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Adulterated dal lands hospital in soup
Ludhiana, April 20 The dal was adulterated with tartrazine, a synthetic yellow dye derived from coal tar and is unsafe for consumption. It has been banned in several countries. A case has been registered. The dal is served to patients, including children, young girls/boys and senior citizens. Tartrazine has been banned due to serious side effects such as lethal asthma attacks and nettle rash, DNA damage, tumours of the thyroid and ADHD. A senior physician stated that tartrazine could cause anxiety attacks, itching, rhinitis, urticaria, general weakness, migraine, clinical depression, blurred vision, palpitation, feeling of suffocation, pruritus, purple skin patches and sleep disturbance. The hospital authorities stated that the food and beverages services of the hospital had been outsourced to a reputed company of Delhi that procures condiments from reliable suppliers. Randhir Chaudhary, the food and beverages manager at the hospital, said: “No condiment is procured by the hospital directly, but to ensure quality, the food samples are sent for quality test by the department of microbiology,
PAU.”
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Broken park boundary wall yet to be fixed
Ludhiana, April 20 In several representations forwarded to senior PUDA functionaries as well as top Punjab government officials including the chief minister, the residents complained some inhabitants of Jawaddi village pulled down the boundary wall around the park. They claimed the latter wanted a “common passage” to the Dugri main road along the canal from this site. According to Anil Sandheer, president of the HIG Residents Welfare Association, the absence of a wall around the park has provided “unrestricted access” to outsiders into the colony. “This poses a security risk for the residents. Drug addicts and other antisocial elements enter the colony through the park and keep creating a nuisance, much to the annoyance of bonafide residents”, he stated. Several area residents, including KL Khurana, told The Tribune that their deputations had met PUDA chief administrator AK Sinha in April and again in December 2009. ‘The latter had given an assurance that work on reconstructing part of the boundary wall would be taken up within a fortnight”, they stated. Thereafter, PUDA additional chief administrator Indu Malhotra visited the site and the authority’s engineering department prepared a cost estimate for rebuilding the demolished portion of the boundary wall. “However, till now there had been no progress in this regard”, the residents lamented. When contacted, Malhotra told The Tribune: “There were apprehensions about a law and order problem being created in the locality. Many Jawaddi residents were opposed to the park boundary wall being rebuilt, as they feared it would block the common passage used by them to gain access to the main road. We’re in touch with district administration officials and the police commissioner, who have been requested to provide a police force for this purpose. Work on reconstructing the wall will be carried out within the next week.” |
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Victim of failed sterilisation seeks relief
Ludhiana, April 20 Unable to bear the burden of bringing up a third child, Raj and her husband, a daily wage labourer, have filed a complaint in the city’s permanent ‘Lok Adalat’ after they failed to get compensation for the unsuccessful operation from the health & family welfare department in spite of repeated attempts. Raj underwent a tubectomy at the Civil Hospital in Jagraon in April 2007 under the family planning insurance scheme of the health & family welfare ministry and was given a “certificate” for the operation. However, on July 23 last year, having missed her menstrual cycle, she went for her checkup to a gynaecologist, Dr Ranbir Kaur, at the Civil Hospital and was shocked when the latter told her she was pregnant. Thereafter the couple wrote to Jagraon senior medical officer Dr HK Singla, urging him to recommend their case for compensation under the scheme. However the health & family welfare department did not bother to reply to their application. Unable to hide his stress, Jagjit's voice cracked as he said, "I earn only about Rs 4,500 a month, which is not even sufficient to support my two sons aged five and three years. And now with a third child either my wife or I would have to give up eating two meals a day”. Raj, on the other hand, is worried about providing education of her latest offspring. "I just don’t want to deprive any of my children of education which is why I had undergone sterilization operation. It’s the government’s duty now to compensate us with enough money to support the child." According to the renewed family planning insurance scheme, the government is liable to pay an amount of Rs 855,000 to the complainant. |
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Tehsildar Case
Ludhiana, April 20 He along with Kamaljit Singh Karwal (councillor) and Ravi Sharma were granted bail yesterday. It was learnt that they could not get the bail orders well in time at Chandigarh. Hence, they could not furnish the bail bonds in the court here. The release warrant would be issued to the Central Jail superintendent only after the furnishing of surety bonds to the satisfaction of the local court. In the order, Justice Nirmaljit Kaur restrained Bains and two other accused from leaving the country without the permission of the court. The court also ordered the accused not to influence or threaten the witnesses and tamper with evidence while on bail. The orders said Benipal himself contested the bail application. He placed on record representation made to various authorities expressing threat and interference in the investigation. The defence lawyer had submitted before the High Court that there was no firearm injury. He was in custody since June 23, 2009, and even the charges were yet to be framed. In these circumstances, the conclusion of trial would take long. So, there would be no justification in keeping the accused in jail. Bains has been in jail for around nine months. Earlier, their bail applications were dismissed by a local court. The troubles for the SAD youth wing president deepened when the tehsildar accused Bains of hitting him under his eye with a lathi in a supplementary statement recorded with the police. In the FIR his name was mentioned, but no specific role was attributed to him. A case under Section 353, 186, 332, 333, 307, 394, 148, 149 and 120-B of IPC and Section 25 of the Arms Act was registered after the incident on June 19, 2009. |
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Encroachments on Tajpur road removed
Ludhiana, April 20 Kamaljeet Kaur said some ramps and steps had been constructed outside shops and units. Some people had also extended their shops. All violators had been given prior warnings to remove the encroachments. MC officials had marked the areas with white and red colour markers, but these warnings were not taken serioulsy. Amritpal Singh, a shopkeeper, said they were not against the drive as the authorities were removing the encroachments across the city. “Had it been a pick-and-choose policy, we would have protested, but it is for the betterment of the city. We must understand that,” he said, adding that certain shopkeepers had encroached on the land as many others had done so and no action was taken against them. “In the past several years, encroachments have increased in the
city. Some influential persons ask shopkeepers not to remove the encroachments as they would take care of everything. But as far as the court’s order is concerned, everyone has to adhere to it,” Suresh Goel, a resident of Tajpur road, said. |
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Cops sweat it out under shelters without canopy
Ludhiana, April 20 What to talk of providing ideal working conditions to these cops, the administration has failed to get dismantled sunshades repaired. Affected cops feel that human rights bodies should come to their rescue and impress upon the government to take remedial steps and get them medically examined regularly for diseases that could be caused due to long exposure to non-friendly factors, including sun rays, glare and pollutants. Frequent power cuts have compounded their problems, as even cops deployed at automated regulated intersections have to work while standing in the sun. Some of them, unaware of consequences, try to regulate traffic while protecting themselves under an umbrella. Investigations by the Ludhiana Tribune revealed that majority of cops performing traffic-regulating duties were upset over the administration’s alleged apathy towards their health. They felt that though huge amount of money and energy was spent on construction and maintenance of roads and highways, no government or non-government organisation bothered to suggest methods for saving them from the hostile environment. “If findings of medical research institutes are to be believed, we are the single largest group of any uniformed force that is exposed to weather extremes and environmental pollution. With no preventive measures at our disposal, we are dying a slow death every time we are on duty,” rued a traffic cop, who was diagnosed to be suffering from sunburns and sun-induced cataract. There were others, whose plasma lipid-peroxide level had increased and the levels of various antioxidants in the RBC lysate had fallen due to overexposure to adverse environmental factors like sun and
pollutants. Investigations further revealed that the traffic policemen, posted in cities like Malerkotla, Ludhiana, Raekot and Khanna were also susceptible to genetic damage due to constant exposure to harmful radiations found in
the sun. Referring to findings of a medical institute in New Delhi , Dr Puneet Hind warned that carcinogenic radiations in sun rays could cause skin cancer if the cops were subjected to overexposure to sun. Having received repeated warnings from their physicians, the cops demand that the government should take preventive measures at least to minimise harm being done to them. |
Census
Ludhiana, April 20 The DC issued the orders to this effect in the evening when a delegation of teachers under the banner of Government School Teachers’ Union met him. Confirming the orders, the DC said the female teachers could give their duty on a nearer station of their posting if their male relatives or colleagues agreed to fill in for them at the farther station. “I have no objection to it. If two individuals are willing to help each other and the work does not suffer, we can afford to be considerate. The women teachers would be exempted from the duty if they produce a substitute,” he said. The issue of Census duties has been hogging headlines for the past several days. “The situation is just like the election duties. Nobody wants to work. But when the nation needs them, they should offer their help. After all it is in the interest of the nation,” said a senior official of the administration. He agreed that high temperature in April was a major problem, as it was difficult to survey in these circumstances. “But what can be done?’’ he asked.
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Diabetes camp
Ludhiana, April 20 Hero Charitable Trust chairman Manjinder Singh said the trust had been elemental in providing services to the community for many years. He also said specialists from the noted city hospitals would provide their services to the patients coming to the camps.
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From Schools and Colleges
To mark the beginning of Class XI, Sat Paul Mittal School conducted an orientation programme for parents and children. School director, Lt Col Dr DB Sharma told the parents about the school’s aim of complete development of the children and preparing global citizens capable of facing the challenges that modern life offers. Officiating principal Bhupinder Gogia apprised the parents with the teaching methodology, school systems and extra-curricular activities. Typing contest
With a view to enhance the computer application skills of the students, “Let’s type fast on computers” contest was held for Classes VII and VIII. The objective of the competition was to boost the efficiency of the students in operating MS-Word. The winner was to be chosen on the basis of typing speed as well as formation of text. Shagun of Class V-A, Yuvraj of Class VIII-C and Amit of Class VIII-E stood first, second and third, respectively. Reflections-2010
Reflections-2010, current affairs based two-week event commenced at the Gulzar Group of Institutions, Khanna. The MBA students will exhibit their creativity by making presentations about the current affairs. On the first day, the students deliberated upon Indian Premier League fiasco and unbundling of the Punjab State Electricity Board. Gurkirat Singh, executive director, Gulzar Group of Institutions, inaugurated the event. Sony Goyal from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, a visiting faculty of Gulzar Institutes, said the students of professional courses must remain updated with respect to changes happening in the corporate world. —
TNS
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New Mahila Congress chief felicitated
Ludhiana, April 20 DYC chief Dimple Rana presided over the function and former chief parliamentary secretary Surinder Dawar was the chief guest. Taparia who marched in a procession, along with her supporters to the Congress Bhawan, was accorded a warm welcome. Dimple Rana said the youth brigade and women wing would work in tandem to strengthen the parent organisation and
took policies and programmes of the Congress to the masses. Leena Taparia, while expressing gratitude to the activists, said she would strive to take all sections of the women wing along and would spare no efforts to make it a vibrant and animated outfit. The Mahila Congress chief was presented a sword and a siropa by Rana, as a symbol
of strength. Among others, Neelam Dawar, Raju Thapar, Anil Malhotra, Raju Arora, Harish Dua, Tejinder Chahal, Gurpreet Dugri, Inderjit Gill, Lokesh Manni, Raminder Singh Waraich, Karanvir Singh Gill, Sunil Shukla, Darpan Dadu, Amarjit Jeeta, Chander Shekhar Sahota, Pinki Arora, Sheela Masih, Babli Dua, Shamsher Shera, Virender Honey, Ashok Kumar and Prince Rana attended the function.
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Lifting Of Pending Wheat Bags
Mullanpur Dakha, April 20 Till date, out of the total arrival of 12 lakh bags 25 per cent was laying in the mandi in adverse whether conditions. The administration had got an information that there was a nexus of the procuring agencies, transport contractors, labour contractors and the truck union existing and they had made the life of farmers and the commission agents miserable. When the reports reached the DC office, the SDM was assigned the duty to tackle the problem. The SDM in his inquiry found that the labour contractor was short in supply of labour and the transporter contractor was in short supply of trucks. The truck union was also found not co-operating with the contractors like Telu Ram and others who
had come from Talwandi Bhai Ke Town at the instance of local contractors. The trucks of the union were also interested to transport the wheat from village procuring centres from which they could earn a minimum of Rs. 3,000 per trip as compared to a local trip of Rs 300. In case, the local truck made 5 trips a day even then he was at a loss. Moreover, the labour contractors wanted to adopt the last year practice of paying 40 paisa to the commission agents per bag for engaging their labour for lifting the wheat and wanted to save at least 40 paisa per bag. In fact last year, the government rate of labour was 40 paisa per bag and they exploited the commission agents taking advantage of their bottleneck. Moreover, some procuring inspectors of the procuring agencies were also seen making money from the plight of commission agents. They were seen favouring a handful commission agents and had lifted each and every bag from their outlets whereas they had not lifted a single bag from a certain shop. The problem of uneven lifting is a general problem in all the grain markets. Understanding the real problem behind the issue, the SDM instructed the local Tempo union to provide the tempos for lifting wheat. Sensing the apprehension of the Tempo union regarding backlash from the truck union, he ordered the local police to manage the security and asked them to book each one who was posing a threat in smooth lifting of wheat bags. The tempo union immediately provided the services and the lifting started immediately. On the other hand, Bhupinder Singh Neela, the president of the truck union is said to have threatened the contractors that in case they availed the services of the tempo union, they would be withdrawing the truck from the lifting process. At the meeting today, the executive officer, Dakha, Bhupinder Singh, secretary market committee Jaswinder Singh, chairman Dakha market committee Maghar Singh Braich, AFSO Surjit Singh, contractors, procuring inspectors were present besides some commission agents. All the parties felt relieved on the measures taken by the SDM. The SDM also visited the grain markets of Humbran and Noorpur Bet and asked the contractors to speed up their lifting within 24 hours or face the orders as given at Mullanpur Mandi. He however expressed his satisfaction over the arrangements made by the Market Committee authorities at various grain markets.
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Children’s Film Fest
Ludhiana, April 20 The change in aspirations of these youngsters, all from different schools of the city, is a result of the three-day film-making workshop held at Ryan International School, as a part of the upcoming Ludhiana Children’s Film Festival. “I always wanted to be an actress and was even selected for a role in a serial by Colors channel, but after attending the workshop, I feel that direction is what I want to be in,” said Seerat, a Class X student of Ryan International School. “The idea of seeing oneself on the 70mm screen playing diverse roles is tempting. But the workshop has changed my thought process. Now I want to become a director, instead of an actor,” added Seerat. Bhawya, another Class X student of the same school, agreed with Seerat. “I always wanted to explore films as a profession but never thought that direction would interest me the way it has after the workshop. Moreover, I never expected that I will get a chance to learn the basics of film-making,” she added. “It was a great opportunity for us to learn about all aspects of film-making and now I know that direction is what I will eventually get into,” said Rishabh, a Class IX student, who attended the workshop. The participants of the workshop are now working on short documentaries and public service announcements on various environment-related topics under the “48 hours: Making a film contest”. The winner of the contest will receive a cash award and their production will also be screened during the film festival.
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Fire destroys record room of Jagraon market body
Jagraon, April 20 The Gardner sleeping on the premises of the market committee office in the night smelt something burning and on noticing the fire, he informed the authorities and the staff who reached the spot immediately and doused the fire.
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Principals’ Meet
Ludhiana, April 20 The meeting was held at GN International Senior Secondary Public School, Model Town, and witnessed active participation of the principals from BCM, Shastri Nagar, DAV, KVM, Civil Lines, Guru Nanak Public School, MGM Public, CFC Public School, Sacred Heart Convent School, Satluj Public, Nankana Sahib Public School, Shivalik Wala, Guru Gobind Singh Public School, Spring Dale, GMT Public and BCM Presidency School. The main agenda of the meeting was the discussion of the calendar of activities, which were categorised in two categories- co-curricular and sports. The dates and venue were distributed to different schools with the consent of the principals. The activities will start from July 2010 and will go on till the end of the session. “From this year, the topics for debate will be given only an hour prior to the competition and participating students will be given the liberty to use the host school’s library and prepare for the competition,” said KVM School principal Rajiv Nagalia. A participant principal’s suggestion to include a documentary-making competition for the students in the calendar was appreciated by BCM, Shastri Nagar, principal Paramjit Kaur. However, the suggestion was left to be reviewed. Regarding the new system of evaluation- Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE)- set up by the CBSE for Classes IX and X, the principals had various queries. The queries were answered by newly elected director of Ludhiana Sahodaya Schools principal Paramjit Kaur, who recommended workshops and seminars for the teachers of Classes IX and X to make them empowered with the new CCE system. Resource persons for the same are expected to come from the CBSE headquarters, Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai. “This new system set up by the CBSE is to relieve the students from the scare of board exams,” said the director. “The meeting gave us a platform to discuss common problems and we were relieved to know that we are sailing in the same boat. Today I am going back relaxed and relieved,” said Harmeet Kaur, a participating principal.
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BSNL employees go on indefinite strike
Ludhiana, April 20 The committee is on the path of struggle against the disinvestment in the nigam. The joint action committee comprises 13 association and unions of executives and non-executives having strength of over 13 lakh employees. Balwinder Singh, committee convener, said the ITS officers absorption in BSNL was a major concern of the committee. In spite of the assurances given by the minister of communication and the BSNL management, the issue could not be settled even after 10 years of formation of the nigam. “Non-absorption of the Indian Telecom Services (ITS) is adversely affecting the day-to-day development and expansion plans. Regarding disinvestment of the nigma, it is reported that the nigam board has decided to disinvest 10 per cent shares of the nigam. The Sam Pitroda Panel has also recommended 30 per cent disinvestment. The associations and unions are opposed to disinvestment and privatisation of the nigam, which is not in the interest of the country and workers,” he added. Committee president MS Dhariwal said the recommendations of the Sam Pitroda panel to retire one lakh employees through the VRS would badly affect the livelihood of lakhs of employees. “We will never allow the government and management to implement these recommendations. We are also opposed to the unbundling of the last mile copper network of the nigam. The decision and policies of the UPA government and management are ruining the nigam. We demand immediate procurement of the sufficient GSM lines,” he said.
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Cong leader held for stealing cheques
Jagraon, April 20 Rakesh Kumar Roda, the accused, is currently the senior vice-president of the Congress’ Ludhiana rural unit. Roda and his accomplice Rangila Chaudhary had been booked for stealing signed cheques of Kamaljeet Singh Bittu, a former Congress worker and local councillor, way back in 2008. Kamaljit Singh had got a complaint registered with regard to lost cheques at the local police station. Jagraon city SHO Pawanjit said the accused presented the stolen cheque in a bank to draw Rs 4.6 lakh. The cheque bounced due to insufficient funds in the account and Roda filed a complaint under Section 148 under the Negotiable Instrument Act. On the contrary, Kamaljit Singh complained the matter to Ludhiana (rural) SSP Harinder Singh Chahal. The SSP entrusted Jagraon DSP Bhupinder Singh to inquire into the matter. In the inquiry, the DSP found the allegation to be true and sbmitted the report to the SSP. After consulating the DA legal, the SSP ordered the registration of a case against the accused. The local police arrested Rakesh Kumar Roda after registering a case against him under Section 411, IPC. On the other hand, Roda refuted the charges levelled against him and called the episode a conspiracy to defame him. He said he had lent Kamaljit Singh the amount of Rs 4.6 lakh. Kamaljit Singh had given him the cheques duly signed as a gurentee. Now when Kamaljit Singh refused to repay him the amount, he presented the cheque before the bank for realisation. He claimed that he had done nothing wrong. He accused the police of not acknowledging his version and documents submitted by him.
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Bicycle Industry
Ludhiana, April 20 Manjit Singh Khalsa, chairman of the UCPMA, said the Ludhiana bicycle industry had been exporting bicycles and cycle parts across the globe but now it was losing its business to China. “The huge difference between the input cost of the two countries is giving a tough competition to local manufacturers here,” he added. The huge import of cycle parts every month has further added to the concern of the city’s cycle industry. Every month, nearly 150 containers of cycle parts are being received at Dhandhari. Every month, the city dry port receives at least 100 containers of Chinese cycle parts, which is a major cause for worry for small-scale cycle parts manufacturers of the city. “We will study their labour system, know more about their machines. Chinese cycle parts, especially those produced on automated machines, are very cheap as compared to our products,” said another member of the delegation.
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Sect seeks renaming of Jagraon
Jagraon, April 20 Religious leaders like Sant Baba Lakha Singh, Baba Ghala Singh, Baba Harbhajan Singh and others vowed to achieve their goal of renaming the town. A large number of people, including panch, sarpanch and NGOs gathered at the birth place of Baba Nand Singh at Sherpur Kalan and moved towards Nanaksar Thath. Grewal said NGOs, sports clubs, panchayats, social-religious organisations and other institutions would be taken into confidence to fuel the movement. He said soon a signature campaign would be initiated to raise awareness among masses. A number of panchayats had decided to pass a resolution in favour of the demand, he added. On the other hand, another section of the town has been opposing the move to rename the city.
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Patwari, 23 head of cattle killed in accident
Ludhiana, April 20 While the truck toppled, killing all animals, the victim sustained grievous injuries. Following the incident, the truck driver fled the scene. Some passersby took the victim to the CMCH where he later succumbed to his injuries. The victim was a patwari at
Boothgarh. A case under Section 304 A of the Indian Penal Code was registered against the truck driver at the Salem Tabri police station. Meanwhile, the patwari’s body was sent to the civil hospital for a post-mortem examination.
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