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Congress rally sees huge attendance
Ludhiana November 14 The preparations for the grand show, as it turned out to be, were going on for several days. While the workers were mobilised from across the state, the local workers and leaders had the added responsibility to ensure the smooth and proper conduct of the function. And serving langar to such a huge crowd was not an easy job. Although traffic was disturbed to a great degree in the city, it kept moving at a snail’s pace. Trucks, trolleys, buses and small vehicles carrying the Congress workers to the rally made trips to the city the whole day. According to the District Congress Committee (DCC) president, Mr Jagmohan Sharma, all workers and leaders had been assigned duties and they seemed to have done their job well. Adequate security arrangements were also made with SSPs and SPs deployed from the neighbouring districts at the venue. The proceedings were conducted by the Dakha MLA, Mr Milkiat Singh Dakha, in his usual simple, but impressive style. Noted Punjabi singer Pammi Bhai also entertained the audience with his popular numbers. The rally finished by 3 pm as the speakers also remained brief and to the point. Prominent among those present at the rally included the Mayor, Mr Nahar Singh Gill, Mr Jaghmohan Sharma, Mr Bhalinder Singh, Mr Amarjit Singh Tikka, Mr Pawan Dewan, Deputy Mayor, Mr Prem Mittal, councillors and other leaders.
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Lakhs of rupees for Vikas Yatra,
not a penny for this village
Ludhiana, November 14 The fact that the yatra was funded by the coffers of the state government leaves the farmers all the more pained. They have been fighting a never-ending battle of sorts for getting a drain for a pond dug- a public work estimated at Rs 5 lakh by the Panchayat and Rural Development Department. For the past couple of years the farmers have been making rounds of various offices for getting the drain connecting their village pond with the Budda nala passing through near it. But to no avail. They are told there is no money for them. Mr Sant Singh, an affected farmer, had even met the Chief Minister a few months ago. An Officer on Special Duty in his office referred the case to the Deputy Commissioner, Ludhiana, for further and necessary action. The file could not yield anything and kept on making rounds of corridors of babudom. ‘‘I received a communication that the file was sent to the DC on September 4. Not even a single official of any department has visited our village since then. Our crops die every year due to waterlogged fields,’’ said the farmer. He said the sewage of the village was discharged in the pond which had no drain. His fields located in the vicinity of the pond were flooded and crops could not survive.
The problem was compounded due to the faulty laying of the same road connecting Ranka to this village. Due to the raised plinth level and in the absence of any siphon or pipes to discharge the pond water, the farmers had been losing their crop for the past five years. “We are making rounds of the various offices for the past many years. Nobody has come to
our rescue. They cite one reason or the another,” said villagers. Mr Bhim Sen, Block Development and Panchayat Officer, Sidhwan Bet, said he did not know anything about the issue. He said he would get the file from the DDPO office and find out what the problem was. The villagers said they were really disappointed that the CM was going from house to house in Akali-dominated areas and paying cash to people, but he had not bothered about these farmers who wanted to earn on their own but were suffering cash crunch because of lack of a drain. They said earlier a grant of Rs 2 lakh was released by a former MLA for the drain. A former Sarpanch allegedly embezzled it. The panchayat department initiated an inquiry to look into the embezzlement of funds,but no headway was made in the case.
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Vikas Yatra gets warm welcome
Ludhiana, November 14 Gates welcoming the yatra were raised on the route. Bhangra groups and musical groups were seen performing ahead of the yatra. Mr Parminder Singh Gill, general secretary,Punjab Congress Legal Cell, Mr Ishar Singh
Meharban, former minister, Mr Amarjit Singh, minister, Dr Harbans Lal, advocate, Mr Bhalinder Singh, district president, Ludhiana, and Mr Amrik Singh Dhillon, MLA, were also present on the occasion.
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CM’s yatra will prove counter-productive: SAD
Amloh, November 14 He was interacting with mediapersons at the residence of SAD (Urban) unit chief Hari Chand Mittal today. Later, he inaugurated a showroom on Bugga bus stand, here. The loan policy adopted by Cooperative and Punjab Agriculture Development Banks has imposed the condition of minimum 10 acre holding for loans. It will debar 75 per cent of farmers who have less than 10 acre land from availing the benefit of loan schemes to purchase agriculture
machinery, he said. Another step taken by the Chief Minister has placed thousands of arthyias out of work by authorising big industrial houses to purchase farm products directly from the farmers and to make direct payment to them. The farmers will not be able to get the benefit of MSP from the government under this policy. Big companies like Airtel and Reliance are making direct purchase of land from the farmers, he said He further said the development of the state would be jeopardised with the policies of the direct purchase of farm produce as the procurement agencies pay 10 to 10.5 per cent tax in the shape of 4 per cent VAT, 4 per cent mandi tax which was spent on roads in the rural areas and 2.5 per cent to commission agents as the latter look after the interests of farmers and make advance payments and solve their other problems. The marketing board would have no work at all. Lashing out at the Chief Minister, Capt Kamaljeet Singh said he had now got down from the helicopter to the roads for jan sampark but in the coming days he would be forced to go into his palace.
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Amritsar residents prone to diabetes, says PAU study
Our Correspondent
Ludhiana, November 14 According to a PAU study, lifestyle factors play an important role in degenerative diseases like diabetes and coronary heart diseases. Food and Nutrition Department researchers, PAU, Rajvinder Kaur Kang, Rita Jain and Paramjit Chawla in a study coducted in Amritsar district have observed that 70 per cent of the subjects, who formed part of the survey, attributed their diabetes to "family history". Of the 30 odd diabetics were in the age group of 30 years to 50 years living in the posh areas of Amritsar. The Head of the Department of Food and Nutrition, Dr Subhashni Verma, said diabetes mellitus was a metabolic disorder where body's capacity to utilise sugar, fat and protein was disturbed due to either insulin deficiency or resistance. In fact, she said the incidence of non-insulin dependent diabetes was higher than the insulin-dependent diabetes. While diabetes mellitus was hereditary, the non-insulin dependent could affect any individual. The survey showed that the most common and frequent symptoms observed among the sampled 30 diabetics, (equal number of males and females), 73 per cent complained of tiredness, 60 per cent of polydypsia (feeling thirsty), 47 per cent of polyphagia (feeling hungry), 40 per cent of burning sensation under feet and 37 per cent of headache. According to Dr Verma, India will be "diabetes capital" of the world by 2025. At present, one out of five Indians was diabetic. Nearly half of the population in India was below 25 years. Diabetes could strike at any age, particularly, non-insulin dependent diabetes.It is estimated, that the number of diabetics in developing countries will rise to 284 million in 2030 from 115 million in 2000. Also, diabetes was responsible for one in 20 deaths worldwide. Studies show that India topped the world in consuming sugar as sweets were ubiquitous on social occasions. Dr Verma said a FICCI- sponsored food and beverages survey coducted this year revealed that sweet shops form the largest sector in country’s food and beverages industry, accounting for nearly Rs 57,750 crore sector. The survey by Rajvinder, Rita and Paramjit revealed that high calorie intake diet of Punjabis made them vulnerable to diabetes. Their eating capacity was far higher than the recommended dietary allowance because of high mean daily intake of energy, total fat, calcium and phosphorous. The average weight of the subjects was higher as compared to reference standard weight and 40 per cent of them were obese. Dr Varma said nutrition education should be imparted. “One must undergo regular health check-ups to avoid any kind of complications”. The government should organise free medical camps to generate awareness among common people, she added.
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Focus on healthy lifestyle: doctors
Our Correspondent
Ludhiana, November 14 "When someone has diabetes, his blood sugar level is often much higher than normal. Too much sugar in the blood can cause damage to many parts of the body, including blood vessels in the heart." He observed that the heart disease was the leading cause of diabetes-related deaths. Adults with diabetes had cardiovascular death rates about two to four times higher than those of adults without diabetes. Thought-provoking lectures on diabetes were also given by Dr Bishav Mohan, consultant cardiologist, HDHI, Dr Naveen Mittal, endocrinologist, DMCH, and Dr Shailender Khumbkarni. A poster competition was also organised on the occasion, which witnessed enthusiastic participation by hospital staff. According to Dr Wander, the purpose of the initiatives was to raise awareness among communities and groups that experienced difficulties in accessing optimal diabetes care. This was in keeping with the theme of World Diabetes Day, 2006, which inspired to address diabetes in disadvantaged communities and vulnerable groups. In a diabetic camp held at the DMCH today, blood sugar tests of patients were conducted, free of cost. In addition, diabetic nephropathy test to determine the presence of protein in urine and diabetic neuropathy for testing the extent of damage in nerves in the cases of diabetic-affected foot, were also done, informed Dr Parminder Singh, Professor of Endocrinolgy at the DMCH. Dietary advice was also given to the patients attending the camp. Meanwhile, nearly 200 patients were examined at a free cardiac and diabetic camp held by SPS Apollo Hospitals under the aegis of the Gurdwara Shri Singh Sabha, Zira. The team of consultants at the camp included Dr Paramveer Singh, a consultant cardiologist and Dr Ramanbeer Singh, an endocrinologist. Clinical examination of patients and laboratory investigations revealed that a large number of patients were suffering from type two diabetes while some others were diagnosed with complication of thyroid. A team of technicians and supporting staff conducted free ECG and blood sugar testing. A dietician advised the patients to take healthy diet. Medicines were distributed, free of cost among patients.
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BJP workers oppose mandal chief’s appointment
Ludhiana, November 14 In protest against the development, some BJP workers associated with the party for the past many years resigned from the BJP working committee. In his resignation to Dr Subhash Verma, district BJP president, Mr Satpal
Saggar, election observer of the party, said he was disappointed with the new appointment and was resigning. He would continue to be a committed worker of the party. Mr Saggar said by appointing Neetu the party had offended many committed workers. He added that Neetu had been a controversial leader and it was only due to him that a number of people had left the BJP. Moreover, many family members of Neetu were already holding positions in the BJP and by appointing him president a message was being conveyed that the party was being made a family fiefdom.
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200 vehicles flagged off for rally
Mandi Gobindgarh, November 14 The state secretary of the PPCC, Dr Swatantar Karkra, the district Congress chief, Mr Lakhbir Singh Rai, the block Congress chief, Mr Shingara Singh Salana, and the state Youth Congress general secretary, Mr Jasmeet Singh Raja, were present on the occasion. The police had a hard time controlling traffic.
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Nehru from the treasure chest
Ludhiana, November 14 "My father gave me this magazine and since I liked the leader so much, I kept it with myself. It is the rarest collection of pictures of Pandit Nehru," claims Mr Mittal.
Priced at 40 paise, the magazine that carries a foreword from S. Radhakrishnan, and the leader himself quotes on various occasions, it begins with boy Jwahar with mother Swarup Rani and father Motilal Nehru, progressing to Nehru aged five, later as a Harrow School cadet, in his father's law chamber in Allahabad in 1912, with his wife Kamala and also with his daughter Indira Gandhi. "There are some rare ones like Pandit Nehru with Albert Einstein, with Ranbindranath Tagore and with Bapu," Mr Mittal explains. It carries words on the leader from great figures like Mahatma Gandhi, who writes in year 1929: "In bravery he cannot be surpassed. Who can excel him in the love of the country?” and Tagore who describes him as "’rituraj’, representing season of youth and triumphant joy of an invincible spirit of fight and uncompromising loyalty to the cuase of freedom...” The political career shows him with Subhas Bose, moving the Quit India Resolution at the AICC on August 7, 1942, taking oath as the Prime Minister and finally in resting in peace. The magazine also carries a stanza from Robert Frost's poem, which the leader had placed on his desk, in his own handwriting, reading "The woods are lovely, dark and deep..." Mr Mittal, who is proud to possess the magazine, says he plans to hold an exhibition of these photographs soon with a view to making people aware of the leader.
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5 Executive Officers promoted
Ahmedgarh, November 14
Mr Paramjit Singh Ghuman, EO, Nangal, and Mr Amar Jit Singh Sekhon, EO, Mohali, have been elevated to the post of Assistant Commissioners at the Municipal Corporation, Amritsar. Mr Lakhshman Singh Saini, EO, Gobindgarh, has been promoted as Assistant Commissioner, Jalandhar. Consequent upon these promotions Mr Jagjit Singh Jajj, EO at the local Municipal Council, has been transferred to the Municipal Council, Khanna. However, he will continue holding additional charge at the local civic body till further instructions. Similarly, Mr Raj Kumar Mittal, EO, Kapurthala, has been transferred to Nangal and Mr K.S. Brar, EO, Barnala, to Gobindgarh. Mr Vijay Gupta, EO, Fardikot, will join as EO, Barnala. Mr J.S. Thind, Additional Executive Officer, Mohali, has been promoted as EO at the same station.
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Bid to break open ATM
Ludhiana, November 14 There was no security guard posted at the place. On October 4 this year, an ambitious plan of five thieves to break open an ATM of the Punjab National Bank, Gill Road, with the help of iron rods had failed.
Four of them were arrested while the fifth identified as Daljit Singh absconded. Many such attempts were made earlier at other ATMs this year. Mr Om Prakash Chabra, Manager of the State Bank of India, Model Town Branch, in an FIR lodged with the police has complained that the attempt to break open the machine was made last night. It was noticed by bank staff this morning. They found that the burglars had taken away the aluminium door knob. Inspector Jogi Raj, SHO , said there was no security guard posted at the ATM room which made it easy for the burglars to give a try.
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15 booked for assault
Jagraon, November 14 The accused allegedly trespassed into the house of Sukhdev Singh of their village and assaulted him and damaged household items. Some old dispute over a plot is said to be reason behind the attack. In another incident, the Jagraon police has booked Sarabjit Singh, Sikander Singh, Bharpur Singh, Paramjit Kaur, Balwinder Kaur, Jagdish Kaur and Gurdial Kaur on the charge of assaulting Karamjit Kaur of Cheema on November 6. The local police has registered a case under Sections 323 and 324 of the IPC. Some dispute over agriculture motor of water is said to be reason for the assault. In the last incident, the Jagraon police has registered a case under Sections 323, 341, 506, 308, 148 and 149 of the IPC against Vicky, Avtar Singh, Sunny of Aggwar Khawaza Baju, Kuldip Singh of Mukand Puri and Sony of Aggwar Lopon on the charge of assaulting Titu of Tihara. The accused allegedly stopped Titu and beat him with an iron rod on Saturday night. The injured has been admitted to the DMCH, Ludhiana. Railway
overbridge
The long-cherished demand of residents of Jagraon for a railway overbridge on a railway crossing near Tehsil Road has been fulfilled. The work is going to commence from November 17 and the construction will be completed in one year at a cost of Rs 14.29 crore. Two hurt
An unidentified vehicle hit a Bajaj motor cycle (PB-10BU-9592) at Balipur Kalan village on Friday evening. The motorcyclists, Ramandeep Singh of Chhokran and Manjit Singh, were injured in the accident. The Humbaran police has registered a case. House burgled
The Dehlon police has registered a case under Sections 452, 356, 323, 148 and 149 of the IPC against Kamaljit Singh, Gogi, Gug, Sukha, Nana and Happy of Pohir on the charge of committing theft. The accused allegedly entered the house of Kulwinder Singh of their village on November 6 and took away one pair ear-rings.
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Extend date for filing VAT return: PTBA
Ludhiana, November 14 A deputation of the PTBA, led by its chairman Ashok Juneja and secretary B.R. Kaushal, met the Punjab Governor, Gen S.F. Rodrigues, in Chandigarh to prevail upon him to intervene and issue directions to the Punjab Government to concede to the genuine demands of the trade and industry, as well as the members of the association for the extension of the last date for the submission of the VAT return. Giving details of the meeting here today, Mr Juneja and Mr Kaushal said through a memorandum the Governor was informed that in many states there was a shortage of forms prescribed under the VAT Act and the dealers could not procure these forms in spite of their best efforts. These forms were to be annexed with the annual VAT return compulsorily and in the case of failure to do so, the dealers were liable to pay 6 to 8.5 per cent extra tax along with penalty and interest at the rate of 3.5 per cent. An additional penalty of Rs 100 per day was also payable by the dealers for not filing the Annual VAT return in time. The association asserted that the extra financial burden would accrue due to the fault of various states, which were not supplying these forms, and not due to any lapse on the part of the dealers. The PTBA functionaries expressed their resentment over the extension of date for the submission of Form C to December 31 and not March 31 next year as had been promised by the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh in a meeting here with the representatives of various trade and industry associations. The government, they pointed out, had failed to fulfil its commitment to the trading community and members of the Bar by partially extending the date for the submission of C forms and not doing so for F and H forms, which were also in short supply in various states. According to Mr Juneja, the PTBA had sent separate memoranda to the Chief Minister, the Excise and Taxation Minister, the Finance Minister, the Financial Commissioner (Taxation) and the Excise and Taxation Commissioner explaining to them that time was too short for taxation lawyers and legal advisers of the dealers for filing the annual VAT Return in new proforma, which involved much information. The association had pleaded that since the Trading Account, Profit and Loss Account were also to be enclosed with the VAT return and the last date for companies to file their income tax returns and get their accounts audited was November 30, it would be rather difficult for the business community and companies to file their VAT returns by November 20. The PTBA was of the view that that it would be more appropriate and logical if all forms - C, H and F were enclosed with the annual VAT return. “In case the date for filing statutory forms is extended but not for filing of the annual VAT return, then it will create problems for the department and the dealers later on because remaining statutory forms will have to be annexed and attached with the returns already filed. This will lead to problems in record reconciliation and will turn out to be a difficult process”.
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Prudential ICICI AMC launches new scheme
Ludhiana, November 14 According to the company, the new fund offers two plan options- Income Optimiser Plan and Wealth Optimiser Plan- which use equity derivative strategies to cater to differing risk return profiles of investors. While the Income Optimiser Plan is a relatively conservative plan, which seeks to generate stable and low-volatility returns by using arbitrage and other hedged derivative strategies within the equity component of the portfolio and investing the remainder of the portfolio in short-term debt, the Wealth Optimiser Plan seeks to achieve capital appreciation by predominantly investing in cash equity while limiting the downside risks by hedging the portfolio based on the market conditions. The company said the fund would use hedging and arbitrage derivative strategies to control volatility and reduce downside risks. Some of the strategies like index arbitrage, alpha generation and the likes were absolutely unique to this product as against other products present in the category.
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Talk on marketing of industrial goods
Mandi Gobindgarh, November 14 While welcoming the speaker, the director of the institute, Dr B.S. Bhatia, said this programme was part of the various initiative taken by the institute for interaction between industry and the institution. He emphasised on the practical exposure to students particularly for those who wish to take up professional assignments in future. Sh Hukam Chand Bansal, chairman of the Om Prakash Bansal Educational and Social Welfare Trust, was the guest of honour. He inaugurated the management club ‘Chanakya’ by lighting a lamp. Speaking on the occasion, he called upon the students to join various co-curricular activities which were essential for their professional development. Mr Bhagat Singh, one of the active members of the club, spoke on various objective of the club which included research in various functional areas of management, discussion on emerging trends in management, increased industry-institute interface by way of industrial visits, extension lectures, holding management quizs, poster exhibition on management themes etc. Mr Mitra said the marketing of industrial goods mainly relies on four points. He explained the points with live examples. Among the faculty members who were present on the occasion were Mr Jagdeep Singh, Mr Tarundeep Kaur, Ms Dalbir Kaur, Ms Reetinder Kaur, Mr Dheeraj Sharma, Mr Surinder Singh, Mr Taranjit Singh, Ms Inderbir Kaur and Mr Gurvinder Bakshi.
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PNB disburses Rs 110 cr loans
Ludhiana, November 14 The bank plans to reach a target of Rs 266 crore by March, 2007, said Mr Anil Sama,senior regional manager, PNB, at the retail lending function organised by the bank here today. PNB disbursed loans to the tune of Rs 25 crore to 75 beneficiaries at the function. Mr Sama said the bank is providing various retail lending schemes for different categories of customers at its Tatkal Suvidha Kendras. The bank has also started 'PNB festival season bonanza under which it is offering concessions on its retail loan schemes. Explaining one of the latest schemes for those paying excise duty and service tax, Mr Sama said the scheme facilitates payment of excise duty and service tax without a customer having to visit the branch.
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