Ludhiana, July 25
Yarn dealers today went on a three-day strike against the changes made in the e-trip system. No yarn was supplied to any knitwear, hosiery or garment unit. Nearly 25,000 industrial units in the city are bearing the brunt of the strike. The per day turnover of the industry, which is around Rs 250 crore, was severely affected due the yarn dealers' strike.

"The changes made in the e-trip system are not favourable for the yarn dealers. We are on strike for three days and if the government fails to withdraw the notification, we will intensify our agitation," said Manish Jain of the Ludhiana Yarn Dealers Association.

Another yarn dealer, Bobby Aggarwal, said they were small traders and did not understand the complexities of the tax system. "We are not fully equipped with computers and other infrastructure required for the purpose. It will become difficult for us to file online information of goods being transported, the sale value of which is Rs 50,000 and above," he said.

"The e-trip system is not in force in neighbouring states of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan. As a result, Punjab is likely to face a shortage of raw material and the sale of finished products will also be affected adversely," he said.

Another yarn dealer, Lalit Gupta, said, "Instead of making things easier, the department it complicating these. A majority of the entrepreneurs are not computer savvy and will not be able to comply with these norms. All this confusion will cause a delay in the delivery of consignments," he said.

"Small units are not equipped with computers and the Internet facility. Besides, these units don't appoint full-time accountants to manage their account books. The SME sector is dependent on part-time carriers and their time for lifting and carrying goods to the destination is not fixed. All these factors will work against the small units if changes in the e-trip system are made applicable," said another yarn dealer from Bajwa Nagar.

Ludhiana, July 25
In a double whammy for the garment, knitwear and hosiery industry, the labour engaged in picking and dropping yarn is also on a strike. Yarn dealers went on a strike today due to which neither any order was booked nor any supply received by the dealers. Adding to their woes, the earlier consignments have also been lying undelivered as the labour is also on a strike.

The labour engaged in the transportation of yarn is demanding a hike in the labour charges and is insisting that it will drop sacks of yarn only on the ground floor of buildings.

"We are been given a meagre amount of Rs 12 to Rs 15 for dropping a sack of yarn. Sometimes we also have to climb stairs and drop the consignment on the second or third floor of a building. We are demanding a hike of Rs 5 per sack and will drop the consignment only on the ground floor of a building," said Sewak Ram, a worker engaged in picking and dropping yarn.

Arun Singla, a garment manufacturer, said they were facing tough times. "On the one hand, the department has made changes in the e-trip system. Adding to our woes, the yarn dealers as well as the labour has also gone on a strike. No work has been done in our unit for the past five days," he said.

He said whenever they asked the labour to drop sacks of yarn on the first floor, they paid them extra for that. "Since our machines are on the first floor, we ask the labour to drop the consignment there. We pay them extra for that. However, despite this they want the labour charges increased further," he said.

Kunti Lal, another labourer, said "It is difficult to climb stairs with sacks of yarn. We should be paid more."

Ludhiana, July 25
In order to ease traffic chaos on main roads, a special team of traffic experts visited the city today.

The team visited various areas, including Bhai Bala Chowk, Bharat Nagar Chowk and Jagraon Bridge to study the pattern of traffic. The visit was kept a low-key affair.

The team spoke to traffic policemen and asked them about the problems being faced by them while regulating traffic. They stayed at Jagraon Bridge for nearly half an hour.

Ludhiana, July 25
City residents will soon get to see a road roller of the 1945 model at the local railway station, courtesy the Ferozepur Division railway authorities. The authorities have decided to display the antique machine on the railway premises here.

Made in the UK, this road roller was imported to India in 1946. It has a diesel engine, which is now lying dysfunctional. Railway officials claim that the roller was the first of its kind with a diesel engine. Before this, the Northern Railway had a road roller with a steam engine in the division. The steam engine road roller was shifted from the Ludhiana railway station to Ferozepur, which will now be displayed there.

A metal plate affixed on the body of road roller reads "Aveling Barford, Engineer Grantham, England 5/9/45".

Construction work on a podium at the main entrance to the railway station, where the road roller will be displayed, is under way. The roller is being painted with attractive colours before the display.

Ravinder Sharma, Station Superintendent, said, "In line with the instructions issued by the Divisional Railway Manager, we will display the antique road roller at the entrance to the railway station. It was used in the construction of roads in the railway premises and along railway tracks. We will display it within a week".

Ludhiana, July 25
Punjab Agricultural University has rusticated a student from the university and cancelled the admission of two others for allegedly lying on the roadside in an inebriated condition on the campus on July 21. According to orders issued by the Dean, College of Agricultural Engineering, Dilpreet Singh Chahal, a BTech fourth-year student, has been rusticated from the university, while the admission of Harpreet Singh Brar and Jasandeep Singh to MTech first year has been cancelled.

The issue came to light when some morning walkers clicked photographs of these students lying on the roadside and provided these to the authorities. The university authorities conducted an inquiry into the incident. According to the authorities, the students were in an inebriated condition.

Dr Jarnial Singh, officiating Dean, College of Agricultural Engineering, and chairman of the disciplinary committee of the college, said, "We have punished the students according to the Vice-Chancellor's directions".

The students have denied the allegations. They said the hostel was not available for night stay on July 21 night and so they slept outside in the fields. However, they had not taken liquor.

Ludhiana, July 25
A Punjab Police Head Constable, Chamkor Singh, and three others, including two women, have been arrested in connection with running a flesh trade racket on the Churpur road in Haibowal.

A raid was conducted by the Haibowal police here this evening following a complaint received from area residents during which the flesh trade racket was busted.

It is learnt that the Head Constable was caught in a compromising position. According to the police, besides the Head Constable, a woman belonging to Ferozepur, another one belonging to Churpur village and Vivek Kumar of Delhi have been arrested.

The police has booked them under the Immoral Trafficking Act. — TNS

Khanna, July 25
Although an amount of Rs 10 lakh was sanctioned for the repair of the compound road of the bus stand in Khanna about four years ago, no work has been initiated by the municipal council to repair the damaged portion.

PD Bansal, president of the Lok Sewa Club, Khanna, who obtained information under the RTI Act from the Executive Officer of the nagar council said, “It is really shocking that Rs 10 lakh sanctioned for the bus stand compound road has been utilised for some other purpose by the MC authorities. The condition of the compound road is bad and causes inconvenience to commuters.

Bansal said the bus stand compound road was in a really bad condition since long and even now there was no hope for relief to the commuters in near future because the authorities were refuting to renovate it, citing shortage of funds. It is still a mystery that for what purpose the sanctioned money for bus stand has been consumed, he said.

Bansal made it clear that the whole matter would be brought in to the notice of Rahul Tiwari, Deputy Commissioner of Ludhiana, and a thorough inquiry shall be demanded in the public interest.

As per information obtained from Executive Officer Nagar Council Khanna a resolution was passed on October 10, 2008 via resolution no. 17/31/47 to repair the damaged portion of main bus stand compound road by paving interlocking tiles and an amount of Rs 10 Lakh was sanctioned for the said work. The tender was cleared on June 30, 2009 and further the contract was also given to a contractor on July 3, 2009 to complete the work, however, till date no work has been done on the said project claimed Bansal. He had demanded immediate repair of the bus stand and enquiry in this matter.

Police personnel outside the DC office

Ludhiana, July 25
A meeting of the Special Trainer Teachers Union was held at the Chatar Singh Park today.

Teachers said they had held protests on April 28 and May 12 against the government for registering FIRs against teachers. "About 200 teachers are still lodged in Bathinda, Faridkot, Ludhiana and Nabha jails," said one of the teachers.

Submitting a memorandum to the DC, the teachers said it was against the democracy that teachers were not being allowed to hold peaceful march to struggle for their rights. The teachers today held a march from the Chatar Singh Park to Mini-Secretariat before submitting the memorandum. They threatened that if government fails to meet their demands then they will hold protest in Bathinda on July 28 and 31.

Ludhiana, July 25
To comply with the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the District Education Officer (Secondary) has send letters to all the PSEB, CBSE, ICSE and aided-schools in Ludhiana to provide the details of their transportation system to the department.

In the letter, the DEO has asked the schools to provide the details of their vans/buses used for transportation of students. Besides, the Education Department has also sought information about a person, with his name and telephone number, who was keeping all the record of the school buses. It is said in the letter that school authorities must maintain a register about the number of students using the vans/buses and a copy of the register must be sent to the authorities. In case no record has been maintained by the school authorities even then department should be informed about it, mentions the letter.

All these directions came following a strike by the school bus operators that school authorities were refusing to own the responsibility of the students and were not issuing them the permits. Following the intervention of Deputy Commissioner Rahul Tiwari, schools came forward to sign the agreements.

DTO Anil Garg said permits to about 300 school van/bus drivers were issued during the three camps organised by the department and schools.

“A large number of schools haves still not come forward. We are discussing the matter and soon they will be issued notices by the authorities as rules are meant to be followed by all,” said Garg.

Ludhiana, July 25
In an attempt to bring good results in the current academic session, Education Minister Sikandar Singh Maluka has issued instructions that no teacher from government schools will be allowed to go abroad from August 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014, till the session was over. The instructions issued recently by the minister have been received by the Education Department.

Sikandar Singh Maluka said, “In these eight months no teacher will be allowed to go abroad. In case of emergency, we can consider the case. No teacher should apply secretly to go abroad, in case anyone is found guilty, action will be taken.”

District Education Officer (Secondary) Paramjit Kaur Chahal said department had received the instructions.

Such a step came following reports of government schoolteachers remaining absent from their duties for as long as eight years. The Education Department had already terminated the services of several such teachers who had gone abroad and failed to give any reply despite issuing several notices.

Ludhiana, July 25
The family members of ASI Gurdial Singh, who was killed two years ago, demanded capital punishment for the accused, who were nabbed by the Patiala police here today.

Five persons have been nabbed in this connection. Raghuneer Singh, elder son of ASI Gurdial Singh, said strict action should be taken against the accused.

The family members thanked the IG, Patiala Range, Ishwar Singh, for keeping his promise.

The incident took place when Ishwar Singh was the Commissioner of Police in Ludhiana.

“We do not know how to thank IG Ishwar Singh. He kept assuring us that the criminals will be arrested. It has been over two years and we had lost hope that the killers would ever be nabbed. But, IG Ishwar Singh has restored out faith in the system,” said the family members.

On May 18, 2011, the ASI was shot at in the head, while one person sustained a bullet injury on the shoulder after a robber opened fire at a police party in Vishal Nagar. ASI Gurdial Singh, in charge of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, and Ajay Sharma, who was working as a private help at a police post, were shot at while trying to overpower the robbers.

After struggling for nearly 18 days, the ASI succumbed to his injuries.

Recalling the incident, Ajay Kumar, his helper who survived in the incident, said Gurdial received a tip-off that robbers, who had targeted an industrialist at gun point at Atam Nagar, had been spotted in the area.

Gurdial saw two motorcycle-borne youths near the Hero bakery and chased them in his car. The suspects entered Vishal Nagar and were intercepted by a team of Gurdial, head constable Amarjit Kumar and Ajay Sharma.

They asked the suspects to surrender, but they tried to flee. Amarjit, who was carrying a stick, hit the youth who was riding pillion. In the meantime, an accused, identified as Jaswant Singh, pulled out a weapon and fired at ASI Gurdial Singh.

Ludhiana, July 25
The controversy involving the Knitwear Club deepened further after chairman Vinod Thapar was suspended from the post, while cashier Harish Kairpal’s membership was cancelled during the general house meeting of the club.

It has been only five months that the things in the Knitwear Club were settled down after much pursuance. Earlier, the controversy was created over issuing of some cheques and the president and the chairman of the club indulged in mudslinging in public.

Darshan Dawar, president of the Knitwear Club, said 300 members were present at the meeting, which decided to suspend the chairman of the club, Vinod Thapar, and cancel the cashier's membership as they were unnecessarily creating disturbance in the smooth functioning of the club.

Commenting upon this, Vinod Thapar, chairman of the club, said: “It is against the constitution of the club. They cannot suspend an office-bearer until all executive members are present at the meeting. The club has only 120 executive members and the president says 300 members were present at the meeting. How is this possible?".

Dawar said they would inform the chairman about Thapar's suspension in writing.

Thapar said they would call the general house meeting in a day or two to take action against their act of suspending members.

Ludhiana, July 25
Two officials, Balwinder Singh, Executive Engineer, Central Works Division Number 1, and Baljinder Singh, Assistant Registrar, Cooperative Society, Ludhiana, have been issued show-cause notices by Deputy Commissioner Rahul Tiwari for remaining absent from their duty at Dhussi Bandh, at the times when situation was alarming due to the flood-threat.

According to information, under the SDM (West) Circle at three sensitive areas, the authorities had put two officials to monitor the situation. The SDM office got information from the officials from Drainage Department on July 20 that due to the rain on the upper reaches, water-level has been raised. On July 21, during a visit by the authorities in the sensitive areas, it was found that these two officials were absent from duty at Khera Bet Complex.

KS Mahi, SDM (West), said the matter was brought to the notice of Deputy Commissioner on July 22 as the orders by the authorities were not taken seriously by the officials.

“The flood-threat has kept all the government machinery on toes and we have been visiting the areas regularly,” said Mahi.

DC Rahul Tiwari has asked both the officials to reply to the show-cause notice within a week. And if they fail to reply within given time, action would be taken as per Law.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, July 25
The Ludhiana District Legal Services Authority (LDLSA) established 196th Legal Literacy Club at Government Senior Secondary School at Dehlon village, near here, today to educate the rural masses on their legal rights and get their grievances redressed without spending money.

The announcement to establish the organisation was made during the concluding session of a seminar on procedure for availing free legal aid and classifications of beneficiaries organised by the legal services authority.

District and Sessions Judge and chairman of the LDLSA Gobinder Singh Matharu presided over the session. Chief Judicial Magistrate KK Singla was the keynote speaker while district education officer Paramjit Kaur Chahal and executive magistrate Karamjit Singh were the guests of honour.

Matharu and Singla said knowledge about various sections of law could help curb social evils, including child labour, dowry deaths, corruption and injustice, besides enabling masses to know about their rights and seeking justice in the courts of law. Matharu and Singla claimed that the department was also concerned about the conservation of ecosystem. The judges called upon residents and teachers of the locality to encourage their wards to associate themselves with the campaign launched to spread knowledge about legal procedures among the underprivileged sections of society. Classification of beneficiaries, available services, procedure to avail free legal aid, lok adalat and its functioning and legal aid clinic scheme were various aspects highlighted during the seminar. Balwinder Singh, principal, Baldev Singh, convener of the project, Jagdeep Singh Bittu, member of the Zila Parishad, Paramdeep Singh Deepa, Nirmal Singh Nimma and Baljit Singh Taggar encouraged students to educate the masses on legal procedures. — OC

Ludhiana, July 25
The State Health Department transferred as many as 523 health experts in the first week of June. Among these many medical experts posted in peripheral areas were also transferred to 100 hospitals which the department has selected. The hospitals are shortlisted for providing well-equipped staff and infrastructure to them. Due to this, some community health centres and primary health centres of peripheral areas have now been left behind with a very few experts.

Madan Mohan Mittal, Health and Family Welfare Minister, during his recent visit to Ludhiana said the medical experts will be deputed in these areas soon through walk-in interviews.

The walk-in interviews for medical experts are conducted every month. But due to fewer salaries, only some medical experts join their duties. — TNS

Phillaur, July 25
Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Santosh Chaudhary paid a surprise visit to the Phillaur Civil Hospital and expressed anger over the worsening condition of the hospital.

Ludhiana July 25
Teachers of Punjab Agricultural University mourned the death of Dr AJ Singh, a retired professor of economics, who died yesterday at the age of 75 years after prolonged illness.

Dr AJ Singh worked as consultant with the CYMMYT, Mexico. He was the founder of the professional society, Indian Society for Agricultural Development and Policy. He was given the outstanding teacher award by the Punjab Agricultural University Teachers Association (PAUTA) in 1984. — TNS

Jagraon, July 25
High drama was witnessed at the Jagraon Bus Stand Police Chowki today when some women belonging to Kothe Fatehdeen village located on the outskirts of Jagraon clashed with each other in full public view. The women reportedly hurled abuses at each other and exchanged blows in the presence of policemen. The whole episode filled with a lot of action and drama finally came to an end when the police intervened and managed to pacify both sides.

The policemen had to face some tough moments while trying to calm down the women from both sides. However, the issue was resolved with both parties reaching a written compromise following the police intervention. The policemen breathed a sigh of relief only after the women from both sides left the police chowki and returned to their village.

According to sources, both parties were summoned to the police chowki after a woman of Kothe Fatehdeen village lodged a complaint with the police accusing her mother-in-law of beating her up.

“After being summoned by the police, the complainant woman and her mother-in-law reached the police chowki, along with some other villagers, including several women. When the police was questioning the complainant woman and her mother-in-law, a heated argument started between them. Soon, the argument turned ugly and the women from both sides started exchanging blows in the presence of the police,” said the sources.

Till then, a huge crowd gathered in and outside the police chowki and the entire drama unfolded in full public view. Some of the policemen also received a couple of blows while trying to pacify the women of both sides clashing with each other.

While confirming the development, Jagraon Bus Stand Police Chowki in charge officer ASI Baldev Singh termed the incident as a trivial family dispute.

“Both sides were called to the police chowki after we received a complaint about some family dispute. There was some heated argument between the women of both sides at the police chowki before the issue was resolved. The police did not register any case as both sides reached a compromise,” said ASI Baldev Singh.

“We have warned both sides involved in the incident to avoid any clash in the future,” said ASI Baldev Singh.

Khanna, July 25
The computerisation of entire treasury offices in Punjab ensuring all government payments online proved a grand success with Punjab becoming the first successful state in the country to disburse more than Rs 7,281 crore to over 14 lakh beneficiaries in the first quarter by the online system.

Talking to The Tribune, Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa said crediting online payments was successfully running in the state.

He said through this recently implemented system of online payments to various departments, authorities, besides salaries of government officials/employees, Ludhiana district had credited nearly Rs 372 crore in a span of three months.

He said the Integrated Financial Management System had been monitoring the system of online payments since its inception on April 1, 2013, and Punjab had become the country's first state to start this programme.

He said all government payments from April 1, 2013, were being deposited directly in the bank accounts of departments and authorities concerned.

Dhindsa said in Ludhiana district, 1,46,319 people were directly benefited with this scheme.

According to information, in Ludhiana treasury, the total amount disbursed is Rs 301.87 crore and the number of beneficiaries is 1,10,779. In Jagraon treasury, the total amount disbursed is Rs 38.02 crore and the number of beneficiaries is 12,780. In Khanna, Rs 20.77 crore is disbursed to 8,716 beneficiaries. Similarly, in Raikot treasury, the total amount disbursed is Rs 16.49 crore and the number of beneficiaries is 7,251. In Samrala, the total amount disbursed is Rs 15.58 crore and the number of beneficiaries is 6,793.

Dhindsa further said e-payment system was implemented in all government offices/departments whose transactions were done through treasury offices.

Phillaur, July 25
A motorcyclist was killed on the spot while his pillion rider sustained injuries when their motorcycle (PB-10DT-7092) was hit by a truck (HR-45A-4382) on the national highway near Phillaur.

Mandi Gobindgarh, July 25
A steel trader of Mandi Gobindgarh was admitted to IVY Hospital, Khanna, with a bullet injury on the forehead. He was later referred to Sat Guru Partap Singh Apollo Hospital in Ludhiana where his condition is said to be stable.

The victim has been identified as Sandeep Kumar Sukhija (30). The victim’s wife, Geetika Sukhija, said they had been living in a rented accomodation (House no. 181) at Sector 1-C in Laxmi Colony here since March 2011 along with their 15-month-old daughter Punakshi. She said today morning when she stepped out of the house to bring milk, she suddenly heard a gunshot from her house. She immediately returned and found her husband in a pool of blood. She immediately took her husband to a hospital.

Savinder Pal Singh, SHO police division no. 1, has recorded Geetika’s statement and had started investigations.

Jagraon, July 25
A youth in his 20s was killed when his motorcycle he was riding collided with a stationary petrol tanker on the Ludhiana-Raikot Road, near the Indian Air Force Station, Halwara, yesterday night. The deceased has been identified as Pardeep Singh, a resident of Buraj Linta village, near Raikot.

As per information, the accident took place when Pardeep Singh was returning to his village from Gurusar Sudhar around 11 pm. As soon as he reached near the Indian Air Force Station, Halwara, the motorcycle he was riding collided with a stationary petrol tanker parked on the roadside. According to sources, the youth died on the spot.

Some passerby informed the police about the accident. The police reached the spot and rushed the victim to the Civil Hospital, Gurusar Sudhar, where doctors declared him brought dead.

Investigating officer ASI Gulzar Singh said the police had registered a case under Section 174 of the CRPc and had started investigations. The police handed over the victim’s body to his family after the post-mortem.

Ludhiana, July 25
Though “Bhag Milkha Bhag” has proven to be a runaway success, youngsters are now keen on building leaner and fitter bodies inspired by “Milkha” in the movie rather than going for muscular and bulkier bodies.

"I was inspired by Farhan's chiselled and lean body in the movie. I read how he went about getting that lean physique and I too want to get fit like him rather than building too much muscle mass,” says Navdeep, a BA student.

“Though I wanted to build big muscles, I have realised that fitness counts the most and remaining lean, but strong is a better option,” he said.

“The days when people used to hit gyms only for building muscles are gone,” says Pawan Jagwani from Ozone in a city mall.

"Though needs and goals of people are different, a large number of youngsters want to get fitter rather than building muscles only,” says Damanjot Kaur from Talwalkar's fitness centre from another city mall.

People want to get fitter, said Jagwani. He said group exercise was being preferred and techniques, including Pilates, power yoga, body conditioning, gym sticks and other aerobic exercises, were being used to develop fitness.

“Though fitness trends keep changing, people prefer leaner and fitter physique these days,” he said.

Damanjot said whole body analysis, including BMI, body fat and metabolism, was done for every person coming for training.

“Every person coming for training has to undergo whole body analysis, including BMI, body fat and metabolism,” said Damanjot.

Everything was taken into consideration before training was started, said Jagwani.

“Body conditioning analysis is conducted of a person, in which a person’s body type, genetic factors and medical history are considered before beginning the fitness programme. For example, a person having uric acid problem can have problems with increased protein intake, so he is advised to workout accordingly,” said Jagwani.