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Contractual staff go without salary
Ludhiana, October 9 Following acute shortage of clerical and other staff in the Trust, the state government had permitted recruitment of clerks-cum-data entry operators and other employees on contractual basis till the posts were filled through regular recruitment. Accordingly, the LIT had appointed six clerks-cum-data entry operators in June 2011. Initially recruited for a period of six months, these employees were granted extension for another year or till the posts were filled through regular recruitment. According to the affected members of staff, the term of their contract had expired on December 21, 2012, but in anticipation of further extension in the period of their contract, the LIT authorities did not relieve them. “We continued working in the Trust office, marked our attendance regularly and performed duties assigned to us till June-end. However, salaries were not paid to any of the contractual employee after December 21, 2012,” said Sukhwinder Singh, a resident of Majitha in Amritsar district and a contractual clerk-cum-data entry operator. Sukhwinder and his other colleagues are waiting for their salaries for the duties performed during December 2012 to June 2013. The LIT had written to the Department of Local Government, Punjab, to accord approval to the recruitment of employees on contractual basis for a period of at least six months for which they had continued working without any response from the government. The Trust authorities have, however, refuted the claims of contractual employees saying they were technically deemed to have been relieved on the expiry of their contract and salaries were paid to them till the period of validity of the contract. Executive officer of the LIT Jatinder Singh said the matter was taken up with the state government for further extension of the contract of these employees which was turned down. “In fact, the state government had taken a policy decision not to extend the contract of such employees in all the improvement trusts,” he added.
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rti act
Ludhiana, October 9 A city resident, Balbir Aggarwal, was not provided information sought on March 25. On July 18, the commission directed Sekhon, superintendent-cum-PIO, to be personally present but during the hearing on August 29. a show-cause notice was issued to him under Section 20 (1) of RTI Act, 2005. The commission directed Sekhon to remain present on October 1 along with the relevant record pertaining to the case. “Sekhon has failed to provide the information and has also not appeared before the commission. I have carefully considered the submissions of the parties and material available in the case file, which clearly shows that Sekhon has not performed his duties under the RTI Act 2005 in keeping with either the letter or the spirit of the statute. Sekhon has been functioning in a most lackadaisical manner which deserves to be strongly deprecated,” read the commission’s order. “Sekhon was directed to submit an affidavit showing
cause why action under Section 20(1) of the RTI Act not be taken against him vide order dated August 29. But, he has failed to attend the hearing despite registered letters sent to him. From the material on record, it transpires that there has been unnecessary delay in conveying the correct state of affairs to the appellant in regard to his request for information. His failure to even respond to the show-cause notice by the commission reinforces the fact that he has been without any reasonable cause guilty of remissness in the discharge of his duties,” read the order. The commission also awarded a compensation of Rs 5,000 to Balbir Aggarwal, to be paid by the MC. The commission directed assistant town planner Kamaljeet Kaur to be personally present during the next date of hearing on November 7, along with the information, failing which action under Section 20(i) of the RTI Act will be initiated. |
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Newborn handed over to NGO
Ludhiana, October 9 Appreciating the work done by the foundation, Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal said such organisations were instrumental in making children good citizens. Secretary of the foundation Kuldeep Singh Mann said that if anyone wants to adopt a child, they could get themselves registered with the
organisation. |
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PCR cop assaulted
Ludhiana, October 9 The case has been registered on the complaint of Jatinderpal Singh, a constable deployed with the PCR. Jatinderpal said the incident took place in the wee hours of October 8 when he was on a patrolling duty near Clock Tower. The constable said he saw two groups exchanging blows and tried to pacify them. But the accused attacked him. A case under Sections 353, 186, 506, 160 and 34 of the IPC has been registered. |
Now, advance tax replaces entry tax
Ludhiana, October 9 In addition to this, the dealers will be able to deposit the advance tax in the office of the Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner (AETC) as well as through Internet banking. A senior official from the department said of late some industrialists had sought exemption from entry tax and the court had also given the stay order. But nobody would be exempted from advance tax and it would be mandatory to pay the advance tax. "It will only add to the financial burden of the traders. One the one side, the government is unable to give them VAT refunds and on the other, it is imposing advance tax," said Jatinder Khurana, taxation professional. Procedure for depositing advance tax
Procedure of payment through Internet banking
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Handloom scores over powerloom
Ludhiana, October 9 He along with many other handloom-product manufacturers and traders exhibited products at a three-day Weaves Handlooms Products Exhibition being organised in the city. Most of the members of Dewangan community are into this handloom work in Chhatisgarh. All members of the families are engaged in the work, and earn their livelihood, he says. "We even create our own fabric from Kosa fruit, he says," he adds. In powerloom, if a fabric gets lose or broken, it remains like that but it is not visible to the naked eye. But in handloom, every breakage is fixed. Every strand of fabric is carefully woven," he added. This is non-mulberry silk, he says.They weave only silk products that are particular to their designs and art. Likewise, handlooms from different states bring their own weaves, fabrics, embroideries, choice of colours, lending some uniqueness to the place, the handlooms come from. Similarly, rich kanjeevaram, crepe silk, dharmavaram, upada, pochapally silk, narayanpet, gadwal, paithani, benaras brocades, jamdani, patolas are some the silks from Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, UP and Gujarat. tussar, eri, muga, kosa are also non-mulberry silk from Bihar, Assam, Maharashtra and Chhatisgarh."Amid the booming powerloom industry, the handloom, which is a part of the cultural heritage of India, is dying. So we are taking the beautiful art of handloom to different parts of India and exhibiting them," says AV Lakshminarayana, one of the organisers of the exhibition. Cotton variables like Coimbatore cottons, Kota Doria, Sambalpuri cottons of Odisha are traditional handloom-woven cotton varieties, he says. Prints and embroideries peculiar to the states add uniqueness to the fabrics that are not found in powerloom fabrics, he adds.
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Rain spills water on tall claims
Khanna, October 9 Although several commission agents tried to cover the heaps with tarpaulins, most of the heaps were drenched by the rain. Avtar Singh, a farmer from a neighbouring village, said the unseasonal rain had added to their woes, after a squall affected their crops last month. He said due to the downpour, the crops had become moisture laden, delaying the procurement. Avtar Singh said he would have to sit at the grain market for a few more days to sell his crop. Another farmer, Gurjit, who had harvested half his crops, said the rain had hit him hard. I’ll have to wait at the grain market and pay extra labour charges. I’ll also suffer losses due to the damage to my standing crop. Bharatiya Kisan Union president Balbir Singh Rajewal said farmers were suffering due to the lack of arrangements made at various grain markets across the state. He said there was a shortage of labour, transportation facilities and space at the grain markets, resulting in the delayed procurement and lifting of crops. Rajewal said the government should step in to speed up the entire process. He said the moisture specifications in the crop should be increased by the Centre for the smooth purchase of paddy. The BKU president said he feared that the change in climate could increase the woes of the farming community. Secretary of the market committee, meanwhile, said he had directed the commission agents to make proper arrangements, including availability of tarpaulins, to save the crop from rains. He said today most of the heaps were covered with tarpaulins, but the downpour was so heavy that crops were affected. The secretary assured that the procurement would start in a day or two. Weather woes hit paddy cultivators
Ludhiana: Farmers are in a fix due to the unpredictable weather across the district. Punjab Agricultural University has predicted that the weather will not be favourable for the harvesting of paddy in the next few days. With the crop already matured, farmers are a worried lot. According to the director of the School of Climate Change and Agro-Meteorology at the Punjab Agricultural University, Dr SS Kukal, there is a possibility of light showers in the coming two to three days. Mohinder Singh, a farmer from Chamant village, said: “I had grown paddy on four acres on land. It has matured and is waiting to be harvested. The prediction of rains, however, has changed everything. If we harvest the crop and take it to the grain market, we fear that the crop will not fetch a good price due to an excess of moisture. On the other hand, if we wait for the clouds to clear, the rain would damage the standing crop.”
— TNS
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Staying a step ahead, he leads by example
Ludhiana, October 9 Davinder, who started with a 500-square-yard plot, is now the biggest polyhouse vegetable grower in the state, with 5.5 acres of land under this form of cultivation. Punjab Agricultural University and other farm institutes have honored Davinder a number of times for his extraordinary efforts in the field. Davinder left studies in the first year of college. He wanted to go abroad. When all his efforts in this direction bore no fruits, his friend Davinder, who was working with a multi-national food processing company, asked him to manage a nursery of chillies, back in 1996. Davinder cultivated chillies and sold the produce at Jatt Mandi in Chandigarh. "I earned a profit of Rs 50,000 from half an acre of land. It was beyond expectation. Then, we quit the wheat-paddy cycle and started growing vegetables,” says Davinder. Davinder says he and his friend were satisfied with the income, but then another friend suggested him to visit Spain to see how the polyhouse technology worked. “We easily got the visa as we had been awarded as successful vegetable grower by Punjab Agricultural University. The visit to Spain inspired us a lot and we decided to initiate the polyhouse cultivation on our land,” says Davinder. In 2008, Davinder and one of his friends started cultivating seedless cucumbers, coloured capsicums and tomatoes in a polyhouse spread over 500 square yards. "We got three times more yield through polyhouse farming, which motivated us to increase the area under it,” says Davinder. The major challenge Davinder faced was as to how to market the produce. He started a cooperative society and encouraged more farmers to grow vegetables in polyhouses. Presently, farmers associated with the society are cultivating vegetables in polyhouses spread over 40 acres of land. "Adoption of the polyhouse technology is like a musical composition. One has to play the flute, another, the drums, and yet another, the piano. A single person cannot cultivate the land on his own and then go to Delhi to sell the vegetables. Only cooperative societies can make it possible,” says Davinder. Around Rs 35 lakh are required to cover one acre of land with a polyhouse. The Punjab Government gives 50 per cent subsidy for this project. Moreover, National Horticulture Mission too gives Rs 2.50 lakh per acre to promote the polyhouse technology. "We get the imported hybrid seeds to cultivate the vegetables. The Centre and state governments have imposed 41 per cent import duty on these seeds. On the one hand, the government is giving a 50 per cent subsidy, and on other, it is imposing a 41 per cent tax on seeds. The government must exempt us from this duty,” says Davinder. Vegetables need no pesticides
Davinder, who started with a 500-square-yard plot, is now the biggest polyhouse vegetable grower in the state, with 5.5 acres of land under this form of cultivation. Vegetables grown in polyhouses need no pesticides and other toxics. The quality and taste of vegetables is also better than the vegetables grown in open fields. "The fabrication of the polyhouse at my farm is as per the recommended technique. So, the squall that struck the region last month did not affect my polyhouse,” says
Davinder.
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gadvasu youth fest
Ludhiana, October 9 The one-act plays showcased various socio-political issues. Pali Bhupinder's play “Mitti da Bawa” was based on the cross-border tension and woes of soldiers on both sides of the border. Joginder Bahrla’s play “Sahiban” narrated the dilemma of Sahiban in choosing between his brothers and the beloved. The play “Kudedaan di jaiee”, written by Jatinder Brar, highlighted the plight of girl child. Sagar Kumar's “Kathputli”, too, conveyed the grief of an abandoned girl child. The play “Izzat ke Naam Par”, written by Kudrat Pal, depicted the life of a gang-rape victim in Pakistan. The play “Kanak di Balli”, written by Balwant Gargi, revealed the problem of suppressed female community in peasantry. All the three colleges situated on the Ludhiana campus besides the School of Animal Biotechnology; Veterinary Polytechnic College, Kaljharani; and Khalsa College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Amritsar, participated in the events. The final day of the fest will witness folk dance, skit and mono acting competitions, followed by the prize distribution function and a cultural programme at the PAU. The top three positions in various events held in the past two days went to the following: Light vocal (solo) College of Veterinary Science; Khalsa College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Amritsar; College of Fisheries Group song (patriotic) College of Fisheries, College of Dairy Science & Technology, College of Veterinary Science Group song (Indian) College of Dairy Science & Technology, College of Veterinary Science, College of Fisheries Shabad gayan/bhajan Gursewak Singh (Vet Polytechnic, Kaljharani), Amandeep Kaur (College of Fisheries), Raman Vohra and Gurpartap Singh
(College of Dairy Science & Technology) Western song (group) College of Dairy Science & Technology, College of Veterinary Science, College of Fisheries
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PAUSA poster war
Ludhiana, October 9 A facebook page that already existed in the name of ‘PAUSA Ludhiana’, on which the office-bearers of Punjab Agricultural University Students Association (PAUSA) used to share their programmes, has been promoting Karanvir Singh Sandhu as the president of PAUSA. The Young Writers Association at PAU has also been supporting Sandhu on its page. Meanwhile, the newly emerged group, known as the Hostel No. 1 group, has started a facebook page, ‘PAUSA’, on which Teerath Singh Rai has been listed as the president. The administrators of another facebook page, ‘PAU Boys & Girls’, claim that the PAU authorities hasd announced Rai as the president of PAUSA. Most of the students, however, are wary of the politics being done in the name of the organisation. "We need a student body to raise issues concerning the students. PAUSA has a history of struggle, but we don't support violence in the name of PAUSA,” said a girl student. Tension prevailed on the PAU campus on Monday, when a group of students from Hostel No. 1 challenged the reconstituted PAUSA. Office-bearers of PAUSA pasted Sandhu’s poster as the new president on the walls of the campus. Soon after, a group of students came and tore away Sandhu's posters and pasted their leader Teerath Singh Rai's posters on the walls, claiming him to be the PAUSA president. Outsiders and students carrying sharp-edged weapons and hockey sticks were seen roaming freely on the campus.
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Setback for Cong in Khanna block
Khanna, October 9 Talking to the media persons, Anil Shukla said the party workers were not being given any importance by the Congress. Shukla said he was a Congressman since childhood, because his father was a dedicated Congress worker. “Due to the wrong functioning of some Congress leaders, I was compelled to leave the party,” he said. Shukla said the masses were praising the SAD-BJP government for its pro-public policies in the state. He said the Congress was expected to get another big jolt in Khanna with many workers joining the Akali Dal shortly. Ranjit Singh Talwandi, halka in-charge, SAD, welcomed Anil Shukla and presented him with a siropa. Talwandi said all the workers of other parties who would join the Akali Dal would be given due respect. He said Shukla would get a key post in the party.
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PYC chief hard sells UPA achievements during ‘Adhikar Padyatra’
Ludhiana, October 9 The PYC chief had come prepared with a long list of the UPA flagship programmes. Ahead of the 2014 parliamentary polls, the Congress in Punjab is hard selling the UPA I/II flagship programmes. The statewide "Adhikar Yatra" that started from October 2 is aimed at highlighting the Union Government's achievements and its "pro-people" schemes. In the recently-concluded five-day special workshop of the Congress, the party vice-president Rahul Gandhi is reported to have emphasised on the need for countering Opposition propaganda with facts and figures. In his high-voltage speech today, the PYC chief charged the state government with "usurping" the Centre-sponsored schemes. Condemning the "picture politics" of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), he said, "The Chief Minister's photographs have been used on the 108 ambulances and on the cycles given to girl students even though the schemes are Centrally-sponsored. Isn't this totally unjustified?"The PYC chief accused the state government of selling false hopes to the people. Launching a scathing attack on Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, he said, "The state government is busy selling its idea of 'Shining Punjab', while in reality it does not have funds to pay salaries to its employees." Accusing the state government of patronising sand mafia and drug mafia, Chaudhary claimed that the SAD-BJP alliance has backtracked on the promises made in their election manifesto. He also criticised the imposition of property tax. The PYC Chief was welcomed, among others, by senior leaders, including Malkiat Singh Dakha and Santokh Singh Chaudhary, and women and youth wing leaders in the district.
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Supporting campaign against female foeticide
Ludhiana, October 9 Pardeep Dhall, general secretary of Shri Geeta Mandir said," Two years ago, we started the campaign against female foeticide by installing posters, photographs related to the subject on the temple premises. During the Navratras in April, we started the signature campaign. We made devotees aware of the evils of female foeticide. We told them that on one side, we worship "kanjaks" and on the other side, we kill girls before birth. Afterwards we asked the devotees to express their views with signatures on the board. We got five boards filled in April alone. And now in these Navratras, the signature campaign was started by Maheshinder Grewal, Advisor to the Chief Minister, Punjab." In these Navratras, one board has already been filled with the views and the second board has been installed. Rajat Sood, senior vice-president of the temple management said, "By now, more than 600 people have expressed their views. We will get these published in our temple souvenir. " Dhall further said that the Member of Parliament from Bathinda Harsimrat Kaur Badal had assured them that she would inaugurate the computer centre for the needy and poor girls in the last week of October.
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world post day
Ludhiana, October 9 “Nothing matches the joy of writing letters. It is not necessarily for sharing of information, but for the sheer joy of communicating with loved ones ," says Rohit, a resident. "As a child I used to have pen friends, in which we just used to share thoughts and ideas by writing. With more means of communication, people have stopped writing letters. Although we don't get enough time nowadays to write, but occasionally, when I do feel like writing a letter to my friend and post it. I don’t know till when this system will lasts," he says. “Earlier, we used to exchange letters. We usedto wait for letters fromfriends and relatives, but the joy of waiting is missing, and so is the importance of keeping in touch with friends,” says Sarbjit, a resident.
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17 more cases of dengue reported
Ludhiana, October 9 All patients who tested positive for dengue are under treatment at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital for the last three days. The local patients are resident of Kundan Puri, New Shivpuri, Tagore Nagar, Jodhewal, Daba, Rahon Road and Tibba Road. Two cases are from Fazilka, two from Kapurthala and one each from Patiala and Hoshiarpur.
— TNS
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Death mourned
Ludhiana, October 9 Badal was accompanied by Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia, PWD Minister Sharanjit Singh Dhillon and Adviser to Punjab Chief Minister Maheshinder Singh Grewal. Tejinderpal Singh is
survived by his wife and two children.
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Cellphone snatched from businessman
Ludhiana, October 9 Narrating the incident, Shankar Maheshwari said that he was using his mobile phone when the incident took place. Suddenly, two youths on a motorcycle intercepted him and the youth sitting pillion pulled out a knife and threatened to stab Maheshwari. The victim panicked and in no time the youth snatched Shankar's Apple mobile phone and fled the scene. As always, the police has reported the matter and given an assurance to nab the snatchers. Woman commits suicide A 23-year-old woman allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself from a ceiling fan in her house at Chet Singh Nagar today. The deceased has been identified as 23-year-old Gurcharanjit Kaur. The deceased's father said his daughter was a graduate, but of late, she was suffering from depression and used to remain aloof. In the morning she was cleaning the house when she locked the room and committed suicide. The police said. Four persons injured Four persons were injured following a clash over kundi connection at New Ram Nagar today. Nikhil Jain said that he had objected to the kundi connection of Gopi, a businessman. Nikhil Jain said that his friends Rohit, Ravi, and Sahil were assaulted by Gopi and his accomplices. Nikhil said that Gopi had even fired shots at him and his friends. NGO demands action A day after a patwari was allegedly caught on camera taking bribe, Ramesh Bangar, president of the non-governmental organisation (NGO), Active Anti-Corruption Group, said that the Revenue Department should probe the matter. Bangar said suspending patwari was not enough. He added that a time-bound probe should be initiated in the matter and a departmental action should be taken against the erring patwari. Patwari Jaspreet Singh Jassi had allegedly sought money from Kunal Sachdeva for handing over documents. Kunal Sachdeva brought the matter to the notice of the NGO. The patwari was caught on camera counting the money. The NGO also brought the matter to the notice of the Deputy Commissioner, following which patwari was suspended. Kidnapping case registered A day after a three-year-old boy was kidnapped while he was playing outside his house near the EWS colony in the Tibba Road area, the city police on Wednesday registered a kidnapping case against an unidentified woman. The boy has been identified as Sameer. The boy's father, Bhanu, a scrap trader, said the incident took place yesterday morning when Sameer was playing in the park along with other children of the locality. As the police is groping in the dark, Sameer's father said that a woman in her 30s had allegedly kidnapped her son. The police has registered a case and started the investigation.
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pilfering of lpg
Ludhiana, October 9 It all happened on Friday when Mansa police conducted a raid at Indra Gas Agency in Mansa. The owner and the staff were caught pilfering gas from the domestic subsidised cylinders into the commercial
ones. During the interrogation, the owner of Indra Gas Agency reportedly confessed before the police that he was selling the commercial cylinders (weighing 19kg) to a gas agency owner near Cheema Chowk for Rs 1,200, the market price of which was Rs 1,750. Following the information, the Mansa police carried out a raid at the agency and sealed its
godown. Confirming the raid, Narinder Bhargav, SSP, Mansa, said, "We have sealed the godown for investigation purposes and informed the gas company about the
matter. "Sources said that the police had found 300 domestic gas cylinders from the godown. The sources further said that the gas agency had the license to sell commercial cylinders, but the presence of huge amount of domestic cylinders had raised
eyebrows. The investigating officer said, the modus operandi was simple. The commercial cylinder of 19kg is available for a market price of Rs 1,750, whereas the Ludhiana -based gas agency owner was selling these cylinders without the bill for Rs 1,600 (per cylinder) to the roadside eatery owners and restaurant owners. He was procuring these cylinders from Indra
Gas Agency in Mansa for Rs 1,200.
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