians of the party will quote the invisible and abstract authority called “high command” for a petty reason. There are umpteen number of candidates who belonged to the Congress and later withdrew in favour of the official nominees, during the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation elections. They said they did it at the instance of the “high command”. One such candidate had more interesting and less appealing tale to tell. When he was quizzed by the journalists as why he decided to withdraw when he had claimed that he would contest at all costs independently, he said; “I received a phone call from the ‘high command’ requesting me to withdraw so I had no other option”. But when someone asked, what he meant by the “high command”, he felt slightly uncomfortable and also angry. Not to be caught on the wrong foot, he shot back; “high command is high command. Everybody knows who is the high command”. Like all other decisions, the District Congress Committee (DCC) has left the decision of choosing the Mayor in Ludhiana to the “high command”! Waiting desperately With the election process to the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation over and all the councillors having been elected, the Municipal Corporation building is getting a new look awaiting a fresh batch of 70 councillors, some of whom are not new. However, those who have been elected for the first time are curious to the extent of being restless to enter the House. But they are being made to wait till first week of June. According to official sources, the new Houses at Ludhiana, Patiala, Amristar and Jalandhar would be constituted around June 5 and till then the newly elected councillors will have to wait. One of the councillors remarked; “They are making us wait too much and by the time I enter the House and take oath it would be too late, and I may have lost all the interest”. Sixteen days’ wait after getting elected is really too much.
Water makes you win As the sun gets hotter and hotter day by day, there seems to be no respite from the intense heat for the people in the city. The worst part, as the denizens of the megacity have always been complaining, are the unannounced and frequent power cuts coupled with non-availability of water. This situation was profitably encashed by a candidate who was contesting independently from one of the wards of the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation. The said candidate went to the area promising free flow of water if they make him the councillor. The area was not having the water supply for quite some time. They also tried to exploit the situation. They told the councillor that they were not sure whether he will remember his promise or not, but he could prove himself right in case he arranged water at that moment only. He asked for a few hours of time. And within that time water tankers started arriving in the area and water was available in abundance there. The candidate won. He is now planning to dig a tube-well in the area and till then he has been supplying water to the people through tankers after making payments of his own.
‘Shagun’ for scribes There were quite a few unique and novel ideas with the candidates, contesting the recently held municipal election in the mega city to earn the goodwill of the electorate as well as maintain ‘more than cordial’ relations with members of the fourth estate. One of the Congress candidates in fray from a posh city locality called a press conference as the campaigning was to end. Some of the reporters present at the news conference were baffled to see that the leaflets, proclaiming the agenda of the candidates, being distributed there, were accompanied by a colourful envelope, normally used for offering ‘shagun’ at weddings and other functions. One curious scribe, who put a query to the organisers about these envelopes, was told that these contained a small ‘sewa phal’. While one senior reporter put his foot down and refused to accept the envelope, some others had, in the meantime, accepted the ‘sewa phal’ and had left. This is altogether another story that the ‘sewa phal’ offered to some of the scribes failed to have any effect and the said candidate lost the election.
Callous Ludhianvis It’s a common sight in Ludhiana to witness cruelty to animals meted out by their owners. Every other day one finds a horse or a mule with an overloaded cart collapsing due to overloading. Despite the fact that overloading is an offence as per the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, the police cops who witness these scenes keep watching and let the guilty go scot-free. The other day one such mule had collapsed on the Mall Road due to the same as many cans of milk were loaded on the cart. It took at least half an hour for some passersby to make him stand on his legs. (See picture)
Hilarious answer Well-known history professor Anders Henrikson, who has compiled a book on funny mistakes or explanations made by students in examinations, can get several more examples from this city. An examiner of English paper came across one such hilarious answer. To a translation question saying ‘Ram ulti kar reha see’, the student replied ‘Ram was oppositing’. He did not know the word
vomiting but his ingenious mind derived the word ‘oppositing’ from ‘ulta’ (opposite) .
PFA releases souvenir The Ludhiana Chapter of People for Animals has recently released a souvenir ‘Voice For Voiceless’. The souvenir voices out that animals are sentient beings who have feelings and experience pain and happiness as we all do. It emphasises to campaign for ethical treatment to animals, to promote vegetarianism, to setup hospitals, shelter for animals in
distress. The souvenir contains the list of its 120 life members. It has the aims and objectives of the organisation to get the PCA Act and relevant laws enforced by the police and administration.
10+2 for filling petrol? The value of education in the country seems to have touched the lowest ebb. A recruitment notice displayed on a blackboard by a petrol pump on the Ludhiana-Ferozepore road stated that 10 plus 2 pass boys were required for the purpose of filling petrol. The demand is extraordinary. A matriculate or a middle pass can be recruited as a sepoy in the defence forces. Youths passing a two-year diploma called ETC can be absorbed as teachers. But the petrol pump owners seem to be convinced that a Higher secondary pass student was fit for filling petrol.
VC’s Vaastu Either for keeping an eye on the campus or seeking good luck, the Vice Chancellor of Punjab Agricultural University has changed the direction of his seating arrangement. Earlier the VC used to sit with his back towards the windows but of late he has started sitting facing the windows. When a colleague asked him whether he had changed the direction as per the teachings of ‘Vaastu’, the VC was quick in answering, “I wanted to keep an eye on the employees but if good luck accompanies it what’s wrong in it?” Sentinel |
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Congress strongest in Ludhiana (West) Ludhiana, May 21 While Mr Johar was quite excited over the performance of the party in his segment, the massive loss to the party in the Ludhiana (Rural) assembly segment, represented by Mr Milkiat Singh Birmi, is attributed to wrong selection of candidates. Mr Birmi was not happy with the selection of candidates and he boycotted all meetings of the selection committee. Mr Birmi has been maintaining that he was not taken into confidence, while the candidates were finalised in his segment. He had already made it clear that in case the local MLA does not support the contesting candidates, it may be very difficult for them to win. Ludhiana (Rural) has the maximum number of 26 wards, followed by Ludhiana (West) with 14 wards, Ludhiana (North) 12, Ludhiana (East) 10 and Dakha five wards. There are two wards, which fall in Ludhiana (Rural) and Dakha, while one ward is common to Ludhiana (West) and Ludhiana (Rural). The Congress performance has also remained good in Ludhiana (East), represented by Mr Surinder Dawer. Of the 10 wards in his segment, the party won from seven, losing only three. In Ludhiana (North), represented by the Minister for Stationery and Printing, Mr Rakesh Pandey, there are 12 wards and the party won from six wards only. From the Dakha assembly segment, represented by Mr Milkiat Singh Dakha, the party won three of the five wards. |
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SAD, BJP allege irregularities in MC poll Ludhiana, May 21 A meeting of the newly elected councillors was held here today under the chairmanship of its acting district president, Mr Avtar Singh Makkar. Besides others, senior party leaders, including Mr Jagdish Garcha and Mr Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, also attended the meeting. However, Mr Rajinder Bhatia, the newly elected councillor and son of the party vice-president, Mr Amarjit Singh Bhatia, was conspicuous by his absence from the meeting. Akali leaders cited several instances and alleged they had raised objections against various bogus voters, but officials did not do anything. They alleged that Akali supporters were not allowed to cast their votes freely. They said they had demanded recounting in three wards, but the officials did not allow the same. However, the officials took no time in ordering recounting of votes in the wards where Akali candidates had won and thus declaring the Congress candidates as the winners. The party leaders expressed satisfaction over their performance and thanked the people for supporting them despite ‘the reign of terror let lose by the district administration at the behest of Congress leaders’. The Bharatiya Janata Party also alleged highhandedness of the police and the district administration official. The district BJP president, Mr Harbans Lal Sethi, alleged that a number of irregularities were brought to the notice of the polling officials, but they refused to take any action. |
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Tributes
paid to Rajiv Gandhi Ludhiana, May 21 A function was organised by the District Congress Committee (DCC) in the Congress Bhavan here. On this occasion, speakers recalled his sacrifice for the unity and integrity of the country. The DCC president, Mr K.K. Bawa, exhorted the youth to seek inspiration from his sacrifice. He said, it was the high time that the youth of the country responded to the threat to the unity and integrity of the country. Mr Pawan Dewan, a Youth Congress leader, said workers of the party had resolved to defeat the designs of the enemy at all costs. Punjabi folk singer Suridner Chhinda was also present on the occasion. The function was also attended by several newly elected councillors of the party. A two-minute silence was observed in memory of the late leader. |
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Small savings vital for progress: DC Ludhiana, May 21 Presiding over the state-level function to distribute the prizes to the winners of 20th lucky coupon scheme and to take out draw of lots for the 21st lucky coupon scheme of different schemes of the Small Savings Department at Guru Nanak Bhavan here, Mr Aggarwal lauded the contribution made by the small-savings agents, saying they had made it a mass movement in the state. In addition, savings were providing gainful self-employment to more and more educated youth. Mr Aggarwal said through small-saving schemes the investor ensured for himself and his family a prosperous future as also contributed towards the development of the state. Highlighting the achievements of this district in small savings, the Deputy Commissioner claimed that Ludhiana district had been on the top in Punjab for the past 21 years. The annual credit plan of the district was also number one in the country. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Megh Raj, Director, Small Savings, Punjab, said small savings had been contributing more than 50 per cent towards the funding of the state annual plan. He said that the net collection under small savings had seen manifold increase during the past 10 years. He exhorted the people to invest their savings in the attractive small-saving schemes, as the money invested in these schemes was completely safe and brought good returns, besides the facility of income tax rebate. Mr M.L. Malhotra, Regional Director, National Savings, Mr
A.K. Sharma, Deputy Director, Small Savings and Mr A.K. Sinha, Additional Deputy Commissioner, also addressed the function. On this occasion, the Deputy Commissioner honoured 24 officials of different departments for their outstanding contribution for the small-saving schemes. Among others who attended the function included Mr
S.K. Sharma, Additional Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Mrs Anita
Darshi, Assistant Commissioner (Grievances), Mr Gurmit Singh, SDM, Jagraon, Mr Sucha Singh Mast, SDM, Payal and Mr Jaspal Singh, SDM, Samrala. |
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Greener
Ludhiana campaign Ludhiana, May 21 The campaign will be launched formally on May 24 by the Forest Minister and Vice-Chairman of the District Planning Board, Dr Harbans Lal in PAU. Mr Jarnail Singh, Divisional Forest Officer, Ludhiana Range, said that the minister would organise a meeting with the NGOs and forest experts in PAU. He said the saplings would be looked after well and plant guards would also be fixed around them. |
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20 more motor cycles for police Ludhiana, May 21 A number of social organisations and associations have lent a helping hand to the police by financing the entire cost of the motor cycles. |
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20 bags of poppy husk seized Ludhiana, may 21 The SSP, Jagraon, said a police party was given a tip-off by an informer that Gurdial Singh, son of Bishan Singh, a resident of Burj Bulara village, and his son, Nirbhai Singh, and Chamkaur Singh, another resident of the same village, were engaged in the trade of poppy husk and that they had hidden the contraband in large quantity in the room used as a store for the wheat chaff in their house. When the house was raided by the police party, it found three persons in the house. One of them, Chamkaur Singh, fled on seeing the police party. Mr Makhan Singh, ASI, who headed the party and knew Chamkaur Singh, shouted and asked him to stop but he did not do so. On conducting a search of the chaff store and their residential quarters, the police seized 20 bags of the contraband, valued at around Rs 10,000 each. A case has been registered against the arrested accused at the Jagraon police station. Meanwhile, the Dehlon police also arrested two persons and seized 25 kg of poppy husk from their possession on Monday, according to SSP, Jagraon. He said that a police party, which was patrolling the area near Nangal village, spotted two persons coming on foot near the Sempur bridge, one of whom was carrying a bag on his head. On seeing the police party, the person carrying the bag threw the bag and both of them fled. The bag , which had been loosely tied, opened on contact with the ground, revealing the contents. The police party nabbed the persons after a brief chase. On interrogation, they identified themselves as Bachittar Singh, son of Nahar Singh, a resident of Jhammat village near Ahmedgarh, and Rajpal Yadav, a Bihari migrant living in the same village. |
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Three injured in attack Ludhiana, May 21 According to Usha Rani who has been admitted to the Civil Hospital along with her injured son and daughter, the youth, who runs a small business of making shoes, entered the house at around 9 pm. and demanded that Vandana should be married to him. When she told him that she was still studying in BA and had no intention of marrying yet, the youth got enraged and attacked them a sharp-edged shoe-making tool. As a result, Vandna fell unconscious. She received eight stitches in the neck. The widow and her son received serious injuries on their hands. The widow, who runs a hosiery machine at her home, has demanded stern action against the accused. Meanwhile, the division number two police has registered a case and is on the lookout for the accused. |
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