Ludhiana, July 17
City residents are in for a tough time with the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation officials proceeding on an indefinite strike following suspension of MC Commissioner Malwinder Singh Jaggi.

The MC employees have announced that no work would be carried out in the MC till the MC Commissioner’s suspension orders are revoked.

Though Jaggi made a written appeal to the MC employees urging them to rejoin duty tomorrow, the employees were adamant and said they would strike work till the suspension orders were not revoked.

The MC employees said even the safai karamcharis would be on strike. In case of rain, no MC official or will be there to manage affairs. Last year when safai karamcharis had gone on strike, heaps of garbage had become a common sight in the city.

Ashwani Sahota, nodal officer (health) and an office-bearer of the MC Employees’ Union, said: “Today it’s the senior-most MC official and tomorrow it could be anyone of us. If there was anything against the MC Commissioner, the government should have ordered an inquiry into the incident and then if he was found guilty, the government could have taken action. But this is not the way.”

When asked about the appeal from Jaggi to join work, Sahota said: “We didn’t announce the strike by taking permission from the MC Commissioner and will take further decision after discussing it amongst ourselves. We would hold a meeting of our 31-member committee at the MC Zone-A office tomorrow morning and next course of action will be taken accordingly. But yes, tomorrow there would be a complete strike in the MC,” he claimed.

Jaggi’s appeal

Talking to The Tribune, the suspended MC Commissioner, Malwinder Singh Jaggi, said the strike was not a solution to any problem. “I have appealed to the employees to join duty tomorrow morning and I hope they will consider my request as all of us are one family.” 

Ludhiana, July 17
Frequent change of statements by the vegetable vendor whose makeshift shop at Dandi Swami Chowk was razed by the MC tehbazaari wing officials twice, has raised questions on the genuineness of his allegations.

On July 13, Kamlesh Pal, the vegetable vendor, had alleged that following an altercation with MC Commissioner Malwinder Singh Jaggi’s wife, his shop was targeted twice by the tehbazaari wing officials.

When The Tribune team visited the shop around 3.15 pm today, Kamlesh Pal was busy giving interview to news channels, making it look like more of a Bollywood flick ‘Peepli Live’.

He told this correspondent that Jaggi’s wife, Inderbir Kaur, was a regular visitor to his shop. “She has been coming here for the past many years and she never complained either about the quality of vegetables or about our behaviour. On July 8, my daughter was not well and was hospitalised and I had gone to attend her. My nephew was in the shop when the MC Commissioner’s wife came to buy vegetables. I came to know that she had some altercation with my nephew and she left. The tehbazaari wing officials came on July 13 and the next morning and razed my shop,” claimed Kamlesh Pal.

When asked that whether the altercation was related to a monetary dispute, Kamlesh Pal replied in negative. “The Commissioner’s wife always paid for the fruits or vegetables she purchased and never bargained. I wonder why this incident took place. She’s a well-behaved woman,” said Pal.

Interestingly, later in the evening, an affidavit by Kamlesh Pal was sent to The Tribune office. The affidavit, which bears a photograph of Kamlesh Pal and has been issued by the Executive Magistrate, Ludhiana, claims that the woman who came to purchase vegetables from his shop was not MC Commissioner Malwinder Singh Jaggi’s wife.

But when The Tribune team again called Kamlesh Pal to confirm the contents of the affidavit, he said a few persons had come to his shop at around 4 pm. “They told me that they need me to give an affidavit claiming that the woman who came to purchase vegetables was not Jaggi’s wife. I told them that I need it in writing that after I give this affidavit, my shop will not be razed and I would not be harassed in future, to which they agreed. I told them that if they are willing to give this thing in writing, I can give an affidavit without hesitation as I have already suffered a loss of around Rs 60,000,” said Kamlesh Pal.

On July 13, Kamlesh Pal, the vegetable vendor, had alleged that following an altercation with MC Commissioner Malwinder Singh Jaggi’s wife, his shop was targeted twice by the tehbazaari wing officials. However, on Tuesday evening, an affidavit by Kamlesh Pal stated that the woman who came to purchase vegetables at his shop was not MC Commissioner Malwinder Singh Jaggi’s wife. 

Ludhiana, July 17
The city police today arrest a person who had allegedly snatched gold earrings of a woman in Haibowal a few days ago.

The accused has been identified as Prince Sahni, a resident of Chander Nagar. Prince and his friend Aman allegedly snatched the gold earrings of Harjit Kaur (60) when she was visiting her neighbourhood at Lal Kothi in the Haibowal area on July 13.

After snatching the gold earring, the motorcyclists took a U-turn and even teased the victim. But they were oblivious of the fact that a closed circuit television camera was recording their activities.

Following the incident, the man at whose house the CCTV camera was installed, informed Harjit Kaur's son Prabhjit Singh Grewal. The CCTV footage of snatchers was carried in these columns on on July 16.

"After the news was carried, a resident contacted me and told me about the address of the snatcher. I am thankful to SHO, Division No 4, Vinod Kumar who responded quickly and arrested the snatcher," said Prabhjit Singh.

While prince was arrested following a tip- off, his accomplice Aman managed to flee.

Giving details about the case, ACP Swapan Sharma said both the snatchers are recidivist and have been out of jail on bail. The police has also recovered the gold earrings and a stolen motorcycle form the accused. 

Ludhiana, July 17
Although malls have started cropping up in the city, traditional markets continue to maintain their charm for residents of the city, as they say malls can only be an addition but they cannot replace traditional markets.

The residents prefer to visit traditional markets when it comes to shop a variety for things and cost effectiveness. Traditional markets like Gud Mandi, Sarafa Bazar, Chaura Bazaar, Pansari Bazaar and Basanti Bazar are still favoured by the residents for their unique character and for the variety of the products these offer. Ghumar Mandi, Maliganj Bazaar, Mochpura Bazaar, Meena Bazaar, Field Ganj and Shawl Market are frequented by the residents who chase the quality, not just the brands.

“There are so many products and locally-produced goods that can never reach the malls,” says Adarsh, a businessman. “Although I don't mind making purchases from malls once in a while, for regular shopping, it has to be the traditional markets. And these markets have their own charm, the hustle-bustle, scenes and scents that are unique to these markets, which cannot be matched by the mechanized and uniform look malls,” says Manmohan Singh, a resident.

Although multinational brand stores are there, there aren't enough products.

Arjun Verma, a resident, said he frequented Maliganj Bazaar for the mouth-watering puri-chhole, which were unmatched. Nimrat, who visits the malls often, says she feels contended only after visiting the traditional markets.

Some of the markets continue to develop and emerge as the new hubs for different products. Model Town for example has started emerging as the new shoe market with more than 10 big showrooms for shoes having developed there within a couple of years. As many as five big showrooms have opened on the single road leading to Gulati Chowk. The area near Shastri Nagar railway crossing has become surrounded by mobile phone stores.

Jagraon, July 17
It seems that the operators and owners of various public places such as marriage palaces, cinemas, shopping malls, factories, hospitals and other commercial buildings have learnt no lesson from the tragic fire incidents taking place across the state in the past.

Most of the public places in Jagraon sans mandatory fire-fighting equipment while some others have been managing with outdated equipment, thus putting the lives of people to high risk.

During a visit to various public places in the Jagraon area, it was found that there was no fire fighting equipment present at a majority of these places. Though there are a few public places where fire-fighting equipment has been installed and functioning properly, at most of the places the equipment is apparently installed just for a formality. A majority of them are either outdated or out of order.

The fire-safety arrangements are worse at marriage places where the risk of a fire breaking out always looms large. The fire extinguishers installed at marriage palaces have not been updated for a long time. Moreover, fewer numbers of fire extinguishers have been installed at these buildings than the requirement.

Though such public places require regular monitoring by the authorities, the local administration has failed to act accordingly.

There has been no fire brigade station in Jagraon and whenever a fire breaks out in the area, the fire brigade is called from either Ludhiana or Moga.

Gurmeet Singh, SDM, Jagraon, said the administration had been regularly issuing instructions to the operators and owners of public places to keep their fire-fighting equipment updated. "If any public place is found lacking fire safety equipment, a strict action will be taken against the operator of that place," he added.

Ludhiana, July 17
On a call given by the United Forum of Bank Union (UFBU), officials and workmen of the Punjab Bank Employees’ Federation (PBEF) staged a dharna in front of Canara Bank today.

PBEF general secretary Naresh Gaur said they were opposed to the proposed banking law amendments, proposing to amend the Banking Regulations Act and Banking Companies Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings Act.

“Aimed at merger of banks, allowing more private and foreign capital in banks, unrestricted voting rights, decision to grant licence to corporate and private business houses to start their own banks, attempts to close down rural branches and resorting to a large number of ultra small branches, thereby privatising rural banking operations through contractual business correspondents, lack of stringent measures to recover increasing NPAs and bad loans as these are detrimental to the people’s money in the banking industry.” These steps of the government have forced the bank employees to observe a two-day strike on July 25 and 26 throughout the nation, added gaur.

Meanwhile, protest demonstration was held by the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) to hike minimum wages. “Although the government has announced to hike minimum wages for workers, the hike is not sufficient. We want that unskilled workers should be given minimum Rs 10,000 per month. Keeping in view the rising inflation rate, salaries of the workers should also be fixed keeping it in consideration,” said Tarsem Jodhan, vice-president of CITU. Workers also demanded that contract system should be abolished completely.

Ludhiana, July 17
Increase in the power tariff of 12.08 per cent for the financial year 2012-13 announced by the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission on Monday has came in for sharp criticism at the hands of the people from all walks of life who have termed it as a rude shock.

The Communist Party of India (CPI) has condemned the hike in the electricity tariff, which was already high in Punjab. The district secretary of the party, Kartar Singh Bowani, city secretary Ramesh Rattan, assistant secretaries, Dr Arun Mitra and DP Maur, have described the increase as a bolt from the blue for the common man who was already reeling under difficulties.

They said people were already suffocating under the burden of steep rise in the prices of petrol and other essential items. “Yet another blow to the masses by way of increased cost of electricity has exposed the real face of the government, which was just waiting for the civic elections to end.”

The CPI activists called for immediate rollback of the power tariff hike and effective steps to hold the price line of essential commodities.

The Senior Citizen Forum has also came down heavily upon the state government and PSPCL for hike of 53 to 58 paisa per unit of electricity saying the additional burden is bound to upset the domestic budget of lower and middle class people.

Kuldip Singh Kreer, general secretary of the forum, said the persistent hike in the cost of electricity was the direct result of inefficiency of the power utility, which has never bothered to cut down the transmission and distribution losses, wasteful expenditure on establishment and plug massive power theft. “The people are made to bear the brunt of the financial mismanagement of PSPCL,” he observed, while calling upon the state government and PSPCL management to reconsider the decision and rollback the hike immediately.

Ludhiana, July 17
The latest decision of the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission and Punjab State Power Corporation to hike power tariff from 55 to 58 paisa per unit for industrial consumers and 53 to 58 paisa per unit for domestic consumers with effect from April 1, but announced on July 16, is vehemently been opposed by president Gurmeet Singh Kular and chairman Manjit Singh Khalsa, United Cycle Parts and Manufacturers’ Association.

On one hand, PSPCL has not been able to give uninterrupted power supply to the industry for the last four to five years, on the other hand, the Punjab government firstly increased the electricity duty from 10 per cent to 13 per cent, then imposed entry tax of 12.5 per cent on diesel generating sets, further imposed 5 per cent electricity duty from captive consumption from any source and power tariff is being hiked almost every year by PSPCL.

“With all these taxes and duties in place, it is beyond imagination how the industry in Punjab will survive and compete in the national and international market. All policies framed by the PSPCL are anti-industry and industrialists of Punjab are being supplied power at exorbitant rate as compared with all other northern states. One cannot hope that any new industry will come up in the state due to the repeated hike in power tariff and imposition of various taxes and duties every now and then,” added Kular.

The financial market management department of BCM Arya Model School organised a guest lecture on trading of capital market for Class XII students on Tuesday. Sandeep, area manager (Punjab & J&K), the SBI CAP Securities, delivered a lecture on trading techniques and Demat functionalities and market outcomes.

Ludhiana, July 17
A training course on dairy farming titled “Adopt dairy farming for the progress of Punjab” was inaugurated at GADVASU today. Dr RS Sahota, director extension education, GADVASU, while inaugurating the training said the university was going to organise a series of such training programmes for farmers and field functionaries of the state as well as the country.

Dr RS Sahota interacted with farmers and dealt with their queries. He also explained about the current and future scenario of dairy industry. He stressed upon the value addition of dairy products, record keeping of dairy farming, especially on the issue of raising calves born on dairy farm for the breed improvement.

Dr HK Verma, head, department of animal husbandry extension education, said the farmers would be guided to make the green fodder available to their animals throughout the year. They will also be encouraged to make the concentrate feed at the farm. This will ensure quality of feed and it will also be economical. The farmers will be trained to differentiate between healthy and sick animals.

Role of regular vaccination, de-worming and hygiene in prevention of diseases will be stressed. The first-aid methods for various ailments will be taught and practical demonstrations will be held. Tips for timely detection of heat, timely artificial insemination and care of pregnant and newborn animals will be emphasised. Experts from bank and insurance company will also deliver their lectures regarding facilities provided by them. He said although livestock population had declined over the years, still there was an increase in milk production, which was indicative of high and better producing animals being reared in the state. Course coordinator, Dr Udeybir Singh, informed that 51 farmers from different districts of Punjab are participating in the programme.

Ludhiana July 17
It may sound strange that the education department is providing computer training to government teachers on dysfunctional computers.

The information communication technology (ICT) project running under the education department has been conducting computer training for teachers at the Government In-Service Teachers’ Training Centre (GITTC). Ironically, the department conducted the computer training without confirming the status of computers, as most of the computers are dysfunctional.

In the current session of training, 17 teachers of various subjects are learning computers, but only four computers are functional. Teachers have to sit in groups and no one can operate the computer individually.

Some of the teachers already know the basics of the computer and are Internet savvy, but according to the departmental instructions, every teacher has to participate in the training session. In charge at the Government In-Service Teachers’ Training Centre said, “We have registered a complaint with the ICT coordinator yesterday, but no one came to fix the problem.”

Meanwhile, some of the teachers on the condition of anonymity said this training was useless, as they could not access the computer individually.

Paritam Singh, ICT project coordinator, said, “I have received the complaint that some of the computers are dysfunctional. We will fix the problem soon.”

This training has been conducted to provide basic information about computer to teachers. But most of the teachers consider it wastage of time, as the department does not have proper infrastructure.

Contrary to this, some of the lecturers at the in-service training centres said most of teachers did not want to learn anything new, so they are making excuse to get rid from training sessions.

Ludhiana, July 17
The conference on HIV/AIDS was organised in collaboration with DMCH and CMCH. About 350 doctors from the region participated in the conference.

Organising secretary, Dr Dinesh Jain, emphasised that HIV should now be considered as a chronic disease and with better treatment options available, patients live a healthier and longer life.

Dr NM Sharma (additional project director, Punjab AIDS Control Society) presided as the chief guest. Dr JK Maniar, chief consultant from Jaslok Hospital, Mumbai, also the chief coordinator of the conference, spoke about his experience in the field of HIV and its treatment.

Lectures on anti-retroviral therapy by Dr Milind Brushundi from Nagpur, complication of HIV treatment by Dr Vipul Shah from Ahmedabad and pre and post-exposure prophylaxis by Dr Keyur Shah were organized during the conference. Dr Alok Vashisth from Haridwar delivered a talk on opportunity infections and a talk on lab diagnosis and monitoring was delivered by Dr Dinesh Jain.

The CME concluded with a felicitation ceremony of prominent doctors of the city, including Dr LS Chawla, Dr Daljit Singh, Dr Abraham Thomas, Dr GL Avasthi, Dr Kulwant Singh, Dr Jagdeep Whig, Dr KL Dhar, Dr Rama Sofat, Dr GS Grewal and Dr Nitin Malhotra, Dr S R Shahi from Ahmedgarh.

Ludhiana, July 17
Two farmer members of the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) Kisan Club bagged prestigious awards during the 84th Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) foundation day celebrations held yesterday at the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NASC) symposium hall, New Delhi.

Sharad Pawar, Union Minister of Agriculture and Food Processing, conferred the “Jagjiwan Ram Abhinav Innovative Farmer Award 2011” and “NG Ranga Farmer Award 2011” on the farmers, namely Rajwinderpal S Rana and Gurcharan S Mann, respectively. Rana has been awarded for zone one with a cash prize of Rs 50,000 along with equal amount of travel grant for the promotion of his achievements and motivating farmers in his perspective zone. Mann of Bathinda district has been presented Rs 1 lakh for excelling in diversified agriculture.

Term extended

The former director of extension education of the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU, Dr JS Kolar has been given another term of three years as a member of PAU board of management. Dr RK Mahey, Registrar, PAU, informed that the Governor of Punjab-cum-Chancellor of PAU has approved the appointment of Dr Kolar for a period of another three years.

Nominated

Dr APS Mann, former dean, College of Basic Sciences and Humanities, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), has been nominated as a member of the advisory board of National Sugar Institute, Kanpur, an institute in Asia for research, teaching and technology development of sugarcane and sugarcane industry. Dr Mann’s appointment has been made in recognition of his contribution to the research in sugar crops and sugar industry. He is already a member of the development council for sugar industry and national standing research advisory committee of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Government of India.

Coaching camp ends

A 15-day annual national sports organisation (NSO) coaching camp organised for students of BSc agriculture (honours), BTech (agricultural engineering) and BSc (home science) enrolled under the NSO programme during the academic year 2011-12 concluded here on Tuesday. Nearly 145 NSO trainees, including 45 girls, participated in various games like handball, lawn tennis, swimming, badminton, basketball, football, cricket, hockey, athletics, table tennis, volleyball, kabbadi and weight lifting. The trainees were imparted skills in their respective games by the physical education staff of PAU and Sports Authority of India (SAI).

‘Promote farm literature’

The Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) brings out farm literature in the form of farm magazines, changi kheti and progressive farming, package of practices for rabi and kharif crops, vegetables and fruits in addition to bulletins on different crops. These publications are popular among farmers, as they derive the need-based knowledge for scientific farming from these. This was stated by additional director of communication, Dr Jagtar Singh Dhiman, adding that efforts are being made for enhancing outreach of farm literature to the masses. For this, changi kheti fairs will be organised in colleges to connect students with scientific knowledge on farming. This will benefit their farming in villages. The people and organisations who want to act as agents for spreading PAU farm literature can contact the business manager, Centre for Communication and International Linkages of PAU.

Awarded

Dr SN Jha, head of division of Central Institute of Post Harvest Engineering and Technology (CIPHET), Ludhiana, received the highest prize, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Award of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), for his pioneering research work on nondestructive methods of food quality evaluation and post-harvest technology and management of makhana processing, informed Dr US Shivhare, director CIPHET, Ludhiana. The award consisted of a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh and citation. Dr Jha received the award from Union Minister of Agriculture and Food Processing Industries, Sharad Pawar.

Ludhiana, July 17
Unscheduled power cuts and frequent load shedding by the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) for last of couple of days in the mega city have made life tough for residents.

Even as senior PSPCL officials at the headquarters in Patiala have been unequivocally asserting that the total availability of power with the state and prevailing demand were comparable and further that no scheduled power cuts were being imposed on domestic consumers, people in the city have been facing frequent interruption in power supply during the day and at times also during night.

Residents from many city localities complained that on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday, they had to go without power at least three times with each outage lasting for half-an-hour or little more.

“There was no respite this morning, too, when an unannounced power cut of one-and-a-half hour was enforced at 8 am and in some other localities at 8.30 am,” several residents from Civil Lines, BRS Nagar, Shamsher Avenue, Maharani Jhansi Road, Sarabha Nagar and Haibowal areas rued while adding that there were some interruptions in power supply later in the day as well.

The extended power cut this morning also affected the water supply in areas that are fed by tubewells. “Non-supply of water and electricity seems to be a gift of the SAD-BJP government to the people for giving yet another mandate in their favour," said Balwinder Kaur, a schoolteacher and a resident of the Upkar Nagar locality.

The PSPCL officials, however, attributed the disturbance in power supply to load shedding due to occasional low frequency at the Northern Power Grid. They said all transmission and distribution systems in the city were fully operational. "When the frequency goes low at the grid, we receive an SOS from the headquarters to cut off the power supply to avoid grid failure and imposition of heavy penalty," a senior PSPCL official said in a helpless manner. 

Ludhiana, July 17
A cyclist reportedly fled with the gold earrings of a woman at Ghumar Mandi today. It is learnt that the cyclist grabbed the throat of the woman seated in a parked car. 

The incident took place at around 9 pm when the woman was returning home after shopping in the nearby market. The cyclist approached the woman’s car and she rolled down the windowpane when he knocked it.

As soon as the windowpane was opened, he got hold of her throat and threatened her unless she handed over the valuables. The woman quickly removed her earnings and handed over to the cyclist.

Soon after collecting the gold earrings, the cyclist fled from the scene. The woman further informed the police about the incident. The police reached the spot and started investigation.

Phillaur, July 17
A resident of Sangrur, identified as Ramesh Kumar, was killed when his car (PB-08B-1439) overturned and fell down from a bridge of a canal between Goraya and Phillaur near Bhattian village late last night.

The accident occurred when tyres of the car got punctured and the deceased lost control of the vehicle. He was first admitted to a nearby hospital, but was referred to a hospital in Ludhiana due to his critical condition where he succumbed to his injuries. In another mishap, an unidentified middle-aged man was run over by a train near Mauli (Goraya) last night. — OC

Mandi Ahmedgarh, July 17
One person was killed and three injured in two different accidents near Dehlon on the Ludhiana-Malerkotla road this afternoon.

The deceased has been identified as Sandeep Singh of Bhoodan village in Sangrur district. His father Payara Singh, Khem Pal and Rita of Dhuri were among the injured.

The incident took place near a chowk at Dehlon village when a speeding tanker (PB-65-G-1721) heading towards Malerkotla hit a motorcycle on which Sandeep Singh and his father Payara Singh were riding. The collision was so intense that the father and son due was thrown like a projectile before the tanker.

Sandeep Singh succumbed to his injuries after being crushed by the vehicle and profusely bleeding Payara Singh was shifted to a multi-specialty hospital where his condition is stated to be serious. The Dehlon police has booked driver of the tanker Harjit Singh of Sibian village in Sangrur district, under Sections 279, 304-A and 427 of IPC.

Khem Pal and his relative Rani were injured when the car they were travelling in skidded and fell into a pit along the highway.