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Power Pangs
Ludhiana, September 16 The mob turned violent and pelted stones at the police and vehicles. The police later used force to disperse the squatters and restore traffic on the state highway. The members of the Residents’ Welfare Association had a scuffle with the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) staff which came to replace the faulty transformer this morning. This led to further delayed in restoration of power supply to the area. The protesting residents were demanding an apology from the PSEB employees for delay in restoration of power supply. The police had to intervene again to control the situation. The area residents alleged that the transformer had developed a technical snag some two weeks back leading to frequent power cuts. The faulty transformer was not rectified despite repeated complaints. On Saturday, they alleged, the junior engineer (JE) of the area had asked the residents to pay Rs 8,000 for replacement of the transformer. “The area residents contributed this amount and paid to the JE after which another transformer was installed. But, the new transformer also developed a snag within few hours. Yesterday morning, yet another transformer was put up by the PSEB staff in the colony, but it was not made operational till the evening,” said the residents. Refuting allegations of the area residents about demand of money by the JE for replacing the defective transformer, sub-divisional officer (SDO) Ashok Kumar told the Tribune that the faulty transformer was replaced on Saturday. However, it was again damaged and was replaced on Monday. “Some miscreants obstructed the PSEB staff from replacing the transformer and making it operational on Monday. And the same group entered into a scuffle with the staff this morning," the SDO alleged. He said a police complaint had been lodged against the miscreants The executive engineer of Industrial Estate division, Jagdish Singh, however, said that he was unaware of the charges levelled by the area residents against the
JE.
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Industrialist kidnapped
Ludhiana, September 16 Vinod Adya, a 52-year-old industrialist, did not return home from his unit on September 12 evening. The matter came to light today when the police registered a case of kidnapping against an unknown person after investigating the matter for three days. No ransom call has been made to the family as yet. The case was registered on a complaint of his son Vivek
Adya, who said there was no trace of his father since that evening. They looked for him everywhere but to no
avail. Gurtej Singh, SHO, said the police had questioned the family members of the industrialist. The reason behind his disappearance could not be ascertained. An eerie silence prevailed at the businessman's house. When this correspondent visited his South City home, his family members refused to comment. "We have left the matter to the police who are investigating it." Polices sources said the industrialist had gone missing twice earlier but had returned after a few days. They said the case of kidnapping was registered owing to standing instructions from human rights commission.
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Market fluctuation hits trading
Ludhiana, September 16 Brokers said investors were shocked by yesterday's major fall and the impact continued today as well. Though the situation was a little better than yesterday, it was far from normal. The daily trading at the Ludhiana Stock Exchange that was around Rs 600 crore plunged to almost half after yesterday’s fall. Today also, Most investors postponed their selling decisions due to the prevailing volatility. “For the last couple of months, market has not been doing well. It was only lately that things began to look up a bit. Amid such a situation, the sudden fall took us by a shock. I am worried that there might be a further decline,” said Jaidev Chaudhry, a small investor.
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Teachers boycott certificate-level exam
Ludhiana, September 16 Talking to The Tribune, Ramanjit Singh, district general secretary, Democratic Employees Front, said this was not the only reason for “In these two years, we were not told anything about the syllabus or schedule of examinations. The first exam was held on September 15. On September 14 around 9.30 pm, we received calls asking us to reach the venue to attend a seminar. On reaching there, we came to know that we had to take the CTE test. This is not done. They should have informed us well in time,” complained Ramanjit Singh adding that they would boycott the remaining exams to be held on September 17, 19 and 21. Out of 442 teachers, who had to take this test, only 20 appeared on September 15. “It is an insult to us. We are all well-qualified, some of us are already getting the lecturer grade. Why should we take the certificate-level exam? Secondly, we are all social science teachers. Then why do they want to check our skills in English language?” asked Kamaljit Kaur, a teacher. President of the district unit of the Democratic Employees Front Inderjit Mullanpur said the school teachers were already fed-up with the wrong policies of the state government. He said it was mandatory to attend a 40-hour personal contact programme (PCP) before taking the exam. “The PCP was never conducted by the organisers. Neither the material nor the test pattern was provided to the teachers,” he added. Meanwhile, the authorities claimed to have called a special meeting of school heads on September 10 in which everything about the examinations was made clear.
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Admn Plays Smart
Mandi Ahmedgarh, September 16 However, their joy was short-lived as the administration, playing smart, diverted his cavalcade to link roads, somewhat better than the roads connecting the town with Ludhiana, Malerkotla and surrounding villages. The residents have now urged the CM to gather information about the condition of roads from his ministers, who had reached the conference site through the town, and direct the authorities concerned to get these repaired. Irrespective of the political allegiance, residents of this area wanted the CM to reach the Chhapar mela venue in car to know about the pitiable condition of the roads in
the town. Though the public works department had got patchwork done on selected roads leading to the conference site, the approach roads were left
as such. Though the police had set up ‘nakas’ at Karamsar, Jagera, Pohir and Raekot, the CM's cavalcade was diverted on Rara Sahib, Dehlon, Ghungrana and Chhapar road. The diverted route was a longer one and unsafe from the security point of view,
said sources. Local residents, led by Jagjit Singh Jajjie, president, Kagidhar Federation, and Tarsem Garg, president, CB Welfare Association, have urged the CM to order a survey of the area and get all the approach roads repaired. All six approach roads - the Jandali road, Pohir road, Dhulkote road, Chhapar road, Dehliz road and the Jagera road - are in bad shape, they alleged. |
Shifting of dump
Ludhiana, September 16 The private safai karamcharis who collect the garbage every morning have refused to do so in areas like BRS Nagar, Rajguru Nagar and several parts of Aggar Nagar. They claimed that they had been barred from throwing the garbage on the forestland; hence they could not take it to any other place. The corporation had also not placed any garbage container in these areas. Consequently, every morning residents have to work out means to dispose of their garbage. Many of them carry bags of litter in their cars and dump these in garbage containers in different areas. “This has been happening for the past eight days. We don’t know how to deal with the problem,” said Dr Pirthipal Singh Kapoor, president, Residents’ Welfare Association of Rajguru Nagar. “They have to find a solution. What can we do?” said T.S. Chawla, another
resident. He added the garbage was putrefying in their houses in the hot and humid weather. They had spoken to MLA Darshan Singh Shivalik and the area councillor, who happens to be Shivalik’s wife. “In spite of bringing this to the notice of the couple a number of times, nothing has been done so far,” said Chawla. BRS Nagar area councillor Kundan Lal Chhabra said the problem arose after the forest department asked the corporation not to throw garbage on its land. He said they had shifted the dump in BRS Nagar and soon safai karamcharis would be told about the spot and the problem would go.
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Senate Poll
Mandi Ahmedgarh, September 16 Terming non-cooperative attitude of the polling staff as one of the reasons behind low turnout, the voters urged the university authorities to direct employees to allow genuine voters cast their vote on the basis of proof of identification which are acceptable to polling agents of various candidates. Investigations by the Ludhiana Tribune revealed that voter turnout was unusually low, around 16 per cent, in the election to the Senate during last election. About 60,000 voters, out of total nearing 3.75 lakh had used their right to elect the senators and about 8,000 ballots were cancelled on various grounds. Though the turnout was slightly higher (20 per cent) in state capital, situation was worse in rural parts of the Malwa. “Despite being the largest electorate of exclusively educated persons, the body failed to draw sufficient attention of majority of voters. Cancellation of over 10 per cent ballots is even more disturbing,” said Prof Jagpal Singh, a sitting senator from teachers’ constituency. Observations further revealed that only a fraction of registered graduates took interest in electioneering. A majority of the campaigners are themselves not registered.
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Village boys to represent Punjabi culture in Brazil
Mandi Ahmedgarh, September 16 They have already imbibed basics of Brazilian tradition and culture from Iuri Noimann Hatsek of Cachoeira Do Sul, who had been staying with them as a part of exchange programme. The duo have been selected by the Rotary International for studies at Brazil under Rotary International Youth Exchange Programme. Grandsons of former chairman of Punjab Agro, Jagjit Singh Ghungrana, Aseem and Asees, students of New Public School, have been sponsored by Chandigarh (central) branch of the Rotary club. "Though we love and respect our own culture the most, we wish add more to it by learning that of other communities. At the same time, we will exploit the opportunity to let our counterparts from other parts of the world appreciate rich heritage of India in general, and Punjab in particular," said Dhillon brothers, while talking to the Ludhiana Tribune. Puneet Kaur Dhillon, their elder sister, who was awarded Rene Descartes Scholarship worth $ 7,000 by University of Waterloo, Canada, served as source of inspiration for Aseem and Asees. Dhillons, who are to leave tomorrow, will be received by their Rotarian hosts in Brazil. They will attend all the Rotary meetings and functions to be held there, and will interact with youth coming from various parts of the world. Meanwhile, Iuri Noimann Hatsek, guest student, appreciated hospitality of Punjabis and affable attitude of his fellow students. "I am happy that everybody here tried to know about our society. The affable attitude of members of Dhillon family, their friends and everybody whom I met here, made me feel as if I was staying in my hometown," said Iuri. Iuri has started studying Indian history besides English and French.
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Radiologist’s arbitrary conduct invites ire
Ludhiana, September 16 The patients have also accused the radiologist of the misappropriation of 'parchi fee' adding that she deliberately comes late and works after hospital hours asking the patients to straightaway come for ultrasound without depositing the prescribed government fee. The prescribed fee for ultrasound at government hospitals is Rs 150 as compared to Rs 600-1000 at private hospitals and nursing homes. The Khanna hospital caters to the patients from almost hundred villages, including the populace of Lalheri, Bhattian, Libra, Bulepur, Rajewal, Issru, Rauni, Jarg and Salana. On an average, 20 patients come to the hospital for ultrasound everyday. Requesting anonymity, a patient from Lalheri said: "The doctor insists the patients to undergo their ultrasound asking them to make the payments afterwards. Thereafter, she demands the prescribed fee without giving any receipt." Sources inform that the cashier leaves the hospital in the afternoon, so there is no account of the patients and the money taken from them. Narrating today's incident, a patient Surinder Kaur (name changed) said: "I reached the hospital at 7.30 am and after waiting till 9.45 am, I got to know that Dr Ramandeep is not coming. I haven't had anything to eat since morning as the scan had to be done empty stomach. The doctor is not coming on Thursday also, which has further delayed my ultrasound." Dr Ramandeep was not available for comments as one of her mobile phone numbers was switched off and there was no response on the other number despite repeated messages and calls. However, Khanna SMO Dr B.S. Kalsi said, "I was on leave for some days, but I will surely look into the complaints against the radiologist. Matters pertaining to her late arrival and unaccounted money will be inquired into at the earliest," the SMO said.
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Chhapar Mela losing traditional charm
Ludhiana, September 16 The elders of the village are a witness to the rural mela turning hi-tech. Wrestling and kabaddi bouts, which were the main attractions earlier, have been replaced by merry-go-rounds, giant swings and "maut ka kuan". Sitting along with other villagers, Malkit Singh (78), member of the Panchayat committee of Chhapar village, said: "It is not the same mela what it used to be years ago. Earlier, famous wrestlers of the region used to test their mettle here, but slowly the game lost its charm and joyrides and dare devil stunts took place of wrestling bouts." "The popularity of the mela attracted many traders from the surrounding states. Their sole purpose was to earn money. Slowly, they started bringing jugglers and installed hi-tech swings and marry-go-rounds to make more money," said Jogga Singh. Hera Singh, who is visiting this mela for the past 30 years, said: "Malwai gidda, akhara of singers and poetry conferences used to be organised here. As the popularity of this place increased, the politicians started using it as a platform to create their vote bank. And with them came the dance troops that corrupted the innocent people of this area. Thanks to the relentless protest of women and elderly, the vulgar dance came to an end." Residents of this village are proud of the fact that Chhapar Mela is the biggest secular mela organised in the state. This place was once known for its nightlife also. However, with the increasing crime rate here, the number of visitors has considerably come down, who now prefer to visit the place during the day rather than in the evening.
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Stolen bag causes bomb scare
Khanna, September 16 According to the police, the bag was stolen by two teenagers from a car in front of the local bus stand. The teenagers had thrown pebbles on the car and as soon as the occupants came out of the car, the boys fled away with the bag kept on the rear seat of the car. The car occupants, who were on their way from Ludhiana to Mandi Gobindgarh when the incident took place, rushed to the nearby police station to lodge a complaint against the thieves. The thieves however failed to open the locked bag and left it in GTB Market adjoining the bus stand. People in the market suspected a bomb in the bag and brought the matter to the notice of the police after one and half hours. The cops at the police station then rushed the complainants of the stolen bag to the market for identification of the bag. The complainants identified their bag and the police
handed it over to them after verification. City SHO Naveen Kumar said no case had been registered in this connection as the bag was stolen by some thieves and efforts were on to nab them.
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Bajwa accuses Makkar of rigging polls
Ludhiana, September 16 Bajwa was in the city yesterday on a personal visit. Stating that the SGPC was a mini parliament of Sikhs, Bajwa said its president had set a wrong example for the youth. For ensuring the victory of a relative, the SGPC president's son with the help of the police had tried to overpower democracy by rigging the elections, the Congress leader alleged. Bajwa further said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son
Sukhbir Singh Badal were bent upon destroying democracy. The recent example, he alleged, was the expulsion of Capt Amarinder Singh, former CM of Punjab, and the demand for his custodial interrogation. It was totally illegal, undemocratic and illogical, he alleged.
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Residents sensitised on traffic rules
Ludhiana, September 16 The Ludhiana chapter of the club has decided to focus their attention on the worsening traffic situation in the city and realising the need to inculcate a better traffic sense among residents, a traffic awareness week, was organised from September 9 to 15. Various important city points which, face the traffic congestion as a routine, were earmarked. The JCI members took the responsibility of educating public at places such as Bhaiwala chowk, BCM School (Shastri Nagar), Gill chowk, Bharat Nagar chowk, Jagraon bridge, Bal Bhawan, Malhar road (Flames Mall), Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School (BRS Nagar). A special programme was also organised in memory of Ishmeet Singh at Ishmeet chowk. All through the week, the people were encouraged to respect the traffic rules under the principles of “Gandhigiri”. The violators were presented with gifts instead of challans. Stickers and pamphlets mentioning the traffic rules were also distributed among the public.
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PAU pensioners resent non-payment of dues
Ludhiana, September 16 The executive committee of the confederation today met in the farm varsity to discuss the matter of non-payment of pension for over two months. Confederation secretary B.D. Tandon informed that the executive had unanimously decided to file a petition for contempt of court for the non-implementation of the direction of the honourable court. "We have not been paid a penny for the past two months. How can we feed our families on mere assurances by the authorities and state government? Rs 10 crore from the government is still awaited by the university. They have asked us not to get panicked. But we have no other option. It has been more than 15 days, the cheque has still not been received," said R.R. Katyal, a retiree of the PAU. The members, who attended meeting, included president Dr I.K. Garg, general secretary N.K. Pillai and treasurer M.R. Passi.
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Chinese delegation visits PAU
Ludhiana, September 16 The delegation held discussions with the PAU VC Dr Manjit Singh Kang in the committee room where deans of the constituent colleges of PAU and heads of different departments also participated. Dr Jianru said they had heard about PAU and it was his desire to visit PAU to learn about its ongoing and future programmes and to identify areas where PAU and Chinese institutes could possibly collaborate in agricultural research and development programme. He said the Chinese ministry of agriculture in parlays with its Indian counterpart had identified some areas that would be further made operative in October. Dr M.S. Aulakh, dean, College of Agriculture, Dr P.K.Gupta, dean, College of Agricultural Engineering, Dr Tejwant Singh, dean, College of Basic Sciences and Dr S. Jaswal, dean, College of Home Science, informed the delegates about the educational, research and extension programmes in their respective colleges. Deliberating on "Agriculture in China", Dr Jianru said both India and China had common agricultural concerns. He said intensive farm management, substantial use of fertilisers and chemicals for grains (273 kg per hectare), cash crops (441 kg per hectare) and intercropping were characteristics of Chinese agriculture.
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BCM College opens Eco Club
Ludhiana, September 16 Amandeep Singh became the president of the club while Shailendra Kaur became the vice -president. Satnam Singh became secretary and Rajvir Singh was elected finance secretary. Dr. Sawhney made the students aware about the dangers caused by the reduction of ozone layer. Student Ruchita recited a poem on environment which conveyed the message to be Eco-friendly. Another student Kamal gave her presentation in which she described the causes of thinning of ozone.
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Amrit, Amandeep
Mr and Miss Fresher
Mandi Ahmedgarh, September 16 Harmesh Lal, head of the department, presided the concluding function and principal B K Bajaj, and vice-president Nirmal Singh, felicitated the winners. Welcoming students of the new batch, Bajaj called them to make a maximum use of facilities available in the college. Stressing on the need of overall progress of the students, Bajaj said, academic performance was imperfect until accompanied with an adequate personality development. "Besides learning various elements of opted subjects, the students, in order to enhance their personality, should participate in extra-curricular activities," said Bajaj. An elaborate cultural programme was presented by members of the Commerce Association of the institute. Choreographies and skits on social evils, bhangra and giddha presented by the students were appreciated by all.
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PIMT students excel in MBA exams
Mandi
Gobindgarh, September 16
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Teacher presents paper
Ludhiana, September
16
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Peace march by tiny tots
Ludhiana, September 16
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Students to get artificial limbs free of cost
Ludhiana, September 16 The artificial limbs would be provided free of cost to the students in the age category of 0-14 while the cases of mental disability and multiple disabilities would be taken care in the age group of 14-18.
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170 examined at eye camp
Khamano, September 16
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Anglicans protest MC’s move to acquire land
Ludhiana, September 16 They claimed that the MC was trying to take possession of the land which belonged to the church. Spokesperson of the church Pankaj A. Malik said that they wanted to install a gate of the church on the said land but the MC was not allowing them to do so. He said the church, built in 1840, had an historical importance. The land belonged to provincial government but it was in possession of the church all these years, he added.
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Woman booked for abetment to suicide
Khanna, September 16 According to the police, the duo spent a night in a hotel near Malerkotla yesterday. They decided to end their lives on their way to the village, added the police. The duo consumed poison but the woman spit it after some time, said the police. Jagtar Singh died within minutes and the woman also fell unconscious. Some people saw an eight-year-old boy of the woman crying besides her. The duo was rushed to the civil hospital where Jagtar was declared brought dead while the woman was referred to a Patiala hospital. The police said a case under Sections 306 and 309 of the IPC has been registered against the woman. The woman is said to be in a critical condition.
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Motorcyclist injured in mishap
Ludhiana, September 16 The truck driver, who tried to flee from the spot, was nabbed by the locals with the help of a youth, Yogesh Kumar. He was later handed over to the police. Meanwhile, the victim was rushed to the Christian Medical College and Hospital, where his condition is stated to be serious.
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Katoch Shield
Ludhiana, September 16 Ludhiana won the toss and opted to bat first. However, their decision turned out to be a miscalculated one as they soon found themselves in dire straits. The visitors who defeated Amritsar in the semifinal played at Ludhiana made two changes. Varun Chitkara and Jashan Sidhu were replaced by Chinton Sehgal and Sunny Kumar who failed to deliver the goods, chipping in with only 6 and 1 run, while Gaurav Marwaha too failed to open his account and Tarun Passi made one run. Ludhiana's first innings culminated at 141 runs in 68.2 overs. The notable contributors were Geetansh Khera (46), Bharat Malhotra (35),
Karan Goel (22) and skipper Ankur Kakkar (15n.o). For Chandigarh, Satnam Singh was the pick of bowlers grabbing five wickets for 35 runs in 22.2 overs, followed by Naresh Kumar and Gaurav Gambhir who captured two wickets each after conceeding 38 and 39 runs. Gurinder scalped one victim
for 6 runs. In reply, Chandigarh in their first innings at draw of stumps were 54 runs for the loss of four wickets after 26 overs. Gurkirat made 16 while Sarul Kanwar and Vishwas Bhalla scored 12 and 10 runs. For the visitors, Sunny Kumar secured three wickets for 24 runs in 10 overs while Deepak Bansal was the other successful bowler, taking one for 18 runs.
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