House burgled, 3.5 lakh, jewellery stolen
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, July 6
A sum of Rs 3.5 lakh, besides silver and gold ornaments, were stolen from a house in Vasant Vihar Colony on the Noorwala road on Friday night in the absence of its owner, who had gone to a relative’s house in Moga. Baldev Singh, the owner, came to know about the theft after he returned.

Baldev Singh, who owns a tempo transport company, said he had gone to Badani Kalan village in Moga on Thursday, leaving the cash in his almirah along with gold and silver ornaments. When he returned home last evening, he found that the locks of the main gate and doors were broken and his two rooms were ransacked.

He reported the theft to the Basti Jodhewal police station and two policemen visited his house last evening. He said the policemen had promised to return with forensic experts and sniffer dogs. “But they have not come back yet,” he said.

Baldev Singh said he had sold his property recently and received Rs 3.5 lakh. He said the theft possibly took place on Friday night.

The police has not yet registered any case in this regard.

Liquor smuggling has contractors fuming
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, July 6
Liquor smuggling continues unabated in the city resulting in heavy losses to contractors. It is learnt that the liquor sales registered a fall in the last month mainly because cheap liquor was being smuggled in from Chandigarh. Despite the best efforts of the Excise and Taxation Department the smuggling has not stopped.

Officials maintained that they had been regularly checking vehicles entering the city. But they admitted that despite a lot of efforts a good quantity of liquor was flowing into the city at a relatively lower price.

The contractors said while the problem was not new, but for the past few months it had come down considerably. They said after the smuggling came down, the officials also tended to relax with the result that the smugglers started their operations again. “This is quite a natural thing as the smugglers are always in wait of such situations”, said a contractor, while requesting anonymity.

The contractors pointed out that the level of smuggling had direct impact on the sales. “We can assess the level of smuggling by the fall in sales. If the sales come down instantly without any reason, this is straightway because cheap liquor is coming from other parts”, said the contractors.

While in urban areas it is the smuggled liquor that is causing problems in the sales, in rural areas it is the illicit liquor manufactured in different villages. Quoting figures from the rural areas, particularly in the Jagraon belt, the contractors revealed that the illicit liquor was being produced in huge quantity. It has been effecting the sales of the country-made liquor in the region.

Although there are two groups of liquor contractors, quite opposed to each other on the issue of preventing the smuggling. They have been trying to put up a united front. They maintained that even the contractors of their own had been trying to identify the smugglers, but ultimately it is the job of the Excise Department and the police to check and control it.

The contractors apprehended that in case the situation continued like this they might not be able to deposit the licence fee on schedule.

Sewage floods houses
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, July 6
While the city celebrated the onset of monsoon, residents of local Lajpat Nagar, opposite local bus stand, had a harrowing time as the sewerage in their area got choked resulting in accumulation of sewage in their houses.

The residents complained that they had been facing similar conditions for the past five years. Even moderate showers resulted in flooded of their houses, they said.

Ms Raj Rani, a resident of the area, said rain did not bring cheers for her as she had to throw the dirty water outside her house using buckets. She said as the drains were clogged, sewage started collecting in her house.

The stink made their lives miserable besides posing a threat to their health. She said they had filed many complaints with the Sewerage Department of the MC, but to no avail. “Whosoever comes to see our house, he asks us to raise the plinth level of our house,” she added.

She said she had called up the MC Commissioner in the morning today, but he was not available. There was no response from the MC till evening, she said.

Speaker for uniform policy to check corruption
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, July 6
Punjab Assembly Speaker, Dr Kewal Krishen, today said that there would only be a uniform policy to deal with the corruption and no corrupt official or leader, no matter which party he belonged to, should be let scot free. He was answering a question about the Minister for State for Forests, Mr Harbans Lal having been indicted in an investigation for allegedly resorting to large-scale corruption.

Talking to the TNS here today, the Speaker assured that in case the corruption charges against Mr Harbans Lal were established there should be no reason for him to continue in the government. He pointed out that the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh was clear on the issue that no corrupt official even if he belonged to his own government would be spared.

He argued that the Punjab Government was not going to let anyone off the hook in case he was proved guilty. He observed that the issue needed to be viewed dispassionately. “Our fight is against the corruption and not against any particular individual as some people are trying to make it out”, he said, while seeking to convey that the invgtion against Mr Badal were not motivated but were very much justified.

Referring to the observations made by the Deputy Prime Minster, Mr L K Advani criticising the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and accusing him of political vendetta, Dr Kewal Kishen said, it was highly unfortunate that the Deputy Prime Minister of the country was trying to give a clean chit to someone who was facing serious charges of corruption. “Let the law take its own course and nobody should try to influence the investigations”, he said, while pointing out Mr Advani’s statement will directly influence the probe into the corruption charges against Mr Badal.

The Speaker also clarified that there would not be any special session for the disinvestment of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) as reported in a section of the media. He pointed out, the Bill for this had already been introduced in the House during the last session. There was no need nor any proposal to convene a special session for the purpose. He said, the next session of the Assembly would be held in September.

The Speaker was on a private visit to the city.

Cable operators take people for a ride
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, July 6
The National Consumers Awareness Group has resented the arbitrary hike in the monthly cable TV subscription from Rs 100 to Rs 350 and beyond by operators without giving any justification, which is clear cut exploitation of the public.

According to Mr M.P. Singh Gogia, chief of the group, rates of the cable operators are not uniform even within a locality, as they charge between Rs 50 to Rs 100 from lower income group, whereas they charge Rs 250 to Rs 350 from middle class and high income groups, though there is no variation of costs in the existing infrastructure and additional services.

Though the Centre has now fixed Rs 72 per month as subscription for showing more than 60 free-to-air channels, the conditional access system (CAS) is likely to be implemented from Sept 1 instead of the earlier date of July 14 in the four metropolitan cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai.

Dr Shiv Gupta, secretary general of the Anti-Corruption Council of India, said they have also submitted a memorandum to the Communications Minister, Mr Arun Shourie, Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Mr Ravi Shanker, Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes, Chairman of Board of Central Excise and Customs Director, Central Bureau of Investigation, and the Chief Director of the Vigilance Bureau, Punjab, for starting a crusade against the well entrenched cable operators who have been concealing their income by not showing the actual number of subscriptions in their registers since they do not issue a cash receipt.

Thus, they do not pay eight per cent service tax and relevant income tax to the government exchequer, thereby, causing heavy losses to the government in terms of revenue. Moreover, the cable operators are illegally utilising the electricity department’s poles and telephone poles etc without paying any user charges for them.

It is pertinent to mention that the Mumbai High Court has already pronounced against any increase in rates of cable TV and restrained them not to disconnect any cable connection on account of an increase in the monthly subscription.

Dr Gupta stated that no set top box (STB) was required for free to air channels, it is required only for pay channels and any violation of the Act has been made a cognizable offence and the respective district magistrates, SDMs, SSPs, and nearest police stations may be approached by the public for lodging complaints against the itinerant cable operators.

COMMUNITY

‘Probe assets of present, former ministers’
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, July 6
Activists of the Punjab Inquilabi Kendra, have demanded that the assets of all those who were ministers in the past two decades should be probed and in case of irregularities, the amassed assets be confiscated and sold in public interest.

Reacting to the current tussle between Capt Amarinder Singh and former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, the activists said both parties were washing their dirty linen in public which was being provided an insight into the murky world of politics and the money spinning dealings of those in power, irrespective of political affiliations.

According to Mr Kanwaljit Khanna, state secretary of the unit, said the two parties were trying to prove that they were above board in their dealings, but neither of the two had offered to disclose the assets of its ministers and MLAs for the past 10-20 years.

He said the need of the hour was for the people to some forward so that the real face of the politicians could be exposed before the masses and they could be prevented from looting the public in the guise of public service.

Ban vulgarity in music videos: council
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, July 6
The People’s Welfare Council today took out a rally demanding a ban on obscenity and vulgarity in music videos aired by various cable networks in the country.

Led by Mr Jasbir Singh Dogra, president of the council, members braved the downpour to participate in the protest rally, which passed through various parts of the city. They raised slogans in protest against the exploitation of women to sell and promote products, besides the music videos which were degrading to women and exerting an adverse influence on youngsters.

Punjabi singers were especially targeted by the protesters for projecting an alien culture in the state. They said the music videos in no way reflected the ethos and culture of Punjab and were made solely to cater to the baser instincts of the masses. They said the singers were also presenting wrong role models for the youth in the state, who were lapping up the trash being dished out in the guise of Punjabi culture.

Members of the council urged music companies to desist from recording objectionable songs and stop making such videos. They said in case the companies did not do so, volunteers from the council would boycott their cassettes and videos and if need be, destroy their shipments.

Tributes paid
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, July 6
Ludhiana Samachar Club yesterday organised goshti, to pay tributes to T.C. Bhardwaj, DTM, Jammu at Railway Club, Ludhiana.

The function was inaugurated by Station Superintendent, Mr Ashok Kumar, while the chief guest was Mr Gian Chand Singla.

Mr Jagan Nath Jain Shah paying tributes to Mr Bhardwaj said, “Zindgi aise bana zinda rahen tu, jab ho na duniya mein, to duniyako aye yaad tu’. Mr Sham Lal Kalia paid his respects saying,” kooch is kooche se ek din har koi kar jayega, achha hai, ya bura , aamal hi reh jayega’.

Mohit Jassal paid homage on the flute. Others present at the function were Kamal Kapoor, Iqbal Singh, Ms Usha Jalota, Prof Upkar Singh, Gulshan Bahar, Dr Ramchandar Sharma, Gopal Bhandari, Gulshan Budhiraja, Rajneesh Verma.