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Case against gas agency ordered
Ludhiana, November 17 This was done following a raid on the premises of the gas agency by senior officials of the district administration and the Food and Supplies Department. Mr Verma said that in the past few days complaints had been received that gas agencies were trying to exploit customers. He had ordered the raid today, during which it was found that 175 empty cylinders were short. As per the stock register, the gas agency was supposed to have 708 empty cylinders, but when manual counting was done in the godown, only 533 cylinders were found. It was also found that the company had been consistently overcharging customers. Before November 4, the price of a domestic cylinder was supposed to be Rs 258.20 on the premises of the agency. When delivered at the residence of a customer, the rate should have been Rs 266.20. But during the inspection, a number of customers stated before Mr M.S. Jaggi, SDM, that the gas agency had never supplied the cylinders to them at their residence, and had been charging Rs 270 per cylinder for the past few months. This was exploitation of customers, they said. Mr Verma said that as per the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Regulation of Supply and Distribution) Order, 2000, each gas agency was required to display the stock statement on the business premises as well as the storage point. The company raided had displayed the stock of November 4 instead of the latest statement. It was found that the agency had shown to have supplied a cylinder to one Mukhtiar Ali on November 11. But it was found that the person had left the place four years ago. In another instance, there was a connection in the name of Tara Singh, but it was found that no person by the name lived at the address mentioned in the records. In one case, one Sham Lal had been shown as having received a cylinder on November 6, but the person claimed that he had not received any. This caused the suspicion that the agency was making the fictitious entries and diverting cylinders to the black market. The Deputy Commissioner has issued a warning to all agencies that they should desist from exploiting customers. He cautioned that in case they tried to create artificial shortage, raids would be conducted and the defaulters would face strict action. He stated that the rate of a domestic gas cylinder was Rs 278.45 on the premises of gas agencies and in the case of home delivery it was Rs 286.45. In case any agency charged more than this, customers should bring the matter to the notice of Ms Simarjot Kaur, District Food and Civil Supplies Controller.
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30 persons duped by emigration firm
Ludhiana, November 17 The number of victims is likely to swell as the news about the consultancy will spread. Many of the victims had taken large sums as loans hoping that they would be able to earn a lot of money in the Gulf as promised by the accused persons running Santoshi Consultancy Pvt Ltd from the local bus stand. Two of the three persons, Harjit Kaur and her brother Paramjeet Singh, accused of cheating the alleged victims, have been arrested by the Economics Offences Wing of the city police. The main accused, Harjinder Singh, husband of Harjit Kaur, however, is still at large. Inspector Anil Joshi, in charge of the Economics Offences Wing, said the accused had fled from the city after closing down their office in September this year. A team of the wing managed to arrest the two while raids were being conducted to nab the main accused Harjinder Singh who belonged to Kishanpura in Jalandhar. The accused were found guilty in an inquiry conducted by SP-Detective Gurpreet Singh. They have been booked under Sections 406, 420 and 120-B of the IPC. The 30 alleged victims had also approached the EO wing today afternoon and were quite agitated at the sight of the accused. Demanding their money back they cursed the accused by saying that they had robbed poor people like them of their life long savings. Some even broke down as they did not know how they would repay the debts incurred in the hope of greener pastures abroad. Narrating their tale of woes, the complainants, including Devinder Singh, Baljit Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Navjot Singh, Prem Kumar, Sukhwinder Singh, Jagdeep Singh, Makhan Singh, Ajit Singh, Gursewak Singh, Jaswant Singh and Kuldip Singh , revealed that they had deposited Rs 15,000 to Rs 80,000 each with the immigration firm. The victims belonged to Gurdaspur, Morinda, Ropar, Patiala, Jagraon, Sangrur and Bhatinda districts. They revealed that they were lured by the advertisements placed in various newspapers by the accused. The accused had promised to arrange free visa and an assured job in the Gulf for them. They were told that the consultancy would only charge ticket expenses and medical expenses of the chosen persons. Many of the victims had even sold off their valuables or had taken loans in the hope of repaying those after getting jobs abroad. They were, however, shocked to their bones when the accused closed down their office and disappeared in September this year.
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Homoeopaths oppose ‘tainted’
Ludhiana, November 17 The government had reinstated Mr Sunil Gautam on November 11 even though he was facing criminal charges and had been dismissed from service between 1995 - 1997. In 1997, the then government headed by Ms Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, had reinstated him directing the council to” decide the quantum of punishment as it was felt that the punishment granted to him was heavy.” Talking to TNS, Dr A.S. Rai and Dr Darshan Singh Khurmi, president and general secretary respectively of the Government Homoeopathic Medical Officers Association, said the anti - corruption drive of the Congress would be hit if a corrupt official like Gautam was allowed to continue in any capacity. Incidentally, the endorsement orders of reinstatement had been intimated to the Deputy CMs office on September 13 by the Medical Education Secretary Mr Satish Chandra, before he was transferred, they pointed out. They said the former Registrar had been indicted by a departmental committee on various charges of corruption, embezzlement of funds, forgery, besides tampering with examination records with a view to harass doctors and students. Subsequently, a case was registered against Sunil Gautam, The case is at the evidence stage at present, they added. Gautam was dismissed in 1995 by the then council but in 1997 he was reinstated with the direction that a departmental inquiry would look afresh into the charges levelled against him. Shockingly, no inquiry was held till 2002, and by then he had managed to get himself promoted as Registrar of the council. He virtually had a free hand to manage the affairs of the council in the absence of a Chairman, they alleged. The fact that he was the Registrar of the council but had no sanction from the state government came to light this year when Mr Chandra went through the relevant record. Subsequently, he ordered the reversion of Sunil Gautam to Superintendent, Grade - 1, and asked the council to probe the issue and file a reply within six weeks. Dr Khurmi said this despite the fact that an inquiry committee had endorsed the charges levelled against the official and had compulsorily retired him. The orders of the council were reverted by the government on November 11 with a direction that a fresh inquiry into the case should be ordered, he said. He said the government should not reverse the decision of the council as it would amount to promoting corruption in the state. The Indian Homoeopathic Medical Association, Punjab Homoeopathic Medical Association, Homoeopathic Students Union have also decried the move to reinstate Gautam in view of the grave charges levelled against him. Meanwhile, Council Chairman Paramjit Singh Ranu said he had suspended Gautam on November 11 in public interest as the latter was facing serious criminal charges. Dr Ranu reiterated that if Gautam was allowed to work on a senior position in the council, he could influence witnesses and tamper with records. Moreover, it was not sustainable to allow such a person to continue when the council itself was a complainant party against the latter, he added.
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Youth federation to launch drive against unemployment
Ludhiana, November 17 The youths, who had come to the local grain market to take part in a rally from all over the state resolved to create awareness among the present generation. They also launched a “Rozgar Chetna Manch” to motivate the masses and authorities to make efforts to provide jobs to all. Demanding a job for all youngpersons over the age of 18, the activists of the federation said if the government failed to provide job opportunities, it should give an unemployment allowance worth Rs 2,250 and Rs 2,850 to unemployed uneducated and educated youths, respectively. Speaking on the occasion, the leaders demanded free and compulsory education up to Plus II level, appointment of a teacher for a class of every 22 students, equating the cost of higher education with the financial status of students, setting up of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Bhawans at block level equipped with facilities like a library, playgrounds and medical aid for minor students. They also resolved to oppose the privatisation of various sectors and demanded the creation of more job avenues in public sector. Youth leaders claimed that thousands of vacancies were lying vacant in various government-run offices but the government was encouraging the Trans National Corporation to take control of every department. They criticised the contractual filling of posts in the electricity board and educational institutes and claimed that it would only cause anxiety among youths. Stating that the government was taking the unemployment issue very seriously, the leaders said still there was a need of tackling the ever increasing problem head on. They demanded the setting up of a special fund of Rs 50,000 crore to help the unemployed. Terming the free education till the age of 14 scheme as a political gimmick, the youths said it was a farce as no books, uniforms and edibles had been made available to poor students. The leaders said every sixth child in Punjab was illiterate and there was a need for thousands of new schools besides the appointment of lakhs of school teachers. Only then will the goal of education for all be achieved. The deplorable condition of medical institutions and the need to provide medical facilities to all was also highlighted. The federation said it had decided to organise a rally on the occasion of birth centenary of Shaheed Bhagat Singh in 2007. They said they would ask the people to light up their houses like on Divali on that day to keep his ideology alive.
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Rs 3.15 lakh snatched from employee
Ludhiana, November 17 The employee of the company, Avtar Singh, had withdrawn money from a bank branch near the Mata Rani Chowk. He was returning to the company's office in Rishi Nagar in a chauffeur-driven car when the robbers came from behind and forced them to stop the vehicle at gunpoint. The robbers were well aware of the money withdrawn as they directly asked for it and fled with the bag. Senior police officials rushed to the spot and sounded an alert. Car driver Amarjit Singh said that he tried to chase the robbers but they escaped. Mr G.S. Jolly, company director, said apart from the cash, the bag contained valuable documents of the company. Avtar Singh had gone to the bank for withdrawing money as the cashier who usually did the work had gone to Madhya Pradesh on leave. The police has registered a case.
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MC wasting money: BJP
Ludhiana, November 17 In a statement here today, the former Deputy Speaker of Punjab Assembly, Mr Sat Pal Gosain, and former BJP councillor Pran Bhatia have also joined issue with the MC Joint Commissioner, who had claimed that the city had been provided with 100 per cent safe drinking water supply and the sewerage system was up to the mark. The BJP leaders pointed out that the drinking water supply needed improvement, both in quantity and quality, and the sewerage system was far from satisfactory. Mr Gosain and Mr Bhatia maintained that the ruling party councillors and other political functionaries in the civic body were hand in glove with some of the contractors and the unholy alliance was siphoning off massive funds out of the ongoing development works with the active connivance of the some of the MC officers. They were sore that the ruling party councillors, the Mayor and legislators were indiscriminately laying foundation stones of development works in every nook and corner of the city, which were yet to be approved and funds provided for, by the appropriate authority in the MC. The BJP also wanted the wasteful expenditure on ‘unwanted’ development works to be strictly curbed and effective check on undesirable interference of political functionaries to ensure improvement in delivery of civic services and execution of development works with proper planning.
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Disappointment over Jindals’ indifference
Mandi Ahmedgarh, November 17 ‘‘But at least Amar Chand could have responded to our greetings we sent him on telephone," said Mr Sharda. However, Mr Sharda justified the conversion of Bobby Jindal, only the second Indian American to be elected to the US Congress, from Hinduism to Christianity. The contemporaries of Mr Amar Chand had celebrated the victory of Bobby. Though none of the family members of Bobby had ever visited them in the recent past, they had felt delighted over his victory. They had hoped that he would visit the place in the near future or at least in January 2005 during the Pravasi Divas celebrations scheduled to commence on January 7. Mr Sharda remembered that Madan Lal, grand father of Bobby, was a staunch follower of the sanatan dharma and had objected to the marriage of his son Amar Chand according to Arya Samaj tenets. He had shifted the venue of
‘pheras’. Mr Purshotam Lal Sharda, a local resident and one-time neighbour of Amar Nath, said that Amar Nath's father despite financial constraints had admitted him to Guru Nanak Engineering College at Ludhiana from where he graduated as an engineer. He married off Amar Nath to Raj Rani, another engineer, who later migrated to the USA.
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Is paper wastage on festivals justified?
Ludhiana, November 17 According to a study conducted by the Environment Protection Forum, an organisation of students dedicated to safeguard the environment, the government departments, corporates and business houses are the worst culprits in this wastage saga. The forum has been regularly conducting surveys on issues relating to the protection of environment. This Divali, the forum contacted 100 persons and asked them how many greeting cards they received and sent. The forum found that on an average each one of them had sent 12 cards and had received 15. Interestingly most of the people said they seldom read the content of the card but merely purchased them and dispatched these after signing. Similarly, most of them did not even open the cards and only took note of the name of the sender. The survey found that more than 90 per cent people interviewed already possessed a cell phone and had e-mail IDs. And most of them had sent at least 50 SMS and about 20 e-mails to their friends, relatives and acquaintances. The cards were sent in addition to the SMS and e-mail as matter of “special courtesy”. Mr Subir Shan, coordinator of the forum disclosed that the survey had been conducted on random by the members of the forum for two days after Divali in Ludhiana city only. They had also interviewed card sellers in the city. Though the exact number of cards sold could not be ascertained, it was revealed that the sale of greeting cards was at its peak on Divali. Urging people to desist from using greeting cards as it led to the wastage of the huge quantities of paper, plus the printing costs and the courier and postage charges, the forum said, people should instead rely on telephone calls, e mails or the SMS to avoid the wastage of paper.
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Animal abuse can lead to human abuse: study
Ludhiana, November 17 PETA is an international organisation dedicated to protecting the rights of animals. Quoting a recent study, PETA said: “A study conducted by the World
Society for the Protection of Animals found that 75 per cent of violent criminals interviewed had been abused as children, with many saying
that they in turn abused animals.” One of the persons interviewed was quoted having said: “I beat animals to get back for the beatings I got and the habit developed into violent nature which ended in crime.” Suggesting that children must be taught compassion, it held: “Teaching compassion to a child means securing a healthy future for him”. It also warned parents to take action if their children torture or kill companion animals, other animals or insects as they might develop such a violent and ruthless character. The organisation said in another survey conducted in Britain among 23 families with a history of animal neglect, 83 per cent had been identified by experts as having children at risk of abuse or neglect. Children raised in violent homes may, in turn, direct violence at pets. If left unchecked, this abuse can later escalate to abuse of other people, the survey noted. In an effort to break the cycle of violence and instill compassion among the children at an early stage, the organisation has developed a humane education programme, Compassionate Citizen, which has been sent to schools throughout the country.
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SBoP staff hold protest
Ludhiana, November 17 The federation alleged that after giving an assurance that the demands would be met, the management had not fulfilled the promise. ‘‘When employees had given a call for a day strike on September 10, the management had assured the federation leaders that genuine demands of employees would be met immediately. But it later took a u-turn," a federation spokesperson said. He said that, ‘‘A rigid, adamant and uncompromising stand has been taken by the management on the issue of jobs to the dependents of deceased employees on compassionate grounds despite an assurance that some sort of understanding will be arrived at between the union and the management before March 31.’’ The Federation also condemned cross-selling of various schemes terming the decision to be against bipartite settlement. The leaders also said that there was an acute shortage of clerical and subordinate staff in the bank. ‘‘On one side the management is showing that there is surplus staff in the bank and on the other side it has given work to outside agencies,’’ the members said. They also alleged some of the decisions that had been taken at the Head Office Welfare Committee meeting and the JCC meeting had not been implemented. Such an attitude of the management was causing great resentment among the employees. ‘‘If the genuine demands of the employees are not met we will stage demonstrations in front of all branches of the State Bank of Patiala on November 23, followed by a chain of dharnas from December 8 onwards,’’ they said. The rally was addressed, among others, by Mr Naresh Gaur, joint secretary, Mr A.K.Chhibber, vice-president, Mr Ashok Malhan, organising secretary, and Mr K.K.Jaggi, regional secretary.
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Ahluwalia
lauds members of cooperative society
Amloh, November 17 Mr S.K. Ahluwalia, Deputy Commissioner, Fatehgarh Sahib, inaugurated the function. He distributed profit cheques among members of the society. The Markfed organised an exhibition at the function. Mr Ahluwalia inaugurated an ayurvedic dispensary. It was set up with the help of Baba Bhag Singh Memorial De-addiction Centre (Gurmat Sagar Trust), Anandpur Sahib. He gave Rs 11,000 out of the Red Cross Fund to the dispensary. The function was presided over by Capt Tejinder Singh Virdi, Joint Registrar, Cooperative Societies. Dr S.K. Batish, Deputy Registrar, was the guest of honor. Mr Ahluwalia congratulated the members and the employees of the society for getting first prize for their performance in the state. He announced to honour Mr Sajjan Singh and Mr Santhok Singh, president and manager, respectively, of the society, on the Republic Day function. Mr Paramjit Singh, sarpanch, and Mr Gurdev Singh, a former sarpanch, said the society was registered with 32 members on December 10, 1957. At present, it had 1,508 members.
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Telecom employees hold meeting
Ludhiana, November 17 The meeting, that took place in the Bharat Nagar telephone exchange, was presided over by Mr Prem Singh, district president, and was addressed by Mr Manohar Lal Sharma, circle secretary, Mr Pritam Chand, Mr Sarabjit Singh, Mr Mohinder Prasad, Mr Dwarka Prasad, Mr J.L.Shukla and Mr Charanjit Singh Grewal among others.
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2 booked for blockade of FCI godowns
Jagraon, November 17 Mr Saudagar Singh, president of the Truck Union, Hathur, and Mr Hakim Singh, a former labourer contractor, along with about 100 persons have also been booked under Sections 427, 341, 148, 149, IPC, as they allegedly damaged two trucks and a crane. Earlier, the Hathur Truck Union was carrying the transportation, of wheat and rice of the FCI but this time Naveen Kumar & Co, Ludhiana, was successful in the bid for the said work. The new contractor was to start work with effect from November 1 but the old team did not allow him to take charge and damaged seven trucks on November 6. The new contractor filed a civil writ petition in the Panjab and Haryana High Court wherein the Chief Justice, Mr Justice B.K. Roy, and Mr Justice Surya Kant passed orders on November 9 to allow the new contractor to carry out his obligation with special instructions to the Ludhiana SSP. In spite of the orders of the high court, the Hathur union did not allow the new contractor and created blockade and damaged trucks brought by him.
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Six held for gambling
Ludhiana, November 17 Varinder Singh, Gurmeet Singh and Gurdeep Singh, all residents of Hazoori Bagh Colony, were arrested in the same case yesterday. A sum of Rs 650 was seized from their possession. However, all accused were later released on bail. Assault cases:
The Sarabha Nagar police on Tuesday registered a case under Sections 456, 323, 427 and 506 of the IPC on the statement of Mr Surjit Singh, living in Gurdwara Singh Sabha, Sarabha Nagar, against Rajinder Singh Kunwar, who lives in D-block of the same locality.
The complainant stated that he was manager of the gurdwara and the accused entered his office on Sunday, beat him up and threatened him. The accused also damaged some goods belonging to the gurdwara. Another case of assault was registered at the same police station under Sections 386, 452, 506 and 120-B of the IPC on the statement of Mr Jagdish Rai, who lives in Aggar Nagar, against Naresh Verma, Janki Parshad and Vinod Aggarwal. The complainant stated that the accused came to his house and demanded money from him on Monday. When he raised the alarm, the accused threatened him and ran away. On the statement of Mr Nandan Lal, a resident of Mullanpur, the Focal Point police on Tuesday registered a case under Sections 323, 324 and 325 of the IPC against Vikas, who lives in Sherpur, and his accomplice. The complainant stated that the accused assaulted him at Dhandari due to a monetary dispute. He was admitted to the Civil Hospital. The Jodhewal police registered a case of assault under Sections 325, 323 and 34 of the IPC on Tuesday on the statement of Mr Vikas Sheel, who lives in street No. 1 of Madhopuri, against Bittu Saini and four others. The complainant stated that the accused beat him at the Shiv Puri chowk on Monday. Fraud alleged: The complainant stated that he had purchased a car from the accused and made a payment of Rs 3.75 lakh. But the accused did not deliver the car to him nor returned his money. Two hurt: The complainant stated that the accused, who was riding a scooter, hit his brother Ramesh Kumar and his daughter Swani on Monday near the Vishwakarma chowk.
Jagraon
A case under Sections 457 and 380 of the IPC has been registered. Case registered: Scooterist killed:
Sukhchain Singh of Talwandi Rai was killed in the village when a truck hit his scooter. The Raikot police has registered a case under Sections 279, 336, 427 and 304-A of the IPC against the driver of the truck, Swaran Singh. Mandi Ahmedgarh According to Mr Davinder Singh, the miscreants snatched ornaments and cash from him near Kanganwal village on Tuesday.
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Programme for hospitality professionals
Ludhiana, November 17 According to Mr N.S. Nanda, president of the association, the programme included lectures and orientation courses by experts from the industry. Mr Naveen Kumar Nanchahal, Principal of the Dr Ambedkar Institute of Hotel Management, Catering and Nutrition, Chandigarh, was the chief guest on the occasion. Two other faculty members of the institute, Mr Biju Lakshaman and Mr Pratik Ghosh, also participated in the programme. Mr Nanda said the association would be regularly organising such orientation courses for the industry staff as it was the need of the hour. Mr S. Dhanda, managing director of the Hotel Imperial, where the programme was organised also spoke on the occasion.
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‘Peter rehras’ rule the road
Ludhiana, November 17 The vehicle is assembled locally. A motor pump used to draw out water from the wells is used as an engine of the vehicle. A “rehra” is attached to the engine. The vehicle is assembled in just Rs 10,000. The vehicle is very popular in rural areas due to lack of adequate transport facilities. 
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