Ludhiana, November 28
Agitating contractual workers of the city bus service, being run by the municipal corporation, today started a hunger strike in front of the MC headquarters at Mata Rani Chowk to press for their demand for the extension/regularisation of their services. The workers were earlier sitting on a dharna for the past seven days.

In the first batch of the chain hunger strike, Harvinder Singh, Devinder Singh, Surinder Singh and Komal Singh began a 24-hour fast amid slogans raised by the protesting workers against the Punjab Government and the MC administration.

Addressing the workers, Sukhwinder Singh, general secretary, and Balwinder Singh, senior vice-president of the Nagar Nigam Transport and City Bus Service Workers Union, said the two-year contract of the workers had expired on November 15.

"The management has not extended our contract and nor have our services been regularised. The private company entrusted with the task of running the bus service has been forcing the workers to continue their work without giving any assurance regarding the extension of their contract," they said.

According to the union, the employees of the city bus service were also opposed to handing over the operations to a private company. They said the agitating workers would continue their struggle till the privatisation was stopped and they were absorbed as regular MC employees in the transport wing.

Ludhiana, November 28
The much-hyped claims of the authorities on making property tax deposit a hassle-free exercise for city residents have fallen flat. The help desk at MC offices is ill-equipped to handle the flow of residents.

Despite the MC claims of "special help" to assist the residents in calculating the property tax, the residents who had come to the Zone D office today were a harried lot. With no one to guide them about the availability of forms and the tax calculation part, they were seen shuttling from one room to the other, hoping for some help from some quarter.

"I am not sure how this form has to be filled. I have already filled my name and other particulars. But I'm confused about the calculation part," said an octogenarian, who kept requesting the person manning the help desk to help him.

"The help desk is least helpful. Instead of guiding me, the man at the counter told me to re-read the form and asked me to paraphrase what was mentioned in the form. If I had been clear about it, why would I have come to the help desk," said another city resident. With only one person at 

the help desk, the residents were seen pushing and shoving one another to get the lone man at the desk answer their queries. The long queues at the deposit counters added to the people's woes. "I came at 8.30 in the morning. It's 12 noon, and still I'm here," said a man, requesting anonymity. He said he was already hassled; he did not want to compound the problem by speaking against the authorities. "I only want that my work should be done today so that I do not have to come here again tomorrow."

Another city resident, who had to go back without depositing the property tax, said he was told that those who joined the queue after 12 noon would have to come tomorrow. "I had been told that pamphlets about the right method to calculate the property tax were being distributed, and councillors were organising camps to facilitate the tax deposit. But it's more of a media hype," he said. 

Ludhiana, November 28
Residents are sore over the “unjustified” way in which the property tax is being collected by the Municipal Corporation in many areas.

The residents as well as area councillors feel that first the collector rates must be rectified, then as per justified rates, the tax should be levied.

Sohan L Sharma, a shopkeeper in Meena Bazaar, here, said in the interior areas of the city like Meena Bazaar, Mali Ganj and Partap Bazaar, the collector rates were Rs 57,000 per sq yard. And most of these areas comprised narrow streets. While in areas like Shingar Cinema Road, Gokul Road and Lakkar Bazaar, the rates were Rs 28,500 per sq yard.

Citing another example, he said in Shivpuri, Daresi, the collector rate was Rs 15,300 while in Subhash Nagar, Daresi, it was Rs 6,700 per sq yards.

“These are all part of the interior city and many of the areas are interlinked. Still, there is a huge difference in the collector rates. Why should we, in the streets, pay more than those on the main roads? There should be some justification at least,” Sharma said.

Former Congress councillor Parminder Mehta said residents were right in raising such objections.

“We have also submitted a representation to the MC authorities in this regard. But officials say residents should have raised objections then when the rates were levied. However, that time, residents were not aware about it,” Mehta said.

He said: "It was either property dealers or those who sold and purchased property could raise objections. Even the MC authorities could have brought it to the notice of the District Collector,” he said.

He said computers with the MC did not pick up the entries properly.

He said: "The computers with the MC authorities do not pick up the data for inner streets but pick the main areas like Daresi. And the rates are different for every area.”

Ludhiana, November 28
The city witnessed above normal temperature this week which is resulting in warm days and chilly nights.

The Agro Meteorology Department of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) recorded a maximum temperature of 27°C and a minimum temperature of 10°C here today.

Weather experts at the PAU said the temperature recorded this week was above normal.

As per details, usually the maximum temperature in the last week of November is 24°C and the minimum temperature is 7°C. But this year, the department recorded an increase of 3° C in minimum and maximum temperature.

Kulwinder Kaur Gill, agro meteorologist at the department, said: “The weather conditions were below normal in the first fortnight of this month. But the trend totally changed in the last week. As per data, a 3-degree increase in minimum and maximum temperature is witnessed. The condition can sustain for some more days.”

“We get fresh forecast on Friday, hence after that we will be able to tell the accurate prediction,” Gill added.

The experts said cold weather was favourable for the wheat crop but this temporary increase in the temperature would not affect the crops too much.

However, residents are enjoying a pleasant weather as the days are warmer.

Ludhiana, November 28
"With a large section of India’s population deficient in micro-nutrients, 'black carrot' is the best alternative to tackle the malnutrition problems as it is loaded with beneficial anti-oxidants and nutrients,” say vegetable scientists at the PAU.

The black carrot is an excellent blood cleanser, which cures anaemia, constipation and stomach disorders, and has anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties, they say.

Dr MS Dhaliwal, Head, Department of Vegetable Science, said the PAU had developed its first black carrot variety, “Punjab Black Beauty”, which had been recommended for general cultivation in the state.

Highlighting the salient features of the tropical variety, “Punjab Black Beauty,” Dr Tarsem Singh Dhillon, an expert in vegetable science, said its roots attained edible maturity after 93 days of sowing and its leaves were dark green with purplish petiole. Its roots were purple-black, 25 cm long and 3.2 cm in diameter and conical in shape, he said, adding that the roots had the ability to stay in the field over a fortnight after reaching edible maturity. Dr Dhillon said its average root yield was 196 q/acre and fetched a premium price in the market due to its attractive purple-black roots. The carrot variety had high nutraceutical values and was rich in anthocyanins, phenols, flavonols ß-carotene, calcium, iron and zinc. Besides, its anti-oxidant activity was four times higher than red carrot, he said. The variety had excellent quality characters and high juice content (585 ml/kg of roots), sugar (5.10 per cent) and dry matter (10.87 per cent), he said. The fresh carrot was suitable for salad, juice and pickle, he said.

Ludhiana, November 28
The Bharti Kisan Union (BKU) foresees a huge victory for the BJP-SAD coalition in the Delhi Assembly elections. BKU chief Ajmer Singh Lakhowal today said voters had made up their minds to teach a lesson to the Congress.

Talking to mediapersons here before leaving for Delhi with a ‘jatha’ of farmers to canvass support for BJP and SAD candidates, he said the candidates put up by the BJP and the SAD would score a resounding win and the alliance will form the next government in Delhi.

In a scathing attack on the Congress government in Delhi and the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre, Lakhowal said the government had been pursuing anti-people and anti-poor policies, which had alienated the party from the masses. Especially, the minorities, including the members of Sikhs and Muslim communities were, feeling betrayed by the Congress for its repressive policies.

Maintaining that the members of the Sikh community would make every possible effort to rout the Congress in the Assembly elections, the BKU supreme said the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots were awaiting justice even after 30 years.

“It is the open support by the Congress to the perpetrators of the violence that they are still roaming free and it is due to the sense of betrayal that members of the Sikh community in Delhi have joined hands to defeat the ruling party,” Lakhowal said.

The BKU president claimed that it was not only the minorities, but all sections of the people, especially the working class and the poor, who wanted the Congress-ruled states and the Centre to be freed from the reign of the 'corrupt and anti-people party'.

Jagraon, November 28
Visible division in different factions of the local unit of the Congress might prove dear to Union Minister and Member of Parliament from Ludhiana Manish Tewari in the coming Lok Sabha elections. Differences among the party factions came to the fore once again during a function organised by local Congress leader Pritam Singh Akhara at the Old Grain Market here today. It was organised to pay homage to the leaders who made huge sacrifices for the party.

Former minister and Jagraon Assembly constituency in charge Isher Singh Meharban and his supporters stayed away from the function while former Baghapurana MLA Darshan Singh Brar and former Jagraon MLA Gurdeep Singh Bhaini were present along with their supporters.

Akhara openly accused Meharban of trying to pressurise party workers to skip the function. "Isher Singh Meharban is trying to divide the party. Many Sarpanchs of the Congress told me that Meharban had asked them not to attend the function," said Akhara.

Later, Gurdeep Singh Bhaini said the Congress lost the last Assembly elections in Punjab due to the mistakes committed by former Chief Minister Captain Amrinder Singh.

"It was the wrong distribution of tickets which cost the party dear in the last Assembly elections. The Congress lost the elections due to mistakes committed by the party leadership. Only in Ludhiana district, the party lost in four constituencies due to the wrong selection of candidates," alleged Bhaini.

He also accused Congress leader Rajinder Kaur Bhatthal of trying to divide the party. "On one hand Rajinder Kaur Bhatthal fielded her son-in-law from the Sahnewal constituency while on the other Isher Singh Meharban was shifted to Jagraon. The voters did not accept this shifting and the party lost both the seats," Bhaini added.

Praising Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa, Bhaini urged the party workers to stay united and support Bajwa to make the party strong.

Darshan Singh Brar said the people of Punjab were fed up with ruling alliance.

Ludhiana, November 28
A huge backlog of hosiery goods lying at the Railway Station has become a cause of concern for hosiery traders. The traders have demanded that some coaches should be added to passenger trains for the time being.

“To overcome the problem of shortage of trains, the Railway authorities should add some coaches to the passenger trains so that the consignments are not piled up at the Railway Station. Sometimes, even the goods get damaged in rain due to the absence of sheds and proper arrangements,” said Vinod Thapar, chairman of the Knitwear Club.

Some hosiery manufacturers have also taken the road route to make sure that their consignments reach in time. Some are also seeking the help of leaseholders of railway wagons, which costs them a bit more, and some are also sending their packages to certain originating points of the trains on which the goods are intended to be booked.

Meanwhile, a large number of local hosiery manufacturezrs and traders are sending their goods to stations like Amritsar, Jammu and Ferozepur, depending on the destination of the goods.

Vinay Aggarwal, another hosiery manufacturer, said it was the same story every year.

“Every year, the railway authorities promise that parcels will be delivered in time. Every time, the delay is caused and parcels keep lying at the railway station for days. God knows when the things are going to improve,” said Aggarwal.

Ludhiana, November 28
Though bicycles under the Mai Bhago Scheme are kept at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Model Town, for the past about two months for distribution among students, girl students of the school are waiting for a VIP who will formally handover the same to them.

While their wait seems to be endless, the brand new bicycles are gathering dust by being dumped in a classroom. Students are also suffering as one of their classrooms and half of their computer lab is blocked by the same. Besides, the state government’s claim to make the girl students independent so that they will not be dependent on others for coming to schools fall flat as in the absence of own conveyance they have to come to the school either in rickshaws, auto-rickshaws or by taking the help of their parents.

About 113 bicycles are scheduled to be given to girl students of Classes XI and XII. The bicycles are kept in the classroom of XII-A and in the computer lab of the school. The students of Class XII-A are accommodated in another class. Sarabjit Kaur (name changed), a student of class XII, said the bicycles were kept here for the past about two months.

“We are so excited that we will get one bicycle each but we do not know why the authorities are delaying the same. Even our parents have approached them over the matter and they have been told to wait for a few more days. They are waiting for a VIP who will distribute the same among us,” said the student.

Principal of the school Nahar Singh said he had already brought the matter to the notice of the higher-ups.

Local MLA Simarjit Singh Bains, however, said he came to know about the matter about two days ago.

“I thought the bicycles had still not reached there. The students will be able to get the same within two-three days, it is my responsibility,” Bains added.

Ludhiana, November 28
A 90-year-old man was killed after the roof of his kutcha house came crashind down on him on the Tajpur road here on Thursday. The victim has been identified as Sadhu Ram. The incident took place at around 8am when he was alone in the house. He was sleeping at that time. 

Jagraon, November 28
The Jagraon police arrested two more alleged drug peddlers and seized 350 grams of synthetic drugs from their possession. The accused have been identified as Gurpreet Singh, alias Preet, a resident of Rasoolpur Jandi village near Sidhwan Bet, and Darshan Singh, a resident of Kothe Fatehdeen village near Jagraon.

As per information, both the drug peddlers were arrested by different police teams from the Criminal Investigation Agency (CIA), Jagraon, during the past 24 hours.

“The first accused, Gurpreet Singh, alias Preet, was arrested by a police team led by ASI Jarmair Singh at a check post outside Kothe Rahlan village near Jagraon late yesterday night. The police seized 200 grams of synthetic drug from a vehicle in which the accused was travelling in. The police have also confiscated a Toyota Innova SUV (PB 08 BB 0315) in which the drug was being smuggled,” said Jagraon CIA staff in charge inspector Prem Singh.

“In a separate operation, a police party led by ASI Manjit Singh arrested the second accused, Darshan Singh, near the shrine of Baba Mukand located on the outskirts of Jagraon following a tip-off. The police team seized 150 grams of synthetic drug from his custody,” he said.

The police have registered separate cases against both the accused under the NDPS Act and further investigations are on.

“During the preliminary investigation, both the accused admitted that they used to bring drugs from Daulewal village in Moga district and Shankar village near Nakodar,” said the inspector.

Later, both the accused were produced before a court, which sent them to one day police remand.

Ludhiana, November 28
Thieves struck at two shops in New Subash Nagar near Jodhewal Basti and decamped with cash and valuables. Residents of the locality spotted the thieves and gave them a chase, but the miscreants managed to flee. The incident took place in the wee hours when thieves, who came in a mini-truck, broke into a jewellery shop and a cellphone shop.

According to Raja, owner of Khuram Jewellers, the thieves entered his shop by breaking open the locks and decamped with silver ornaments worth over Rs 20,000.

Pinku, owner of Mannat Telecom, said the thieves took away mobile recharge coupons worth Rs 40,000 and Rs 10,000. Raja said the residents had spotted five thieves. They chased the thieves, but failed to catch them. Later, the shop owners reported the matter to the police and got a case registered. — TNS

Bank security guard hurt in accidental fire

A security guard of the HDFC Bank in the Focal Point area suffered a gunshot wound in the leg after the gun of his colleague went off accidentally. The police on Thursday registered a case against Randhir Singh of Jagraon Khurd under section 336 of the IPC for committing an act of endangering human life. The victim has been identified as Pritpal Singh. The incident took place on Wednesday morning when Randhir Singh was cleaning his .12 gun. It suddenly went off and the bullet hit Pritpal in the leg. His relatives informed the matter to the police and a case was registered.

Man killed in accident in Jodhewal Basti area

Ludhiana, november 28
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports will award two trainees of the Sports Authority of India centre here on December 3. According to the Sports Authority of India officials, Union Sports Minister Jitendra Singh will award athlete Arpinder Singh (triple jump) and Bikramjit Singh (long Jump) during a visit to Barnala. The Sports Ministry is going to award four SAI trainees from the state for their outstanding performance in sports.

In charge of the Sports Authority of India Centre SS Pannu said: "We have received a correspondence from the head office that the Union Sports Minister will award our trainees. It is a matter of pride for the Ludhiana centre that its trainees were selected for the award".

Athlete Arpinder Singh had clinched bronze with 16.58m jump in the Asian Track and Field (ATF) meet held in Pune, Maharashtra, in July. He had also won bronze in triple jump in the Asian Grand Prix Meet held in Sri Lanka and silver in the Junior Asia Athletics Championship held in Vietnam last year. Apart from it, he had clinched gold medal in the national games held in Ranchi, Jharkhand and set up a national record in triple jump in the open category in 2011.

Bikramjit Singh had won silver in the long jump event at the first Asian School Track and Field Championship held in Kualalumpur (Malaysia) from September 17 to 24 this year. He had also won gold at the National School Games in 2012-13 where he jumped 7.31 metre. He had clinched silver at the National Junior Athletic Championship of 2012-13. 

Ludhiana, November 28
The 37th Inter-House Annual Athletics Meet began at Guru Nanak Public School, Sarabha Nagar, here today. A large number of students took part in regular and fun games.

Upkar Singh Ahuja, MD, New Swan Industries, inaugurated the meet. The head girl of the school, Gurkanwal Kaur, delivered the welcome speech, which was followed by a spectacular march past by the students.

Bhai Vir Singh House bagged the march past shield. Sahib Singh Nagi, a national-level athlete, administered the oath to the participants.

The chief guest urged the students to strive for excellence in all their endeavours. Jasbir Singh and Surinder Singh, president and general secretary, respectively, of the GNPS committee, were among others present on the occasion.

First day’s results: Boys (u-14) 1500m race: Paras Chander 1, Rajvir Singh 2 and Ripudaman 3; girls (u-14) 600m race: Armaandeep Kaur 1, Navreet Kaur 2 and Tarneet Kaur 3; Girls (u-14) 400m race: Manisha 1, Gurpreet Kaur 2 and Mandeep Kaur 3.

Boys (u-14) 400m race: Amritpal Singh 1, Ramanjeet Singh 2 and Japanjot Singh 3; Boys (class VI) 200m race: Hanumant Singh 1, Abhinoorpreet Singh 2 and Harnoor Singh 3.

Boys (u-14) long jump: Ishupal Singh 1, Paramvir Singh 2 and Assa Singh 3; girls (u-14): Tarneet Kaur 1, Harjot Kaur 2 and Navreet Kaur 3.

Samrala, November 28
A Sydney Olympic quarter finalist and Arjuna Award recipient boxer, Gurcharan Singh, who had gone to the US 13 years ago, is back in Punjab and wants to win an Olympic gold for the country.

Gurcharan, who reached here today, was welcomed at Shahi Sports College by coach Gurvir Shahi and sports lovers.

Talking to a select gathering of media persons, he said he was upset in 2000 Olympics as he was made a scape goat by the referee. He lost the bout and medal due to partiality on the part of the referee and he left the country out of mental tension. The referee gave decision against him in the bout after he tied 12-12 with his opponent.

Gurcharan clarified that he had no grudge with any person at that time and even now. He still practises regularly.

Comparing India with the other countries, he said there were proper facilities for boxers in the country. He was of the view that Punjab players were strong, specially in upper categories. If given a chance, they can perform well in these upper categories. He expressed willingness to train the players of Punjab for international-level games.

Answering a question, he said it was a matter of shame that Jagdish Singh Bhola, who was given a job by the state government, took to the drug trade. He said he had participated in a state boxing meet in Jharkhand some days ago and was fit to participate in the state boxing championship.

Boxing coach Gurvir Shahi, who, with the support of Namdhari Darbar, Bhaini Saheb, and local residents and sports lovers, had presented Gurcharan with a car after the Olympic games at Samrala, urged the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister to provide Gurcharan with a proper job to enable him to prepare for the Olympic games.

Gurcharan belongs to Rurewal village, near Machiwara, in Samrala subdivision.