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| Sunday, September 22, 2002, Chandigarh, India
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Touching send-off to poll duty staff Ludhiana, September 21 It was definitely a heavy morning for these city residents. The otherwise tranquil early morning hours at the mini secretariat, from where the buses moved on, witnessed a noisy sea of humanity as friends, relatives were joined by district administration officials. Most touching scenes were seen when some ‘ill’ government employees broke into tears while seeing off a colleague, who had volunteered to go on their behalf. Besides, families of some young girls had also come to see of their boyfriends or
fiances. Their plight was the worst as they could not express their feelings openly and saw the ceremony from a safe distance. After drawing flak for the last several days for their reluctance to go on poll duty, several members of the poll staff today succeeded in removing the stains. These were led by employees who were not even called for duty but volunteered on their own after reading news reports about the shortage of staff. Then there were some employees who were willing to take risk for money only. Mr Varinder Sharma, a teacher with Raipur Bet Government School, was given a warm send-off by his mother. The woman, Ratan Prabha of Rajguru Nagar, said that she was proud to send her son for the poll duty even though the government had not paid his son salary for the last several months. ‘‘Our soldiers are also somebody’s children. Their mothers send them to war to save us. So why cannot I send my son there,’’ she asked. The entire panchayat of Dhandla village along with prominent residents of the village had come specially to see-off Mr Sukhpal Sharma, a government employee. ‘‘He is a hero for us,’’ said the panchayat members. Several other employees revealed that elaborate ceremonies were held in the villages in the morning before they came here. Mr Surjeet Singh, a food supply inspector, said that he was not scared of militancy. “We have gone through this all in Punjab also and will stand by the people of Jammu and Kashmir now. He hoped that polling will restore normalcy in the state,” he said. Dr Pushproop Singh, a veterinarian from Payal, also left for poll duty leaving his small son and an emotionally charged wife. She was angry why the Punjab employees were made to face the risk. Mr Anil Kumar, a teacher, his wife Neena, mother Vimla and father Sham Lal were all there with nine year-old-daughter Vivek. They said, ‘‘Earlier we were scared but now seeing the enthusiasm of others, we
Displaying grit and courage was, Mr Ashok Kumar Joshi, the only employee representing PAU in the poll duty. ‘‘ The administration did not call us for poll duty. But I volunteered when news reports revealed the shortage of staff,” he said. Mr Ranjit Rana, a Punjabi singer and a government employee, said that he was going in place of another teacher who had three daughters and an ailing father. The teacher for whom this man had volunteered had came personally with his family to see him off. As the whistle blew, the teacher could not hold himself back and burst into tears while hugging the volunteer. Mr Darbara Singh, Mr Ramesh Kumar, Mr Sukhdev Singh, Mr Surinder Jumar and Mr Pawan Kumar, all milk plant employees, were also going. Mr Vijay Kumar Rishi, 25, the youngest one to go for the duty, said that it gave him pride to help the country in its hour of need. His father, Mr Satpal Rishi, said that his son had volunteered himself and had not even asked him. He is my brave child’’. Just before the bus drove off, Mr Vijay Kumar Rishi recited some couplets to sum up the feelings of the employees “Dua karti hai wo kam dava jo kar nahi sakti, Bharosa ho Khuda par to mussibat aa nahi sakti”. Jagraon:
Members of the local unit of the Democratic Employees Front Punjab, held a employees’ convention on Saturday at Jain Samadh Tehsil Road, under the presidentship of Mr Jagdev Singh Lalton, Mr Tek Chand Kalia, Mr Nachhattar Singh Machhiwara, Mr Rajinder Singh Lalton and the state unit president, Mr Ditar Singh and Mr Ramanjeet Singh Sandhu participated. The convention condoled the death of teachers Kuldeep Singh, Mukerian, Amrik
Singh and Jiwan Parkash Sharma of Jalandhar who sacrificed their lives during the election duty in Jammu and Kashmir. Addressing the convention the leaders expressed their views on the 73rd amendment which was passed in 1992 in Parliament vide which the Indian Government complied with the instructions of I.M.S. The convention also discussed the role of World Trade Organisation and about employees’ unity. The convention resolved to get the 73rd Amendment cancelled and press the Indian Government to come out of the WTO and expressed resentment against the proposed
privatisation of the Punjab Roadways and compelled the government to induct new bones. They also demanded the payment of DA to the employees, medical allowances and to drop any proposal which goes for privatisation in Education, Health and Animal Welfare Departments.
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Woman alleges rape by ASI Sahnewal, September 21 Sources said the police was investigating the case from all aspects as it was surprising that the woman remained in illegal confinement for so many days without anyone’s knowledge. The victim, a resident of Jandiali village, has said in the FIR, “On August 20, while I was standing at the bus stand of Jandiali, waiting for a bus for Samrala, a car stopped near me and I saw three persons, Abdul Rashid (ASI, Patiala Kotwali), Shafi and Marid, sitting in it. They were known to me as Shafi and Marid were the persons whom I had met at Koom Kalan at one of relative’s house.” She has further stated that they asked her to sit in the car as they were also going to Samrala. “Shafi and Marid got off the car on the way. Abdul Rashid was driving the car. When we reached Samrala, I asked him to drop me there, but he said he would do so after completing some urgent piece of work at Samrala. He did not do any work at Samrala and reached Patiala. There he kept me in a room for 25 days and put me to severe mental and physical torture and raped repeatedly. He would lock the room from outside. Somehow I managed to escape on the 26th day and reached Jandiali on September 17. I was so shocked that I did not even report to the police. It was only last night when Abdul Rashid came searching for me at my village that I raised an alarm and lodged a report with the Sahnewal police. The accused was arrested then and there.” A case has been registered under Sections 376, 452, 344, 346, 342, 120-B, 294 and 341 of the IPC.  |
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Zinda dances banned at Chhapar Mela Chhapar (Ludhiana), September 21 The Senior Superintendent of Police, Jagraon, Mr M.S. Chheena, said that he had ordered the banning of such dances with immediate effect after the exploitation of the dancing girls was highlighted by Ludhiana Tribune today. He further said that he had ordered the removal of some loudspeakers that were causing noise pollution in the mela. He said that from today onwards only the required loudspeakers would be allowed to be installed in the mela. This is the first time that any enforcing authority has taken such step against the organisers of such dances that have been dubbed as abberations from the ethos of the mela. A lot of hue and cry has been raised by the media also on the issue for past many years but no concrete steps have been taken by any of the authorities. On the contrary the authorities have been saying that the auction of such stalls generated revenue for the administration. Mr Chheena said that he was pained to know about the plight of the girls and took a keen interest in banning the dances in the mela. The Jagraon police had already deputed cops in mufti at the dance venues to check any incidence of prostitution, which was common earlier. The police deserved pat on the back with not a single incidence of violence reported the time from the mela. The mela had witnessed several incidence of violence in the past, especially against dancing girls, but this time no such incident happened. People visiting the mela and the organisers were all praise for the Jagraon police. A visit around all such stalls of the mela revealed that the stalls wore a deserted look and the dancing stages had been abandoned. The organisers were cursing their fate. The viewers were also returning disappointed as no such dances were organised. However, one of the organisers said, they may get a limited permission tomorrow as they had paid huge fees to the administration and the organisers of the mela. Zinda dances were earlier always staged on all days of the mela, including the day of political conferences. |
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PAMMIAN KIDNEY CASE Sahnewal, September 21 Baljinder Kaur, wife of kidney donor Jagsher Singh, has alleged that some police officials were ‘helping’ the family of the accused and hence the three were absolved in the case. Refuting the charges that the family knew about the kidney operation and had made up the case later on, Baljinder Kaur said, “Had I known the truth beforehand, I would never have allowed my husband to take such an extreme step. Moreover, my husband was forced to undergo kidney transplant operation by showing him greener pastures and a bright family future.” “We never knew that he had paid such a heavy price for making his family financially sound. For a wife, the life of her husband is above all riches and I came to know about it when I had lost everything”, she said. She said, “Navtej Singh and his wife, who were residing in Hong Kong, started misbehaving and torturing me after a few days of my reaching the place. I had never judged their sinister designs before. Instead of paying anything for my work, they starved me. Had it not been for a good neighbour, I would have been starved to death. They refused to send me back to India. It was only when Mr Balwant Singh Ramoowalia showed concern for me and later my husband informed me on telephone that they had decided to send me back. For about a month after my return to India, I remained confined to bed as I could not reconcile myself to the treatment meted out to me in Hong Kong. It was then that my husband told me the truth. I then understood why Navtej and his brother, Sukhdev of Sahibana village, showed so much concern for my husband after the alleged attack on him in Uttar Pradesh. The truth dawned on me as to why was I sent to Hong Kong and that it was all preplanned.” “When I approached the accused, they tried to pacify me by giving Rs 2 lakh, but I said that I wanted the kidney of my husband back. I then reported the matter to the SSP who ordered an inquiry into the case. The case was then registered at Sahnewal police station on May 5, 2002. Even after that I was repeatedly approached by the opposite party for reconciliation, but I refused. Now the sole aim of my life is to see the accused being punished. My husband has been paralysed for life as he cannot work in normal position any more.” Regretting the role played by the police, she said,
“The Sahnewal police officials listened more to the other party.” “Moreover,” she said, “The Crime Branch inquiry report wrongly states that my husband is a resident of Sahibana and is a tractor driver. On the contrary my husband has never driven a tractor in his life and is a resident of Pawa Khakat village. He is now settled in Pammian village. “I shall not accept defeat till the end. I shall leave no stone unturned to see the accused punished who have given life-time punishment to my husband,” she said. |
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MC in the dock over park beautification Ludhiana, September 21 The Ram Lila Committee organises Dasehra mela in Daresi grounds and a park adjoining it called ‘chhoti Daresi’ for the last many years while the ownership of the property was still under litigation. However, the lower court had admitted the possession of the Ram Lila Committee over the land and the decision was upheld by the sessions court and the Punjab and Haryana High Court way back in 1999. Unaware of the ownership dispute still pending with a local court, the district Valmiki Sabha and several other organisations had lodged a strong protest with the civic administration over the immense damage caused to the said park by the mela contractors, to whom the portion of the park was let out by the Ramlila Committee. Office bearers of the Valmiki Sabha further charged the Ramlila Committee officials with collecting huge amounts from contractors and further use of a public road as a cycle stand. The sabha demanded that contractors as well as the Ramlila Committee should be booked for damaging government property, failing which the Valmiki groups would launch an agitation. However, the Ram Lila Committee office-bearers denied all allegations and termed them as motivated by vested interests. Mr Prem Parashar, chairman, while talking to Ludhiana Tribune maintained that the possession of the committee over the site was admitted by the High Court and the MC had no locus standi to interfere in the matter. He said the Daresi Grounds and the park, being part of the Dasehra grounds, were being maintained by the Ramlila Committee, which had set up a hospital, a temple, a gaushala and a dharmshala in the complex. Refuting allegations of causing damage to the park, he questioned the very right of the civic body in undertaking a beautification project in a park, which did not rightfully belong to it. Mr Parashar also blamed the then BJP councillor, Mr Sunil Mehra, for creating an avoidable controversy by initiating the beautification project. “Apparently, Mr Mehra had then said that he was doing a favour to the residents of the locality but in fact he had done disservice to the community by creating an impression that the park was an MC property.” Going a step further, the Ramlila Committee officials expressed doubts that the large amount of money, running in several lakhs, said to have gone into the beautification work had really been ‘spent’ for the stated purpose. Mr Parashar said the committee would take up the matter with the Chief Minister and would demand a probe. Inquiries made by Ludhiana Tribune revealed that in the old revenue record, the entire stretch of Daresi Grounds and adjoining open space, earlier known as ‘Roshni Ground’, although being a property of the provincial government, was shown as under possession of ‘Ahle-Hinduan’ (people belonging to Hindu community) and being in use for community purposes. What was beyond comprehension, according to sources in the MC, as to how the civic body had decided to incur an expenditure of more than Rs 20 lakh on a property which was under dispute and who was responsible for this questionable decision. |
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Burn victim seeks financial help Ludhiana, September 21 According to Dr Vijay
Obed, Professor and Head, Department of Plastic Surgery, CMC, “Patients was bought in a life-threatening condition with deep burns all over the body. She had to be operated upon twice and is presently being given routine dressing and medication. Burn treatment (especially medicines) is usually very expensive and it may cost about Rs 2,500-3,000 everyday. Subject to due consideration by the hospital authorities, the pending cost of treatment is about Rs 2 lakh.” Bhushan, her husband, who has been working as an office attendant said, “I have somehow managed to pay some amount by selling jewellery and household goods we had. I have also borrowed money from all possible sources. Now there is no other option left than making an appeal to the generous public to help me in paying for the treatment of my wife. My 6-year-old daughter is still in shock.” Any help towards the cost of the treatment may please be sent in the form of cash or cheque payable to the Christian Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, with a covering letter indicating that the amount is meant for the treatment of Ms Baljit Kaur, Unit number C-556726, Ward 23,
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Lodha opens animal shelter Ludhiana, September 21 He was welcomed by Mr Radhey Sham Gupta, Mr Ram Kumar Jain, Mr Ajay Jain, general secretary, Dr Rajiv Bhandari, Ms Neelam Gupta, Ms Sangeeta Gupta, member and office-bearers of the PFA, Punjab Gaushala Mahasangh and other organisations. He spoke about
cruelties being committed on animals of India and aboard. He said on Indian scene the picture was not so gloomy, except slaughter of cattle in few states like Kerala. West Bengal and Mizoram. He also expressed concern about declining cattle population. He said it had been researched and documented by scientists that killing of animals leads to earthquakes and other natural calamities. Mr Lodha also expressed satisfaction over animal welfare work being done in India and added that a number of organisations working for animals have risen from 400 to 1,800 in the past four years. He said during the tenure Ms Maneka Gandhi, an animal welfare division was established by the Government of India. Mr Lodha has visited about 20 animal welfare organisations. Among those who accompanied him were Dr Sandeep K. Jain, executive member, Animal Welfare Board of India, who also is the president of the People For Animals, Ludhiana. Earlier he went to Mahavir Bhavan on the cemetery road to pay his respect to Jain Acharya Shiv Muni Ji Maharaj. He also presented him a copy of summary report submitted by him to the Prime Minister of India, in capacity of the Chairman, National Cattle Commission. |
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Land dispute leads to murder Jagraon, September 21 According to Sher Singh, his
daughter got married to Pal Singh of Sherpur Khurd village. His son-in-law along with his family members were residing in the house constructed in their fields. Some time also a dispute over a land arose among Piara Singh, Iqbal Singh and Pal Singh and a civil suit was filed in the courts at Jagraon. According to Sher Singh yesterday was the date of hearing. He accompanied his son-in-law to his house and at about 8.30 pm Piara Singh and Iqbal Singh called upon Pal Singh and they went towards the canal. According to the complainant, he and his daughter also followed them and after going some distance they saw three unknown persons attacking Pal Singh with lethal weapons. Then they turned towards the complainant and his daughter, but both swiftly concealed themselves in the maize fields and saved themselves. The body of Pal Singh was found today with multiple injuries. The police has registered a case in this regard. |
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Woman commits suicide Doraha, September 21 The body of the deceased was recovered from Rampur pull late last night. It had been sent for a post-mortem examination. Avtar Singh, brother of the deceased, Baljinder Kaur, has alleged that her husband and in-laws had forced her to take such an extreme step. He said she had been married to Kuldip Singh of Paharewal village in Sahnewal for 10 years. Since her marriage she had been put to physical and mental torture for not fulfilling their demand for dowry. He said his family gave money to her which she took to her in-laws house but the greed of her in-laws remained
insatiated. The torture by her in-laws continued, he said : “she committed suicide as she could bear the tortures any more,” he said. A case has been registered at the Payal police station under Sections 306 and 34 of the IPC against her husband, Kuldip Singh, brother-in-laws, Jeet and Gurmail, and father-in-law, Phakiari. |
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Liquor
seized Ludhiana, September 21 |
‘Cycle units need to brace for WTO’ Ludhiana, September 21 Mrs Vasundhara Raje, Union Minister of State for SSI, was the chief guest of the function and Lala Lajpat Rai, veteran BJP leader and member, Rajya Sabha, presided over. A large number of industry leaders, experts and officials also attended the programme. Addressing the participants, Mrs Raje emphasised the need for the SSI sector to come out of its shackles and take off to a stage where it could compete with its counterparts in the rest of the world in the matter of both quality and quantity. “Those who want to live must learn to live the way the entire global industry is living.” She said the industry, which was full of a lot of inherent potential, had nothing to fear about the WTO. Nothing could cause the slightest damage if our industrial sector could maintain the desired quality and continued upgradation of its technologies. She called upon the industrial associations to take up the challenge of preparing their respective sectors for the highly competitive global market. In his keynote address at a workshop on ‘Impact of WTO on bicycle and parts industry’, organised jointly by Small Industries Service Institute (SISI) and the Association of Small Scale Industries here today, Dr V.K. Mehta, a noted economist, observed that the industry, particularly the SSI sector would require a different mindset for strategic planning, thinking, leadership, values and vision, good corporate governance, human resource management and a sense to create and maintain consistently high brand identity to do better than the competition and survive in the global regime. According to Dr Mehta, one of the major factors affecting the viability of SSI units in the city was lack of market feasibility. “There are indications that a mismatch between demand and supply exists with a significant overproduction. As a result, suppliers tend to fiercely compete and resort to price undercutting, which leads to further deterioration in quality.” There was a need to assess the potential demand for various cycle parts and components in the short term, medium term and long term which should be periodically updated and made available to existing units and potential entrants to the sector. In the context of global market, Dr Mehta pleaded for learning from the experience of developed countries and emulating them so far as improving the yield of commercially successful technology was concerned. The countries, which lead the market, had focused their efforts in developing intermediaries like research associations, technology centers and engineering consultancies with excellent results. The Indian products would be able to make a dent on foreign brands only by faithfully enforcing ISO series quality norms by maintaining rigid quality standards at every stage of production, upgradation of technology, strong R and D base and effective monitoring. Stressing the need for a massive image-building exercise, he said image of the Indian bicycle and parts was extremely poor, specifically in developed country and the stigma of poor quality was the major factor for dismal performance in the export market. While there was a considerable scope for improving the quality and bridging the technological gap vis-a-vis advanced manufacturers, there was a dire need to launch a campaign to widely publicise the improvements already made by the industry in recent times and those in the process of being made. In this direction exploring the feasibility of a partnership programme for training and technology development with the UNIDO assistance, participation in international trade fairs and exchange of trade delegations could also play a vital role. According to data made available by the SISI during the workshop, India, one of the major manufacturers of bicycles and parts in the world, produced 13.1 million bicycles in the year 2000 with the Ludhiana cluster producing 60 per cent of the total bicycles and 80 per cent of the parts and components, manufactured in the country. The unique feature of the industry in Punjab was that the components (numbering over 300) were manufactured in about 4000 small and tiny units for both the domestic and export markets and this sector accounting for more than 80 per cent of the total components and parts of complete bicycle. Expressing serious concern over the poor performance of bicycle and parts industry in the country as a whole and the local units in particular, the speakers pointed out that from 1997-98 onwards, this sector had received a beating in the global market. The total exports from Punjab worth Rs 436.11 crore in 1995-96, which had shot up to Rs 889.56 crore in 1997-98, had declined sharply to Rs 462.43 crore in 1998-99 and registered a marginal increase during last two years with Rs 520.16 crore in 2000-2001. The main reasons, attributed to poor performance in export market, were non-availability of desired quality of raw material, slack quality control and slow pace of technology upgradation, mainly due to scarce resources. Prominent among other speakers were Mr Brij Mohan Lal Munjal, Chairman, Hero group, Mr Om Parkash Munjal (Hero Cycles), noted industrialists Mr M.S. Bhogal, Mr Satish Dhanda, Mr Onkar Singh and Mr D.S. Chawla. |
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Cycle parts body poll on Sept 24 Ludhiana, September 21 As many as 26 persons had filed their nomination papers for various posts of the association but 14 of them had withdrawn their candidature on September 18, the last date for withdrawal of nomination papers. Since only one candidate each was left for the post of senior vice-president, secretary, joint secretary and cashier, the contenders Mr Inderjit Singh
Navyug, Mr Charanjeev Behl, Mr Pradeep Wadhawan and Mr Subhash Madan were declared elected unopposed to these posts, respectively. The association presently has 1640 members on rolls, out of which 1577 have voting rights. Polling for electing other office-bearers will be held on September 24, according to Mr Shakti Sharma, Presiding Officer. Mr D.S. Chawla, the reigning president of the body since November, 2000, is seeking reelection and he would face Mr Jaswant Singh Birdi in a straight contest. Similarly, Mr Manmohan Singh Ubhi and Mr Sudarshan Gosain were locked in a direct contest for the post of vice- president while Mr Ravi Dhawan and Mr Varinder Kapoor would fight it out between themselves for the post of general secretary. For the post of propaganda secretary, Mr Ajit Kumar and Mr Vijay Kumar Gupta are the two candidates. |
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Bhargava
takes over Ludhiana, September 21 Recipient of the UP Ratna Award, Mr Bhargava was Director of the Board of HP Financial Corporation. He was also a secretary of the Bankers Club, Lucknow and visited China as member of UPICO delegation to promote business opportunities in the field of banking. Mr Bhargava attended strategic leadership development programme at the Institute of Management, Singapore. Born in 1947, Mr Bhargava is B.Tech (Ed.) and started his career in PNB in 1971 as probationary officer. As a successful banker, he has successfully discharged his duties in different capacities as Chairman,
RRB, Regional Manager, AGM, DGM, Zonal Manager and General Manager, Northern Zone, Chandigarh. As a General Manager, he took charge of Northern Zone in May 2001 and during his brief tenure of more than a year (May 2001 to August 2002), he was able to transform the zone and brought it into the comity of most vibrant zones of PNB by achieving targets in all key banking parameters. The total business of Northern Zone increased from Rs 10,518 crore as on March 31, 2001 to Rs 12,000/- crore as on March 2002. Net profit at Rs 170.64 crore increased by 136.13 per cent over the figures as at the close of the previous year. During his tenure, a large number of branches of the zone were got computerised which will result in inter-connectivity of the major centers shortly. He encouraged use to
telebanking/tele fax facility a big way with the result that 19010 customers (constituting 27.34 per cent of the total users of the bank) were using telebanking facility at 16 branches for the zone. |
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Lotus to organise business seminar Ludhiana, September 21 The main objective of organising this seminar is to create awareness among the public about the business policy prevalent in New Zealand. Further, people will also be acquainted with all sorts of business opportunities available in New Zealand and the formalities involved to pursue the same. Lotus has the pleasure of having the presence of solicitors and business advisers from
New Zealand for this seminar. Ms Anuradha Sharma, ex-visa Officer, New Zealand High Commission, New Delhi, will preside over as the master of ceremony. The group is focused to contribute to the growth and development of the economy of India and New Zealand. The group is being managed in a truly professional manner. In India, Lotus is being managed by a team of dynamic staff. The staff is dedicated to provide professional service to the business clients, that includes every aspect of business requirements, immigration requirements and settlement services. The professional associates in New Zealand and India help in providing these services to the clients. Mr Darshan Singh Bains, managing director of the company, said, “We will not compromise on truth, honesty and quality of service”. Besides, the company is backed by registered legal professionals of
New Zealand and India. |
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Bausch
and Lomb start campaign Ludhiana, September 21 Ms Jaitly, herself a contact lense wearer will travel to a number of cities to launch the campaign, which is being run in 1,500 outlets of over 70 cities. During this campaign consumers can win exciting gifts through scratch card scheme at all outlets running the contest. |
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