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Dist admn to go green this I-Day
Ludhiana, June 26 As many as 11 lakh saplings of different varieties will be planted on the day under a special drive "Jab jagi tabhi savera, aao lagayo rukh hi rukh". The district administration, in collaboration with "JAGO”, an NGO working for tree plantation, chalked out a programme for tree plantation on the large scale in the district. A meeting of senior officers of various departments was held under the chairmanship of Harish Rai Dhanda, chief parliamentary secretary, at Bachat Bhawan here today to work out the details. Sumer Singh Gurjar, deputy commissioner, also addressed the
meeting. Dhanda said during this campaign, saplings of different kinds, including shadow, ornamental trees and fruit trees, would be supplied free of cost jointly by JAGO, the forest department, the municipal corporation and other NGOs to the panchayats, welfare committees and educational institutions for plantation. Dhanda said pits for the plantations would be dug before and the plantation would be made on Independence Day. He asked the SDMs and other officers to prepare details of government lands, sides of roads, schools and other government buildings, banks of canals and minors and even of willing private institutions and individuals for distribution of plants, so that the drive could be made a success. He said it would be a revolutionary steps to minimise the pollution from the district, particularly from the city, and to give the district a green look. He cautioned the people against the fast increase in the pollution level in the city, which was being considered as the most polluted city in North India. He added that this large scale plantation would help in protecting the environment. He told the officers to create awareness among the masses through the elected representatives, religious and other social organisations. Addressing the meeting, Sumer Singh Gurjar said during this campaign, 2 lakh saplings would be given by the district forest department. He directed the officers to identify the places and assigned the duties of digging the pits. He also said the progress of the arrangements would be discussed at the next meeting on July 15. Mahanvir Singh, divisional forest officer, Ludhiana, said 75,000 plants would be disbursed free of cost for the lands belonging to the Army, paramilitary forces and education institutions and 1.25 lakh plants would be given at subsidised rates of Rs 2.50 per plant in case of shadow trees and Rs 8 for ornamental plants. Among others who attended the meeting included Harish Kumar SP (H), Mohinder Singh, DDPO, Sukhdev Singh, secretary, zila parishad, and SDMs of all
subdivisions.
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Three-month pension for PAU retirees
Ludhiana, June 26 According to sources, one of PAU’s fixed deposit (FD) plans of approximately Rs 6 crore is going to be matured on June 28. "We are in touch with the state government on this issue. If they give us the nod, we will disburse the amount among pensioners", said one of the official on condition of anonymity. He added that for the remaining amount of pension of about two months, they had written to the state government. "We also want to streamline the pension scheme at the earliest", said the official. Meanwhile, I.K.Garg, president, Confederation of PAU Pensioners' Association, talking to The Tribune, said they had not received any information regarding the pension release. He said the pensioners had met the VC and the comptroller last week and they had given assurance that the retirees would soon get their benefits. "The retirees should get pension on regular basis. Money given in instalments will not serve any purpose. Even the court has asked the PAU authorities to disburse all our dues within two month. We will wait till July", said Garg. The university, earlier, had released pension of about 2,700 pensioners (for November, December and January) at the end of March. Pension of about five months is still pending with the authorities.
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Park panels to hold protest
Ludhiana, June 26 The Park Maintenance Committee (PMC) had submitted the maintenance bill on May 2. Even after one month, the bill was not paid. The PMC, however, received a notice of not maintaining the park well although the park was in very good condition. ‘‘This is the height of highhandedness. They cannot squeeze PMCs like this. We are going to protest. We all will sit on a dharna outside the office in this month, if we are not paid the bill,’’ said S.S. Chana, president of federation of the PMCs. He said he had written two letters to the MC and had a meeting with the commissioner and even asked the XEN, Horticulture, J.S. Bilga, to visit the park to
inspect it in their presence. Bilga visited the park on May 30 and told them that their park was well-maintained. He assured them that they would soon get their dues. ‘‘Despite this, they did not respond to the letters nor they have paid us the bill. It is disappointing that I fought the legal battle for the maintenance bill. They are trying to harass me. But I will not take it lying down,’’ said Chana. ‘‘We have even met the chief parliamentary secretary Harish Rai Dhanda over the issue. He also assured us justice. But it is nowhere to be seen. We will get money only when we will sit on a dharna and raise slogans against them,’’ he added. Chana said his was not the only PMC that was made to suffer. Another
PMC in H block was paid half the bill and the MC failed to give any reason for deduction.
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Tehbazaari too weak for mighty encroachers
Ludhiana, June 26 The issue came up during the meeting of tehbazaari committee where the staff
said their working was plagued by old vehicles, lack of JCB machines, shortage
of Gypsies and labour and they had to face problems to store confiscated goods. The staff said old vehicles did not allow them to confiscate goods properly. Four superintendents had only two Gypsies and there were a few labourers. This forced the squad to get ducked under stiff opposition from encroachers. Moreover, the squad was always faced with shortage of diesel as they claimed they were given only 27 litres everyday. The task of removing encroachments from a big city like Ludhiana needed much more fuel. The squad also rued shortage of space to store confiscated goods as the tehbazaari store in the Focal Point area was proving insufficient. The MC had failed to auction goods not claimed for the past three years. ‘‘The goods are rotting and there is no space left for more. We need to auction these goods on a biennial basis,’’ said Naveen Malhotra, superintendent, tehbazaari. The committee decided to act tough against encroachers on 10 major roads in city. The roads include Humbran road, Ferozepore road, Dugri road, Jalandhar bypass , CMC road, Jail road, Chaura Bazar, G.T. Road, Ambala road and Chandigarh road. ‘‘The major chaos is always on these roads. We remove encroachers and they come back the next day. We continue to stop them. In order to check the menace, we need to act really tough,’’ said Malhotra. The meeting also decided to write to the commissioner to take up the matter of proposed rehri market with ACA, PUDA.
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PSEB misuses mobile transformer
Ludhiana, June 26 However, the officials concerned have not taken any action to replace the burnt transformer till now so as to make the mobile transformer available for any emergency which might arise anywhere else in the division at any time. Even though the area residents express their satisfaction that they did not have to face disruption of power for a long time after the transformer went non-functional, which would have caused a lot of inconvenience in the wake of extremely hot and humid weather, yet many of them feel that the transformer installed in the colony should have been replaced by now. Says Mohinder Singh, an area resident, "The PSEB officials have done well to bring in the mobile transformer. But in a situation where only one mobile transformer is available in a division, serving a vast number of consumers, the very purpose of having such a facility is defeated if the mobile transformer is made stationary." Another resident of the colony, Richa, says that power supply in the area was restored with the help of a mobile transformer. However, the mobile transformer ought to be made use of for a very short duration and permanent installations set right at the earliest so that the same facility could be made available to other residents in the area in case of a similar emergency. Agreeing that the burnt-down transformer should have been replaced by now and the mobile one shifted back as a back-up, the superintending engineer of PSEB, City West Circle, P.S. Gill, said he would personally look into the reason for the delay and further that henceforth movement of the mobile transformer would be tracked in such a manner that it did not become immobile.
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Dhanda inspects green belts
Ludhiana, June 26 Dhanda went from the octroi post in Barewal to the elevated road to find out whether the green belts to be maintained by the company allotted space on unipolls were kept well or not. He counted the unipolls and videographed the green belts to get documentary evidence. Later talking to The Tribune, Dhanda said the contract of unipolls was given for seven years and the company was asked to maintain green belts in the nearby areas. ‘‘But I was shocked to see that none of the green belts was maintained properly. The MC is losing Rs 60 to 70 lakh every month on account of advertisements. The MC can run all the dispensaries and maintain green belts with this money, ’’ he said. The company was allowed to install 220 unipolls while there are much more than this number. There are kiosks on even the streetlight poles where the company has not been allotted space, he
added. Dhanda will prepare a complete document about the ‘‘scam’’ and submit his report with the government.‘‘I am going around this major road today. I will continue tomorrow and day after and submit my report to government on Monday.’’ He said it was not his job to unearth this scam, where connivance of MC officials may not be ruled out. ‘‘But I am a public representative. I have to keep a tab about what all is going on. And this is a clear plundering of MC funds. I am surprised nobody is taking a stock of it.’’ The CPC added that earlier a landscape officer had tried to raise voice against the mafia and he was framed in a vigilance case.
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Anti-Drug Abuse Day
Ludhiana, June 25 The slogan of the day against drug abuse and illicit trafficking, this year, is "Do drugs control your life? Your life, your community. No place for drugs." The slogan is flexible. For example, variations on the slogan can be used to suit different contexts. For example, in case of artists, it could be "Do drugs control your creativity?” Or in the case of sportspersons, it could be, "Do drugs control your game?" Says Dr Gupta, "Initially one goes for drugs either to show off or as a relief against mental stress. In both cases, a majority of people, particularly youth, get stuck and become habitual. The economic burden and internal desire for drugs and narcotic substances convert even brilliant students, players, skilled workers and even trained professionals into criminals. The drug addicts do not hesitate a bit to betray their families, friends and society in general." Recently, the UNODC has concluded that it is the availability of these substances that is mostly responsible for the rising trend of drug abuse. So a war has to be declared against illicit drug cultivation, production and trafficking. Frequent use of tough legal measures against those involved in drug trafficking on the one hand and detoxification of the drug user should be the main focus on the other. According to Dr Gupta, NIMA had undertaken various activities during the past year against drug abuse. As many as five projects like public awareness lectures and de-addiction camps were organised in active co-operation with district health authorities and other NGOs.
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Power cuts cripple industrial units
Ludhiana, June 26 Among the worst hit are industrial units located in residential areas of Janta nagar, Dashmesh Nagar and Muradpura. "We are facing almost day-long cuts. Despite complaints to the electricity department, the situation has not improved. Production has totally stopped," said Charanjit Singh Vishwakarma of Vishwakarma Industries. These areas house hundreds of engineering and cycle parts units from small and tiny segments. Industrial production has already been suffering with most areas facing three-four hours of cuts on a daily basis. As the weekly off too stands, manufacturing units are left with little time to conduct their operations. Electricity cuts also render the labourers employed in these factories idle. "Getting workers these days is already a tedious task. To worsen the situation, power cuts render them idle and they run away. How is industry to manage amid such adverse circumstances," questioned Ramesh Kumar, an industrialist. Factory owners said poor working environment was adversely affecting their credibility with their buyers. They said under such a situation, they would not be able to meet orders on time, which would affect their future functioning and profitability as well.
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Newborn premature baby needs help
Ludhiana, June 26 This pre-term baby girl, weighing 1000 gm, was born at Barnala to a severely anaemic mother. The father is a safai worker at a private firm. The baby, in a very sick condition and with a severe infection, has been put on ventilator. According to doctors attending to the baby, she needs blood products, antibiotics and other intensive treatment to support her life. The total medical expenditure is expected to go upto Rs 1 lakh. To add to the woes of the family, the mother of the baby girl is also undergoing treatment in CMCH and the father is not able to raise the required money for the treatment of his wife and daughter. Those who are interested in helping this baby girl can send their contributions to CMCH. All those who wish to give the gift of life to the baby of Meera Devi and extend a helping hand to the family can contact the office of the medical superintendent at CMCH, Ludhiana. All donations should be made in favour of Christian Medical College and Hospital and "Treatment for Baby of Meera Devi" written on back side of the cheque or bank draft, or else on the covering letter.
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Infant dies during treatment
Khanna, June 26 The boy, identified as Gurveer Singh, was admitted to the hospital late last night. He was suffering from vomiting for the past sometime. The child specialist at the civil hospital administered antibiotic injections and also gave other medicines. The child breathed his last this morning. The parents of the boy alleged that the doctor administered a wrong injection. In their complaint to the police, the father of the boy, Gajjan Singh from Majri village, alleged that the doctors failed to treat his son properly and gave him a wrong injection. A large number of residents from the village and adjoining areas gathered outside the hospital and raised slogans against the hospital authorities. SSP Gautam Cheema said a complaint had been received in this connection and they had written to the chief medical officer for the postmortem of the deceased by a board of doctors. The family members of the deceased said they would get the postmortem done from doctors in Ludhiana. Meanwhile, senior medical officer Balwinder Singh Kalsi, refuting the allegations, said that they were looking into the matter. He added that the boy was suffering from septicemia and proper medication was given by the doctor.
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Riya chief of Khamano block samiti
Khamano, June 26 Riya got 11 votes while his opponent Ranjit Kaur from Bhari zone could get only three votes. Amandeep Kaur was elected as vice- president. Samrala MLA Jagjivan Singh Khirnian and Khanna MLA Bikramjit Singh Khalsa tried to elect the president and the vice-president unanimously but their efforts bore no fruit and voting was made compulsory.
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LMA to hold lecture on SEZs
Ludhiana, June 26 Singhal will speak on issues related to SEZs. KNS Kang, general secretary, LMA, said SEZs had a great impact on economic growth of the country. India was one of the first countries in Asia to recognise the effectiveness of the Export Processing Zones model in promoting exports. The SEZs policy was announced in April 2000 and it came into effect from February 2006. Though several SEZs had been introduced in the country, setting up of SEZs in any part of country had been a challenge, Kang said.
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Residents to boycott MC poll
Khanna, June 26 The residents shouted slogans in this connection and put up a banner in a street announcing boycott of elections. Kuldip Singh, a resident of the area, alleged that there was no sewerage connection in the ward nor they were having potable drinking water.
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Ban use of cell while driving
Mobile phone was introduced in India in 1994. Nowadays it has become a necessity and can be seen in hands of all categories of people. Whereas, earlier it was treated as the item of luxury due to the high price tag attached to it. These days, the communication industry has undergone revolution thereby shrinking the world. But, due to its misuse, mobile has become the serious cause of social evils. Since people are in habit of keeping their mobile phones in pockets, the energy and radiation transmitted through it can affect the brain and can cause disorders like hearing loss, heart attack and even cancer. Besides theses, the ill effect of using mobile phone while driving has increased severe accidents and spinal problems. One cans even find people busy talking on their phones while standing at traffic light points. The Centre should issue strict guidelines for banning the use of mobile phones while driving. By this bill, to some extent, we may also be able to control undue accident and noise pollution. Ravi Chander Garg Readers are invited to mail letters (not more than 200 words) at "ludhiana@tribunemail.com" or post the same to The Tribune, 1, 2 Improvement Trust Building, Badaur House, Clock Tower, Ludhiana.
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Servant decamps with Rs 18 lakh
Ludhiana, June 26 In an FIR lodged at the division no. 4 police station, Ashwani Kumar said he had given Rs 18 lakh to the accused Rajinder Kumar for depositing in the Punjab National Bank, Kesar Mandi. The accused neither reached there nor did he return home.
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Woman, girl commit suicide in different incidents
Khanna, June 26 Aarti, wife of Hartesh, a resident of Nandi Colony, committed suicide by consuming some poisonous substance. In a statement to the police, the family members said the woman consumed some pills by mistake. Inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPc have been initiated in this connection. In a similar incident, Ritu Bala (22), a resident of Krishna Nagar, ended her life after consuming some poisonous substance. Father of the girl Narata Singh said his daughter consumed some poisonous substance by mistake. Inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPc have been initiated in this connection. The police is making investigations in both cases.
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Banks record 48 pc increase in advances
Ludhiana, June 26 The meeting was presided over by ADC (D) Priyank Bharti. Giving details of achievements of annual credit plan and banking data, lead district manager Jeet Singh said the banks recorded a 48 per cent increase in advances and a 23 per cent increase in deposits from March 2007 to March 2008. Around 31 per cent of the lending went to the priority sector while agriculture and allied sectors formed 9 per cent of the total. As many as 349 self-help groups were linked with credit during this period while 1,079 cases under the Prime Minister's Rozgar Yojna were catered to. The total plan outlay for 2008-09 was decided at Rs 6,440 crore in comparison to Rs 5,344 for the year 2007-08. As per the plan for 2008-09, Rs 4,892 crore would go towards the priority sector.
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DEO ducks teachers’ transfer issue
Ludhiana, June 26 The education department temporarily shifted its base to R.S. Model School to avoid constant pressure from VIPs and politicians, who are posing impediment in the education departments plan on rationalisation of education. The teachers, who have affiliations with the political bigwigs, are trying to put pressure on Sudesh Bajaj, district education officer, for stalling their transfers under the rationalisation policy. As per the new policy, surplus teachers posted in the school will be shifted to other schools grappling with the problem of the staff shortage. These teachers can either be sent to rural or urban areas, as per the education department’s discretion. According to an official source in the education department, the orders issued by Jagtar Singh Khatra states that excess lecturers would be relocated to other schools with vacant posts. The education department was under scrutiny, as a few government schools had not fared well in the recently held board examination. The irrational deployment of lecturers and poor quality of education, especially in the rural areas is being blamed for the poor show of the government school. Evading quarries on this issue DEO Sudesh Bajaj refused to divulge anything to mediapersons and kept her phone switched off. An official in the education department said, “VIPs and politicians are visiting the DEO office and pressurising the officials for stalling the transfer of their relatives. This forced the DEO to shift its base at R.S. Model School to make the rationalisation report, which is to be submitted soon”.
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Management students visit stock exchange
Ludhiana, June 26 The first session was presided over by Jagjit Singh Arneja, deputy general manager, LSE, who gave an overview of the Indian securities market. He said “Inflation, increase in crude oil prices and political uncertainty are the three main reasons that have turned the market bearish.” He explained that the stock exchange was a platform of buying and selling the securities and was an epicenter of
financial activities of a country. In the second session, Shammi Kohli, operations manager, explained the trading procedure to the students and also
highlighted the importance of long-term investment for earning good returns. The two sessions were followed by a question-answer round. The students raised many questions to which they got satisfactory answers. Manjit Singh Chhabra, coordinator, said: “As most of the investment is done in the stock market, now-a-days, it is must to provide knowledge to the students so that they can use their hard earned money judiciously.” Kuldip Singh, director of the institute, said the main aim was overall development of the students and for this institute tried to provide market exposure to students.
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Budding designers showcase talent
Ludhiana, June 26 The purpose of the show was to provide a platform to the
participants from the Ludhiana Club and the PIFT to display their talent. As many as 45 participants sashayed down the ramp. The garments showcased during the fashion show were designed and created by the budding designers of the PIFT.
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Balanced diet must to avoid cancer, says scientist
Ludhiana, June 26 Dwelling on how to be free from cancer, Vanamala suggested that one should have adequate sleep, eat balanced and nutritious food and avoid stress so that the immune system work well. In his lecture on post-harvest and processing effects on health benefiting compounds in fruits and vegetables, he said there was a bounty of medicinal plants and herbs in India that needed to be scientifically viewed, documented and presented to the rest of the world. He said beta-carotene content in yellow coloured fruits and vegetables fluctuated from place to place due to changing climates. He added that papaya was good for gastro system. He presented results from his studies on citrus and coloured potatoes in relation to nutrition and health benefits.
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Senior National 20 Cricket
Ludhiana, June 26 The final was reduced to 10 overs each as it rained heavily in the morning, which forced the organisers to curtail the overs. Hosts Punjab finished at third place. Uttrakhand batting first scored 109 runs for the loss of six wickets in which Gobind and Sachin contributed 33 and 26 runs,
respectively. Maharashtra began their chase on a promising note and was cruising well. They were placed comfortably at 59 runs for the loss of three wickets after
five overs. However, the middle-order batsmen failed to capitalise on the solid start as their innings folded at 81 runs on the last ball of the match. Vinod and Sunil scored 23 and 18 runs, respectively, but could not save their team from an inevitable defeat. Earlier, in the first semifinal, Maharashtra beat Uttar Pradesh by 24 runs. Maharashtra scored 65 for 4 in 6 overs and then restricted their rivals to 41 runs to secure a berth in
the final. In the second semifinal, hosts Punjab lost to Uttrakhand by five wickets. Punjab made 47 runs for the loss of 6 overs. Uttrakhand surpassed the total in five overs after losing
five wickets. Tej Parkash Singh, former minister, Punjab, gave away prizes to the winners. Malkit Singh Dakha, another former minister, along with Jasbir Singh Khangura, sitting MLA from Kila Raipur, and many other prominent personalities were present on the occasion.
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Handball trials for Punjab probables
Ludhiana, June 26 The selection panel consisting of senior handball coach Harinder Sharma and assistant education officer, Ludhiana, Rupinder Singh Ravi supervised the trials. Balkar Singh Brar, honorary secretary, Punjab Handball Association, said the chairman of the selection committee Satinder Pal Singh Gora, former captain of Indian team, who was currently posted as sub-inspector with the Punjab police, could not turn up today, would be consulted before finalising the list of 25 probables. The probables will attend a coaching camp prior to their participation in the National Youth Games, Brar, said.
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Yoga camp concludes
Ludhiana, June 26 A large number of Army personnel attended the camp. Camp instructor Jugal Kishore Arora stressed on various features of aerobic exercises and Yoga which could provide relief from stress in the modern day hectic lifestyle. During the camp, the participants were also told about various rhythmic exercises to ease out mental stress. More camps would be held in future, Arora added.
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