Ludhiana, August 27
Residents of Banewal village here have alleged that the panchayat has embezzled funds under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).

They alleged that only four-five persons had been employed and given money under the scheme and the “benefits” were being extended to several others who were not even working. Money from their accounts was given in the form of kickbacks to members of the panchayat, the villagers claimed.

In a complaint to the Vigilance Bureau, the villagers, who have also given an affidavit, have claimed that the sarpanch had got their accounts opened in cooperative bank, Humbran, and post office at Bhattha Dhua village.

They also said several beneficiaries of the NREGS did not have pass books and savings books with them as these were with the sarpanch and other members.

“He only withdraws money from the bank. The beneficiaries do not get anything,” they stated, adding that they were ready to give their statements to the vigilance if an inquiry was ordered into the scam.

District development and panchayat officer Mahinder Singh Grewal, however, said there was no scope of any embezzlement of funds under the NREGS. The payment was made in the form of cheques to beneficiaries and the money was deposited in their personal accounts.

“Nobody can say there is a problem. Still, I will look into the allegations,” he said. 

Ludhiana, August 27
Some children from economically weaker sections are such dedicated and keen learners that even unfavourable family circumstances can’t stand in their way of pursuit of knowledge.

Some poor government school students are continuing with their studies even after their parents have refused to send them to school as they can’t afford to.

Not wishing to be quoted, these students have immense self respect and are not ready to accept doles from anyone. Rather, they are earning while they learn.

Preeti (name changed), a topper of the science stream at a government school, said she had been taking tuitions to meet the expenses incurred on her studies. Her father and mother were labourers.

Asked how she managed to study and take out time for tuitions, especially in science stream, she broke down and was unable to say anything.

Some girls said they earned between Rs 300 and Rs 1,000 by way of tuitions.

Some would do embroidery at home and others joined their mothers to work as domestic help in the evening.

Teachers were all praise for a student who was a topper throughout in school and was now studying in college. She would go for harvesting in order to earn her livelihood.

Roshan Prakash, a student of textile designing at a government school, did not drop out of school even after his father refused to send him to school. He has taken up a part time job at a printing press.

The owner of the printing press said they had made adjustments in time to accommodate him as he was a sincere worker and earned up to Rs 2,000 a month.

The teachers said sometimes the hands of the boys are soiled as they come straight from factories and repair shops. There were children who had their “rehris”.

Ludhiana, August 27
In a symbolic way of registering their protest, Congress workers “gifted” passersby at Ghumar Mandi sticks to scare away stray dogs.

Ludhiana District Congress Committee general secretary Sarabjit Singh Bunty said: “The municipal corporation is facing shortage of staff and funds and law does not permit us to kill stray dogs. Since their population is growing and there are increasing incidents of dog bites, this is the only way residents can protect themselves.”

The stall put up by them had rose water, phenyl, brooms and sticks on display, warning people against the collapse of civic amenities anytime.

The Congress workers were protesting against the silence of Mayor Hakam Singh Giaspura over the deteriorating condition of roads and other amenities. Bunti said: “Potholes are not repaired by the MC so people should clean their eyes with rose water in order to drive safely. Even the cleanliness drive of the civic body has failed to yield any result and garbage dumps can be seen everywhere.”

Rajkumar Kashyap, a party activist, said burning effigies had failed to evoke any response, hence, they thought such an initiative might serve as a wake-up call to the MC officials.

A resident, Rohini, said: “One cannot deny that broken roads, garbage dumps and water shortage have become the norm for the city. I hope that listening about this camp would embarrass the authorities and politicians.”

Ludhiana, August 27
“Protection of environment is everybody’s concern,” said PAU Vice-Chancellor Dr Manjit Singh Kang after planting a sapling of kachnar during the vanamahotsava programme organised by Punjab Agricultural University in Government Primary School, Doraha, near here today.

Dr Kang said each child should plant a tree of his or her choice and this would provide impetus to tree plantation drive.

Those who spoke on the significance of trees included director, extension education, Dr Daljit Singh Dhillon, head of the department of floriculture and landscaping Dr Ramesh Kumar, Vegetable Scientist Dr. T.S. Dhillon and assistant professor of landscaping Dr RK Dubey. They inspired the participants to celebrate vanamahotsava every year.

The programme was organised under the aegis of the department of science and technology sponsored research project ‘integrated approach to provide employment opportunities to women’, said Dr JK Sangha, PI of the project. More than 80 farmers and farm women took part in the programme. Plants of neem, sukchain, kachnar were planted on the school premises. The village panchayat members were also present.

TRAINING: A training programme on net-house technology for 22 vegetable growers was organised in the Farmers Service Centre at PAU today. Dr Daljit Singh Dhillon, director of extension education, said the trainings were organised by the PAU extension experts in collaboration with Sir Ratan Tata Project under its reviving green revolution (RGR) programme.

Coordinator of the programme Dr HS Bajwa said this was the third training in series. The participants were apprised about technical aspects of net-house cultivation of vegetable crops such as capsicum, tomato and brinjal. Dr Bajwa said farmers can enhance profitability through growing vegetables under net-house and exercising their marketing properly.

TRAINING PROGRAMME: A two-day training programme for engineers from CLASS India Private Limited and PAU technical staff department of farm machinery and power engineering of Punjab Agricultural University, was organised today. The training aimed at sharing of knowledge to facilitate owners/ operators of combine harvesters in Punjab. Dr IS Dhaliwal, head of the department, was the course coordinator while Dr Gursahib Singh and Dr Anoop Dixit, were the course co-coordinators.

Ten executives from CLASS India Private Limited and five engineers from PAU participated in this programme. Participants were provided training on basic working principles of different types of combines and testing procedures to know the problems.

CERTIFICATES AWARDED: The trainees who completed one-year training course for horticulture supervisors for the year 2008-09 were awarded certificates during a function held today. Dr Daljit Singh Dhillon, director of extension education, who was the chief guest, said besides enhancing profitability of farmers, horticulture helps generate employment and provides a better environment.

He congratulated the trainees for having successfully completed the course. Course in charge Dr Jagjit Singh Sarabha said after completing the course, the trainees can find immense opportunities of employment in horticulture sector not only in public and private sector, but also can start nursery production units.

Ludhiana, August 27
Promotion and popularisation of livestock profession is the need of the hour to explore the new dimensions for livestock farming sector. It is a new ray of hope “if we develop the profession in a technical and scientific way”.

This was stated by Gulzar Singh Ranike, cabinet minister for animal husbandry, fishery, dairy development and welfare, during a review meeting with Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) officers and heads of departments here today.

Ranike said GADVASU was contributing with zeal and potential to serve the livestock farmers. “Successful use of embryo transfer technology is absolutely essential in producing high-yielding animals. GADVASU and the state department of animal husbandry have done an excellent work in this field,” Ranike remarked. In a brief stay of the minister on the university campus, university officials explained the functioning, projects, developments and future plans of their respective departments.

Dr SPS Sangha, controller of examination, explained the functioning of College of Veterinary Science. New developments in the laboratories, teaching and hospital facilities were discussed.

Dr OS Parmar, dean, College of Dairy Science and Technology and director of extension education, stressed that the main concern of the college is to transfer the technology from lab to land. He said in future this college would be capable to provide human resources from scientist level to apprentice.

Dr Kamaldeep Kaur, dean, College of Fisheries, explained the different aspects of the college.

Dr GS Brah, head of the department of animal biotechnology, discussed the different issues on animal biotechnology and research aspect of this field. Dr AS Nanda, director of research, explained the shortcoming of the university in the context of regular teaching and research staff as well as procurement of land to run the regional and training centre at Padhri Kalan.

Usha R Sharma, IAS, secretary, animal husbandry, fisheries and dairy, expressed willingness to solve the problems of the university to serve the livestock farming community.

Later, the minister visited the pilot dairy plant of College of Dairy Science and Technology. Also present were Inderjit Singh, director, dairy development, Punjab, and Darshan Singh, director, animal husbandry, Punjab.

Ludhiana/Jagraon, August 27
Ludhiana’s sole chapter under the IGNOU’s community colleges programme began its operations today at the Baba Kundan Community College in Rishi Nagar.

The centre was inaugurated by Vikas Garg, DC, and Dr Sukhchain S Gill, SSP of Ludhiana.

Under a special HRD ministry initiative, these community colleges are registered with the IGNOU and shall offer two-year associate degree programmes on a range of job oriented and industry trained academic programmes at affordable costs.

In his inaugural speech, Garg wished the institution success in its plans to make available good quality education and training to the youth of the city.

In his message, Prof VN Rajasekharan Pillai, Vice-Chancellor of IGNOU, said: “These colleges are an alternative system of education which aims to empower individuals with appropriate skill development leading to gainful employment, particularly for the marginalised and underprivileged sections of the society.”

The president of the college, Dr R Prakash, said: “Our main objective is removal of economic backwardness through technology.”

Ludhiana, August 27
In the wake of the huge gap prevailing between demand and availability of power, and the consumption of electricity by the farm sector for paddy crop showing no signs of let up, the city population is at the receiving end with power cut far exceeding the scheduled period of seven hours during the day. Frequent break downs due to cable or transformer faults in most of the city localities at one time or the other further add to the misery of people who have to make it not only without power but water supply as well.

Hundreds of residents of several localities around Deepak Cinema and Domoria Bridge complained that for the last several days, the power cut schedule had gone haywire and unscheduled cuts were also being imposed early in the morning or late in the evening.

“Disruption of power supply for whatever reason, especially in the morning, affects the water supply. For the last two days, there was no water supply in the morning with the result that children of three families, sharing a house on the Deepak Cinema road, had to go to school without taking bath,” rued Devinder Kumar, a shopkeeper.

Rubbishing claims made by top brass of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) about the scheduled power cut of maximum duration of seven hours on mixed feeders (urban areas), residents of more than a dozen localities in the Civil Lines area said almost every day, the time of commencement of power cut was advanced by anything from 15 minutes to half an hour. The restoration of power was also delayed in the same manner, thereby increasing the total duration of power cut by an hour or so.

Many other residents of the area maintained that on Tuesday power cut of more than eight hours was imposed in three parts and power supply was available only for about 15 minutes in the afternoon right from 10 am to 5.15 pm.

Yesterday also thousands of people continued to suffer in the Civil Lines area as the 66 KV sub-station on the Old Sabzi Mandi Road developed a snag right after the power supply was restored after a prolonged cut at 5.15 pm. For more than three hours, the technical staff of the PSEB kept grappling to identify and rectify the fault and the sub-station could become operational only around 9 pm.

Highly placed sources in the PSEB admitted that the power scenario was grim as things stood out right now and there was no chance of any significant improvement till mid-September when the demand for power from the agriculture sector will considerably go down once the paddy crop had matured.

Ludhiana, August 27
The local industrial units depend largely on Muslim workers. A huge number of them from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are contributing to the industry.

Thus, a few industrial houses have changed their working hours due to Ramzan for a month.

Ranjit Malik, who runs a small-scale garment unit at the Focal Point, said one-third of the workers working in his factory were Muslims.

“My entire unit depends on them. They have to offer prayers five times a day. If they want relaxation, we have no right to object to their religious sentiments. I start my factory at 6 am till 5.30 pm so that they can observe the rituals,” said Malik.

Mohammad Ismail, an octogenarian at Muslim Colony, said he had come to the city four decades ago. “We feel good to see the religious harmony between communities.

The relaxation of timings is not new here and it is a beautiful gesture to respect our feelings.

The rozas are kept between 4.25 am to 7 pm. Change in timings by factories is not permanent but for a month, when Ramzan is observed,” added Ismail.

During Ramzan, Muslims shun drinks, food and smoke during the daytime. Farukh Mohammad, an industrial worker, said they devoted themselves to Allah by praying and visiting mosque.

Ludhiana, August 27
“Growing old is a reality and ageing starts from the age of 20. All of us have to grow with the passage of time. But it is the attitude that keeps us young and productive forever,” said Dr Shielu Srinivasan, founder president, Dignity Foundation, Mumbai, while addressing members of the Ludhiana Management Association (LMA) here last evening.

Dr Srinivasan said the number of old people will surpass young people in 2050. It was estimated that world’s total population was 630 million and it was going to increase to two billion. At least 54 per cent of the old people lived in Asia and 11 per cent of these lived in India.

She added that it took France 115 years to grow from seven to 17 per cent, while it took China just 27 years to grow the same. Surprisingly, India would take just 25 years to reach that level.

She added that Indians were living longer. “Today, one out of every 12 persons in India is more than 60 years old.” She reiterated that it was meaningless to feel that old people were not useful.

Dr Srinivasan gave eight steps to successful ageing i.e. sending right signals to mind, gathering information on regular basis, maintaining physical and mental fitness, more social interaction, volunteering for work, motivating oneself and involvement in spiritual activities.

To remain productive in the old age, people should practice kindness more to boost happiness, recall mentors for some time and thank them for support, learn to forgive and invest more time and energy in friends and family.

She added that only right attitude could take one to a life of peace and pleasure in old age.

Dr KNS Kang, general secretary, LMA, said older people had lots of experience and fellow countrymen should take advantage of their knowledge by involving them in policy-making process, engaging them in solving critical problems, etc.

In his presidential remark, VK Goyal, president, LMA, said the foundation was doing an excellent job for society. Older people needed to change their attitude towards life for better living, he added.

Ludhiana, August 27
Students of Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College continued their strike for the second consecutive day in protest against change in rules for reappear examinations in the semester system of Punjab Technical University.

The students alleged that earlier if a student got a reappear or compartment in any subject, he could take the reappear examination in the next semester but according to the new guidelines, a candidate of first semester could appear only in the third semester i.e. skipping one semester.

Talking to the TNS, GNDEC principal said the strike was not against the college but against the new ruling of Punjab Technical University.

He said with changed guidelines, if a student wanted to apply for revaluation, he must have at least 25 per cent marks in the subject.

They have forwarded the complaint of the students to PTU Vice-Chancellor and the matter would be taken up at the meeting of the academic council on August 29.

The students said they would intensify the agitation if their demands were not met.

Ludhiana, August 27
The Minister of Animal Husbandry, Fisheries, Dairy Development and Welfare of Scheduled and Backward Castes, Gulzar Singh Ranike, today laid the foundation stone of NABARD assisted state-of-the-art polyclinic at Gill village, near here today. The project costs Rs 1.58 crore.

The polyclinic will house a multipurpose laboratory and a mechanised operation theatre, besides X-rays, ultrasound and round-the-clock services for indoor patients. The venue will also house a separate dog clinic.

Highlighting various developments of the department, the minister motivated the livestock farmers to preserve the germ plasm of their high yielding cows and buffaloes.

Dr Darshan Singh, director of the animal husbandry department, advised farmers to adopt the technique of artificial insemination to avoid the problem of repeat breeding.

Prominent among others present on the occasion included Darshan Singh Shivalik, MLA (Dakha), Hira Singh Gabria, Minister for Jails and Tourism, Harish Rai Dhanda, Chief Parliamentary Secretary and Manpreet Singh Ayali, chairman of the Zila Parishad.

Ludhiana, August 27
The union ministry for information and broadcasting has proposed to set up four new frequency modulation (FM) channels in the city.

MP and national spokesperson for the Congress Manish Tewari, while addressing a function organised by Media Centre, here today said the channels would be operated by private operators.

The function was organised to mark Tewari’s 100 days in Parliament.

A press release said the city had no local FM channel except one run by an educational institute.

He said it was unfortunate that the city did not have local FM channel for a city that had a 40 lakh population.

Tewari gave a break-up of various projects being run or sponsored by different ministries at the Centre.

He said the ministry of telecommunication for 2009-10 had proposed 3G mobile services in GSM network at a cost of Rs 21.32 crore.

Besides, the latest Wi-MAX Wireless Broad Band service at a cost of Rs 10.71 crore was also being introduced in the city.

An agreement had also been reached with the BSNL for connectivity with the rural areas.

Tewari regretted that at least four projects had been returned by the Centre because of incomplete paperwork.

Ludhiana, August 27
A deputation of the Northern Railway Vendors’ Union, along with activists of several other trade unions and parties, today met station superintendent RK Sharma and sought the grant of speedy compensation to the family of Santosh Kumar, a vendor at the local railway station who was killed during an encounter with suspected Babbar Khalsa terrorist Balbir Singh Bhutna on Tuesday morning.

Vishwa Nath Singh, a functionary of the vendor union, and Sitamber Singh, president of the labour wing of the Youth Akali Dal, said the act of the slain vendor, who grappled with the armed terrorist and lost his life in the process, was exemplary and ought to be recognised.

The deputation demanded that status of a martyr be bestowed on the deceased for his courage and commitment to the nation, his family be given a compensation of at least Rs 10 lakh, and an eligible member of the affected family be given employment by the railways.

The vendors welcomed the announcement made by additional railway manager RS Ghera that the case had already been forwarded to the headquarters for grant of compensation to next of kin of the deceased as a special one. They, however, regretted that union railway minister Mamata Banerjee had chose to maintain silence on the incident.

National president of Shiv Sena Hindustan Pawan Gupta and state chief Krishan Sharma also made a similar demand in a statement here today.

They said it was only due to the rare courage displayed by Santosh Kumar that police was able to arrest the terrorist without causing any further loss to human lives and railway property.

Ludhiana, August 27
In response to the call given by PSEB Employees Federation (AITUC), employees of the Punjab State Electricity Board held a gate rally at Janta Nagar division here today in protest against delay in revision of pay scales, proposed unbundling of the board and press other pending demands.

Addressing the rally, trade union leaders, including Kewal Singh Banwait, Mohinder Pal, Balwinder Singh, Daljit Singh Bedi, Kulbhushan Sharma, Mushtaq Masih and Sohan Singh, charged the PSEB management with deliberately delaying the announcement of revised pay scales, which had led to widespread resentment among employees.

Activists of the federation alleged that the wage formulation committee was not set up properly, employees were not given due representation on the committee and norms for wage revision were not explicitly fixed, which had created apprehension among employees that the report expected to be submitted by the committee would have great number of anomalies.

They added that fresh recruitment continued to be under a blanket ban and even vacant posts were not being filled despite the fact that workload of the PSEB had increased manifold since 1996.

The reluctance of the PSEB management to give effect to recruitment on compassionate ground also came under criticism.

Speakers at the rally made scathing attacks on the PSEB management and the state government on proposed unbundling and privatisation.

“The government is hell-bent on unbundling of the board even though it has been established that the exercise, wherever carried out, has failed to achieve the desired results. On the contrary, the services have deteriorated and consumers have suffered where private companies have replaced the state electricity boards.”

The trade unionists attributed severe power crisis in the state to incompetence of the PSEB management and evasive policies of the state government.

They alleged that farmers were not being provided with adequate power for paddy crop and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, being minister in-charge of power, ought to take moral responsibility for the failure of the PSEB on this account.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, August 27
Merchant navy, once a rage with the youth of North India, has lost its sheen in this border state.

Fall in job opportunities on foreign lands and reports of certain placement agencies and agents duping innocents youths on the pretext getting them jobs in the field of maritime have been cited as reasons behind this trend.

To revive the trend, certain carrier promotion agencies from coastal cities have launched drives to educate engineering students of various technical education institutes of the area about the carrier opportunities in marine navy.

Investigations by Ludhiana Tribune revealed that the number of educated youths serving in merchant navy had gone down during the past decade.

To revive the trend, authorities in the field have deputed certain agencies to persuade more professionals to try their luck in the profession.

Mandeep Kaur Pandher of a carrier promotion agency that had organised a counselling camp at Bhutta College of Engineering recently said students of the instituted had shown a mixed response to the call made by experts to join merchant navy.

“While some students were curious to know the procedures to get high-profile jobs in merchant navy, others showed little interest in the subject,” said Bhullar, adding that they had agreed to arrange free coaching for students desirous of appearing in entrance test for a career in the field.

Acknowledging that experts in the field were worried about the declining trend among Punjab youth taking up merchant navy, Gaurav Bansal and Navdeep Singh, experts, said some carrier counselling agencies had started organising awareness camps in engineering colleges of the border state.

Ludhiana, August 27
A team of health officials, led by Parveen Kumar, in-charge of the anti-narcotics cell, and Rajesh Suri, district drugs inspector, today conducted raids on three chemist shops in Haibowal locality and seized a large quantity of habit-forming drugs.

According to civil surgeon Dr Maninderjit Singh, the team carried out inspection and search at Sharma Medical Hall, Uttam Medicos and Uttam Medical Hall.

The raids led to seizure of 1,954 capsules, 5,997 tablets of different formulations and 17 bottles of cough syrups.

The inspection of documents at these shops also led to the detection of many other irregularities like absence of pharmacist, failure to maintain proper record of sale and purchase.

Cases under relevant sections of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act have been registered against the owners of the three medical stores and further action was in progress, said the civil surgeon.

Ludhiana, August 27
Players of Green Land Senior Secondary School, Jalandhar bypass branch, and Kundan Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, Civil Lines, won top honours in the boys’ section of the Ludhiana District Inter-School Chess Meet organised by the education department at Bhartiya Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, Udham Singh Nagar branch.

In the under-14 category, Green Land School emerged overall champions, while second and third positions were wrested by Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School, BRS Nagar, and DAV Public School, BRS Nagar, respectively.

In the under-17 category, Kundan Vidya Mandir romped home champions, while BCM Senior Secondary School, Shastri Nagar, finished runners-up and Green Land School had to content with third place.

Green Land School boys came out triumphant in the under-19 category, followed by Sacred Heart School, BRS Nagar, and BVM Senior Secondary School, Kitchlu Nagar branch, respectively.

Ludhiana, August 27
Three teams from Kila Raipur zone stormed into the finals of the ongoing Ludhiana District Inter-Zonal Hockey Tournament organised by the education department at the Prithipal Singh Memorial AstroTurf Stadium at PAU here today.

Two teams (u-14 and 17 years) from Nankana Sahib Public School, Kila Raipur, and one team (u-19) from Hargobind Senior Secondary School, Bahadurgarh, representing the Kila Raipur zone recorded wins.

In the under-17 category (semifinal) today, Kila Raipur zone prevailed over Sahnewal zone 5-4. In the second semifinal, Jagraon zone beat Raikot zone while in the under 19 category, Kila Raipur zone blanked Jagraon zone 5-0 to set up a title clash with Raikot zone.

Ludhiana, August 27
Three-day Ludhiana District Inter-Block Panchayat Games (boys and girls) began at Guru Nanak Stadium, here today.

These games are being organised by the Punjab Sports Department under the union government’s Panchayat Yuva Sports scheme.

Harish Rai Dhanda, chief parliamentary secretary, Punjab, inaugurated the games.

Shivtar Singh Bajwa, president of the District Football Association, along with Jaswinder Singh Bhandari, district sports officer, and coaches of different disciplines was also present.

Results: Football (boys): Pakhowal block b Doraha block 6-5; kabaddi (boys): Sadhar block b Raikot block 59-14, Machhiwara block b Jagraon block 66-65; kho-kho (girls): Sidhwan Bet block b Ludhiana II block 8-0; volleyball (girls): Jagraon block b Ludhiana I block 2-0; volleyball (boys): Sidhwan Bet block b Ludhiana II block 2-0 and Khanna block b Sidhwan Bet block 2-0; athletics (boys): 800m race: Parminder Singh of Khanna block 1 and Prabhjot Singh of Sidhwan Bet block 2; 3000 m race: Charanjit Singh of Khanna block 1 and Jatinder Singh of Sidhwan Bet 2; long jump (girls): Manpreet Kaur of Doraha block 1 and Rajandeep Kaur of Khanna block 2; shot put: Manjot Kaur of Ludhiana II block 1 and Manpreet Kaur of Ludhiana II block 2.