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| Wednesday,
October 2, 2002,
Chandigarh, India
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9 bookies caught at ‘second slip’ Ludhiana, October 1 These persons were caught gambling from a rented apartment in Baba Ishar Singh Colony yesterday, according to a police press note issued here today. They have told the police that Jalandhar has now become the hub of betting on cricket matches in the state. Earlier, the centre was in Ludhiana, as these person have told the police. The police seized about Rs 95,000, 12 mobile telephones, two cars, two scooters, a computer and a large number of betting books from these persons. The police has given their names to be Vijay Kumar, Harish Kumar, Sri Krishna, Vinod Kumar ‘Vinodi’, Sanju, Raju Chawla, Vinod (the second), Daljit Singh ‘Kukku’ and Surinder Singh. The police says that the bookies’ modus operandi was to take a house on rent, operate from there and move out once a cricket tournament was over. They operated through mobile telephones and kept changing telephone numbers after each match. To take bets for the first match of the ICC Trophy, telephone numbers 98144-00051, 98144-00052 and 98144-00053 were used. To take bets for the second match, numbers 98142-72011, 72012, 72013 and 72014 were used. The police has a list of all incoming and outgoing calls made on these mobile-phone numbers and the callers are being identified. The police said, to bust the network, it had been following some of the bookies arrested earlier. It also said these men had been operating through a man called Raju Chowdhry, who lived in Jalandhar. The men told the police that the gambling network had links in Jaipur, Lucknow, Calcutta and New Delhi. New Delhi was the centre of this gambling network in the country. Many bigwigs, including industrialists, politicians and some former players were involved in this betting racket. Cases under Sections 13-A, 3 and 67 of the Gambling Act have been registered against these persons at the Sarabha Nagar, Division No. 5 and Division No. 2 police stations. |
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Farmers
reject increase in MSP Ludhiana, October 1 Resentment continues to prevail among the farmers over the hike who describe the same as a joke with them. Mr Balbir Singh
Rajewala, national general secretary of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, while rejecting the hike of Rs 20 per quintal in MSP of paddy said the Union Government was befooling the farmers of Punjab who spent huge amount of money to raise their crop in the wake of serious drought-like conditions in the state. The farmers, he said, spent more than Rs 4,000 per acre as additional expenses on diesel, fertilizers and pesticides to save the paddy crop. The minimum support price should have been fixed at Rs 760 per quintal, he added. He said even the BJP had demanded Rs 700 per quintal as MSP for paddy. Mr Rajewala said the BKU would continue to agitate for the rights of the farmers and they were in touch with different farmers’ organisations on this issue. Mr Gurmail Singh and Mr Karnail Singh, farmers of Iklaha village near Khanna, who had brought their produce to the mandi to sell the same said the minimum support price of paddy should be Rs 700 per quintal. They maintained that they had to make extra investment on diesel and fertilizers. Moreover, the yield of paddy was also low this year due to failure of monsoon. Mr Gurdial Singh of Sainpur village near Malerkotla also felt that the MSP was inadequate and failed to meet the cost of cultivation. During a visit to the Khanna
mandi, which is the biggest grain market of Asia, the cross-section of farmers were satisfied with the steps taken by the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, and his Cabinet colleagues in representing the case of Punjab farmers with the Central Government. A farmer said at least the Chief Minister had staged a dharna and courted arrest to press for the cause of the farmers. The farmers expressed their helplessness in withholding the crop and felt that they had to sell the same in order to pay off the loans. The farmers also expressed the hope that there would be less corruption in the mandis this season in the purchase of paddy by the officials of the government procuring agencies and the arhtiyas in view of the anti-corruption drive launched by Capt Amarinder Singh. The farmers disclosed that they were already feeling the effect of the anti-corruption drive as huge amount was not demanded in the offices of the sub-registrars while getting the land deeds done. Mr Ranbir Sood, a leading arhtiya of Khanna
mandi, said the grain market was receiving more than 20,000 quintal of paddy daily these days and the prices had been prevailing from Rs 480 to 540 per quintal during the past one fortnight. Farmers complained to the Chief Minister that theft of paddy was also taking place in Khanna mandi and steps should be taken to check the same. |
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Rs 6.5 lakh
fraud
in Co-operative Dept Ludhiana, October 1 The accused, identified as Ranjit Singh, Manager, and Sohan Lal, secretary, have been put under suspension and booked under charges of fraud, cheating and criminal conspiracy by the Sahnewal police on a complaint filed by six victim farmers. The fraud amount is expected to rise further as the State Cooperative Societies Department has constituted a special team of its employees from Nawanshahr district to probe into all the deals made during the tenure of accused Ranjit Singh as Manager at Ramgarh branch and other places. The fraud period so far is limited to last two years only. The registration of a case regarding the fraud follows a controversy between the management of the Jandiali Cooperative Society and the district Cooperative Society office over the allegations of the fraud. Department sources said the management vehemently opposed the in-house probe against society secretary Sohan Lal. Due to this, the district authorities had to appoint an administrator for the Jandiali society. The Ludhiana Cooperative Society Department had initiated a probe into the alleged fraud four months ago, when some farmers complained that they had returned the loan amount but still the department issued notices to them to pay back or face criminal action. The department was shocked at the farmers complaint as their passbooks had complete entries of returned installments where as the detail sheets of the accounts
According to an FIR registered at the Sahnewal police station, the two accused have been booked under Sections 409,468,471,477A and 120-B of the IPC. Mr Kulwinder Singh Sangha, Deputy Registrar, and Mr Joginder Pal Singh, Assistant Registrar, of the District Cooperative Societies Department said few months ago, the department had issued notices to several farmers for not returning the loan taken from the Jandiali Cooperative Society. Under the system, the societies are autonomous bodies working under a management of its members, who are farmers only. The society is the agency between the cooperative bank and the farmers. Authorities found that the accused Manager of the bank and the secretary of the society connived together to commit the fraud by pocketing installments paid back by the farmers in the last two years. They completed all the entries in the passbooks of the farmers but did not fill the returns in the original accounts. After the completion of the inquiry, six victim farmers were identified for lodging a complaint with the police. Fraud committed with these farmers is to the tune of Rs 2.5 lakh. |
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11 months to complete bridge on Sutlej Machhiwara, October 1 The company says that the work has been suspended because the river-flow is fast. Mr Ashwani Sood, company spokesman, said, out of two embankments and 14 piles to be built on the banks, three piles are yet to be completed. He said it would take long to complete the 717.4-m-long bridge. The suspension of the construction work is worrying land-owners and property dealers who have hurriedly been building colonies and shopping complexes on the Machhiwara-Rahon road in view of the project. The construction of two more bridges — one across the Buddha Nullah and the other across the Sirhind Canal — has also been suspended because all these projects are to be completed simultaneously. A visit to the construction site at Ghumana village showed that no work was going on there. Meanwhile, the construction of the Machhiwara-Rahon road has begun again. Experimental techniques are being adopted to save the road from moisture. A foot-and-a-half-thick layer of sand would be spread over the road base in this method. The newly built Khanna-Ghumana road, prepared for heavy vehicles, has cracked at many places, but contractors say that the cracks will vanish as the last layer of premix is laid. The road is being build as a defence road, to reduce traffic on the roads of Ludhiana. Travellers to Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Pathankot, Amritsar and Jammu and Kashmir will, now, take this road. The people of the area have urged the government to get the bridge completed soon. |
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Forum quashes PSEB demand Ludhiana, October 1 According to the complaint, Mr Harinder Singh had applied for transfer of a power connection of his deceased father Gurdip Singh, in his name as well as for extension of load from 0.82 kw to 3.82 kw under the VDS scheme on March 25, 2000. An amount of Rs 1750 was deposited by the consumer towards extension of load and transfer of power connection in his name. While the PSEB failed to give effect to the transfer of connection in the name of Mr Harinder Singh, it raised a demand of Rs 22,740 on March 31, 2001, on account of theft of power. The PSEB authorities pleaded that the meter installed on the premises of the consumer was changed and the old meter was sent to ME Lab for testing. The test report of the lab reported that the ME seals were tempered with, current coil was changed and the meter was recording less energy. As such, the account was overhauled and a demand of Rs 22,740 was raised. Challenging the demand raised by the PSEB, the complainant maintained that at the time of removal of the meter, its seals and glass cover was intact. The meter, while being taken away from the premises by the PSEB employees, was not packed nor any seals were affixed and signature were obtained. Moreover, the PSEB authorities did not intimate the complainant about the checking of the meter in the ME Lab. In his order, the forum president, Mr Hardial Singh, observed that the PSEB authorities had failed to properly pack and seal the meter at the time of removal from the premises of the complainant and ensure presence of the complainant or his representative at the time of testing of the meter in the lab. Further, the PSEB had not placed any evidence on record to show that any notice was given to the consumer to be present at the time of checking. Therefore, the demand was liable to be quashed. He directed the PSEB to refund the amount deposited by the consumer against the said demand with interest at the rate of 12 per cent per annum till the actual date of refund and ensure compliance within one month. The plea of the consumer for awarding Rs 10,000 as compensation and Rs 5,000 as costs was, however, declined by the forum. |
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SHSAD seeks probe into sacrilege Ludhiana, October 1 Addressing a press conference here today, Mr Bhaur said it was intriguing that the holy book was burnt down at a highly secured place which had access to a limited number of people only. Probably apprehending that they will be exposed by a probe, the guilty are not allowing the truth to be found out, he alleged. Reacting to the statement of the Principal that the college authorities would not allow anyone inside the college to probe the matter, Mr Bhaur observed, it only betrayed their guilty conscience. Otherwise why should anyone shy away from bringing out the truth. The SHSAD general secretary observed that the incident was as sacrilegious as that committed by the followers of the Baba Bhaniarawala. Those people who are responsible for this incident should also be treated the same way as Baba Bhaniarawala by bringing them also to book. He warned that in case the guilty were not punished, the SHSAD would launch a statewide agitation. |
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WORLD BLOOD DONATION DAY Ludhiana, October 1 Earlier presiding over a district-level function in this connection at the Civil Hospital, Mr Pandey observed that voluntary blood donation was the noblest of all human gestures as blood had no replacement. “There is nothing like saving a human life by donating blood for critically ill persons.” He said there was the need to launch a concerted drive to promote blood donation. The minister honoured a few distinguished blood donors Speaking at the occasion, the Civil Surgeon, Dr
S.N. Tiwari informed that functions to mark World Blood Donation Day were being organised throughout the district at Khanna, Jagraon and Samrala and blood donors were being honoured at these functions. A blood donation camp was also held in the hospital and the Mass Media wing of the health department put up an exhibition at this occasion. |
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Ceramic dentistry Of late, there has been a spurt in activities directed at creating awareness on dental health and hygiene in the city. Several social and health organisations have been holding a series of dental check-up camps and in particular children have been targeted for the dental health education programme fine. The city residents and the professionals in the dental surgery were exposed to yet another innovation — the metal free ceramic dentistry by Dr Andrew Hubbens, a senior dental ceramist, and Dr Vivek Saggar, a local dental surgeon. According to the two dental specialists, trained in Germany in the new technique, the metal free ceramic dentistry will open new vistas in cosmetic dentistry since the probability of matching the color of artificial implants was much higher as compared to traditional implants.
Culture lover A magnanimous culture lover, Bhim Sen Bansal, from Raikot infused new life among artists of various states participating in the 10-day long North Zone Cultural Centre. It is a common knowledge that the artists are always short of funds. While the NZCC was doing its bit to preserve art with help of the public, which was always found wanting as was evident from the mela, where even the audience response in respect of appreciation was
miserly, a business man, Bhim Sen Bansal, took the initiative half way through the mela by giving cash on the spot to the performing artists. His example was soon followed by others and several artists left the stage with pockets full of cash.
Generous host A man recently called up The Tribune sub-office, Ludhiana, to invite for a function. Acting very pricey about his function which had not much news value, the man boasted that only limited invitations were sent. Only one person can come on one invitation card. But specially for The Tribune, the ‘generous host’ announced a ‘major’ relaxation in the same breath. He said The Tribune can bring one photographer also on the same invitation.
Weather vagaries It is literally a paradox. When we desperately needed the rains, it was dryness and drought all around. And when we need warm sunny days for the crops to mature and ripen, it is the dense dark cloudy horizon that scares each one of us, particularly farmers. In fact it appears that nature has been trying to be too vengeful with the farmers, for reasons totally unknown to them. While it rained threateningly (for the crops) for about 40 hours a few days ago, the mild sunshine brought relief to the farmers. And now it has been again the dense, dark sky threatening heavy downpour, making farmers feel apprehensive and gloomy, lest their crops may get damaged.
Barsana ki holi ‘Barsana ki holi’ was one folk dance of Uttar Pradesh that was the much demanded dance in the National Food and Handicraf mela. The dance that depicted the famous style of playing of Holi by the people of Braj remembering Lord Krishna and Radha had been the most sought after dance by the Ludhianvis. Even the Kalbalia dance from Rajasthan was a must in every evening. The organisers were having a tough time in adjusting the dance by dropping other items to be presented on the stage. But the viewers asked for it everyday. The artists were happy with the craze and even did not mind any inconvenience.
No connoisseurs Recently an exhibition of arts and crafts of India was organised by the North Zone Cultural Centre in the Government College for Women grounds.The exhibition presented a collage of cultural diversity of the country, beautifully packaged within a limited area. Hundreds of people thronged the exhibition much to the delight of the organisers. However, the artisans and other craftsmen who had come from different parts of the country were not an excited lot. Rather, they were disappointed. While the people seemed to be curious to watch and see and even enquire about the artifacts at display, not many people showed any interest in purchasing them. The people even asked about the cost and then politely placed these artifacts at their proper places. This was quite against the expectations of the artisans and craftsmen, who had been told that the Ludhianvis have a great taste for art and coupled with their affluence, it could have proved to be a great draw. However, it has proved to be quite otherwise. The artisans and craftsmen have learnt it the hard way.
Doing and undoing It is the business of doing and undoing going on the roads of Ludhiana these days. Every morning one wakes up and goes out, it is the dug out roads that await to greet you here. This is being done for laying out the cables for telephone services being provided by different private sector operators, besides the BSNL. While the job has to be done, in the interest of the general public, it could be done in a proper way. The roads are dug out, without any advance notice and kept like that for days together. Besides making the flow of traffic difficult, it also leads to the traffic getting choked. The ideal way would have been to organise this digging in a proper manner in patches for specified areas. Sentinel |
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Virat bhagti satsang ends Mandi Gobindgarh, October 1 The satsang was organised by the Vishav Jagriti Mission Satsang Samiti, Mandi Gobindgarh, from September 25 to 29. The swami praised the Punjabis as the symbol of “bhagti and veerta”, the seed of which was sown by Guru Nanak Dev and Guru Gobind Singh. “God is present in every person. If we do any harm to any person it means we displease God”, he added. “To keep a sound mind in a sound body, we all should undertake yoga exercises”. Two sessions of yoga were held daily. Among the dignitaries who attended the satsang were Dr Harbans Lal, Minister for Forests, Food and Civil Supplies, district police chief B. Chander Shekhar, Mr Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, MLA, Amloh, and Mr S.K. Gupta, in charge, Jagriti Mission of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. |
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Woman fasts for 31 days Ludhiana, October 1 Addressing a function held to celebrate the occasion, the Jain Muni said apart from imparting spiritual bliss, fasting also led to the purification of the self and the body as well. He lamented that in the absence of a proper religious direction, the politics of the country had gone astray. However, at the same time, the Muni opposed the entry of politics into religion. |
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Five kg of opium seized Ludhiana, October 1 In another case, the Sudhar police arrested Mohinder Singh of Sahauli from near a bridge and seized about 2 kg opium from his possession. A case has been registered under the NDPS Act. Later, the court of Mr Tejwinder Singh, SDJM, Jagraon, remanded the accused in the police custody till October 3. SAHNEWAL According to the police, Anil Kumar hit a man with his car (PB 2-22-0626) and later sped away in the car driving it carelessly from near traffic lights creating nuisance and risk for others. Killed in accident:
Kulwinder Singh of Pawa Khagat reported to the police that in the evening he saw an injured man lying on the road near Eastman Company. When he went near him, he saw that both his legs were broken. He immediately took him to the civil hospital, where he breathed his last. A case under Section 304-A of IPC has been registered. |
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Nine drugged, looted Ludhiana, October 1 The condition of the victims is deplorable at the Civil Hospital. In a dazed state of mind, the victims either lie staringly on the bed or start walking in any direction. The hospital authorities have a tough time in convincing them to lie down. Police sources said they could make any headway only after the victims gained proper consciousness. |
Steel industry needs bail-out package
Ludhiana, October 1 Mr R.P. Bhatia, vice-president, All-India Steel Plants Association, who is based at Mandi Gobindgarh, said all state electricity boards in the country were offering incentives to the steel plants which set up their own power transformers. But in Punjab, the incentives were not being granted. Mr Bhatia maintained that the hike in power tariff was one of the major causes of the crisis in the steel industry. The steel industry is primarily based on the availability of power and in 1999, the Punjab Government set up a committee under the chairmanship of Mr S.P. Oswal to study the tariff structure of Punjab State Electricity Board. The committee had found there was pilferage of more than 40 per cent in case of the transmission and distribution of unmetered power supply of the total generation. The committee had suggested slashing the staff strength in the PSEB to reduce expenditure.But Mr Bhatia regrets that no steps were taken in this direction by the PSEB. Now again, the power regulatory commission had asked the board authorities to take effective steps and streamline the power generation, transmission and distribution to check losses, said Mr Bhatia. He urged the PSEB authorities to supply quality power before demanding higher power tariff. Mr Bhatia said there were 125 arc furnaces in the country, of which 100 were closed about four years ago. He said only 30 per cent of the total steel produced in Punjab was consumed in the state while 70 per cent of the remaining steel was consumed by other states. Mr Bhatia said during the militancy period, some steel units from Mandi Gobindgarh had migrated to Ghaziabad in UP but the same had come back. He said the levy of 4 per cent sales tax on first stage on some steel items had also affected the sale of steel as the prices of steel had risen by Rs 600 to Rs 700 per metric
tonne. There should be a uniformity in the taxes, he demanded. Mr Bhatia points out that FDI should be allowed to come to Punjab as NRIs are ready to invest but they are apprehensive in doing so because of red tape and corruption in the government departments. The state government must come to the rescue of the industry to prevent its exodus, he emphasised.
K.S. Chawla |
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Govt alive to problems of industry: Hanspal Ludhiana, October 1 Addressing a gathering of party activists and members of trade and industry at a felicitation function here, he said the government was committed to provide a clean and responsive governance and to redress the grievances of the common people. He indicated that the PPCC would be recast soon and due representation would be given in the organisation to all sections of the party activists. Mr Hanspal exhorted the Congress workers to interact with the masses in order to counter false and motivated propaganda by opposition parties, which were frustrated after being rejected by the people. Mr Hanspal discussed in detail the difficulties of different sections of trade and industry with noted industrialists, Mr Pawan Garg and Mr Raman Malhotra. Prominent among others present at the occasion were Mr Rajinder Soi, former general secretary of the Punjab Youth Congress, Mr Pradeep Malhotra and Mr Vicky Sharma.
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UNMINDFUL of the danger it poses to their precious lives, scores of people could be seen crossing railway tracks at several places in the city, thereby exposing themselves to grave threat. There have been instances when in an attempt to save a few minutes and let the incoming train pass, the city residents had to pay dearly. One comes across impatient persons, including two-wheeler drivers, cyclists and even rickshaw-pullers, exerting themselves and their vehicles to cross over to the other side of the tracks, oblivious to the train coming threateningly close. School children (see pic) are no exception and emulate what the elders do with impunity.
