Ludhiana, May 23
As soon as the news of the hike in petrol prices came today, people here were seen making a beeline for the nearest petrol pumps.

The prices were increased after the rupee slumped to a record low against the dollar on Wednesday and state oil companies announced they were making massive losses.

Ashok Sachdeva, vice-president of the Punjab Petroleum Dealers Association, said, “The hike was long due and this is the reason the price has been pushed up so much. I haven’t seen increase in the petrol prices at such a rate. I think the hike has been highest for the past 20 years,” said Sachdeva.

Reacting to the hike, Jasbir Singh, a senior citizen, said the petrol price hike was a burden on the common man. “If the prices of essential commodities continue to increase at this pace, it will spell doom for the common man,” he said.

“Such a hike will make our lives miserable. I have already shifted to driving a two-wheeler and now I think I have to adopt a public transport to reach my office destination,” said Jaiveer Singh, working in insurance sector.

Jagjeevan Singh, a teacher, said the petrol price hike would have a cascading effect and prices are going to go out of control. Be it eatables or other essential commodities like LPG and petrol, prices are sky rocketing and taking a toll on common man’s life. It has become difficult to make both ends meet,” he rued. The government had decontrolled petrol price in June 2010 and the rates were last increased on November 4 last year.

Ludhiana, May 23
The Congress party took the lead by issuing the list of candidates for the upcoming MC elections. A first list of 71 candidates was issued by the Congress party today, while four tickets have been kept on hold.

The tickets which have been kept on hold are for ward numbers 1, 37, 49 and 50.

The party has not given ticket to sitting councillor, Rakesh Kumar, who presently represents ward number 3 of the city. The ticket for ward number 49, which is presently represented by Mamta Ashu, wife of Ludhiana West MLA Bharat Bhushan Ashu, has been put on hold.It is learnt that the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) might issue a list of 21 candidates first and the remaining list will be issued later on.

After the Congress, the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), too, issued its first list of 28 candidates. During the last MC elections, the BJP had contested on 37 seats, while its coalition partner Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) contested on 38. This time, several sitting councillors have been shown the door and fresh faces have been brought in. Several councillors, whose wards have now been reserved for women, have either fielded their wives or family members and vice versa.

The sitting BJP councillors, whose tickets have been cancelled, are Navjot Kaur from ward number 14 and Santosh Kalra from ward number 19.

From ward number 6, the party has given ticket to Daljit Kaur, wife of sitting councillor Gurbaksh Singh Billa. Deputy Mayor and sitting councillor from ward number 13, Sunita Aggarwal, has been given ticket this time also.

From ward number 14, Dharamjit Singh Garcha of Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) was the sitting councillor. Garcha had won the last MC elections on the Bahujan Samaj Party ticket and had later joined the Akali Dal. This time, the party has given ticket to Megha Aggarwal.

A two-time councillor Harbans Lal Phenta, husband of Sunita Phenta, sitting councillor from ward number 22, has been given the party ticket this time. Similarly, R D Sharma, whose mother Prem Sharma, is the sitting councillor from ward number 25 has been given party ticket this time. Harbans Lal had fielded his wife, while RD Sharma had fielded his mother during the last elections after their ward got reserved for women candidates. This time, they would themselves be contesting the elections.

Anuradha Nagar, wife of Satish Nagar, BJP councillor from ward number 32, has been allotted ticket from this ward, while Ramandeep Kaur, wife of Sarabjit Singh Kaka, BJP councillor from ward number 44, has been allotted ticket. Both these wards are now reserved for women candidates.

The BJP has fielded Sunita Rani from ward number 33, which is presently represented by Raghvir Singh Toor of SAD (B). Toor had won the last elections as an independent and had later joined the SAD (B).

Amita Rai, daughter-in-law of former Member of Parliament Lala Lajpat Rai, has been allotted party ticket from ward number 54.

New faces Aarti Jha, Inder, Monika Jaggi, Sumit Malhotra, Devi Sahay Tandon, Amita Rai and Sunil Modgil have been fielded from ward number 17, 18, 20, 21, 40, 54 and 55, respectively.

The list of remaining nine candidates is expected soon.

The SAD (B) announced its first list of 27 candidates for the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation elections late this evening and it has thrown a surprise for city residents.

Interestingly, Mayor Hakam Singh Giaspura, who unsuccessfully contested the Vidhan Sabha elections from Ludhiana South constituency, has decided to contest the MC elections as well. It will be interesting to see whether the party projects him as the Mayoral candidate or not.

But if sources within the Akali Dal are to be believed, the party might project Harish Rai Dhanda, a party candidate from ward number 28, as the Mayoral candidate, as he is having good relations with most of the Akali leaders, including the Bains brothers.

The Bains group, too, has managed to get party tickets for six councillors and got an upper hand compared to other party leaders. These include Kanwaljit Singh Karwal from ward number 45, Parminder Singh Soma from ward number 68, Swarandeep Singh Chahal from ward number 69, Satpal Singh Lohara from ward number 64, Sarabjit Kaur Cheema from ward number 71 and Saroj Mannan from ward number 62.

Karwal was earlier councillor from ward number 66, but because he lives in the Model Town area, this time he wanted ticket from ward number 45. Harbhajan Singh Dang, a confidant of former cabinet minister Hira Singh Gabria, too, was trying from this ward, but the party has allotted him ticket from ward number 61. Gabria's son Rakhwinder Singh Gabria was trying ticket from this ward, but Dang was allotted ticket instead.

Family members of Akali leaders, who have been allotted party tickets include, Narinder Kaur Dhillon, wife of Ludhiana East MLA Ranjit Singh Dhillon from ward number 2, Kuldeep Kaur, wife of Tarsem Singh Bhinder (sitting councillor) from ward number 5, Kulwant Kaur Dhillon, mother of ward number 23 sitting councillor Ajit Singh Dhillon from ward number 23, Manwinderpal Singh Makkar, son of SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar from ward number 48, Gurmeet Kaur, wife of Ludhiana Improvement Trust trustee Gurinderpal Singh Pappu from ward number 57 and Paramjit Kaur Shivalik, wife of Gill MLA Darshan Singh Shivalik from ward number 58.

Ludhiana, May 23
This time, the Congress list contains names of several first-timers and the members of Congress leaders' families. Some councillors, whose wards have been reserved for women post delimitation, have either fielded their wives or daughter-in-law for the MC elections.

After ward number 17 got reserved for women candidates, Amandeep Kaur Ghayal, daughter-in-law of Pritpal Singh Ghayal, sitting councillor from ward number 17, has been allotted party ticket.

Manjeet Kaur Grewal, party block president Manpreet Singh Grewal's mother, has got ticket from ward number 23 as this ward is reserved for women candidates.

Similarly, ward number 28, which was earlier reserved for women, party ticket has been allotted to Maharaj Singh Raji, whose mother Mukhtiar Kaur is the sitting councillor from the same ward. Senior Akali leader Harsh Rai Dhanda might be fielded against Maharaj Singh Raji from this ward.

Indu Raju Thapar, wife of Sushil Raju Thapar, sitting councillor from ward number 28, has been allotted party ticket. Indu will be contesting this time as the ward is now reserved for women. Pardeep Singh Saabi Toor has been allotted party ticket from ward number 31. His father Niranjan Singh Toor is a former councillor from this ward.

From ward number 35, Sushma Mehta, wife of sitting councillor Parminder Mehta will be contesting the elections. Pinki Bansal, wife of Gurmukh Singh, party block president, has been allotted party ticket from ward number 41.

Parvinder Singh Lapran, Congress leader Gurdev Singh Lapran's son, has managed to get ticket from ward number 45. Aman Kapoor, block president Toni Kapoor's wife, has got ticket from ward number 51.

Interestingly, Ludhiana West MLA Bharat Bhushan Ashu’s brother Narinder Sharma has managed to get ticket from ward number 52. Priyanka Basant, Congress leader and ice-cream baron Rajinder Singh Basant's daughter-in-law, has got ticket from ward number 57.

This time, the Congress has also banked on several new faces in ward number 2, 3, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 19, 23, 25, 26, 33, 34, 46, 54, 57, 68, 69, 70, 72, 73, 74 and 75.

Ludhiana, May 23
After Mansa, it is Ludhiana from where a minor outbreak of chicken pox has been reported. Twenty three children suffering form this viral infection have been found in the Ranjeet Nagar area of the city.

Confirming this, Dr Anil Verma, District Epidemiologist of Ludhiana, said, "We got to know about 22 cases on May 21. And yesterday, we came to know about another patient, who has been suffering from the same viral disease for the past four five days in the Ranjeet Nagar area of Sherpur Kalan. Out of these, 12 have recovered completely, while 11 are still on way to recovery."

All these children suffering from chickenpox are of migrants from Bihar and UttAr Pradesh and live in the same premises of "Bajja Singh ka Vehra".

Dr Verma further said,"All these children suffered after coming in contact with each other. Yesterday after getting to know about this viral infection, we visited this locality and made people aware that they should keep suffering children in isolation till the time they recover completely."

Meanwhile, Dr Deepak Bhatia, State Nodal Officer for Integrated Disease Surveillance Project, Punjab, said,"We can call it as a minor outbreak of chickenpox. Such scattered cases are clinically diagnosed and not tested in laboratory. We have sent our team for survey of Ranjeet Nagar. The team is making people aware about maintaining general hygiene, specially keeping the body clean.

Ludhiana, May 23
All the necessary arrangements for a smooth conduct of the elections to the Nagar Council, Machiwara, Nagar Panchayat of Maloud, Mullanpur Dakha and Sahnewal and the Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana, have been completed. This was stated by Deputy Commissioner Rahul Tiwari who held a meeting with civil and police officials at Bachat Bhawan here today.

Giving details about the officials who have been put on election duties, Tiwari said the Returning Officer for the Nagar Council of Machiwara will be SDM, Samrala, Jasbir Singh while Gurmit Singh, SDM, Jagraon, will be the Returning Officer for the Nagar Council of Jagraon. The SDM of Khanna, Purshotam Singh Sodhi, will be the RO for the Nagar Panchayat of Maloud. Gurmit Singh, SDM (West), will be the RO for Mulanpur Dakha while Ajay Sood, SDM (East), will be the RO for Sahnewal.

Tiwari has asked the police chiefs of the district to depute ACP/DSP-rank officials with all the ROs within the next two days.

For the elections to be held in 62 wards of the nagar councils and nagar panchayats, the polling parties will be dispatched on June 6 from Guru Nanak Bhawan and about 50,000 voters will cast their vote.

For the Municipal Corporation elections, to be held on June 10 in 75 wards, the SDM of Samrala (RO) will take care of wards 1-10 while wards 11-21 will be taken-care of by the Deputy Chief Engineer City (West), Punjab State Power Corporation, Rachpal Singh. Wards 22-32 will be looked after by District Development and Panchayat Officer Amardeep Singh Bains. Babita Kler, Deputy Director Local Bodies, will be the RO for wards 33-45. Manpreet Singh Chatwal, District Transport Officer, will be the RO for wards 46-60 while Ajay Sood will take care of the wards 61-75. By May 30, all the ROs will be handed over Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and these will be kept in strongrooms from May 30 to June 9.

For the MC polls, the six ROs will dispatch the polling parties on June 9 from different locations. More than 10 lakh voters will cast their vote during the MC elections.

Tiwari made it clear that each candidate could not spend more than Rs 1,80,000 on elections. More than 8,000 government employees have been put on duty during the polls. All the police chiefs will submit the list of sensitive and highly sensitive polling booths to the district administration within the next two days.

I have worked hard for my ward and spent crores of rupees on various development works such as constructing roads, erecting streetlights and providing proper water supply. A major amount of the funds was spent on roads. Streets in many of the areas were cemented. Three tubewells and five submersible pumps were sunk in the ward for ensuring adequate and clean water supply and now most of the issues have been addressed. Work on stormwater drainage is under way. There is a marked positive change in the ward when I look at it in retrospect. I would seek votes for the next tenure on the issue of development.

— Satish Nagar, councillor

A garbage dump alongside the Buddha Nullah in ward no. 33. Photo: Inderjeet Verma

Ludhiana, May 23
Ward no. 33 is a relatively clean ward with most of the residents satisfied with the councillor, for his promptness in decision-making and action-oriented work.

Major Issues

• Open drains along with the main road in the ward continue to be a nuisance for the residents and shopkeepers. In the absence of sewers, drains are cleaned and heaps of garbage and sewage are left behind, causing obstruction and stink on the road.
• Rain disorients life in the area, particularly during the monsoon, when an overflowing Budhha Nullah inundates homes situated close to it.
• Krishan Gali, that divides ward no. 33 and 34 is in a way nobody's responsibility and thus suffers from garbage-disposal problems.
• Blockage of sewerage is a problem in some colonies of the ward. The residents say wider sewer lines should be laid.
• Sweepers do not visit the ward regularly. Some residents of the ward complain they have to do cleaning on the streets themselves.

Statistics

Major Areas: Jain Nagar, Basant Nagar, Adarsh Gali, Krishan Gali, Gandhi Ngar, Surinder Nagar, Sohan Singh Nagar, Luv Kush Nagar and Hukam Sing Road.

Population: 40,000

Voters: 11,000

COUNCILLOR Speak

I have spent Rs 5 crore on development works. Of this amount, Rs 3 crore was spent on roads. Four new tubewells were sunk at a cost of Rs 20 lakh. Pension was provided to senior citizens and allowances were given to widows. I am associated with the BJP. This time the ward has been declared an open seat and my husband Subhash Dawar or I would contest from here, provided who gets the party ticket.

— Kiran Dawar, councillor

A garbage dump in ward no. 35. Photos: Inderjeet Verma

Ludhiana, May 23
This area is the heart of commerce and business in the city. It is the commercial centre of the city.

Major Issues

• Encroachments are a huge problem in the ward. Being a commercial area, encroachment on the roads and streets are a common sight.
• The project of installation of stormwater pipes in the ward is hanging fire, causing inconvenience to the residents. The dumping of garbage in the drain passing throgh the area leads to pollution.
• Due to encroachments, traffic congestion and jams are a perennial problem in the area.

Statistics

Entangled power wires at Partap Bazar.

Major Areas: Chaura Bazar, Dal Bazar, Saaban Bazar, Gud Mandi, Namak Mandi, Town Hall, Bhadaur House, Dareshi, Vikas Nagar, Pindi Street, Thapar Mohalla, Chawal Bazar, Talaab Bazar, Gujjar Market, Partap Bazar, Rekhi Cinema Road and Naali Mohalla

Population: 40,000

Voters: 12,000

Ludhiana, May 23
Ludhianvis who are fond of spending their summer vacations abroad are forced to cut short their trips this year due to constant fall in the value of a rupee. Continuing free fall for the sixth day in a row, the rupee today crashed below to 56 against the US dollar to yet another all-time low.

A foreign trip is costing at least 20 per cent more this year. For travelling within the country, people would be paying in rupees, so people belonging to middle and upper middle class are opting for closer destinations rather than offshore trips.

“This year, I may cancel my foreign trip because of the free fall in the rupee. I may either opt for Leh and Ladakh instead,” said Gurjeet Arora, a resident working in a multinational firm.

“I may force to cut short my summer vacations to a foreign country and instead opt for cheaper and closer destinations. With the fall in the value of the rupee, the outbound travel has become expensive by nearly 20-25 per cent,” said Tamanna Sareen, a bank employee.

“Many travellers, especially those in the middle class, are now opting for shorter trips in the far east instead of Europe and America to stay within their budgets,” said Nitin Kalra, a local travel and tour operator.

Preeti, another resident, who was planning to fly to Europe this summer vacations with her family has altered her mind and planning to spend her vacations either at Singapore or Thailand.

“Flight tickets and local travel within Europe has become more expensive in the last few months. Going to Europe means spending extra bucks, so my family is opting for a closer destination, which will also be lighter on our wallet,” she added. Another tour planner, Geetika Matharoo, said the trend this season would be towards the destinations closer to home. “The middle class will be opting either for domestic trips or destinations like Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, as offshore trips will be costing more due to rupee depreciation,” she added.

Machiwara, May 23
There were hectic activities ahead of the finalisation of the candidates of the Akali Dal -BJP combine and the Opposition Congress for the Machiwara Nagar Panchayat elections although the filing of nominations will start tomorrow.

There are 13 wards of this Nagar Panchayat. In the last term, seven seats were with the Akali Dal-BJP combine while the Congress had held six seats. According to seat-sharing arrangement in the Akali Dal-BJP combine, the Akali Dal will fight on nine seats while the BJP will contest four seats. Master Ujagar Singh, who was president of the Nagar Panchayat, claimed that development works were going on and several of them had been completed during his tenure.

However, the Congress alleged that developement works were going on a very slow pace and nothing remarkable was done in this regard. In the elections, the matter of sewerage is likely to be raised by both the ruling and the Opposition as work on it is still going on.

Till late evening, former MLA Jagjivan Singh Khirnia was busy finalising the list. He claimed that all the candidates would be selected amicably. On the other hand, the Congress MLA from Samrala claimed that the list was almost ready and they would file nominations tomorrow.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, May 23
Acknowledging that drug addiction and traffic violation had shattered a large number of families in the border state, the district police has launched a coordinated movement to rope in constituents and office-bearers of educational institutes in a crusade launched against the evils.

Responding to the clarion call, students of schools, including MGMN Senior Secondary School, Ahmedgarh, government senior secondary schools at Akbarpur Chhanna, Bhogiwal, Kanganwal and Sandaur villages, vowed to play an active role in the movement launched by the district police to create awareness against the evils.

Specially constituted teams led by Davinder Singh, Shabegh Singh, Sukhdev Singh and Harnek Singh Ghuman administered the oath to the students and stressed on the need of coordinated action against the drug abuse and traffic violation during seminars organised on the premises of respective schools.

Terming drug addiction and traffic violation as the major factors behind unnatural deaths during the past decades, speakers, including Pardeep Sharda, Kedar Kapila, Davinder Singh and Gurmeet Kaur said the students could play an important role in spreading awareness against the evils.

Ludhiana, May 23
The CIA-I police nabbed three persons, including a flour mill owner and two ration depot holders, for selling and processing wheat meant for people of the above poverty line (APL) scheme.

The police has recovered two trucks containing 350 sacks of wheat from their possession.

Giving details about the crackdown, CIA-I in charge Harpal Singh said the accused had been identified as Manish Jain, owner of Radha Flour Mill, and depot holders, Deepak Kumar and Sanjiv Kumar, while their accomplice, Jaswant Singh of Kawaddi village and Rajinder Singh Gopalpur managed to escape from the scene.

According to the police, Rajinder, Sanjiv, Jaswant and Rajinder, all ration depot holders, loaded the wheat sacks of their allotted quota from the Markfed godown located in Kila Raipur.

Instead of taking the truck to their depot, they drove the trucks straight to the flour mill for processing.

In the meantime, the police came to know about it and raided the premises.

It is learnt that there have been several complaints against these depot holders.

Sources said Jasdwinder and Rajinder, who managed to escape during the raid, enjoy political connections. Harpal Singh said the accused had been booked under Section 420 of the IPC and Article 7 of the Essential Commodities Act.

Ludhiana, May 23
The city police has nabbed four chronic criminals, who were involved in all sorts of criminal activities, including snatchings, illicit liquor trade, betting on cricket and attacking people for ransom.

The accused, identified as Rajinder Singh, alias Beera, Avneet Singh, alias Rimpel, Nikku and Munna, were arrested during a police naka on the Bahadurke road near the Bharti Colony, while they were ferrying illicit liquor in an SUV last night.

The police has recovered a pistol and three cartridges and 17 boxes of liquor from their possession.

During the interrogation, it was found that Rajinder Singh Beera was accused in Ninder murder case that took place in the district court complex in 2005. He was recently out on bail. The accused were produced before the court and further sent to police remand.

Ludhiana, May 23
Devastated to know that his wife committed suicide in the native village, the man, too, ended his life by hanging himself with a ceiling fan at a one-room quarter in the Focal Point here today.

The deceased, identified as Ram Singh, a native of Uttar Pradesh, was working in a factory unit.

Last night he received a call from his native village stated that his wife had committed suicide. He was driven into depression and he, too, committed suicide by hanging himself with the ceiling fan.

Jagraon, May 23
The Ludhiana (rural) police has arrested two drug peddlers during two separate operations and recovered one kilogram of opium from their possession. The accused have been identified as Mohan Singh, alias Mohna of Dhoorkot village in Moga district and Avtar Singh, alias Tari of Haryeao Khurd village in Patiala district.

SHO Raikot Dilbagh Singh informed that a police team from the Lohat Baddi police post arrested Mohan Singh, alias Mohna, from Kalsian village near Raikot.

“The accused was coming on a motorcycle and when he reached near the government school of the village, he suddenly met the police party coming from the other side on a sharp turn. On seeing the police party, he got afraid and tried to escape but was nabbed. When searched, the police found 500 grams of opium from his possession,” said the SHO.

During the second incident, a team led by ASI Jagroop Singh from the Raikot police station stopped Avtar Singh, alias Tari, outside Ramghar Siwian village near Raikot following a tip-off. When searched, the police recovered half kg of opium from his possession and arrested him, added Dilbagh Singh.

The police has registered a case under the NDPS Act against the accused at the Raikot police station. Later, the police produced the accused in a Jagraon court, which sent them to two-day police remand, added the SHO.