Ludhiana, April 5
Despite having direct links with the local bodies department, most municipal corporation councillors belonging to the ruling SAD-BJP alliance, including mayor Hakam Singh Giaspura, remained embarassingly absent during the visit of Punjab local bodies minister Manoranjan Kalia to the city on Tuesday.

Kalia, one of the senior most ministers in the present government, who was here to attend the annual function of a school, kept the top bureaucrats on their toes with senior administrative officials including MC additional commissioner Kanwalpreet Kaur Brar and joint commissioner BK Gupta arriving at the Circuit House to welcome him. However, key SAD-BJP leaders were conspicuously missing at the venue.

Surprisingly, Giaspura also did not turn up to receive Kalia whom the civic body looks to for clearing its important files. Similarly, no senior BJP or Akali councillor was seen at the venue except district BJP president Rajiv Katna and senior deputy mayor Praveen Bansal.

If BJP councillors are to believed, they were not informed about Kalia’s visit by either the BJP's local unit or by the minister’s staff. One of the councillors said on condition of anonymity: “Kalia should have ensured that all councillors were informed about his visit so that they could raise matters of public importance with him. It is not fair that we weren’t informed that a senior minister of our party was coming to the district.”

Katna admitted he had not informed the BJP councillors about the visit: “The reason was we wanted the councillors to dedicate their time to their respective wards to listen to residents’ problems. Moreover, our councillors are also busy in the upcoming functions to mark the party's foundation day and we didn’t want to disturb them”, he added.

Ludhiana, April 5
Allegations of corruption levelled by a state legislator of the ruling party, Darshan Singh Shivalik, against a local station house officer, Paramjit Singh, has put the police department in an embarrassing situation even as city police commissioner Ishwar Singh gave a “clean chit” to the SHO.

Talking to the Ludhiana Tribune, Ishwar Singh said there had been no delay by Sadar police station SHO Inspector Paramjit Singh in submitting a report on the case involving alleged land grabbing nor was the latter corrupt or inefficient. “Since the alleged land grab case (that Shivalik has mentioned) was complicated, the police had to seek legal opinion before reaching any conclusion”, he added.

Aassistant Commissioner of Police (east) Bhupinder Singh said the complaint in the case was filed on March 22 and received by SHO Paramjit on March 23, who in turn submitted a report to ACP Narinderpal Singh Ruby on March 28. "Those found guilty in the matter will be punished and the police isn’t taking any sides. Since the courts were involved in this particular case the police had to seek legal opinion”, he added.

Police commissioner Ishwar however asserted Paramjit had earlier arrested the suspect in the alleged land grab case in some other case. "How could Paramjit take sides with the suspect when he had himself apprehended the latter? Such cases need thorough investigations and the police is bound to seek legal opinion", he said.

"Paramjit took just five days to submit the report on the matter. There was no intentional delay as Ruby’s family suffered a tragedy. Before reaching any conclusion we’ve to adopt certain procedures and our officials are doing just that. I may get the report on Wednesday and then we’ll take action accordingly", added Ishwar.

Meanwhile, sticking to his statement, Shivalik accused “higher officials” of "shielding" their juniors. “I’ll bring this to the notice of Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal. The case involved property worth Rs 17 crore and the fight was between poor people and influential Congress party workers. The police has been simply shielding the culprits", he alleged.

Doraha, April 5
Believe it or not, but it took seven long months for a legal letter to reach the addressee in Doraha, located a mere 20 km from Samrala, the place where it was mailed from. This works out to a speed of about three km a month.

Although the postal dispatch number on the letter is not legible, it has a reference number (150/25/8/2010) mentioned on it and has been addressed to Aditya Kumar Sood, a retired senior medical officer, who presently resides at House No 161, ward no 10, Timber Market, Doraha. The letter was mailed by the labour inspector (grade II), Samrala, notifying Sood to visit the inspector’s office at 10 am sharp on August 31, 2010.

Sood had filed a writ petition in the Punjab & Haryana High Court, which was later resolved in his favour. He was then subsequently called by the labour inspector to get his dues cleared on the specific date mentioned in the letter.

To his utter surprise, which was soon followed by dismay, Sood received the letter on April 1. He said since the case had already been decided by the high court in his favour he was waiting for the letter to reach him by August-end last year.

“I waited for sometime and then contacted the department concerned that informed me the letter had already been dispatched and that I would soon receive it. When, after a few days had passed, the letter still didn’t arrive I again contacted the department officials. But I got the shock of my life when I received the letter on April 1. I enquired about the delay at the local post office but didn’t get a satisfactory response. No one is ready to answer my query as to where and how the letter was delayed and whose fault it was”, he said.

“I fail to understand if the letter had been dispatched from the labour department in time, why did the postal authorities sleep over it for months together?” he asked.

Similar complaints about letters taking months and sometimes even years to reach their destinations keep on pouring in from time to time, putting a question mark on the functioning of the postal department.

Ludhiana, April 5
In furtherance of the movement —India Against Corruption — and to express solidarity with social activist Anna Hazare, who commenced his fast unto death in New Delhi today demanding stringent anti-corruption laws, hundreds of followers of the Art of Living, along with a large number of activists of social and religious bodies observed a token fast after handing over a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner at mini secretariat here today.

Earlier, the social activists, carrying placards to rid the country of corruption, marched through several city localities like Bhai Bala Chowk, Ghumar Mandi, Aarti Chowk on Ferozepur Road to mobilise the public opinion in favour of a corruption-free India.

Gayatri Chopra, an activist of Art of Living, made a fervent plea with the Centre to take speedy action for the enactment of Jan-Lokpal Bill, which will provide for a Lokpal at the Centre and a Lokayukta in each state.

These institutions, completely free and independent of the government, ought to be empowered to launch investigations, conduct a time-bound trial and deliver verdict in all cases of corruption involving government ministers, bureaucrats and members of judiciary.

Gayatri and others present gave a clarion call to the youth of the country to join the movement against corruption because the nation could progress and become stronger only if the menace of corruption was rooted out of its system.

They also asked the people to observe token hunger strike at their respective places to express solidarity with Hazare and others joining him to strengthen the drive against corruption and help it become a mass movement.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, April 5
Getting its demands met has proved a challenge for the Dharam Yudh Morcha Shaheed and the Peerat Parivar Committee, established for the rehabilitation of victims of the police firing on the ‘rasta roko andolan’ agitators 28 years ago. The incident had left 22 persons dead, of which 12 were killed at Kup Kalan Chowk.

Nine years ago Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had assured the residents and the committee at the ‘Shaheedi Samagam’ at Kup Kalan Chowk that all their demands would be met. But it remains unfulfilled. The government had even stopped observing the day. It was the third consecutive year that residents had to organise the function to pay tribute to those who had sacrificed their lives during the agitation.

Residents led by Pargat Singh Jyoti, Surjit Singh Canadian and Major Sher Singh Aulakh regretted that senior SAD leaders, including the Chief Minister and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, had failed to keep their promises, made publicly nine years ago.

They had assured the residents of 24-hour power supply, expenses being borne by the state, to villages whose residents were killed.

The residents had also demanded the construction of memorials at the Kup Kalan Chowk and Malerkotla, for which a special executive officer of the then Chief Minister passed orders to officials concerned on May 23 in 2000.

Bus permits, nomination to boards and committees, free connections and concessions on the extremist victim pattern were other demands which were not be met during SAD regimes, lamented committee leaders.

Iqbal Singh Jhoondan, Dhuri MLA, who attended yesterday’s function, said he would take up the matter with the Chief Minister and get their pending demands implemented.

Ludhiana, April 5
Overloaded autorickshaws are violating the Supreme Court directive and are posing a threat to the lives of students who are often packed like sardines in autorickshaws.

The autorickshaws are flouting safety norms by carrying more students than allowed. An auto cannot carry more than five persons at a time, but that is never the case.

Harshveer, who was “hanging out” from an overloaded autorickshaw, said there was no place to sit inside. Another student complained of suffocation and said the driver was not ready to decrease the number of students.

“Students prefer autorickshaws for going to school. But parents should consider the safety of their wards,” a teacher remarked.

A traffic police official said: “Autorickshaws accommodate a large number of students. The traffic police occasionally conducted drives to motivate auto drivers to adhere to safety norms, but to no avail.” The drivers should understand that if the auto lost balance, it could prove fatal for students. “We have had several instances where students died in accidents caused by speeding or overloaded autorickshaws,” he said.

Santosh Mehra, principal of Bhartiya Vidya Mandir, Kitchlu Nagar, said: “The autorickshaws ferrying our students have been strictly advised not to overload. Students should complain about any violation.” Parents should understand the threat and take suitable steps to ensure the safety of their children.

Sukhpal Singh, director of Sharp Senior Secondary School, said it was the duty of the parents to ensure that the drivers did not overload the autorickshaws. “The government should provide subsidy to the drivers to buy safe vans,” he said.

On their part, autorickshaw drivers claimed: “We also have kids. We understand the importance of life. We earn our livelihood by running autos.” 

Ludhiana, April 5
The ambitious project of the municipal corporation to ensure solid waste management in the city ran into rough weather today when sanitation workers blocked the gate of D zone office of the civic body to lodge their protest against the move to hand over the work to a private firm.

The workers of the Valmiki Samaaj Bachao Andolan, led by chairman Surinder Kalyan, lodged a protest outside the MC office to resent the move.

The protesters raised anti-government slogans and accused political leaders and officials of hatching a conspiracy to snatch the livelihood of workers.

Agitated over the decision to hand over the work of the solid waste management project to a private company, the protesters even blocked the gate of the office of the civic body. As a result, nobody was able to enter or exit from the office for over an hour.

Addressing a gathering, Kalyan accused the SAD-BJP government of ignoring the interest of the Valmiki community.

He alleged that the alliance had always betrayed the community and had even failed to fulfil its major election promise of regularising sanitary workers.

Another leader, Ompal Chenalia, accused the government of snatching the livelihood of thousands of Schedule Caste workers who were earning their livelihood by lifting garbage from their houses.

He said it was a grave atrocity that would not be tolerated at any cost.

Later, MC Assistant Commissioner Amarjeet Singh Sekhon tried to pacify the agitators by assuring them of looking into their demands. The protesters relented after the assurance and handed over a memorandum of their demands to him.

Ludhiana, April 5
Launching of the city bus service will render almost 30,000 auto-rickshaw drivers in the city unemployed, who are up in arms against the civic body’s move saying at least 1.5 lakh people comprising their families would have to sleep on empty stomachs.

The affected auto-rickshaw drivers have decided to hold a massive protest on April 7 that may cause the launch to hit a major roadblock. The District Auto-rickshaw Union has called a protest meeting against the recent decision of the state government to ban the diesel-run auto-rickshaws in the city.

Sources said these two reasons have caused resentment among the auto-rickshaw drivers as they feel that the state government was deliberately bent upon destroying their livelihood.

Om Parkash Jodha, district president of the auto-rickshaw union, when contacted said the basic reason of their protest was the order of the state government to ban the diesel-run auto-rickshaws. He alleged that the authorities were deliberately targeting them despite of the fact that much more pollution was caused by cars, trucks and buses.

“Our vehicles get challaned whereas those of the rich people are left,” he added.

He made it clear that they were not against the launch of the bus service. “It should run in a proper manner. It will also increase traffic chaos on road if not run properly, which will not be in the interest of the city residents,” he added.

Ludhiana, April 5
In the wake of rise in the number of cases of domestic violence and lack of awareness among the victims about their rights, the District Mahila Congress (women wing of the party) held an awareness programme-cum-seminar at Circuit House here on Monday.

Following deliberations, district president Leena Taparia set up a five-member panel of experts to coordinate with the victims and station house officers of police stations in the district to provide round-the-clock assistance and ensure speedy justice.

Taparia observed that a majority of victims of domestic violence, being either illiterate or unaware of provisions of the Domestic Violence Act, 2005, continued to suffer without resorting to any legal or other recourse.

“We are committed to helping women who are suffering physical or mental torture, and will strive to seek justice for all victims of domestic violence.”

Rakesh Sharda and Sham Ahuja, both lawyers, explained the provisions of the Act, which provided for speedy relief to the victims in terms of place of residence, financial relief and security through legal measures.

District Youth Congress president Dimple Rana, who was the chief guest, lauded the initiative of the women wing for the welfare of women falling victims to domestic violence. He said all party functionaries would stand with the Mahila Congress in their initiative.

Others present were Sarla Malhan, Rajiv Raja, Saroj Bala, Munish Shah, Hardeep Kaur, Sona Verma, Usha Kakkar, Balraj Jagota, Tejinder Chahal, Renu, Anju, Alka, Kuldip Sharma, Lally Dhaliwal, Ramesh Kaur, Aruna, Madhu, Usha Sharma, Rama Shouri, Gurpreet Kaur Sidhu, Meena Sharma, Anita Bhalla, Manisha and Anurag Rakesh.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, April 5
Even five days after the formal commencement of procurement season, wheat is yet to arrive in grain markets of the area falling under Ludhiana and Sangrur districts.

Meanwhile, the administration claims to have made extra arrangements for the smooth procurement and convenience of peasants visiting the procurement centres.

Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner Rahul Tewari has already directed the head of all procurement agencies and officers of the departments concerned to ensure that no harassment is caused to farmers during procurement and payment of their produce.

Adequate supply of bardana (bags), lighting in yards, cleanliness and supply of potable water are the priority areas in the management of mandis.

SDMs have been asked to visit procurement centres in their subdivisions and check the arrangements.

Investigations say farmers of the area have not started harvesting their crop yet. Not even a single heap of fresh wheat has been brought to any of the grain markets near here.

Acknowledging the trend, Raj Pal Singh Dhaliwal, district mandi officer, Ludhiana, said majority of the farmers would bring their produce after a week.

Claiming that necessary arrangements had been made to accommodate wheat arriving in the coming days, Dhaliwal said extra arrangements had been made for the easy stay of farmers visiting the markets during the procurement season.

For the first time, the administration has installed 350-feet-deep hand pumps at all 102 purchase centres falling under the district.

In addition, at least four water coolers have been installed at each principal yard.

Efforts have been made to set up stalls of Verka products at a majority of purchase centres. Sub-dealers of Verka have already agreed to set up stalls at Mullanpur, Raikot, Samrala, Jagraon, Khanna and Machhiwara towns.

Ludhiana, April 5
Prof DJ Sandhu, British Columbia Regional Innovation Chair (Canada-India Business and Economic Development), University of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford, Canada, visited Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) today.

Prof Sandhu said the purpose of the visit was to hold exploratory discussion on possible areas of collaboration between the PAU and the University of the Fraser Valley in Abbotsford.

He said the areas of agro-business, green energy, horticulture, processing and value addition were suitable for joint programmes in collaborative mode.

Dr Kang, while welcoming the visitor, said there were several areas suitable for collaborative research and education in the four constituent colleges of the PAU. He talked about PAU programmes in business management, agro-business management, computer application, journalism, biotechnology and agri-engineering.

Dr Kang shared the PAU endeavours for establishing the business incubator, which could help students to turn into entrepreneurs. The information technology component in all fields of academics, agriculture and administration was being given added importance, said Dr Kang adding that the PAU School of Agricultural Biotechnology had a strong section of bio-informatics to handle huge data emanating from gene sequencing experiments.

He said synergy in the area of e-governance and ICT literacy could be mutually beneficial areas for collaboration between the PAU and the University of the Fraser Valley.

He invited Prof Sandhu for a talk in the PAU School of Information Technology.

Ludhiana, April 5
Artifacts based on the images of Hindu deities have become the most sought-after objets d’art in corporate houses of the US as clients demand idols/paintings of Ganesha, Goddess Kali, Lord Hanuman and Lord Shiva, says Dinesh Poddar, director of a company engaged in the production of such artifacts.

Poddar is in the city to launch a maiden preview-cum-exhibition for the luxury connoisseurs of the city on April 7 and 8.

His company has tied up with award-winning artists, including Pradeep Mukherji, Rewa Shakarji, Shakir Mahavir Swami and Gopal Prasad Sharma, who excel in phad art, miniature paintings of Radha Kirishan and Sufi paintings.

Priced between Rs 20,000 and Rs 50 lakh, the objets d’art are based on ancient and unusual methodologies that have been practiced by renowned artists to create rare pieces of aesthetic beauty.

“Each piece is unique and does not have any replica, which has become the hallmark of his company and an instant hit with corporate clients outside India,” said Poddar.

The gemstone, including jade, jasper, quartz, crystal, topaz, ruby, emerald, agate, amethyst, lapis lazuli and camelian that are often used in jewellery are mined from sources all over the world and individually handpicked to meet the demand of Indian and international clients.

Varying from symbolic elements and iconographics that are of a divine origin to geometric patterns and floral embellishments that are a magical blend of strength and delicacy, elaborate mosaics of religious and ritualistic themes carved out of black opal and Ethiopian opal have added value to the classic anthology sculptures and other figurines.