Ludhiana, April 19
In a major demolition drive today, the MC removed encroachments from Kidwai Nagar, Mini Rose Garden and Janakpuri.

Encroachments on public streets outside houses and shops were razed by bulldozers. The team was lead by ATP Kamaljeet Kaur. A police party accompanied the MC team to avoid any untoward incident. The demolition began this afternoon and continued till evening.

Till the filing of the report, nearly 75 encroachments at Kidwai Nagar were removed and the drive was being carried out at Janakpuri. Illegally constructed ramps and stairs outside houses and shops were removed.

The ATP said though the MC removed encroachments, these reappeared after some time. “The best way is to widen roads so that no scope is left for encroaching on the road,” she said.

Subhash Sood, a shopkeeper at Janakpuri, said he had constructed some steps outside his shop as the level of the shop was higher than the road. Only three steps were constructed for the convenience of customers. “Ours is an old area and the best option would be to raise the level of the road,” he said.

The MC team would remove illegal constructions on Tajpur road and Tibba road tomorrow.

Ludhiana, April 19
In violation of the Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation Act (PAPRA), a coloniser has chalked out plans to construct a Shiva temple at the site earmarked for a community club in a PUDA approved colony — Basant Avenue — near Dugri here.

Residents allege that the coloniser has not only put up a signboard in this regard, but also a religious congregation is held every evening there.

In a written complaint lodged with the PUDA authorities, the functionaries of the Gram Panchayat Basant Avenue stated that the coloniser had submitted a building plan for the construction of a community centre last year, that too when he was served with a notice by PUDA in this connection.

However, after razing the major part of the structure, it was announced that a temple would come up at the site at an estimated cost of Rs 6 crore. Not only this, a part of the land meant for community club is reportedly being developed for commercial exploitation on the plea that shops will sell “puja samagri”.

Lt Col PPS Grewal, a resident of the colony, maintained that as per provisions of the PAPRA, the developer of a PUDA-approved colony did not have the discretion to change the land use of sites meant for community use.

The Act clearly laid down that if the coloniser fails to construct and maintain facilities like roads, parks, health and educational institutions and community centres, the land earmarked for these purposes could be taken over by the state government.

A representative of the builder denied that the land meant for community club was being used to construct a temple and maintained that path of Bhagwat Gita was being held there. PUDA additional chief administrator Indu Malhotra confirmed that a complaint in this regard had been received from residents and a show-cause notice had been issued to the developer of the colony.

“We have directed the coloniser to stop construction and follow the building plan approved by the estate office. No deviation in this respect will be allowed,” she added.

Ludhiana, April 19
With the temperature hovering between 42-44 degrees Celsius, people have not been able to acclimatise with the unprecedented heat, resulting in a rush at OPDs in city hospitals. A majority of people are suffering from body ache, fatigue, fever, migraine and diarrhoea.

Dr Sandeep Puri, head of the department of medicine and medical superintendent, DMCH, said there was an enormous increase in the number of patients coming with such problems.

“Inadequate precautions by people in addition to the dry spell have added to the problems. In order to avoid heat stroke, adequate hydration through increased intake of fluids is a must,” he said.

The season has been worst for farm labourers who cannot escape from harvesting even in high temperatures.

Dr Bimal Kanish, a skin specialist, stated that a large number of people were coming with photo dermatitis in which the skin exposed to the sun reddens followed by itching and burning sensation.

“Fungal infections, especially in the feet, which used to occur in June and July have also gone up this month. People sensitive to skin infections caused by heat should avoid going out in the sun. Using powder, wearing cotton clothes, applying sun screen and drinking plenty of water is the best way to save your skin from the sharp sun,” he said.

Doctors are advising people to boil water before drinking, keeping in view the pollution level in the underground water of Ludhiana. 

Ludhiana, April 19
In yet another daring robbery, armed men barged into an industrial unit in Jugiana village near here in the wee hours today and fled with cash amounting to Rs 5.81 lakh after attacking and injuring three security guards. This is the second such case reported within the past fortnight.

The incident took place at about 3 am when the assailants, about ten in number, entered the premises of Freeman Measures Pvt Ltd, a unit manufacturing measuring tapes located on GT Road. The muffled robbers were armed with iron rods and ‘kirpans’ (daggers).

On entering the factory premises the men overpowered the security guard manning the main entrance, Bhagirath, and thrashed him. He fell unconscious and the robbers took off his uniform, which one of the assailants then wore.

When the robbers reached the barrier on the premises, another security guard, Kuljeet Singh, intercepted them. Before he could do anything, the assailants overpowered him and beat him up too, injuring him badly.

The assailants then moved towards the factory’s administrative block where they beat up yet another security guard, Varinder Kumar, and injured him. They then entered the administrative block, broke open the safe and almirah and decamped with Rs 5.81 lakh in cash that was lying inside.

According to police sources, the assailants were all migrants and were speaking Hindi. A case under section 395 of the IPC has been registered at the Focal Point police station.

SHO Sandeep Wadhera, in charge of the case, said the police has gathered some vital clues. “Four people are being interrogated in connection with the robbery. The case will be cracked soon and the suspects apprehended," he added.

Meanwhile, the three security guards who sustained injuries in the incident were admitted to a private hospital.

Ludhiana, April 19
Nitrate poisoning and unnecessary usage of urea, pesticides and herbicides is fatal for animals. The findings were revealed by Dr MP Gupta, head, department of epidemiology and preventive veterinary medicine of Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana.

Dr Gupta said the department of epidemiology and preventive veterinary medicine had analysed 183 fodder samples (barseem, oats, toriya, chari, bajra and rye grass) during 2009-10 and found that 60 per cent of the samples were nitrate positive.

The nitrate-nitrogen concentration ranged from 2,500 ppm to 6,300 ppm in the positive samples. It means, in the fodder crops being used in Punjab for livestock, the nitrate concentrations are above safety levels.

A total of 18 outbreaks of nitrate toxicity have been recorded in the year. In acute cases, healthy animals die suddenly and put farmers in shock. In mild form, the animals showed symptoms of salivation, depression, anorexia and respiratory problems with normal/subnormal temperature.

Dr Gupta said nitrate was a normal constituent of crops, which got converted to ammonia during photosynthesis and evaporated in environment.

However, nitrate starts accumulating in plants when uptake of nitrate from soil is greater than the nitrate handling capacity of the plant due to certain wrong agricultural practices and environmental factors.

These factors include excess use of nitrate containing fertilizers, use of sewage water, hot humid weather, drought and extreme cold (frost, hails, cloudy weather) conditions and use of herbicides and insecticides in the fields.

It has been observed that some farmers are using urea along with the farmyard manure, which is not desirable.

Dr Gupta advised the farmers not to use urea, pesticides and herbicides on the fodder crops. Sewage water should not be used to water the fodder crops. 

Mullanpur Dakha, April 19
Fire generally caused by sparking of the overhead high -tension electric wires are causing huge financial losses to farmers, running into lakhs, beside there is a danger to life also. Yesterday, 6.5 acre standing wheat crop at Jhammat village was gutted due to the sheer negligence of the PSEB.

The fields belonged to Gurpreet Singh, who said the transformer of the electricity board was loose and the wires too were loose and they were constantly touching each other, which resulted in sparking.

Though the PSEB officials were informed, but they never paid heed to the request and their negligence resulted in this loss.

At Jangpur village near Mullanpur Dakha, Sukhwinder Singh and Bhupinder Singh lost their wheat crop of two acres each while the wheat of Bhag Singh in one acre was lost due to sparking of electricity wires. Around 5 acre of wheat was gutted in the Dewtwal village while 12 acre of wheat straw was also damaged in the fire. Three-acre crop of wheat of Gurmail Singh of Raikot was also gutted at Barnala Road.

The farmers are incurring a heavy loss due to the inefficient services of PSEB employees. A number of farmers that gathered at the fire sight wanted that a uniform policy should be made to that the farmers suffering the loss due to fire should get the maximum recovery amount. It was also demanded that the fire brigade vehicles from cities should be deployed at suitable places so that they could reach the fire site in minimum time and control the losses. 

Ludhiana, April 19
Workers of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Employees’ Union, Sanchar Nigam Executive Association (India), All-India BSNL Executive Association and National Federation of Telecom Employees will go on indefinite strike from tomorrow.

The Joint Action Committee of BSNL associations and unions has given the call for the strike. A meeting under the presidentship of MS Dhaliwal was held today in which it was unanimously decided to go for the indefinite strike.

The Joint Action Committee is on the path of struggle against disinvestment of the BSNL and retrenchment of 1 lakh employees.

The Joint Action Committee comprising 13 associations and unions of executives and non-executives has the strength of more than 3 lakh employees. 

Mandi Ahmedgarh, April 19
Despite low fare for journey by train, residents, dominantly women and children prefer travelling by bus. Courtesy, alleged hostile behaviour of staff and lack of facilities at the local railway station. What to talk of providing facilities, like drinking water and clean lavatories, the officials do not even attend telephone calls made by residents.

Irregular opening of ticket window and refusal to return balance payment were common complaints made by the residents.

Denying allegation, the officials led by the Assistant Station Master maintained that the situation had arrived due to lack of resources and defective service conditions of the department.

Investigations by the Ludhiana Tribune revealed that alleged unconcern on part of the authorities at the local railway station had forced residents to pay more for travelling by bus despite relatively lower fare for journey by train.

Dr Ravinder Sharma, a social activist, alleged that he had to drop one of his friends at Ludhiana Railway Station by car as the official on duty at the ticket window preferred to take his meals before selling tickets for Ludhiana bound train last week.

“When we requested the official to sell ticket first, he argued that he would eat his food first as the department had not fixed dinner and lunch hours for its employees,” alleged Sharma regretting that his friend had to miss the train.

Referring to information received from residents of the town and surrounding villages, Tarsem Lal Garag, chairman the CB Social Welfare Organisation alleged that telephone calls made at the railway station was rarely attended by the staff there.

Though it is obligatory for the cashier selling tickets to maintain enough stock of coins and notes for returning balance to purchaser in case of tendering of higher denomination notes and coins, passengers are made to tender exact value of the fair.

Some instances were reported, wherein, prospective passengers, including women and children, were made to make unnecessary purchases from venders in order to get the required denomination of coins or notes. “Those who dared to bring change from the market outside had to miss the train,” alleged Karnail Singh of Jandali village. 

Ludhiana, April 19
The powder-making technology from garlic, ginger and onion for commercial sale was today explained to prisoners of Ludhiana Central Jail by experts of the Central Institute of Post Harvest Engineering and Technology (CIPHET), a premier institute of Indian Council of Agricultural Research.

Notably, CIPHET has initiated unique training programme in Ludhiana Central Jail for prisoners under which training classes will be held every month throughout the year. The aim is to train them to earn respectful living after they get released from the jail.

As part of the training programme, the prisoners were made aware about the potential of the powder-making process from garlic, garlic and onion and benefits of value addition. They were told that units could be set up with minimum investment of Rs 50,000 and products of powder could fetch double the money than their production.

"Very simple technology is required for powder making, as it is in great demand in the market," told senior scientist Dr Dattatrya Kadam to prisoners, adding that drying process could be carried out both in mechanical as well as in solar dryer.

"While production cost of 1-kg onion powder is approximately Rs 100 to Rs 120. This can be sold in market for Rs 200 to 250," Kadam added. This kind of product is required for tertiary processing like making of soup, masala powder and pastes. He revealed that shelf life of the onion powder was more than nine months. Dr Nilesh Gaikwad answered queries of the prisoners.

Superintendent (jails) Kuldeep Singh said training programme initiated by the CIPHET was proving quite useful. He hoped that many prisoners would be adopting these technologies for living a respectful life. Assistant Superintendent (jails) Iqbal Singh Daliwal was also present on the occasion.

CIPHET Director Dr R.T Patil and Transfer of Technology Head Dr Deepak Raj Rai said they were getting good response.

They revealed that complete training to interested prisoners would be provided at CIPHET after their release. 

Ludhiana, April 19
The plight of the 17 Indians sentenced to death by a Sharjah court on March 30 resounded in Parliament with local MP and national spokesperson for the AICC Manish Tewari raising the issue during the Zero Hour today.

Emphasising that Parliament must convey a strong message that India would not tolerate injustice with its citizens anywhere in the world, he sought stern action against officials of the Indian counsellate in Sharjah who remained indifferent to the plight of these Indians during their 15-month trial.

Tewari said, these people, all of whom were poor labourers, had been randomly picked up by the Sharjah police and tortured. It was the confession of two labourers extracted after third degree methods that all 17 of them (16 from Punjab and one from Haryana) were convicted and sentenced to death.

Pointing out that it was a gross miscarriage of justice, he said these poor people were neither provided with legal aid nor were they able to comprehend what was being spoken against them during trial as they did not understand their language.

He observed that while the court procedures would go on, the government of India should use all diplomatic and political channels to get justice for the youths so that they were released from the prison and were brought back home.

He said the judgment had led to insecurity among lakhs of people working in the Gulf.

Tewari said those officials of the Indian embassy who ignored the plight of these people must be brought to book and stern action taken against them for gross negligence of their duties.

Ludhiana, April 19
Alleging that the elections to the All-India Aggarwal Sammelan were being conducted in an unconstitutional and illegal manner by officials appointed for the purpose under the influence of a particular section of existing office-bearers, most of the district units of the body in the state have decided not to participate in the ongoing election process.

Announcing this at a press conference here yesterday, Punjab unit president of the Akhil Bhartiya Aggarwal Sammelan Amrit Lal Aggarwal said it was unfortunate that election administrator, appointed by the court, was playing into the hands of a section of existing office-bearers and constitution of the national-level body was being flouted under the influence of money power.

“It is all the more regrettable that the ruling side has chosen to keep its eyes to such gross irregularities and has not even gone in appeal against the orders of lower court,” he stated.

Office-bearers of over half a dozen district units of the body, including Ferozepur, Moga, Bathinda, Sangrur, along with active members from other districts were present.

Aggarwal added that a new body, “Aggar Shakti”, had been set up with plans to enroll around 2 lakh members in the next two years.

The new body would work to achieve a distinct political identity of the Aggarwal community, which had been persistently ignored by almost all political parties.

Ludhiana, April 19
Local MP and national spokesperson for the All-India Congress Committee Manish Tewari yesterday said it was unfortunate to see political masters of SAD-BJP government in Punjab indulge in cheap tactics to garner publicity, which was a symptom of their political bewilderment.

Speaking at functions organised at ward No. 4 in Vardhman Nagar and ward No. 21 in Sunder Nagar, he said it was unfortunate that crores of rupees sent by the centre for the state were not being utilised properly, nor was the state government serious to ameliorate the plight of poor and needy through central welfare schemes.

“The SAD-BJP government has become bankrupt and is not even in a position to give salaries to its employees. The government functionaries refuse to share information about Rs 50-crore grant that he had brought for cleaning of Buddha Nalla and has still to provide me with information about their contribution to the loan of Rs 150 crore from HUDCO for Ludhiana city,” he alleged.

The MP added that the municipal corporation must make the required contribution so that the developmental works that had come to a standstill due to lack of funds were completed in soon.

Tewari claimed that air service between Ludhiana and Delhi, to commence in the first week of May, would be a landmark service for the city and its people.

During the meetings, Tewari said each ward would be given Rs 5 lac each out of his MPLAD fund.

The MP was accompanied by former chief parliament secretary Surinder Dawar, leader of opposition in the civic body Hemraj Aggarwal, district president of women wing of the Congress Leena Taparia, District Youth Congress president Dimpal Rana, KK Bawa, PPCC general secretary Pawan Dewan and secretary Satish Sharma Showman.

Addressing another function organised by the SC cell of the PPCC to celebrate the 120th birthday of Dr BR Ambedkar at Jagraon, Tewari observed that that it was because of farsighted vision of Dr Ambedkar that India could usher in the era of high growth and prosperity. By providing every citizen the right to vote through adult suffrage, the author of Indian Constitution had made possible a landmark leap in democratisation of India.

“But it is ironical that the state government run by Akali-BJP are flouting its provisions with impunity and with no regard for the sentiments and belief of Dr Ambedkar,” he lamented, adding that whereas law had to be equal for all and nobody ought to be discriminated against, the Punjab government was vindictively implicating innocent Congress workers in false and fabricated police cases.

Ludhiana, April 19
As though battling throat and oral cancer is not enough, Davinder Kumar Khurana (59) has been forced to run from pillar to post to get his name registered with the ration depot in Sarabha Nagar even after five months of getting his ration card.

To top it all, the staff at department of food and civil supplies, instead of redressing his grievance, have gone to the extent of manhandling him.

A resident of Sarabha Nagar, Khurana, after getting his ration card in November, 2009 had gone to get it registered with the ration depot in his area but was turned away by the depot owner.

“Depot licensee Manmohan Singh told me not to come back and threatened me with dire consequences when I told him that he would take up the matter with the authorities concerned.”

Committed to fight for his right, Khurana went to the DFSC office in December, 2009 wherein the food and civil supplies inspector directed the depot licensee to enter the complainant’s name but the depot licensee refused to do so.

He then forwarded a complaint to district food and civil supplies controller (west) Rakesh Bhaskar but to no avail.

Left with no option, Khurana approached the Deputy Commissioner’s office, following which the then Deputy Commissioner Vikas Garg marked an inquiry to the DFSC (west).

But the official concerned, instead of complying with the orders, humiliated the complainant during his visit to the former’s office.

Bhaskar said he had already directed the depot licensee to do the needful but he had failed act.

However, he refuted the allegations of Khurana of having been manhandled by his staff.

“I have forwarded the complaint to the food and civil supplies director in Chandigarh and will act after getting directions from the head office,” he added.

District food and civil supplies controller (west) Rakesh Bahskar said he could not entertain Davinder Kumar Khurana’s complaint during November and December due to his tight schedule owing to procurement. Interestingly, there is no procurement during these months

Khurana was manhandled by the steno of the inquiry officer at the DFSC office on April 12. He filed a complaint with the Sarabha Nagar police station. However, the DFSC office staff lodged a counter-compliant against Khurana for having attacked the official concerned

Ludhiana, April 19
The controversy engulfing the elections of the Knitwear Club refuses to die down, with presidential candidate Ajit Lakra submitting a complaint to Deputy Commissioner Rahul Tewari here today.

While Vinod K Thapar has been declared the winner, he has been denied the victory letter.

Sources revealed that even the observers on duty felt that they took a hasty decision while declaring the results.

Lakra said the Deputy Commissioner had marked the case to the police commissioner who would handle the inquiry into the case.

“In addition, I will file a petition in the court tomorrow,” he said.

Lakra said he would not accept the decision and if no action was taken, he along with his supporters would resign from the club and form another organisation.

On the other hand, the Thapar faction issued a release to the press mentioning the names of all office-bearers, inclduing Vinod K Thapar as president.

The release mentioned that most of the newly elected office-bearers attended the club today for the first time after the elections to take charge of their respective posts.

“The office-bearers rededicated themselves to the service of the knitwear/textile industry and reiterated their resolve to fight for the members’ cause,” added the release. 

Ludhiana, April 19
Giving a "green" message, rose plants were distributed among the members of the Gayatri Ladies Club today, who had gathered to be a part of the Baisakhi celebrations, here.

Punjabi singer Sukwinder Sukhi was also present who rendered a song from his album for the club members.

The club members celebrated the festival of harvest and ripening with great zeal and enthusiasm. "Yellow" was the dress code of the day and members came dressed in yellows. The new team today took over the charge.

The most appealing was the play based on "immortal lovers of Punjab" presented by the members.

The play depicted the life of the lovers like Saasi-Punnu, Heer-Ranjha, Malki-Keema and Mirza-Sahiba.

"Though the lovers face the wrath of the society but they continue to be in each-other's company. Nobody can defeat the strength of the lovers," said Ravneet Kaur, who was playing the role of the Waris Shah and commented in-between the interludes during the play. 

Ludhiana, April 19
“Life in itself is a story, one needs to look at it with a different perspective,” said actor-cum-singer Babbu Maan. The premier of his forthcoming movie “Ekam-Son of soil” was held at the Orient theatre here yesterday.

“It is the movie based on social issues. Problems of loan and drug addiction continue to pester villagers. Though Punjab may look like a rich state, it is poor in its interiors. Punjab’s major part still belongs to the poor community. People living in the villages continue to live the same life from the past many years,” he said.

Comedian Bhagwant Maan said the problems of a common man failed to reach politicians. “The government needs to make policies, especially for the poor. Every other day we hear about a farmer committing suicide due to the burden of loan,” he said. Big and shinning multiplexes are not the real India, one need to live and experience the rural life to know about India.

Miss World Punjaban, Mohitinder Bawa is all excited, as it is her first film. “Working in the film was a real experience. I have seen the village life and film truly portrays the problems faced by the people living in the villages,” she added. 

Mandi Gobindgarh, April 19
RIMT has been constantly giving resourceful fresher manpower, said Vasudevan from Wipro Technology, Bangalore, during the two-day pool campus drive here today.

RIMT group chairman Hukam Chand Bansal inaugurated the placement drive and extended a warm welcome to company officials.

During the company pre-placement talk, the company officials briefed that diploma students were hired for the project related to telecom domain and degree students were hired for core engineering work.

A team of eight company officials from Bangalore comprising HR and technical panel conducted the online test for the diploma and degree holders. Soon after declaring the online test results, the students were called for group discussion followed by technical and HR round of interviews.

The diploma engineering students from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal and BTech degree students from the selected institutes of Punjab with specific eligibility criteria were invited to participate in the Wipro placement drive. Altogether 300 diploma and 400 degree students from 32 different institutes appeared for the placement drive and finally 39 BTech degree students were selected.

Jagraon, April 19
The Book Bank Society of Jagraon yesterday conducted its books/notebooks, scholarship and awards giving function.

The function was organised at Swami Vimal Muni Ji Hall of Sanmati Vimal Jain Senior Secondary School of the town in collaboration with social organisations of the city.

The society handed over books and notebooks to 500 needy students from 25 schools of the area, while 15 students were given scholarship of Rs 1,000 each.

Fifteen students who secured top positions in the universities and boards were given the prestigious award of shining star and were awarded gold medals for their exemplary performances, while 150 topper students of the local schools were given the gems of Jagraon award.

Himmat Verma, president of the society, said they had a provision of library from which the needy students were issued the books for the whole year.

BJP leader Rajinder Verma, Dr Shristi Garg, Apaar Singh, Captain Naresh Verma, SK Bhandari, BK Singla, Mahaveer Jain, Laxaman Singh, Dr Bhushan Rattan and principal of all schools were among those who attended the function and encouraged the achievers.

The students of Sanmati Vimal Jain School, Shiwalik Model School, Anuvarat Public School, Saint Maha Pragaya School and Swami Roop Chand Jain School presented a brief cultural programme. 

Ludhiana, April 19
The second workshop for imparting training for Census 2011 was held today at Arya College for Boys and SCD Government College for Boys.

A total of 496 enumerators were imparted training by Prof Harvinder Joshi and Jagtar Singh.

MC Assistant Commissioner PS Ghuman said the second training session would be held on April 23. During the training, the enumerators were imparted training on how to fill the forms and material to be distributed.

Meanwhile, the Government School Teachers’ Union will be submitting a memorandum to the DC tomorrow requesting that the duty timings should be scheduled before 2 pm.

“The timings scheduled for conducting the Census is after 2 pm, which will not be possible for the teachers, especially women staff, as they also have to take care of the domestic responsibilities,” said Parveen Kumar, general secretary of the union.

Ludhiana, April 19
A case of theft involving a woman came to light here yesterday. Buta Singh, a resident of a village near Khanna, complained to the police that about four days back, he was on his way back home in the afternoon when a woman asked for a lift near Arti Chowk.

The complainant informed the police that the woman, aged about 30-32 years, seemed to be educated and from a well-to-do family. She asked to be dropped at the bus stand. On the way, the woman spoke to Singh and told him that her name was Sukhi, police officials said.

After she got down from the car at the bus stand, Singh noticed that his licensed pistol and a perfume were missing. He informed the police and a case under Section 380 of the IPC was registered at the police station, Bus Stand, informed SHO Jagjit Singh.

Investigations in the case are on, he said.