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Senior Deputy Mayor ‘thrashed’
Ludhiana, August 11 It was alleged that the Senior Deputy Mayor was manhandled and even thrashed by residents of Kadwai Nagar and supporters of Ramesh Bangar. Bangar, however, alleged that the residents went on the rampage as Bangar himself was beaten up Bansal’s supporters. The incident took place at midnight when Bangar was returning home after attending a part at a marriage palace. He said he was saved due to the timely intervention of the residents. The assailants, however, managed to flee the spot. He said the residents gathered at the spot and started protesting against Bansal. In the meantime, Bansal also arrived at the spot and allegedly started making nasty remarks against him. This infuriated the residents, who allegedly thrashed Bansal and he fled, Bangar said. On the other hand, Bansal slammed the entire episode as baseless and alleged that it was Bangar who was in an inebriated condition and allegedly abused him. He refused he was manhandled by the residents. The matter has reached the SSP, who said appropriate action would be taken in this regard. It was learnt that Bangar had lodged a complaint with the police and later due to pressure from “higher-ups”, took the complaint back. It was not the first time that the factions have clashed with each other. Bansal and Bangar supporters have been at loggerheads ever since Bansal took over as the Senior Deputy Mayor.
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Ward Bypoll: 8 file nominations
Ludhiana, August 11 Among the prominent who filed nominations were Dr Hari Singh Brar (Congress), Harpreet Singh Bedi (SAD) and Gurinder Pal Pappu, who has been denied Akali ticket. The covering candidates included Paramjit Kaur (Congress), Gurpreet Singh (SAD) and Gaganpreet Singh, son of Gurinder Pappu. The others who filed the nominations as Independents are Suresh Jindal and Dharampal Singh. The returning officer said: “We have received eight nominations on the last date and their scrutiny would be undertaken tomorrow.” During the filing of the nominations, Congress candidate Brar was accompanied by leaders like Jagmohan Sharma, Krishan Kumar Bawa, Surinder Dawar and councillor Sushil Raju Thapar. They were of the opinion that popularity and educational background would be a trump card. Harpreet Bedi, a close associate of jails minister Heera Singh Gabrai, was accompanied by councillor HS Dang and other Akali workers. The Akali leaders said: “Bedi has worked the support of more than 40 social and religious NGOs which is proved from the fact that these associations had requested the CM to give him ticket. His popularity would also play an important role.” The major battle is likely to be witnessed between the Congress and the SAD as both candidates are popular in the ward. |
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Dissent in SAD to fore
Ludhiana, August 11 The meeting convened by party high command Parkash Singh Badal and Sukhbir Singh Badal, discussed four names and finally reached consensus on the name of Maninder Pal Singh, alias Sunny. Sunny has the support of Bikramjit Singh Majithia. According to party sources, Sunny’s name was okayed and he was asked to go to Ludhiana and file his nomination papers. However, when he was near Morinda, he got a call and was asked to return to Chandigarh. In the meantime, Harpreet Singh Bedi, who has the backing of minister for jails Hira Singh Gabria, was asked to go to Ludhiana and file his nomination papers. The decision sent a wave of dissent among party workers as those opposing the Gabria group expressed unhappiness at the decision. Senior party leaders felt that Bedi was the right choice as he was more popular and had been active in the party for the past 20 years. “Bedi has worked at all levels in the party and has a better understanding, whereas Sunny is a young blood who is still new to politics. The SAD cannot let a winning seat get out of its hands,” added an SAD MLA requesting anonymity. The SAD also witnessed a rebellion from Gurinder Singh Papu, who has support of SAD MLA Harish Rai Dhanda as he filed his nomination papers as an Independent candidate. This is for the third time that Papu had been denied ticket and had decided to contest as Independent. |
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Lemon goes out of reach
Vegetables like spinach, radish and cucumber have also become costlier. Gurpreet Singh, a vegetable retailer, says that the prices of vegetables and fruits would not come down for another 10-15 days. Spinach, which was available for Rs 15 a kg, is being sold for Rs 30. The prices of cucumber have almost doubled. Radish, which was going for Rs 8-10 a kg, is now available for Rs 25. The prices of some vegetables like cauliflower and peas have, however, come down a bit. Gagandeep Kaur, a homemaker, said her son was suffering from diarrhoea and the doctor had recommended maximum liquid. “He likes lemonade a lot, but it has become impossible to purchase lemon in bulk due to the prices,” she says. Not just vegetables, fruits have also become costlier. No fruit, including apple, jamun, pear and mango is available for less than Rs 60 a kg. “This is perhaps after several years that the prices of mango, a seasonal fruit, has not come down from Rs 40 a kg,” Jeevan Ram, a fruit shop owner, adds. |
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Flip side of glamour
Ludhiana, August 11 As only a few are able to make it big since the success rate in this field is marginal, majority of the youths become desperate and end up doing virtually anything to achieve the desired goal. Himanshu's hair raising story that includes a cold blooded murder of his old friend is no different, as he was also struggling to carve his niche in the glamour word and for this he needed money. The Tribune spoke to some of the aspiring models who are trying an entry into the glamour world and tried to find out the good, bad and ugly side of it. "It is the fame, name and glamour, for which the aspiring models strive for. It is common to see a boy entering into the crime world and the girl ending up in prostitution to get their 15 minutes to fame,” said an aspiring model from Ludhiana, who is now based in Delhi. On anonymity, he said dearth of good photographers and a model grooming institute, forced the boys and girls of “small town” to head towards the cruel world of capital, where they ended up doing things they were always warned against. They were pulled into the black hole, from where coming back was impossible. They ended up being desperate and in desperation they resorted to all kinds of bad things. ‘‘During that time, money becomes the most important thing in life. One wants to do anything for it, so Himanshu also took this extreme step. I saw him closely when he was badgering his parents and friends for money. Nobody could have funded him anymore and he was thus forced to commit the crime,’’ said a friend of Himanshu, not willing to be named. "Majority of them come across hardships of life and stay in dingy rooms along with other models. The glamour world has a different lifestyle and only an opportunist can survive," said a city-based designer Sunil Vinayak. ‘‘Such evils are associated with anything that has glamour in it. Lakhs of cricketers have only one dream and that is to play for India, but only a few players actually get a chance to play in the Indian cricket team. The rest keep on struggling as failure keeps on haunting them. It is same with modelling," said a city-based model, who turned an entrepreneur, after he met with an accident. |
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ATMs go awry
Ludhiana, August 11 The customers have to make rounds of respective banks with applications to get the cash or amount credited in their accounts. Some manage to get the amount credited within 24 hours, but some others have to wait for as long as 30-40 days. Sunil Goel, a customer of Union Bank, said he had used the ATM of another bank at Cheema Chowk to get an amount of Rs 6,000 on August 9. The amount was immediately debited, but he did not get the cash. “The guard said there must be some problem with the switch centre in Mumbai. He told me to contact the bank where I had my account. I went to the branch, filled a form and was told that the money would be credited to my account after 35 days after verifying facts,” he said. Another complainant Sunil Dutt said he had an account with the SBI and he went to the ATM of the State Bank of Patiala to get cash. An amount of Rs 1,000 was immediately debited, but the cash never came out. He gave applications to both banks. “I had an acquaintance working at one of the branch, who helped me get a banker’s cheque, which would be presented on August 14. For a small amount of Rs 1,000, I had to make several rounds of the banks to get the amount credited,” he said. The ATM channel manager, State Bank of Patiala, said they had received such complaints last evening. Most of the switch centres of banks were in metropolitans. “Such problems were basically with the switch centres and we have nothing to do with it. All banks have their own policies and it depends on them when to credit the amount,” he added. |
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Swine Flu: All is in place
Ludhiana, August 11 Being an industrial hub, the city has a large number of exporters who regularly visit foreign countries. Some of them have been compelled by district health officials to undergo tests even if they are suffering from common cold. Dr Deepak Bhatia, project coordinator for the integrated disease surveillance programme (IDSP), however, said the VTM was being provided in every district depending on the requirement. There was enough supply of Tamiflu and masks and Civil Hospitals were equipped to deal with any emergency situation, Dr Bhatia said. “There is no need to panic as the situation is under control here.” He also said swine flu suspects in Ludhiana, except for a Japanese national, had tested negative. On the decision of the central ministry to involve private hospitals and laboratories for tests and treatment of swine flu, he said a plan was being chalked out. “It would depend on the individual capacity of hospitals and laboratories to do so,” he added. Asked about a UK study that stated that Tamiflu was ineffective in children, the state nodal officer termed the assertion as “unexpected”. “We would arrange for a copy of the study by UK researchers and anything on the issue could be said only after it is reviewed in India,” he added. |
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Guidelines on H1N1 issued to schools
Ludhiana, August 11 So far, the city schools have been free from any case of H1N1. While talking to The Tribune, Dr SS Dhir, district health officer, said they had advised the school authorities that if any student was found having symptoms of H1N1, he should be
asked to stay home till fully recovered. He further said the parents should also be cautious and if they find their wards having cough, cold, fever, bad throat, chest pain and running nose, they should not send them to school. Sanjeev Thapar, principal, Government Model Senior Secondary School, PAU, said an awareness campaign had been started in the school. The teachers and students were told about the symptoms of the swine flu during the morning assembly daily, he added. Col DB Sharma, director, Satpaul Mittal School, said they had a doctor who came regularly to examine the students from morning till the school got closed. Rajesh Rudra, director, Greenland School chains, said they had started screening of the students from today, which would be completed by tomorrow evening in all five branches. The exercise was being conducted to find out if any student was suffering from the symptoms of the swine flu. Paramjit Kaur, principal, BCM Arya Model School, said they had issued guidelines to the teachers to let the children wash their hands quite often. Meanwhile, the parents were also worried due to the alarming reports of swine flu. Jyoti, mother of a student, said she had asked her daughter to avoid going to theatres and shaking hands with her friends. Dr Dhir also revealed that the CMC Hospital had sent a five-year-old child for the swine flu test, but the result was negative. He said so far 17 tests had been conducted, but all were found negative.
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I-Day Rehearsals
Ludhiana, August 11 Hundreds of students, comprising of girls from various schools, participating in the rehearsals are a harassed lot. These girl students are facing nasty comments by idle youths, who instead of encouraging the girl students pass annoying comments. A girl on the condition of anonymity said: “We are rehearsing in salty condition to make the occasion memorable. Instead of appreciating our efforts, these students use foul language and make obscene gestures to humiliate us while rehearsing on the college ground.” These students come in huge groups and seemed eager to take on fight at slight provocation. The girl students who wore frocks were primarily targeted by the boys. “They try to pass on their mobile number. Sometimes they even write their mobile numbers on a piece of paper, roll it, and throw towards us. It is getting difficult, we have complained to our teachers even they have expressed their helplessness and have told us to stay away from the group of boys,” said a girl of a noted CBSE school of the city. A teacher said: “These boys have crossed all limits. It is high time that the police should step in to ward off the boys from the ground, as the college authorities have filed to restrict them from interrupting the rehearsal proceedings.” Bhupinder Singh, DSP, Sarabha Nagar, said: “We have not received any complaint of eve-teasing. From tomorrow the police in civil dress will be deputed on the ground and who so ever is caught eve-teasing will be taken into task.”
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Free legal aid clinic launched
Jagraon, August 11 GK Rai, District and Session Judge, Ludhiana, presided over a function organised at GHG Institute of Law for Women at Sidhwan Khurd village. The Jagraon sub-divisional courts will conduct free legal aid clinics at Sidhwan Khurd and Jagraon courts on alternate Saturdays where the free pre-litigation counselling will be given to prospective litigants. The initiative is being taken by the Punjab Legal Services Authority on the direction of Punjab and Haryana High Courts to reduce litigation in courts. It is expected that several cases would be solved with the counselling by a specially selected panel of legal experts, villagers and social workers. The selection of the panel will be on the basis of people understanding, the problems of public in general and on whom the public could trust. Judges from Jagraon Mandeep Kaur Bedi, Ranjeev Kumar Vashist and Ravi Inder Pal Singh were present along with MS Virdi, Additional District and Session Judge Ludhiana, and Manish Singhal, Session Judge, Ludhiana, who are also the district in charge of the programme, Judge Jatinder Pal Singh, secretary of the programme, Jagraon Bar president Raghubir Singh Toor, Advocates Ranjit Singh Roomi, Jagpal Singh Buttar, Preetinder Kaushik and Navin Gupta, trustees and principals of various institutions of Sidhwan Khurd, Tehsildar Paramjit Singh Sahota and DSP Mukhtiar Singh. Later, SP (H) Gurmail Singh Rail also joined them at the inauguration of Jagraon branch at the judicial complex. A total of six such legal aid clinics will be set up in the district at sub-divisional level to provide timely legal counselling to the villagers free of cost.
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Left parties stage dharna against price rise
Ludhiana, August 11 Leaders of both parties, including Rachhpal Singh, member of state committee of the CPM, Sukhwinder Singh Sekhon, district secretary of the party, and Kartar Singh Bowani, district secretary of the CPI, lambasted the Centre and the state government for their failure to curb the rising prices. The speakers pointed out that spiralling prices of food grain, lentils, edible oils, sugar and other items of daily need had created an explosive situation in the country, which could blow out of hand at any moment if immediate remedial steps were not taken. “If suffering people take to streets, the entire responsibility will lie in the hands of the union and the state government,” the Left party leaders commented. Among other speakers were Jatinderpal Singh, Dr Arun Mitra, Raghbir Singh Benipal, Jagdish Chand and Dev Raj.
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Wage Revision
Ludhiana, August 11 The non-executive staff have been awaiting wage revision for the past 30 months. Addressing the dharna, Balwinder Singh, district secretary, said the management was delaying the promotion policy and wage negotiations deliberately by violating the agreement made with the union. “The agreement for promotional policy was reached upon eight months ago but had not been implemented so far. All negotiations with the management did not yield any result,” he said. The non-executive staff will also go on strike on August 19 and 20. The workers are demanding wage revision, implementation of promotion policy, fitment benefit on a par with top executives, five-year periodicity for wage revision, pay fixation on promotion and 50 per cent IDA merger for pensioners.
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Police refuses to buy theft complaint
Ludhiana, August 11 Division No. 8 SHO Maninder Bedi, has slammed the claims made by Anil Kumar, owner of Yorker Store, situated near Arya College for Boys after the shopkeeper alleged that thieves stole 15 mobile phones and 22 IPods from his shop after removing its shutter. The incident came to light this morning when Anil, who resides close by, informed the police about the alleged theft. Soon after receiving the information, a police team and fingerprint experts reached the scene and started the investigation. The police, however, later stated that the incident was a concocted story. The SHO said the police team and PCR officer had been keeping a vigil in the area and such an incident could not have taken place given the circumstances. The police sources claimed that the shopkeeper had cooked up theft after he had been unable to make payments for the mobile phones and IPods to the supplier. While Anil was not available for comments, his son Anoop expressed astonishment at the theft. “The thieves had very smartly uprooted the shutter and sneaked into the shop. The theft took place right under the nose of the police, as the shop is just a stone’s throw away from the Police Lines. Also, the watchman of the area failed to spot any activity,” said
Anoop.
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PAU
Ludhiana, August 11 The house expressed concern over the non-release of the revised pensionary benefits and also condemned the apathetic attitude of the government towards senior citizens. Sat Pal Gupta, secretary of the association, demanded that the Punjab Government should immediately release the revised pensionary benefits to its pensioners, as the employees had already been granted revised pay scales on May 27. Governments had been releasing revised pensionary benefits simultaneously with the revised pay scales of the employees. The members of the association threatened that in case the government did not fulfill their pending demand, they would be compelled to take to streets. The members also appealed to the government to release funds for the pensioners of the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) as approved in the PAU budget. They said the issue had been lingering on for the past two-three years and the government should find out some permanent solution to the problem.
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150 saplings planted
Amloh, August 11 Speaking on the standard of education in government schools, the DEO said the education department was trying to make the performance of these schools better than the private schools, despite the fact that no fee was charged from students in government schools except the computer fee, which was paid to the private body. He also said the meritorious students of the school would be honoured on the Independence Day on the district official function at Fatehgarh Sahib. NCC cadets planted 150 saplings around the school playground.
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Training programme on drip irrigation
Ludhiana, August 11 The training programme was organised to educate the farmers about the adoption of advanced water saving technologies to tackle the problem of fast depletion of underground water resources in the region. Discussing about the training, head of department, Dr PPS Lubana, said water was a critical input in agriculture and that owing to the problem of depleting water table, PAU regularly organised the training programmes on the efficient use of water. Soil and water engineers create awareness about micro-irrigation among the farmers through trainings, contacts and other extension programmes, he said. KVK deputy director, Dr P Ghuman, Gurdaspur, welcomed the farmers, officers of the department of soil conservation, Punjab, and PAU experts. Dr Rakesh Sharda said 40 farmers, officers of the state department of soil conservation and scientists of KVK participated in the programme that laid focus on various aspects of drip irrigation system, its use in vegetables, fruit crops, fertigation and maintenance of drip irrigation system, etc. To apprise the participants about the working of the drip irrigation system, they were also taken to the fields of KVK, he said.
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Ghuman issues notices to 3
Ludhiana, August 11 According to information, the Commissioner had tried to contact the officials following the closure of “gaushala disposal” that was annoying the public. Since they failed to reply, the Commissioner sought an explanation from them. The commissioner has, meanwhile, urged residents to disconnect illegal water connections, failing which action would be taken against them.
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Anti-social activities on rise in Kitchlu Nagar
Ludhiana, August 11 Recently, an alert watchman had foiled an attempt by thieves to steal a car belonging to a
doctor. Bhakoo said Kitchlu Nagar had become a happy hunting ground for snatchers and thieves. Many incidents of snatching and eve-teasing had been reported in the nagar market, but the police had done little to keep a check on their activities. Inadequate patrolling by PCR had led to escalation of crime in the area, he added. The association members have requested the authorities to resume PCR patrolling in the area.
— TNS
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Ludhiana, August 11 Women living in slums will be facilitated for general check-up and haemoglobin test. Civil surgeon said iron and folic acid tablets would be dispensed to women with less haemoglobin. The specialists will examine women and children at all primary health centres, community health centres and civil hospitals on August 13. — TNS
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2 booked for clash over irrigation water
Mandi Ahmedgarh, August 11 “The scuffle could have turned bloody, had a passersby not dared to intervene in the matter, before we reached the spot,” said Inder Jit Singh. Preliminary investigations revealed that Raj Kamal and Harkamal had forcibly cut the banks of a small drain to divert water to their fields yesterday. When Harkomal Singh stopped them to do so, the accused manhandled him and threatened him of dire consequences. To establish genuineness of claims and counterclaims about their turns to water the fields, being made by the warring groups, the police has summoned schedule of the irrigation department. Meanwhile, the social and political leaders of the village, including members of the panchayat, had intervened in the matter. The police has registered an FIR under Sections 341, 506 and 34 of the IPC against the accused. However, no arrest was made in this regard.
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Rs 2 lakh stolen from car
Ludhiana, August 11 The incident took place this afternoon when Vimal Dhal of Osho Forge visited Jassal Art gallery to buy sceneries for his under construction house. He kept his bag in the vehicle under the custody of his driver Avtar and went inside the shop. The driver took a nap and forgot to lock the vehicle. In the meantime a thief opened the vehicle and stole the bag containing cash. The incident came to light when Dhal returned towards the car and found the door open. He woke up the driver and asked for the bag. Avtar expressed ignorance and said the bag was kept on the back seat. Wasting no time Dhal informed the police about the incident. The division number 5 police has started
the investigation.
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Woman commits suicide
Raikot, August 11 Her husband used to consume drugs and liquor beyond his capacity and used to ill-treat her. Upset with his behaviour, she had returned to her parent’s house earlier but Balwant used to take her back promising not to take drugs any more. But once back, he wouldn’t budge. After Raksha Bandhan, when Monica returned she found her husband in an exorbitant condition. On objecting, he started beating her up. Upset over her condition, she consumed some pesticide and died on the way to a hospital at Mullanpur. The police has booked Balwant under Section 306. No arrest has been made so far.
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2 hurt in firing at marriage function
Machhiwara, August 11 The injured have been identified as Navdeep Singh of Bhamian village and Jagjit Singh of Fatehgarh Jattan village. The police said some villagers in the function were firing in the air when splinters of a bullet hit two. The injured were taken to a hospital in Ludhiana where they were undergoing treatment. The police officials said the injured received minor injuries on their chin and arms. A case has been registered under the Arms Act against the accused in this connection.
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55-yr-old ends life
Ludhiana, August 11
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Patwari gets 2-yr RI in graft case
Ludhiana, August 11 Pronouncing the verdict, the judge held that the prosecution had successfully proved the charges levelled against the accused beyond any shadow of doubt. The court turned down the plea of leniency raised by the accused. A case under Sections 7, 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act was registered against the accused by the Vigilance Bureau on June 26, 2002, on the complaint of Ramandeep Singh, owner of Dhaliwal Medical Hall at Sudhar. The complainant had stated to the DSP, Vigilance Bureau, Ludhiana range, that his relative Daljit Singh had got one sale deed registered in his favour regarding a property in Gurre village. He went to the accused who was posted as patwari. He requested for entering the mutation in revenue records. The patwari illegally demanded a sum of Rs 4,000 from him. Later, he agreed for Rs 3,000 and asked him to come on June 26, 2002, at his residence situated on Sheran Wala gate, Jagraon. He had assured that he would handover the copy of mutation at his visit. The complainant, however, reported the matter to the Vigilance Bureau, which laid a trap. The complainant went to the house of the accused. He handed over the money to him. When he came out, VB officials raided the house and recovered Rs 3,000 from the hands of the accused, as per prosecution. On the other hand, the accused pleaded false implication. However, after appreciating the evidence on record and hearing the submissions of Additional Public Prosecutor ML Solanki, the court found him guilty and sentenced accordingly.
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St Mahapragya’s girls win U-14 title
Jagraon, August 11 St Mahapragya’s School has bagged the title by defeating the team of GHG Academy here with a score of 14-4. Earlier, this team gave a crushing defeat to the Gure village team with a score of 0-22. Vishal Jain, director, and Jaandeep Sandhu, principal of the school, congratulated
the team and coaches for the victory.
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Ludhiana, August 11