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Deserted girl seeks justice
Mandi Ahmedgarh, January 21 The ‘dejected’ girl who had been deserted by her parents and relatives for bringing bad name to the family has once again threatened self-immolation outside Rashtarpati Bhavan on March 24 if justice was not done to her. The girl has been staying at unknown places after she received threats from some miscreants allegedly sent by the boy. The boy on the other hand has denied the charges and maintained that the girl had blackmailed him on numerous occasions to accept her as his wife. He said, “I refused to marry her because society did not recognise inter-caste marriages”. Apprehending harassment at the hands of the police he has sought court’s intervention in this regard. “It is ridiculous that instead of registering a case against a person, who had spoiled lives of many innocent girls like me, they asked me to bring eye witnesses of the incident and abortion done at a nursing home at Sangrur,” Ms Ramandeep said. Ms Ramandeep Kaur (name changed) of Rattan village accused the Malerkotla police of humiliating her by asking awkward questions regarding time spent with her ‘husband’ who had now betrayed her. She was summoned at the DSP office many times. Now she had been asked to come on January 24 even though Ms Jaswinder Kaur of Jassowal village and Jaswant Singh, a former colleague of the girl, had got their statements recorded on Monday. She alleged that the Sangrur district police, despite being directed by the PHRC to investigate the matter, had been harassing her regularly. Mr Mukand Singh Malhi, DSP, Malerkotla, said his office had sent numerous messages at the address mentioned in the orders received from the PSHRC but the complainant was not available there. The complainant had been shuttling between various offices under Sangrur, Ludhiana and Jagraon police districts to seek justice but her efforts bore no fruit. She then knocked at the door of the PHRC which after hearing her story directed the Sangrur police to investigate the case. Complainant had accused Sukhdev Singh of Rurka village and five others of exploiting her. She alleged that the boy had deserted her after marrying her and getting the foetus aborted at a nursing home at Sangrur. She said that she got ready to marry the boy four times but every time the boy got the event postponed citing one excuse or the
other. According to Mr Justice R.L.Anand, the PHRC sent a copy of the complaint to the SSP, Sangrur, for looking into the matter at his own level. The SSP on December 16 deputed the DSP, Malerkotla, to investigate the matter, but the same was pending.
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Firm dupes TV serial contestant
Mandi Ahmedgarh, January 21 It was mentioned in the letter that she had won a colour television set in the TV serial contest. By the time she could understand that the firm was allegedly a fictitious one she had parted with around Rs 2,000. In a complaint to the Director-General of Police, Rajasthan, Ms Sharma has accused the firm purportedly located at 38, Adarsh Colony, Saipau in Rajasthan, of duping innocent people on the pretext of charging money for packaging and freight etc of the television set. Ms Sharma had sent her entry for the ‘Jeeto Chhappar Phar Ke’ TV serial contest. She had received a letter mentioning that she had won a colour TV set worth around Rs 11,950. She was one of the 20 winners and was asked to pay Rs 1650 for only packaging and forwarding of the set. She sent a draft worth
Rs 650 drawn on a branch of a nationalised bank situated in New Delhi. Contrary to the assurance made in the letter she received another VPL in the first week of December. Hoping that the VPL would contain documents for the releases of a TV from some transport agency she got it released by paying Rs 1,050. But the envelope contained a set of 10 other forms instead of the expected documents. The suspects had now asked her to send these forms after getting written out by some of her friends and relatives. Each of the forms should be enclosed with a draft worth Rs 650. She realised that she had been duped as the senders had clearly mentioned that her name would be struck off from the list of winners in case they did not receive the drafts from 10 members. None of the letters received by the complainant bore any telephone number of the firm. Their insistence on accepting drafts drawn on a Delhi branch and that also by an ordinary post creates further suspicion about the firm. She has urged the DGP, Rajasthan, to get the matter investigated so that thousands of other innocent persons could be saved from being duped.
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Id celebrated with fervour
Ludhiana, January 21 Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal, Parliamentary Secretary, Punjab, Surinder Dawer were among the leaders. The Muslim community presented a memento to Mr Atwal. The prayers were led by Shahi Imam of the Jama Masjid (Ludhiana) Maulana Habib-u-Rehman Sanvi Ludhianvi. Thousands of Muslims offered prayers. Addressing the devotees, Maulana Habib-u-Rehman said the Id reaffirmed the belief of sacrifice among the human beings. He said the Islam was one of the largest religions in the world and it preached peace and brotherhood among different communities. The Maulana condemned the efforts of certain forces and vested interests which were trying to identify the Islam with violence and terrorism. Earlier, Mr Atwal recalled the great sacrifices of Muslims in the freedom struggle of the country. The family of the Maulana has also made immense contribution to the freedom struggle and they had preferred to stay back in India after Partition. The Deputy Speaker appealed people to learn the lessons of brotherhood and communal harmony preached by the Islam. Extending greetings to Muslims, Mr Surinder Dawer, who also represents the area in the Assembly, said Muslims were an important and integral part of the Indian and Punjabi society. He condemned the attempts of certain communal elements who were aiming at dividing the people in the name of religion. The Punjab unit president of the Indian Muslim Council, Mr Atiq-u-Rehman, said Muslims had always made great sacrifices, first for securing the freedom for the country and then for safeguarding it.
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Industrialists meet Planning
Ludhiana, January 21 The Deputy Chairman was told that the government had brought business auxiliary services under the service without defining the areas on which the service tax was leviable. The service tax on small scale sector engaged in job work would render thousands of workers unemployed. The service tax was cenvatable and the large units would have no major impact on this tax......... whereas the small scale sector could not avail of the cenvat as the same was exempted from central excise duty up to Rs 1 crore. Deputationists also pointed out that the manufacturing had been exempted form the service tax and the excise department was confusing the matter to bring the small sector under the service tax electroplating, galvanising and heat treatments are all job works. Even some forging, castings and rerolling mills were also working on job basis. According to Mr P.D. Sharma who led the deputation, Mr Ahluwalia asked Mr Anwarul Hodo member planning commission who was also present at the meeting to take up this matter with the Finance Ministry and Mr K.K. Seth, explained the difficulties of the bicycle industry. He pleaded that to modernise and upgrade the industry investment limit of small scale sector should be raised from Rs 1 crore to Rs 5 crore. The Deputy Chairman was further informed about hike in steel prices. He was told that the steel priced had risen by 10 per cent during the past two years through cartelisation. It was suggested that import duties on steel should be imposed on export of steel. Mr Ahluwalia disclosed that in the present context, the import duties had to be reduced and he would convey their views to the Finance Ministry. Deputationists highlighted the difficulties in getting finance from the banks and the high rate of interest being charged from small scale sector. The banks should be directed not to charge interest from small scale sector above the bench mark PLR. It was also explained that the duty drawback on bicycle export had been reduced from Rs 114 to Rs 98. The Government had also changed the evaluation method from ad valorame to specific and duty drawback would be paid n the basis of weight and not an value whereas the prices of raw material had risen manifold. Deputations included Mr Ajit Singh Kular, Mr Rajneesh Ahuja, Mr Virinder Kapoor, Mr Harmohinder Singh and Mr G.S. Saimbi. The deputationists were promised that necessary action would be taken to mitigate problems.
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5 held on charge of graft
Ludhiana, January 21 Employees of the Municipal Corporation, Bhant Sharma (Draftsman), Hardeep Singh and Padam Kumar, both Inspectors, were arrested by a team led by the Vigilance Bureau’s DSP Darshan Singh. They were arrested on the charge of allegedly allowing the change of user, from residential to commercial bypassing the rules and regulations after taking bribe. Duty Magistrate Jaspal Verma remanded all accused in judicial custody for 14 days. In the second incident, a police team headed by DSP Narinder Pal Singh Cheena apprehended the Assistant Executive Engineer Arun Kumar and Supervisor Bikram Singh while they were accepting bribe and booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
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PUDA employees plan agitation
Ludhiana, January 21 The union further asked the authorities to chalk out plans for the development of new colonies and urban estates, revive holiday on Saturdays for field staff on the pattern of other local bodies, preparation of category-wise seniority lists and grant of uniform allowance. Addressing the meeting, Mr Lal Chand and Mr Bhagwan Singh Bhangu outlined the proposed agitation by the Class IV Government Employees Union against the “anti-employees” policies of the government. He said the employees would resort to “chakka jam” at district headquarters on February 7 and hold a demonstration at Ajnala on February 17 in order to create awareness among the government employees. Meanwhile, Mr Janak Raj Sharma and Mr Parladh Singh were elected president and general secretary, respectively, of the union. Other office-bearers are: Mr Sohan Singh — chairman; Mr Gurmeet Singh —senior vice-president; Mr Harpal Singh Mundian — vice-president; Mr Darshan Singh Muhampura —cashier; and Mr Harjinder Singh —chief adviser.
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Badal greets Muslims on Id
Mandi Ahmedgarh, January 21 Paying tribute to the sence of justice of Nawab Sher Mohamad Mr Badal claimed that all religions show path of humanity and fraternity. “Unfortunately some leaders had been exploiting religious sentiments of persons for petty gains,” said Mr Badal. He called upon all sections of society to reject such persons whose designs had caused irreparable loss in the state during the period of terrorism. Referring to contents of Guru Granth Sahib Mr Badal claimed that teachings of Sufi Bhagats were recited at the onset of the recitation of Guru Granth Sahib. Doors of Sri Harmandar Sahib similarly denoted that people from all four religions were welcomed there. Reacting to the statements of Mr Simranjit Singh Mann regarding his relations with the Chief Minister of the state, Mr Badal clarified that he had nothing to comment on the issue of appointment of the DGP and maintained that Captain Amarinder Singh and Mr Mann were free to act on this. Earlier he attended meetings at various places, which were held on account of Id. Namaaz was also offered in the town and surrounding villages including Rohira, Kanganwal, Dehliz and Akbarpur Chhanna.
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Conference on traditional business from Feb 26
Ludhiana, January 21 Giving details about the conference, organising secretary
of the association Ashwani Bhalla said through such conferences,
participants could update their knowledge of commerce and management
issues. The conference will debate on issues like “traditional
business in global regime,” “traditional business in new market
economy,” “competitiveness in traditional business,” “competing
through knowledge in traditional business,” “managing technological
change,” “restructuring strategic allowances,” case studies,
successful transformation etc. The conference will be hosted by SCD
Government College, Ludhiana. Prof Bhalla said papers had been received
from different parts of the country and Pakistan. As many as 400
participants are expected to attend the conference. PCMA is organising
the conference in collaboration with Desh Bhagat Institute of Management
and Technology, Mandi Gobindgarh, GNAIMT, Phagwara, and Master Trust
Limited, Ludhiana. Dr Prem Kumar would be the conference president, Dr
Vijay Asdhir would be conference secretary and Dr Ashwani Bhalla would
be organising secretary. The panel of experts, include Dr A.S. Chawla,
Punjabi University, Patiala, Dr Balwinder Singh, GNDU, Amritsar, Dr
Subhash and Dr Karamjit Singh.
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Tributes paid to Manto
Ludhiana, January 21 Dr Joginder Singh Nirala, president of the sabha, in his inaugural address, said Manto would be known as a writer of varied approaches with a humourous touch. He wrote stories from the point of view of a common man. Mr Purdumman Singh Bedi, editor, Meer, read his research paper on the contribution of the writer in which he said Manto wrote stories about the turmoil of 1947. He was a true humourist although his characters belonged to the so called lumpen, mean and bad world. He was also known for his bold writings. Prof Mohinder Singh Cheema reminded of the Manto’s contemporaries like Devinder Satyarthi and Rajinder Singh Bedi. Mr Karamjit Singh Aujla said he was impressed by Manto. Dr Gulzar Pandher said “Chaman”, written by Manto, was outstandingly great. Bhupinder K. Sandhu and Gursharan Singh Nirala also spoke.
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A freedom fighter, engineer and poet
Ludhiana, January 21 He admits that he is not a professional poet, but has always tried to present pathos through his writings. Having been born and brought up in pre-Partition days, Saharan has a good command over Urdu. He has tried to express the experiences of life in small couplets. “Phansi maujay toofan mein, kashtiyay hayaat, ki na duboya girdaab nay, na samundar nay kinara diya” (the boat of life is caught in a storm, neither the whirlwind is drwoning it, nor the sea is showing the shore). Saharan did his engineering from the UK. He also participated in the freedom struggle. He suffered serious injuries while protesting against the Simon Commission. But he regrets the dream that had been shown to the young during the freedom struggle has not been realised and everything seems to be going wrong. He feels pained at the rampant corruption in society. As he says: “Peena chaha zharay gum, peenay na diya, yas bhari zindagi ko kissi taur jeenay na diya” (nobody is let to live a free life and everywhere he is faced with hurdles). His remarks about the failed dream of freedom: “Zindagi ki harr umeed, shara mein sarab bunn kay reh gayi, jaisay har khwab ki taabir mehaz ik khwab bun kay reh gayi” (every hope of life has turned to be a mirage as if every dream remained a dream only). Saharan also feels alienated about the human relationships. He finds himself alone and lonely. This is probably reflected best in “bunnay thay kabhi hum nay murasim kay taanay baanay, woh adho paiman sub adhooray chhoday jaatay hain”. But, like Shelley he has a hope and dreams for a better time to come and prays to God, “bhar dey duniya ka harr kona khushiyoon ki roshni say, ranj-o-gum bhi teri den ka ik hissa hain”.
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Railway employees stage protest
Ludhiana, January 21 Union members demanded action against employees who observed the strike. They also demanded promotions of employees and said selection of employees should be done in accordance with the prescribed procedure by the head office. Seniority lists of the employees should also be released at the earliest and discrepancies be removed, the members demanded. Other demands included assured career profession policy and compensation to families of deceased employees and retired.
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Traders block traffic
Ludhiana, January 21 The contractors maintain that they have not been able to make the collections and deposit the due instalments. They claimed that the traders were insisting that the customers must not be charged the parking fees. The contractors said, that they have agreed to some of the demands of the traders like taking a fixing amount for a month. But it was not possible not to charge the customers. They pointed out, “then similar demands could be raised by other offices and banks and we will be left only with a begging bowl”.The traders alleged that some of the persons employed by the contractors had misbehaved with some of their customers which had led to the entire market coming out in protest. They said, they had been making due payments and parking charges and had never asked for free parking for the customers. The issue was later resolved.
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2 motor cycle thieves held
Ludhiana, January 21 The motor cycles were stolen from Kurali and Kharar, Samrala and Patiala. The accused were booked under Sections 379/411 of IPC.
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VAT to replace sales
tax
Ludhiana,
January 21 The programme was organised by the Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC). Mr Verma said the Sales Tax was a single point tax system which was levied either at the first stage or at the last stage. Normally, it becomes difficult to assess one’s stage. Moreover, with the number of taxation rate slabs being large, things became tedious for assesses, he said, adding such problems necessitated a system like VAT to come into place. “With the implementation of VAT things would be simplified as there are primarily two slabs only. Only limited items go beyond the purview of these two slabs,” he said, adding, “CST will go out in a phased manner and other taxes like octroi would continue.” Mr Verma clarified various issues related to VAT, including inter-state sales, refunds, etc. On penalties he said these were important to ensure compliance. However, the department would try to make sure that genuine people were not troubled, he said. On the importance of exports in the economy, Mr Amit Goel, Joint Commissioner, Customs, said it was the strength of an economy these days that determined its position among its competitors across the globe unlike earlier times when political scenario and defence were key determinants. During the first nine months of this year growth of 23.4 per cent in exports was witnessed in comparison to 12 per cent growth last year, he said, adding that the trend was a very positive one. Mr Rajat Srivastava, regional manager, EEPC, informed exporters about the India Engineering Centre (IEC) being set up at Chicago. The centre would provide a platform to Indian exporters and help them find buyers overseas, he said. Mr Batish of KPMG explained basic principles related to ISO 9001:2000. While implementing this standard one has to focus on the customer, he said. he also explained other issues like process approach, system approach to management, continuous improvement, beneficial supplier relationship and factual approach to decision making, to the exporters. Deputy director of Small Industries Service Institute Bharat Bhushan talked about the programmes being conducted by SISI for exporters. Among others who addressed exporters were Mr Arvind Kumar, Regional Passport Officer, Mr R.C. Ralhan, regional chairman, EEPC and Mr Ashwani Kumar, deputy regional Chairman, EEPC.
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Traders oppose VAT
Ludhiana, January 21 Mr Amarjit Singh Happy, president of the association, demanded that there was no justification of imposing yet another tax on all kinds of commodities. Demanding that the proposal of VAT be scrapped, he said the Centre was already collecting Excise Duty, Income Tax and Service Tax while the state government had slapped taxes like the Sales Tax, octroi and education cess from the trade and industry. The speakers further flayed draconian powers to the Excise and Taxation officials under the proposed state VAT. They pointed out that with the hike in the tax rate from 8 to 12.5 per cent under VAT regime, prices of almost all the daily use items would shoot up. They demanded that the trade and industry be rid of ‘inspector raj’. Those present at the occasion were Mr Som Nath Grover, Mr Mohinder Aggarwal, Mr Parvinder Singh Bagga, Mr Narinder Singh Kala, Mr Parampal Singh Vitty, Mr Arvinder Singh Toni, Mr Parvinder Singh Shehnai, Mr Narinder Pal Singh Dua, Mr Jaspal Singh Shehzada, Mr Sunil Mehra, Mr Charanjit Bhargav and Mr Jatinder Singh
Gilotra.
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Industry ‘divided’ on service tax
Ludhiana, January 21 The biggest representative body of bicycle and parts manufacturers, the United Cycle and Parts Manufacturers Association, is among the associations who have given the call. A large section of service providers like electroplaters, machining, grinding and turning, associated with the process of manufacturing of cycles and their parts but operate from separate premises, are holding protests against being brought under the service tax net by the Union Government. Opposition by the industrial associations and bodies of affected units notwithstanding, central excise officials said a large number of eligible service providers had sought registration to avoid penal action for delay in getting their units registered and non-payment of service tax, as provided under the relevant law. According to official sources, the plea for exemption by service providers connected with manufacturing of cycle and parts that similar activity being conducted by the manufacturers did not attract service tax is just a pretext to avoid payment of tax. The ancillary units, now brought under the purview of service tax had earlier been avoiding payment of excise duty, claiming they were not manufacturers. But now when service tax has been imposed on them, these units demand parity with the manufacturers, the sources added. Though the industrial bodies might go ahead with their proposed protests against service tax, a majority of affected service providers have now realised that the agitation is a mere face-saving activity and that they will, sooner or later, have to fall in line and pay service tax. Keeping this in mind more and more service providers are registering themselves with the tax authorities, the sources claimed.
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Simplify VAT provisions, says PCMA
Ludhiana, January 21 The association members in a meeting held here yesterday, said VAT had been successful in developed and industrialised nations but most of the industries in India were disorganised which made it necessary to lay more focus on collection and evaluation part of VAT.
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Industry
flays reduction in duty drawback rates
Ludhiana, January 21 Mr Rajinder Jindal, president of the asssocation, said 20 to 30 per cent decrease in the duty drawback rates had been affected and this reduction was even more in a certain items. He said exporters would not be able to withstand losses as a result of this decision. The industry was already facing stiff competition from China and the decision would not only affect returns but also generate unemployment, he added.Mr Chaman Lal Tangri, general secretary, and Mr Varinder Jain, treasurer, were among others present on the occasion.
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Delegation of small industry meets Tiwari
Ludhiana, January 21 Mr Joginder Kumar, president,
FOTSII, said the delegation informed Mr Tiwari that while agriculture and textile processing had been exempted from service tax via a notification in September 2004, service tax was levied on manufacturing processes even if several processes were carried out by different units, which was discriminatory. The federation urged Mr Tiwari to take up the issue with the Finance Minister to save the industry. Mr Tiwari assured the industrialists that he would take up the issue with secretaries and general secretaries of the AICC tomorrow.
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Biz Clip
Sony: Sony Entertainment Television (SET) has launched a dance-based talent hunt for couples. As many as 64 couples would be selected for the competition. Jury members are Saroj Khan, Shahid Kapur, Vaibhavi Merchant and Terence Lewis.
Awarded:
Camel Knitting and Textile Mills was awarded for export performance by Wool and Woollens Export Promotion Council. Award was received by company’s MD Munish Kaura in New Delhi. Company Secretaries:
Mr Rajesh Loomba was elected chairman of the Ludhiana chapter of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India at a meeting here on Wednesday. Mr Vikas Berry was elected Vice-Chairman and Mr Brij K. Tiwari elected secretary cum treasurer. CNC workshop:
A workshop on “First Time CNC” for machine tool industry was organised by Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers Association and the Ludhiana Machine Tool Makers Association here yesterday. Presentations on basic aspects of CNC Machines and ways to upgrade from conventional to CNC machine tools, were given by experts on the occasion.
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