 |
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
Violations galore, but MC sleeps
Ludhiana, August 22 The violations are galore even as the municipal corporation continues to sleep over the problem. The MC had twice started, unsuccessfully, sealing drives for such buildings, which were deferred following political pressure. Violations already existing in the city notwithstanding, many commercial buildings have flouted the bylaws recently right under the nose of authorities. The glaring act took place after the MC had issued strong warnings to such building owners. Ghumar Mandi is one such example where many buildings are coming up that have thrown the bylaws to the winds. One such building has come up near Mai Nand Kaur gurdwara and yet another on National Road chowk. These have come up just recently while the MC had issued warnings to the already existing buildings in mid-June. The MC leadership had given 30 days’ time to shopkeepers who had not provided for parking in the basement, according to the bylaws. It had sealed seven shops in Ghumar Mandi at that time. Massive protests had followed and the MC had to buckle under acute political pressure. It had to eat a humble pie and unseal the sealed shops with yet another announcement that the sealing drive would be back in mid-July. A month has already elapsed but the authorities are sitting pretty and the violators are having a field day. Most of commercial establishments in Ghumar Mandi, Mall Road, Fountain chowk, Ferozepore Road and other commercial places flout the bylaws with impunity. Even many well-planned areas have violators. The houseline bylaw has never been followed in letter and in spirit. Many cases pertaining to such aberrations are going on in different courts. Building bylaws have in fact never been adhered to in the city. The building branch of the MC has always been under fire. So much so, a former MTP with MCL and two draftsmen were suspended by the local bodies department recently for a violation case at Gulchaman Gali. Another MTP and an ATP were also suspended for a violation on Humbran road. Since then the building branch is a disturbed house. It is scared of taking action against violators. If at all some action is taken, it has to be revoked following political pressure. Here, vote bank takes preference over rules. Five months ago, the MC had sealed Vishal Mega Mart, VLCC outlet and several other complexes in a sealing drive. It was stalled midway but already sealed outlets were allowed to open after they provided with the space. After that nobody tried to follow the parking restrictions. Many outlets were still using service lanes and several malls were using roadsides for parking. The chaos on roads in front of these malls, including Flames and Ansal Plaza, was manifold on weekends but there was no solution.
|
|
|
Hospitals get rid of biomedical waste at domestic refuge dumps
Ludhiana, August 22 The biomedical waste consists of infectious material like cotton, bandages, swaps and even syringes, hazardous for human health. Used syringes after being collected by ragpickers are sold to quacks and chemists. They act as catalysts in spreading HIV positive and Hepatitis B when reused. "A large number of drug addicts are becoming victims of these used syringes as unlicensed chemists in rural areas are selling these used syringes to them", said a senior surgeon. The PPCB has authorised two agencies, Rainbow and Samramky, to collect medical waste from every hospital at the prescribed rate of Rs 600 for a 10-bedded hospital. The amount increases with the number of beds in each hospital. Also, the hospitals submit their agreement with these companies to the PPCB to get annual renewal of their registration after paying Rs 1,500. But the existing practice at nursing homes and hospitals points towards the non-implementation of the above policies. On a visit to the LMC dump in the Model Town area, one came across big bags carrying medical waste. The boys collecting garbage in the area said they were getting the medical waste from some hospitals and clinics in Model Town and its extension.The bags had cotton, bandages, syringes, swaps, linen material and human tissues that fall under the infectious category and are hazardous for human health. RMPs in the absence of any clear policy of the government for them are not only carrying on with their private practice in the various city areas, but are also disposing of the medical waste at the nearby dumps. A patient having undergone treatment at a charitable hospital in Daresi said on condition of anonymity, "I was shocked to see the ward boys dumping bags of medical waste at the hospital's back and putting these to flames. It is sad that the doctors, who are considered to safeguard human health, are contributing to air pollution and adding to health problems." PPCB chairman Yogesh Gupta said he would immediately send a team to the Model Town area to conduct raids. The board would initiate action against other erring hospitals after checking up with Rainbow and Samramky, the two authorised agencies that are collecting medical waste from the hospitals in Ludhiana.
|
|
Demolition invites Akali leader’s ire
Ludhiana, August 22 The demolition has cost the Tehbazaari superintendent, Rajeev Bhardwaj, an explanation as the vend was being supported by a senior Akali leader. Sources in the MC said though the superintendent had taken action following issuing of notices by senior functionaries, he might be made a scapegoat as the action angered the leader. Senior officials of the corporation today sought verbal explanation from the superintendent, asking him who sent him to demolish the vend. Sources revealed that serious action might be taken against the superintendent concerned in the case. While Bhardwaj refused to comment, sources said he would have to face the music though he was not responsible for the action in any manner. He had just followed the verbal orders of his seniors. Zonal Commissioner Vinod Sharda, however, denied the allegations. He said nothing of the sort happened and no explanation was sought from anybody. He said no action was being contemplated against anybody.
|
|
Cops start issuing computerised FIRs
Ludhiana, August 22 The police has started providing clean printouts of the FIRs to the complainants and the accused at Focal Point, Sarabha Nagar, Sadar, Sahnewal, Model Town, Division No 2 and Division No 5 police stations from this week. These seven police stations have been fully computerised in phase I of the Common Integrated Police Application (CIPA) programme of the National Crime Record Bureau. The immediate benefit of the computerised FIRs will be that the FIRs will be available at the click of the mouse to the officers. There will be no more hard sifting through the dusty files in order to know the details of a case. Instead, the senior officials will just access it easily through the inter-connected computer systems. Further, in order to do a background check on a suspect or for the verification of his records for issuance of a passport or an arms licence or for any other purposes, the system will come in handy. SSP R. K. Jaiswal said the cops at these police stations had already started uploading the crime data and the FIRs. "We thought instead of just preparing the database of old record, it would be better if we start lodging computerised FIRs alongside, so that we have ready data from this week. But can the data be tampered with? Unlike the handwritten FIRs maintained in a broad and thick register, where no space is left between the lines to avoid tampering and overwriting, it would be easy to do so in a computer by erasing the line. "No," said the SSP, adding that "the computerised FIR would be final once a Munshi authenticates it by using the special software. After this, he would take a print out, and get signatures of the parties concerned in the case." The safety valve is that unless the Munshi authenticates the FIR on the computer, he won’t get the printout. The police is also keeping printouts as a back-up record. The SSP, quoting the National Informatics Centre website, said the Common Integrated Police Application (CIPA) was a multilingual application to automate the processes (workflow) at primary sources of data itself e.g. police station and to build a crime and criminal information system based on the CrPC. It provides an efficient way of organising crime records for generating queries/reports and crime analysis for decision support.
|
|
Bid-to-murder case: Two convicted
Ludhiana, August 22 Both the accused were sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for five years each. Delivering the verdict, the judge held that the prosecution had successfully proved the charges levelled against the accused. Declining the plea of leniency raised by the convicts, the judge also ordered them to pay fine of Rs 6,000 each. The accused were booked under Sections 307, 382, 394 of the IPC and Section 25 of the Arms Act at Raikot police station on June 8, 2005, following the statement of injured Avtar Singh of Chet Singh Nagar, Gill Road, Ludhiana. The complainant had submitted to the police that he was working as a driver with M/s B C Aggarwal and company. On June 8, 2005, he had gone on his truck for unloading the iron sheets. The accused were known to him as they were also drivers. They knew that on return I used to collect the payments and deposit the same with my employer. When he was returning, he recieved a call from an accused person. They said that they were also going back to Ludhiana and wanted lift in his truck. Thereafter, they met him near Mehal Kalan and boarded his truck, added the complainant. After boarding the truck, the accused attacked him with knife. They threw him out of the truck and tried to kill him under the tyres of truck, he added. In this case, the police has succeded in recovering Rs 3,45,000 from the accused. The prosecution has examined more than 15 witnesses in this case. However, the accused had pleaded innocence and false implication. But convinced with the submission made by the additonal public prosecutor M L Bathla, the court found them guilty and awarded sentence.
|
Youth seeks aid, promises to repay
Ludhiana, August 22 Despite multiple fractures, the boy keeping up with his positive spirits approached the nearby doctors who referred him to Rajindra Hospital in Patiala. “My will power made me accept the fate when doctors informed me that amputation was the only answer. But everything came to a standstill when I was asked to arrange Rs 70,000 as I was the only earning hand in my family,” said Avtar. Looking into the somberness of the boy, a sarpanch made arrangements for a house under a BPL scheme of the government. But the question of bread and butter remained unanswered as the family’s dignity refrained them from begging or eating in community kitchen. There started the struggle for his younger brother, wife and mother, as they had to do odd jobs for sustenance. Unable to bear the agony of his old mother and young wife doing household chores for villagers Avtar once again approached The Tribune office to seek help. “But the help is not at the cost of my self prestige as I am ready to repay in cash or kind once I get artificial limb after the operation,” adds Avtar. |
|
Two killed in accidents
Khanna, August 22 In yet another accident, Harpreet Singh, a 22-year- old boy from Issru Kalan village, died when a truck hit his bike near Saijgarh village yesterday.
|
|
‘Killer’ turns saviour
Mandi Ahmedgarh, August 22 A police team led by SHO Navin Pal arrested the suspects when they were trying to leave the area on Tuesday evening. The police is yet to establish whether Rashid had taken contracts for killing people. According to Ludhiana SSP (rural) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, Arun and Navin were arrested for allegedly engaging Rashid for eliminating Davinder Kumar of Gurteg Bahadur Nagar in Jagraon. The suspects had offered Rs 4.5 lakh to Rashid for doing the job. Investigations revealed that Arun Kumar, the main accused and Davinder’s brother-in-law Darshan Lal had quarrelled over some accounts two decades ago when they were partners in a commission agent’s shop. Davinder had squabbled with Arun Kumar then and the latter, in order to teach him a lesson, decided to get him eliminated. He offered a contract of Rs 4.5 lakh to Mohammad Rashid through Navin Mittal last week. Navin had met Rashid during his visit to Malerkotla where his (Navin’s) sister was married. Though Rashid had made up his mind to execute the deal initially, his mind changed after he met the target. “When I received a telephone call from Rashid on Sunday, I invited him for a meeting as desired by him. I was shocked when he told me that Arun and his accomplice had offered money for killing me,” Davinder told the police. The police, after registering a case against the suspects, arrested them on Wednesday.
|
Labourers' death Vishal Motors owner booked
Ludhiana, August 22 Even though the municipal corporation continues to dilly-dally on the issue, the police booked the owner for allegedly causing death due to negligence. The FIR has been lodged by Santosh Kumar. The police sources said no arrest had been made
so far. The municipal corporation was supposed to take action against the building after senior officials, including joint commissioner Kuldip Singh had told the reporters that the construction was illegal.
|
3-day expo opens at Sutlej Club
Ludhiana, August 22 Amisha Khanna, the name reckoned with jewellery designing, having won an award for being the unusual designer of the millennium by De Beers and Swaranjali gold jewellery award, is looking forward to designing jewellery for Sushmita Sen. "I have designed jewellery for television serials, models and actors, including Juhi Babbar and Rani Mukherji but I would love to design something exclusively for Sush for she is 'charisma personified' and I just adore her on screen
as well as off it," adds the designer. Specialised in amalgamation of diamonds with emeralds, rubies, sapphire and amethyst Amisha is also known for her pręt line collection in sterling silver jewellery. From danglers in
white gold, elaborative polki wear to pearl anklets and rings, every article speaks of style. Aminder Madan, the name behind Cypress, sharing her experiences said, "Being a Sikh and married to a Sikh woman, I am well versed with the choice of Punjabis. The collection has specially been designed to compliment the taste of city women who have an eye for style." Simple cotton suits embellished with white beads and mirrors adds to the vanity of fairer sex, making her crave for
more. Trying the organza outfits in orange and fuschia pink, a college student said, “This is exactly what I had in mind for my closest friend's wedding and I would never miss it for anything."
|
|
Cash-rich people make beeline for iPhones
Ludhiana, August 22 On the first day of the Apple's iphone's launch,it was the "most- expensive variant" that generated interest among people. The i store in a leading city mall had people making a beeline to enquire about the new product. This, even as there was not much in the name of publicity campaigns or promotional discounts. "People are quite keen and there have been a large number of queries since morning. We have already sold a couple of units. The 36 GB variant, particularly, is generating much interest," said Shruti, team leader at the i store located in a leading mall here. As far as N96 is concerned,the much talked about Nokia's answer to Apple's iphone, is yet to arrive in the city, many are preferring to wait before making final decision. "For over a month I have been waiting for the launch of these phones. Now that they have finally arrived in India, I want to go through features of both before deciding which one to buy," said Sachin Sharma, an entrepreneur. Price, that is an upward of Rs 31,000, is no deterrent for people in this industrial town. Mobile stores here have been doing pretty well and owners of these stores revealed that many high- end phones are not even publicised due to limited supplies. "Recently Nokia came out with Saphhire Astra, that cost around Rs 60,000. There were limited supplies and we sold almost five times more number of phones than the company had expected. We resisted publicising much but the demand far exceeded the supplies," revealed Harjinder Singh, owner of a Nokia outlet in Sarabha Nagar. In case of N96, he said multiple queries had started pouring in two to three days ago itself. Among other high-end phones here have been the E90 Communicator, priced at Rs 35,000 and N95 that cost Rs 25,000. "I always make sure that I carry the latest handset. Even though the utility value for these technologically sophisticated sets is not much, but a phone reflects ones status and I don't want to compromise on that," another resident summed feelings of many.
|
From Schools
Ludhiana, August 22 GMT: Shri Krishan Janamashtmi was celebrated with religious fervor and gaiety at GMT Public School. Students chanted bhajans, shaloks, couplets from Lord Krishna's life. The day proved to be a memorable one for kids and staff. Directors of the school Kashmir Singh and Jasbeer Singh and principal Amarjeet Dhaliwal appreciated the efforts of the students and also informed them about the importance of the day. SHEMROCK: A fancy dress competition was organised at Shemrock Kindergarten to mark the festival of Janamashtmi. In addition to this, drawing and colouring competitions were also held in the school. Main attraction of the day was the 'matki breaking' ceremony. Sweets were also distributed among the students. RAM LAL SCHOOL: Students of Ram Lal Bhasin Public School celebrated Janamashtmi with great enthusiasm. The school was beautifully decorated with flowers, bells, balloons and rangoli. Students also sang devotional songs in anticipation of the holy birth of Lord Krishna. ‘Graba raas’ on the song 'Aaj Radha ko Shyam yaad ayee' was enacted. School director S. Verma and headmistress Tarannum Fatma exhorted the students to be proud of their rich heritage. GREEN LAND: Janamashtmi was celebrated with religious fervour, devotional zeal and enthusiasm at Green Land Senior Secondary School. Religious hymns and kirtan reverberated the school campus bringing alive the immortal love lore of Radha-Krishna. An interesting play depicting Meera's love for God was staged by the students. Tiny tots dressed up as Radha and Krishna mesmerised everyone with their innocence. President of the school Shabad Rudhra congratulated the staff and students on the occasion. BAL BHARTI: The pre-primary wing of Bal Bharti Public School celebrated the auspicious occasion of Janamashtmi with full enthusiasm and devotion. Students came dressed up in multi-colored traditional dresses. Tiny tots also prepared a cultural presentation to mark the occasion. A dance presentation based on the song 'Jai Govind Jai Gopala' was also presented by students. The main aim of celebrating the festival was to acquaint the students with their cultural and religious heritage. EXPO OPENS: A two-day exhibition ‘Glimpses 2008’ was inaugurated today at Guru Nanak International Public School. The exhibition depicted various models, charts and live depictions of various characters related to curriculum. Income tax commissioner Kuldeep Singh was the chief guest of the occasion. Various themes for the exhibition included science and technology, contemporary march from past towards present, new approach to mathematics, role of English language and ‘Hindi se hai Hindustan’. Different departments showed their innate potential through a plethora of themes. COMPETITION: Guru Nanak Public School and BCM Arya Model Senior Secondary School bagged the championship trophy at Gaini Raghbir Singh Memorial Inter-School Shabad Gayan competition held at GGN Public School. Fourteen teams form various schools participated in the competition. Guru Nanak Public School and BCM Arya Model Senior Secondary School jointly got the first prize while Guru Nanak International Public School got the third position. Consolation prize was bagged by Ramgarhia Girls Senior Secondary School. Arminder Singh from Baba Isher Sngh Senior Secondary School bagged the prize as best table player. MORAL EXAM: As many as 5,000 students appeared in moral education examination conducted by Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle. Charankamal Singh, chief secretary of the study circle, said Punjab and Chandigarh are divided into 13 zones for conducting the examination. An amount of Rs 1,50,000 would be distributed. TEEJ: The festival of Teej was celebrated at Arya College for Women. The college wore a festive look. Girls performed giddha and applied mehndi. Miss Teej competition was also held in which Manpreet Kaur was declared the winner.
|
|||
|
Book ex-student for misconduct, say teachers
Ludhiana, August 22 All the wardens submitted their resignation in the general house meeting. It was also decided that no faculty member would accept the responsibility of wardenship unless the university assured dignity of wardens. Faculty members also resented the behaviour of university officers in handling the issue and returning back the keys of the hostel room back to the student in the presence of the warden. The faculty took a strong exception to students asking teachers for condoning off lectures, taking extra classes and rescheduling of examination on flimsy grounds. "If an FIR is not lodged into the case, the faculty will be forced to adopt further course of action from Monday onwards," the release added.
|
|||
Dengue outbreak
Mandi Gobindgarh, August 22 Dr Ranjit Singh, SMO, said the doctor, who resides in Shastri Nagar with his family, was rushed to the PGI, Chandigarh, due to the high fever. "He went to Patiala with his family members from the PGI and we have still not got any official report regarding it," he added.
|
|||
|
Keep surroundings clean, IMA tells people
Ludhiana, August 22 "Use mosquito nets and wear long sleeve shirts”, he advised. The mosquito which spreads dengue fever bites in day time therefore it is necessary that one should keep the body covered with full sleeve shirt, full length trousers and socks, he added. Meanwhile, on the directions of S.P.Sharma, civil surgeon, an awareness campaign was organised for the public. Jagat Ram, deputy mass media officer, told people about the precautions to be taken.
|
|||
|
Tumour of hand removed
successfully
Ludhiana, August 22 Hoshir noticed a swelling on his hand that aggravated and hampered his movements. He was referred to Dr Harinder Singh Bedi, chairman, cardiac sciences, at Sigma New Life Heart Institute. He was diagnosed with a tumour of the hand which consists of vessels. Dr Bedi said such a tumour can suddenly increase in size, become cancerous, lead to bleeding and eventually to death or need an amputation of the hand if not treated in time. Hoshir went through a surgery wherein major vascular malformation was removed and vessels were repaired while ensuring that the hand muscles and tendons were spared. The surgery was performed free of cost. Dr Bedi said Hoshir would be able to do all manual heavy and delicate work with his hands without any problem.
|
|||
PCA’s public authority status upheld
Ludhiana, August 22 Lt Gen (retd) P.K. Grover, the information commissioner, has however, clarified that "as the arguments in this matter were heard only on the question of the status of the PCA being a public authority, I would like to give an opportunity to the PCA to raise any point on the merits of the demand for information with reference to the exemptions available under Section 8, RTI Act, 2005." The complainant had sought information regarding liability of the PCA in giving information regarding financial accountability of the Punjab Cricket Association's activities, and its members, facts relating to the land on which PCA stadium is built and related administrative activities. The PCA, on its part, maintained that it was not a Public Authority within the meaning of Section 2 (h) of the RTI Act, 2005. The PCA also argued that the Supreme Court had held that the BCCI was not a state within Article 12 of the constitution of India. Since PCA is an affiliate of the BCCI therefore it also could not be a state authority. The commission said that state and instrumentality of state as envisaged under Article 12 is not of the same genre as a Public Authority, defined under Section 2 (h) RTI Act, 2005. It has been pointed out that the Punjab Cricket Association is substantially financed, directly or indirectly, by the government. Certain important details included: 13.56 acres of land in Sector 63, SAS Nagar Mohali has been leased out by the Government of Punjab to the Punjab Cricket Association at a token rental of Rs 100/- per acre, per annum; the PCA has uptill March 31, 1997 received grants to the sum of Rs 11. 07 crores from PUDA, Rs 15 lakhs from Punjab Sports Council and Rs 77 lakhs from the Punjab Small Savings; and the PUDA/PHDB (both wholly owned Punjab Government institutions) have given financial aid to the Punjab Cricket Association. The commission said, “It is obviously the infrastructure provided by the state of Punjab, which has enabled the PCA to be presently enjoying such a robust financial health”. It has also been pointed out that “the plea of the PCA that it is not a public authority under the RTI Act; 2005” could not be substantiated.
|
|||
|
Bhartiya Vidya Mandir students excel
Ludhiana, August 22 The students who won medals include Vaishali, Nidhi and Manjot Kaur won gold medals in judo event while Meenu and Ganga bagged bronze medals. In the boy's section, Piyush clinched the gold medal while Shakti Mishra, Nitin, Jagmeet Singh, Varinder, Arashdeep, Prabh Singh and Raman won silver medals. Parvesh along with Neeraj Pal, Tajinder Singh, Angrej Singh and Rohit secured bronze medals. In kickboxing, BVM School player, Gagandeep Walia won a gold medal while in table tennis (boys U-17) the school team won top honours in the zonal level and two students Agnish and Sandeep secured first position in the district championship. In table tennis (girl's U-14 years), Dhriti and Sakshi won second position and Nirdosh Sood bagged silver medal in the U-19 years section. In volleyball (boys U-19), Rajdeep Abhi took part in the district championship and the team bagged first position while the football squad finished second in the zonal level tournament.
|
|||
|
Football Tourney
Ludhiana, August 22 In the league matches played today, Samrala Zone drubbed Khanna Zone 5-0; kila Raipur Zone thrashed Ludhiana II Zone; Raikot Zone blanked Jagraon Zone 4-0. However, Jagraon Zone made it to the last four stages. Similarly, Kila Raipur Zone defeated Samrala Zone, which was merely of academic interest as both the teams have already booked their places in the semi-finals. In the semi-finals, slated for tomorrow, PAU Zone will take on Samrala Zone while Ludhiana II Zone will clash with Raikot Zone. In girl's U-19 years section, only one match could be held in which the Sahnewal Zone managed to scrape past PAU Zone 1-0. In the boy's U-17 years section, Raikot Zone, Khanna Zone, Samrala Zone and PAU Zone over powered their opponents to advance into the semi-finals while in the U-14 years category, PAU Zone besides Raikot Zone, Kila Raipur Zone and Khanna Zone registered victories to enter the last four stages. In the boy's U-17 years group, Kila Raipur Zone beat Samrala Zone 1-0; Raikot Zone outnumbered Ludhiana II Zone 2-0; Khanna Zone overpowered jagraon Zone 1-0; PAU Zone beat Sahnewal Zone 3-0 and Ludhiana II Zone drew 1-1 with Sahnewal Zone. In the group U-14 years, Raikot Zone beat Ludhiana II Zone 2-0; Khanna Zone drew 0-0 with Samrala Zone; kila Raipur Zone drew with PAU Zone in similar fashion while the match between Khanna Zone and Jagraon Zone too ended in a 1-1 draw.
|
|||
|
Hakam selected for Dhyan Chand Award
Ludhiana, August 22 He won a golden medal in a 20 Km walk in Asian Games held at Bangkok in 1978. He also won a gold in the Asian Track and Filed held at Tokyo in 1979. He excelled in the National Championship held in 1978, 79 and 80 in the 20 Km walk event.
|
|||
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
