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11-year-old boy run over by school bus
Ludhiana, May 10 Agitated area residents demanded the early arrest of the accused. According to information, Mandesh Kumar was the only child of his parents who had come here a few years ago from Bihar to earn a livelihood. A resident of Lakshami Nagar, the deceased was the son of migrant labourer Acchai Kumar and was studying in Skyway School. On the way to school, he reportedly stopped at a relative’s place for water. Just as he set off again, he was hit by the speeding bus. Sub-Inspector Bitten Kumar said after the accident, some passersby rushed Mandesh to a nearby hospital in a serious condition. He was declared brought dead. No arrest had been made so far. Meanwhile, heart-rending scenes were witnessed while the child was being taken for cremation in the evening. His parents were inconsolable and not in a position to talk. With help from some relatives and neighbours, the family performed the last rites of the boy.
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Industry shutdown on May 12 to protest excise move
‘Harassment of
industrialists’ Despite increase in revenue, such notifications and the ensuing raids prove the excise department’s sick mentality are aimed at harassing industrialists and traders. The fact is that 85 percent of VAT assesses don't have computers, 95 percent of the assesses don't have full time accountants and 98 percent of them assesses don't have access to the internet. — Narinder Bhamra, Convener, All Industries & Trade Forum
Ludhiana, May 10 Terming it as a “harsh condition” apex bodies of industry, which are already going through a rough patch, have decided to stage a ‘bandh’ (complete closedown) on May 12 in protest against what they called the state government’s “anti-industry” policies. At present only information on interstate transactions - goods being brought into and moved out of Punjab - is furnished at various information collection centres and checkposts by dealers and consumers. The compulsory declaration will be applicable for all transactions whose value is in excess of Rs 200,000 for one single invoice, except for six commodities - iron and steel, cotton bales and yarn, edible oils, timber, marble and tiles of all kinds. The declaration for these six commodities will be applicable for transactions whose value is in excess of Rs 20,000 for one single bill. "The state government’s new policy will spell doom for industry and trade. Small traders who don’t have computers and other requisite equipment and are in a tizzy as it will add to their expenses for buying these machines and hiring more staff to man them. We’ll protest against the move as this is anti-industry," said PD Sharma, president of the Apex Chamber of Commerce & Industry. "This is one of the worst decisions taken by the Punjab excise & taxation department and appear to be the last nail in the coffin of the already dying industry," said Badish Jindal, co-convener of the All Industries & Trade Forum. "The industry associations have unanimously decided that they will not obey this notification and are ready to close down their industries," he added. "Despite increase in revenues such notifications and the ensuing raids prove the excise department’s sick mentality are aimed at harassing industrialists and traders. The fact is that 85 percent of VAT assesses don't have computers, 95 percent of the assesses don't have full time accountants and 98 percent of them assesses don't have access to the internet. The excise department’s internet network is so poor that it hasn’t been able to register online returns," said Narinder Bhamra, the forum’s convener. Gurpargat Singh Kahlon, president of the Auto Parts Manufacturers, said instead of giving any relief to trade and industry the state government was creating hurdles in their way. “The industrial sector has been sorely perturbed by the excise department’s recent notification”, he noted. "Most entrepreneurs have no computers to pass on the date to the excise department on their website, without which it means they can’t conduct any transaction. Hence they’ll have to stop their production and or transactions, which will result in a severe setback to industry as well as the state’s economy," said Ranjodh Singh, the association’s general secretary. |
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Rs 2 milk price hike set to upset budget
Ludhiana, May 10 The prices of milk have been increased twice in the past three months. The hike in prices has again upset the monthly budget of homes. Giving reason for the hike in milk prices, the joint secretary of the Progressive Dairy Farmers Association, Punjab, Rajpal Singh Dhaliwal said the rates were bound to go up as the cost of production had reached its maximum in the past few months. “The demand for milk has increased in Punjab while the production is less. Procurement agencies have been buying milk from other states, including Rajasthan, by paying more. After several meetings with the state government and the procurement agencies, dairy farmers had asked the government to increase the procurement rates. The last meeting with the MD of Milkfed was held in Chandigarh recently and it was decided to increase the milk rates from May 11. If the procurement rate is increased, the consumer will also have to pay more,” he said. Dairy farmers maintained that since the cost of production had increased manifold, they had been demanding an increase in procurement rates. “The cost of diesel, green and dry fodder, labour and interest rate has gone up. We are facing hard times. When the state government is purchasing milk from other states by paying more, why should we be paid less? We agree that it is a blow to the common man, but we cannot continue like this,” said Satbir Singh, a dairy
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Finally, Lakkar Bridge is history
Ludhiana, May 10 During the period, power supply to high-tension overhead cables was shutdown and the railway platform numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4 remained out of bounds for passenger trains. Barring the Amritsar-Jaynagar Saryu-Yamuna Express, which was detained at the Phillaur railway station from 12.15 to 3 pm, the up and down rail traffic on the Ludhiana-Jammu section remained unaffected. Having successfully dismantled two spans of 16 and 18 metres of the bridge (not in use ever since the construction of ROB commenced several years ago) on April 28 and 29, the team
of railway engineers led by deputy chief engineer SK Sharma and executive engineer William Jeet Singh had apparently mastered the technique of dismantling the bridge as they over-performed their assigned task. Talking to The Tribune at the site, Sharma said one span of 18 metres length was to be detached from its supporting structure with the help of gas cutters and brought down by a crane in less than three hours. The remaining span of five-and-half-metre length was supposed to be dismantled later. "However, our men and machines performed extremely well and we have successfully detached and dismantled the entire 23.5 metre of the remaining portion of the bridge in less than three hours." Detachment of the two portions of the bridge - steel structure of 18 and 5.5-metre length with concrete flooring of the bridge standing at a height of some 26 feet and weighing nearly 25 tonnes, was no mean task. A crew of nearly 40 persons was on the job with senior railway officials giving directions and monitoring the entire operation. After a giant crane lifted the detached portions of the bridge and lowered them to the ground, the crew got down to cutting down the structure in smaller pieces so that these could be easily shifted away from the railway tracks without any delay. Railway officials said now that the foot overbridge above the railway tracks had been removed, the site would be handed over to the construction agency to enable it commence the work for construction of the remaining portion of the ROB. |
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Frustrated, NGO on clean Sidhwan Canal mission
Ludhiana, May 10 Despite these orders, people continue to pollute the canal. Concerned over the increasing levels of pollution in the canal, Let's Clean Ludhiana Foundation, an NGO headed by Gulshan Arora, has launched a drive to clean the canal. Arora said: “We have spent over Rs 1.75 lakh to clean up the canal in the past eight-nine months. The MC as well as the irrigation department, however, did not cooperate with us.” Passing the buck “The NGO has approached me for getting heaps of garbage cleared. I have told them that this was not our duty. It’s the responsibility of the canal department. If the NGO wishes to clean up the canal, it should manage the garbage on its own. The garbage should be dumped at Tajpur Road and not in the designated garbage dumps as it leads to the choking of dumps with mud and thus creates a problem for our staff." —
Dr Chjaranjeet Singh Uppal, health officer, MC Labourer and guide The NGO has hired a
labourer, Rajasthani, who has cleaned up polluted water bodies near Jalandhar and
Hissar. “My companion Bahadur and I collect garbage under the guidance of NGO assistant Jagdish Singh. I have got a permanent job with the NGO. We earn Rs 300 per day along with tea, lassi and snacks. But we feel bad when people again throw garbage into the canal.” People who renovate their houses also dump debris in the canal. Trollies can be seen dumping rubble in the canal adjoining the PAU boundary wall. Deepinder Chahal, general secretary of the NGO, said: “We started the work by deploying two labourers and an assistant. They collected about 60 trollies of garbage and disposed it of in MC garbage dumps. But health officials of the MC stopped us from doing so and asked us to dump the garbage at Tajpur Road, a far-off place. We will urge the MC to provide us trucks for collecting the garbage for disposing it at the Tajpur dump.” Office-bearers of the NGO said: “This time we collected the garbage from the canal between the Ferozepur Road bridge and the South City bridge. It took us 10 days to clean up the canal area. Even as there is no water in the canal for the last many months due to the ongoing construction work of express highway, people still throw the garbage into the canal.” Ranjodh Singh, chief patron of the NGO, said: “We have decided to clean up the canal from Ferozepur Road to the Gill Road bridge. Members of the NGO say that rag pickers near the Gill Road area throw all the waste in the water body. |
Rash of vehicle thefts in city after brief lull
Stolen scooters yet to be found Hardeep Kumar, an assistant professor at Guru Angad Dev Veterinary & Animal Sciences University, had to run from pillar to post after her Suzuki Zen car parked outside a restaurant in Rajguru Nagar was stolen on April 11. The police is yet to recover the vehicle. Similarly, Naveen Gulati’s Mahindra Scorpio jeep, which he had parked outside a temple in BRS
Nagar, was stolen on May 2. “Though the police has filed a case of theft it has failed to recover my vehicle”, he rued.
Ludhiana, May 10 Thefts of vehicles parked outside shopping malls and temples are also on the rise. The police alone cannot be blamed for the increase in vehicle lifting incidents as the careless attitude of residents also plays a role. In most of the incidents it has been seen vehicles are left untended on streets, putting them at risk of being stolen. Besides thefts of scooters and cars from outside houses, commercial complexes, marriage palaces and markets, the thieves are also targeting shopping malls. The major reason behind the spurt in the vehicle lifting cases is the high parking price levied by the shopping mall authorities. A mall located on Ferozepore Road charges Rs 30 to 70 for parking of vehicles. In order to save a few rupees visitors prefer to park their cars outside and put them at risk of being stolen. Sources close to the police said that some gangs of vehicle lifters are operating near these shopping centers and target the vehicles parked outside shopping malls. Similarly, a gang of scooter thieves said to be operating in Kitab Bazar and surrounding areas appears to have been formed by drug addicted youths. A close scrutiny of vehicle thefts in the past few weeks reveal lifters seem to prefer old models of scooters and motorcycles. As such vehicles are present in huge numbers on the streets cops find it very difficult to search for them. These stolen vehicles are disposed of to local ‘kabaris’ (scrap dealers) who dismantle them and sell them as scrap. Neighbouring towns have become favourite places to sell off stolen motorbikes. In the latest incident thieves made away with a scooter belonging to a city resident, Murli Dhawan, from Kitab Bazar. A scooter belonging to another resident, Sohan Singh, was also lifted from the same market three days ago. As old scooters have little market value the police does not appear much interested in searching for these vehicles.
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Plastic Bag Ban
Ludhiana, May 10 Presiding over a meeting of plastic bag manufacturers and traders at Bachat Bhawan here, Additional Deputy Commissioner Pradeep Aggarwal said the Punjab Small Scale Plastic Manufacturers and Traders Association had submitted a memorandum to the state government citing certain practical problems in complying with some of the provisions of the act. “The government will take a decision in the cabinet meeting to be held on May 13 in this respect, which will be scrupulously implemented." He, however, asked the plastic bag industry to desist from manufacturing carry bags of thickness of less than 30 microns and size of less than 8x12 inches. Similarly, people should also not use plastic carry bags of specifications other than permissible, nor throw away such bags at public places, in drains or sewer lines. The ADC also outlines the provisions of the act under which it had been made mandatory for the manufacturers to print their names, addresses and registration numbers besides thickness, size and nature of raw material used. Kulwinder Singh Dhingra, president of the body representing the plastic bag industry, said they welcomed the ban imposed on plastic bags in the larger interest of the society and ecological factors. He, however, added that it was practically not possible for the small-scale manufacturers to comply with certain provisions like printing name, address, registration number, size, thickness and kind of raw material.
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MC to construct roads in undeclared areas
Ludhiana, May 10 The core committee of the municipal corporation (MC) comprising members from all political parties, which met under the chairmanship of the Mayor Hakam Singh Giaspura, today arrived at a consensus to carry out road construction projects in undeclared areas. The civic body had not been entertaining demand for construction or carpeting of roads in such areas under the policy of the government for not providing amenities in illegal and unapproved colonies. Initially the MC top brass took the stand that providing amenities in some 200 unapproved colonies identified till now within the municipal limits would not only be unfair, but also discriminatory to approved colonies, which were still to get better amenities and infrastructure. “Prior to providing roads and other amenities at a great financial burden on the civic body, all unapproved colonies should be asked to seek regularisation after paying development charges as provided under the new policy of the government for regularisation of illegal colonies,” some members said. However, another member pointed out that the MC had adopted a resolution some years ago which stated that unapproved colonies where any two of the basic amenities -- water supply, sewerage, street light -- were provided, be considered as declared areas for the purpose of laying roads and carpeting of existing ones. After an extended debate, it was unanimously decided that the resolution be studied, and if the government had also accorded its nod to the proposal, the MC could act accordingly.
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Vet varsity gets new dean, directors
Ludhiana, May 10 “He has 25 years of experience in teaching and research. He has guided 14 MVSc and PhD students. He has been honoured with several national awards, including Alarsin Award in 1998, Dr MR Murkibhavi Award in 2000, STOX Gold Medal twice in 2001 and 2009 and Academy of Sciences for Animal Welfare Award in 2010. Dr Sandhu has more than 165 publications. He has authored four books and five laboratory manuals,” said the Registrar. In another appointment, Dr Sarnarinder Singh Randhawa, presently working as dean postgraduate studies will be the director of research. He has over 30 years of experience in teaching, research and extension. He remained head of the department of veterinary medicine and clinical veterinary medicine for about six years. He has won many national awards and was elected fellow of five academies and scientific societies, two awards from ICAR, five gold medals from national scientific societies. He had visited many countries like Brazil, USA, UK, Germany, France and Italy to present research papers. Dr Kulbir Singh Sandhu, presently working as DSW-cum-estate officer with additional charge of director of extension education will now be regular director of extension education. As DSW-cum-EO, he has a number of achievements to facilitate the students of GADVASU. He has been awarded a number of honours, including Milton Travel Scholarship by the University of Guelph, Canada, and Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship. He has standardised different serological tests for diagnosis of bovine and human brucellosis and to different the infected and vaccinal titre.
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Exam Time
Sahnewal, May 10 This correspondent paid a casual visit at some of the examination centres of Ludhiana and surrounding areas where students were busy with their eleventh hour study. The astonished fact, which came out was that a majority of the students were carrying guess papers for their preparation, which they regard to be no less than a question paper. When inquired about the preparation of an exam from the guess papers, Priyanka (identity concealed) of BA III of a local college objected, “Don’t call it a guess paper. It is in fact as true as a stamp paper. Had it not been for this guess paper, I would not have reached the final year. It is the guess paper that really works. In fact it is more authentic and sure than the notes provided by teachers in classes.” “Shopkeepers try to act smart as the date of exams draws near. The guess papers arrive almost a month before the commencement of the final exams. At that time, the shopkeepers charge money as per the printed rate, but with the exam days coming nearer, the rates get revised and re-revised. As book sellers make hay while the sun shines, students, too, are least bothered to pay even 10 times the original price,” told a shopkeeper. “But my experience of consulting a guess paper has always proved to be a futile exercise. I don’t understand how students say guess papers work. In my view they seldom work. And, moreover, such students are not successful in securing even average marks. Such sure short things make you a failure in the long run. I read books, prepare my notes and then take the exam to come out with flying colours by achieving above 80 per cent every time, but the ones with guess papers in their hands just beat about the bush and get through somehow,” said Jaspreet, a topper of BA II. “Most of my classmates do not bother to become serious throughout the session and at the end, try to take refuge in these papers. Really these guess papers have done heavy damage to the children than proving beneficial for them. Why does the education department not banning such guess papers,” rued Sonika, a BCom student. “Although the guess papers can be banned, it should be the duty of teachers to desist the students from buying such papers. In my view, if the teachers make the subject interesting and try to enliven it with their impressive way of teaching and try to make studies student centric apart from assuring their regular attendance in classes, there is no reason for the students going wayward. It is the lack of personal attention and focused teaching, which makes the students a prey to such guess papers for the preparation of their examinations,” opined Prof Jaipal Singh, president, Government College Teachers’ Union.
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Kang accused of launching vilification campaign
Ludhiana, May 10 Stating that Dr Kang counted himself as the frontrunner for the post of the PAU VC till April 30, PAUTA members, in a statement issued here today, said he was only issuing statements against the university after it became amply clear
that he was not getting extension. “In doing so, he has neither maintained the sanctity of the post he held nor does he have any
respect for the reputation of the university,” said the statement. “Instead of raising an accusing finger at others, he should ponder over his acts of omission and commission during his tenure as the VC. A few glaring examples of high handedness and egoistic approach are the unceremonious removal of director of research Dr PS Minhas, vindictive attitude towards university employees he disliked and the appointment of some of his close confidants as officers such as dean and heads of departments,” it stated. The members said Dr Kang introduced various new degree courses without adequate backup of infrastructure or human resources to tackle the increased teaching load.
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250 arthritis patients examined
Ludhiana, May 10
Dr JL Bassi and Dr Dhiren Bassi delivered lectures on causes of arthritis and management of different joint problems. They discussed about various problems and fears in the minds of patients regarding joint replacement.
Those patients, who had undergone joint replacement surgeries, shared their views. Dr Bassi said there should be increase in awareness in total knee replacement surgeries among patients suffering from osteoarthritis - pain due to inflammation in the knees. Most patients opt for surgery in both knees and majority of patients were women, who ignored the problem at initial stage and later suffered from deformity and pain, the doctor said. Dr JL Bassi, who has performed more than 700 replacement surgeries, said the surgery was not complicated. Physical therapy within the first six weeks was very important. Physical therapy improves the motion of the knee and allows for a natural transition back to knee
movement in daily activities. Patients who comply with physical therapy exercises tend to recover much faster. Dr Bassi distributed books on knee replacement and hip replacement.
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‘Nutritional value high on priority of consumers’
Ludhiana, May 10 While handing over a copy of MoUs to Veenu Sood, a Ludhiana-based entrepreneur running a company named Nurture Zone, Dr RT Patil said Indian food could only compete in the market if they have something additional to entice consumers than existing food items offered by MNC’s made mainly from maize and rice. Listing out nutritional value as high on priority of consumers, Dr Patil said the parents were highly concerned about their children in regard to the choice of food. “Extrusion products made from barley and millets could offer better and healthy alternative to infant food due to higher and better mineral content,” he said. Saying that awareness regarding children food was there before the arrival of MNC’s, he said in Maharashtra mothers used to make chapatis from jawars (millets) and used to remove internal soft part of chapatis for consumption of small children. He advocated that traditional food should be developed to make it a part of children diet again. Veenu Sood said she was already selling various Indian and imported products for children and mothers. “We thought to introduce additional range of products in food segment also. CIPHET-developed food products from barley and millet could prove to be better alternative,” she opined. Dr Balasubramaniam, senior scientist, who has developed this technology, said they had especially developed extrusion food products for children in the age group of three months to one-and-half-year old. He said these were highly nutritious and easy to digest.
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Apollo hospitals introduce MICS
Ludhiana May 10 Addressing a press conference here today Dr KC Mukherjee, senior consultant and coordinator, department of cardiac surgery, said: “The MICS surgery programme started in September 2010. After more than 35 successful cases of valve surgeries and repair of hole in the heart, this technique is now being offered for more complex and technically demanding multi vessel coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).” He said that bypass surgery by the MICS technique is done by a very small cut (3-4” in size) in left side of the chest rather than a conventional large 6-8” incision in the middle of the chest. The large incision with spilt of chest bone in conventional bypass surgery to cut the bone takes two-three months for complete healing, which is completely avoided in the MICS surgery as it does not require to cut any bone.
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Charitable institute under RTI ambit
Ludhiana, May 10 The federation had been criticising the charitable organisation for not transparent and hiding details about where the donation money was being spend. Sarabjit Singh Kahlon said now the donator would have a satisfaction that his or her hard earned money was being put to good use in a transparent manner.
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Kamla Lohtia gets new principal
Ludhiana, May 10 Dr Sharma stated in order to have competitiveness, culture of oneness and working together has to be developed in the college. Re-accreditation by NAAC, national and international conferences and faculty development programmes are on his agenda.
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From Schools
LUDHIANA: Table manners week is being organised for students of Classes III-XII of Sacred Heart Convent School, Sarabha Nagar. They are being taught table manners and certain decorum to be followed while eating one’s meals. The exercise is also conducted to inculcate the value of “eating and being together”, which has completely vanished from families. Each child is being trained in table manners, tips were given to eat well and eat right, table layout for both Indian and continental cuisine and other culinary skills. Host chef Hitesh Arora quips, “I had not expected such a great interest of the students in learning.” — TNS
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