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MC Suvidha Centre services go online
Puneet Pal Singh Gill
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 24
City residents will not have to visit the Suvidha Centres of the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation to apply for various services provided there as they can now do so with the click of a mouse. The MC has made the services provided through the Suvidha Centres online.

Under this new initiative, a brainchild of IAS officer Isha Kalia, residents will not have to visit Suvidha Centres to apply for a TS1 certificate, for seeking clearance for a building plan or other services provided at the centres. They can do so while sitting in their offices or at home.

Once the request is submitted, the resident concerned will be allotted a registration number, after which he will be intimated about the date and time on which he can visit the Suvidha Centre and make payment regarding the particular service.

Speaking to Ludhiana Tribune, MC Additional Commissioner Isha Kalia said with the start of this service, a large number of residents will be benefited.

“At present, we won't be able to provide the online payment facility and for that residents will have to visit a Suvidha Centre. However, they will not have to wait in a queue as they will be called on a particular date and at a particular time. During the next few weeks, we will add the online payment facility, through which residents will be able to pay the government fee online. Besides, a courier service will also be started," Kalia said.

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After widening, Ferozepur Road to get a facelift
Kuldip Bhatia

Ludhiana, April 24
As the Rs 40 crore project for widening and eight-laning of Ferozepur Road nears completion by June this year, the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA) has taken up a project for the beautification of the national highway.

GLADA has invited bids from leading urban planners and experts for giving a facelift and remodelling of the 3-km-long and 200-ft wide stretch of the road from the Sidhwan canal to the municipal limits. On completion of the eight-laning project, the road will have adequate provision for parking and service lanes.

The project for beautification envisages state-of-the-art exposure to users and passers-by on this road. The initiative also aims at making this particular stretch of the road more functional, safe and environmental friendly.

Senior officials of the engineering wing of GLADA said the basic objective of the beautification project post-widening was to showcase this section of the road as a model of development in the city and to provide amenities to its users and the public at large.

While inviting bids from experts in the field by May 3, GLADA has sought a design vision plan with detailed design options. This plan shall include best design options and prototypes of various scenarios based on land use along the road and pedestrian movements.

"The plan shall include design details about central verge, improvement of junctions and intersections, plantation plan, including a list of the plants and the number of plants, and softscape work for the beautification of the road for a particular type of scenario," according to GLADA officials.

According to the officials, the comprehensive beautification plan will address all related issues like vehicular and pedestrian movement plan, landscape plan and layout, detailed plans of rotaries and junctions, infrastructure and utilities plan, elevations and sections.

After opening the technical bids for the project on May 6, GLADA intends to hold a "concept vision plan" presentation on May 15. In this interactive session, the bidders will make a detailed presentation of the project plan, including traffic signs, road marking and pavement markers, "channelisers" for the safe and smooth movement of traffic, provision for bus bays, auto and taxi stands, railings, public conveniences, public seating area and information kiosks with city maps and landmarks.

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Four get life imprisonment for murdering jeweller, wife
Rajneesh Lakhanpal

Ludhiana, April 24
Rajiv, alias Raja, of Taj Ganj, Ludhiana, his paramour Pooja, alias Neeru Sharma, of Haibowal Kalan are among four persons who have been sentenced to rigorous life imprisonment on a charge of murdering Darshan Singh (45), a jeweller, and his wife Paramjit Kaur (43) in their house opposite Sahara Hospital, Civil Lines, in July 2006.

Besides Rajiv and Pooja, Additional Sessions Judge Darbari Lal also sentenced co-accused Sunny Kumar of Subhash Nagar and Gobind Ram of Dhhokan Mohalla, Division No. 3, Ludhiana, to life imprisonment. All accused were ordered to pay a fine of Rs 10,000 each.

The accused had killed the couple by firing shots and also by using other weapons when they resisted the robbery bid. Raja and Neeru were arrested by the police on July 25, 2006. They were found to have been involved in three major robbery and murder incidents in the city, all targeting jewellers. Earlier, in the Raghav Jewellers' case, the duo was undergoing life imprisonment.

The couple resisted the robbery attempt despite being stabbed several times. The jeweller's foot got stuck in a grill on top of the gate.

The robbers could only take away some earrings and a necklace worn by the woman. Darshan Singh was found hanging upside down on the gate of the house.

His wife, Paramjit Kaur, was found dead on the lawns of the house. She was also stabbed several times. The police said she too seemed to have reached the gate once and later tried to reach the room, some 30 metres away to call for help. She died on the way.

Additional Public Prosecutor Neelam Pathak said the prosecution had examined 12 witnesses to prove the guilt. She said Raja and Neeru were already undergoing life imprisonment in the Raghav Jewellers' murder case.

A married daughter and grandson of the couple had a miraculous escape as they had locked themselves in a room, when the robbers targeted their family.

A case was registered against the accused under Sections 302, 460, 411 and 120-B of the IPC and Section 25 of the Arms Act at the Division No. 5 police station on July 4, 2006, following the statement of Jasmeet Singh, son of the deceased couple.

How the couple was killed

The accused had killed the couple by firing shots and also by using other weapons when they resisted the robbery bid

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Park management committees sans funds for 6 months
Puneet Pal Singh Gill
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 24
At a time when the city is fast turning into a concrete jungle due to haphazard growth, the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation seems to have closed its eyes to the maintenance of the green cover in the city. The park management committees (PMCs), which were set up with the motive of initiating public participation, have been ignored.

The PMCs are mostly managed by senior citizens and funds have not been released for many of these for the past six months. The reason being cited is that the cheques are yet to be signed. Senior citizens alleged that they are forced to visit the MC office several times for the work, which they have been doing on behalf of the civic body.

There are around 750 parks and 300 PMCs in the city. The PMCs manage around 350-odd parks, most of which are in a good condition.

These PMCs were set up on an initiative of former MC Commissioner SS Sandhu nearly a decade ago. With these PMCs, Sandhu had planned to involve the residents for the maintenance of parks in their respective areas.

Before the PMCs came into being, the MC used to maintain these parks and residents often complained about inefficiency on the part of the civic body.

Non-payment of dues is coming in the way of the functioning of these PMCs. Senior citizens can be seen making numerous rounds of the MC office for getting their cheques.

A senior citizen alleged that a PMC in the E block of Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar had not been given funds since November last year. "I have made several rounds of the MC Zone A office and the officials concerned kept adopting dilly-dallying tactics. Now, after six months, they have told us to provide them our PMC bank account number and the funds would be transferred directly to it. I wonder why these officials took six months to state such a simple fact," he said.

Interestingly, another PMC in C block in the same area was paid Rs 10,000 a few months ago, but when the cheque was deposited in a bank, it bounced due to a shortage of funds. A senior citizen managing this PMC had to make several rounds of the MC office for seeking a new cheque.

MC Additional Commissioner Isha Kalia said she had recently taken over the charge of the horticulture branch. "I have been told that some payments were delayed as the cheques were not signed. Now, we have decided to transfer the funds directly to the PMCs' bank accounts. This way, no one will be harassed," she said.

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Labourers bear the brunt as rising prices of sand, bricks halt work
Manav Mander
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 24
Rising prices of bricks and sand have brought the construction activity in the city to a halt, hitting labourers hard. There was a time when construction workers had no time to spare, but now they can be seen sitting idle, waiting for work.

Each morning, construction workers can be seen standing in groups alongside Ferozepur Road, Pakhowal Road, Model Town and other places, waiting to be hired, but only a few lucky ones are able to get work.

The government seems to have turned a deaf ear to regular protests by labourers, who have been urging it to auction the remaining sand mines so that they can get work.

A CITU worker said they failed to understand why the government was not auctioning the remaining sand mines. "There seems to be some vested interest of the government behind the delay in the auction of the remaining sand mines. Construction activity has come to a standstill in the district and if things continue the same way, we will have to look for some other work or starve ourselves," he said.

Gaya Parsad, a daily wager, said many of his friends had returned to their state Bihar due to paucity of work. "Some have started working in fields, while some others have gone back to Bihar. With little construction activity under way, living in Punjab is no more a lucrative option," he said.

The sand mines should be auctioned and once that happens, construction work will start in full swing and labourers will get their wages. As the construction work has virtually stopped due to the soaring prices of sand and bricks, labourers are not finding regular work. There is little demand in rural areas as well," said Satish Khanna, a construction contractor.

Harbir Singh, a city resident, said he was thinking of constructing rooms on the first floor of his house, but had dropped the idea for the time being. "I am waiting for the prices to come down and only then will I plan start construction work," he said.

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Gangster Chhota Lalla, 3 others held
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 24
The city police today arrested notorious gangster Vijay Sidhu, alias Chhota Lalla, and his three accomplices with 2.7 kg of psychotropic drug powder. ADCP-I Nilambari Jagdale said Lalla, who was wanted in several crime cases, was arrested along with his accomplices Deep Sidhu, Honey Sidhu and Prabhat.

It is learnt that ACP-North J Elanchezhian and his team played an important role in the arrest of gangster Lalla.

Lalla and his accomplices were involved in an ugly gang war with their rival gang leader Sachin and Ajaypal.

The police is looking for Lalla's other accomplices, including Jassi, Babbu, Soni and Raju.

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Judge for speedy justice
Legal Correspondent

Ludhiana, April 24
Justice SK Mittal, a Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, today laid stress on speedy and quality justice to the masses. He was addressing a meeting of local judicial officers here. He urged them to work more efficiently.

Earlier, he was accorded a warm welcome by District and Sessions Judge Gobinder Singh Matharoo.

Justice Mittal was recently appointed as an administrative judge for Ludhiana district. This was his first visit to the District Courts. It was a surprise visit.

Justice Mittal also held a meeting with District Bar Association president Parupkar Singh Ghumman. The DBA president shared the stress and problems being faced by lawyers in their day-to-day functioning.

He raised the demand for the construction of chambers for lawyers stating that a large number of lawyers had joined the profession in the past couple of years and they did not have chambers.

Ghumman claimed that Justice Mittal had given a positive response and had in principle agreed for the construction of chambers for lawyers, escalators in the judicial complex and a multi-storeyed parking for lawyers.

He claimed that he had been assured that Raikot tehsil would not be separated from Ludhiana Sessions Division.

Justice Mittal also addressed a meeting of judicial employees and made it clear that no laxity in the working would be tolerated.

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LAND GRAB CASE
SP joins probe
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 24
A day after being booked by the police in a land grab and illegal confinement case, Mangal Singh Superintendent of Police, posted in the Chief Minister's security, today joined the probe. Commissioner of Police Ishwar Singh also formed a SIT to investigate the matter.

Confirming the development, ADCP-II Bhupinder Singh Sidhu said on behalf of the Commissioner of Police, "A SIT, comprising ADCP-III Joginder Singh, ACP (West) Gurpreet Kaur Purewal and SHO of the PAU police station Gurveer Singh Toor, has been formed to investigate the matter."

Eight persons, Mangal Singh, SP, Sub-Inspector Dalip Bedi, at present posted in Fatehgarh Sahib, retired Inspector Narata Ram, hotelier Chander Shekhar and his accomplices Rajesh Kumar, Vijay Kumar, Balwinder Kumar and Narinderpal Singh were booked in a land grab and illegal confinement case following court orders.

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tribune impact
MC repairs potholed roads, but in patches
Puneet Pal Singh Gill
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 24
A few days after Ludhiana Tribune highlighted the poor shape of the roads in the city, most of them have been repaired to some extent by carrying out patch work. But, strange is the working of the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation. The roads have been repaired only in patches and several potholes have been left unfilled.

Ludhiana Tribune had reported on April 20 how the city roads are fast turning into death traps as there are several areas where roads are full of big potholes.

It was highlighted that the road near the BSNL exchange in E-block of Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar is in a bad shape. Last evening, the MC officials were seen carrying out patch work on the same spot. The other potholes, which are hardly 10 metres from the ‘repaired’ ones, have been left unfilled.

Sources in the Municipal Corporation said the quantity of bitumen was not adequate to repair all the potholes at the particular spot. “So some of the potholes were left unfilled, but we will get them repaired,” claimed a senior MC official.

When the monsoon will hit the region in the next couple of months, the condition of these roads is sure to get worse.

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Miller Ganj sub-post office awaits renovation
Gurvinder Singh
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 24
Years after the introduction of Project Arrow in the Postal Department, which was aimed at improving customer experience, streamlining the process and giving the post offices a facelift, the Sub-Post Office at Miller Ganj still awaits renovation.

Three other major post offices, including Head Post Office, Central Post Office and Sub-Post Office, Model Town, had been renovated more than three years ago. The Miller Ganj post office, which is one of the four main post offices, has been earmarked for renovation under the project, sources said.

Under the project, various works, including painting counters in red, the brand colour of post offices, fixing new logos, providing better look and feel in the customer area, are executed.

"It was announced that the renovation will be carried out after the last financial year. Though the first month of the financial year, 2013-14, is about to end, there is still no indication about renovation work starting at the post office," said an official. Although work of computerisation and streamlining process, which is part of Project Arrow, has been carried out, there has been no change in 'look and feel' at the post office, the official said.

Charanjit Singh, a resident of the area, said: "I am a frequent visitor to the post office and feel this post office belongs to the olden days."

"It feels very boring like a typical old 'sarkari' building from inside. It badly needs renovation," says Meenu, a student.

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Encroachments on roads leading to CMCH worry staff
Mohit Khana
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 24
As encroachments on the roads leading to the Christian Medical College and Hospital have become traffic bottlenecks, the Commissioner of Police Ishwar Singh and Mayor Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria have taken a serious note of the problem and ordered the officials concerned to remove the encroachments.

The orders come after a delegation of the CMCH Employees' Welfare Society and officials of the hospital, led by president of the Employees Welfare Society T Pillai, met the Police Commissioner and the Mayor.

"The CMCH has been serving humanity for over 118 years. With the passage of time, traffic on the roads leading to the hospital have become chaotic, due to which patients, who require emergency medial care, are suffering," said Pillai.

The roads leading to the hospital often witness huge traffic jams at Shinghar Cinema, Baba Than Singh Chowk, Chhevi Patshahi Gurdwara, Rarri Mohalla, Subhani Building Chowk and Lakkar Bazar, due to which patients lose precious time and in some cases die on the way.

"Our humble submission is that encroachments should be removed from the roads leading to the hospital so that patients shall not have to suffer," said Ashok Kumar, Alfred Godwin and Amit K Chand, members of Employees Welfare Society.

The roads close to the Civil Hospital and the CMCH have been declared noise-free zones, but commuters, especially auto-rickshaw drivers don't care two hoots about the orders and use pressure horns in these zones with impunity.

Members of the CMCH administration Cril Roy, Khushwant Singh and Ashley Isaiah requested the Police Commissioner and the Mayor to get a toilet set up close to the wall of the CMC Hospital removed. They said illegal parking outside a urinal was a traffic hazard.

The Commissioner of Police has ordered the ACP (Central) and the ACP (Traffic) to take immediate action on their request.

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Will not tolerate corruption: Majithia
Shivani Bhakoo
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 24
The Revenue Minister, Bikram Singh Majithia, has said at least 10 tehsildars/naib tehsildars had been suspended while the service of three officials were terminated following corruption charges were levelled against them in the last one year. The minister was in the city last evening to attend a Mahavir Jayanti function, which was held at the Guru Nanak Bhawan here.

Talking to The Tribune, Majithia admitted there was corruption in the Revenue Department. He, however, said the government had cracked the whip on those indulging in corrupt practices in the last one year. “This is the reason we want to make everything digitised. Things will be more transparent," he said.

About the allegations of bribery being levelled against patwaris in routine here, Majithia said as far as patwaris going on leave at the offices of two sub-registrars in Ludhiana was concerned, certain property dealers were pressurising them to carry out mutations in bulk. In order to settle a score, baseless allegations were being levelled against them by people with vested interests, said Majithia.

He also said there was a shortage of patwaris in Punjab. He was going to take up the matter with the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister so that the vacant posts were filled as soon as possible.

He blamed the Congress regime for the poor power situation in the state.

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Unpredictable weather worries farmers
Jaswant Shetra

Jagraon, April 24
The unpredictable weather for the past couple of days in the region has spelled troubles for the thousands of farmers whose wheat crop has been lying in open at the Jagraon Grain Market. Similar is the state of several other farmers who have yet to harvest the wheat crop in their fields.

Though there has been a little drizzling in some parts of the area during past some days yet the fear of the supposed rain due to current uncertain weather conditions has left the farming community fuming. The risk of incurring heavy losses in case it rains during the coming days looms large over the farmers.

Moreover, the insufficient arrangements of the sheds to stock and protect the wheat crop from rain at Jagraon Grain Market, which is the second largest grain market in Asia after Grain Market of Khanna, has further increased the problems of the farmers. There are around 10 sheds at the local grain market which can afford to stock just around 15-20 per cent grain brought at the grain market while rest of the grain remains laying in the open which might damage the crop in case of rain.

Sources said, the situation is worst at rural grain markets surrounding Jagraon and these grain markets too lack sheds. "There has been not even a single shed at majority of the rural grain markets of the area to protect the grain from rain. If it rains in such a situation, it would be almost impossible to protect the grain at these grain markets therefore the grain laying in open at these grain markets is sure to be damaged due to rain," say the sources.

Besides, the farmers, too, have been in a hurry to harvest their wheat crop from the fields keeping in view the uncertainty over the weather conditions as a result of which several farmers have been reaping the wheat crop even before the complete ripening of the crop. This practice might lead to problems for the farmers as well as the procurement agencies as they would not be in a position to procure the produce due to more than fixed moisture in the crop.

Jagraon, Market Committee, secretary, Jaswinder Singh, said the department has made elaborate arrangements for protecting grain laying in the grain market in case of rain. He also appealed the farmers to bring the completely ripen wheat crop to the grain markets to avoid harassment.

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Stray dogs scare morning walkers
Charanjit Singh Teja
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 24
Doctors consider morning and evening walk as good for human health and people suffering from the diseases like obesity, blood pressure and joint pains are dependent on the walking areas of the city to keep them fit.

Ironically, morning and evening walk in the city is not an easy task for the resident. The morning-walkers in the city are a worried lot. Reason being increasing population of stray dogs in city as well as parks, green belts and almost all other areas, which are frequented by morning, and evening daily.

A large number of dogs can be seen in the gardens and parks. Green belts have become shelter for the stray dogs. Terrified from the stray dog menace, some of the residents have abandoned walking in parks and gardens.

Moreover, number of stray dogs is also increasing on the Punjab Agricultural University campus. A good number of morning and evening walkers visits on the PAU campus. However, the campus has a boundary wall but authorities failed to stop the entry of dogs.

Lovejeet, a resident of Rishi Nagar said, "One month ago, I was moving in the garden. Suddenly, some of the stray dogs attacked me. But fortunately, I saved myself. But it was an unforgettable memory for me. The authorities concerned should prevent the walkers from stray dogs."

"I used walk in a park near my home. But some of the nearby residents started feeding the stray dogs. Now the park is ruled by the dogs and one can not dare to enter in the park," Sohan Singh, a local resident.

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New fitness techniques catch fancy of youth
Gurvinder Singh
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 24
Doing fitness workouts in gymnasiums over a period of time might become monotonous, and many people give it up after a few months. So new fitness techniques are being used in the city that make losing weight more interesting.

New techniques like Zumba, Pilates, Taibo and power yoga are not only give a strenuous workout, but also tone the body, says Amit Verma from a fitness studio in Tagore Nagar.

Pilates is essentially for toning your body, without using weights. "It works on the philosophy that weight of your own body is sufficient to get strengthen your body muscles," he says.

Zumba is an African dance form that is increasingly being used for attaining fitness these days. It is a high-energy dance and one can lose up to six hundred calories in an hour. Taibo, a kick-boxing technique helps develop better arm, leg, hip and chest muscles and is a high impact workout that helps you achieve good results very fast. Body conditioning helps you tone your body, he says.

Mixing and using multiple fitness technique give better and desired results, says Verma.

The benefits of doing multiple techniques are that when you are doing one kind of technique, your body becomes attuned to it after a certain point. Doing same muscle groups using different techniques brings more results, he said.

Rather than hitting the gym, some people have also started hiring personal trainers. Hiring personal trainers is not new to the city. But the trend is on the increase, he says. A personal trainer gauges your needs and helps you achieve desired results, he says.

"When you train on your own, you may become lackadaisical when it comes to maintaining a proper fitness regime over a period of time, but a personal trainer keeps tabs on your fitness routine, he says

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Ludhiana mourns singer Shamshad Begum’s death
Gurvinder Singh
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 24
Shamshad Begum, who was the voice behind many of the popular Bollywood songs in the 50s and 60s passed away, putting an end to era music. She was 94. Fans and residents, who used to listen to the melody queen of her heyday, were mourned coming to know about her demise.

"Shamshad's passing away is an end to an era," says Dr Kewal Dhir, Chairman of Adeeb International. "She was one the first voices behind audible movie singers. She enriched music wither her voice. Shamshad and Lata are two voices in Indian music, for which there can be no comparison. As there cannot be any parallel to Shamshad, and she ruled as long as she sang, and there was no alternative," he said.

Rishi Nagar resident KK Dhir, 67, said Shamshad was one of his favourite singers and her songs in Aar Par, CID and the one "Gye Rangoon, waha se aaya telephoon" was a very popular song of those times, she said.

Yashpal Bangia, 71, said even though he has not been much into music, but Shamshad was someone he used to listen to.

"There used to be a sublime level of music in the times that she sang. Although she lent her voice to various genres of Hindi songs, but she really enriched Urdu poetry and ghazals," Dr Dhir said.

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Notice served on Sangrur-based firm
Had supplied ‘sub-standard’ notebooks to govt schools
Shivani Bhakoo
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 24
The State Government has reportedly served a notice to a Sangrur-based firm for supplying "sub-standard" quality of practical notebooks to the students studying in government schools. The company has been asked to submit the reply within a week.

The firm along with two other companies from Jalandhar were given the contract by the government for supplying practical notebooks for the students between class XI-XII, studying in government schools, Punjab. The contract was from September 1, 2012 to August 31, 2013.

Even letters to the DEOs and principals were sent by the education department to ensure that students got the practical notebooks from them only.

One of the officials in the department, wishing not to be quoted said the practical-notebooks were very thin and students had to purchase frequently. The quality of the pages was also not good. "Not just that the publisher of the particular company had issued letters to all the principals/headmasters that since their company was given the contract to supply the notebooks, they must ensure that respective teachers recommended their practical notebooks only," said the official.

Sukhwinder Singh, father of a class IX student at a government school, Jawahar Nagar camp here said when better practical notebooks were available in the market at cheaper prices, why should the government pressurise students to buy from a particular company. "That means government has taken money from these firms for supply of notebooks. If the contract had been given through tendering then companies had to supply best quality at reasonable prices," said the father.

Education Minister, Sikandar Singh Maluka, admitted that the notice was served to this Sangrur-based company as many complaints were being received by the government. "A team was constituted to enquire about it and it found that there were many mistakes in the practical notebooks published by the company. We have served the firm a notice to explain the reason for supplying low-quality product," said Maluka.

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Now, pay extra for blood transfusion at pvt hospitals
Mahesh Sharma

Mandi Ahmedgarh, April 24
Revision of user charges in the government hospitals being governed by the Punjab Health Systems Corporation has come as extra burden on patients requiring blood transfusion at private hospitals.

While one unit of the vital fluid will be available for Rs 300 to patients who are admitted at the government health centres, those under treatment at the private hospitals will have to shell out Rs 700 extra for the same facility.

Confusion also prevails about exact cost of the whole blood. While the authorities of government health centres and blood banks argued the rates had been increased due to augmentation of diagnostic test facilities but office-bearers of social and constitutional organisations urged the government to remove the discrimination between blood recipients admitted at government and private hospitals.

Patients admitted at the private hospitals were a harried lot, as they had to pay hefty amount for arranging blood for transfusion. As none of the private hospitals or nursing home was authorised to bleed blood for transfusion. One has to pay at least Rs 1,000 for each unit of blood. On the contrary, patients admitted at the government hospitals have to pay Rs 300 only as service charge for whole human blood. Though service charges, including bags and bottles etc for each unit had been mentioned as Rs 750 for patients of private hospitals. But the majority of blood banks are charging Rs 1,000 presently.

Ambiguity also prevailed about cost of the vital fluid for special category patients. Though it has been mentioned that the tested blood was available free for thalassemia, obstetrics, hemophilia, cancer, leukemia, road accident victims and severe burn cases, it has not been cleared whether the facility would be available free of cost for private hospital patients too.

Investigations further revealed number of patients requiring blood transfusion was relatively lower at government health centers of small towns and villages. Only a fraction of patients undergoing surgeries needed the transfusion. Majority of units issued by the government blood banks were transfused in patients admitted at private hospital. Again majority of recipients came from lower middle class whereas, rich people availed treatment at tertiary health centers of big cities.

Residents led by Pawan Garg, a social activist, and Vicky Tondon an office-bearer of a local unit of the Congress party, urged higher authorities to review the decision and demanded that there should be no difference in rates for government and private hospital patients.

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Officials visit Budha Nullah

Ludhiana, April 24
Technical Advisor to CM Maj Gen (retd) VK Bhat, accompanied by secretary local bodies JM Bala Murugan today held a review meeting about ongoing development projects with MC officials, here. Later, both the officials, accompanied by the MC top brass also visited several ongoing projects in the city.

Maj Gen (retd) VK Bhat is also head of Technical Advisory Group under the Punjab Urban Development Mission, which is directly under the Chief Minister.

The review meeting today was organised at MC’s Zone D office at Sarabha Nagar. The meeting started at 11 am and continued till 3.30 pm. During the meeting, the MC Commissioner, Rakesh Kumar Verma, gave a detailed presentation about the ongoing development projects in the city. Various aspects including the progress, funding, present situation of the projects were discussed in the meeting.

After the review meeting, the officials visited the Budha Nullah, sewerage treatment plants, under construction flats, which are funded by the JNNURM. — TNS

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Tax evaders may face the music
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 24
This year's union budget has a provision to prosecute those who have evaded of tax exceeding Rs 50 lakh, which has created a fear psychosis in the industrial sector. Medium sector of industry has the feeling that this provision has been misused by taxation officials.

"Criminal investigation process is exclusive, followed by the experts in it and only prosecution experts can draw right conclusion. Such prompt action is warranted in the case of customs where activities like smuggling warrant immediate arrest of the offenders," said PD Sharma, president of Apex Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

It is interesting to note that in 1998, prosecution provisions were removed from the statute in the case of service tax, as it was a new law then. Even looking from this angle, the prosecution in the case of service tax is not justified given that the negative list has only been recently introduced in the year 2012.

"Government should review this provision made in haste. This is understandable as the financial condition of the government is very critical due to unsustainable current account deficit and fiscal deficit. Unfortunately, the criticality will be further increased due to the demoralising effect of such a draconian provision on the entrepreneurs," added Sharma.

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Traders briefed on Food Safety & Standards Act

Ludhiana, April 24
Additional Deputy Commissioner-cum-Adjudicating Officer Neeru Katyal has stated that getting a licence is mandatory for selling food items under the Food Safety and Standards Act. She has ordered for a full implementation of the Act in the district.

She met the representatives of different associations and told them about the provisions of the Act. She told them doing business without licence would attract a fine up to Rs 5 lakh and imprisonment up to six months. — TNS

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Food samples collected

Ludhiana, April 24
A team of the Health Department collected samples of food items in the city. A sample of milk cream was collected from a dairy on the Haibowal Complex while a milk sample was taken from Durga Colony at Haibowal.

The team also collected "rasgulla" samples from a sweet shop located on the Jassian Road, a biscuit sample from a bakery situated at Hambran, a rice sample from a grocery store on the Jassian Road, a sample of sweetened carbonated water from Manna Singh Nagar and a grain sample from Moti Nagar. — TNS

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FROM SCHOOLS

Fresher's party organised

Jovial smiles and high spirits marked the Fresher's party organised at Green Land Convent School, Civil City, for Kindergarten students. Jyoti Sachdev Pujara, Principal of the school, graced the function. The function provided a platform to the kiddies to mix up with each other. Children attired in beautiful dresses did ramp modelling.Even the teachers of the kindergarten section accompanied the students on the stage to build up their confidence.Students gave mind-blowing performances on the latest songs with wearing eye masks and party caps. They proved their talent through rhyming and story telling.It was a real platform for these budding artists which paved the way for their aptitude. Principal of the school appreciated the endeavours put by the teachers who prepared the students to come for this show.

School staff’s pang

The Aided School Teachers and other Employees Union's of Punjab have demanded from the state government to take over remaining staff of aided schools. The employees said in 1967 Aided schools got grant on the basis of Delhi pattern. Delhi Government made many ammendments from time to time and ensured aided schools, Service Security Act and right to pension later. New pay commissions,DA,Medical allowances, House rent etc were given and revised at par with government staff . But staff of Aided schools in Punjab got their salary many times, after months.

Fruit day celebrated

It was a fruity summer morning for Montessorians today. Tiny tots celebrated Fruits and Vegetables Day with great zeal and enthusiasm. The day kick started with a fresh treat of fruit mock tail and custard followed by tasty vegetable sandwiches. Songs and poems on fruits and vegetables were sung by the tiny- tots. Children beautifully attired in various vegetables and fruits costumes made us aware about the importance of green leafy vegetables and fruits in our diet. The students were dressed as strawberry, orange, pineapple and apple while others wore strings of chilly, carrot and other vegetables as accessories. The students decorated the class with drawings of various fruits and vegetables apart from balloons and charts. It was followed by a skit presented by the LKG and UKG class raising the slogan"Say no to junk food". Anshika Singh, Giva Goel, Gurvansh Dhillon, Akshara Gupta, participated actively. The event was organised to educate and create awareness on the importance of fruits and vegetables. Children and teachers were encouraged to follow vegetarian diet and include lots of fruits in their daily diet. Speaking on the occasion the Director of the school Amanpreet Singh Arora said "Fruits and vegetables are very important for the growth of these little ones. The nutrients and minerals that they get from them will help them in getting good height and strong teeth and bones,” said the principal. — TNS

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FROM COLLEGES

KCW girls shine in exams

Ludhiana: Students of Khalsa College for Women have shown excellent results in MSc mathematics examination. Priyanka Dixit and Sunita Kumari of MSc third semester have secured second and third university positions by getting 76.2 per cent and 76 per cent marks, respectively. While Monika Sharma and Manjot Kaur of the same class have secured eighth and ninth university positions. Position holders gave credit of their success to the regular studies and the hard work put in by them and the teachers.

Sondeep is Miss Farewell

During the strenuous study schedule for preparing semester exams, a farewell party for MA Hindi fourth semester students of SCD Government College works as a stress buster. Sondeep was selected as Miss Farewell among 12 participants, where as Ravita was first runners-up and Rajinder Kaur was second runners-up. Rajveer Kaur of MA second semester presented a dance item. Over 12 students of the fourth semester presented a sizzling catwalk to get selected miss farewell. Dr Mukeshe Arora presented academic report before starting the function. Principal Rajinder Singh was the chief guest he blessed the students by remembering old faculty member Dr Satish Kant prof Rajinder Singh distributed the prizes to Hindi Sahitya Parishad members and position holders in PU exams. — TNS

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LUDHIANA SCAN

Fans celebrate Sachin’s birthday

Cricket fans in the city wished Sachin Tendulkar a happy birthday and prayed for him to achieve more milestones in the coming years. The residents were seen celebrating the great player's birthday offering sweets to his photographs. The budding cricketers attending a coaching camp were elated and offered sweets among themselves to celebrate Sachin's birthday. The legendary player, Sachin, who turned 40 today, is worshipped like a demigod. "The master blaster has almost all the records in the game of cricket against his name. We wish that he should play for another decade as he still seemed to have enough cricket in him," said senior players.

Conference

Pind Bachao Muhim Committee, Punjab, organised a state-level conference at Punjabi Bhawan here on Wednesday on the occasion of Panchayat Diwas. Deteriorating environment, the education and health facilities and rampancy of drug abuse in villages were discussed on the occasion. The committee appealed to the people that they should come forward to protest against drug abuse. Panchayats agreeing to work for the closure of liquor vends in villages were honoured on the occasion.

Blood donation camp held

Nirankari devotees donated blood at blood-donation camp organised by Sant Nirankari Charitable Foundation at Sant Nirankari Satsang Bhawan, Sangowal. Till now, 3,173 blood donations camps have been arranged by the mission all over the world and 5,72,043 units of blood have been donated, said HS Chawlafrom the foundation. The blood collection was arranged and well managed jointly by the Civil Hospital and DMC&H.

Mahavir Jayanti celebrated

Ann Jal Sewa Trust celebrated Mahavir Jayanti at the Lord Mahavir Civil Hospital here on Wednesday. Food was distributed by the trust in association with Jain Chetna Manch. Dr Subhash Batta said that evil and drugs should be given up by people. He said the day of Lord Mahavira, who showed way to knowledge and enlightenment.

Jain community thanks CM

Representatives of Jain community thanked the Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal, for declaration of Jain community as minority community on the occasion of Mahavir Jayanti. They said that the community would continue to contribute and support to the development work of the state. — TNS

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Girl ‘abducted’ near Guru Nanak College
Mohit Khanna
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 24
The police has registered four cases of kidnapping in the city. In the first incident, the police registered a case against unidentified persons for allegedly kidnapping a 16-year-old girl near a college in Model Town.

The victim's father Harbhajan Singh, a resident of Phase-3, Shaheed Karnail Singh Nagar, has stated in his complaint that his daughter was kidnapped by unidentified persons near Guru Nanak College in Model Town last morning.

It is learnt that his wife dropped the girl outside the college at 9am and at 9.30am some persons kidnapped her.

However, the claims by the victim's parents have left many questions unanswered. If the mother left the girl outside the college at 9am, why did she not enter the college? How did the kidnappers manage to kidnap her in full public view. Why did not anyone see the kidnappers? Why did not the security guard deployed at the college gate come to the rescue of the girl? Who informed the parents their daughter had been kidnapped?

Today, when the police started investigation, the girl turned out to be a major. According to Davinder Kumar, SHO, Model Town, the girl is 22 year old and pursuing MA (Mathematics). He did not rule out the possibility of girl having eloped.

Minor girl goes missing

Three months after a six-year-old girl was killed and her body dumped in a vacant plot at Ekta Nagar, Jodhewal Basti, an eight-year-old girl went missing from New Shastri in Jodhewal Basti. On Monday, some persons allegedly kidnapped Bhajan Singh' daughter from a street at New Shastri Nagar while she was playing with her friends. Bhajan Singh kept searching for his daughter the whole day. Finally, he approached the police last evening and got a case registered.

2 girls kidnapped on pretext of marriage

A 16-year-old girl of Dhuri has allegedly been kidnapped by a person who lives in the same area. The suspect has been identified as Sharvan. The incident took place on Monday. According to the victim's mother, her daughter works in a private firm at Gill Chowk. She left for her work on Monday morning, but didn't return. They came to know that Sharvan was also missing. They reported the matter to the police on Tuesday evening.

The victim's parents told the police that Sharvan kidnapped their daughter on the pretext of marriage.

Meanwhile, Sony Kumar resident of Dholewal allegedly kidnapped a 12-year-old girl on the pretext of marriage. The incident took place at Monday midnight. According to Tulsi Devi, the victim's mother, the accused has kidnapped her daughter on the pretext of marriage.

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Youth booked for eve-teasing
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 24
There seem to be no stopping of eve-teasing incidents. A day after the arrest of two youths for eve-teasing in Dugri, who had attacked a girl's father while the latter was trying to protect his daughter from falling victim of eve teasing, the Division No 6 police today booked one person for eve-teasing.

The accused has been identified as Mehfooz, a resident of New Shivaji Nagar. The incident took place on April 20 when a 15-year-old girl left her house for some work in the evening. On her way, the accused followed her and tried to molest her. He threatened the girl to kill her if she would narrate the incident to anybody. She narrated the incident to her father last evening, said the police.

Taking a swift action, the city police registered a case under Sections 294 and 506 of the IPC. The accused is still at large. A case has been registered against the accused on the statement of the victim's father.

One held for riding with fake registration number

One person was nabbed for riding a bike with a fake registration number by the PAU police following a tip-off. The accused has been identified as Ashwani Kumar, a resident of PAU. The police was informed that the accused was working as a senior clerk at the PAU and was heading towards Gate No 3 of the PAU with a fake registered number on his bike. After which, the police laid a trap and nabbed the accused.

A daughter-in-law allegedly thrashed her mother-in-law and her family members around two weeks ago here. The police, after conducting an investigation for nearly 15 days, registered a case against the daughter-in-law, identified as Lovleen Kaur, and her accomplices, Banti, Shanti, Rajvinder Kaur, all residents of Cheema Chowk area and six other unknown persons.

The complainant, Surinder Kaur, a resident of Hargobind Nagar, said Lovleen had married her son Harpreet Singh nine years ago. But Lovleen Kaur started fighting on petty issues. On March 24, 2013, she had left house and started living separately along with her two children at Cheema chowk.

The incident took place on April 10 when Lovleen along with her family members and some other unknown accomplices entered her in-laws house and allegedly assaulted her mother-in-law.

Surinder has stated in her complaint that Loveleen thrashed her and other family members and fled the scene. A case under Sections 323, 324, 506, 148, 149 of the IPC on the victim's statement has been registered against the accused.

The police is also probing that whether Lovleen was forcibly thrown out of the house or she left the house by her on will.

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ML Markan trophy
Ludhiana clueless to Chandigarh skipper’s spin
Anil Datt

Ludhiana, April 24
Raman Bishnoi, skipper of the Chandigarh team, excelled with the ball and the bat forcing the hosts, Ludhiana, to struggle on the opening day of the second match in the Punjab State Inter-District Cricket Tournament (u-16) for ML Markan Trophy being played at SCD Government College ground here today.

Ludhiana won the toss and opted to bat first. However, Ludhiana batsmen appeared to be clueless against an accurate and fine spin of bowling by the visitors' captain Raman Bishnoi as their first innings folded at 101 runs in 60 overs.

Only two batsmen, Jaskaran Singh and Gurjot Singh, could reach double figure, contributing 21 and 17 runs, respectively. Left arm leg spin bowler Raman ripped apart the Ludhiana batting line up.

He bowled 14 bowlers and grabbed six wickets for just 23 runs. Nipun chipped in with two wickets for 19 runs as the hosts were all out for a paltry total of 101 runs.

Chandigarh, too, had a shaky start as they lost three wickets with just 10 runs on the board. Then, Raman Bishnoi, along with Jasnoor, steadied the innings. At the draw of stumps, Chandigarh were 90 for 5 after 39 overs.

Raman scored 49 runs, which included eight hits over the ropes, while Jasnoor made 22 with the help of two boundaries.

For Ludhiana, Raghav captured three wickets for 39 runs and Anmol Singh took two for 25.

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Hockey trials today
Our Sports Reporter

Ludhiana, April 24
Trials to select hockey players (u-14 and u-19) will be held at the multi-purpose Mata Sahib Kaur Stadium of Jarkhar village on the Ludhiana-Malerkotla road, about 15 km from here, at 10 am on April 25.

According to Paramjeet Singh Neetu and Baljeet Singh, president and general secretary, respectively, of the Mata Sahib Kaur Sports Club, the selected boys will be inducted into the hockey academy being run at Jarkhar under the sports wing programme of the Punjab Education Department. Aspirants have been asked to report at the venue and bring their age proof certificates.

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