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Rs 20 lakh taken away at gunpoint
Ludhiana, November 17 The broad daylight robbery had all the elements of a Bollywood film. The robbers not only fled with the money, but also threatened commuters by brandishing weapons. After robbing the industrialist, they fled in a car amid heavy traffic. The incident took place around 2 pm when 35-year-old Rajiv Bhalla was returning to his factory in his sports utility vehicle (SUV) after withdrawing Rs 20 lakh from a bank located at Maler Gunj. Rajiv said his old and trusted driver was driving the vehicle and he was sit in the front seat. “A white Volkswagen Jeta (PB-08-AW-2345) started following us once we took a turn from Cheema Chowk. When we reached RK Machine Tool Road, the car-borne robbers intercepted us and forced the driver to pull over,” he said. Before he could understand what was happening, two robbers carrying pistols and one carrying a double-barrel gun alighted from the car and trained the weapon on Rajiv. They told him to keep sitting in the vehicle and throw the bag containing the cash from the window. Rajiv threw the bag and tried to get out of the SUV, but one of them fired a shot at his leg. Rajiv had a narrow escape as the bullet hit the road. “I thought some film was being shot. The gunmen were threatening the public and fleeing with the bag,” an onlooker remarked. Rajiv said the robbers had covered their face with a cloth. The police is suspecting that the robbery was well planned and the robbers were aware of the amount Rajiv was carrying in the bag. Cops busy with Kabaddi World Cup
The latest incident has exposed chinks in security. While the focus is on the smooth conduct of the Kabaddi World Cup final, the security of the city has been ignored. Today’s incident has again proved how residents have to pay a price for poor policing. No lesson learnt A similar incident occured on September 14 when the same gang of robbers robbed three employees of a factory at Sahnewal of Rs 20 lakh in the Kanganwal area. But the police has learnt no lesson. The double-barrel gun used in today’s robbery had been snatched from a security guard at the factory in a previous robbery.
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Two ‘godmen’ in police net
Ludhiana, November 17 The accused were standing at the Circuit House Chowk and were cheating commuters on the pretext of doubling their money with magic tricks. Vijay Gill of Gurdaspur, who fell into the trap of the “godmen” said: “The two men, who appeared like sages, came close to my car and told me that they were gifted with super powers and could double my money. I gave them Rs 1,000 (two notes of Rs 500 denomination). They put the note in their mouth. I do not know what they did, but the notes went missing. When I complained, they tried to escape from a narrow street located near a mall on the Ferozepur Road. I locked my car and chased them. The police also came to my help and nabbed the accused,” he said. Later it came to light that the “godmen” had duped many residents on the pretext of doubling their money.
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Car dealers charging more for registration certificates
Ludhiana, November 17 Though a majority of dealers in the district are charging the actual amount as per the slabs set by the transport department, certain dealers were overcharging on the pretext that the department had to make some adjustments or the extra money would be refunded at the time of the issuance of RCs. Vineet Kumar (name changed), who had purchased a new car from an automobile dealer in September, said though the RC had not been issued to him to date, but he was asked to pay about Rs 15,000 for it. “The actual receipt amount issued by the department to me was Rs 9,000. When I asked the dealer about the difference, he asked me to wait till the RC was issued. I am waiting for the RC and the refund of the remaining amount,” he said. A dealer said on the condition of anonymity that certain dealers were indeed overcharging customers. “At times, several persons are involved in a deal -- insurance agents, company representatives, bank agents, etc. Anyone can ask for more money. The customer needs to be clever enough to check the facts. If a dealer is duping the customer, the latter must lodge a complaint with the department,” he said. Some customers have complained that certain dealers refused to pay the extra money on the pretext that the transport department had to make other adjustments. DTO clears the air
Online registration for registration certificates (RCs) is a success in the state. There are some teething problems, which will be rectified shortly. We have received some complaints regarding overcharging by certain dealers. But that was due to a wrong notification by the government on VAT which has been cleared. If any dealer is still overcharging, the customer should contact us. We will take stern action against the
defaulters. Ashwani Sharma, District Transport Officer |
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Star-studded Kabaddi World Cup final
Ludhiana, November 17 Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone have already confirmed their entry while John Abraham and Chitrangada Singh are expected to be a part of the mega “political” party before the elections. The arrival of a galaxy of stars does not seem to have gone down well with the Congress as it alleged that the SAD/ BJP-led government was doling out a crores of rupees for the performance of Bollywood stars. Jail Minister Hira Singh Gabria, while defending the government, claimed that Shahrukh Khan’s performance, as it would be for other stars, was purely a promotional stunt. “We have not invited any Bollywood star, rather these film stars are lining up to be a part of this mega event. Witnessing the popularity of last year’s kabaddi cup, Shahrukh Khan approached us and expressed his willingness to perform on the opening ceremony of the Kabaddi World Cup at Bathinda. Akshay Kumar had already performed during the closing ceremony of school games,” the minister said. Asked if John Abraham and Chitrangada Singh would perform at the closing ceremony of the Kabaddi World Cup, Gabria said: “We are receiving offers from film stars who are hunting for a platform to promote their films. We have yet to decide on the names.” Asked how much money was given for Shahrukh’s performance, he said: “We have not paid a single penny to any film star.” Gabria said the Kabaddi World Cup was not a political function. “It is the most cherished sport among Punjabis. The event is being organised as per schedule and it has nothing to do with the ensuing elections,” the minister said.
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Fear of reptiles grips office
of Civil Surgeon
Ludhiana, November 17 An employee said: “A few days ago, I entered the corridor of the office and saw a snake. It quickly slid under a cupboard. I tried to find it, but it had crawled elsewhere. The fear of snakes has gripped me.” Manmeet Singh, a resident who had come to collect a death certificate of his uncle, said: “It is my third round here. The first day when I came here, a black lizard fell on my head near the window and as I tried to escape, one of the employees remarked ‘bhai, vekh ke eithhe
saap vi nikalde ne’ (stay alert as snakes are also found here).”
Whenever a new Chief Medical Officer (CMO) takes charge, employees hope they will get a better office, but in vain. Nothing of this sort has come to my notice. But I will look for a solution. As far as the old records are concerned, they are perhaps not wanted. But we cannot throw them away without intimating the departments concerned. As regards the office shifting to a better place, I have no idea about it. I will see what can be
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Car falls into canal as fence gives way
Ludhiana, November 17 According to Ranjit Singh, he was returning on his Maruti Ritz car when he lost control on his vehicle due to dust and absence of road indicators. Fortunately, there was no water in the canal and Ranjit escaped with minor injuries. It was early in the morning that the car was pulled out of the canal. The commuters complained that the road construction company had made poor fencing arrangement which was resulting in such accidents. "During the night it becomes very difficulty to commute. There are no road signals and delineators to guide the motorists," said Maninder Singh, a resident.
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44 cadets prove mettle in inter-group competition
Ludhiana November 17 They outplayed eight groups from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pardesh and Chandigarh. The competition comprised group song, dance, ballet, drill, flag area and best cadet competitions. An enthusiastic cadet Kamini Chawla said, “We used to practise six hours everyday. It was a team effort. Now, we are practising even harder to achieve our next goals. “We want to participate in RDC-2012. Our team performed well in the group competition at Patiala,” said Reetika, GGNC, Model Town. Group commander Col GPS Sawhney said, “The cadets have excelled in all competitions due to their enthusiasm and hard work they put in during training sessions. I congratulate the cadets and wish them luck.” Captain Gagandeep Singh and Lieutenant Jasjit Kaur, presently serving in the Indian Army, were commissioned last year. Captain Gagandeep Singh was a cadet of 4th Punjab Air Squad and a student of Guru Nanak Public School. He passed his degree in electric engineer from Bangalore and was commissioned in 2009. Now, he is posted on the China Border. Jasjit Kaur is also her batch mate at the Officer’s Training Academy in Chennai. She was a cadet of 3 Punjab Girls Punjab and a certificate holder. She did her BSc from Khalsa College for Women and was commissioned in 2009. “When the Kargil War was going on, I always wanted to be a part of it. Now, I am enjoying every moment of my life,” said Jasjit Kaur.
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Adult literacy
campaign helps them attain education
Ludhiana November 17 An 18-year-old Mani Gill, an illiterate boy from Peeru Banda Nagar, near Salem Tabri, has been attending the classes under the campaign organised by GMT College of Education. Mani has a melodious voice he memorised hundreds of Punjabi songs but he often forgets the verses which come in his mind because he can not write. He has taken the pledge to learn Gurmukhi script so that he would give words to his expressions. Another boy, 10, has a tale of woe. He is illiterate because of his regular family conflicts. His parents had not decided about his schooling. Now he himself has taken initiative by joining classes at Guru Ravidas Dharmsala Peeru, Banda Nagar. He is exited and enjoying the school environment. Not only boys, but also 62-year-old Laja, a widow, has also joined classes after. Laja said, “At the time when I was young, studies were restricted for girls. I used to affix thumb on every official paper my whole life. I have been attending classes here since first day and have now been able to sign with the help of teachers,” she said. Manjit Kaur is 25, but her father denied sending her to school by excusing that girls have no concern with studies. Because they have to do only household chores. But Manjit found difficulties in her life. Now, after marriage, she wants to study, to read electricity bill, gas booking dates on booking and expiry dates of medicines. More than 20 students have been studying in the campaign with a dream of better life. About the campaign, principal Dr Shikha Soni said, “It is every teacher's responsibility to contribute towards the goodness of the society. The campaign is for 15 days and the students of the college have also participated. The motive of the campaign is to give knowledge to people
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Acquaint youths with technology, says Abdul Kalam
Sanghol (Khamano) November 17 In India, 70 per cent of the population is residing in remote villages where there are fewer facilities as compared to urban areas, said he. He called upon the college administration including Lord Diljit Rana and Deputy Commissioner of Fatehgarh Sahib to introduce PURA Mission (Providing Urban enmities in Rural areas) as Sanghol PURA in the area for the uplift of the poor villagers that should cover 30 rural villages of the area. He hoped that Sanghol PURA as a sustainable development system would transform the 30 villages of the cluster into a prosperous, happy and peaceful villages of this region. While thanking farmers of the state to provide eatables to the country Dr Kalam said he is very grateful to the hard working farmers of the state on behalf of the countrymen as they had played a vital role for people of the country. He also appealed the social, religious and other organisations to come forward to stop social evils from the society in
the state. He revealed during his address that PURA missions operational in some areas such as Periyar
PURA, Loni PURA, Chitrakoot PURA, Meenakshi PURA and Warana PURA in different states of the country is running successfully and he assured that Sanghol PURA mission will also provide good results for the uplift of the villages. Dr Kalam emphasised that development of India will happen only if we develop the rural areas. The need of the hour is to link Indian youths to technology and science, he said. He suggested the Indian youths to dream high so as to achieve
India in 2020 as the supreme power.
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DMCH comes up with advance technology for diagnosis of TB
Ludhiana, November 17 Dr Deepinder K
Chhina, professor and head of the department, microbiology, added that the latest technology available in the department can detect tuberculosis in both pulmonary and extra pulmonary samples within a day by polymerase chain reaction
(PCR) based amplification of ribosomal RNA (RNA) i.e. transcription mediated amplification
(TMA). Earlier, conventional methods used to take 6-8 weeks for the same. The department also has the facility for detecting multi-drug resistant tuberculosis
(MDR-TB) directly from the respiratory samples and culture isolates within one day by line probe assay. The test simultaneously identifies M tuberculosis complex and detects the most common resistance mutations in rpoB
(rifampicin resistance), katG and inhA genes (Isoniazid resistance). Hence, resistance to rifampicin & isoniazid can be detected directly from smear positive pulmonary samples. The department also has the facility to differentiate between MTB complex and 14 most common species of atypical mycobacteria from culture isolates within one day. The implementation of thee rapid molecular tests for diagnosis of tuberculosis can help avert 20% of all TB deaths.
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PGCTA announces mass agitation
Ludhiana: Teachers of government colleges of Punjab will court arrest on December 1 due after getting irked with the discriminatory attitude of state government. The department of higher education, state government is not making any single effort to listen to the demands of the college teachers in Punjab and the position of higher education in the state Punjab is in total mess, said newly elected president and general secretary, Punjab Government College Teachers Association (PGCTA), prof Hardip Singh Tej and prof Jai Pal Singh, respectively. They said Punjab government is adopting double standards on payment of arrears of pay scale revision and enhancement of retirement age. The government, on the issu’e of enhancing retirement age as per the MHRD notification, says it will not isolate only government college teachers from other state government employees. So it is discriminating government college teachers on this issue as we retire at 58 whereas teachers of universities and private colleges retire at 60, said Singh.
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Rush-hour snarl-up harries commuters
Lovleen Bains
Doraha, November 17 The level-crossing remains closed for most of the time and each time the passersby have to kill at least half-an-hour of their precious time before they are allowed to pass. This happens nearly 10 to 15 times in a day,” said Dr Nirlep Kaur, who teaches in a local college at Doraha and finds her precious time always wasted at the level-crossing. Prof Gagandeep Sharma, a resident of Rampur village, “My village is just on the other side of the crossing, as I come from Doraha but sometimes it takes me not less than an hour to reach my place which is annoying. At times, the gate is lifted only after two or three trains are made to pass.” The commuters complain: “The vehicles are snarled-up in such a way that the first 10 minutes pass in deciding that which side should initiate first. Minor accidents and scuffles due to severe congestion are common. Moreover, vehicles, instead of following a particular line, make four to five lines, thus creating a situation that is no less dangerous as the road moves along a canal. As every driver is in a hurry to make an early passage, the situation, at times, becomes tense.” Inderjit Singh, executive engineer, PWD, Roop Nagar, when contacted, said, “An underpass has been proposed for the level-crossing. Moreover, it a part of the project of road expansion from Ropar to Doraha.”
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Rally by power engineers
Ludhiana, November 17 The secretary of the central executive of the Punjab State Electricity Board Engineers Association (PSEBEA), Jaswant Singh Zafar, said even though post-unbundling, the posts of director in the two corporations had doubled, the work load of engineers working in the field as well as the secretariat had increased. “Instead of creating new posts, additional charges are being given to many engineers right from the assistant engineer to the chief engineer cadres,” he said. On the one hand, the work for the erection and maintenance of the new 440 KV substations had been handed over to the National Power Grid Corporation, while on the other hand, the engineers serving in the two corporations were being transferred by rendering them surplus. Rajinder Singh Srao, a member of the central executive of the PSEBEA, cautioned the management against any
violation of the tripartite agreement between the state government, the management and the association. “Any violation of the agreement under the garb of distribution of work between the two corporations, will not be tolerated. The management is creating an atmosphere of distress and mistrust. Decisions on promotional scales and other allowances as per an assurance given in the presence of the Punjab Chief Minister were not being taken,” he stated. Sikander Singh, an office-bearer of the body, said the management should take an initiative to create harmony by implementing the decisions taken at a meeting held in the chamber of the Chief Minister on October 22. Protesters said they would lend their support to the state-level protest to be held in Patiala on November 22 on the call given by the central leadership of the PSEBEA.
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Chaos marks Youth Akali Dal function
Ludhiana, November 17 Due to the chaos, a play on the ill-effects of drugs, “Sarhaddan Hor Vi
Ne”, had to be stopped One of the theatre troupe members rued that when the play began, no one was paying any attention towards them. “It was based on drugs and instead of learning something from it, the youths were busy getting themselves photographed with Majithia. Even the sound system was out of order and no one could hear the dialogues. We were feeling humiliated and stopped the play midway. We had not come here for money, but to impart some message to the youth. But what can we do when no one was interested?” a theatre artiste stated. When former minister Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal started addressing the youths, he spent nearly 10 minutes just to request them to go back to their seats. “A function is successful only if all of us remain disciplined and sit quietly,” Grewal kept saying. But no one listened to him. When Majithia started his address, he tried to justify the act of youngsters, saying: “This is young blood and they can’t have a laid-back approach. It’s their time to remain on their toes all the time, but as they mature, they will all be responsible leaders of the Akali Dal.”
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Party leaders stay away from event
Ludhiana, November 17 As the state Assembly elections are approaching, Majithia has already announced that the youth would be given due representations in the elections. Which is why, the hectic political activity has already started within the YAD cadre. Today’s function was organised by three newly appointed YAD vice-presidents, Meetpal Singh Dugri, Ravinder Pal Singh Minku and Prabhjot Singh Dhaliwal. This group had earlier honoured Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal with Maharaja Ranjit Singh Award last month. Sources within the YAD said though the Akali Dal was having YAD and Students Organisation of India (SOI), but senior leaders wanted a new league of youth, which would hold its parallel functions and work for strengthening the party in the city. Besides, the party wanted to send a clear signal to “other” YAD leaders, that the Akali Dal was not entirely dependent on them, which was why, the group comprising Meetpal, Minku and Dhaliwal had been organising functions every month,” said a senior Akali leader. Bains, when asked about his absence, said he had gone out of station in connection with a court case. “I had already informed Majithia about the reason of my absence. But I have come to know that the function was a successful one,” said Bains. Even another leader, who was in news for creating a scene at a marriage function recently, and is said to be one of the closest aides of Majithia in the city, remained away from the function. Sources said he was not invited for the function because of the recent incident.
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Councillors want municipal council chief to go
Mandi
Ahmedgarh, November 17 Sonali Giri, SDM, Malerkotla, supervised the proceedings of the meeting, which was convened following the requisition of some councillors led by Ravinder Puri and Dilshad. As Usha Sood did not attend the meeting, Gurpreet Kaur Jaggie, vice-president, presided over the meeting. As factionalism had reached its climax recently, the administration made elaborate security arrangements in the town to avoid any untoward incident. The councillors owing allegiance to the opposition group levelled serious allegations against the working of the president and demanded his immediate removal from the post. Kedar Kapila, Manjit Devi, Harbans Kaur Sekha, Gurpreet Jaggie, Bimal Sharma, Jiwan Singh , Khushi Mohammad, Surinder Kumar, Bhag Singh Bhaga, Dilshad, Avtar Singh Jassal, Ravinder Puri and Baljit Kaur Karwal voted against the president, while Rajnish Sharma Guddu supported her by staying away from the meeting. Usha Sood had been elected chief of the civic body unanimously with the intervention of former minister Abdul Gaffar. Things went smoothly for some months after which a majority of the councillors started feeling ignored and felt that their suggestions regarding the development of the town were not being taken seriously. The situation had taken an ugly turn when the group led by Usha Sood tried to pressurise some councillors by hook or crook. She went to the extent of complaining against some officials who reportedly supported the opposition group. Some councillors had earlier moved no-confidence motion against the president about six months ago, which was withdrawn with the intervention of legislator Iqbal Singh Jhoondan. Irritated over requisition demanding discussion on no-confidence motion, Usha Sood had cancelled the tenders for various developmental projects passed by the authorities. Opposition councillors had then sought intervention of Iqbal Singh Jhoonda, who urged the administration to get the development works started without further delay. Taking cognisance of the situation, Sangrur Deputy Commissioner Kumar Rahul had constituted a special committee headed by the Malerkotla SDM. He stated that the process for commissioning of various projects should be restarted. Executive Magistrate Bhupinder Singh, executive engineer, PWD, Malerkotla, assistant municipal engineer, Ahmedgarh, and executive officer, Malerkotla, are the other members of the committee.
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Allot flats or face stir, riot victims to GLADA
Ludhiana, November 17 In a memorandum submitted to the GLADA authorities here, the chairman of the board, Kartar Singh
Patna, said justice had been denied to the victims as they were still waiting for relief and rehabilitation as promised by the Centre and also laid down in the policy framed by the state government. “The GLADA authorities have been apathetic to the eligible victims as even after 11 years of acceptance of the applications from them for the allotment of flats, still hundreds of claimants were made to wait,” he alleged. Recalling the orders passed by the GLADA additional chief administrator on September 26 in the course of disposal of a civil writ petition wherein it was averred that names of the petitioners would be included for allotment of MIG flats whenever a draw was held for this category, the board said any more delay would be unjustified. Moreover, when adequate number of vacant MIG plots were available for allotment, the delay was uncalled for, it claimed.
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Sub-Registrar office awaits creation of posts
Ludhiana, November 17 There are two officers, along with a registry clerk. However, there are four other employees of the Punjab Land Record Society, while one is from Suvidha Centre. Sources said, “The salary of both the officials is released by some other districts. For instance, the salary of naib tehslidar is released from Dera Bassi in Mohali district, while that of tehsildar is yet to be released.” Daljeet Singh Chhina, tehsildar, Sub registrar (Ludhiana-Central) office said, “I joined as a tehsildar on July 25, 2011, but have not received my salary till date. I have also sent two reminders to the higher authorities for releasing my salary at the earliest, but still waiting.” While another employee said, “There is acute staff shortage and it becomes difficult for us to attend to a large number of people. The government should recruit more employees.
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Scientists honoured
Ludhiana: Scientists and students of College of Home Science, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), were given the Young Scientist Award during the 43rd National Conference of Nutrition Society of India held at National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad, on November 11 and 12. Dr Neelam Grewal, Dean, College of Home Science, PAU, said 22 papers were selected from various states for “Young Scientist Oral Presentations”. Out of the five, two papers entitled “Efficacy of nutritional counselling on haematological profile, clinical and morbidity status related to junk food among adolescent girls of working mothers” by Priya Singla, Dr Sachdeva and Dr Kochhar and “Impact of supplementation of functional beverage on haematological profile, blood glucose and serum retinol level of sports women” by Anupriya, Dr Sachdeva and Dr Kochhar were selected. — TNS
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Neonatology conference from today
Ludhiana, November
17 Delegates from different parts of the country would come to attend the conference and the pre-conference workshops on Neonatal Ventilation and Neonatal
CPAP. The theme of the conference would be “Newborn Care-From First Breath to Discharge and Beyond" Workshops on mechanical ventilation in which the doctors will have hands on experience of the equipments for providing artificial breathing to the newly born babies on November 18. Dr Naveen
Bajaj, organising chairperson and senior neonatologist, of the town said was for the
first time the Punjab is witnessing the national conference in the field of neonatology.
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Rally against drugs
Ludhiana: A rally was taken out against drug-addiction under the ongoing drive to wean the youth away from the menance of drugs and other intoxicants by the Lions Club, Ludhiana, in collaboration with the RS Human Welfare Club. Students from various schools of the city took part in the rally. Office bearers and members of both the clubs along were present at the occasion. Make UID, says minister
The Minister for Jails, Tourism and Cultural Affairs Hira Singh Gabria has appealed to the
city residents to get their UID (Unique Identity Card) made at the earliest. Inaugurating a camp for residents here on Thursday, Gabria said this card will have importance in getting the government benefits. The UIDs were being made free by the government, he added.
— Tribune reporters
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PAU Elections
Ludhiana, November 17 The elections are scheduled to be held on December 2, 2011. The withdrawal of the nominations will be held tomorrow. Candidates for the major posts Paramjit Singh Gill Group
Manmohan Singh Jarnail Singh Harbans Singh Mundi Group
Yadwinder Singh vice-president Jasbir Singh
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Homage paid to Lala Lajpat Rai
Ludhiana, November 17 Former legislator Jagdev Singh Jassowal and former president of DCC Krishan Kumar Bawa, chairman and president of the society, respectively, while addressing a gathering said the sacrifice made by Lala Lajpat Rai during his fight against the then British rulers had inspired his fellow freedom fighters, and this significant turning point in the struggle for Independence had paved the way for the end of the British rule. Activists of the society made a fervent plea with the government to construct a bhawan in memory of Lala Lajpat Rai and also name the road leading to Hussainiwala in Ferozepur district after the legendary freedom fighter.
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200 students take part in science fair
Mandi Ahmedgarh, November 17 The concluding session was presided over by Balwinder Singh, while district science supervisor Santokh Singh was the chief guest. Various speakers, including Santokh Singh, Balwinder Singh Gujjarwal and Baljit Singh called upon social and educational organisations to help the administration educate masses about applied aspects of various scientific principles. — OC
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