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Vote for Vajpayee, says Badal Dehlon (Ludhiana), April 29 “I am not seeking votes for my party nominee, Mr Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, but I want you to vote for him so that he can in turn help Mr Vajpayee form the next government. If you commit the mistake you committed in Punjab, you will have to suffer atrocities of the Central Government similar to those unleashed by Capt Amarinder Singh on those opposed to the Congress in Punjab,” he said. Boosting the Akali Dal campaign and setting the pace for the final show of strength between various parties, Mr Badal said only the NDA under the leadership of Mr Vajpayee could take India ahead. “What can you expect from a lady like Mrs Sonia Gandhi, born and bred in Italy, in terms of running administration of a vast country like India?” he asked. Taking a dig at the Congress, he said the party did not even know whether it would be Mrs Gandhi, Mr Sharad Pawar, Mr Laloo Yadav, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav or Mr Jyoti Basu who would succeed in persuading others to accept him or her as the prime ministerial candidate. Lashing out at the Lok Bhalai Party candidate, Mr Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, Mr Badal said Mr Ramoowalia was a very ungrateful person as he had been nominated as a Rajya Sabha member by the Akali Dal three times, but he chose to stab the party in the back and fielded himself against the Akali Dal candidate. “Don’t even think of voting for him. As a loner in Parliament, you don’t even get time to speak,” he said. About the Congress nominee, Mr Manish Tewari, Mr Badal said, “I do not know anything about him, but the less said about the Congress, the better.” Political observers said Mr Badal had specifically asked for votes in the name of Mr Vajpayee as Akali workers in the area were divided in their loyalties between the party nominee and former Akali minister Jagdish Singh Garcha. In the Kila Raipur segment, many people consider Mr Dhillon a threat to Mr Garcha due to his closeness to Mr Sukhbir Badal, while the Garchas are close to the elder Badal. On the occasion, former Congress MP Jagir Singh Dard and Akali Dal (Amritsar) leader Jagpal Singh Gorkha joined the Shiromani Akali Dal. Mr Badal welcomed them into the party. The Akali nominee, Mr Dhillon, issued a threat to the police personnel in the parliamentary constituency, accusing them of letting loose a reign of terror on Akali workers. “We will get even after May 13. Don’t think that governments stay in power forever. We know that the DGP, Punjab, was issuing orders under the directions of the Chief Minister to remove posters, banners and flags of Akalis from their vehicles and rooftops,” he said. He said if police
personnel did not stop partisan behaviour, the Akalis would teach them a
lesson once voted to power. The rally, that attracted villagers from
Dehlon, Batari, Siar, Kularh, Jager, Mini Chappar, etc., was affected
due to rain. |
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Ludhiana, April 29 Cool winds from the east and overcast sky lifted spirits of
people, particularly of the poll campaigners. OC  |
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Khanna, April 29 |
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Man held for tearing posters Ludhiana, April 29 On the statement of Mr Nirmal Singh, a resident of Jujhar Nagar, the Shimla Puri police registered a case under Sections 451, 323, 427, 506, 509 and 171 of the IPC against Prem Sagar Jain, a resident of Guru Angad Dev Colony in Shimla Puri. Meanwhile, the Kotwali police registered a case against unknown persons for pasting posters of Lok Bhalai Party president Balwant Singh Ramoowalia on a wall of the telegraph office in Bhadaur House. The Division No. 2 police registered a case against unknown
persons for pasting posters of Congress candidate Manish Tiwari on a
wall of the Civil Hospital. |
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Aggarwal sammelan to support Cong candidate Ludhiana, April 29 Addressing an election rally of Mr Dhillon at Ghumar Mandi here today, the SYAD general secretary, Mr Balbir Singh Khalsa, maintained that the Congress, which had always discriminated against Punjab and Punjabis, would lose in the Lok Sabha poll. He asked the voters to choose a local person like Mr Dhillon as their representative, as he would always be accessible to them and would be available for the redressal of their problems. Ms Pawandeep Kaur and Mr Simranjeet Singh Dhillon, wife and son of Mr Dhillon, while speaking at the rally, vowed that Mr Dhillon would take up the problems of Ludhianvis on priority basis at the appropriate level. Solving the issues related to trade and industry as well as the farmers would be his foremost task, they assured. Prominent among others present at the occasion were Mr Munish Kumar, Mr Bintu Kumar, Mr Surjit Singh Sidhu, Mr Shavinder Singh Sandhu, Mr Kanoj Parkash and Mr Tejinder Singh Samundari. Meanwhile giving a big boost to the campaign of the Congress the Punjab Pradesh Aggarwal Sammelan announced its support to Mr Manish Tiwari in the Lok Sabha elections. Addressing a news conference here last evening, Mr Amrit Lal Aggarwal, president of the sammelan, said in the presence of Mr Ajay Tiwari, brother of the Congress nominee that functionaries of the body would do door-to-door campaigning for Mr Tiwari. He claimed that with a sizeable membership of more than 6,000 persons and an almost 30 per cent share among voters in Ludhiana, the Aggarwal community could play a decisive role in the elections. According to Mr Aggarwal, the entire machinery of the sammelan would seek votes for Mr Tiwari. The Congress candidate, he added, had promised to work for a conducive atmosphere for trade and industry and welfare of other sections. Mr Manish Tiwari, in the meanwhile, continued intensive campaigning in Kila Raipur Assembly segment, covering around 40 villages and almost an equal number of villages in the Dakha assembly segment. He was accompanied by a number of prominent party leaders during the election tour and was weighed against coins at several places. Later in the day, addressing a number of election meetings in city localities, Mr Tiwari maintained that the Congress government in Punjab had fulfilled its promise of providing a clean governance and curbing corruption at all levels of administration and corridors of power. The city committee of the CPI, which met under the presidentship of Dr Arun Mitra here today, decided to take active part in the election campaign of Congress candidate Mr Manish Tiwari so that the communal NDA coalition could be routed from the Centre. Speaking on the occasion, district secretary Kartar Singh Boani and Mr Om Parkash Mehta exhorted the workers to hold meetings in their respective areas and also to impress upon the voters to cast their votes in favour of the Congress nominee. In related developments, the senior vice-president of the All-India Safai Mazdoor Congress, Mr Kala Hans, the Sports and Cultural Activities Cell of District Congress Committee and Captain Brigade, Punjab, pledged their support to Mr Manish Tiwari and organised election meetings. Mr Rachpal Singh Gill
and Dr Satnam Singh, both independents, also continued with their
respective election campaigns in rural and urban areas of the
constituency. |
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Women spared poll duty, men cry foul Ludhiana, April 29 The principals of the boys’ schools say that it is very difficult for them to ensure proper functioning on rehearsal days and many of them per force have to close the schools. They even tried clubbing various classes together, but it did not work out as teachers find it difficult to handle a class of more than 100 students. The principals have even condemned the decision taken by the electoral office in exempting women teachers from poll duty. As much as 90 per cent of the staff in boys’ schools have been assigned duties, say the principals. Had the duties been assigned according to the norms followed in the previous elections, the boys’ schools would not have been hit so hard. In view of the rehearsal for poll duties, Arya Senior Secondary School for Boys was closed on April 27. The school principal has also declared May 3 a holiday for the second round of rehearsal as 90 per cent of the staff have been called. The school is also likely to remain closed on May 8 on account of election duty; May 9 is Sunday and May 10 has already been declared a holiday by the state government. At Ramgarhia Senior Secondary School for Boys, Millerganj, 16 out of 35 teachers have been assigned poll duties. The principal says that it is very difficult to manage the school under such circumstances. He has decided not to close the school on such days and club different classes to ensure that students do not suffer. He is also taking the help of laboratory assistants, who are being told to take science classes of the junior section. Male teachers from such schools complain that it is gender bias on the part of the authorities to have taken a decision in favour of female staff. They say that since majority of the government teachers are women, men are under intense pressure to accept the duties. Besides, they allege that they are being deputed at far-off places and will have to put up at those locations for three days starting from May 8. Mr Avinash Chander Sethi,
District Education Officer (Secondary), when contacted, said the
decision to exempt women from poll duty had come from the electoral
office as it was felt that it would difficult to send them to other
districts for three days. He said that to ensure sufficient strength for
poll duty, there was no other way than to depute the entire male staff. |
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Purvanchal Vikas Party claims Galib’s support Ludhiana, April 29 PVP spokesperson Anil Jha has said that Mr Galib has
“extended his blessings to Dr Janardhan Singh”. Mr Galib decided to help
Dr Janardhan Singh after he met him at the former’s residence last
evening. Mr Jha said the outgoing MP had promised that he would help him
wholeheartedly. |
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City industrialist denied bail Ludhiana, April 29 The Punjab and Haryana High Court had already rejected the anticipatory bail application of Aggarwal. The application for his bail came up for hearing in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate Ludhiana, yesterday. He has been remanded to judicial custody till May 8, 2004. The Central Excise officials disclosed that Navneet Aggarwal was also the over all in charge and was looking after the day to day business of M/S Classic Alloys (Registered Dealer), Doraha, against which investigations were also being conducted by the Central Excise Commissionerate, Ludhiana, for passing on inadmissible Cenvat Credit of Rs 245.91 lakh to M/S Annapurna Impex (P) Ltd, Ludhiana without any supply of goods. The Central Excise Commissionerate officials hinted that there were several other cases which had come to their notice and legal action was being initiated against them. It is learnt that in Ludhiana a number of companies have availed huge CENVAT credit on fake invoices, thus defaulting the government of lakhs of rupees. The recent
case has caused panic in the industry as the Central Excise
Commissionerate goes on cracking down on the defaulters. However, the
officials clarified that the action was initiated only after a thorough
investigation and foolproof evidence against the defaulters. |
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MC safai mazdoor unions flay Dawar Ludhiana, April 29 A joint meeting of the unions, held here today observed that the agitating employees had called off the chain fast on April 7 on the assurance of Mr Dawar that pending salaries would be paid within three days failing which he would himself lead the chain fast in front of the MC Headquarters. But no action had been taken to grant justice to the safai workers for the past three weeks. Addressing the meeting, Mr
Khelar Chand Gupta, general secretary of safai mazdoor union, asked the
Congress legislator to see that the outstanding salaries were
immediately disbursed to the safai workers or else he should sit on a
chain fast to keep the word given to the employees. The trade union
activists further threatened that the Congress would be taught a lesson
in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections in the wake of indifferent
attitude of the state government and the MC administration. Prominent
among others present at the meeting were Mr Lovely Pal Disawar, Mr
Balwant Rai Mattu and Mr Jaggu Ram. |
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Residents suffer as files pile up in trust office Ludhiana, April 29 A resident of Canada, he has visited the LIT office in Feroze Gandhi Nagar a number of times. Each time he is told to fill a job form afresh, which is cited to be the reason for the delay in his work. His case is a typical example of the way things move at the LIT. The problem was compounded after the Chairman of the trust, Mr Ashok Singh Garcha, went on long leave. In addition, the Executive Officer of the trust retired on March 31, leaving the residents in a quandary. They complain that for the past more than one month nobody has attended to their problems. “I don’t even remember the number of times I have filled the job form. It was way back in 1982 when the plot was purchased by my father. I completed the formalities and the sale agreement is already in my name. But the plot is yet to be registered in my name,” says another client of the LIT. Sources in the trust reveal that office functioning is suffering due to acute shortage of staff. They say that the trustees have written to the Local Bodies Department for filling the vacant posts but there has been no response in view of the elections. Mr Bhupinder Singh Basant, a trustee, says they are
aware of the problem, but things would improve soon. He appealed to the
public to bear with them in this period of crisis. |
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City residents becoming chic Ludhiana, April 29 Fashion-struck men and women do not mind spending a small fortune on makeup and branded clothes. They make fashion statements with their trendy clothes, well-made-up faces and coiffured hair. Parveen, a small-time model says, “Our faces are our fortune. So we have to get the best stuff available to keep our skins glowing and our hair flowing. Obviously, we have to wear latest clothes to stay in the fashion business.” Seventy-year-old Parvati, a retired college lecturer, says, "The way dresses are getting skimpier, it appears that the ‘moralistic overtones’ which were worrying people of my age have just gone with the wind. Thank God that such clothes are confined to the ramp and girls have not become so bold as to wear bustiers and walk on the roads.” According to Dr Chandresh, the fashion scene has changed in another way too. “Indian woman have well-developed figures but according to the latest fashion yardstick, women have to look boyish. The result — we have anoerexic females starving themselves to fit in clothes made for slim figures. Check any store, the clothes are designed for very lean frames. The maximum variety is in the ‘S’ size. Some girls ask me to prescribe medicines so that they can become slim. I have a tough time assuring them that they are just fine.” “Hairstyles are also changing. Film stars set trends, like Aamir Khan in ‘Dil Chahta Hai.’ Razor cut is popular. Streaking of hair is in fashion. To get straight hair, girls are literally ironing their tresses and a variety of gadgets for the purpose are available,” says Rippi Chatwal, who runs a parlour. City residents are more fashionable, more conscious of style, have more money to spend. It is not surprising that showrooms of top cars, expensive watches and quality fabrics have opened their outlets in the city. Nail
art, mixed nail polishes, false nails, false eyelashes — all are being
used by college girls. Jewellery has become trendy too. Out are those
heavy sets that adorned brides a few years ago. More wearable jewellery
and coloured stones with diamonds to match the ensemble are in. |
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Function wreaks havoc on park Ludhiana, April 29 Even as five days have elapsed after the function held on last Sunday, the entire park lies in such a pathetic state that the residents, including children, who used to frequent the park for playing or a walk in the morning or evening, are still shying away. Some of the residents of the area informed that to their shock, they found the entire stretch of the park littered with peels of fruits and vegetables, empty pet bottles, bricks and stones, ash, dirty paper napkins and leftover of food on Monday morning. Not only this, the park was dug up at various places to erect iron pipes for the ‘shamiana’ which had caused extensive damage to landscaping in general and the plants, flower beds and other fixtures like benches and fencing in particular. A resident of a nearby house, Ms Kamaldeep, was both upset and agitated. She said she was a regular visitor to the park where she took her little daughter along every evening to have some fresh air and a walk. “The state the park was in on Monday evening made me almost sick and my daughter insisted on leaving immediately.” She said in the first place the use of park for a private function was absolutely uncalled for and if for pressing reasons, somebody had utilised the public place for a private purpose, it was the moral duty of the same people to not only restore the park back to its original condition but also to bear the expenditure for repair and restoration of the damage caused to the infrastructure in the park. According to area residents, the maintenance of the park was being done by the Residents Welfare Society but major financial contribution came from the Khuranas, residing in an adjoining house. Inquiries made by Ludhiana Tribune from the members of Khurana family revealed that the concerned resident, who celebrated ‘chath’ (house warming) of their new house did not take any permission from the Welfare Society to hold the function in the park. It was further learnt that it was only after a lot of pressure
asserted by the functionaries of the Welfare Society that the defaulting
resident had arranged for some cleaning up of the park on Thursday. “In
any case, the restoration of the park to its original condition and
repair to the damage caused to landscaping and fixtures is going to take
some more time,” remarked ruefully another senior citizen and a regular
to the park. |
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Tiny tots impress at
talent contest Ludhiana, April 29 Tushar dressed as doctor from Hollyhock School bagged first prize in the under three year category in the fancy dress competition. The second and third prizes were won by Harnoor (grandmother) of Pumpkin School and Khushi (Son Pari) of Hollyhock School. In the above three year category the first prize was won by Ronak, while Nitika and Diksha won the second and third prizes, respectively. All of them are students of Love Dale School. In the Talent Show prizes were bagged by Sifat of Pumpkin, Ronak of Love Dale and Akriti and Pranav of Giggles School. Ms Shewta Verma , wife of the Deputy Commissioner, was the chief guest. Ms Kalia from the Department
of Child Development, PAU, appreciated the efforts of VLCC to give a
chance to the kids to showcase their talent. |
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Jassowal’s 70th birthday today Ludhiana, April 29 He has promoted Punjabi
culture in several official capacities as president of Vishav
Sabhyacharak Academy, president of Punjabi Kala Manch and Chairman of
Professor Mohan Singh Memorial Foundation and Lok Sabhyacharak Manch,
Chandigarh. |
Three duping case
accused surrender in court Ludhiana, April 29 The accused, known as Jot brothers — Manjot Singh,
Prabhjot Singh and Harjot Singh — had fled the city in 1997 with Rs 2
crore allegedly belonging to city residents who had invested the money
in kitties run by the accused. The three persons also used to run a
chemist shop in Pindi Market here. According to Mr Vinod Jain, one of
the complainants, the accused had been declared proclaimed offenders
also but could not be arrested till now. He had lodged an FIR against
the accused at the Kotwali police station. He said they had duped him of
Rs 4 lakh. The SHO, Kotwali police station, Sub-Inspector Sandeep
Sharma, said the police was seeking more remand of the accused to
recover the amount from them. He said the accused were doing business
in Gwalior all these years. The police learnt about their whereabouts
and conducted several raids, which forced the accused to surrender. |
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Bank celebrates Foundation Day Ludhiana, April 29 The function was presided over by Dr J K Jain, AGM, Chandigarh Region. Welcoming the customers, the Chief Manager, Mr K.S.
Chauhan, apprised them about the progress of the branch since its
inception and informed about various products and retail lending schemes
of the bank. |
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