Ludhiana, December 16
Politicians are often accused of patronising encroachments and illegal constructions in the city. In a classic example of political backing, a senior Congress leader disrupted an anti-encroachment drive of the MC in the Jawahar Nagar Camp area of the city this afternoon. Some Congress councillors disrupted another anti-encroachment drive in Ghumar Mandi, while a senior BJP leader disrupted a drive on Hambran Road.

Congress MLA Bharat Bhushan Ashu disrupting an MC demolition drive in the Jawahar Nagar Camp on Monday. Photo: Inderjeet Verma

The MC building branch officials, who had gone to remove encroachments, had no other option but to report the matter to senior officials and return empty-handed.

A city resident had fined a complaint about illegal constructions in the city. Acting on the complaint, a MC team demolished some structures a few days ago. The drive was resumed today.

Three such illegal buildings were located in the Jawahar Nagar Camp area. The MC officials managed to demolish an illegal structure, but when they were about to demolish the other two, the Congress leader accompanied by his supporters and others, reached the spot.

"He did not let us do our work. When we brought this matter to the notice of our seniors, they asked us to return and give their statement in writing. So we had no other option but to return," informed Assistant Town Planner Rajinder Sharma.

Later, the same team went to demolish an under construction building in Ghumar Mandi, Congress councillors Gurpreet Singh Gogi, Balkar Singh Sandhu, Maharaj Singh Raji, Narinder Sharma reached the spot.

Assistant Town Planner said the owner of the building constructed a half-floor extra than his sanctioned building plan. Here also, the councillors didn't let the MC team to carry out the drive.

Another illegal construction was being carried out Hambran Road. It is learnt that the owner of the building, at the behest of a senior BJP leader, misbehaved with MC officials.

Confirming this, ATP Rajinder Sharma said the owner was rude with the MC team. "He didn't move his vehicles, which he had parked in front of the building," he said. It is learnt that a senior BJP leader spoke to MC officials and the drive was called off.

A senior MC officer claimed: “Politicians often accuse us of going soft on illegal constructions in the city, but they themselves patronise encroachments. We are helpless as officials are pulled up in court. But now, we will file a detailed report on the matter and submit it before our senior officers," claimed the officer. 

Ludhiana, December 16
Rift within the Bharatiya Janata Party came to the fore today when supporters of councillor Gurdeep Singh Neetu and a former health minister Sat Pal Gosain entered into a scuffle during the start of a project to cover Ganda Nullah.

This work on the project that had been delayed for several months started today after the release of Rs 5 crore.

Neetu wanted the project to start from near a temple, while Gosain wanted the work to be initiated from Gurdwara Dukh Niwaran Sahib. This led to a scuffle between the rival factions.

On the other hand, Congress MLA Surinder Dawar, who represents the constituency where the work is being undertaken, claimed that the BJP had nothing to do with the project as it started during the Congress regime.

Amit Gosain, grandson of Sat Pal Gosain, said it was BJP councillor Neetu and his sons used bad words against his grandfather and others.

On the other hand, Neetu alleged that Sat Pal Gosain was ignoring the party workers and was promoting his grandson, Amit Gosain. "We all know that the work was stalled as the contractor was not paid on time. We wanted that the work should start from the place from where it was left. But Gosain wanted to start the work from a new place, which would delay the project. We did not misbehave with anyone. It was Amit Gosain and his supporters who misbehaved with us," alleged Gurdeep Singh Neetu.

Congress councillor Sanjay Talwar said: “It’s sad that the BJP is playing bad politics over the issue. Everyone knows that we had taken up this matter during the MC General House meeting and now the BJP leaders are misguiding residents by staking a claim to the project,” he claimed.

The MC had decided to cover Ganda Nullah starting from Gurdwara Dukh Niwaran Sahib till Shagun Palace. The work on the project started in February 2011 at a cost of Rs 22 crore. The deadline for project was March 2012, which was later extended till December last year, but still a large portion of the work remains incomplete. 

Ludhiana, December 16
The Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA) today sold 23 commercial sites in Urban Estate, Sector 38, on the Ludhiana-Chandigarh Road raking in a total sale price of Rs 17.95 crore with a premium of around 74 per cent over the floor price of Rs 10.29 crore of these properties.

Perhaps for the first time in the past several months, all the 23 sites – nine shop-cum-offices (SCOs) and 14 booths — which were put on the block, were sold, that too at a handsome premium.

In what could be termed as an overwhelming response to the sale of commercial sites through public auction, some 100 bidders took part in the auction proceedings which were conducted by GLADA Estate Officer RK Popli with other officials. The participating bidders had paid eligibility fee of Rs 1 lakh for SCOs and Rs 50,000 for booths.

Ludhiana, December 16
Litter on the road after the Jagannath Yatra last evening left the residents fuming as they woke up this morning.

Starting from Durga Mata Mandir near Jagraon Bridge, the yatra passed through Fountain Chowk, Rani Jhansi Road, Ferozepur Road and finally ended at Durga Mata Mandir in Sarabha Nagar.

The worst affected areas were Rani Jhansi Road, Ghumar Mandi and Ferozepur Road, where litter in the form of plastic wrappers and empty water bottles were seen lying in abundance.

Residents rued that such social and religious organisations had ample of workforce in the form of devotees to clean up the area. Arrangements should have been made to clean the roads early next morning.

"Its sad that our religious organisations don't care about cleanliness. Though religious sentiments are associated with such events, but the organisers should also keep sanitation issues in their mind," rued Rahul Verma, a resident of Rani Jhansi Road, who claimed that heaps of garbage were strewn in front of his gate this morning.

Another resident said that garbage could be seen every year after the procession. "I wonder why no person cares to clean the roads the following morning after the yatra is over. They should ask all their devotees not to throw litter on the street and if any person indulges in such activity, he should be stopped from doing so," said a resident of Sarabha Nagar, on condition of anonymity.

AS Sekhon, MC Joint Commissioner and in-charge of Health branch, said that special arrangements were made to make sure all roads from where the yatra passed were cleaned on time.

Ludhiana, December 16
As poll season gathers momentum, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has brought out a 19-point fresh standard format for "Electoral Trusts", created by corporate and business houses to fund political parties.

The checklist has been devised as such that the business firm could enumerate all relevant details about the company, its shareholders and other financial details of contributions and donations in a comprehensive pattern before submitting it to the Income Tax Department.

"The checklist has been made to underline what is essential when filing details of the Electoral Trust. The checklist asks for some relevant questions for the business houses to furnish, among them, whether the Electoral Trust is a registered company for the purposes of Section 25 of the Companies Act.

The ET scheme allows business entities to register non-profit companies having "electoral trust" as part of their names, thus differentiating them from the companies having other business interests," said a senior IT official.

The government notified the ET scheme earlier this year to streamline the process and bring in more transparency in the funds provided by corporate entities to the political parties for election-related expenses.

Ludhiana, December 16
A special Christmas carol service was held at the Lady Willingdon Hall of Christian Medical College and Hospital. The programme began with prayer by Rev. Alex peter Chaplain.

The Director, Dr Abraham G Thomas, welcomed the guests and wished them a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year. The dignitaries present included the Vice -Chancellor, PAU, deputy director Dr Vijay Obed, medical superintendent Dr Kanwal Masih, medical college principal Dr S Bhatti, Dental College principal Dr Abhi M Thomas etc.

The students of CMC were at their best. The hall reverberated with the sound of Christmas carols sung by choir of 60 students supported by a group of musicians. The choir was conducted by Sarah Dayal. The choir was conducted by Dr Jacob Koshy. Children dressed in colorful dresses sang Christmas carols and presented Christmas pageant which indeed was a feast to the eyes and. A choreography on the theme “Our God reigns” was presented by the students. 

Ludhiana, December 16
Dubai-based businessman and philanthropist SP Singh Oberoi, who rescued Indian youths in Dubai by paying “Blood money” was honoured at Gurdwara Sukhmani Sahib, Dugri, today.

Dubai-based businessman and philanthropist SP Singh Oberoi (centre) being honoured at Gurdwara Sukhmani Sahib, Dugri, in Ludhiana on Monday. Photo: Inderjeet Verma

Oberoi, who is the president of the Sarbat Da Bhala Charitable Trust, appealed that the Punjab government and the Central Government that they should rescue Sikh prisoners, who have completed their sentences abroad. He said legal procedures of releasing of prisoners in India were strict, but these were relatively simple in many countries abroad.

His Trust is aiding the education of children of women languishing in jails along with their mothers. He said that at women's jail in Patiala, a 1400 sq ft crèche had been opned for the children of woman prisoners and such crèches would also be opened in six such jails of the state by the Trust. The Trust will help in higher education of these children when they are released from jails along with their mothers, he added.

He also inaugurated the district office of the Trust in the city and appointed the office-bearers of the office.

Ludhiana, December 16
Employees of PUDA/GLADA today joined their respective duties after holding two-day pen down strike on December 12 and 13. It was only after an assurance by the authorities to concede to their genuine demands that the protesters joined back their duties.

The proposed stale-level dharna to be staged at PUDA headquarters on December 17 has also been called off for the time being.

The PUDA/GLADA Employees Coordination Committee, which had called for the strike, however, has announced that from today onwards, the employees will hold gate rallies during the lunch break and would also resort to chain hunger strike from December 17 at PUDA and Local Area Development Authorities across the state. Addressing the rally, convener of the committee Rajinder Pal Singh Baba said the stir would continue till the acceptance and implementation of all the pending demands.

The main demands of employees of PUDA/GLADA include introduction of Family Pension Scheme, raising the retirement age from 58 to 60 years, allotment of residential plots to employees, regularisation of daily wages and contractual employees and grant of due promotion to all categories of employees.

The president of the Punjab Raj Mulazam Dal, Inderjit Sharma, who attended the protest rally of the staff, expressed complete solidarity with the agitated employees.

Among others, Harinder Singh Pannu, Rajesh Mahajan, Shamsher Singh Kotli, Rakesh Singla, Amarjit Singh Bhattian, Nachhattar Singh, Sunita Jindal, Jaskaran Kaur, Pargat Singh, Balbir Singh and Manohar Lal addressed the rally. 

Ludhiana, December 16
The Union Information and Broadcasting Minister, Manish Tewari, has strongly opposed the move to sell the prime land belonging to the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited at Sarabha Nagar in Ludhiana.

Addressing a public meeting on the Shinghar Cinema road, organised by the party councillor Sanjay Talwar here today, Tewari said the proposal was only a part in the continuous series of desperate bids of the fund-starved state government to mobilise resources by selling family silver to manage its day to day affairs.

Questioning the claims of the state government that the place will be used for the set up of commercial hub as shopping complexes, malls and multiplexes, the minister said there are already so many malls, multiplexes and shopping complexes in the city and there is no point in setting up one more.

Tewari alleged that the government wants to sell the prime land to some private company to raise money for the day to day expenses.

“This is a defeatist tendency when governments abandon their concern for future and are handicapped by short-term survival concerns,” said Tewari.

Among others present on the occasion included party MLA Surinder Dawer, president of DCC Pawan Dewan, Jasbir Chadha, Ashok Pappi Prashar, Hemraj Aggarwal, Parminder Mehta and others.

Ludhiana, December 16
The Artusion Records today released music of the forthcoming Punjabi movie titled ‘Proud to be Sikh’. Along with other promoters of the movie, Tavleen Singh from the music banner released four tracks of the movie. Three tracks of the movie have been composed by Tavleen Singh and one by Vgrooves.

“Most of the Punjabi rap music are based on theme of girls, drugs and even contain abusive language, which is causing cultural degradation. But we are giving the message of spirituality and morality through the medium of Western music that youngsters love to listen to these days,” says Tavleen. The producer of the movie, Rupinder Singh, said the movie is about a person who leaves Punjab in riots of 1984 and returns to the state as a university professor only to witness the negative change in the mindsets of the youth that has occurred with much degradation of cultural and spiritual values.

Mandi Gobindgarh, December 16
The People's Party of Punjab, Fatehgarh Sahib district, staged a dharna and a hunger strike against the imposition of the property tax and alleged anti-industrial policies of the Akali-BJP government in the state at the main bazaar here today.

Later in the evening a protest march was also organised and slogans were raised against the government.

The district chief, Jagmeet Singh Sahota ‘Bawa’, State general secretary Sat Preet Singh Kaler, former sarpanch Inderjit Singh Randhawa, Varun Aggarwal, Hanumant Sharma, Baljinder Sharma and Jaspinder Singh Chhokar sat on one-day hunger strike.

Addressing the gathering during the dharna, Sahota and Kaler alleged that the Deputy Chief Minister, Sukhbir Singh Badal, is implementing the policies of foreign countries in our state but the concessions availed of by them are not implemented in Punjab. — OC 

Ludhiana, December 16
The cancellation of representation of non-teaching employees in the board of management is all set to hog limelight during the upcoming elections of the Punjab Agricultural University Employees Union on January 10.

The contesting groups of employees highlighted the issue during the election campaign.

The candidate for presidentship from the PAU Employees Federation Group, Harbans Singh Mundi, alleged that due to the careless attitude of the ruling group, the board of management cancelled the representation of non-teaching employees.

“The PAU Employees Union fought for a period of 25 years to get representation in board of management. After the long struggle and efforts, the board of management allowed for the same in 2011,” said Mundi.

“There is resentment among employees against Paramjeet Singh Gill who led the PAU Employees Forum, as it failed to save the rights of employees,” added Mundi.

Notably, office-bearers of the PAU Teachers Union represented in the meetings of board of management, but non-teaching employees did not represent in board meetings to press their demands. The employees need to submit a demand charter to the Vice-Chancellor to mark their presence in the board of management.

Meanwhile, the president of the PAU Employees Union, Paramjeet Singh Gill, said, “It is true that the authorities have withdrawn its decision, but we will not sit quietly. We have written to the authorities against the decision. We will struggle to get the status back.”

Ludhiana, December 16
Merely 19.4 per cent of the population, between the 18-23 years of age, was found to be enrolled in colleges for higher education, while about 80 per cent of the youngsters were not able to seek higher education at all. In Punjab, only three lakh candidates out of total nine lakh candidates (youngsters) were able to get higher education. This was revealed by the secretary, Higher Education, Government of Punjab, RS Sankaria, during the stakeholders' conference on Rashtriya Uchtar Shikhsha Abhiyan (RUSA) at Government College for Women, here today. Sakaria was the chief guest on the occasion.

Sankaria said access, equity, quality, relevance and excellence were the main challenges, which needed to be addressed if nation has to go on the path of progress.

The project director, APS Virk (IAS), described the purpose of the Rashtriya Uchtar Shikhsha Abhiyan (RUSA) in brief.

Virk also emphasised on the point that the education system will transform radically. The Rashtriya Uchtar Shikhsha Abhiyan aims to achieve all-round excellence in higher education, said the project director.

Virk explained on the Rashtriya Uchtar Shikhsha Abhiyan project as a plan for bridging the gaps, reforming and innovation of the education system.

“The Centre State Fund Scheme of 65:35 for higher education is a tool for accomplishing the Rashtriya Uchtar Shikhsha Abhiyan mission of excellence, excess and equity. This plan is not meant for the development of the infrastructure, instead it is a performance-driven scheme,” said Virk.

The principal of SCD Government College, Rajinder Singh, discussed the need of quality education in the context of the RUSA.

He also expressed concern about the shortage of teaching faculty in colleges.

The president, SCD Government College, Avtar Singh, discussed the problems faced by the parents who were unable to meet the expenses of higher education of their wards.

Dr RC Chopra (retired), Director of Government of India, and Dr Rakesh Mohan, representative of GNDU, and industrialist Dinesh Lakhra stressed on the need of giving desired salaries to teachers, requirement of world-class classrooms, and the urgency of imparting training and giving stipend to students.

Ludhiana, December 16
Panic spread in Jagatpuri and the surrounding area after the body of a 42-year- old woman was found hanging from a ceiling fan at a cloth manufacturing unit at Shamsher Nagar. The deceased has been identified as Shahjahan Beg, alias Vimla (42), deserted wife of Akbar Beg, who was living along with her son in Shamsher Nagar. 

The incident came to light when Harsh Kumar, owner of the manufacturing unit, opened the factory and spotted the body hanging from a ceiling fan. He raised the alarm and informed the police about the incident. Soon the police reached the spot and started the investigation. Harsh Kumar said that he had locked the unit and left for home. Harsh expressed ignorance as to how Vimla was left inside the factory.

Bitten Kumar, SHO, Division No 4, said that the police were investigating the case from all angles. He did not rule out the possibility that the woman may have committed suicide. The body has been sent to Civil Hospital for postmortem examination so that the exact cause of death could be known.

Youth dies

Rohit, who had tried to commit suicide at his house at Gurunanak Pura, three days ago, succumbed to injuries at the Civil Hospital today. Rohit was rescued by his family members when he tired to end his life. The reason that drove Rohit to take the extreme step is not yet known.

Motorcyclist succumbs to injuries

A 27- year-old motorcyclist, whose vehicle had skidded last night, succumbed to injuries at a hospital here today. The deceased identified as Mahadev (27), was thrown off his motorcycle when he skidded at Mathroo Chowk and got injured. He was rushed to the hospital where he died today.

Man nabbed

A 57-year- old man, who had posted derogatory comments about Lord Valmiki, was arrested from Chennai and brought to the city. The man identified as Suresh Kumar was working as a translator for a company and was reportedly being paid Rs 100 for the job.

Ludhiana, December 16
A 19-year-old girl comitted suicide by hanging herself from a ceiling fan at her house located in Bhamian Khurd.

The deceased has been identified as Puja, daughter of Surjit Singh. Financial crunch is suspected to be the reason behind the extreme step.

The incident took place when she was alone at home.The police have begun investigations.

Ludhiana, December 16
Hundreds of commuters were left stranded after two railway-level crossings, Shastri Nagar and Pakhowal Road, were closed after a man jumped in front of a train.

Ludhiana, December 16
The annual All-India Sahibzada Ajit Singh Hockey Championship Trophy is going to start from tomorrow at the Olympian Prithipal Hockey AstroTurf Stadium of the Punjab Agricultural University campus. Office-bearers of the Sports Council of Ludhiana said that all arrangements had been made for the tournament.

Ranjit Singh Talwandi, patron of the organising council, said that the boarding and lodging arrangements for the participating teams had been made.

Meanwhile, a technical committee of the Ludhiana Sports council released the schedule of the competition. — TNS