Ludhiana, June 15
There appears to be no end in sight to the stalemate in the Punjab Agricultural University with the university authorities insisting that the students will have to pay the extra hostel fee during the summer vacations and the students resisting it.

The authorities had summoned four student leaders to appear before the Disciplinary Action Committee (DAC) of the College of Agriculture, PAU, today.

However, the DAC members reportedly apprehending trouble beat a ‘hasty retreat’ without meeting the students as the students had reached the committee room in a huge procession.

Yesterday, the Dean, College of Agriculture, had issued a show- cause notice to the student leaders including the president of the Punjab Agricultural University Students' Union (PAUSA), Mr Swaran Singh Boparai, the convener, Mr Ravinder Singh, the senior vice-president, Mr Jatidner Kumar and the general-secretary, Mr Jaswinder Singh Cheema.

The Dean had asked them "to appear before the Faculty Hearing and Disciplinary Committee, College of Agriculture, on June 15 at 10.30 am in the committee room of the college in connection with an enquiry, failing which ex parte decision will be taken on the basis of available evidence".

The four leaders, accompanied by scores of other students, reached the committee room at around 10.20 am.

However, to their utter surprise, they were not called in. When they inquired about the DAC members, they found that none of them was present.

The students said the committee room was found to be locked. Apparently the DAC members, while apprehending trouble, had made a retreat to avoid any untoward incident.

The students later went towards the Thapar Hall and shouted slogans against the authorities.

They also burnt the copies of the show-cause notice issued to the students.

The university authorities called the police to ensure order but the students condemned the authorities for bringing in the police saying they (the students) were quite disciplined and knew their responsibility better than the authorities.

However, the acting Director Students' Welfare, Dr Lal Singh Brar, denied that the members had left the committee room much before the students reached there. He claimed that they were sitting in the adjacent room in the college only.

The students said what was the fun in sitting in an adjacent room and not the committee room when they were asked to appear before the DAC members.

Interestingly, Chairman of the DAC and one of the members were reportedly either on tour or on leave.

Meanwhile, students continued the boycott of the exams today also. There was a general feeling among the students and even certain faculty members that the university authorities were trying to drag the issue a bit too far.

A senior faculty member pointed out, "how much money the university will get by charging hostel fee from the students."

He observed that the authorities should not try to make it a point of prestige. The amount does not work out to Rs 50,000 even, he said.

The student leaders also questioned the warning by the university authorities that the academic session could be scrapped in case they (the students) did not appear in the exams.

The students pointed out that in 1998 the teachers had struck work for about two and a half months and even then the academic session was not scrapped.

The students have appealed to the Punjab Governor and also to the Chief Minister seeking their personal intervention to resolve the issue.

They said the authorities were trying to make it a point of prestige "without any rhyme or reason". 

Ludhiana, June 15
The authorities of Ludhiana Municipal Corporation and office-bearers of Federation of Park Management Committees (PMCs) are heading for a showdown if resentment brewing among the latter for non-payment of their dues is any indication.

Threatening to launch a stir against the non-payment of dues and demanding transfer of the MC chief, office-bearers of PMCs, at a stormy meeting, said that the civic body had failed to provide civic amenities to the residents despite being the richest MC in the state.

Voting in favour of transferring the MC chief, the office-bearers said that “otherwise the city would be converted into a slum.” Mr S.S. Chana, president of the federation, said that on January 7 this year the Commissioner had claimed to them that the matter would be referred to Finance and Contract Committee (F&CC) and their dues would be cleared but no payment had been made to them till date.

He added that on January 11, the Joint Commissioner, Dr Jaswant Singh, had called a meeting of the PMCs to look into the matter. He had recommended that they should be given full payment. He had sent the file to Commissioner for final action. He claimed that the F&CC had approved their payments. But after waiting for several months they were told by Secretary of the MC that another committee had been constituted to inquire into the case once again and take final decision.

“For how many times are they going to constitute committees and indulge in delaying tactics?” asked Mr Chana, adding that they had told the Joint Commissioner at the meeting that in the final payments some bills had not been included and they were assured that misplaced bills would be located.

The PMCs and the MC authorities are at loggerheads over the issue of payments for managing the parks. In January this year the MC had announced to clear their dues but on the final day the PMCs had refused to accept the payments claiming that they were being paid only 25 per cent of the total dues. The Federation of PMC said that they were being paid meagre amount by levying some cuts and the MC was not following the directions of local bodies department in toto.

Mr Pawan Sood, general secretary of federation, claimed that the MC was not at all interested in looking after the “lungs” of this highly-polluted city otherwise there was no reason why the Commissioner should have been dragging his feet to implement the direction given by the government and the Punjab State Human Rights Commission, (PHRC) in letter and spirit.

In the action taken report dated December 12, 2003, the Local Government, Punjab, had clearly stated that the MCs had to take their own decisions keeping in view their financial position and the government had no objection to the payment of the maintenance charges as per the agreements previously entered into by the corporation and the PMCs. ‘‘In the face of this policy decision one fails to understand as to what the payments were still not released as per the decision taken in the meeting held on February 5, 2004 with MC’s legal adviser Mr Bains under the directions of the MC,” asked Mr Chana.

He added that it was ironical that while the MC had no hesitation in paying Rs 25 lakhs of tax payers money, without any approval from the house, for Indo-Pak meet at Patiala, it had withheld the payments due to the hapless residents for the last two years. Similarly, it had not bothered to allot the maintenance of parks to the PMCs, although the General House had resolved to do so on July 27, 2004 and October 1, 2004.

Although the General House had approved the payments to the PMCs at the rate of Re 1 sq. mt. in September, 1999, February 2002 and August, 2002, the rates were reduced to 80 paise at a meeting held on December 28, 2004 while the rates for other things were increasing. Even the rate payable to the contractors had been increased from 50 paise to 90 paise although the parks allotted to them were found in bad shape by the survey teams.

Ludhiana, June 15
Ms Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Deputy Chief Minister, Punjab, today reiterated the commitment of the state government to provide comprehensive medical cover to the people, and at the same time render all possible assistance to private medical institutions, which were playing a valuable role in alleviating the sufferings of the masses.

She was addressing a well-attended function after inaugurating Shaheed Joginder Pal Pandey Memorial Gynecology Ward, constructed at a cost of Rs 17 lakh in Raghunath Hospital here.

Ms Bhattal, who also holds the portfolio of medical education and research, said in the prevailing scenario, it was not possible for the government alone to provide latest medical facilities to each and every person and in this regard, the cooperation
of private sector was essential.

She was of the view that private medical institutions, being run by financially-sound and professional managements, could play a pivotal role in extending most modern and latest medical facilities with the infrastructure, manpower and equipment at their disposal.

She, however, asked the private sector to provide subsidised medical treatment to the poor people.

Mr Rakesh Pandey, Minister of State for Science and Technology, lauded the noble gesture of the hospital in dedicating a ward in memory of his father Joginder Pal Pandey.

He remarked that the private medical institutions in the state were well supplementing the efforts of the state government in making available medical treatment at affordable price to the people.

Among others, Mr Parminder Mehta, secretary, PPCC, Mr Arun Goel, President, Hospital Management Committee, Mr Paramjit Singh Ghawaddi and Mr Kishan Chand Gupta were also present at the function.

Ludhiana, June 15
With the whereabouts of Dr Rajan Garg, an intern with the DMC Hospital, remaining unknown three days after he was named as one of the main accused in the sensational PMT leak scandal, the DMC authorities here are in a fix.

Though news reports quoting the Faridkot police name him as one of the accused, the DMC authorities have not got any official intimation regarding this either from the Faridkot police or the local police. In their bid to assess Dr Garg’s whereabouts, the DMC has written a letter to the doctor’s parents who live in Bathinda, asking if they had any knowledge about him.

Dr Rajan Garg, an intern with the medicine wing, had allegedly bought the PMT paper. Sources in the hospital said he went missing a day before the news reports appeared. Senior doctors said they were shocked at the reports. The faculty was awaiting further details to know about the veracity of the allegations.

However, to the surprise of the hospital authorities, the Faridkot police had not contacted the DMC officials or intimated them about the registration of the case. A senior official said the DMC would take action against the doctor only after they knew exactly what the allegations were.

The Faridkot police had also not communicated with the Ludhiana police in this regard nor had they conducted any raid so far. Sources in the Division No 8 police station said they have got no information regarding the charges by the Faridkot police and the police could not conduct raids just on the basis of the news reports.

Ludhiana, June 15
Industrial associations in the city have condemned the power tariff hike announced by the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission.

“Industry in the state is already passing through a tough phase and various units are on the verge of closure whereas several others are planning to shift base to neighbouring states. All this is thanks to the government policies and poor infrastructure,” said Mr G.L.Pahwa, president, United Cycle and Parts Manufacturers Association.

Urging the PSEB Chairman to adopt other measures to improve revenues instead of increasing tariffs, Mr Pahwa said the decision had come as a heavy blow on the industry which had recorded a major decline in production due to erratic power supply.

Mr Joginder Kumar, president, Federation of Tiny and Small Industries of India, at a meeting of the federation conducted to review the impact of power tariff hike and poor power supply, said the 10 per cent hike in tariff to compensate PSEB losses to the tune of Rs 1,155 crore, was unjustified and uncalled for.

The federation said industry was already suffering due to unscheduled cuts despite the scheduled weekly off.

Demanding the withdrawal of increase in electricity duty from 5 per cent to 10 per cent, the federation said industry would not be able to afford increased tariffs that had been implemented from April , 2005.

Meanwhile, considering the gravity of the issue, leading industrial associations would jointly discuss the repercussions of the decision tomorrow.

Apex Chamber of Commerce and Industry president P.D. Sharma said “Though aggrieved, industry and other consumers cannot agitate and legal recourse is the only way out. The most irritating part is that the Punjab Government has raised the duty on electricity from 5 per cent to 10 per cent, which straightaway puts a burden of 5 per cent on electricity consumers.”

Pointing out the “deficiencies in the performance of the PSEB”, Mr Sharma said the board had failed to comply to Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission’s directions of reducing staff strength.

“Besides, the burden of cross subsidies is partly borne by the state and remaining is borne by the industry, which should be stopped,” he said.

Ludhiana, June 15
The unprecedented power cut in the state has badly hit the industrial production.

The induction furnaces have been subjected to heavy power cuts and they will work on alternate days only. These orders will remain in force till June 30. However, there are four steel plants — three in Ludhiana, namely Vardhaman Special Steels, Upper India Steels and Arti Steels and one in Mandi Gobindgarh namely Modern Steels — which will get power supply for three days continuously. There are 125 induction furnaces in Punjab and with the power cut, the production of the same has fallen by 50 per cent.

Following 50 per cent power cut on induction furnaces, the prices of MS rounds have risen by Rs 2000 per tonne. These were quoted at 26,500 per tonne. The prices of MS rounds had fallen by Rs. 2000 per tonne only last week.

The prices of HR and CR coils have, however, come down by about Rs 2000 per tonne CR coils were priced at Rs 40,000 per tonne while HR Coil was available for Rs 27,000 per tonne, respectively.

The sources close to the steel consuming industries disclosed that the fall in the HR coils and CR coils was due to the large scale import of the same place. The import of these steel items was taking place from China and CIS countries.

The power cut on the industrial feeders as a whole has affected the production by about 20 per cent according to Mr Avtar Singh, general secretary, Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings.

The industrial feeders are being subjected to three hour power cut officially but the unofficial or unscheduled cuts make the situation worse. The unofficial cuts are to the tune of five to six hours daily.

Similarly domestic feeders are also being subjected to three hour power cut officially but the same extend upto six hours resulting in the disruption of normal life.

Even the officials of the PSEB also admit that unscheduled power cut of more than five hours duration.

The water supply to the town is also badly hit due to the power cuts. The Municipal Corporation does not have any alternative arrangements to run tubewells. At one time the Municipal Corporation had installed diesel generator sets to run the tubewells but the number of tubewells was not very big. More- over, when the power supply situation eased, the same resulted in a diesel-scam worth crores of rupees. So now the municipal tubewells remain shut during the power cut.

Meanwhile, the Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertaking alleged that the PSEB authorities misbehaved with the industrial representatives and their attitude was condemnable.

Mr Inderjit Singh Pradhan, President, and Mr Upkar Singh, joint secretary of the chamber, in a complaint to the Chief Engineer, PSEB, Ludhiana have alleged that the Executive Engineer of the model town area misbehaved with the president when contacted to lodge a complaint regarding the power failure.

The chamber has brought the matter to the notice of the Chairman, PSEB also and sought action against the Executive Engineer.

Ludhiana, June 15
The newly appointed Chairman of the Punjab State Cooperative Housing Federation (Housefed), Mr Krishan Kumar Bawa, was honoured by overseas units of the Malwa Sabhyacharak Manch at a felicitation function here today.

Mr Pawan Diwan, president of the manch, Mr Jatinder Pal Singh Dhaliwal and Mr Satnam Singh Sahota, presidents of USA and UK units of the manch, respectively, presented a shawl and picture of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur to Mr Bawa in recognition of his services in the political, social and cultural field.

They remarked that by nomination of Mr Bawa to the post of Housefed Chairman, the Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, had rewarded a loyal and dedicated worker of the party.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Bawa said the Housefed had drawn up elaborate plans to construct new housing complexes at various places in the state and necessary steps would be taken to earmark special wings for NRI’s in these complexes.

Prominent among others present at the function were Mr Ravinder Ganguwal, Mr Hari Das Bawa, Mr Surinder Singh Kooner, Mr Joginder Singh, Mr Pawan Garg, Mr Daljit Singh Sahota, Mr Sanjeev Kooner, Ms Rajni Bawa, Ms Geta Bawa, Ms Mohinder Kaur Bawa, Ms Paramjit Kaur, Mr Arjun Bawa and Mr Gagandeep Bawa.

Ahmedgarh, June 15
In the wake of a spurt in robbery and snatching incidents in the area, including Jagraon, Sangrur, Barnala, Khanna and Ludhiana, the respective chiefs of these districts have decided to strengthen coordination among their circle officers and SHOs. The decision was taken after three miscreant robbed an insurance broker of a huge amount on the Ludhiana-Malerkotla road, near Dehlon village, yesterday.

The miscreant had been hitting targets in the area of one district and escaping into the adjoining district. By the time, the police of the later district was informed of the incident, the miscreant had gone beyond their reach in most of the cases.

Mr Rajiv Ahir, SSP, Jagraon, said coordination existed among the police district earlier also but now it had been focussed in a particular direction. The DSPs of Mullanpur, Raikot, Sherpur, Malerkotla, Payal and Sahnewal, would strengthen the network to curb the crme in the area.

Doraha, June 15
The Youth Forum of Doraha has demanded proper civic amenities for residents through a memorandum submitted to the E O of Municipal Council.

In the memorandum, Mr Jandeep Kaushal, chairman of the forum said: “We have demanded cleanliness of the town on priority basis. Heaps of waste continue to emit foul smell in the absence of regular cleaning. We have also asked the authorities to rectify the streetlights as well as the decorative lights that were installed near the statue of Shaheed Beant Singh. The authorities have also been asked to cover mainhole and recarpet streets, especially those in Ward No. 5, 8, 9 and 10.” The office bearers of the Youth Forum said copies of the memorandum demanding early action and thorough implementation, had been sent by registered post to the executive officer of Municipal Council, Deputy Director Local Bodies, SDM , Payal and Cabinet Minister, Chowdhary Jagjit Singh.

Ludhiana, June 15
His limited means of income were never a source of frustration for him. However, today, when his eldest son is awaiting treatment for a chronic disease, Aplastic Anemia, he is looking towards the government or good Samaritans to come to his rescue.

While Canada and some other western countries provide free medical treatment to their residents as a part of the National Health Welfare Policy, people like Mr Narinder Kumar are moving from pillar to post for help.

An accountant with meagre income his eldest son, Mukesh, has been undergoing treatment in the PGI, Chandigarh, for the past five months. A letter signed by Dr Pankaj Malhotra, Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine, states that the patient needs life saving treatment for a longer duration. “Of the available options, the expenditure of giving Antithymocyte globulin and Cyclosporin will come to approximately Rs 5 to 6 lakh. It could increase depending on the complications of the disease,” he said.

Samrala, June 15
A joint team of the local administration has removed all illegal encroachments made by rehri owners on Ludhiana-Chandigarh road today, with the help of the local traffic police as per directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, according to Mr Baldev Singh, SDM.

On account of this action, the bazar appears clean and open.

Mr Chetan Sharma, the executive officer of the local Nagar Council, said this process was long overdue.

Due to encroachments, many accidents have taken place in the past few moths.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, June 15
The Sudhar police has arrested two persons wanted in connection with an FIR registered under Sections 363, 366 and 34 of IPC for allegedly abducting a minor girl of Buraj Littan in Ludhiana district around six months ago.

The main accused had already been arrested and sent to the judicial custody.

The sources at the Sudhar police station revealed that Jagtar Singh alias Tari of Bhundri village and Paramjit Singh Pammi of Lohatbaddi, the accomplice of Achhra Singh of Lohatbaddi who had abducted Kuldeep Kaur (fake name) of Buraj Littan on November 28 last year, were nabbed while they were to trying to leave their respective homes.

The duo had been evading arrest for more than six months.

Preliminary investigations by the police revealed that the duo had helped Achhara Singh in abducting the girl and escorted the couple till they escaped safe from the area.

Mr Manjit Singh, a farmer of Buraj Littan village, had complained that his daughter Kuldeep Kaur had been kidnapped allegedly by Acchra Singh and his three accomplices who were not identified at that time.

Kuldeep Kaur (17), a class 10 student of Shri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Halwara, had developed proximity to the main accused Acchra Singh during her frequent visits to Lohat Baddi.

The house of her maternal grandparents and that of the accused were situated opposite to each other.

Based on the information received from witnesses from his own village, Manjit Singh had told the police that the accused had kidnapped his daughter from outskirts of the village on the evening of November 28 when she was returning home from fields.

Registration of a criminal case against the members of the family of the girl by the Sidhwan Bet police had further complicated the case.

The case had taken a u-turn after the girl had turned hostile and stated that she had left her home willingly and was not abducted as alleged by her parents.

As she refused to go with her parents and get the medical examination done, she was sent to Nari Niketan, Jalandhar, by the Sudhar police.

Kuldeep Kaur was produced by one of the relatives of the Achhar Singh some time after the incident. She was recovered from Jagadhari in Haryana state. She had later retracted from her stand and blamed the accused of abducting her.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, June 15
The Sudhar police has arrested a youth of Rajoana Khurd village in Ludhiana district for allegedly assaulting another youth of the same village after entering the house of one of his relatives forcibly, where the victim had taken shelter today.

According to a complaint lodged at the police station, Nazar Singh and Balwinder Singh of Rajoana Khurd village had fought over a petty issue. When Nazar Singh lost temper and tried to assault Balwinder with an axe, the latter ran for shelter and entered the house of Mr Zora Singh, his paternal uncle.p

The accused later entered the house forcibly and attacked Balwinder with the axe.

On receiving the information, the police registered a case under Sections 452, 341, 323 and 324, IPC, arrested the accused and seized the weapon.

Ludhiana, June 15
Residents of the city continue to consume unhygienically stored fish as a market constructed over a decade ago for its sale has failed to become functional.

Disagreement between fish sellers and the government over the lease period, rent or sale price of the shops besides a general lack of interest for the work are the factors responsible for the delay. No independent director of the market has been appointed by the government to take up its cause.

Several lakhs of rupees spent on its construction are going waste, as the market with about 25 shops remains vacant. The government would have to spend more money if it eventually decides to start the market as it was now in dilapidated condition.

The foundation stone of the market was laid by the then Chief Minister of Punjab late Beant Singh in 1992-93. Nothing worked properly after that. The building was completed in 1999-2000 due to resource crunch and official apathy.

It was planned that the fish farmers living in the vicinity of the city would benefit from this market. They would have a centralised place to sell their produce. This will prevent them from being fleeced by traders.

Mr Jagdish Singh, Assistant Director of the market, said the director of the Animal Husbandry Department was handling its additional charge. Fish traders have not moved to the market, as they want a lease agreement of hundred years. But this was not acceptable to the government. Sohan Lal, a fish trader, said the government had fixed the price of shops at a very high rate due to which only big fish traders could opt for the market. The project was definitely not on the top priority of the government as was being reflected by the continuous delay in its functioning.

Fish continue to be sold on the roadside in an unhygienic condition in the absence of a nodal market. Sukhdev Singh, a regular customer, said when the project was completed in 2000, they hoped that they would get all varieties of fish at one place. 

Ludhiana, June 15
The 10-day workshop on advanced knit garment manufacturing and quality upgradation, conducted by Apparel Training and Design Centre, concluded here yesterday. Mr S.P. Jain, Executive Director, Nahar Spinning Mills, apprised students of opportunities for the skilled workforce in the garment industry. He said the demand for skilled workers was on the rise as industrial environment was getting highly competitive.

Mr Ram Singh, Joint Director, textile committee, emphasised on social accountability and said buyers were moving towards organisations that gave more weightage to social and environmental factors alongwith cost and quality.