If the parcels are lifted and we are not informed then we will seek legal recourse. Meanwhile, Kuldeep Sharma, chief parcel superintendent said the matter was sorted out yesterday. “We are not liable to inform the excise department when the person comes to collect the parcels. They can catch him when he is out of the railway station’s premises,” he added.

Ludhiana, June 8
The CIA-II has nabbed a swindler, who was posing as district transport officer (DTO) and pocketing huge amounts of money by creating fake registration certificates (RC) and other vehicle-related documents.

The accused, who has been identified as Jasvir Singh, was nabbed by a CIA-II team at a naka near the Bharat Ngar chowk here yesterday.

According to the CIA-II officials, they received a tip-off that Jasvir Singh, a resident of Sadar Nagar in Doraha, was visiting the city to create fake registries.

The police has recovered fake stamps and other important documents of the DTO department.

During the interrogation, the accused confessed that he was posing as DTO and was conning innocent residents by creating fake RCs and other vehicle-related documents.

Ludhiana, June 8
After getting a query on dog bite from the International Health Regulation Authority, UK, the Joint Director of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Delhi, Dr Udayvir Singh, visited Raikot on Wednesday for conducting an epidemiological study.

Sources said the officer from the NCDC met people near the Nalwa Chowk at Raikot. District Epidemiologist Anil Verma and Senior Medical Officer, Civil Hospital, Raikot, Moninder Singh were also with him.

When contacted, District Epidemiologist Anil Verma said, "I escorted him to Raikot but was not aware about the purpose of his visit." While the SMO, Raikot, Dr Monider Singh said, "An officer came from Delhi to Raikot but I am not aware about the motive of his visit as I had no prior information about it".

Dr Deepak Bhatia, State Nodal Officer for Integrated Disease Surveillance Project, Punjab said, "Dr Udayavir Rana from the NCDC, Delhi, visited Raikot today. The report will be sent to the International Health Regulation Authority, UK, by Delhi centre." It was on April 1 when an NRI, who was on a visit to Raikot in Ludhiana district, was bitten by a dog and on April 4, when he was in England, he was allegedly diagnosed with rabies. Following this, the International Health Regulation Authority, UK, contacted NCDC, Delhi.

Ludhiana, June 8
An eight day summer camp was organized from June 1 to 8 in MGM Public School, Ludhiana. Various activities, such as dance, art and craft, pot and block painting, foil embossing, spoken English, and yoga, were organized to enhance creativity and imagination of the students. Cricket, football and karate coaching was also part of the camp. An activity show was organized on the last day of the camp where children showed the skills they learned in the camp.

Maple Bear Pre-School

A magic show was organised for the young students of Maple Bear Pre-School, Udham Singh Nagar, as part of the ongoing Rainbow summer Camp 2012. The magician showcased various tricks — ball game, card game, newspaper game, candle lighting, handkerchief and flower game -- to make the kids aware that these tricks are only an illusion of eyes. Kids enjoyed the event and learnt these tricks.

BVM School

BVM School has organised a ten-day summer workshop from June 3 to 12. The camp aims at over-all personality development of the students.

Ludhiana, June 8
After city roads and chowks, one of the prestigious institutions of the country-Punjab Agricultural University-is slowly turning into favourite spot for beggars. Small children could be seen begging on the campus. But, university authorities are helpless in controlling this menace.

A large number of children enter the campus along with their parents, who work in fields, as vendors or temporary workers.

They could be seen seeking alms from group of girls. Besides this, students home and areas are their favorite hunting grounds.

“We don’t know from where these children enter the university. They could be seen roaming near cafeteria. It is difficult to get rid of them at times as they keep on pestering us for money,” a PAU student said.

Sunil (7) said: “My father is a vendor. A few security guards manning the PAU gates are known to my father so no one stops us from entering it. I make about Rs 30 to Rs 40 in a day. I buy cookies, chocolates, samosas and cold drinks with the money. I am fond of fast food. As my parents can’t afford these, so I beg.”

Jaskaran Singh, PAU Estate Officer, said, “We will take strict against those found begging on the campus. We have banned the entry of those who used to come to the offices to collect donations.” 

Ludhiana, June 8
A three-day Implementation Course for National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH) Standards for Hospitals was held at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital.

According to the secretary of DMCH Managing Society, Prem Kumar Gupta, the course aims to give guidance on implementation of NABH standards to the hospital management and staff.

Principal Dr Daljit Singh said the healthcare sector in India has witnessed marked changes over past years and there is a growing demand of quality healthcare services to everyone, regardless of their income, social or economic status.

With medical tourism gaining momentum in India, it has become essential for the hospitals to get NABH Accreditation to provide global standards in healthcare services, said Dean Academics Dr Rajoo Singh Chhina.

In their address to the participants, the visiting faculty, Dr Uma Nambiar and Dr Vinay Kapur, said that healthcare quality is the guiding principle in assessing the performance of country’s health system in improving the health of the citizens. 

Ludhiana, June 8
Even as the sub-text of the rebel factor continued to run through the Municipal Corporation (MC) Ludhiana poll arithmetic, leaders of the political parties went on to give the final touches to the poll campaign in the city. The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Captain Amarinder Singh wrapped up his two-day tour to the city last evening.

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal too was on a campaign tour to the city yesterday. Playing the development card, he said in a rally organized at the Tibba Road that in the coming three years, Rs 5500 crore would be earmarked for providing the complete basic facilities to the people of Punjab.

He claimed that the four thermal plants would be operational after one year and that Punjab would be able to produce surplus power.

Wrapping up his campaign for the MC polls, the local MP and Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari played the Opposition's role. He alleged that Ludhiana was the worst-managed city in terms of traffic. He also alleged that more than half of the people living in the city did not have access to the safe drinking water. He promised that as an MP he would continue to get more Central grants for the city.

The People's Party of Punjab leader Bhagwant Mann, who had come to the city today for the inauguration of a party candidate's office, exhorted the people to vote for a corruption-free leadership. His address was marked by an uncharacteristic style that was minus his trademark humour.

Meanwhile, allegations and counter-allegations of groupism continued doing rounds. Talking to The Tribune, Congress party worker Harjinder Singh, whose wife Avtar Kaur is contesting on the party ticket from ward number 6, said some people had informed him that a senior party leader was seen campaigning for the rebel-turned-Independent candidate from the same ward.

Ludhiana, June 8
The issue of restarting the Ludhiana City Centre project and bringing Kabir Society under the control of the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation has once again hogged the limelight after area councillor Tanvir Singh Dhaliwal submitted a memorandum in this regard to Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal. The sitting councillor from ward number 59, Tanvir Singh Dhaliwal, has promised that if re-elected, he would fulfil this promise.

Kabir Colony is the F-block of the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar area on the Pakhowal Road and is managed by the Ludhiana Improvement Trust. The residents have been demanding for a long time that the MC should take over Kabir Colony so that development should take place there on a large scale.

While speaking to The Tribune, the Akali candidate, Dhaliwal, said: “If the area is taken over by the MC, I will be able to get a large amount of funds for carrying out development works. That is why I have been taking up this issue with the state government for a long time and when I came to know that Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal will be addressing an election rally in Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar, I decided to submit him a memorandum in this regard.”

Ludhiana, June 8
Once considered close friends, Atam Nagar MLA Simarjit Singh Bains and councillor Jagbir Singh Sokhi have now become arch rivals. Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal had attended a rally in support of Jagbir Singh Sokhi and the Bains brothers were conspicuous with their absence. Interestingly, this rally was organised in the ward, which falls under the constituencies represented by the Bains brothers.

According to the information, Jagbir Singh Sokhi had organised a rally at his house located in the Shimlapuri area here last evening. Sukhbir had attended this rally but the Bains brothers, MLAs Simarjit Singh Bains and Balwinder Singh Bains, did not attend it.

Before December 5, 2011, Sokhi and Simarjit were like real brothers. But differences between them started growing when Sokhi's wife Sukhwinder Kaur, a member of the SGPC, was not given the party ticket during the last SGPC elections.

Sources close to Jagbir Singh Sokhi said he had discussed this matter with the Bains brothers and suspected that they did not make efforts to get ticket for his wife. Though Sokhi was seen with the Bains thereafter, he started distancing himself from the latter's camp. Sukhwinder Kaur was later co-opted into the SGPC with former Cabinet minister Hira Singh Gabria's efforts.

After Sokhi joined hands with Gabria, the Bains group distanced itself from him, because even though both Gabria and the Bains are from the SAD, they are known political opponents and have been openly accusing each other in the public.

Even when the allotment of tickets for the MC elections was being discussed by the SAD high command, the Bains brothers wanted that Sokhi should not get the ticket. He still managed to get the party ticket from ward number 63, from where he is a sitting councillor.

Jagbir Singh Sokhi confirmed that the Bains brothers did not attend the rally at his house in Shimlapuri, but did not comment further.

When contacted, MLA Balwinder Singh Bains said the rally at Sokhi's house in Shimlapuri was his personal function. "How can we attend any personal function? We had organised a public rally at Guru Angad Colony on the ATI Road last evening and Sukhbir Singh Badal had attended it too".

Ludhiana, June 8
It is 4-0 as far as police cases registered against the Congress as well as the SAD are concerned in the run-up to the municipal corporation elections. While four criminal cases have been registered against Congress candidates and their relatives, no SAD candidate has been booked so far in any criminal case.

While Congress candidates claimed that the recent cases were part of vendetta politics, SAD is washing its hand of from the issue and maintain that the candidate were paying the price for violating the law of land.

It all started about a month ago when Congress candidate from Ward No. 39 Sanjay Talvar was booked in a criminal case for allegedly instigating gamblers, who further went to attack a policeman in the Division No 3 area.

This followed the registration of attempt to murder case against MP Jawaddi and Harry, son and nephew of Congress candidate from Ward No 59 Satwinder Jawaddi, in connection with the Sarabha Nagar shootout incident. One person was injured in this incident which took place on May 31.

Subsequently Congress candidate from Ward No 63 Palwinder Singh Taggar was booked for thrashing SAD candidate JS Sokhi and his supporters in Shimla Puri during campaigning.

The liquor hoarding case on four persons marked the fourth criminal case against the Congress. The police action triggered protest and Congress worker led Maharaj Singh Raji surrounded the police station.

However, Congress MLA Bharat Bhushan Ashu saved the situation from taking an ugly turn and pacified the mob.

“Recent criminal cases against the Congress worker speak volumes about the vendetta politics. The police cases show that only Congress workers are violating the law. But what about SAD candidates, aren’t they violating the law too,” asked Congress leader Amarjit Singh Tikka?

Security beefed up,says DC

Commissioner of Police Ishwar Singh said the security had been beefed up in the wake of MC election, the polling of which is scheduled to be held on June 10.

The police today imposed Section 144 of the Cr. PC thereby prohibiting the gathering of five or more persons in the vicinity of 200 meters of the polling stations.

DCP Ashish Choudhary would supervise the security arrangements in the city he added. Polling for 75 wards would be held at 963 polling booths. While 62 polling stations have been identified as most sensitive, nearly 194 polling stations have been listed as sensitive.

Extra force would be deployed on these polling stations to foil the plan 
of miscreants.

The government has appointed senior IAS officers VK Janjua and Ramesh Kumar as poll observers.

Ludhiana, June 8
A day after Congress leaders were attacked in the Mullanpur area, a Congress candidate from ward number 23 has feared that the Akali candidate from the same ward might hurt her supporters. She has alleged that the members of the Akali candidate’s family are threatening her supporters and even indulging in anti-social activities.

In ward number 23, which comprises Shivpuri, Sekhewal village and other adjoining areas of the city, the main fight is between Kulwant Kaur Dhillon of the SAD and Manjeet Kaur Grewal of the Congress.

While Kulwant is the mother is sitting councillor Ajit Singh Dhillon, Manjeet is the mother of Congress block president Manpreet Singh Grewal. Interestingly, both Dhillon and Grewal live in Sekhewal village.

Ajit is the cousin brother of Ludhiana East MLA Ranjit Singh Dhillon of the Akali Dal and Manpreet is a close aide of Ludhiana North MLA Rakesh Pandey from the Congress. Both of them have fielded their mothers after this ward was reserved for women.

While addressing a press conference today, Manjeet Kaur alleged that for the past many days, the members of Dhillon’s family and their supporters had been threatening her, her family and supporters on one pretext or the other.

“They have not only threatened our supporters, but even hurled stones at their houses. I have come to know that the Dhillons have called their supporters from other parts of the district, who are indulging in such rowdyism. I urge the police department to depute cops in heavy numbers in the ward on June 9 and June 10 so that they are not able to harass or threaten our supporters. I also suspect that if these anti social elements are not reined in, they might create some law and order problem,” said Manjeet Kaur Grewal.

When contacted, Manjit Singh Dhillon, son of Kulwant Kaur Dhillon, stated that the the Congress candidate had foreseen her defeat in the MC elections. “That is why she is now cooking up stories. If they believe we have done something wrong, they can contact the police anytime. I want to clarify one thing, we don’t have time to waste over such things and will instead devote time on campaigning,” said Manjit.

Ludhiana, June 8
Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertaking (CICU) president Inderjit Singh Pardhan has applauded Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for assuring industrialists that the MSE sector would not have face major power cuts.

Avtar Singh, general secretary, CICU, said, “The MSE sector is one of the vital cogs in the Punjab’s wheels of progress. This sector is the main stay of the Punjab’s economy, only next to agriculture. It contributes significantly to the states industrial production, exports, employment and creation of entrepreneurial base towards generation of revenue and employment avenues.” “The regular power supply will help the industry to emerge as a potential centre at par with the adjoining northern states. The MSE sector will flourish, which will definitely boost the industrial trade in this competitive market,” said Pardhan.

He also appealed to the Punjab government and the Punjab State Power Regulatory Authority not to hike power tariff in the state. Upkar Singh, joint secretary, CICU, said the MSE sector was passing through a veracious circle of low profit, low investment in technology and brand building. The uninterrupted power supply would create conducive environment for the growth and development of the SSI sector.

Members of CICU further requested the Chief Minister for timely completion of thermal plants and major developmental projects. These would further promote industrialisation in the state. To meet the ever growing demand for power all available sources like hydro, thermal, nuclear, solar and wind should be tapped on priority basis, the members added. 

Ludhiana, June 8
It's summer time, and the buzz is not uncommon during the season. The buzz, roars engines have become common in this period of season with bikers undertaking motorbike adventure trips to far-off places. Bikers in groups of friends or as part of biking clubs have started going to far-off expeditions given the vacation time and easy access to various destinations.

"There is a sense of adventure, freedom, exhilaration that is unmatched when it comes to going to destinations on motorbikes. Travelling in cars or trains can never be that thrilling and fun," says Rajeev Kashyap, who has returned from an all-bikers trip from Leh and Ladakh.

"Biking is all about learning from new experiences and it is great fun. There is a freedom and flexibility to choose any path and interesting road, which is not possible during a train trip," he says.

Vihag Gupta, along with friend Puneet Chudhary, were in the city, en route from Delhi to Leh yesterday. Both of them work in Bangalore and have taken time off, especially for their Leh trip.

"It is kind of a break session. There is a sense of freedom while biking. This freedom to take any path and explore places that capture your attention are only possible by travelling on motorbikes," says Puneet.

If there is freedom and fun on bikes, it also requires planning. So any motorbike trip should be preceded with preparation as well, he says. Planning out which routes to follow, where to stay, how to handle any possible problems, carrying the needful equipment and tools are important, he says. "We also take training for knowing the motorbikes, for you have to know how to repair them, in case of any problems," he says.

Vihag said wearing the safety gear, including the riding jackets, pads and helmet are important to avoid injuries for protection. Hitting the highway, without proper safety gear is putting yourself at risk, he says.

Ludhiana, June 8
Employees of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) today staged a dharna at the office of the Central Zone to press for their pending demands in response to a call given by the PSEB Employees’ Federation (AITUC), Punjab.

Addressing the protesting workers, SP Singh, president, Suburban circle; Balwinder Singh Goraya, president, West circle; and Gopal Singh, president, East circle; who comprised the presidium, charged the management with failure to implement the accepted decisions.

“The PSPCL staff is also being discriminated against in the matter of revised pay scales. At the behest of a few pro-management unions, pay scales have been revised in such a manner that the salaries are getting reduced with each passing month,” the trade union activists alleged.

They further said the PSPCL management was encouraging outsourcing and contractual system of working, which was draining the already cash-strapped PSPCL. Not only this, with the contractors compromising with the quality of the work by using substandard material, the employees were exposed to grave risk to their lives while working on the transmission and distribution system.

Reiterating the pending demands, the speakers at the rally asked the management to immediately recruit eligible family members of deceased employees, implement the principle of similar pay for similar work in thermal power projects, regularise employees working on ad hoc basis or contract, create new posts on the basis of work load and revive more than 28,000 posts, which were abolished, revise uniform allowance and start regular recruitment.

Ludhiana, June 8
The Knitwear Club has shot a letter to the Chief Minister after a few excise and taxation officials tried to seize goods from the railway station yesterday.

Vinod Thapar, chairman, Knitwear Club, wrote in the letter that the excise officials were harassing the industry on the pretext that the goods lying on the platform, which were imported from other states, were delivered without the bills.

“The excise officials neither have right to inspect goods on the platform nor could they seize these without obtaining permission from the parcel department as per the orders of the Baroda House. But they are making industrialists panicky by ignoring rules and orders of the excise dept. The authorities could check the goods at the barriers on the premises of the railway station and we will cooperate with them,” Thapar added.

“We request you to save the industry, which is the major revenue generator for the government,” said Darshan Dawar, president of the club. — TNS

Ludhiana, June 8
Family members of Kewal Krishan Dawar, who was stabbed to death, today staged protest at the Gill Chowk and demanded arrest of two more persons in this connection.

The relatives led by Deepak Dawar squatted on the road and blocked the traffic.

They claimed that two more persons, who were involved in the killing of the Dawar, had not been booked so far. — TNS

Doraha,June 8
Gurbhajan Gill, President Punjabi sahit Academy and eminent Punjabi poet, shall be conferred the prestigious Punjabi Sath Award by the Punjabi Sath at village Lambran on June 10.

Gill has till date authored a number of anthologies of Punjabi poetry, including 'Sheesha Jhooth Bolda Hai', 'Har Dhukhda Pind Mera Hai', 'Bol Mitti Diya Bawia', 'Agan Katha', 'Do Harf Rasidi', 'Dharti Naad', 'Man De Buhe Barian', 'Khair Panjan Panian Dee' and an illustrated book 'Camere Di Akh Boldi' on civic life highlighting social issues.