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Big reshuffle in police dept
Ludhiana, March 13 Inspector Arvind Puri, who was SHO Sahnewal, has been posted as in charge of human trafficking. Inspector Mandeep Singh has been given the charge of economic offences (EOs) wing. Kulwant Singh and Inderjeet Singh, said to be the trusted men of the newly elected MLA Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, have been made the SHOs of Sahnewal and Meharban police stations, respectively. SHO Amandeep Singh Brar has been made the SHO of the Dehlon police station, while Daljeet Singh, who was earlier posted at the Dehlon police station, has been made SHO Division No 4. Jatinderjit Singh, posted as SHO Jodhewal, has been sent to police lines, while Jatinder Singh has been made the SHO of the Jodhewal police station. Bitten Kumar has been posted as SHO, Salem Tabri, while inspector Ravinder Kumar, who
was SHO Salem Tabri, has been transferred to securities. It is learnt that Bitten Kumar has been rewarded with a prime posting, as he, under the wings of ACP Swapan Sharma, had recently led to the busting of several gangs of hardened criminals. Another significant
development has taken place in traffic as inspector Manjinder Singh has been made the city in charge traffic department and will report to ACP (Traffic) Swapan Sharma. The CIA department has also witnessed a shuffle, as Harpal Singh and GS Bains, who were posted at special branch during the time of the Assembly election, were recalled today and were given the charge of the CIA department. Commissioner of police Inshwar Chander said, "The postings have been made to streamline the working of the police department. Some of the posts that were vacant have been filled."
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MC ready with budget of Rs 741 cr
As per the proposed budget, the MC would be spending an amount of Rs 34.77 crore for the construction of new roads in the city, while Rs 37.50 crore would be spent for the maintenance of roads.
The MC has increased its budget for the construction of new bridges in the city. This year, it would be spending Rs 25 crore for the construction of new bridges compared to Rs 13 crore fixed last time. For parks, the MC has kept a budget of Rs 4.5 crore, which is Rs 50 lakh more than kept last year. Interestingly, the civic body would be spending an amount of Rs 79.50 crore for the development of slum colonies and outer areas. For municipal solid waste, the MC has proposed to spend Rs 13 crore. Last year, the HUDCO loan was of Rs 135.26 crore, but this time, the loan amount has been kept at Rs 75 crore. For the already ailing Fire Brigade Department, the MC has reduced the budget. Last year, the budget for this department was kept at Rs 2.95 crore, which has been reduced to Rs 2.35 crore for 2012-13. But for the police department of the MC, it has increased the budget. In 2012-13, the MC would be spending an amount of Rs 4.81 compared to Rs 3 crore in 2011-12. The budget for 2012-13 would be presented by MC Commissioner Malwinder Singh Jaggi at MC’s Zone A office near Mata Rani Chowk at 10 am on March 16. |
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Hero Cycles at Walmart soon
Ludhiana, March 13 Walmart has 10,130 retail outlets in 27 countries. Director of Hero Cycles SK Rai said talks were on between the company officials and Walmart people but it will take a lot of time. "It is a complex procedure which will take some time. We will need nod from the government and several other formalities. Let's see when
the things will be finalised," said Rai. Hero Cycles will be the first Indian manufacturer to supply cycles to Walmart. At present it sources all its bicycles from China. Cycles priced at Rs 10,000 onwards will be available at Walmart. In the nineties, Walmart used to source a large part of its bicycles from Huffy's. But, increased pressure of cost-cutting forced it to bank upon China. But, now Hero Cycles will break the monopoly of Chinese cycles. Hero Cycles supplies 10 models of Hero Trax priced below Rs 5,000 to the Walmart stores across India. There are 17 products with their price ranging from Rs 10,000 to 43,000 in the Urban Trail range and the company plans to add 10 models to it over two months. The company is yet to decide its branding of the products for the international market. |
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Snatching a full-time profession for them
Ludhiana, March 13 Neither have they done snatchings for extravagance nor do they have girlfriends on whom they are spending money. For this bunch of school dropouts, who are barely in their early 20s, it is a “lucrative” career option, where they have to spend some time in jail. "They are recidivist (habitual offenders) elements and have been in and out of jail in the past for committing snatchings. Interestingly, none
of them is a hooked drug," said ACDP- III Kulwinder Singh. Investigating Officer Shamsher Singh said
four gold chains and 13 mobile phones had been recovered from the possession of the accused,
which they had snatched from Haibowal and surrounding areas. |
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Rottweiler owner booked
Ludhiana, March 13 The victim, Dr Amanvir Kaur, a known dog lover of the city, was walking back from the park when the Rottweiler, owned by Ramesh Puri of BRS Nagar, attacked her. She sustained serious injuries. Her dog, too, got bite injuries. The victim said the dog owner had unleashed the animal. After investigating the matter and recording the statement of area residents, the Sarabha Nagar police booked Ramesh Puri under Sections 336 and 337 of the IPC for indulging in an act that endangers human life. |
Low-floored buses await nod
Ludhiana, March 13 The Ludhiana Municipal Corporation, too, is ready with the project and has identified three new routes in this regard. “The first lot of 10 low-floor non-AC buses from Ashok Leyland Company would reach the city within a week, while another fleet of 30 buses would reach by the end of this month. Thus, we would have 40 new buses, which would be plying on three new routes,” Municipal Commissioner Malwinder Singh Jaggi said. The new routes identified by the corporation are the Ferozepur Road, Dugri Road and the Chandigarh Road via the CMCH. But, the corporation has not identified stoppages on these three routes. Ten buses are plying on one route, starting from the Ludhiana bus stand to the Jalandhar bypass. With three new routes being added to the existing one, a large number of people would be able to avail of this facility, which is cheaper than travelling in auto-rickshaws. “One has to pay at least Rs10 for one trip in an auto-rickshaw, but for distance up to 5 kilometers in a low-floor bus residents will have to shell out just Rs 5. So this service is economical, safe and comfortable,” claimed Jaggi. The Municipal Corporation is procuring 10 low-floor non-AC buses directly from Ashok Leyland Company and a payment of Rs 3.52 crore has already been made. Thirty low-floor non-AC buses will be procured from another company under the Jawahar Lal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) project.
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‘Need to widen, improve Railway network’
The current rail network in India is not adequate compared to the burgeoning rail freight business. The Railways need to invest in easing pressure on the highly saturated routes, like the coal and iron-ore belts, besides trunk routes to create more line capacity. The Railways must also keep investing in customised wagons. Specially designed heavy haul wagons and advanced locomotives with increased haulage capacity can contribute to speedier
transportation.
— Vinay Kansal, garment exporter The Railways should invite industry to invest through the PPP model in creating more rolling stock assets, through customised wagons to cater to industry’s needs. For the success of PPP model, the policy framework must be transparent, wherein the investors’ interests are safeguarded. The budget should also focus on the need for timely delivery of goods. The Railways should run the freight trains like passenger trains, i.e. time-scheduled freight trains on all major routes to ensure better customer
service. — Satish Aggarwal, industralist There is an urgent requirement for capacity augmentation in rakes, wagons and racks and it should be substantially increased to cater to the increasing demand. The budget should also focus on modernisation of rail network which include automation of signalling system, strengthening of track and procurement of modern rolling
stock. — Jasjit Singh Earlier in the month, the Railways hiked freight rates ranging between 15 to 35 per cent. While for coal and cement, the hike is between 18 to 24 percent, for food grains and fertliser, the increase is between 20 to 35 per cent. This hike should be rolled back. Duty rationalisation should be done in rail freight charges to give a boost to this industry. Work on the dedicated freight lines should be accelerated to ease pressure on the operative
routes. — Ramesh Jain, industrialist The budget should focus more on improving the railway infrastructure, its modernisation which was recommended by the Sam Pitroda Committee, passenger security and speeding up work on the dedicated freight
lines. — Daljit Kaur, Banker
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SAD in saddle, people hope for early completion of projects
Ludhiana, March 13 Sukhbir Badal had taken personal interest in these projects during his previous term as the Deputy Chief Minister. On December 17, the Deputy CM had inaugurated two lanes of the four-lane expressway project along the Sidhwan Canal (from the Ferozepur Road to Doraha), and the city bus service project, besides laying the stone of the excise and taxation building at the mini-secretariat. Expressway along canal: The foundation stone was laid in 2009. The Rs 416-crore project included the construction of a stretch of 26.9 km and a four-lane road along with a carriageway on the either side from Doraha to the Ludhiana-Ferozepur Road, besides a bypass to Ferozepur. On July 18 last year, Sukhbir had announced that the project would be completed by October 1. He had taken personal interest in the project by himself visiting the site twice, the last one being on October 11. He had even pulled up a few officials regarding the delay as the Deputy CM wanted to inaugurate the project before the imposition of model code of conduct. Now that the SAD-BJP has formed the government, residents are expecting that this project would soon be completed. Pedestrian underpass opposite mini-secretariat and Aggar Nagar: The Deputy Chief Minister laid the foundation stone of pedestrian underpass in November 2010 and municipal officials were expected to complete one of them, opposite Mini Secretariat, by November 30, 2011.
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MC community hall safe haven for tipplers, addicts
Jagraon, March 13 The hall, which is situated on the Raikot Road, has also become a favourite place for tipplers belonging to a few affluent families of the town. According to sources, youths from a few influential families can be seen consuming liquor and gambling inside the hall in the evening. Though the main gate of the building remains locked throughout the day, these people still manage to enter the premises. The sources maintain that the keys of the building are with these youths. “These people often create nuisance in the area after consuming liquor. When we object to such kind of activities, they start fighting with us,” complains Gurpreet Singh, who lives in a house adjoining the community hall. Though residents have taken up the issue with the local municipal authorities on numerous occasions, but no action has been taken so far to ban their entry. A large number of empty cough syrup bottles, liquor and strips of habit- forming drugs were found lying on the premises. It was also found that the electricity was being supplied to the building with the help of ‘kundi’. The sources claim that this practice has been going unchecked for the past several months. Former Municipal Council president, Davinder Kathuria, has urged authorities to cordon off the building. President of Municipal Council, Baldev Krishan Dhir, claimed that he was not aware of the activities inside the community hall.
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4 hurt as canter, tempo collide
Doraha, March 13 The canter, which was being driven by Roop Chand, a resident of Rampur village in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, was on its way to Ludhiana from Saharanpur. The canter stopped midway due to the technical snag. Paramjit Singh, a resident of Mehta, Amritsar, who was driving the tempo (HR 37A 6329) failed to judge and collided with the canter. Both vehicles turned turtle in the middle of the road. Driver of canter, Roop Chand; cleaner, Manoj Kumar; tempo driver, Paramjit Singh; and cleaner Kulvir Singh, sustained injures in the accident.
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18 samples collected
Ludhiana, March 13 The health department had collected samples of eatables from a few colleges and schools yesterday. He said we collected samples of namkeen and cold drink from Aurbindi College at Jhande village, patties from Bhartiya Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, Udham Singh Nagar, namkeen from Nursing College, Bhanohar, and juices and cold drinks from GRD Academy. Meanwhile, the samples of sauce collected by the Health Department from Thousand Spices Restaurant, Khanna, collected last month have failed purity and quality test. According to the Food and Safety officer Khosla: “Action will be taken against the owner under the Food Safety Act.”
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Dept to crack whip on erring LPG agencies
Ludhiana, March 13 If anyone was found indulging in this practice then strict action will be taken against the violator. Consumers can contact us and lodge their complaints against the violators.” The distributors should strictly follow the 21-day deadline for booking a cylinder. “LPG should be booked 21 days from the date of supply. The gas should not be booked before the stipulated period.” In addition to this representatives of the oil companies discussed several new mediums for booking LPG cylinders. While one company has started booking through voice-mail service, other was planning to start it through SMS while another official proposed to start booking procedure online. Sidhu told the company officials to adopt one pattern. “All oil companies should adopt uniform pattern otherwise consumers face difficulty while booking LPG cylinders,” he added.
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Kapil Sibal’s advice to students
The letter that was sent to the students this year reads: "…Never ever think of leaving studies even if your parents are unable to afford your fee. In that situation, please do not hesitate to write to me." It says: "You have not only made your parents, but the entire country proud and I can say with certainty that the future of India is safe because of bright sparks like you. What you need to do now is to consolidate your performance and do even better in the future." There's a piece of advice for the students: "Always remember your roots, flourish and prosper but never forget to nurture your parents, teachers, community and your country." The letter of appreciation holds a special significance, say the city-based educationists, adding that the reward system in our school education is erratic at the best and indifferent at the worst. "It's definitely encouraging," says Paramjit Kaur, Principal, BCM Arya Model Senior Secondary School, adding, "The CCE system, which has an 'inbuilt flexibility for schools to plan their own academic schedules', is working fine. In fact, now the schools have taken well to it, though initially there were some teething troubles." The letter is bound to boost the morale of the economically weaker students, believes Harmeet Kaur Waraich, Principal, Nankana Sahib Public School, and secretary, Ludhiana Sahodaya School Complex.
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Block officers seek better remuneration
Ludhiana, March 13 Sukhjinder Singh (name changed), a clerk in the education department, said that the most tedious job during any elections was of BLOs. "Starting from making new votes to chalking out already existing number of voters, distribution of I-cards, sorting and cutting of names of voters who had died etc, we have to go into the details in preparing voters' lists. But compared to our work, we are paid peanuts by the state government. Now when the elections of the Municipal Corporation are scheduled for July-August, we should be given respectable remuneration," he said. "In the recently held Assembly elections, we worked continuously for about five months. But we were paid just Rs 3,000 at the end (for the whole election work). This is very disgusting, we must be paid good amount for doing tedious tasks. Without the services of BLOs, no elections are possible as we go door to door for the surveys of voters," said another BLO from village Gill.
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Films showcase courage of disabled
Ludhiana, March 13 About 25 such documentaries were screened at “We Care Film Festival on Disability Issues” at All-Saints of Medical Sciences and Research organised by Ashirwad. It was the first time such a festival had been organised in the state. The international and national documentaries screened during the festival were not only inspiring but also raised important points. A movie brought home the message that disabled children should study in the mainstream schools rather than special schools so that they are able to live, cope with various problems and earn in the larger society later. The curator of these films was a Delhi-based firm, Brotherhood, which has been showing films on disability issues in India in association with its founder partners, the United Nations Information Centre for India and Bhutan (UNIC), the National Trust and the Asian Academy of Film and Television (AAFT). The film festival witnessed screening of approximately 400 documentaries on various issues of disability, including 60 award-winning documentaries ranging from one minute to 60 minutes from India and abroad. The festival was aimed at sensitising the audience about different disabilities and the attitude towards persons with disabilities, according to Dr Neelam Sodhi from Ashirwad, an organisation which works for special children.
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NCC cadet honoured
Ludhiana March 13 Deepali Bhardwaj, a senior NCC cadet, who returned from Vietnam, was honoured on the occasion. She had gone to Vietnam under the youth exchange programme. Deepali said, “The hospitality is the best part of Vietnam. As it is a Communist country and people have fought a long war so they are very systematic and interesting. I visited the war museum and other memorials.” “We were there under a cultural exchange programme. It has a rich cultural heritage. People are hardworking and I didn’t come across a single beggar in the country. We visited almost five to six cities,” she added. Deepali has a long list of achievements. She attended the Republic Day parade as a commander of the senior wing of the Punjab Directorate (Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh).
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pau notes Training concludes
A week-long training course in bakery and confectionery, organised by the department of food and nutrition of the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), concluded on Tuesday. Twenty participants, including the members of the faculty and the students of BSc (Home Science), attended the programme titled "Experiential learning component". Dr Neelam Grewal, Dean, College of Home Science, PAU, said the training in bakery and confectionery was aimed at providing an opportunity to the students to set up their own ventures and become job-providers instead of job-seekers. Resource persons Saurabh Modi from the Chandigarh Institute of Hotel Management and Monika Arora demonstrated different types of cakes, breads, pastries, pizzas, biscuits and cookies. Besides, they imparted training in cake decoration, making of chocolates and their attractive wrappings.
National seminar
Keeping in view 2012 being celebrated as "Year of Horticulture" and "Golden Jubilee Year of the Punjab Agricultural University", a three-day national seminar on new frontiers and future challenges in horticultural crops will be organised by the College of Agriculture from March 15 to 17 at the Pal Auditorium of the university.
Capacity building
A three-day capacity-building programme on "International trade towards enhancement of competitiveness of Indian agriculture," jointly organised by the Department of Business Management of the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) and the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), New Delhi, began here on Tuesday. The programme has been organised under the aegis of the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. Dr Baldev Singh Dhillon, Vice-Chancellor, PAU, said there was a lot of scope to improve the export share of the agriculture sector and there was enormous scope for export for Punjab in terms of processed food products, rice and fruits and vegetables.
Fellowship
Two PhD students of the Department of Microbiology, Navprabhjot Kaur and Aparna Sabharwal, have been bestowed with the Innovation Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) fellowship by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India. Dr Maninder Arora, Head, Department of Microbiology, PAU, said the fellowship carries an amount of Rs 1,92,000 per year and a contingency grant of Rs 20,000 per year, till the completion of the doctoral degree or for a maximum of five years.
— TNS
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Farewell parties Ludhiana: A farewell party was organised by the postgraduate department of economics, Kamla Lohtia SD College, under the guidance of Dr Mohammad Saleem, Head of the Department. The event proceeded with various mesmerising performances, comprising songs skits and dance, by the students. Dinesh of MA II and Talwinder Kaur of MA II were adjudged Mr Farewell and Miss Farewell respectively. The Principal, Dr Shiv Mohan Sharma, and the Director, Prof BD Budhiraja, extended the students best wishes. The students of BCA II of the SDP College for Women, Ludhiana, bid adieu to the outgoing students of BCA III and PGDCA at a function held on the premises of the college on Tuesday. A glittering grand finale of Miss Farewell was the attraction of the day. Kanchan was declared Miss SDP, Geeta (PGDCA) and Paramjeet Kaur first and second runners-up. In other categories of the beauty contest, Rachna won the title of Miss All-rounder, Anu Miss Beautiful Dress-up. Dr Paramjeet Kaur, Principal, was the chief guest. Balraj Bhasin, president, SDP Sabha and College Managing Committee, also conveyed his best wishes to the outgoing students. Students’ week The week-long international students’ festival started on the campus of the Punjab College of Technical Education on Monday. Various sports competitions for Indian and foreign students will be organised during the festival. On the first day of the festival, the pool competition was held in which the foreign students won by wining two frames. Felicitated
The Forum for Promotion of Higher Education organised a felicitation ceremony at the GGN Institute of Management and Technology (GGNIMT) to honor the renowned poet, Dr Surjit Patar, for his contribution to the Punjabi language and literature. Dr Patar was welcomed by the convener of the forum, Prof Jaswant Singh Gill, Director, Guru Nanak College, Doraha. He introduced Dr Patar as “The master of Poetry and a Living Legend” who had been bestowed with Padma Shree by the Government of India. Dr SP Singh, former VC, GNDU, presented Dr Patar with a memento. He spoke at length about his priceless work and achievements. The forum also honored Dr Daljeet Singh, Director, Doordarshan, for promoting the Punjabi Language on the screen of Doordarshan. Prof Gunwant Singh Dua, coordinator, GGNIMT, said Dr Daljeet’s dedication, patience and farsightedness helped to change the face of Doordarsharan. On the request of the audience, Dr Patar recited a few lines from his great works that left the audience spellbound. — TNS
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Annual function
Ludhiana: Indus World School (IWS) Junior Daffodil celebrated Annual Day on the theme of "Life of a Kid". Mamta Batta, Principal, welcomed parents and the chief guest, Ramanjit Ghuman, Principal, Indus World School, Ludhiana. The little children presented an array of items, including dance and music. Ghumman talked about Indus World School ideology and the child centric approach of the school treating the parents as partners of the school. Orientation for drivers
Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School, Ludhiana, organised an orientation programme for the drivers of school buses at the auditorium of the school on Tuesday. Shamina Deol, counsellor, sensitised them about the moral aspects of their duty and the code of conduct to be followed while ferrying children. The principal, Rev Sr Christo, motivated the drivers to perceive their vehicle as a classroom and themselves as a teacher of that class. — TNS
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Factory worker found dead
Ludhiana, March 13 The factory owner rushed to the spot and further took Chander to hospital, where the victim was declared brought dead. The matter reached the police after the factory owner saw marks near Chander’s neck. The body was sent to Civil Hospital for postmortem. No case had been registered.
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Ludhiana, March 13
Ludhiana, March 13
