Ludhiana, September 11
The MC’s axe would fall on 30 shops coming in the way of a ramp that would connect the Old City with an elevated road.

The ramp has been a long-pending demand of commuters in the absence of a proper exit point from the Old City area.

The Rs 55-crore elevated road had failed to help commuters as the road did not connect the Old City. This decision was taken after MC Commissioner AK Sinha took a round of the project that had failed to come up to the expectations of the residents. He said these shops would have to be demolished if the elevated road was to be used by Old City residents.

He also visited the old court area and sought details about why the construction of the Lakkar bridge project had been delayed.

He also visited the Jagraon bridge, Gill road and Gyaspura area and took stock of the ongoing projects. Sinha said the projects were going fine, but some areas required special focus. “We need to shift some shops and electricity poles for the construction of the Lakkar bridge. About 27 shops required to be shifted immediately due to the construction of the ramp near the bridge,” he said.

The Gyaspura area had witnessed a marked improvement in sanitation, he added.

Ludhiana, September 11
After the arrest of Randhir Singh Sebia, husband of Ward No. 1 councillor, Rattanjit Kaur, it was the turn of her son, Sukhbir Singh, who was nabbed along with five others for allegedly molesting a girl at Salem Tabri last evening.

The incident took place around 7.30 pm when the victim was returning home after attending tuition.

The victim’s father said the accused waylaid his daughter and started teasing her. She immediately called her parents, and her father and brother reached the spot in no time.

The councillor’s son and his friends reportedly thrashed them and fled.

The police today nabbed all the accused and booked them. The other accused have been identified as Jaskaran Singh, Sukhbir Singh, Satish Kumar, Jaskaranpal Singh and Kulbir Singh.

Earlier, Ratanjit Kaur’s husband had been arrested for allegedly molesting a woman who had come to fill a form for the allotment of an LPG cylinder.

Ludhiana, September 11
A woman journalist was molested by a motorcyclist on the Ferozepur road here last evening.

She was returning home from office on a scooter around 8 pm when the youth, wearing a cap, started following her and passed obscene comments.

He then came close to her and molested her. She lost control over the scooter, which skid. She fell on the road and the youth came back. When she raised the alarm, he fled towards the Aggar Nagar-A area.

She said the road was deserted in the evening so no one could come to help her. Fearing that he may not follow her again, she stopped her scooter and stood in front of a shop for some time.

The victim filed a complaint with the police, which ordered the putting up of barricades on important roads. The youth, however, could not be traced.

Ludhiana, September 11
City roads in the evening hours are hardly safe for women.

Rich and unruly youths and teenagers, who often enjoy the backing of their parents, take pride in teasing girls and even molesting them.

Several incidents of eve-teasing take place on the roads, but most of these go unreported as victims fail to lodge a complaint with the police.

The police has also failed to check the rise of such incidents. There is no police patrol on roads, especially on the outskirts. Not many PCR vans can be seen on the roads. According to a police source, over 40 cases of rape have been registered in the city in the past eight months.

Also, Ludhiana district has the lowest sex ratio in the region.

Ludhiana, September 11
The income tax department has unearthed undisclosed income worth Rs 7.67 crore during surveys held in various parts of the city.

The surveys were held at five groups and units, including Udhera Group whose undisclosed income came out to be Rs 2.3 crore.

A sum of Rs 1 crore was unearthed as undisclosed income from Udhera Fasteners and Rs 65 lakh each from Udhera Mechanical Works and Udhera cardboard unit.

Undisclosed income worth Rs 1.62 crore was detected at Ram Sons.

Another survey was held at the manufacturers of Oster brand. The department unearthed Rs 2.3 crore undisclosed income from Jawand Sons and Udhay Sons while Rs 60 lakh was detected at Maggar Singh and Sons. In a survey at Tej Tyre Company, Rs 85 lakh was detected.

The department checked computers and verified stock, bank accounts, balance sheets and sale and purchase slips.

Sources revealed that the department had prepared a list of tax payers who had mentioned less than the actual income in the returns during this financial year. “In the coming days more such surveys will be held to zero in on tax payers who are not disclosing their actual income,” the sources added.

Ludhiana, September 11
Punjab Agricultural University, torchbearer of Green Revolution, which transformed the face of Indian agriculture, is today a fading light thanks to the shortage of funds it has been under going from a long time.

Almost 90 per cent of the PAU budget is allotted for the payment of salaries and allowances to the university staff, leaving a little for research and development.

Dr Manjit Singh Kang, Vice-Chancellor of the university, said: "The government has provided financial help but the present situation is critical. The grants from the state government are Rs 100 crore whereas our expenditure on staff salary is Rs 100 crore plus a few lakhs. In such scenario, research and teaching work are the worst sufferers."

He remarked that lack of funds has created over 200 vacancies in various departments of the PAU, which is hindering teaching as well as research work.

At PAU, teaching methods are still primitive. Computers, though available, don’t function properly. A research scholar said: "Practical training is missing. Students are dissatisfied with the teaching methodology and modes. There is more of lab-centric and less of field-oriented teaching."

As former scientist Devinder Sharma puts it: "A Titanic of the Indian agricultural is sinking. It is also taking along farmer interest. The university should be sold off to a deserving private player who will save the interests of the farmers."

A PAU official, requesting anonymity, said there were no qualified technicians to operate the costly equipment and that the scientists were not trained to operate, further hindering whatever research work was happening.

The university is losing popularity among students and a large number of vacant seats in the four constituent colleges of the PAU and its various departments bear testimony to the fact.

Noted agriculture economist Dr SS Johl recalls: "There was a time when stalwarts like Partap Singh Kairon visited the campus every two months for cross-fertilisation of ideas with the heads of departments. How many chief ministers, ministers of agriculture or bureaucrats have followed Kairon's footsteps?" questioned Dr Johl.

The economists and research scientists at PAU said with India's population estimated to grow at the rate of 1.8 per cent every year, the food grain requirement would be 260 million tonne for 1.3 billion population by 2030.

The challenges before the PAU are numerous and urgent which need to be addressed at the earliest failing which, the state agriculture is sure to suffer irreparable damage.

Ludhiana, September 11
A doctor working in Apollo Hospital was allegedly abused by a cop for bringing her vehicle in the path of the Pakistan-bound India- Pakistan “Sada- e-Sarhad” bus near the Vishwa Karma Chowk here today.

She was not only abused but a hefty challan was also imposed on her for abruptly stopping her car in front of the bus, which is considered grave security threat at the time when the relation between the two countries are not cordial.

The incident took place this morning at around 11. 30 am, when the “Sada- e-Sarhad” bus en route to Pakistan was crossing the Dholewal road.

Pratibha Sharma, the doctor, said when she saw a police vehicle escorting the bus approaching her car, she quickly turned the car towards a corner.

The doctor said the moment she turned towards a corner, a vegetable vendor came in her way and in order to protect him she applied breaks due to which her vehicle stopped in the middle of the road. Which caused the bus to a halt.

The security personnel quickly alighted from the bus and took positions. Meanwhile, the pilot vehicle escorting the bus returned to the spot. The doctor claimed that police officer Gurinderjit alighted from the vehicle and started abusing her in full public view.

She cried in the middle of the road and hefty challan was levied on her for coming in the way of the bus.

Dharamdev Sharma, doctor’s father, termed it an uncalled for incident. He said the cop did his duty by imposing fine on his daughter, but he has no right to abuse her publicly.

Whereas Gurinderjit has termed the allegations as baseless. He said first the doctor was driving the car without license and secondly she posed a grave security threat by abruptly stopping the bus.

“Now, since a hefty challan has been imposed on her, she is trying to prove herself innocent,” he added.

Ludhiana September 11
Resentment prevails among the legal fraternity against the state government on the issue of steep hike in the stamp duty for litigants and against the setting up of evening courts in the city from September 19.

Lodging their protest, the city lawyers continued their strike on the second day today. They have threatened to go on an indefinite strike till their demands were not fulfilled. They have also urged the government to withdraw the hike in stamp duty immediately.

Terming the steep hike to be unjustified and against the principles of natural justice, a deputation led by District Bar Association president Parupkar Singh Ghumman today submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal through the deputy commissioner.

Senior lawyer Ajay Jindal, DBA secretary Kamaljit Sharma, Devinder Saini, Rajesh Mehra, BK Rampal, and SS Cheema accompanied the delegation.

The judicial system was set up for the benefit of poor, downtrodden and for providing justice to the needy, but such a steep hike has resulted in a setback to such sections. It’s quite painful that our leaders have forgotten this intention of setting up judicial system, reads the memorandum.

District Bar Association leaders claimed that this would make the litigation expensive and the people at large would try to settle their disputes through illegal means instead of resorting to the legal system. It would lead to social and civil unrest, which would not be in the interest of the state.

Senior lawyer Sukhpat Rai Wadhera, Dharmjit Singh Khera, Rajwant Singh, Gurdish Singh Grewal, Avinash Gupta said such a steep hike would increase lawlessness in society as justice would be out of the reach of a common man.

These lawyers also opposed the decision of setting up evening courts. They said it was not practicable. How the lawyers would prepare cases in which they were to lead evidence, advance arguments. In such a situation they would take adjournments, which ultimately would result in delay of justice to litigants, the lawyers added.

Ludhiana, September 11
In the absence of any check by the district health department and the administration, a large number of quacks and imposters violating the Drugs and Magical Remedies (Objectionable Advertisement) Act are expanding their network in the city. A few self-styled doctors and imposters are cheating innocent people through unrestrained advertisements on the local television channels and through pamphlets amplifying their activities.

The city has six doctors practicing witchcraft, who despite being found guilty of violation of the Act are prospering at the cost of illiterate and unaware masses.

The section C of the Act clearly states that “ magic remedy “ includes a talisman, mantra, kavacha, and any other charm of any kind, which is alleged to possess miraculous powers for or in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of any disease in human beings or animals. It also states any above procedure used for affecting or influencing in any way the structure or any organic function of the body of human beings or animals is a criminal offence.

The Tribune correspondent after viewing the advertisement of a witchdoctor Miyan Rehmani Ji practising near the Gill Chowk called him up on his mobile posing as Rashmi from Phillaur asking him for a remedy for cordial relationship in her marriage. Miyan Rehmani Ji after listening to the client said, “Is mein to mujhe aap ke pati ka vashikaran hi karna padega (I will have to use black magic so that you can possess your husband’s soul)”. The witchdoctor also asked to bring a photograph of her husband assuring that the problem will be taken care of in three days. He also demanded a registration fee of Rs 100 followed by additional expenses of Rs 3000 plus.

Similarly, a large number of quacks calling themselves experts in alternative therapies are violating the Act by dispensing medicines for the procurement of miscarriage in women or prevention of conception in women, correction in menstrual disorders and even remedying sexual problems.

Despite the provision made in the Act, any gazetted officer authorised by the state government may within the local limits of the area can search, seize material /advertisements examine records/material objects to furnish evidence of an offence punishable under the Act, no concrete step has been taken against these quacks and witchdoctors.

Ludhiana, September 11
The CPI and the CPM staged a protest against hike in electricity tariff and failure of the government to control prices rise, at the railway station here today.

Addressing the rally, the leaders of the Left parties remarked that the increase in power tariff had come at a time when there were unannounced power cuts of long durations, affecting domestic as well as commercial sectors.

“The trade and industry are suffering a big blow under these cuts while the common man is also facing inconvenience due to frequent outage.”

They said the government had no plans to increase power generation, which went on to establish the intentions of unbundling the Punjab State Electricity Board and handing over the power sector to private players.

The speakers were of the view that the hike in power tariff would seriously affect the lives of people, already reeling under high prices of essential commodities.

They demanded immediate rollback of hike in tariff and maintained that minimum monthly charges levied on consumers under the sanctioned load were a fraud with consumers in the absence of regular power supply.

On the plight of the working classes, the functionaries observed that the common man was finding it hard to sustain life with prices of essential commodities soaring.

Also, workers were faced with mass retrenchment and shrinkage in the job sector.

“With low wages and no job security, the life of people is going to be miserable in times to come.”

Attack the policies of privatisation, they alleged that the government seemed to be bent on privatisation of everything while running away from its responsibility of even providing basic needs like education and health to people.

The new education policy would further worsen the situation, they added.

The parties demanded immediate control on prices of essential commodities, effective action to check profiteering and hoarding and scrapping of policies of privatisation and contract labour.

The lathi-charge on peacefully agitating farmers and employees in Chandigarh earlier this week, in which one person was killed, also came in for a sharp criticism.

Among prominent speakers were Dr Joginder Dyal, member central executive, Kartar Singh Bowani, district secretary of the CPI, Sukhwinder Sekhon, secretary CPM, OP Mehta, Jatinder, Dr Arun Mitra, Jagdish, Gulzar Gorea, Ramesh Ratan, Vijay Kumar, Gurnam Sidhu, Kuldip Singh Binder, Gurnam Gill, Raghbir Singh, Venipal, Hanuman Prashad and Daljit Singh.

Ludhiana, September 11
While hike in power tariff by the Punjab State Electricity Board will to add to the expenditure of the municipal corporation, the failure of the latter to stop power pilferage is already giving the already cash-strapped civic body, which pays over Rs 40 crore for electricity every year, a tough time.

Sources in the corporation say tubewells are the biggest source of power pilferage, as many of these house tubewell operators with families, which use power meant for tubewells for their own needs.

Besides, many tubewells don’t have power meters, raising a question mark on the basis on which consumption readings are taken by the MC officials.

They added that Rs 2 to 3 crore was paid every month by the O&M branch as power bills.

Interestingly, discussions with senior officers revealed that the issue had never been brought to anyone’s notice nor successive Municipal Commissioners had ever thought of checking power pilferage within the municipal corporation.

Similarly, streetlights for which the corporation has around 800 connections also act as power pilferage points and have often been overlooked by civic body officials.

The officers pleading anonymity revealed that around Rs 3 crore was spent on power bills for streetlights and building branch alone.

“You can easily locate kundi connections from these streetlights but officials never bother about it,” said a junior officer, adding that he had brought this to the notice of senior officers but they had asked him to tackle it on his own.

Also, corporation staff failed to turn off lights and fans at their offices.

Congress councillor Parminder Mehta said: “It is surprising that MC electricity bills have been soaring during all these years when there have been so many power cuts during summer.”

Mandi Gobindgarh, September 11
Development work here has taken a backseat amid allegations and counter-allegations between ruling and opposition members of the municipal council.

Of the 19 elected councillors, 10 — Harpal Singh Nasrali, Satnam Singh Lakhanpal, Rakesh Kumar Papoo, Om Parkash Gupta, Bal Mukand Aggarwal, Rajeev Sood, Kamaljit Kaur, Daljit Kaur and Mamta Jaluria besides former Municipal Council Chief Sukhwinder Singh Bhambri, former Councilor Rajinder Kumar Teetoo and Satpal Singh Satta — held a meeting here today to discuss the working of the council.

Talking to mediapersons after the meeting, former MC chief and councillor Bal Mukand Aggarwal said nine months ago MC chief Dharampal Rao had got himself elected as president with the support of Congress councillors under the banner of Vikas Manch. However, now three members of the manch — Rajeev Sood, Om Parkash Gupta and Bal Mukand — have withdrawn their support to the president, reducing their strength to 10 members.

The opposition members alleged that the ruling group had committed various irregularities and the president danced to the tunes of Congress members as he was solely dependent on their support.

Questioning the intent of the ruling group in carrying out development works in the town, they alleged that tenders for Rs 3 crore were floated on July 4, which were to be opened on July 17, but were later cancelled.

Also, the MC proposed to lay park on one side of the national highway but the road was likely to be widened into six lanes, thus causing a huge loss to the council as the proposed park would have to be dismantled.

Also, there were irregularities in the purchase of sodium lamps, they alleged.

They added that the director, quality control cell, PWD construction, had detected irregularities in the working leading to a loss of Rs 93,73,483 by contractors. Two executive officers, three municipal engineers and three sectional officers were held responsible for getting sub-standard executed works from contractors and making excess payments to them.

However, council chief Dharampal Rao said the opposition members had been creating hurdles in the functioning of the council. He claimed that he had substantial proof against the opposition’s role and would make it public at an appropriate time.

Ludhiana, September 11
A paediatric eye clinic was inaugurated in the department of ophthalmology, CMCH, here recently. Dr Rajinder Gyani, chairman of the governing body of the Christian Medical College Society, Ludhiana, inaugurated the eye clinic.

This new venture is a part of the Child Eye Care Project, which was initiated about two years ago in collaboration with ORBIS International, with the mission to alleviate avoidable childhood blindness in this region. ORBIS International is a nonprofit global development organisation, which has been working in India for the past eight years in the areas of childhood blindness and corneal blindness.

The new paediatric eye clinic is fully equipped with a child friendly patient waiting area, a beautiful play area, an orthoptics and optical section and nursing. There is an additional provision of a child-friendly toilet in the department. The existing ophthalmology ward has also been renovated to add a paediatric section for children undergoing specialised eye surgery.

The department of ophthalmology at CMCH already has a trained paediatric ophthalmology team, including Dr Satish Thomas, paediatric ophthalmologist, an optometrist and a paediatric nurse.

Chief guest on the occasion was Dr AG Thomas. He lauded the efforts of the department of ophthalmology in establishing this state of the art facility in CMCH. Dr GV Rao, country director, Orbis International, was the guest of honour.

Machhiwara, September 11
A few local rice millers and those from the adjoining towns today decided to oppose the fresh milling of rice in view of the non-lifting of the previous stock by various government agencies.

Addressing a press conference they said nearly 1 lakh metric ton of rice was still lying in various shellers of Ludhiana and its adjoining towns, which had not been lifted by agencies despite repeated requests.

District president of the Rice Shellers’ Association, Hari Om rued that the rice worth Rs 160 crore was still lying at various shellers, which had affected their business. “We are not going to fetch paddy for milling until and unless the previous lot is cleared by the government”, he added.

The sheller owners of the area are facing huge losses due to this as rice has occupied most of the space in shellers and they may not be able to stock the next crop in the coming season. Senior vice-president of the association Nirmal Singh Nagra, Machhiwara Rice Shellers’ Association president Satish Mittal and Tejinder Teji from Samrala and other millers were present on the occasion.

Ludhiana, September 11
Showing concern over the falling groundwater, the Apex Chamber of Commerce and Industry has written to Pawan Kumar Bansal, Minister for Water Resources and Parliamentary Affairs, Government of India, to bear on the state government that the decision of providing free power for agriculture and the cropping pattern was not in favour of the state.

In a letter to the minister, PD Sharma, president of the chamber, said NASA satellite images had revealed that Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan had lost a staggering 109 cubic km of groundwater between August 2002 and October 2008 despite normal rainfall.

Below-normal monsoon would result in the further drying up of the groundwater as rainwater harvesting and other water management practises were hardly popular in the state.

The letter adds that the Central government had been alerting the Punjab government for years on the water crisis, but to no avail.

The chamber stressed that the situation required prompt measures as cultivation of rice in the state was being encouraged, accentuating the water crisis. Free power to the agricultural sector was also not helping.

The main political parties of the state should take a joint decision in this regard.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, September 11
A fire broke out in a shop located at Dehlon village yesterday night. Goods worth lakhs were destroyed in the fire due to the electric sparking. At least two shops were also partially destroyed in the fire.

This incident took place at around 9 pm when owners of shops located on the Ludhiana-Malerkotla road had gone to their houses after closing down their establishments.

“I was about to go to sleep when one of my neighbours informed me that smoke was coming out of our shops,” said Sanjiv Aggarwal, partners, Aggarwal Karyana Store.

The residents informed cops about the incident. SHO motivated his men and residents of the area to launch a coordinated movement to douse the fire. It took at least four hours to control the fire. Actual loss suffered by the shopkeepers is yet to be ascertained.

Ludhiana, September 11
“We will become rich by receiving gifts for giving good grades to students,” said one of the senior educationists. This statement contradicts the guidelines of the CBSE in chapter VI, para II, which says, “It shall be ensured that a school is run as a community service and not as a business house, commercialisation should not take place in schools.”

Exploitation by the CBSE-affiliated schools has already worried parents. Hindu Sikh Jagriti Sena and Punjab Parents Association have already brought to light the exorbitant fee hike-building funds, dilapidated funds, which are almost similar, sale of books, uniforms, school bags, calendars, etc.

Now parents allege that there will be more exploitation in the grading system and that too when the board exams have been made optional.

Parveen Dang, president, Hindu Sikh Jagriti Sena, alleged that schools had involved their relatives or close associates into the business of selling uniforms, books and accessories for money minting exercises. Now under grading system, teachers would exploit children. He added that last year, about 39 class IX students of a school had failed and no one heeded to their plea. They tried hard but to no avail. “How will these schools manage the affairs under the new system where there will be no failures,” asked Dang.

Rakesh Jain, president, Parents Association, alleged that students, who were having good rapport with teachers would be getting A1 and A2 grades. Fee hike has already burnt a hole in parerent’s pocket, exploitation in grading system would only add to their burden,” said Rakesh.

Ludhiana, September 11
There are no qualified teachers to teach environment education at all government schools at Ludhiana. The subject was introduced in schools for Class III to XII in 2006, as the ruling for the same came from Apex court in August 2005 directing the Centre and state boards to make environment education compulsory in schools.

Surprisingly, there is no post also. Principals of various government schools told The Tribune that the subject was being taught to the students by science teachers or other teachers. According to sources, the subject has been made internal and students have to clear it at the school-level as the marking is done in the school and grades are awarded to them, which are forwarded to the Punjab School Education Board.

Ludhiana, September 11
A two-day British parliamentary debate started at PCTE Group of Institutes today. Several city-based schools, including Sacred Heart Convent School, Sarabha Nagar, GNPS Sarabha Nagar and BCM Shastri Nagar took part.

Delhi Public School, St Thomas School, etc sent their teams for the parliamentary debating.

Ludhiana, September 11
Ishwar Ishq Ibadat, an evening dedicated to Sufi poetry and singing will be held at Guru Nanak Dev Bhawan tomorrow at 7.30 pm.

Jasmeet Kaur, a classical singer from the city, will be the key performer at the event.

A rare combination of philanthropist and a singer, Jasmeet feels that self-change is the key to bring a positive change in the world.

Versatile is the right word to describe the artiste, as she is an accomplished writer who has been writing short stories for various publications. She will be releasing her first book soon.

Supporting the cause of NGOs, working for children with physical and mental disabilities, this artiste makes a special effort at every show to call upon the audience to come forward for their help.

A pupil of professor CL Bhalla for the past six years, this city-based singer has given several performances in Ludhiana and other cities of Punjab.

Having been inspired by the writing and preaching of Sufi saints like Shah Hussain,

Sultan Bahu and Bulleh Shah, Jasmeet pens down the lyrics herself and Bhalla is the man behind the compositions. "Hari Jeo Kripa Karo", the first CD of shabads by Jasmeet Kaur, was a hit.

Ludhiana, September 11
With the district administration making the allotment process of firecracker stalls transparent this year, the number of applicants have dwindled to half, as VIP stall-seekers have been forced to stay away.

VIP applicants cannot apply as the allotment will be done through draw of lots and only those people can apply who have an experience certificate of three years.

Last year, over 400 persons had applied for firecracker stalls but this time the number has gone down to 253 for 511 identified cracker sites.

The administration has been forced to extend the last date from September 10 to 15.

The “special” applicants comprising several politicians and mediapersons used to use their clout to get the stalls allotted in their names and then pass it on to known persons or sell it at a premium.

Last year, the allotment was mired in controversy after former Deputy Commissioner Sumer Singh Gurjar was accused of bias in allotment.

He was accused of having allotted stalls to supporters of a political party. This had angered BJP leader and Deputy Speaker of Vidhan Sabha Satpal Gosain as his supporters were no given stalls. Gosain had gunned for Gurjar and the controversy had then seen the ouster of Gurjar.

The Chief Minister later announced the allotment through draw of lots. But the transparent system seems to have created problems for the administration.

On the other hand, the firecracker dealers’ association has welcomed the step.

“We are happy that we will get the stalls directly. Otherwise, we had to pay premium or seek the support of a political leader. All is well this time,” said an office-bearer, Akhil Kumar.

Deputy Commissioner Vikas Garg said a committee had been constituted under the chairmanship of Kuldip Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner (G), Manpreet Singh Chhatwal, SDM (E), and Supreet Singh, Assistant Commissioner (under training), as its members for the allotment of stalls.

Garg said stalls would be allotted by lottery system at Bachat Bhawan, Ludhiana, under the supervision of this committee on September 16.

Ludhiana, September 11
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has withdrawn the non-bailable warrants against Ashok Juneja, chairman of the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT), after the report of compliance of execution of the sale deed of a plot allotted to Mohinder Singh, a resident, was placed before the forum.

The warrants were issued on an execution appeal by the complainant,, saying that the trust was showing reluctance in the execution of sale deed of his plot as directed by the forum.

Talking to The Tribune here today, Juneja said the delay in the execution of the sale deed was caused due to the original file having been called for examination by the principal secretary of the local bodies department.

Juneja, who took over about two months ago, claimed that the trust was in the process of reviving several major development projects which had been pushed to the back burner.

“The LIT has already paid Rs 4.91 crore as its 50 per cent share for the construction of a railway overbridge in place of the Lakkar Pul and we are committed to release more funds as the work progresses to match the contribution of the MC,” he said.

A new housing scheme was being planned in 8.8 acre along the Pakhowal road which would have residential flats for economically weaker sections and low income groups.

On pending files relating to transfer of plots, execution of sale deed and agreements, he maintained that he had attended to more than 800 persons during the past two months. “At least 300 cases of transfer of ownership or execution of sale deed have been disposed of while another 150 files involving procedural work have been cleared,” he said.

A process had been set in motion to streamline pending court cases so that the trust would not cut a sorry figure. He said people could always approach him for genuine work relating to the LIT, but he would not bypass rules under political and bureaucratic pressure.

Jagraon, September 11
A boy and six of his relatives have been booked for kidnapping a girl on the pretext of marrying her. Karamjit Singh of Punjabi Bagh at the Kacha Malak Road, a goldsmith, has in a complaint lodged with the police alleged that Jagjit Singh, alias Robby, the son of his friend Sudarshan Singh of the Gill Road, Ludhiana, had kidnapped his 19- year-old daughter on the pretext of marrying her on September 1.

He had also accused his father, his sister Parminder Kaur, his brother-in-law Talwinder Singh and Harbhajan Singh (father of Talwinder Singh) of Bhiki Wind, Taran Taran, for helping Robby in kidnapping the girl. He said he tried to convince his friend Sukhdarshan Singh to force Robby to handover his daughter.

However, the girl and Robby were good friends since long as they used to visit each other houses frequently. Both families had accepted this relationship. But, recently, the family of Karamjit Singh got a family visa for Canada and was to leave for Canada on October 8. After getting the visa, Karamjit Singh refused to marry the girl with Robby. Both of them had eloped to solemnise the marriage and Karamjit Singh opposed this move. When both families could not reach a compromise, Karamjit Singh lodged a complaint with the Jagraon police.

Acting on the complaint, the Jagraon police has booked the accused under Sections 363, 366, 380, 34 and 120 B of the IPC. The accused had gone into hiding after the registration of the case, locking their respective homes.

Ludhiana, September 11
Students of Bhartiya Vidya Mandir, Dugri branch, stole the limelight by helping their zone, Ludhiana II, to perform exceedingly well in the District Wrestling Championship for girls under-14, 17 and 19 years here yesterday.

Girl wrestlers from the school bagged 17 medals, including 11 gold, in the under-14 and 17 years categories and stamped their class.

The medal winning students from BVM, Dugri, included (girls u-14), Himani (silver in 30kg), Janhavi (gold in 32kg), Parveena (silver in 34 kg), Anupama (silver in 37 kg), Kiranveer (gold in 40 kg), Priyanka (gold in 44kg), Japleen (gold in 48 kg), Simranjeet (gold in 52kg), Prabhsimran (gold in 57kg) and Mehak (gold in 62kg).

Girls (u-17): Chahat (silver in 38kg), Ashana (silver in 40kg), Nikita Jain (gold in 60kg), Navjot Kaur (gold in 65kg) and Ishmeet Kaur (gold in 70kg). Besides, under-14 squad emerged overall champions, while under-17 team secured second position and 11 students from the school were selected for the state championship.