 |
|
| Sunday,
May 12, 2002, Chandigarh, India
|
|
||||
|
MC gets tough with Act violators Ludhiana, May 11 The Municipal Commissioner, Mr R.L. Kalsia, said every year before the onset of rainy season, the entire stretch of open drains was cleaned up and desilted. But the irresponsible manner in which the garbage and other waste material was thrown all over, drains and sewer lines were blocked and the entire exercise of cleaning and desilting became futile. In order to tackle the problem of choking of open drains, the MC has chalked out a programme and several pre-emptive measures are adopted. Before the first phase of cleaning up of a 2.5-km-long open drain from Gurdwara Dukh Niwaran to the Buddha Nullah was completed in April, the civic body had launched an awareness drive asking residents not to throw domestic waste, plastic bags and garbage into the drain. In addition to the public announcements and messages on local TV network, public notices were put up at 15 places. To drive home the point, 36 persons were fined. Seeking cooperation of the residents, Mr Kalsia said desilting of the open drain had cost Rs 1 lakh and nearly 3.40 lakh cubic feet silt was removed. Second phase of the drive is expected to be completed before May 31. According to him, the O and M Cell of the civic body has been directed to complete the desilting of other open drains well before the onset of rains. |
|
Cong changes candidate amidst pay-off charge Ludhiana, May 11 Mr Kala Jain replaced Mr Ashwani Sharma who had been allotted the ticket in the first list. Reacting to the decision, a visibly shocked Mr Sharma alleged that Mr Jain had “purchased” the ticket for a heavy price. He claimed that Mr Jain would move around and claim that he can “purchase anything at any price”. Mr Sharma blamed some local leaders, who, he alleged, had taken money for allotting party ticket to Mr Jain. Mr Sharma asserted that he will not withdraw from the contest. He said he was having the party authority letter. “Even if the party withdraws its authority letter, I will contest independently with the support of my friends from within the party”. None of the selection committee members was prepared to comment on the issue, although most of them agreed that some “fishy” deal had been struck somewhere, which cost Mr Sharma his seat. Mr Sharma said he was told that the Chief Minister had directed that his candidature be cancelled in favour of Mr Jain. A number of Congress workers and leaders today expressed their dismay over the party decision. They admitted that it would be difficult for the party to defend this decision. |
|
256 (bogus) votes in a
single house! Ludhiana, May 11 Investigations by The Tribune revealed that there are about 20 rooms constructed in this space inhabiting an equal number of families. Ram Sewak, a rickshawpuller from Azamgarh district in UP and one of the tenants of the house, said there might be about 100 people, including children, living in the complex. However, some of the rooms were locked. He claimed that the occupants had gone to their villages in UP and Bihar. In the latest voters’ list issued for the elections to the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation all these voters are listed in booth number 5 of the Ludhiana west assembly segment with the serial number from 831 to 1087 mentioned against 699, Model Gram address. Despite objections filed by a number of people against the bogus entry, the administration did not take any action and all these votes stand valid till today. This is not the only case of bogus votes having been registered, obviously by some interested parties. There are several such addresses where a number of voters are claimed to be residing. But the spot verification revealed quite otherwise. Similarly in booth number 6, falling in Bharat Nagar area, the residence of an engineer is shown against an address, which is a godown of a timber merchant. The said engineer is residing in Atam Nagar. In another case 97 votes have been registered against 143 at the Nihal Chand Road address falling under booth number 9. There are several other examples where bogus votes have been registered without the voters residing there. According to Mr Chaman Lal Chatley, a senior BJP leader, there are at least 2000 bogus votes registered in ward number 48. In a representation to the State Election Commissioner, he said he had identified about 1500 such bogus
Mr Chatley alleged that the sitting councillor, Mr Bharat Bhushan Ashu, who is again contesting on the Congress ticket had got these votes registered. Despite Chatley’s objections none of the “bogus” votes were deleted from the list. He has now filed a writ petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which is listed for hearing on May 13. He said he refused to contest from this ward as he was aware of the large number of “bogus” votes registered in the ward by the sitting councillor. However, Mr Ashu when contacted said that he had nothing to do with preparing of votes. He claimed that the objections raised by Mr Chatley had already been found baseless. He maintained that he had no objection if the “bogus” votes were deleted from the voters’ list. |
|
Ludhianvis groan under scorching heat Ludhiana, May 11 Residents are preferring to stay indoors during the day time, except those who have to be present on their work. Much to the respite of many, the traffic on roads has decreased. Swimming pools are witnessing an all-time high presence. Dealers of air-coolers, air-conditioners and generators are doing brisk business. The moment the electric supply is cut, numerous generators installed in residential and commercial complexes switched on leading to noise and air pollution. The school-children are waiting for the change in school timing. They are also counting days for their summer break, which in most of the schools will start in the mid of this month. Girls are seen moving on their two-wheelers with gloves and muffled faces. Umbrellas are also proving to be their good friend. Doctors advised the residents to stay in shade and avoid sun. They also advised them to drink a lot of water and fluids. They warned against consumption of cut fruits. The residents are eagerly awaiting rains, but Punjab Agricultural University experts say the dry and hot spell will continue in the coming days. Farmers are also praying for the rains as the cultivation of paddy nurseries has started in the district. The high temperature can ruin the tender seedlings. The PAU experts advised the dairy farmers to keep their cattle in sheds throughout the day and offer them water twice or thrice a day. They have been advised to vaccinate their animals against certain diseases like haemorrhagic septicemia. The bee-keepers have also been advised to move the bee colonies at relatively cooler areas or under the shade. |
|
WOMAN PICKPOCKET HELD Ludhiana, May 11 This 11-month-old case of murder of a youth, who was found strangulated to death in a rented house in Bajwa Colony, has come out to be a murder committed by three persons, including a deaf and dumb woman, due to intragang rivalry. The unique part of the case is that apart from the woman accused, the main eyewitness in the case, Om Parkash, is also deaf and dumb and had the knowledge of the gang members and the incident but had kept quite all these months. He had rented out the house in which the murder took place to the gang members but interestingly previous police investigation had totally ignored him! The man did not report about the incidence as he was wary of the gang members. The gang is wanted in some other cases of violence done out of gang rivalry or greed for money in Delhi as well. It had shifted to Ludhiana last year to escape the raids of the Delhi police, for its
involvements in chopping of the hand of Shakeel Ahmed, a gang member. The police had to use the services of an interpreter to interact with the deaf and dumb eyewitness to interpret the revelations made by him. The police has so far succeeded in arresting only the woman member of the gang. She has been identified as Kamla, who had fled away to Amritsar after the murder. The other accomplices — Raju Chikna and Sanjay Builder — are still at large. According to SSP Harpreet Singh Sidhu, the police had started fresh investigation into the case recently and SP (D) Shiv Kumar and Inspector Mukhwinder Singh, in-charge CIA-Wing-I, were assigned to investigate. He said that Om Parkash, after being questioned for several days with the help of an interpreter, slowly and gradually spilled the beans. According to Om Parkash, he had met the gang members early last year in Chaura Bazaar. He did not know their profession but came to learn about it after he rented the room to the gang members. They used to go out in the morning and come back late in the evening with bags full of money. They even quarrelled sometimes but most of the times Bablu, a member, faced the brunt of beatings and was forced to give away his earnings to the other members of the gang. Bitterness grew and Bablu tried to part ways. This infuriated the other members who strangulated him to death on the night of June 24, 2001, and ran away. They escaped through a window and locked the door from outside.
|
|
TODAY IS MOTHER’S DAY
Ludhiana, May11 Ludhianvis do not want to be left behind in extending their love to their mothers. Earlier, observing the Mother’s Day, celebrated on the second Sunday of May, was an outlandish idea but with the world shrinking into a global village the day has found its way into Ludhiana. Cards and gifts eulogising mothers have flooded gift shops. Amazing varieties of mugs, flowers and small artifacts of many kinds are on display. Rashmi and Gautmi say: “We dote on our mothers but we find it difficult to express our love for them. Mother’s Day gives us an opportunity to show our unbridled love for our darling mums. We are planning to bake a cake without egg, as they are vegetarians and take them out to lunch.” The two epitomise the sentiments of the children in Ludhiana who want to make their mothers feel special on the day. The Mother’s Day began when the first celebrations in honour of mothers were held in the spring in ancient Greece. They paid tributes to Rhea, the Mother of the Gods. During the 17th century, England honoured mothers on “Mothering Sunday”, celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent. In USA, Julia Ward Howe suggested the idea of Mother’s Day in 1872. Howe, who wrote the words to the Battle Hymn of the Republic, saw Mother’s Day as being dedicated to peace. Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia is credited with bringing about the official observance of Mother’s Day. Her campaign to establish such a holiday began as a remembrance of her mother, who died in 1905 and who had, in the late 19th century, tried to establish “Mother's Friendship Days” as a way to heal the scars of the Civil War. Two years after her mother died, Jarvis held a ceremony in Grafton to honour her. She was so moved by the proceedings that she began a massive campaign to adopt a formal holiday honouring mothers. In 1910, West Virginia became the first state to recognise Mother’s Day. A year later, nearly every state officially marked the day. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson officially proclaimed Mother’s Day as a national holiday. But Jarvis’ accomplishment soon turned bitter for her. Enraged by the commercialisation of the holiday, she filed a lawsuit to stop a 1923 Mother’s Day festival and was arrested for disturbing the peace at a war mothers’ convention where women sold white carnations — Jarvis’ symbol for mothers — to raise money. “This is not what I intended,” Jarvis said. “I wanted it to be a day of sentiment, not profit!” When she died in 1948, at the age of 84, Jarvis had become a woman of great ironies. Never a mother herself, Jarvis told a reporter shortly before her death that she was sorry she had ever started Mother’s Day. She spoke these words at a nursing home, where every Mother’s Day cards from all over the world pour in. Today, many celebrations are held throughout the world although they do not fall at the same time. Countries like Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia and Belgium also celebrate the day on the same day as USA.  |
|
Sexual harassment at workplace common Ludhiana, May 11 Though, the Supreme Court laid down certain guidelines in 1997, which are to be followed by organisations in cases of sexual harassment yet the National Commission for Women (NCW) in a recent study of government offices found that 60 per cent of the working women were not aware of the Supreme Court’s guidelines in a landmark judgement in a case titles “Vishaka vs State of Rajasthan”. Nearly 50 per cent of the offices have neither put up these guidelines on the notice boards as directed by the court nor have setup complaint committees. The “Vishaka Guidelines” of Supreme Court named after the petitioner who fought sexual harassment up the Supreme Court define sexual harassment as — * physical contact and advances; * demand or request for sexual favours; * sexually coloured remarks; * display of pornography or any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature. Ms Shubha Sharma (name changed to maintain privacy), who has been married for the past three years, is working in a local private bank said that her boss started complimenting her about six months ago. “I did not take it seriously and thought that it was ‘normal male flirting’, but recently he pressurised me to spend an evening with him”, she said. Shubha is lucky to have an understanding husband, who advised her to politely yet firmly snub her ‘superior’ and the message was well conveyed to the boss. Dr Meeta Arya (not the real name), an intern in a reputed city hospital said her boss always tried to speak to her at some “private place”. “He always criticises that I am not competent enough to handle the patients and suggests that I should spend some time with him, but I know the hidden motive and try to ignore him. That is the best I can do”, she maintained. Ms Vasudha Goel, working in a government office revealed,”My superior used to scold me in front of my colleagues and juniors without any reason. And I failed to understand why he was behaving in such a rude manner. My family suggested me to sought out the problem with
him. To my utter surprise, when I went to his cabin, he was a totally changed personality. He said he was sorry about his behaviour and even tried to hold my hands”, she added. Unfortunately, all these educated women expressed ignorance over any such directions by the court. They maintained “Even if we knew of any such guidelines, we would not approach any women commission or the complaint committee, because we know that neither our colleagues not the family members would support us. In such situations, evidence can not be produced”. Ms Manjit Sodhia, former Principal Government College for Women said it was shocking that most of the educated women were not aware of the guidelines. “They are not even aware of their rights. Even the CBSE-affiliated schools and UGC has directed the colleges to form a redressal committee in which such cases are solved but that is all paper work. Hardly any result come out of it”, she said. Ms Sodhia stressed that there was a need to make women aware of their
rights. "The point of law is to deal with sexual harassment where it creates an unpleasant working environment, results in discrimination against women, makes it extremely uncomfortable for her to continue to work there and affects her sense of well-being and safety”. However, a more serious fallout rises from the fact that most women continue to remain ignorant nearly five years after the directive, issued by the three member bench of the Supreme Court presided by none other than the then, Chief Justice of India, Justice J.S.Verma. Most women, including representatives of NCW, say gender equality was unattainable till sincere efforts were made to get the Supreme Court directive implemented that ensured no harassment of any kind to women in workplaces. |
|
DSP’s appeal against drug addiction Ahmedgarh, May 11 Mr Singh claimed that drug addiction was the root cause of all evils which were mushrooming among the rural youth . Besides making an appeal to representatives of people, he directed the representatives of NGO’s posted at police station to be polite to public in general and elected representative in particular. He assured that senior citizens and women would not be called to police station in connection with petty complaints. Mr Sikander Singh, Inspector and Mr Nidhan Singh also addressed the gathering. |
|
Delay in issuing
NOCs flayed Ludhiana, May 11 |
Assault on scribe: case registered Ludhiana, May 11 In the FIR (dated May 10, 2002) the complainant stated that on May 8, he had gone to the office of the DTO to cover the nominations for the corporation elections when he got information that some middlemen were getting some papers stamped in the room of clerk Jasdev Singh in a suspicious manner. Gurbakash Singh further stated that when he informed the DTO about it, the officer sent one of his gunmen with him. When he knocked at the door of the room, the occupants did not open the door. Then he went to have a look from another window of the room at which the men stamping the papers threw the papers out which were picked up by him. The papers collected by him included some unfilled forms and some bank forms relating to taxes. Gurbkash Singh stated that when he told the men that he had obtained the proof of their misdeeds, Avtar Singh got annoyed. Then, at the instance of clerk Jasdev Singh, Avtar Singh and his cronies gathered around him, attacked him and snatched the papers from him. In the ensuing attack, his turban was thrown away and his clothes were torn. But in spite of the attack, he managed to retain some of the challan forms which he later handed over to the DTO. The challan forms were later handed over to the ADTO by the DTO for conducting an inquiry into the incident. Gurbakash Singh told that he had already complained on March 26 last to the state Transport Commissioner about the bungling in tax forms as a result of which taxes worth crores were being denied to the state exchequer. The so-called middlemen and clerk were already angry with him because of that complaint.
|
|
Six booked for stealing vehicles Ludhiana, May 11 According to the police, the modus operandi of the gang was to snatch vehicles at gunpoint and prepare forged documents later. The snatched vehicles, with changed documents, were later used in smuggling poppy-husk. Most of the snatched vehicles were generally resold by the gang. No member of the gang has been arrested so far. Fraud alleged:
Kidnapping case:
11 held for gambling:
The Kotwali police has arrested Amarjit Singh, a resident of Bora village, Kirpal Singh, a resident of Nawan Mohalla, and Jagdishwar, who resides near the railway station. The Division No. 4 police has arrested Anil Kumar, a resident of New Shakti Nagar, and the Haibowal police has arrested Lakhwinder Singh, Gurpreet Singh and Vijay Kumar of New Tagore Nagar on the charge of gambling. The police said cash had been seized from their possession. The Division No. 6 police arrested Ravi Kumar, a resident of Kidwai Nagar, Deepu, a resident of Ambedkar Colony, Suresh Kumar, a resident of Prem Nagar, and Mannpreet Singh, a resident of Kidwai Nagar, while they were gambling in a park near the Cheema chowk on Thursday. All accused have been booked under Sections 13, 3 and 67 of the Gambling Act. Five arrested:
Chain snatched:
Beaten up:
Two held for jamming traffic:
Driver booked:
24 booked:
The police of the same area has registered a case on the statement of Mr Harjit Singh, a resident of New Amar Nagar, against Ranjit Singh of the same locality, under Sections 323, 341 and 334 of the IPC. The complainant has alleged that the accused intercepted him on the road and beat him up. On the statement of Ms Paramjit Kaur, a resident of Inder Nagar, Phullanwal, the Sadar police has registered a case under Sections 323 and 341 of the IPC against Darshan Singh and Charan Singh. The woman had alleged that the accused had beaten up her husband, Mr Rajinder Singh, on Thursday. The Haibowal police, on the statement of Ms Kamaljit Kaur, a resident of Haibowal, has registered a case under Sections 323, 341 and 506 of the IPC against Rajesh Sharma, a resident of Post Office street, Haibowal. The complainant alleged that the accused beat up her husband, Sucha Singh on Thursday and also threatened him. The Division No. 7 police has registered a case on the statement of Ms Manjit Kaur, a resident of Adarsh Nagar, against Suraj Parshad, Gobind Singh, Pinku, Sonu and 15 others under Sections 452, 323 and 506 of the IPC. Ms Manjit Kaur alleged that the accused beat her up on Thursday and threatened her. AMLOH According to Mr Neeraj Karkra, when he came to the shop on Saturday morning he found the locks of the shop intact, but the cash and books were missing. Mr Balwinder Singh Randhawa, SHO, Amloh, said the police was investigating the matter. JAGRAON Cop held for looting vend:
Arrested:
|
|
Two bookies figure in suicide case Ludhiana, May 11 The case came to light when a team of Sunam police descended on the city to remand of some of the bookies nabbed by the city police early this week. However, the police had to return empty-handed as the two bookies wanted by them were still at large. Police sources revealed to Ludhiana Tribune that a Sunam resident, whose name could not be known, had allegedly committed suicide. He was a punter and used to bet heavily on cricket matches. He had lost a huge amount of money but continued to bet. Subsequently he made some money but the two bookies — Parveen Kumar alias Tony and Gulati — did not pay him his dues. The man allegedly committed suicide and left a note stating that he was under huge debt as the two did not pay him a large sum on which he had based his investments. On the basis of the note, the police registered a case of abetment to suicide against the two Ludhiana-based bookies. Sources said after learning about the busting of bookies’ racket in Ludhiana, the Sunam police found out that the names of the two accused wanted by them in the case also figured in police investigations. The team, however, could not find the culprits as they were yet to be arrested by the police. |
|
Concern over hike in
raw material prices Ludhiana, May 11 Taking a serious note of the situation, Mr Inderjit Singh Pardhan, president and Mr Avtar Singh, general secretary of the Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings (CICU) observed that this unprecedented hike in the prices of basic raw material and allied steel products during the past one-and-a-half months had led to a big rise in the cost of production, rendering the manufacturing units here unviable and uncompetitive. According to Mr Avtar Singh, the prices of HR Coils had shot up from Rs 12,500 to 14,500 per metric tonne exclusive of central excise duty. There were four major manufacturers of HR Coils in the country both in the public and private sector and all of them had raised the prices of the material by almost Rs 2000 per metric tonne. The adverse impact of such unprecedented hike in the prices of basic raw materials for engineering industry had not only put in jeopardy, the local sales of engineering products but had also had shrunk the profitability of the exporters. Similarly the prices of furnace oil had also risen from Rs 9 to 14 per litre within two months and the prices of M S Rounds had registered an upward trend from Rs 13,600 to 14700 per metric tonne during the past one month. The arbitrary and sudden spurt in prices of the raw material for engineering industry had sounded the death knell of the industrial units here. Mr Pardhan has urged the Union Minister for Steel to intervene immediately to bring under control the sudden upward trend in the prices of iron and steel. He asserted that the rate of draw back allowed to the exporters would not go up in proportion to the sudden hike in the prices of the raw material and as a result the exporters would not be able to compete in the global market. |
|
‘Subsidy withdrawal a setback to industry’ Mandi Gobindgarh, May 11 Mr Singhi further stated that letters have been received by the district industries centers not to process new cases for the grant of subsidy till the new industrial policy is announced. It will affect the industrial growth. The state government should withdraw subsidies already being granted to agriculture sector, which is already exempted from sales tax and income tax, to help sustain the industry, he commented. He has welcomed the decision of the state government to file a special leave petition (SLP) in Supreme Court challenging the order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court quashing the abolition of octroi in the state. He has proposed to introduce entry tax in place of octroi, which will provide requisite revenue to local bodies for the development of urban areas. Mr Singhi also requested the state government to keep at abeyance the proposal to hike the power tariff and to withdraw the free power supply being given to farmers. |
|
|
Street Smart Challenge contest Ludhiana, May 11 According to a communication, four pre-event ads are being released before the event day wherein a brief about the event is given and the customers have been advised to call any of the Maruti dealer to register for the event. They have also been informed that there will be 10 clue points in the Sunday newspapers which participants need to crack and reach these points. They could chose any route. All the participants start from their respective homes and chalk out their own plan to cover all the checkpoints. When the participant reaches the first checkpoint, he will be issued a time card and odometer reading and time is entered. The participant then goes to all the checkpoints and ends at the checkpoint he had started from. So all the participants will cover the same distance. Time and odometer reading is entered in time card at each of the checkpoints. The time card is taken at end checkpoint after the participant has covered all the 10 checkpoints. At each checkpoint a gift is given to the participant that will be provided by the dealers. Starting and ending time for the event (which is the maximum time limit) is 8 am to 1 pm. According to the company, the winner will be decided based on the distance covered, time taken to cover all the checkpoints and average speed during the route. The fast drivers and very slow drivers will be penalised . So the participants who maintain the speed limits and know the city well are likely to be the winners. In the evening prize distribution will start at 6 pm and top 100 winners will be invited for the function. Top 20 winners will be given the prizes. The first prize is a trip for two from Delhi to Bangkok, the second prize is Maruti Genuine Accessories worth Rs 10,000 and the third prize is Kenwood car stereo system. Besides, there are 10 Nippon car safety systems to be won. The co-sponsors for the Street Smart Challenge are Nippon Audiotronix, Ebony and ICICI car loans.
|
|
Seminar for architects Ludhiana, May 11 On display were T5 lighting fixtures in place of conventional tube fixtures, modern type of ceiling lights, floodlights and down lighters and tower fans. A Crompton Greaves lighting team from Mumbai, headed by Deputy General Manager S. Chakraborti, explained about lighting design software for various installations, including offices, homes and trade centres. In a bid to equip the architects with this software, the team talked at length about technicalities of the products. Addressing the gathering Mr A.K. Maniktala, branch manager, said the company laid great stress on giving quality products. Fans Division in charge Vipin Aggarwal and Luminaires Division in charge Puneet Dhawan said company executives would be available in the city to address the needs of the customers. Mr Ravinder Khosla and Mr Arjan Dev of the Ludhiana Architects Association were actively involved in arranging the seminar. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 122 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
