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Octroi revival proposed
Ludhiana, September 17 Taking the lead were Congress councillor Parminder Mehta and SAD municipal councillor Harbhajan Singh Dang, who have raised the issue to revive octroi so that the municipal corporation has enough funds to give public a "city beautiful". Talking to Ludhiana Tribune, Dang said, "We cannot deny the fact that funds are required for every work, be it roads, sewers, parks or anything. Since the municipal corporation has just limited sources of earning revenue like building fees and house-tax, we need to make arrangements for income, as you cannot develop a big city like Ludhiana by mortgaging property for loans." He said he had raised the issue at the core committee meeting also. Interestingly, municipal councillors cutting across party lines were united on the issue and were supported by MLA Satpal Gosain. The house was of the opinion that octroi revival would give a big relief to the public and change the scenario of the city. According to sources, the revenue from octroi to the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation was around Rs 50 lakh per day and when it was levied, funds were never a problem for the civic body. Besides, application of octroi would do no harm to the common man, as it does not raise prices of a commodity in the market. Interestingly, the abolition of octroi has crippled municipal corporations throughout Punjab, as it used to be the main source of income. Congress councillors Gurpreet Bassi and Parminder Mehta too were of the opinion that octroi needs to be revived. The duo said, "The Congress has been demanding it from a long time because all these years, funds for development have come through "chungi" only. The abolition of it was a Punjab government decision to woo vote-bank and while taking this decision, they blatantly violated the interest of municipal corporations." They said they were ready to support the motion if it comes in the house, adding that the removal of octroi benefited only 5 per cent traders - that too who evade taxes.
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MC marathon meeting
fails to make headway
Ludhiana, September 17 The meeting, which was convened in the presence of local bodies director SK Sharma following direction of Punjab Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan Kalia,left every councillor contented, especially those who had never got a chance to even hold mike in their two-year-long tenure. The major issues discussed were sewers, potable water and installation of tube wells in various wards, encroachments, streetlights, cleanliness, garbage disposal and broken roads. Apart from these issues like sterilisation of dogs, shelter for cattle, advertisements and maintenance of green belts were taken up for discussion. Though heated arguments were witnessed between SAD councillor Harbajan Singh Dang and Congress councillors, a tussle was witnessed when Congress councillor Sham Sunder Malhotra raised the question that works under "Sangat Darshan" programme should be suspended. Malhotra was finally pacified after Congress councillor Bharat Bhushan Ashu pacified him stating that works should not be stopped but we should demand more funds. The municipal councillors rose above the party lines and extended support on various issues. One of the proposals was permission to be sought by the police from the mayor before arresting any councillor. This issue was put forth by SAD councillor Jagbir Singh Sokhi. Similarly, even on the issue of collection of Rs 4 crore-house tax from Westend Mall and allotment of work to Deepak Builders was some points where councillors had similar views. Every councillor spoke about the condition of his or her wards. The questions raised by them were being either answered by Mayor Hakam Singh Giaspura, Municipal Commissioner AK Sinha or the Local Bodies Director SK Sharma.
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Day 1 Kisan Mela a big draw
Ludhiana, September 17 The mela was inaugurated by Manpreet Singh Badal, Cabinet Minister, Finance and Planning, Punjab, who not only visited various stalls put up on the varsity campus, but also interacted with PAU faculty, students, farmers and lent an ear to their grievances. Farmers from all over the state as well as from neighbouring states, including Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, attended the mela in large numbers. They sought answers to queries from experts, visited various stalls, bought seeds, fruit plants and farm literature, listened to experts and visited the Museum of Social History of Punjab on the campus. Plants, especially ornamental and medicinal varieties, and the new varieties of wheat seed introduced by PAU this year, attracted a huge number of buyers. On the occasion, Manpreet Singh Badal said biotechnology held the future of agriculture. Addressing farmers, Badal said the present day agriculture was knowledge-intensive. Director of extension education Dr Mukhtar Singh Gill said the technologies developed by the PAU on the theme of the mela should be followed. He said farmers could seek technical guidance about their farm problems from PAU experts working on the Ludhiana campus, 16 KVKs and 12 Farm Advisory Service Centres in different districts as well as the regional stations. Director of Research Dr PS Minhas said Punjab had been a significant player in the national scenario of food security of India. He said despite the drought that prevailed in recent weeks, Punjab farmers could save their crops by making efforts using their resources and bearing a burden of more than Rs 100 crore spending on diesel. He highlighted the natural resource management technologies developed by the PAU. The prominent dignitaries, who attended the mela, included former Vice-Chancellor of PAU Dr S.S. Johl, MLA from Jalandhar Cantt Jagbir Singh Brar, members of PAU Board of Management Dr J.S. Kolar, Jang Bahadur Singh Sangha, Dr B.S. Boparai and PAU officials. Dr Harjit Singh Dhaliwal, additional director of extension education, proposed the vote of thanks to the chief guest, guests of honour, dignitaries and farmers. |
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Stone-laying function of unapproved colony Kuldip Bhatia
Ludhiana, September 17 Promoters of the colony, which is yet to get the mandatory approval from the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA), have also announced in an advertisement which appeared in the newspapers today that the stone-laying ceremony of the colony has been rescheduled for September 22 due to "tight schedule of the Chief Minister". Harcharan Bains, media adviser to the the Chief Minister, also confirmed that the programme had been postponed. Taking cognizance of the advertisements of the colony appearing in all the major newspapers of the region, GLADA had already issued a show-cause notice to the promoters and the co-promoters of the colony for making offer for sale of residential and commercial properties without obtaining a licence under relevant provisions of the Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation Act. Meanwhile, prominent Congress leader and former legislator from the Dakha assembly segment Malkiat Singh Dakha slammed the chief minister for giving his assent to lay the foundation stone of an unapproved colony, which would encourage development of unapproved colonies in the mega city and elsewhere in Punjab. At the same time, he maintained that a major shift in the policy for approval of colonies, after the SAD-BJP government assumed power in Punjab, had given a rise to mushrooming of unauthorised colonies. "In a major policy shift, the minimum area of land required for the approval of a colony by the appropriate authority has been increased from 10 acres during the previous Congress regime to 75 acres, while the development charges have also been hiked by more than 10 times (Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs 35 lakh per acre). In the wake of zooming prices of land around the mega city, it becomes rather impossible for the people with limited resources to purchase a plot in an approved colony and intending buyers have no other choice but to fall prey to tall and unrealistic claims of developers of unapproved colonies," the Congress leader observed. Making a fervent plea for bringing about realistic changes in the policy on development of colonies, Dakha also asked the government to accord priority to the issue of providing affordable houses to economically weaker sections in different residential schemes of the government agencies.
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Dairy products parlour planned
Sheetal Chawla Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, September 17 Beside tasting the products, the farmers absorbed the home technology gone into making of these products from milk and milk products. Another attraction of the mela was the de-boning of the fish, fish ball, fish cutlet and fish proteins concentrate developed by the college of fisheries. The products, known to be rich in protein could value add to the fish food. The university made available de-boning machine for the farmers. Dr Kamaldeep Kaur and Dr Meera D Ansal told The Tribune that the farmers would be given training in raising these products. Dr VK Taneja, Vice-Chancellor of the university, said the university was setting up a regional research centre at Kal Jharani village, Bathinda, where research in livestock would be undertaken and specific problems of the area would be tackled. Dr Shiv Kumar, scientist, college of dairy science, said they were planning to open the parlour at the Ludhiana campus, where all the dairy products would be available. Earlier in the day, the mela with a theme, “Pashu Dhan Vadhao, Punjab Nu Khushhaal Banao”, was inaugurated by Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal and Vice-Chancellor Dr VK Taneja presided. The finance minister said uplifting livestock profession was the need of the hour. It was a better alternative to conquer the stagnation of agriculture. Punjab government would provide required facilities to promote livestock. The Vice-Chancellor said the elite animals, including Murrah buffaloes, Holstein Friesian, crossbred cows, bulls, beetal goats, pigs, rabbit, white quails and ornamental fish were a major attraction for farmers. Further he said that the main queries of the farmers were regarding the availability of these elite high-yielding livestock, for which the farmers were advised to use the semen of proven bulls of the university and produce their own calves and heifers. A question-answer session arranged by university experts pulled a huge crowd, farmers raised their queries and experts delivered the remedies on the spot.
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Nursing home power disconnected
FIR lodged; Rs 26.81 lakh penalty imposed Kuldip Bhatia
Ludhiana, September 17 According to SS Kohli, director, enforcement wing, PSEB, an enforcement directorate team had conducted on the spot meter checking at Mittal Nursing Home yesterday. The meter, with a sanctioned load of 60 KW, was suspected to be tampered with and running slow. The connected load was also found to be a little more than 100 KW. "Thorough checking of the energy meter, removed from the nursing home at the meter examination laboratory of the PSEB, established that it was running slow and a detailed report and findings to this effect was obtained by the enforcement officials," added Kohli. Officials at the anti-theft police station confirmed that a case of power theft had been registered against Anil Mittal and steps taken to apprehend the accused. Meanwhile, Kohli added that in move to curb the menace of power theft in the central zone, the official had inspected nearly 2,200 premises of consumers during August.
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KISAN MELA Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, September 17 The farmers who have been honoured are Gurdev Kaur Deol of Ayyali Khurd village in Ludhiana district, Jagdeep Singh Dhillon of Kanoi village in Sangrur district, Amar Singh of Ludhiana district, Jinder Singh of Sandhuaan village in Rup Nagar district and Gurbachan Singh of Doraha in Ludhiana district. Gurdev Kaur Deol has been awarded Sardarni Jagbir Kaur Memorial Award. She took up agro-processing of farm produce in addition to auxiliary agricultural ventures for enhancing profitability. After getting need-based training from the PAU, she established a unit ‘Global Agro Products’ in 800-yard plot at the village. Deol maintains 13 buffalo, six heads of cow in her dairy farm and runs a bee farm of 250 boxes. She even grows mushrooms, prepares vermicompost and products like pickles, jam, preserves, mixed-grain flour, ‘pinnis’, vinegar and noodles and sells these at special outlets to earn income. She was recognised for her outstanding work in the Kisan Mela organised in 2008 as well. The PAU Kisan Club has also awarded a merit certificate to her. Jagdeep Singh Dhillon has been awarded S Dalip Singh Dhaliwal Memorial Award. He owns 8 acres and leases out 20 acres for farming. This undergraduate farmer has got training in farming from the PAU. He has also learnt about beekeeping and the techniques of vermicompost. He is well versed in muskmelon and maize hybrid seed production. He grows wheat on beds and cultivates mungbean in sugarcane. Amar Singh Manooke was awarded S Ujagar Singh Dhaliwal Memorial Award. This 49-year-old farmer is uneducated but has learnt innovative farming techniques during the past 19 years. He owns nine acres and is proficient in growing vegetable crops. He has installed drip system in his fields to conserve water. He is a trained rabbit farmer and has also received training from the PAU in mushroom growing and vermicompost. He has created a “gobar” gas plant at his field with permanent pits and uses the gas in domestic activities. He incorporates crop refuge in the field for enhancing organic matter. Jinder Singh was awarded S Surjit Singh Dhillon Purskar. He is a self-cultivating small category farmer and has developed proficiency in growing pulses and vegetables. He has been honoured 36 times in Kisan Melas at Ballowal Saunkhri. The PAU Kisan Club has also awarded him certificate of excellence. He specialises in hybrid seed production of various vegetables and green house cultivation of vegetable crops. He follows bed planting and laser leveler for efficient water use. He grows basmati rice, tomato, capsicum, spinach, guava, litchi, mango, papaya, kinnow, amla and baramasi lemon. Gurbachan Singh has been awarded Parvasi Bharti Purskar. He has a holding of two acres and leased out 18 acres for his farming. He grows vegetables and flowers, including marigold on 8 acre, gladiolus on 5 acres and rose on three acres and places some area under vegetables and produces wheat from only one acre. In summer, he puts five acres under paddy and the rest under flowers and vegetables. He has also tried biological control of plant diseases.
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Slums at mercy of
quacks
Anshu Seth Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, September 17 The free accessibility of these drugs, followed by "unchecked dispensing", is adding to the problem of drug abuse in the urban slums. The witch-doctors/quacks practising medicine is a blatant violation of Drug and Cosmetic Act and Drugs and Medical Remedies Act. Ludhiana Civil Surgeon, Dr Maninderjit Singh, said, "I have already issued instructions to the Drug Inspector to immediately take action against witch-doctors/quacks involved in false propaganda through advertisements. Cases will be registered against the guilty with the help of the police". A city-based MBBS doctor said Diazepam (Valium), Chlordiazepoxide (Librium), and Chlorazepate (Tranxene) are some sedative hypnotics which are often used by these witch-doctors/quacks. These being tranquilisers/sleeping pills give temporary relief to people suffering from disorders causing pain. "Their effects range from calming down anxious people to promoting sleep and can lead to physical and psychological dependence. At high doses or when abused, many of these drugs can cause unconsciousness and death," the doctor opined. Immediate discontinuation of these drugs results in withdrawal symptoms, including restlessness, insomnia, anxiety, convulsions and sometimes death. The role played by the educated doctors is also questionable as they employ illiterate people to run their own hospitals and nursing homes without realising that their hospitals are the factories of quacks. The untrained ward boys, nurses after working in hospitals/nursing homes for some years open their own centres in slums or villages. A hefty commission from diagnostic and therapeutic centres is the latest tool to boost quackery. Doctors in order to get maximum number of patients had even lent their names to such quacks. It is a common practice amongst the quacks to use names of MBBS doctors on their letter heads.
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Cong charged with creating split in SGPC
Ludhiana, September 17 Kanwalinder Singh Thekedar, member, SGPC, and Pritam Singh Bharowal, member of the working committee of SAD-B, said in a joint statement here yesterday that the Congress had been in the habit of deriving political benefits by creating dissension among the Sikh community. "For its own vested political interests, the Congress has been creating faction fighting among Sikhs, and it is under its policy of divide and rule that a conspiracy has been hatched by high-ups in the party to manage a split in the SGPC, the mini-parliament of the Sikh community." The Akali leaders further charged the Congress with giving a step-motherly treatment to "Punjab, Punjabi and Punjabiat" and denying lawful rights to this border state. In a note of caution to the ruling party at the Centre, they said the Congress ought to be well aware of the historical fact that whenever any group, party or institution, right from the Mughal emperors, had tried to interfere in religious affairs of the Sikh community, the consequences had been disastrous. "No power on the earth can divide the Sikhs of Punjab and Haryana, or for that matter, members of the Sikh community settled in any part of the world. The community will solidly stand behind the SGPC and will, in no case, allow any split in the body to take place," Thekedar and Bharowal added. They also warned certain elements within the Sikh community in Haryana, who were acting at the behest of the Congress government in the state, to desist from their “nefarious” activities, or else be prepared to face the consequences of creating confusion and dissent among the members of the Sikh community.
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PAU staff seek Manpreet’s help
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, September 17 The PAU employees stated in a memorandum that they had never adopted agitational approach and had believed in talks. Despite this, the authorities concerned had not met their demands. The memorandum further listed demands of the employees, including the increase of grants for the PAU on account of the revision of pay-scale as approved by the Punjab Government, release of additional grant for pension funds of the PAU, leave travel concession (LTC), which is not being paid to the PAU employees as prevalent for Punjab Government Employees since 2000 due to lack of funds provided by the state government, grant of special pay to 'C' grade employees at the rate of Rs 40, Rs 80, Rs 120 on the pattern of the Punjab Government and other universities, non-implementation of the decision approved by the Finance Committee/ Board of Management of PAU by the Local Audit Wing of A.G.(Punjab), Chandigarh. The employees had, through the memorandum, requested the state finance minister to get their demands fulfilled at the earliest, informed Lakhwinder Singh Sandhu, senior vice-president, Punjab Agriculture University Employees Association.
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Protest against power to mobile tower
Ludhiana, September 17 Raising slogans against senior officials of Janta Nagar division of the Punjab State Electricity Board
(PSEB), the protesters from Mahamaya Nagar, Gurmel Nagar, Gianchand
Nagar, Azad Nagar, Ram Nagar, MJK Nagar, Mohinder Nagar and Sukhdev Nagar alleged that ever since power connection from the transformer had been given to a cellphone tower, the power supply to these localities had deteriorated. The infuriated residents got together and disconnected supply to the mobile tower as their pleas for remedial measures fell on deaf ears. The protesters further said that the officials of Janta Nagar division had made repeated attempts to restore power supply to the mobile tower from this transformer, which were foiled by the residents. According to Subhash Chand
Soni, president of Ward No 73, mandal president Bhupinder Singh and press secretary of the RSP Sewa Singh, who led the protest, every household in the area had contributed Rs 500 for collecting Rs 11 lakh, which was deposited with the PSEB for installation of a transformer for getting 24-hour power supply on the urban pattern. In a memorandum submitted to the PSEB authorities, the district administration and the Punjab government, the residents urged them to install a separate transformer for providing power supply to the cellphone tower and also take necessary steps to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the affected colonies.
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BSNL employees stage dharna
Ludhiana, September 17 Addressing the gathering Balbir Singh, circle secretary of the union, Punjab, said the BSNL management was denying the legitimate demand of the workers on the plea that its profit had been decreased during the last financial years whereas the department of public enterprises had awarded fair grade to the company for the last financial year.
"BSNL unions are concerned with the declining profit that too due to the wrong policies and mismanagement of top-level officers. The management is adopting unfair labour practice in the organisation and is responsible for the unrest," said Balbir Singh.
Balwinder Singh, district secretary, added the management wasn't serious towards the issues of the non-executives. The wage of the officers has been revised since January 2007 at all levels but the management is denying the same to the non- executives for the past 31 months. "The promotion policy for officers has been implemented where as in case of non-executives it has not been done so even after one year of the agreement with the representatives the unions. Now, denial of the bonus is another hurdle created by the management," he added.
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ASHA workers demand hike in salary
Ludhiana, September 17 District president of the union Jeet Kaur Daad and general secretary Swarnjit Kaur Kainth, who led the protest, alleged that the ASHA workers, recruited under a Central government health scheme assigned to the state government for strategic healthcare programme like mother and childcare, sanitation and hygiene in rural areas and vaccination of pregnant women, were poorly paid. Other speakers at the dharna were Balbir Kaur Gill, senior vice-president, Baljit Kaur Mullanpur, Gurmel Singh Medlay, adviser, announced that the agitation would continue till acceptance and implementation of the demands. In a memorandum submitted to the state government, through the district authorities and the district health administration, the union demanded that ASHA workers should be treated as regular employees of the health department, paid a minimum salary of Rs 6,500 per month, paid arrears of salaries and allowances and also issued uniforms and identity cards.
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Compromise reached in lensman thrashing case
Ludhiana, September 17 Harish Narang, who led the group of lawyers, apologised on behalf of the lawyers for the unfortunate incident. The cameraman of national news channel Vicky Sehajpal was allegedly thrashed by lawyers and some miscreants while the former was covering the fifth day of strike by lawyers outside mini secretariat on September 14. The two advocates, SP Singh and Gurjinder Singh Shani, who were booked for beating the cameraman, shook hands with the latter and requested the journalists to settle the matter. Munish Atray, who represented the group of journalists from electronic channels, said, "Lawyers are respected for their brains and not for their fists and blows. We look upon lawyers as saviours, they cater to an educated class of society and should maintain the sanctity of the profession."
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Work on cremation ground begins
Khanna, September 17 MC president Iqbal Singh said the Punjab government was releasing grants for various developmental works in Khanna and there was no let up in various development works. He said incomplete constructions in all wards of Khanna were underway. The construction of most of the works had already been completed and efforts were on to complete the pending works. He said a boundary wall of the nearby pond and installation of a tubewell would also be initiated in a short span of time. Akali leaders Devinder Singh Khattra, Ranbir Khattra, Swaran Singh Sandhu, Kulvir Singh Sekhon, Darshan Singh Councillor, Jaspal Singh, Mukhtiar Singh, Satnam Singh, Darshan Singh Gill, Dalbir Singh, Surjit Singh Mann, Sukhjinder Singh, Baljinder Singh, Jaswinder Singh, Tirath Singh Grewal, Harvinder Singh were present during the occasion.
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3 RIMT students get scholarship
Mandi Gobindgarh,
September 17 Around 120 students of MBA participated in the programme. Chief guest VM Trehan, chairman of New Delhi-based Mekaster Group of Industries and a pioneer in the field of telecommunication, inaugurated the programme. The programme would mark the beginning of the series of interactive lectures by business tycoons and top executives of the business world. Three MBA students of RIMT, namely Vijay Arora, Meenakshi and Sarika, were conferred Mekaster Merit Scholarships for topping MBA examinations by the chief guest. Each of the students got a cash award of Rs 11,000.
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Freshers’ Party at DIMT
Doraha, September 17 Sukhpal Singh, chairman of the Doraha Group of Institutes, was the chief guest. Senior students of MBA, BBA and BCA organised a cultural show to welcome the newcomers. Mandeep Kaur and Ravinder Kaur of the MBA final year, on behalf of their class, welcomed the guests and the freshers. The cultural programme comprised a welcome dance and songs. Modelling was performed followed by a questionnaire session. Gagandeep Singh and Amanjeet Kaur of MBA-I were declared Mr and Miss Fresher. Gidda and Bhangra were also performed.
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Two arrested for sodomy
Amloh, September 17 The Amloh police has on September 16 registered an FIR under Section 377 of the IPC on the statement of the victim's mother Jasbir Kaur. She had accused Hardeep Singh, a labourer, and Swarn Singh, a Class X student of Government Secondary School, Naraingarh, both residents of Haibatpur village for committing the heinous crime. This incident took place while the victim's father was abroad and the mother had gone to pay obeisance at Hansali Gurdwara. In their absence, both accused allegedly took the child to the residence of Hardeep Singh on some pretext and sodomised him. The child told his mother about the incident. A complaint was lodged and the child medically examined at the local civil hospital. The police arrested both accused today.
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5 booked for abducting minor
Jagraon, September 17 Narang Singh of Aasi Kalan village, in his complaint to the police, said Bikramjit alias Vicky of Kila Raipur had kidnapped his 16-year-old daughter Kamaldeep Kaur (name changed), a BSc first year student of Narangwal college, luring her into marriage. He said the accused had kidnapped her from Narangwal itself when she had gone to attend her college last morning. He had also accused that the mother of the accused Paramjit Kaur and his sisters Rupinder Kaur alias Rupi and Jyoti for helping Vicky in the kidnapping. The police has booked all the accused under Sections 363, 366 and 120-B of the IPC, but no arrest has been made so far. Investigating officer Chaman Parkash of the Jagraon police said the police had been raiding the possible hide-outs of the accused to arrest them.
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12 cartons of liquor seized
Ludhiana, September 17 While a peddler was nabbed, the other managed to flee the spot. The accused has been identified as Kali, while Mintu managed to dodge the cops. Giving details about
the seizure, the police said the duo took liquor bottles from Chandigarh at cheaper rates. The accused were operating from home and were selling the box of liquor at Rs 1,000 less as compared to the market price, thereby causing a loss to the government exchequer.
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