Jagraon, March 29
A day after large-scale illegal mining of sand from the Sutlej alongside Madepura village near Sidhwan Bet was highlighted in these columns, some more shocking revelations came to the fore today when villagers disclosed blatant violation of guidelines pertaining to the mining of sand. The villagers alleged that the contractor who was awarded the sand mining contract at Parjian Biharipur village around two months ago was violating the norms with impunity.

Madepura village, where the practice of large-scale illegal sand mining was exposed yesterday, is situated close to Parjian Biharipur village, the site allotted to the contractor by the government for the mining of sand during an auction held around two months ago.

Residents of Madepura and Parjian Biharipur villages alleged that workers hired by the mining contractor had been openly violating the norms set by the state government.

"The government has fixed a depth of a maximum of 10 ft for excavating sand. However, the workers of the contractor have been excavating sand up to a depth of 25 to 30 ft alongside Parjian Biharipur village," alleged a villager, Gurnam Singh, who is also a member of the Block Samiti, Sidhwan Bet.

The villagers alleged that the mining contractor had also been overlooking guidelines regarding the time limit while excavating sand. "According to the guidelines, sand can be excavated between 9 am and 5 pm. However, the mining contractor excavates sand round the clock to earn an extra quick buck," said Dilbagh Singh, district president of the Kirti Kisan Union.

The villagers alleged that the contractor was not only violating the sand mining norms, but also posing a serious threat of floods in several villages located alongside the Sutlej.

The issue of large-scale illegal sand mining at Madepura village was highlighted in these columns yesterday when villagers, led by activists of some NGOs, had stopped around 25 trucks loaded with illegally mined sand in the village.

Sources claimed that the sand mafia had been excavating around 250 tippers (trucks) of sand everyday from the river bed alongside Madepura village, causing a huge loss to the state exchequer. The sand being excavated everyday from Madepura village is estimated to be between Rs 50 and RS 60 lakh. The sources said the sand mafia enjoyed the support of a senior leader of the ruling party, due to which the administration had turned a blind eye towards this illegal practice.

Villagers today again held a protest rally against illegal sand mining. They have given three days’ time to the administration and threatened that if no action was taken against those involved in illegal sand mining till April 2, they would block the Jagraon-Jalandhar highway indefinitely.

Sand-laden trucks have been handed over to the police by officials of the Mining Department.

Jagraon SSP Ashish Chaudhry said the Mining Department had requested the police to keep these trucks in its custody. "No action has been initiated in this regard so far because the police hasn’t received any complaint from the Mining Department," the SSP said.

Area Mining Officer Subodh Jindal said the department was conducting an investigation into the matter and action would be taken against those found guilty.

Ludhiana, March 29
While the poor are reeling under poverty, "cronies" of politicians are allegedly enjoying the benefit of schemes meant for the poor. Two social activists, Namit Dewan and Jagshir Singh, have prepared a list of persons who are allegedly drawing "illegitimate benefit" from government schemes.

Namit said two brothers, Jatinderpal Singh and Kuldeep Singh, both residents of the HE Colony, Jamalpur, owned a car, an auto-rickshaw and a motorcycle, but were still on the Below Poverty Line (BPL) list and were receiving benefits of government schemes meant for the poor.

"It's an irony that Jatinderpal and Kuldeep Singh hold the blue card and receive subsidised rations: wheat flour for Rs 4 per kg and pulses for Rs 20 per kg, while their children study in top CBSE schools. While the scheme is meant for the poor, the well-off are benefiting from it," said Namit.

Namit demanded action against government employees who allotted the blue card to Jatinderpal.

Namit alleged that when Jatinder was allotted the blue card in 2007, he had nearly Rs 1 lakh in his personal bank account and was paying a monthly instalment of Rs 7,360 to repay a car loan. Besides he had also taken a personal loan and was paying an instalment of Rs 3,120 to a bank. Jatinder had also given Rs 3 lakh as a loan to a city resident for running an acting school.

An inquiry is being conducted into the matter by District Food Supply Controller Rajnish Kumari. The inquiry was marked by ADC (Development) Rishipal Singh.

Ludhiana, March 29
A three-day nationwide strike call given by the All-India Associations of Superintendents and Inspectors of Central Excise, comprising more than 30,000 members, has been deferred.

AK Sharma, president of the All-India Central Excise Gazetted Executive Officers Association (Chandigarh Zone), said a meeting was called by the chairperson of the Central Board of Excise and Customs with office-bearers of the central body of the association in New Delhi yesterday in which chairperson Praveen Mahajan informed that the file pertaining to the main demand of the association (clearance of the proposed cadre restructuring) had been cleared by the Revenue Secretary on March 26 and submitted to the Finance Minister for further action.

The association was requested to withdraw its proposed strike and give some time to the Central Board of Excise and Customs to apprise the Finance Minister of the demands of the association.

Boota Singh, general secretary of superintendents' association, and Bhagwan Singh, general secretary of the inspectors' association, in a joint statement, said the strike call had been deferred for the time being.

Ludhiana, March 29
In view of the approaching summer, Air India has revised the timings of its lone Delhi-Ludhiana flight from March 31. Now, the flight will depart from Delhi at 11.45 am and land in Ludhiana (Sahnewal) at 1 pm. The same flight will take off from Ludhiana at 1.25 pm and land in Delhi at 2.40 pm.

The Ludhiana-Delhi flight operates thrice a week: Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

When the air connectivity between Delhi and Ludhiana was resumed in April 2010, the flight used to operate in the evening. In the absence of a DVOR device at the Sahnewal airport, which helps aircraft land during poor visibility, the flight used to be cancelled quite often. Though the DVOR device has been installed at the airport, it is yet to be made operational.

Amrik Singh, manager of Air India at the airport, said the timings had been changed in view of the approaching summer. "As the days have cleared up, we expect the good run of flights to continue. The number of passengers from Ludhiana has increased and in the coming days, we expect the number to rise further," said Amrik Singh.

Ludhiana, March 29
Thieves struck at a shop dealing in mobile phones at Ganesh Nagar in the Janakpuri area last night and decamped with goods worth Rs 50,000.

The incident came to light this morning when nearby shopkeepers saw the locks of the shop lying open and informed Prabhjot Singh, owner of Dhawan Telecom.

“As soon as I received a call regarding the incident from one of the shopkeepers, I left for Ludhiana. On reaching the shop, I found to my shock that the locks of my shop had been broken and the shop had been burgled. The thieves had decamped with goods lying in the shop,” Prabhjot Singh told the police in his statement.

“The thieves decamped with a computer system, mobile phones and recharge coupons worth Rs 10,000,” he said, adding that he had lodged a complaint with the Janakpuri police post.

Ludhiana, March 29
Panic spread near Clock Tower and the surrounding areas after the body of a middle-aged man was found lying on the road here today.

The police suspects that the deceased may be a beggar and perhaps died due to an ailment. The incident came to light early this morning when commuters spotted the man lying dead.

The police was informed about the incident. The deceased is yet to be identified. His body was sent to the Civil Hospital, where it will be kept in a mortuary for 72 hours following which a postmortem will be conducted.

Ludhiana, March 29
Two motorcycle-borne youths allegedly snatched a woman's gold chain and escaped from a police naka in the Green Field area near Model Gram here today.

The incident took place around 7.30 pm when the victim was walking towards Pakhowal Road.

Ludhiana, March 29
The state government has made changes under the rationalisation move to provide quality education to the students. The Education Department has adopted strict guidelines, which were uploaded at the official website today.

Director General of Secondary Education (DGSE) KS Pannu said a detailed list was procured from almost all the districts of Punjab and schools would be distributed equally in all the blocks in the district. “We found that in one block, there were just 20 schools while in other block there were about 200 schools. Each block has to be taken care of by one Block Education Officer. In order to streamline everything, we have taken several steps after consulting the education minister of Punjab,” said Pannu.

As per the instructions issued today, from Class XI - XIII, the teacher student ratio should be 1:30. Similarly, in Class IX-X, the ratio will be 1:30 and 10 per cent increase can be done. In case there were 34 students, then new section will be made. For both class XI and XII, the teacher student ratio has to be 1:40 and when there was 10 per cent increase in the number of students, new section will be formed.

The instructions further said that for streams like non-medical, medical, commerce and humanities, at least 10 students need to be there in each stream. The stream will not be introduced for less than 10 students.

Pannu said that many instructions were issued concerning teachers, too. “If posts were lying vacant in some school, then posts will be shifted to the school, where teachers are needed. If any teacher joins the school after March 31, 2011, and in case of surplus post, that particular person will have to be shifted from the school. We have brought many other guidelines too and the rationalisation policy will definitely improve the education system in schools,” said Pannu. 

Ludhiana, March 29
A noted musician and producer Bally Sagoo was in the city for the promotion of his new music album.

His new music album has Punjabi and Hindi songs. He said all the songs have been sung by new singers. "I have always promoted new talent. I don't think good singers are made only through riyaz and training. Anybody can be a good singer. If a 'jalebiwala' works during the day and sings in the evening, it will be more fascinating to me," he said.

He said his music not only caters to Punjabi audience but also to global audience as his music is fusion music.

He said he would like to work in Punjabi movies too.

Talking about the reason for naming the new album 'Future Shock', he said that music album comprises songs and music that has a global appeal.

"Punjabis overseas want to listen to 'desi' music rather than western," he said. —TNS

Ludhiana, March 29
Newly inducted government school teachers were imparted five-day exclusive induction training at GISTC (Government In-Service Training Centre) so as to apprise them about new educational techniques, child development and child psychology to take care of the children with special needs in the government schools.

The programme was run under the SSA on the instruction of the Director General of School Education, Punjab.

As many as 22 teachers appreciated the programme and pledged to contribute for the development of education in the state.

Course-coordinator and lecturer Pradeep Kumar Kapoor expressed satisfaction over the response of the teachers towards this teacher training prgramme.

He asked the teachers to extend full attention towards the educational career of their students and strengthen the development of the school system.

He shared his educational experiences with the teachers. Officiating Head of GISTC Sneh Saini asked the teachers to contribute for the quality education in the school system and make teaching-learning process more absorbing ,so as to check the drop out-rate in the government schools. 

Ludhiana, March 29
Students, staff and management of the PCTE, Baddowal, along with NGO Zindagi Live paid a befitting tribute to the sacrifice of the young martyrs, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru, by donating 225 units of blood to the team of doctors from the DMCH and Civil Hospital at Campus-II of PCTE, Baddowal.

Yogesh Gupta, general secretary, Zindagi Live Foundation, appreciated the faculty and students for making this effort. He also thanked the Chairman Dr KNS Kang for the invaluable guidance, commitment and zeal for providing blood to thalassemic children. Yogesh Gupta also had special mention for Unit Head, Swapan Chanana, who with his dynamic vision and benign thoughts inspired the students for this gesture.

PK Gill, Dr GS Gill, Dr BS Sekhon and Navin Chandra from the management and faculty blessed the students for their generous act.

Ashok Marwaha, chairman, Zindagi Live Foundation, informed that this was their 14th camp and their NGO had till date collected and donated 2,400 units to the needy people.

Balram Mehta, senior vice-president, informed that the next voluntary blood camp of team Zindagi Live would be at New Aggarwal Peerkhana Trust, Kakowal Road, on March 31. 

Ludhiana, March 29
The Special Trainers Teachers Union organised a protest rally in the city yesterday against the orders to relieve them from duty on March 31.

As many as 60 members of the union gathered at Chatar Singh Park and walked to the office of the Deputy Commissioner. "We demand regularisation of our services. We have submitted a memorandum at the Deputy Commissioner's office," said Jaswinder Singh, district president of the union.

"The teachers are hired on contract at a salary of Rs 3,500 per month. Our contractual job is always at stake. We have enough experience to get regular employment," said a female teacher. —TNS

Ludhiana, March 29
People seek their names in the headlines after making a small effort for society, but contrary to this, a person campaigns in anonymity against the use of plastic for eatables on the Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) campus.

Posters can be seen displayed on almost every canteen on the campus, listing the ill-effects of the use of plastic. The writer in the end gives the massage being eco-friendly but does not mention his name. He writes, "One of You".

One of the posters reads: "All are requested to avoid taking soft drinks and eatables in plastic glasses and plates, respectively, as the plastic is very harmful for our health. Even if the canteen owner offers plastic disposable glasses and plates, refuse to take these".

Another such poster claims the plastic can cause skin diseases, heart attack, cancer, vision failure, liver and stomach diseases, besides reproductive problems.

Janak, a canteen owner, said: "Someone told me verbally about the ill-effects of the plastic so we avoid plastic glasses in our canteen. I agree with the message displayed in the poster.

"We don't know about the authenticity of the claims made in the posters. It will be good if the writer gives his name on the poster so that we can ask him for the source of the information," Sarbjeet Singh, a student said.

Dr Aneesh Chaudhry, Senior Consultant, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Christian Medical College and Hospital, said: "I advise people to avoid the use of plastic containers for eatables, especially for hot liquid. In India, we have no regulations about the manufacturing of such things. Plastic can prove to be injurious to health, because we don't know which chemical is used to manufacture them. It can cause problems in kidney, liver and stomach". 

Ludhiana, March 29
Though a new canopy has been installed at the indoor multipurpose hall at Guru Nanak Dev Stadium and whitewash done on the walls, a major part of renovation work is yet to be completed. The overall renovation of the hall was proposed to be completed till December 28, 2012, before the national tournaments of basketball, which was held at the stadium.

The work, which was stopped before the basketball tournament in December 2012, has not been restarted yet. The floor of the hall is in poor shape. Damaged tiles have bot been replaced with new ones.

Moreover, rainwater enters the field from the both sides of the canopy. So, it is difficult to practise at the ground on rainy days.

Washrooms and urinals at the multipurpose hall are also in a bad condition. It makes the hall stinky. Damaged seats have not been repaired for years. Players of judo and wrestling practise in this hall.

"We had some hope a few years ago when the renovation work was started. Now, we don't know when the renovation work will be completed," said a player.

"Earlier, I had a feeling that it is a well-maintained and neat and clean place. But, with the passage of time, we have become habitual to such conditions," another player said.

Kartar Singh, District Sports Officer, said: "The government has sanctioned sufficient funds for renovation. The contractor has received the first instalment. Now, we are waiting for the final instalment to complete the work. We hope that the work will restart soon." 

Ludhiana, March 29
The Brick-kiln Owners Association today held a protest at the grain market on Gill Road against the delay in the auction of sand mines, which is leading to an increase in the rates of sand.

"The delay on the part of the government in auctioning the sand mines is causing a trouble for us as it has led to an increase in the rates of sand. Though the government has auctioned 522 sand mines, 243 are still to be auctioned," said a union leader.

"The demand for sand is increasing day by day but the supply is low. This is encouraging to black marketeers. Owing to the poor availability of sand, only 15 or 20 per cent construction work is going on," he said.

Food samples collected

Ludhiana: A team of the district Health Department on Friday collected seven samples of food items from different shops. Food Safety officer Manoj Khosla said, "We have collected these samples under the guidance of District Health Officer Dr Avinash Kumar. We have collected samples of rasgulla and barfi from a sweet shop on Tajpur road, desi ghee and cream from a dairy on Tajur Road, flour and maida from a flour mill at Chandigarh road and a sample of Rasgulla from a sweet shop at Chandigarh road." During the operation, Food Safety Officer Harpreet Kaur was also with the team.

Aadhaar cards being made at a camp in Aman Nagar. photo: inderjeet verma

Property tax

Members of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Punjab on Friday met Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and discussed the issue of property tax. General Secretary Amarvir Singh said, "The percentage of proposed property tax which is to be levied on the hotel and restaurants is too high. Since Punjab is not a tourist friendly state, the hotel industry will be ruined completely if property tax on hotels and restaurants is imposed."

Bank office inaugurated

Regional office of the Indian Overseas Bank was inaugurated at Nitesh Vihar, Dugri. Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria, Mayor, Ludhiana, was the chief guest on the ocassion. Branch Head Neerav Saini expressed his thanks to all the dignitaries and staff members for their presence on the ocassion.

Eye check-up camp

Free eye check-up camp was organised at Basti Jodhewal by Punarjot Eye Bank Society on Friday. The camp was inaugurated by Baba Narinder Pal. He said that service of the needy is the service of the God.

Kavi darbar held

A kavi darbar was organised at Gurdwara Damdama Sahib, Dugri, on the occasion of Hola Mohalla. Several poets participated during the event. They recited poems on various religious themes on the occasion.

Aadhaar cards

Enrollments for Aadhaar card began at an enrollment camp organised at Aman Nagar, near Jalandhar bypass. "As many as 130 residents were enrolled during the camp," said Ishwar, supervisor at the camp. "The camp will go on for a week," he said. —TNS

Ludhiana: The police has nabbed a drug peddler with 3kg of opium. The accused has been identified as Prem Kumar Yadav, a native of Jharkhand, who at present lives in Kanganwal. He was arrested at the Kanganwal chowk on Thursday night by a team of Anti-Narcotic Cell led by in charge Harbans Singh. Yadav, who works in a rolling mill, had smuggled opium earlier too. It was his second consignment, said Harbans Singh. The police said he had procured the opium from Jharkhand and was to handover it to a dealer in Ludhiana.

Car stolen near gurdwara

Thieves stole Chandanvir Signh's car on Wednesday while he was visiting a gurdwara. According to Chandanvir Singh, a resident of New Shivaji Nagar, he went to Gurdwara Nanaksar at Samrala Chowk to pay obeisance. He parked his car outside the gurdwara and when he came back he was shocked to found his car missing. A case under section 379, IPC, has been registered. In another incident, thieves stole the tyres of a car in Karnail Singh Nagar on the Pakhowal road.

One arrested with habit-forming drugs

The police nabbed a person at a check point at Gill village and seized a huge quantity of pharmaceutical drugs from his possession. The suspect has been identified as Mohammad Salim of Sangrur. The seized psychotropic drugs include injections, cough syrups and tablets. A case under sections 22, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against him.

Six arrested for gambling in city

Six persons were held for gambling in different parts of the city on Thursday. Those arrested have been identified as Pawan Kumar of Jugiana, Raj Kumar of Focal Point, Mangat Ram and Rahul Arora of Shimlapuri, Dinesh Kumar of Lohara village and Suraj Parkash of Dhandari Khurd.

The police received the information from sources that some persons were gambling in the area. It raided the different spots and nabbed the persons red-handed. The police recovered the betting amount (Rs 19,418). A case under sections 13A, 3 and 67G has been registered.

Vendor nabbed for selling fake lottery tickets

The police has nabbed a lottery vendor on the charge of duping innocent people by claiming that he was selling lottery tickets approved by the state government. Laxmi Prasad was nabbed and Rs 12,000 was recovered from his possession. According to the police, Laxmi had installed a television at his shop and it was connected to a recording system. He used to show the recording to the draw of lottery on television screens and people used to take it for real. The police also seized a huge quantity of fake lottery tickets.

Kin stage dharna after pregnant woman's death

The relatives of a pregnant woman, who allegedly died in ambulance while being taken to a hospital, staged a dharna and vandalised a nursing home located on the Gill road. The pregnant woman, Minni Chopra, was taken to Kiran Nursing Home here on Friday afternoon.

According to gynaecologist Jaskiran Kaur, Minni's condition was serious when she was brought to the hospital and she had suffered fits. "Without wasting time we referred the case to a multi-speciality hospital. We came to know that Minni died on the way to the hospital. Soon her relatives brought her body to my premises and staged a dharna," said Jaskiran Kaur. The woman's relatives said Minni died during treatment at Kiran Nursing Home. — TNS

SPORTS

Clubs get sports kits

Ludhiana, March 29
The youth play a key role in the development of a nation and it can progress if the youth stay away from social evils like drugs. Sports make a person healthy and strong enough to fight social evils. This was stated by Pawan Dewan and Malkit Singh Dakha, presidents of the DCC (Urban) and DCC (Rural), respectively, while addressing the annual youth convention held by Nehru Yuva Kender (Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports) here today.

They distributed sports kits among the representatives of 20 youth clubs from both urban and rural parts of the district, on behalf Minister for Information and Broadcasting Manish Tewari, MP from Ludhiana.

They lauded the centre for promoting sports activities in the district.