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| Thursday,
November 14, 2002, Chandigarh, India |
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‘Plot’ for setting up
petrol station Ludhiana, November 13 It was learnt that the Chief Regional Manager of the HPCL had applied to the Deputy Commissioner, Ludhiana, for the NOC for setting up of the retail outlet at Dandi Swami Hambran Road, Ludhiana, on September 19, 2002. Ten copies of the site plan were submitted for approval on the site situated near Arya College and Kundan Vidya Mandir. Interestingly, the site plan submitted to the DC mentions the space for setting up of the station, which the HPCL has not purchased so far. The district administration issued an NOC signed by the Additional District Magistrate on October 9, 2002. Even till today the plot on which the site plan has been formulated remains in the name of 11 persons, including Hardarshan Singh, Gurdarashan Singh, Ms Hardarshan Singh, Ms Gurdarshan Singh, Ms Harmeet Kaur, Tejinder Singh, Deepinder Singh, Indermohan Singh, Surjit Singh and Gur Iqbal Singh. The land is currently in possession of a person who told the Ludhiana Tribune that it had not been sold so far. The person, who identified himself as Col Toor said he had no information about the NOC for his land given to the HPCL for the setting up of a petrol station. He said, he did not mind even if someone had got an NOC against that plot. “As long as the plot is in my name and under my possession, how does it matter if anybody misleads the administration about it”, he observed. Some residents of the area have already submitted a representation to the administration saying that the owners of the land had not permitted the company to install any petrol station at that site. The residents observed, “It is not understandable as to under what circumstances, the company has represented before” the administration. They said, “it amounts to complete misrepresentation by the company and an inquiry should be conducted in this respect immediately”. Referring to various violations of the guidelines for setting up of a petrol station, the residents said, the tangent point is opposite to the proposed site and distance between tangent points of the curves of the road and that of fuel filling station, if measured according to rules parallel to the centre line of the road, should be less than 100 metres. At the spot, where the NOC has been granted, this distance is not more than 11.8 metres. A senior HPCL official, when contacted said, the plan had been submitted and NOC procured only after all preliminary verifications were completed. |
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Travel agent nabbed for fraud Ahmedgarh, November 13 According to Mr Amarjit Singh Rai, Senior Superintendent of Police, at Sangrur Mr Rajbachan Singh Sandhu, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Malerkotla, had received complaints about the misdeeds of Ramnik Bansal of Malerkotla who was doing petty jobs only a decade earlier. The police had registered a case against him on the complaint of Mr Baljit Kumar but before it could nab him he managed to escape. Mr Harvinder Singh, ASI, nabbed him on Tuesday at a naka when he tried to escape. During preliminary questioning at the naka Bansal broke down and was identified as a swindler wanted by the police. Mr Rai said Bansal who was now known as an inter-state travel agent was a common person only a decade ago. After getting patronage of various political leaders he started a travel agency and used to get visas for youth. Most of such visas were later found to be fake. He used to charge huge fee for the ‘services.’ In many cases loans at exorbitant interest rates were also managed by the swindler. A good number of youths also succeeded in going abroad. Government services were also arranged for those who could afford to pay him a hefty sum. To influence his ‘baits’ he used to take them to some MPs in Delhi and show his ‘worth’ by talking in an informal way. Letter pads of some MPs were used to issue recommendation letters. But most of the job aspirants are reportedly jobless still.
Police investigation revealed that the accused had gone to Dharampur in Himachal Pradesh where he had purchased 24 bighas for developing a posh colony — Snow Valley Real
Most of the “victims”, according to the accused, were from rural areas for whom he had arranged loans on exorbitant interest rates also. To a question regarding his evading arrest for such a long time Mr Rai said, “He has been enjoying the status of a social worker and had opened a social organisation in the name of ‘Society for Oppressed People’ through which he used to collect donations also.” |
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WORLD DIABETES DAY MYTHS ABOUT DIABETES
Ludhiana, November 13 According to Dr Parminder Singh, Reader, Department of Endocrinology, Number of diabetic patients is rising in the country. “A recent report of the WHO says the figure was 19.4 million in 1995 and will rise to 57.2 million by 2025. In fact, Southeast Asia will emerge as the kingdom of diabetes with India as its capital by the year 2025. The disturbing factor is that it is becoming more common among young adults,” said Dr Parminder. Diabetes and its complications were the reason behind 30 to 40 per cent admissions to general, cardiac or dialysis centres. Genetic predisposition, inherent ethnicity, increased waist-hip ratio, urbanisation, migration and lifestyle changes were contributing to its spread, he said. “It is called a silent killer because it slowly degenerates the whole body system. Diabetic patients were two to four times more prone to heart attacks and had three times more chances of getting a brain stroke. TB is more common in diabetic patients. The disease is the third leading cause of blindness and the commonest cause of non-traumatic amputation of limbs. Apart from affecting various systems of body, it also affects sexual life. Approximately 35 to 70 per cent of the diabetic patients face impotency,” said the doctor. “In the body, sugar is controlled by a hormone called insulin. When this hormone production becomes low, diabetes results. If the process is acute, it is called Type 1 diabetes. It occurs only in children and adolescents and in this condition, insulin is the only treatment,” he said. The symptoms of diabetes include increased urination, increased fatigue, numbness of hands and feet, weight loss, blurring of vision, non-healing of wounds, shoulder stiffness, pain and vaginal or penile infection. “Absence of these symptoms is no surety that one is not having diabetes. In fact, 30 per cent to 40 per cent of patients are diagnosed incidentally, so it becomes mandatory to check blood sugar in individuals with more than 30 years of age,” maintained the doctor. People with diabetic family history, overweight, bulging bellies, hypertension, increased cholesterol, TB and history of heart disease were more prone to this disease, he said. “These complications can be prevented by effective blood glucose control and proper management of hypertension and associated lipid disorders. There are no shortcuts to the treatment and regular check-up and self-monitoring are important. Diet management, exercise and drugs are also important. Once the oral intake of medicines fails to yield results, insulin injections should be started,” he said.
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Roadways
staff strike work Ludhiana, November 13 Prominent among those who addressed the rally were: Mr Manjit Singh (Aituc), Mr Harminder Kumar (Intuc), Mr Khushi Mohammed (CITU), Mr Avtar Singh Aidiana, General Secretary, Ministerial Staff Union, Mr Sukhdev Singh Gaddowal (Workshop Union), Mr Bhagwan Singh (SC Union), Mr Avtar Singh Grewal (Roadways Employees Union) and Mr Gurcharan Singh Dugga, General Secretary, joint action committee. |
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City at monkey’s mercy Ludhiana, November 13 In the past few days, there have been at least 10 cases here where monkeys have attacked whoever has tried to scare these away. Reports of monkey bites and damage to property by simians were received from Urban Estate in Dugri, BRS Nagar, the PAU campus, Model Town, Sarabha Nagar, Civil Lines and Haibowal. Harried inhabitants of Gobind Nagar Colony near the PAU campus, today, called up the Ludhiana Tribune office to tell how their attempts to make wildlife officials take action had failed. The monkey terrorising all here has bitten many persons in the past three days. A person who lives in the colony said he had been calling up officials of
“On ringing up the office, first, we were told that the official concerned was away. Then, the person receiving the call said the lone monkey-net available with the department had been laid on the PAU campus, where, too, monkeys were causing trouble. When we said we were living in constant fear of the monkey, the official told us to go to the PAU campus and tell the wildlife personnel there to take the net to Gobind Nagar,” said the affected persons. After receiving such response from officials, persons of the affected areas don’t know how this monkey menace can be ended. Bodies working in the city for the prevention of cruelty to animals were also criticised. |
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DCC gears up for rally Ludhiana, November 13 According to Mr Bawa, the
party activists along with office-bearers of front organisations would
receive the chief guest, Mr H.S. Hanspal, president, Punjab Pradesh
Congress Committee, near octroi post at Chandigarh Road, from where he
would be taken to the venue of the convention near Bhai Bala Chowk on
Pakhowal Road in a procession of scooters, motor cycles, cars and
other vehicles. Among others, Mr Gurdev Singh Lapran, President, DCC
(Rural), Ms Sushil Gupta, Deputy Mayor, Mr Pawan Diwan, Chairman,
Urban Development Cell of PYC, Mr Ashok Makkar, Vice-President, DCC
(U), Mr Amarjit Singh Tikka, Dr Amarjit Singh, Mr Rajinder Singh
Bajwa, Mr Sat Pal Puri, Mr Chanchal Singh, Mr Kanwardeep Singh Pappi,
Dr Pawan Mehta, Mr Palwinder Singh Taggar, Mr Sat Pal Beri, Mr Dharam
Vir, Mr Ravinder Kaushik, Ms Malkiat Kaur, Mr Amarjit Singh Matharoo,
Mr Tej Pal Parashar, Ms Amarjit Kaur and Mr Varinder Kumar attended
the meeting. Presiding over a separate meeting of DCC (Rural), Mr
Gurdev Singh Lapran, reviewed the arrangements for the convention. He
claimed that there was tremendous response from the rural masses and
the rally would be a success. The party legislator, Mr Malkiat Singh
Dakha, while addressing the party workers announced that the Congress
government would soon launch a series of welfare schemes to benefit
all sections of the society. He said the entire city would be
decorated with party flags on November 18 to accord a rousing
reception to the party president, Mr Hanspal. Meanwhile, the DCC (U)
president, Mr Krishan Kumar Bawa, has said in a statement that it was
solely due to firm handling of the law and order situation by the
government that the SGPC elections could be held peacefully. He said
the government was duty bound to maintain peace and order and the
Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, deserved to be congratulated for
deft handling of the situation. Lashing at the Akali groups for their
nefarious designs of disturbing peace and communal amity in the state,
Mr Bawa accused the former Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, of
attempting to create tension in the state. |
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Badal for action against rebels Samrala, November 13 Mr Badal was addressing a press conference at the residence of Mr Kirpal Singh Kheeran, member SGPC, where he came to attend the bhog ceremony of Mohinder Kaur, wife of Mr Kheeran. On the police action in the Golden Temple, he said there was a great resentment in the Congress also. Even Beer Devinder Singh had given a statement over the police action and many other Congress leaders who did not want to come in picture were also criticising the action taken by the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, he added. He also claimed that the Congress rule in the state would not last long as every section of the society was unhappy with the government. Capt Kanwaljeet Singh, Charanjeet Singh Atwal, Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal all MLAs, Mr Sadhu Singh Ghudani, Amrik Singh Aliwal, Devinder Singh Cheema, Congress MLA Amrik Singh Dhillon, were among others who attended the bhog. |
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SAD to hold protest morcha Khanna, November 13 Mr Kanwal Jit Singh said that the Akali Dal had won the SGPC election by ‘defeating’ the state Congress government led by Capt Amarinder Singh who was responsible for the police entry in the Golden Temple complex.
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Kelkar team visits city tomorrow Ludhiana, November 13 Dr Kelkar has recently submitted a consultation paper to the government on tax reforms. The report, which made the headlines for several days, primarily covers legislations, procedures related to customs and excise and most importantly issues relating to tariff structure in the coming two years. There will be an open question-answer session between the committee members, who include, besides Dr Kelkar, Mr Sunil Kant Munjal and others, and the industry. |
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Money for gaushalas on Gopal Ashtami Ludhiana, November 13 The Shri Gau Rakshini Sabha held a function that was attended among others by Mr Partap Singh Bajwa, PWD Minister of Panjab, and Mr H.S. Hanspal, president of the PCC (I). Mr Hanspal said it was unfortunate that hungry stray cows were roaming the city, raking up garbage in search of food. Citizens should provide these cows with shelter. He said the sabha should build a huge ‘gaushala’ here that could fulfill the milk requirement of the city. He said he was donating Rs 1 lakh to the ‘gaushala’. Mr Partap Singh Bajwa said the working of the gaushala was satisfactory and announced a grant of Rs 1 lakh for it. The other prominent persons of the city who attended the function included Mahant Narayan Dass Puri, Mr Tarsem Lal Adya, Mr Madan Lal Chopra, Ms Asha Kailey, Mr Shashi Sood, Mr Jagdish Bajaj, Mr Vishal Wadhwa, Mr Madhu Sudan Kashyap, Ms Usha Malhotra, Mr Sham Lal, Mr Balbir Gupta, Mr Jeet Singh, Mr Sham Sunder Chopra, Mr Parveen Passi, Mr H.S. Sidhu, Mr Gautam Dev, Ms Sushila Gupta, Deputy Mayor, Mr Ved Parkash Kathuria, Mr Amar Nath and Mr Surjit Singh Ahluwalia. Mr Krishan Rajpal, propaganda secretary of the Shri Harmilap Mission, read out a message from Mr Vijay Chopra, Editor-in-Chief of the Hind Samachar group of newspapers, chief patron of the Shri Gau Rakshini Sabha. Earlier in the day, a ‘havan’ was performed at the gaushala, that was attended among others by Mr Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Mr Sham Lal Sapra, Mr Sham Sunder Malhotra, Ms Subh Lata Malhotra, Mr Narinder Chawla, Mr Dalip Thapar, Dr Suman Bali, Mr Rajinder Batra, Mr Kewal Krishan Malhotra, Mr Girdhari Lal Bassi, Mr Gurcharan Singh and Mr Muni Lal Jain. After the ‘havan’, a ‘sankirtan’ was organised by the Hare Krishna Parchar Samiti. A function was also held in Ved Mandir of Daresi Grounds, where Swami Nigam Bodh said cow-worship was the basis of Indian culture and the people should realise their responsibility towards cows. At Gobind Gaudham, too, a function was held and it was presided over by Lala Lajpat Rai, MP. He presented a cheque for Rs 5,05,515 to the ‘gaudham’ for purchasing an ambulance for picking up stray and sick cows from the city roads. Mr H.S. Hanspal, who also attended the function, inaugurated the construction work of a number of cowsheds at the ‘gaudham’. Mr Anurag Aggarwal, Deputy Commissioner, inaugurated a modern laboratory for testing blood samples taken from cows. Concentrate of cow urine would also be manufactured in this laboratory for use in anti-cancer medication. Mr Rajiv Duggal, a spokesman of the ‘gaudham’, said devotees of Shiva temple in Dashmesh Nagar had taken out a ‘parbhat pheri’ early in the day. About 20,000 devotees visited the ‘gaudham’ for cow worship. The Gau Sewa Samiti that organised the function also honoured Mr Balwinder Gupta, Mr Vipan Gupta, Mr Subhash Bansal, Mr Rajiv Sood, Mr Vicky Sharma, Mr. H.S. Hanspal, Mr Anurag Aggarwal and Mr S.K. Sharma on the occasion. Among others who attended the function included Mr. D.P. Aggarwal, chairman of the Rath Yatra Committee, Mr Mukesh Ghai, Mr Deepak Jain, Mr Basant Kumar, Mr Sanjiv Sachdeva, secretary of the Young Advocates Association, Mr Sham Lal Chhabra, Mr Sanjiv Sood and Mr Mulakh Raj
Saluja. |
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READERS WRITE There was a meeting for the collection of charges from doctors for disposal of biomedical waste by a private company (appointed by LMC) on November 10 at IMA house, B.R.S. Nagar. The charges fixed by the private company — Medicare Incin. Pvt. Ltd. — have the following irrationalities: A registration fee of Rs 1,000 one fails to understand what is the purpose for collecting this amount. The company representatives were not able to explain this. Although the charges agreed to by the company are Rs. 2.70 per bed per day, the company is charging a minimum of Rs 750 per month assuming that every nursing home or even a clinic has a minimum strength nine beds. This is illogical as some clinics and smaller nursing homes are having just two-three beds for a short stay of emergency patients only and still they are being charged for nine beds. In fact, the company officials were themselves filling up the minimum bed strength as nine beds in every form submitted. The Punjab Pollution Control Board authorities must assess the bed strength and amount of BMW generated by various nursing homes/clinics and fix the charges accordingly. The containers for collecting BMW are to be charged extra at the rate of Rs 1.50 per piece per day. How the IMA has agreed to these charges fixed by the company, is beyond our understanding. In fact none of the executive members of this body was present in the IMA house after 2 p.m.on Sunday. Dr. J.S.Chugh, MD Traffic snarls I wish to draw the attention of authorities concerned to the frequent traffic jams that are causing law and order problem in many cities including Ludhiana. There is no dearth of funds and manpower with the city police but there surely is a lack of a sense of responsibility. One can see hordes of police personnel driving police vehicles for
ferrying VIP kids to school and back. It is a common sight at most of the renowned public schools in the city. Similarly, the same sight can be seen at almost all major shopping centres of the city. These vehicles often ferry families of VIPs and their guests. Not only this, these VIP vehicles are parked in a haphazard way at most public places
causing traffic jams and other inconveniences to the common man. Would anybody care to watch this and helps to stop this nuisance. T. Singh
A picture of neglect It was in 1998 when the roads in Dugri Kalan, Urban Estate, Phase-I and II, were repaired courtesy the then Urban Development Minister, Baba Sarup Singh. It was as the result of a meeting of a delegation of Dugri Urban Estate Welfare Society and Dugri, Phase-II Gurdwara Management Committee members with the minister at Ludhiana Ciruit House in early 1998. By the end of 1999, some of the roads were damaged partly due to the poor quality of repairs and partly due to the vagaries of weather and no repair of the road cuttings by the PUDA authorities. Residents of PUDA, through their welfare societies started approaching the then PUDA authorities for carrying out annual repairs as required under the rules, but the PUDA authorities took refuge under the plea that the roads will be repaired immediately before handling over the area to the Municipal Corporation as required under the rules. But neither were the roads repaired by PUDA authorities nor was the area handed over to the Municipal Corporation till May 2001 and the condition of the roads became worse in the meantime. Also against the promises made by the then PUDA authorities no repairs were carried out before handing over the area to the municipal corporation. Instead, PUDA authorities claimed that necessary amount for immediate repairs of the roads was handed over to the Municipal Corporation. Dugri Urban Estate resident started approaching the then Municipal Corporation authorities and a delegation headed by Mr B.R.Kaushal, the then president of the welfare society, met the then Commissioner, Mr Grewal, at his residence in May, 2001, who promised to do whatever was possible. Predictably, nothing happened. Today, the beautifully planned and laid out colony is crying for its survival which has been converted in to a virtual mess and looks like an unplanned slum due to the criminal and shameful neglect of roads by PUDA as well as by the municipal corporation authorities. Some of the smaller roads i.e. 30 ft, and 45 ft. vide are virtually non-existent while the main arteries i.e. 60 ft. 80 ft. and 100 ft. wide roads are full of potholes making it difficult to drive on these. We feel the future of
orthopaedic surgeons in Dugri Phase — I and II is very bright — courtesy the District Authorities, Municipal Corporation as well PUDA!. The parks, once maintained beautifully, too are in shambles and look like jungles, the pavements have either been encroached upon by the residents or vendors, making it impossible for children and women to walk. The whole colony is littered with household filth and waste rendering it
unhygienic and unhealthy. Will the Local Bodies Minister or his secretary visit his beautifully planned and laid out Colony and see for themselves the criminal negligence and callous attitude of PUDA and municipal authorities and issue necessary orders to those concerned to restore the Dugri Urban Estate Phase-I & II to its originally planned and laid out state. Major
S.S. Khosla |
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In-laws booked in
dowry case Doraha, November 13 The victim has complained of physical and mental harassment by her husband Darshan Singh and in-laws , including Babu Singh, father-in-law and Surjit Kaur, mother-in-law. She reported to the police that she got married to Darshan Singh a year ago and since then she had been tortured by her in-laws who ultimately turned her out of their house. Following this she came back to her parents’ house at Payal. According to police officials, no arrests have been made so far.
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‘Need to review policies
to attract FDI’ Ludhiana, November 13 This was stated by Mr Satish Dhanda, newly elected chairman of the Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC), in an exclusive interview. He said China had attracted foreign direct investment worth 400 billion dollars during the past 10 years, whereas India had attracted only 11 billion dollars till 1999. Mr Dhanda, who hails from Ludhiana, is the first industrialist from Punjab to have been elected chairman of the Engineering Export Promotion Council of India since 17 years of its inception. He said 10 years ago there was not much difference between India and China and there was a feeling that the political system of China would not attract FDI needed for the development of that economy. But the Chinese made major changes in their policy and set up state within state which was known as ‘free zonez’. They altered all economic and other laws and reframed them according to the satisfaction of foreign investors with the result that they attracted more than 400 billion dollars of FDI during the past 10 years. The Chinese had set up a new trend in the world market by bringing down the prices of consumer goods, but maintaining the international standards. Mr Dhanda said India could take up trading and compete with China and other competitors in the field of engineering goods in the world market. “India may be competed out by China in production area, but it is still not strong enough to compete us in entrepreneurial skills,” he said. The EEPC, Mr Dhanda said, would encourage international trading by changing the mind-set of Indian exporters. They would be asked to act as importers and exporters. The present policies of the government did not stop international trading, but at the same time, these were not encouraging too. The council would make efforts and press upon the government to change its policies to encourage international trading. Besides China, Thailand and Korea were other major competitors of India in the field of engineering goods. Indian had exported engineering goods worth Rs 28,497 crore during the year 2001-2002 and the target for the current year was to attain a growth rate of 8 per cent. Out of the total exports, capital goods worth Rs 8,000 crore, consumers durables worth Rs 7,000 crores, primary steel and metals worth Rs 6,000 crore were exported. The export of bicycles and parts was worth Rs 935 crore. Mr Dhanda said the council would adopt two-pronged strategy to the boost the exports of engineering goods by helping exporters in marketing their products. The council had planned three India-tech exhibitions in Ethiopia, Brazil and Dubai. He would soon be leading a delegation to Mexico. A delegation had already left for central Asia for the sale promotion of stainless steel products, he said. He said, “The council will help exporters in procuring raw material and semi-finished goods. By importing semi-finished goods and producing finished goods at cheaper rates, we could compete with the Chinese and other competitors. The council will help exporters in locating sources of cheap raw material. The council will get a survey done through its Singapore office in this regard,” he said. |
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Award for
Machhiwara bank Machhiwara, November 13 The award was presented to Bank’s founder Manager Bhupinder Sharma, by Union Finance Minister Jaswant Singh AT a function held at India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, last week. The award consists of a trophy, a certificate of merit and a cash prize of Rs 3 lakh which should be contributed towards staff welfare fund. The bank was established three and a half years ago with the efforts of the then MLA, Mr Charanjit Singh Atwal. Till date, the bank has maintained its leading position among the primary co-operative and agriculture development banks throughout the state. It is being headed by new Manager Manmohan Singh. Mr Nirmal Singh Nagra, president, Sacha Sauda Arhtiya Association, Machhiwara, and local Directors of Primary Agriculture Development Bank, Samrala, Harjit Singh and Rupinder Singh Benipal have congratulated the bank. |
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