Ludhiana, September 16
Thieves struck at two computer stores and decamped with 45 laptops and computer accessories worth more than Rs 20 lakh by gagging a security guard at the Pakhowal road here late last night.

The incident came to light this morning when a worker of ST Computers arrived at the shop and saw the security guard being handcuffed.

The worker freed security guard Bahadur Singh and informed the manager of ST Computers about the incident.

According to the security guard, around three armed men arrived at the shop at around 2.30 am and nabbed him, while he was sitting on a chair.

He further said the thieves broke open the locks and stolen laptops and other accessories.

The trio entered another computer shop, which also deal in computer accessories and stolen 25 laptops by uprooting the shutter of the shop.

Manu, owner of Only Branded computer shop, said, “The thieves have stolen everything on which they could lay their hands on. I still have to check the cash,” he rued.

The police and fingerprint experts along with a dog squad inspected the site.

Meanwhile, the police has detained the security guard for questioning. “A case has been registered and the police has started investigations,” said Jarnail Singh, investigating officer.

Ludhiana, September 16
As the city is turning into tech hub, thieves are also turning towards hi-tech gadgets. Besides conventional thefts, the city has witnessed a rise in the number of theft incidents at computer shops.

It has been more than a year since thieves started targeting computer shops, but the police is still groping in the dark and has not been able to solve a single case till date.

Thieves have targeted six major computer shops and stole computer equipments worth crores of rupees so far. Their modus operandi indicates towards the involvement of some organised gang behind these thefts.

The first incident took place at Synergy Electronic near Iqbal Nursing Home last year, where employees were made hostages and thieves stole goods worth Rs 10 lakh.

Another incident took place in which owner of Big Bite Computers Rajiv Bansal and his staff were detained in the store at gunpoint by thieves.

In a similar incident took place seven months ago, computer accessories and LCD televisions worth Rs 20 lakh, were stolen from August Marketing at Gobind Nagar chowk.

Similarly, the thieves stole laptops worth Rs 4 lakh from a shop in Model Town.

A police source said a gang consisted of technicians from Bengal, who were trained in dismantling the equipment, was behind these incidents.

Gurpreet Singh, president of the Association of Computer Entrepreneurs, expressed concern over the prevailing scenario. He said such incidents showed that criminals had no fear of the police. "It is indeed shocking that so many incident have taken place in the past one year, but the police could not crack a single case," said Gurpreet.

Ludhiana, September 16
The preparations for the two-day kisan mela to be held at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) grounds on September 17-18 are in full swing, with scientists, faculty members, researchers, employees of varsity taking all pains to make the event successful.

The theme for this year's mela is "Save Environment, Save Punjab".

Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal will inaugurate the two-day extravaganza tomorrow.

Dr M.S.Kang, Vice-Chancellor, PAU, said farmers and farm women should participate in the mela with enthusiasm, as it will showcase new technologies through stalls, demonstrations, displays and other means. He said there would be special activities of interest to farm women in the mela. The question answer session will provide a platform to farmers to discuss their farm problems with experts. The mela will also have an agro-industrial exhibition. Besides, it will have sales outlets for new seeds, planting material and other products.

Dr Kang further added that in view of the national priorities to boost food production, the PAU had endeavored to develop high-yielding crop varieties and field-worthy technologies. It has developed/recommended 570 varieties/hybrids (37 during the past two years) of different crops, nearly a 100 of which have struck roots across the country. Punjab had been contributing to the national pool of food reserves, wheat up to 60-70 per cent and rice 40-45 per cent, he informed.

Kisan melas of the PAU provide useful occasion to farmers through which they can interact with state-level functionaries, scientists and experts. Hundreds of stalls with latest farm equipment, demonstration and technology stalls, farm literature, bank schemes, farm-fresh eatables, home-furnishing etc will be put up by the organisers for the farmers and farm women, who visit in huge numbers during the mela. This year, the PAU through the theme "Save Environment, Save Punjab" aims to spread the message of protecting the green cover. The authorities said there was a need to enhance the green environs and protect the native species like banyan tree, peepal, lasoorhi etc, which were fast disappearing.

Ludhiana, September 16
While the entry to the municipal house meetings have become a cakewalk for husbands and sons of female councillors, this time the Mayor seems to have given a thought to restrict their entry. Though the cloud of confusion hangs over the issuance of visitor passes, sources in the corporation revealed that the Mayor had decided not to give permissions to these uninvited guests. These passes, popularly known as "Patii Passes", would not be given for the MC house meeting to be held tomorrow.

The sources revealed that the Mayor was of the view that only municipal councillors, MC officials, along with the press, should be allowed to attend the meeting.

"Since, no written orders have been passed from the Mayor, we are ready with whatever the master commands. We have kept these entry passes ready because in case relatives of these municipal councillors raise a lot of hue and cry, the Mayor may allow their entry," said the sources.

According to information, the visitor pass to enter the MC hall is issued by the Mayor on a cost of Rs 5, but the money has never been collected due to the reasons best known to the politicians.

Interestingly, the Ludhiana Municipal House has 26 female councillors and most of them are accompanied by their husbands or sons during the house meetings. While most of the female municipal councillors prefer to be quiet during the house proceedings, it's their kin, who speak on their behalf.

Since Mayor Hakam Singh Giaspura was not available, revealing about the provision, former Mayor Nahar Singh Gill said, “The MC Act has neither provision of entertaining relatives like husbands and sons of municipal councillors at the house meetings and nor can they speak. Since the meeting hall for the Municipal house meetings is small and there is no visitors gallery, husbands and sons of the female councillors take seats and easily take part in discussions.”

Ludhiana, September 16
The Ludhiana Municipal Corporation has once again failed to bring transparency in the tender system as bids for 78 works worth Rs 2.8 crore, submitted on September 1 and 2 by contractors, are yet to be opened. The tenders were invited by the operations and maintenance (O&M) cell on August 14. According to the advertisement, the tenders were to be opened on September 1 and 2 at 3 pm. However, the Municipal Corporation had not been able to open the tenders even after two weeks.

The two-week time is more than enough to tamper with the bids, including submission and deletion. These works are related to repairs, chlorination etc where estimated cost of each work is more than Rs 80,000. Besides, there are various works which are in lakhs, including annual contract for chlorination of zone-A which is worth Rs 21.61 lakh.

The period for the completion of these works is between 1 and 5 months. Interestingly, tender tampering has become one of the main "means" by which the civic body is easily being robbed. This topic is raised at every MC House meeting, but till date neither a bureaucrat nor a politician had been able to stand boldly against it. The blame game in the MC House for tender tampering is always witnessed but failure to find its solution is the biggest challenge which needs a strong leadership.

When MC officials were asked about it, they said, “SE K.S. Dhillon had invited these tenders and since he has retired, there is no one on his post to take care. We called contractors today at 11.30 am to open the tenders, but some councillors were not available, so the work was postponed”.

Ludhiana, September 16
Only 310 fire cracker sites out of 511 were allotted by the administration after a draw of lots here today.

Since only 310 allottees applied for the sites, the rest could not be allotted.

The administration had decided this year to allot fire cracker sites through the lottery system. This was to ensure transparency in the allotment as earlier VIPs were known to grab all sites by using their influence.

So it was decided that only genuine fire cracker dealers should be attracted to participate in the process. The Deputy Commissioner had decided to accept applications of only those persons who were in fire cracker business for the past three years.

The process, however, seems to have backfired. Though it was completely transparent, the rest of the sites could not find any takers.

Fire cracker dealers said the low turnout was a consequence of the fact that the administration had hiked the certificate fee from Rs 2,500 to Rs 4,500 this year. Moreover, the security of Rs 5,000 was also charged this time. This discouraged many dealers.

Ludhiana, September 16
LIC employees observed a day-long strike today, demanding an early and satisfactory wage revision. The strike was called by the All-India Insurance Employees Association of class III and IV and the Federation of Class 1 Officers' Association. There was a complete bandh in all 14 branches, along with divisional office, Dugri.

A rally was organised in front of divisional office, Dugri. Amarjit Singh, divisional secretary, said the strike had been called to start further negotiontions and settle wage revision to the satisfaction of the employees from the LIC management and the government.

In the last discussions, the LIC management had offered a wage increase of 15 per cent but the unions rejected the offer as it was much below the aspirations of the officers and employees.

While addressing the gathering, Harbans Singh, divisional president, said the estimated total worth of the LIC was Rs 8.73 lakh crore of which the capital investment by the government was only Rs 5 crore. He said the true owners of the LIC were its 26 crore policyholders and the government had no right to infringe upon their interest without consulting them.

Amarjit Singh, addressing the rally, said the LIC employees were demanding a wage revision consistent with the growth of the industry and their contribution to the growth. The offers made by the LIC so far did not meet the expectation of the employees. The LIC employees had been forced to adopt the path of agitation. The employees would intensify the agitation if that demands were not met early, said the agitated employees.

Sahnewal, September 16
Bolts have finally been affixed to the tilted transformer thus reducing the immediate tension in the minds of the nearby shopkeepers and daily commuters, who were facing threat to life and property in the absence of any support to the tilted transformer that had been dangerously placed on the humming Sahnewal-Dehlon road.

This action on the part of the Punjab State Electricity Board is being attributed to Ludhiana Tribune, which had recently highlighted the plight of the shopkeepers through its columns.

“But the problem still persists without as this is no permanent solution. In case of any disconnection of a wire from transformer, many pedestrians can have to pay through their nose for no fault of theirs”, complained a seller.

“I don’t know why the PSEB is not treating it to be a serious issue when it is a clear indication that such a transformer, with no cut-off switch, can take the lives of many around. In case of emergency, the supply has to be snapped from the main grid but till the time the information reaches the board and the employees show their actual concern of cutting off the supply, it is going to be too late”, added still another.

A pillar have been erected by board employees where the transformer is finally going to be placed but the shopkeepers are against the idea of its placement, especially in front of their shops, which, they feel, would bear an adverse effect on their sales.

It has been further assured by employees of the PSEB that a permanent solution to it will be found in a week’s time.

Raikot, September 16
The condition of almost all roads connecting the town with the surrounding 20 villages is pitiable. Water stagnation due to faulty drainage system is learnt to be the major reason behind frequent damage of roads.

Dharam Pal Singh, chairman, market committee, said proposal for construction and repair of roads falling under the jurisdiction of the committee had been sent to the authorities concerned for approval.

The condition of the link roads, which had been waiting for repair for long, is also deplorable.

Most of the roads and bridges here have become virtual death traps for want of repair, but the authorities concerned continue to be indifferent towards their upkeep. Many accidents have already been reported in the area.

Drivers find it difficult to negotiate turns at damaged bridge. Many lives have been lost in accidents on these bridges.

Railings of many bridges on the Raikot-Pakhowal road, Malerkotla-Raikot road and on other link roads are damaged. Small bridges near the town and Jartoli village are also without railings.

Though the roads had been repaired many times, these remain in a bad state due to stagnation of water.

Stagnant water damages road making potholes making it difficult for drivers to manage their vehicles. The situation is grave on Andloo-Kalsian roads and roads joining Andloo with the Ahmedgarh-Raikot road. Commuters have to travel extra distance to reach their destination through alternative routes.

Residents, irrespective of their political inclinations and affiliation, have demanded immediate repair of these roads.

Ludhiana, September 16
Launching of a 100-acre colony at Lalton Kalan village on Pakhowal Road here by a city coloniser has once again brought to the fore the unholy nexus of certain colonisers and political leaders.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was scheduled to lay the foundation stone of the colony on September 18.

Despite having been issued a show-cause notice by the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA) for launching of the colony without obtaining approval under the provisions of Punjab Apartment and Property Regulations Act, the coloniser is stated to be going ahead with launching of the colony as per schedule, itself shows that the coloniser either enjoys powerful political patronage or else some senior political leader has joined hands with the firm to develop a colony without obtaining any licence in gross violation of the law of the land.

Even though the GLADA authorities have taken a series of steps during last couple of months to check unlawful and unregulated development of residential colonies all around the city, especially in the periphery of the industrial capital of Punjab, the powerful lobby of colonisers, enjoying support from political leaders have been proving hard to fall in line for quite some time now.

In the absence of effective regulatory measures, there has been continuous growth of scores of residential colonies, which do not have basic amenities and infrastructure, and more often than not, the unsuspecting buyers of plots in such colonies are made to face the music once the coloniser, having sold away the carved out pieces of land, disappears.

According to rough estimates, there are nearly 430 illegal colonies developed around the city involving an area of more than 2,500 acres with a population of anything from five to seven lakh people, which are posing a serious challenge to the regulatory and enforcement measures initiated by the GLADA.

If some of the colonisers are to be believed, development of illegal colony is next to impossible unless the property developer has the backing of powerful political leaders and overt or covert support of the officials entrusted with the task of enforcement and regulation, who choose to look the other way either due to political pressure or financial considerations.

Most of the senior officials of the GLADA were non-committal on the involvement of enforcement and regulatory staff, while maintaining that action under the law was taken against all such colonisers, who are operating without statutory permission. But some of them admitted that political leaders, both from the city and Chandigarh, occasionally called up to "oblige" one or the other property developer.

Ludhiana, September 16
A meeting of the District Taxation Bar Association (Sales Tax) was held here yesterday to discuss the Value Added Tax (Vat)-related problems.

The recent direction of the department, according to which e-filing has been made compulsory for the traders who are trading outside Punjab, was discussed during the meeting.

President of the association Kawardeep Singh said it was a majority of small traders, who trade outside the state, are small traders who do not have the computers or maintained their records.

Members of the association demanded that e-filing should not be made compulsory as it would pose difficulties for small traders.

Further Jatinder Khurana, press secretary, added that if the trader failed to file return his VAT, number would be locked and he would not be able to either send or collect the stock.

He further said every second day, new orders and directions were issued for the traders and no suggestion was asked from the High Power Committee.

Ludhiana, September 16
Revealing the rich inner world of Punjabi heritage, embodied in folk songs, dances and traditional costumes, the Punjab Cultural Promotion Council (PCPC) folk group took part in four international folk festivals in Ukraine recently.

The PCPC folk group bagged the prestigious “Audience Award” during the world folk festival , organised by Lviv-city-council at Lviv.

Ludhiana, September 16
The Escorts Group visited the campus of Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College (GNDEC) here for the recruitment of mechanical and production engineering students.

The selection procedure included a qualifying test followed by personal interviews of the shortlisted candidates. Out of 18 students, 13 from GNDEC and five from Amritsar College of Engineering and Technology were eligible for the personal interview round. The selected students were inducted as graduate engineer trainees (GET) with an initial package of Rs 2.25 lakh.

Raikot, September 16
Two motorcycle-borne youths looted an employee of a petrol pump and decamped with cash and goods worth more than Rs 1 lakh at Lohat Baddi village yesterday evening.

Owner of the Lohat Baddi Filling Station Nirbhai Singh said when Sandeep Singh, a computer operator at the petrol pump, was returning home along with a laptop and Rs 30,500 cash, two veiled motorcyclists attacked him with a sharp-edged weapon and decamped with cash, laptop, two mobile phones and a gold chain.

Sandeep was rushed to the Pakhowal Civil Hospital from where doctors referred him to Dayanand Medical College and Hospital.

Ludhiana, September 16
The undergraduate students of Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) continued their strike today by boycotting classes.

The protesting students also threatened to boycott the two-day Pashu Palan Mela to be held on the premises from tomorrow if the authorities failed to meet their demands.

One of the students said they were in regular contact with the authorities but nothing concrete had come out. “They have to take us seriously or face the music. We want them to provide us with all facilities for training but they are dilly-dallying the matter,” said the student.

Meanwhile, the students had a meeting with the authorities till the filing of the report. The authorities are hopeful that the strike by the students will be called off by the evening.

Ludhiana, September 16
A youth was stabbed to death and his body was thrown in a ditch near Dussehra ground in Dhandra village late last night.

The deceased has been identified as Mukesh Kumar (23), a resident of Roop Nagar in Dhandra village.

Laxman Yadav, father of the deceased, said Mukesh was working as a vehicle dealer for past few years. Laxman said Mukesh’s friend Akash come to their house last night and took him for some urgent work on a motorbike. When Mukesh did not return for dinner, the family started searching for him. They even called on his cell phone, but it was switched off.

Later, the family was informed that Mukesh was lying unconscious in a ditch near Dussehra ground.

The police said the body bore multiple injuries marks inflicted with some sharp-edged weapon.

The Sadar police has registered a case and has detained Akash in this connection.