Ludhiana, March 18
Two inebriated youths, claiming themselves to be close relatives of a senior Akali leader, indulged in rowdyism in the Model Town market here last night by recklessly driving a tractor on the roads and leaving the residents and shopkeepers irritated with their behaviour.

This incident took place at around 9 pm when these two youths identified as Bittu and Lucky, who were allegedly under the influence of liquor, passed through the streets and roads of the area by playing loud music and creating ruckus.

Having mounted loudspeakers atop their tractor, these youths created menace by driving it at a breakneck speed and scaring away commuters. Their friends followed them on bikes and the convoy left the people especially women scared.

Despite doing all that openly, the youths were not challaned and were allowed to go scot free just giving a written apology.

‘‘They suddenly entered the market through the streets. Following them were a group of youths who were driving and pillion riding the bikes. They were asked not to behave like that but they did not listen to anybody. Then we lodged a complaint with the police, ’’ said a shopkeeper.

He added that they were holding bottles of liquor and drinking openly. They even shouted at the commuters who could not get aside immediately following their violent honking.

That was not all. They crossed all limits when they parked their tractor in the middle of the road and started dancing while the commuters waited for them to get aside. ‘‘It seemed there was no law of the land prevailing. We thought we were living amidst anarchy,’’ said another shopkeeper.

The drama continued for about half- an- hour before the shopkeepers complained to the police. A police party led by duty officer from the Model Town police station, Paramdeep Singh, reached the spot. The youths refused to get down from the tractor and even started names dropping. They told him that he would have to pay a price as they were close to the senior Akali leader, who wields influence in the government.

It was after lots of persuasion that the cop himself took control of the wheel of the tractor and cleared the road by parking it aside. However, the tractor was impounded. Paramdeep Singh said the youths were not challaned. He said they got a written apology from them and let them go.

Ludhiana, March 18
The decks have been cleared for constructing the missing section of the main road that provides access to the city’s upmarket locality of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar following a visit to the area by members of the Ludhiana Improvement Trust’s (LIT) site selection committee.

The committee members, who include LIT chairman Ashok Juneja, trustees Naresh Dhingan and Gurinderpal Singh Pappu, engineering branch officials, senior town planner Amarjit Singh Tuli and Punjab local government, deputy director Ashok Sikka, visited the site and made a tentative selection of land required for alignment of the stretch up to the existing 300 feet wide road.

Juneja told The Tribune approximately 2,400 square yards of land would be required to complete the 220 feet long road link, which the LIT proposed to acquire according to the provisions of the Punjab Town Improvement Act. “The land acquisition alone will involve an expenditure in the range of Rs 2 crore, going by the collector rate in the area”, he added.

"Once the site and the alignment of the road to complete the missing link are finalised, a resolution for acquiring the land will be adopted at the upcoming trust meeting. It will then be sent to the Punjab government for approval so that further action in this regard can be taken," Juneja said.

There had been persistent demands from residents and shopkeepers of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar for constructing the missing road link as soon as possible. The problem was causing great inconvenience to those living in the locality or carrying on a business on feeder roads in the locality as they were forced to make a detour to get to the main road and thence to Pakhowal Road.

On completion the missing road link will also provide easier access to the ambitious City Centre project, with private sector participation, proposed in the colony. The project had run into trouble after allegations of corruption against the then Congress party led government headed by Amarinder Singh and a vigilance probe that followed.

The project, which was shelved for some time due to prolonged litigation at several levels, now has a chance of being revived after a favourable ruling from the Punjab & Haryana High Court.

Ludhiana, March 18
Substantiating their claim of being the sons of the soil, Maj Manmohan Singh from Verka village (Amritsar), Gurcharan Singh Mann of Tungwali village (Bathinda) and Prabhpal Singh Dhillon of Kasel village (Tarn Taran) were conferred on with the Chief Minister award at the Kisan Mela that got underway at Punjab Agricultural University today.

The trio was honoured for their respective achievements in the field of agriculture and their continuous efforts to develop a sustainable agriculture in terms of diversification.

Maj Manmohan Singh took to agriculture with wheat/paddy cultivation, but in 2004 he successfully diversified to kinnow, peach and pear cultivation.

“ I have given wheat seeds to contract farmers on 350 acres of my land after procuring it from the National Seed Corporation and the Punjab Seed Corporation,” he stated.

Gurcharan Singh Mann of Tungwali village (Bathinda) while sharing his success story said he decided to do fish farming in 10 acres, cotton in 10 acres, fruits in 10 acres followed by division of 11 acres for paddy, fodder, flowers and vegetable cultivation.

Prabhpal Singh Dhillon of Kasel village (Tarn Taran) having devoted 41 years of his life to agriculture believes in continuous process of education. He attended a distance education programme of the PAU to enhance his farming skills and also went on to attend a specialised programme on bee keeping and dairy farming.

Giving a practical shape to his environmental concerns, Prabhpal Singh Dhillon has grown Tahli, Saagwaan, Simbal, Pilkan, Neem, bamboo, Peepal and Amaltas on his land.

Meanwhile, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) honoured progressive farmers in the field of animal husbandry with Chief Minister’s awards during its two-day Pashu Palan Mela that began here today.

In the cattle category, Harchand Singh of Garanga village in district Mohali was declared the winner. In the poultry category, Amar Singh of district Faridkot won the award. In fisheries category, Ranjodh Singh of Nanoke village, district Patiala, was declared the winner. In piggery category, Sukhwinder Singh of Kotli village, district Ludhiana, bagged the honours. The cow farmer was given a cash award of Rs 21,000, while a cash prize of Rs 5,500 was handed over to the poultry and fish farmers. The fish farmer was given a cash award worth Rs 5,100. These awards carried a plaque, shawl and citation that were awarded by Vice-Chancellor Dr Taneja.

Ludhiana, March 18
Municipal corporation officials may have got busy in sealing offices or shops of house tax defaulters but, as far as the major culprits are concerned, they appear to be in no mood to put themselves in any "trouble". Three major shopping malls in the city have run up arrears amounting to several crores of rupees during the past two to three years but, except for periodically fixing dates for hearing of the cases, no progress has been made so far.

According to MC records an amount of Rs 1 crore in house tax is still outstanding against Ansal Plaza Mall, though it had already paid Rs 2 crore in the recent past. The remaining amount pending is said to be “under dispute" between the mall and owners of showrooms there. The amount was a balance for two years.

House tax worth Rs 1.95 crore is pending with Flamez Mall on Malhar Road. The owners had made a plea to the Patiala divisional commissioner and had taken a recovery stay. The next hearing of the case is on May 18, 2010. The house tax superintendent had gone to Patiala today to get the stay vacated.

MC officials had "proposed" a house tax of Rs 5.5 crore to be paid by West End Mall-Waves. The amount has been pending since the mall’s inception two and a half years ago. A senior MC official said, “These influential people are buying time and we feel helpless. We would have been much more comfortable if all these amounts were recovered."

Meanwhile, assistant commissioner (zone D) PS Ghuman said his department was in the process of recovering the pending amount of house tax from these malls and denied coming under pressure from anyone. "We’re looking into the rent deeds and all the cases are there before the house tax committee. Once we raise the bill we can recover the amount", he added.

Ludhiana, March 18
Farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir came to attend the first day of the two-day Kisan Mela that got under way at Punjab Agricultural University today.

‘Save natural resources for the prosperity of all’, the theme of the mela, was well understood by farmers as they expressed their keenness to work in the direction of climate resilient agriculture for which Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Badal has allocated Rs 10 crore to the PAU in the current financial year.

In his inaugural address, Vice-Chancellor Dr Manjit Singh Kang said the contemporary agriculture was facing serious ecological and economic problems that lead to fall in farm profitability. “Depletion of water table, especially in the central Punjab, problems related to soil quality, pollution of air and water, rational use of natural resources are serious concerns which can be addressed through mutual understanding between the varsity experts and farmers,” Dr Kang said. The Kisan Mela, an occupational venture for the farmers, gave them a chance to observe and understand the use of innovative farm machinery exhibited at the stalls put up by the university and the private companies.

To create awareness and educate farmers on indiscriminate use of water and its crippling effect on state agriculture and economy, soil and water engineering scientists displayed an array of innovative pumps and propellers (centrifugal and submersible). The scientists also briefed them on the techniques of re-charging the sub-soil water.

Zorawar Singh of Khamano in his rustic dialect was a hit with the audience whereas the dancers portrayed the farming subjects like water conservation, sugarcane growing on the folk song “Bole nee bambiha bole”. Eminent artists, including Harinder Sandhu (Faridkot), Gurwinder Brar (Bathinda) were honoured on the occasion. New varieties of moong, soyabean, cotton were also released on the first day of the mela.

Publishers of Punjabi books and magazines put up several stalls dedicated to Dr MS Randhawa on the mela route. A stall on household landscape corner with colourful flowers, foliage and landscape objects was an attraction for the visitors.

Dr PS Minhas, director of research, PAU, Dr MS Gill, director of extension education, and members of the PAU board of management Dr JS Kolar, Dr BS Boparai, Urwinder Kaur Grewal, JBS Sangha were also present.

Ludhiana, March 18
With shortage of electricity in the state, farmers were today seen looking for alternative sources of energy during the Kissan Mela that started at Punjab Agriculture University today.

Solar pumping system attracted a lot of queries. Understanding the functioning of the pump, a group of farmers from Faridkot were seen discussing on it as they felt it was a better option when the state was facing power shortage.

Zonal manager (agriculture), central zone, SK Muley said farmers were showing keen interest in the solar technology. “The government is providing subsidy on solar pump as it is costly. Some farmers make a group and get it installed,” he said.

Explaining the functioning of the solar pump, he said it harnesses solar energy through photovoltaic panels and directly conditions this to drive a three-phase AC induction motor driven centrifugal pump.

The price of solar pumps is between Rs 1.4 lakh and Rs 3 lakh. “Some of the farmers in Phillaur and Ropar have installed these pumps,” said Muley.

Jagdev Singh Dhaliwal, a farmer from Moga, said he was thinking of installing a solar pump at his farm. It will also help him in the household purposes. “Though the cost of the solar pump is high, but it will prove beneficial in the long run," he said.

Ludhiana, March 18
High-yielding and crossbred animals of Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) caught the fancy of a large number of farmers who were here to be a part of the biannual Pashu Palan Mela here today.

The two-day mela, inaugurated by GADVASU Vice-Chancellor Dr VK Taneja, is based on the theme “pashu dhan vadhao Punjab nu khushal banao".

Murrah buffaloes, Holstein Friesian crossbred cows, bulls, Beetal goats, pigs, rabbits, white quails and ornamental fish were on display at the mela.

While the dog-sized rabbits weighing over 6 kg attracted youngsters, Murrah buffaloes and high-yielding cows interested the elderly.

A 68-kg crossbred male goat was the centre of attraction. Shining black Beetle goats, fowls, pigs and white quails were the other attractions at the mela.

Farmers from across Punjab as well as from the neighbouring states of J&K, Himachal, Haryana, Rajasthan and Western UP thronged the venue to know about the availability of high-yielding farm animals. Dr OS Parmar, director, extension education, said farmers were advised to use semen of proven bulls of the university for breeding. A large number of young farmers expressed keen interest in taking up goat, pig and fishery farming and enquired about the training programmes.

The stalls put up by the animal nutrition department to sell mineral mixture and uromin lick prepared by the university was the hot favourite of many farmers.

The stalls put up by the College of Dairy Science and Technology witnessed huge rush as different flavours of ice-creams, lassi, milk, low-fat cheese and many other dairy products tantalised the taste buds of many.

Stall put up by College of Fisheries, too, saw the convergence of a large number of buyers for fish products like fish ball, fish cutlet and fish protein concentrate. Livestock product technology department displayed different products of chicken, turkey and other meat varieties.

Books on dairy farming and a leaflet depicting facilities for farmers were also made available to the visitors. A question-answer session organised by university experts attracted farmers.

Earlier, Dr Taneja released a book "Mugian Palna" authored by Dr PK Trehan and Dr Iqbal Singh Bajwa.

Ludhiana, March 18
Sri Satyan Saini (50), alias Veeru”, who has not just once or twice, but on numerous occasions put his life in danger in anticipation of getting a permanent government job as promised by officials of the local municipal corporation, district administration and the police department, the long wait seems to be unending. Even after 15 years of struggle, he has not been able to get more than a part-time job of a sweeper in one or the other department of the corporation and that, too, under the constant threat of being “chucked out”.

Recollecting his tale of woes, Saini told The Tribune that in 1996, he along with his two friends was called by the officials of the corporation to save three sewer men, who had got trapped under 85-foot deep debris opposite Transport Nagar. Without giving a second thought, Saini and his friends-Bablu and Naresh Rudra- immediately went to the spot to rescue the workers. After working hard for almost eight days, Saini and his friends were able to take out the bodies of all sewer men.

“High officials of the municipal corporation promised to give a job of a permanent diver in the department. Recognising my bravery, then Chief Minister Harcharan Singh Brar even honoured me in the presence of the officials. Not only this, I was able to take out another body of 25-year-old boy from Iqbal Nagar. Police officials approached me to fish out the body of a jail inmate. Just for the sake of a government job, I kept on doing all these works. Though I used to hate to take out bodies but I continued to get a job”, rued Saini adding that despite meeting leaders like Laloo Prasad Yadav, Ram Bilas Paswan, Satpal Gossain, Hira Singh Gabria and Malkiat Singh Birmi not a single department has been able to “accommodate” him.

Hailing from Khagadia district of Bihar, Saini said in all these years, officers have changed, so have the governments. “Whom should I approach, I fail to understand. My other two friends have already left for native villages. I am still hoping against the hope”, he said while tears rolled down his cheeks.

Meanwhile, one of the top officials with the municipal corporation said there was no post of diver in the department.

“Administration must have promised him a job and now he is being sent to the corporation. We have still accommodated him. We can not do more than that “, the official.

Ludhiana, March 18
Once again, cracking their whip on encroachments, officials of the municipal corporation carried out a major demolition drive in the city today. A team of the officials from both municipal corporation and the police department cleared all major roads of encroachments with the help of workers and a few JCB machines. Starting from Old Courts, the drive passed through the Vrindavan, Rajpura, Dandi Swami and the Hambran roads.

The team under supervision of Assistant Town Planner (Zone D), SS Bindra, razed the encroachments like illegal structures, stalls, extension of counters, shops, stairs etc throughout the day. At Dandi Swami, a few shopkeepers objected to this drive but the team went kept on removing everything that was illegally occupied.

While the drive was on, one of the shopkeepers Amarjeet Singh said, “We will be with them if nobody was spared. But the pick and choose policy will not be tolerated”, he added.

Kamalpreet Brar, Additional Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, said the corporation was following the High Court’s orders of removing illegal structures and encroachments. “We have been warning all to remove encroachments but people hardly take anything seriously. Our team has already cleared major parts on the Brindaban road and the Dandi Swami Chowk. By late evening, we hope to remove everything that has been encroached upon by the people at the Hambran road”, she added.

Ludhiana, March 18
A month after it came into force the commissionerate system has begun taking shape with the police department today putting an end to the era of superintendents of police and appointing an additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP) in the city.

Five ADCPs have been appointed to take charge of maintaining law and order and regulate traffic in various areas of the city.

Harsh Bansal, who was earlier holding charge of SP-City-I, has taken over as ADCP-I (Ludhiana City). He will take charge of north and central, which include the entire old city area and Salem Tabri.

Sushil Kumar, who was earlier posted as SP-D, Hoshiarpur, has taken charge as ADCP-II. He will head Ludhiana South and Atam Nagar.

Amar Singh Chahal, who was earlier holding the office of CID chief in Jalandhar, has been appointed ADCP-III and will take charge of Ludhiana-West and Gill, which include Saranha Nagar, BRS Nagar and Gill village.

Sanehdeep Sharma, who was earlier SP-III, has been appointed ADCP-IV and will look after areas dominated by migrant workers falling under east and Sahnewal.Jaskaran Singh will take charge as ADCP (traffic & industrial security).

Meanwhile, a lobby group consisting of former police officials said the new move was “nothing more than old wine in a new bottle”.

Former cops have asserted until the time the Punjab police did not recruit more personnel to strengthen the force at the ground level things would remain pretty much the same, no matter whether the city police was headed by a commissioner or an SSP. However, they welcomed the move to recruit 3,400 more constables.

In the meantime, the police department is trying its best to appoint a joint commissioner. It is learnt that SSP level officers are reluctant to work as joint commissioners.

Ludhiana, March 18
A pall of gloom descended on Ravi Kumar’s residence at Prem Nagar Colony on the Tibba road here, after a diver today fished out Ravi’s body, who had drowned in Sutlej river on Sunday evening.

Family members of the deceased had lost the hope of Ravi’s survival after the body of another victim, Prince, was fished out yesterday.

The body of the deceased was found 5 km away from the spot.

According to the diver, the body, which was inflated with water, was floating on the surface near Mattewara village. The body was then recovered and handed over to the family. The family has reportedly identified the body.

Three youths, identified as Sandeep Kumar, Ravi Kumar and Prince Kumar, all residents of Tibba road and surrounding areas, drowned in Sutlej river on March 14.

According to an eyewitness, Sandeep, who was standing near the bank of Sutlej, accidentally slipped into the water.

Prince and Ravi dived into the river to rescue Sandeep. But the trio could not reach the shore and reportedly drowned.

While, the body of Sandeep was recovered on Sunday, the bodies of Ravi and Prince could not be spotted.

The bodies could be traced only after a five-day extensive search operation.

Relatives said Sandeep, Prince and Ravi were good friends and used to spend most of the time together.

“Their visit to the river bank is still a mystery for their parents,” they added.

Ludhiana, March 18
Following the commencement of Navratra, the city temples are all decked up with lights and flowers.

Huge rush is witnessed outside temples. Thousands of devotees are serving fasts and thronging temples to offer prayers to Goddess Durga.

Meanwhile, making most of the festival, the city restaurants are offering specially prepared vegetarian thalis to tickle the taste buds of residents.

Special food is being prepared at the restaurant kitchens without using ginger, onion and garlic.

Apart from restaurants, departmental stores are also keeping special food articles.

Kuttu flour, special namkeen and rice, groundnuts are available at every departmental store.

“This is the most auspicious time in the year to fast. Today I relished a Navratra thali at one of the city restaurants," said Himani, a city resident.

Khanna, March 18
Graduation ceremony was organised at Radha Vatika School. Tiny tots were given certificates.

Warm welcome was accorded to parents.

The function started with Sai vandana.

Dr Abhinav Thrika, SDM, Khanna, was the chief guest. He lit the ceremonial lamp.

Various performances by tiny tots enthralled audience.

Ludhiana, March 18
Guru Nanak Institute of Management and Technology organised a placement drive on its campus.

Priyanka Krishnan, manager regional human resources, HDFC SLIC, and Paijinder Singh, executive HR, delivered a talk.

The selection procedure included a written test and a group discussion, along with an interview.

Phillaur, March 18
The police has nabbed four persons on the charge of theft at a grocery store.

Phillaur DSP Kamaljit Singh Dhillon told newsmen here today that Balbir Singh, owner of the store, filed a complaint of theft with the police. He said the an employee at the store, Sunny, a resident of Khatika village, was questioned and he, according to the police, confessed to the crime. He said that and four of his accomplices committed a theft at the store and decamped with valuables worth Rs 3.65 lakh. The DSP said the police has arrested five persons and recovered stolen goods and cash from them.

Jagraon, March 18
Five persons were injured, one of them seriously, in a clash here yesterday evening. The accused have been identified as Amarjeet Singh, Charanjit Kaur and Avtar Singh and their six accomplices, who are yet to be identified.

In his complaint to the police, Darshan Singh accused that Amandeep Singh and Avtar Singh were having some altercation yesterday evening. When he tried to intervene, they started beating him up, he alleged.

He alleged that Amandeep and Avtar called some outsiders carrying firearms and sharp-edged weapons, who attacked him in the night.

The complainant said the neighbours came to his rescue and both the parties started attacking each other with stones and bricks.

Later, one of the accused fired gunshots that hit Jagsheer Singh and Jagtar Singh. Darshan Singh, his wife Sarabjit Kaur and Jagtar Singh were also injured in attack.

The accused have been booked under Sections 336, 506, 294, 148, 149 and 232 of the IPC. No arrest has been made so far.

Jagraon, March 18
Ajmer Singh, chairman, Sher-e-Punjab Sports Academy, and president of the academy Prof Balwant Singh Sandhu celebrated the historic win of Indian boxers in the Commonwealth Games.

Trainees of the academy, who got a chance to meet boxers of the Indian team, seemed excited.

In the last matches played yesterday, India won gold medals in the Commonwealth Games being held in New Delhi. Besides, Vijender Kumar, Dinesh Kumar, Paramjit Samota, Amarjeet Singh, Suranjoy Singh and Jai Bhagwhan won all final matches in various categories.

U-17 national gold medalist Harjeet Singh said, “We were hopeful of winning the championship, but never knew that all the six medals would be won by our heroes.”

Harjeet Singh, Sukhdeep Kaur and Shinder Kaur, state gold medalists, danced to the tune of Jai Ho at the academy.

Chairman of the academy today bought a piece of land to set up a boxing academy. Presently, this is the only amateur boxing academy in the district.

Mandi Gobindgarh, March 18
Jagdeep Singh, a student of computer science at the RIMT-IET, has bagged four silver medals in the athletics meet, Sangram 2010, held at IIT Roorkee.

Around 2,000 athletes participated in the meet.

Jagdeep has won medals in 400m and 800m races, high jump and triple jump.

Nearly 32 players from the RIMT participated in the meet.

Himanshu Bansal has won a bronze medal in long jump. Principal of the RIMT-IET Dr Harsh Sadawarti congratulated winners on their achievement.