Ludhiana, July 17
The overall state topper, Shilpi Negi, who scored 427 out of 450 in the Class XII examination of the Punjab School Education Board is disappointed at not being given a scholarship worth Rs 2 lakh. She has written a letter to the CM in this regard.

The CM, Parkash Singh Badal, who announced a reward of Rs 2 lakh to poor students at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, two days ago did not consider Shilpi worthy of the reward.

Badal announced a reward of Rs 2 lakh each for Neeraj Saini who was first in the matriculation examination and Navpreet Nagi who came first in the commerce stream in Class XII.

Shilpi’s father Prem Singh is a cook at a hospital and mother is a peon in a school. Her parents feel that she was neither considered deserving of the scholarship nor an underprivileged student by the government and that was why she was not given the cash reward.

This had affected her morale. “I am hurt. I need money to pursue my studies,” she said.

Her father said: “Although a philanthropist and politician have come forward to take the responsibility of her education, but the duration of the course is four years and we don't want to depend on anyone for help.”

Ludhiana, July 17
The safai karamcharis of Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) are up in the arms against management for appointing a new contractor to look into the sanitation of administrative block.

The daily-wage safai karamcharis alleged that despite putting in their hard work for several years, some of them have been asked to work in other buildings as the cleanliness contract of administrative block had been given to a new contractor.

Talking to The Tribune, Satinder Kumar, president, Safai Karamchari Association, said when GADVASU became independent on April 21, 2006, the campus gave a jungle-like look with hundreds of snakes all around. “We had to work day and night to make it at par with PAU. And now the daily wagers have been asked to leave by the newly appointed contractor. We have been told that he will bring his own team,” he said.

In this deadlock, GADVASU itself becomes the worst sufferer, as the new safai karamcharis are not being allowed to work by safai karamchari association. “Why should we let them work here? Instead of bringing in new safai karamcharis, we should have been promoted. We will not let them take our daily bread and butter so easily. We have done a lot for the university,” said one of the safai karamcharis on condition of anonymity. The regular safai karamcharis at the university are getting the scale of Rs 2,620 and other allowances, while daily wagers get Rs 96.50 per day.

Meanwhile, Dr Kulbir Sandhu, estate officer, GADVASU, said it was the board’s decision to appoint new contractor at administrative block. The other safai karamcharis have not been asked to leave and have been told to join other buildings, he, however, maintained. “The contractor has been appointed as per the rates of district administration and the university has no vested interest in this,” said the estate officer.

Ludhiana, July 17
Activists of the Communist Party of India (CPI) and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM), staged a joint dharna outside Mini Secretariat here today to protest against the decision of the Congress-led UPA government to go ahead with clinching of the India-specific agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and moving ahead towards the nuclear deal with the USA.

Speakers at the dharna cautioned that the agreement with the IAEA will be a vital intermediate step towards operationalising the Indo-US nuclear deal in the teeth of strong criticism within India.

They said it was unfortunate that even in the face of stiff opposition from all quarters, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh as also the ruling alliance wanted to go ahead with the deal, trampling in the process, all democratic norms and values regardless of all rational considerations, let alone ethical ones.

Leaders of both parties further remarked that India would be forced to toe US line on several issues, including that of Iran, which is bound to mar historically friendly relations between the two countries.

The strained relations between the two nations might also affect gas supply from Iran."

The speakers further pointed out that the nuclear deal would promote nuclear militarism and nuclear weapon build-up in India against the interests of people in the region. It will also intensify the arms race between India and Pakistan.

"The deal severely undermines the prospects of global nuclear disarmament by (selectively and arbitrarily) legitimising nuclear status of India and also the possession of nuclear weapons by the existing nuclear weapon states - both recognised and unrecognised while at the same time fuelling the aspirations of other actual and potential aspirants."

Rubbishing the contention of the government about production of nuclear energy through the proposed deal, the left party leaders maintained that even if the deal went through fully and prices of Uranium in the international market remained the same, the electricity produced from the atomic energy by 2020 would be 20,000 mega watts which would meet only about 6 to 7 per cent of our requirement at a cost of Rs 2,00,000 crore.

"The atomic power will be two to three times more expensive than that produced by coal, gas, water and wind.

In addition, it will pose hazards of nuclear radiations."

Ludhiana, July 17
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today asked the representatives of the industry, chairmen and vice-chairmen of the Punjab Large and Medium Industry and Small Scale Industry Boards to suggest ways and means to combat the menace of water pollution which was posing a great threat to the very existence of the human beings.

Addressing the gathering during a state-level function of the 59th Van Mahotsav here at Punjab Agricultural University, Badal said: "Human life is far more important than any commercial activity. We, in the government, can't compromise on this vital issue as we are duty-bound to fulfil the aspirations of the people as per our commitment to the electorate and can't afford to exploit their sentiments."

He appealed to the leaders and opinion makers to rise above the party affiliations and come forward to launch a crusade against the widespread pollution. He assured that the suggestions given by the representatives of different industries would be taken into consideration while taking any decision on the issue.

He asked the industry to be considerate while discharging industrial effluents and untreated chemical wastes into the rivers and drains which ultimately aggravated the situation beyond anyone's control.

Lauding the role of the state forests department in generating awareness among the people, he said efforts should be intensified to bring more area under green cover to counter the ill-effects of pollution.

Forests and medical education minister Tikshan Sud said it was not merely an occasion rather a regular campaign to inculcate the sense of belongingness towards clean and green environment. He said the state forests department had chalked out a plan to plant 88 lakh saplings under the Farm Forestry Scheme on the public land near canals, industrial area and educational institutions. Besides, the surplus land of the farmers would be utilised for this purpose. Sud underscored the need to launch an extensive campaign to bring Ludhiana- the industrial hub of the state- under green cover to neutralise the negative effects of pollution.

Ludhiana, July 17
In a blatant violation of the Supreme Court directions passed in 2005, the law enforcing agencies in Punjab have registered almost 40 cases against doctors in past three years.

The members of Indian Medical Association (IMA), while making the above statement, called upon the Punjab government to issue instructions to the officials concerned in the police department not to register cases against doctors.

Dr Yash Sharma, state president, IMA, referred to a recent incident in Sangrur wherein a case was registered against Dr K.G. Singla and Mrs Singla.

Dr Sharma went on to add that the case was earlier registered under Section 302 IPC, which when resisted by the medical fraternity was changed to U/S 304A IPC. This is a mockery on the part of law enforcing agencies that have in very abject terms portrayed the medical profession as a profession to kill, said Dr Sharma.

The doctors referred to the Supreme Court guidelines, which refrain the law enforcing agencies to entertain any individual complaint. “A committee headed by civil surgeon, along with other senior doctors, should inquire into the case, following which the police department should ensue their investigations,” stated district president, Dr Arun Mitra.

Expressing concern over the increasing incidents of violence against doctors, IMA members urged the government to enact the law on the pattern of Andhra Pradesh pronouncing violence against the doctors as non-bailable offence. “It has become necessary to protect the doctors from those indulging in vandalism as in recent past a lot many private hospitals were vandalised, followed by attack on doctors,” Dr Rajiv Gupta stated.

District unit of IMA emphasised that it is the need of the hour to make people aware that their patients die due to diseases and not because of the negligence of doctors.

Ludhiana, July 17
There is resentment among Jains for they feel the state government has ignored their claim to get recognition as a religious minority community in the state.

Several individuals and Jain associations have been writing to the state government in this regard. Many states have granted minority status to Jains. These include Maharashtra, MP, Rajsthan, UP and Karnataka.

“In Punjab, religion is mingled with politics. It is claimed that Sikhs, who are a minority in India, are also a minority in Punjab, contrary to a judgment of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Jains make up for not more than 1 per cent of the total population of Punjab, Dr Sandeep K. Jain, honorary wildlife warden.

He said Jainism was mentioned as a religion along with Buddhism and Sikhism in explanation II of the Article 25 of the Constitution.

Amrit Lal Jain, secretary of the All-India Shwetambar Sthanakwasi Jain Conference, Jatinder Jain, member of the working committee of Atmanand Jain Mahasabha Uttari Bharat Punjab, Digambar Jain Samaj, Shri Jain Shwetambar Terapanthi Sabha, Shwetambar Sthanakwasi Samaj, Jain Mittar Mandal and others have written to the state government about it.

No half-day leave is granted to Jains to participate in shobha yatra of Bhagwan Mahavir Jayanti or during Paryushan Parva.

Doraha, July 17
The main market road, popularly known as the railway road, here is in a pitiable condition.

Residents and road users complain that the road is full of deep potholes and it is very difficult to ride, especially at some places. The situation becomes more problematic at night when due to reduced visibility one accidentally gets stuck in one such pothole.

The residents are now eagerly looking towards the newly elected representatives for the permanent solution of their problem as they regret that the committee earlier had completely failed to provide good roads.

Chairman of the Youth Forum, Doraha, Jandeep Kaushal, said the former committee had been told several times about the sorry state of affairs, but to no avail. He said a memorandum, too, had been submitted several times, but every time, due to the dilly-dallying attitude of the council, nothing was done.

Shopkeepers of the area said recarpeting of the road had been initiated sometime back from the side of the railway station, but the work was left incomplete due to the reasons best known to the committee.

The residents grumble that the problem gets aggravated generally after the paddy season as loaded trucks and trolleys play havoc with the road. During the monsoons, the condition of the road gets worsened.

Members of the All-India Federation of Democratic Youth, too, have demanded the early redressal of the problem.

Ludhiana, July 17
The Taxation Advisors Association has made a fervent plea to the state government to put off compulsory e-filing of value added tax (VAT) returns as the traders were still not fully prepared for this and were facing many other technical problems.

A meeting of the association, that was held here today to discuss VAT-related problems, noted that compulsory e-filing of quarterly VAT returns be deferred for a period of at least six months. President of the body Satish Aggarwal said just two days were left for filing of the quarterly VAT returns, but many traders were still to get their password.

Secretary of the association Rakesh Arora and press secretary Jatinder Khurana regretted that VAT assessees were facing a number of problems due to inordinate delay in payment of refund claims, which were filed more than a year ago.

The taxation advisers further pointed out that a large number of traders had not received central sales tax ‘C’ forms for the assessment year 2006-07 and demanded that the last date for submission of the forms be extended for three months. They were also sore that the promised amendment about nature of business in the VAT registration had not been carried out which was causing inconvenience to the affected traders.

Ludhiana, July 17
MBA students of Guru Nanak Institute of Management and Technology (GNIMT) dominated the merit list of Punjab Technical University once again. As per the recently released merit list of the MBA examinations held in December 2007-January 2008, four students of the GNIMT bagged top positions in the university.

Preeti Kalsi topped the university by securing 90.9 per cent marks while Chanpreet Kaur bagged the second position with 90.4 per cent marks. Megha Jain stood fourth with 89.9 per cent marks while Jaspreet Kaur secured ninth position with 88.7 per cent marks.

Congratulating the students, their parents and faculty, Dr (Col) H.S. Singha, director, GNIMT, said it was a matter of pride for the institute that top four positions in the university were of GNIMtians. He appreciated the efforts of students and faculty for bringing laurels to the institute. In almost every semester and each class, GNIMTians proved their mettle by bagging top positions, he said. 

Ludhiana, July 17
Hosts Ludhiana registered a three-wicket win over Barnala on the third day of the Punjab State Inter-District Twenty20 Cricket Tournament (U-16) being played simultaneously at the Government Institute of Textile and Knitting, Rishi Nagar, and BCM Senior Secondary School, Shastri Nagar grounds, here today.

In the match played at Rishi Nagar, Ludhiana won the toss and invited the visitors to bat first. Barnala were bowled out for 117 runs in 18.2 overs.

The main contributors were Harinder and Satwinder who scored 40 and 29 runs, respectively. For Ludhiana, Sarabjot took three wickets for 15 runs in four overs while Adarshpreet claimed three for 36 runs in three overs.

Ludhiana made the required runs (118 for 7) in 19.1 overs. The architects of their win were Jeewanjot (21), Kushal (21) and Sarabjit Satija (17). The lone wicket-taker for the losers was Arun, who chipped in with three wickets for 36 runs in 4 overs.

The second match played between Hoshiarpur and Bathinda ended in a tie, which was eventually won (1-0) by the former via bowl out.

Batting first, Hoshiarpur scored 73 runs in 19.4 overs in which only Gopal (18) could reach double figure. For Bathinda, Paramjit grabbed three wickets while Rajat captured two wickets.

In reply, Bathinda’s innings, too, culminated at 73 runs in 17 overs. Pardeep was the top scorer with 20 runs, followed by Sarabjit and Paramdeep who scored 16 runs each. For Hoshiarpur, Vikas took three wickets for nine runs and Jasmeet chipped in with three for 14.