Ludhiana, September 7
Long traffic jams were witnessed on Ferozepur Road today as the city was swarmed by a battery of Congress leaders for a protest rally.

The vehicular traffic remained disrupted on the road for over three hours. Congress leaders Captain Amarinder Singh, president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress committee, Sunil Jakhar, Congress Legislative Party leader and Manish Tewari, Member of Parliament, led a protest rally of Congress leaders and workers near the Mini-Secretariat.

Residents passing through Ferozepur Road had to face inconvenience as haphazard parking of Congress leaders’ vehicles blocked the traffic. Besides, vehicles of the security staff were also parked on the road leading to chaos.

The organisers failed to make provision for parking of vehicles near to the rally venue. A number of Congress workers faced inconvenience while parking their cars at the venue. Most of the vehicles were parked at Punjabi Bhawan Complex.

Commuters passing through the busy Bharat Nagar chowk were at the receiving end for three hours (from 12.30 pm to 2.30 pm) due to long traffic jams.

Beant Juneja, in charge, traffic police station, said: "We had made arrangements to avoid traffic jams. The police diverted the heavy vehicles to Kochar Market. But there were some Congress workers who parked their vehicles on the road and we had to tow away five-six cars from the spot. The Z security vehicles were also parked on the road.” 

Ludhiana, September 7
The election to the posts of Mayor, Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor is likely to be held on September 15. Earlier, the councillors were expecting that the election would be held on September 6, the day when the term of the outgoing MC house was supposed to end.

Sources within the local bodies department said the election might be held on September 15.

The newly elected councillors will also be administered an oath on the same day.

Interestingly, even after passing of almost three months, the newly elected councillors are yet to be administered the oath. The MC elections had taken place on June 10.

While the Shiromani Akali Dal councillors and leaders have given the right to elect the Mayor to party president and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, the Bharatiya Janta Party has asked the party high command to choose the Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor.

The decision to this effect was taken during a meeting at the house of state PWD minister Sharanjit Singh Dhillon on June 12.

On September 3, the BJP had asked the party high command to take the final call.

A senior Akali leader said the Mayoral election will be held on September 15. “As per rules, the oath-taking ceremony is held three days after the MC secretary receives an official communiqué from the state government. The letter is to be sent by the Divisional Commissioner, Patiala, and he is likely to send it soon."

The Ludhiana MC is the richest civic body of the state with an annual budget o Rs 741 crore for 2012-13. As per the internal arrangement between the Akali Dal and Bharatiya Janta Party, the post of Mayor goes with the Akali Dal while the posts of Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor remain with the BJP.

The main contenders for the post of Mayor are three-time councillor Pal Singh Grewal, Hakam Singh Giaspura, youth leader from the Bains group Kamaljit Singh Karwal, Jagbir Singh Sokhi and Paramjit Kaur Shivalik, two-time councillors.

Ludhiana, September 7
Gangster Gurshaheed Singh Shera, who was shot dead by the Bathinda police on Thursday, was also involved in a case in Ludhiana.

A case was registered against Shera at the Shimlapuri police station in May in which he demanded a ransom of Rs 30 lakh from a businessman. Shera was wanted in numerous cases of murder, attempt to murder, looting, vehicle lifting, kidnapping, firing and incidents of intimidation.

Jaswinder Singh, SHO, Shimlapuri, said: Shera was wanted in a case registered in their police station some months ago. Gagandeep Singh, a mobile service distributor and a resident of Dugri, received call from Shera for a ransom of Rs 30 lakh. We conducted raids at various places to nab Shera, but he managed to flee."

Shera was allegedly involved in a murder case that took place in Ferozepur during the Assembly polls on January 30. The police said Shera had threatened some other businessmen of Ludhiana. 

Ludhiana, September 7
The city police claims to have solved the murder case of Qurbaan, a migrant found murdered at PUDA ground on September 3, with the arrest of deceased's friend Ishfaque Mohammad, a resident of the Moti Nagar area in the city.

Qurbaan, a resident of Bhamian Road, was murdered on September 2 and the police found his body the next day. Raj Kumar, SHO, Division no 7 police station, said: "During preliminary investigations, it came to light that Qurbaan was a member of a notorious gang. This gang targeted people in Ludhiana and other districts. When we come to know about it, we started looking for Qurbaan's associates and the main accused was arrested on Thursday at Samrala Chowk. The accused revealed that on September 2, Qurbaan had a scuffle with other members of the gang ", added Raj Kumar.

The SHO said that Ishfaque allegedly strangulated Qurbaan with some cloth and after killing him, fled from the spot. 

Ludhiana September 7
The Youth Akali Dal staged a protest outside the house of MP Manish Tewari here today. The activists also burnt his effigy. They were protesting against the involvement of Congress leaders in coal and other scams reported recently.

Vehicular movement on roads in Pakhowal roads was affected.

Meetpal Singh Dugri, national vice-president of the Youth Akali Dal, alleged, "Most of the Congress leaders are involved in coal scam, spectrum scam and Commonwealth Games scam."

He alleged that the Prime Minister had failed to control the price hike. 

Mandi Ahmedgarh, September 7
Owners of marriage palaces and resorts situated in rural areas have raised concern over the rise in luxury tax. The owners fear that immediate imposition of extra taxes on functions that had already been booked would result in unwanted dispute with clients, because item-wise invoices, including existing levies and taxes, had already been provided to them.

Owners of palaces situated at Pohir, Jagera and Dehlon villages led by Param Deep Singh Deepa and Dharam Pal Bansal said the hike in luxury tax from four to eight per cent came as a shock to them. As advance bookings had already been made for the next six to seven months, neither the owners nor the clients were ready to bear the extra burden, they said.

"Now, when we have made the bookings according to the old plan, how will we be able to convince the clients to pay double the tax," argued Deepa and Bansal.

Maintaining that they were already a harried lot, the owners appealed to the state government to review the tax structure and rationalise levies according to the economic background of their clients.

The palace owners said most of their clients belonged to the lower-middle class and could not afford the extra taxation.

Customers who had already made the bookings were approaching the owners of marriage palaces to get a clarification on the matter.

Nirmal Singh of Lohgarh village, who had booked a palace situated on the Ludhiana-Malerkotla road for a function to be held in November, said he would seek intervention of higher authorities if he was made to pay more than what he had been told at the time of booking. 

Ludhiana, September 7
Even as International Literacy Day is being celebrated across the world, the state of the underprivileged children in the city continues to be miserable when it comes to literacy levels.

Although the government claims that many child labourers have been "rescued", thousands of them continue to work at homes, shops and other commercial establishments, and as daily wagers in construction and other industries right under the nose of the administration. This is happening despite a ban on child labour imposed by the Constitution of India, the Union Parliament as well as the apex court.

The Right to Education Act remains ineffective in the face of opposition from private schools that are not willing to allow the underprivileged children to study in their schools.

"The government has provided for the right to free and compulsory education, but it has proved to be spineless when it comes to implementing it. The government has neither been able to rehabilitate the child labourers, nor it has been able to take a strict action against the private schools that are not complying with the rule of giving admission to underprivileged children," says Harjit Singh, a resident of Sant Nagar.

Residents also feel the campaign has failed because of the widespread ignorance amongst the underprivileged about the fundamental right of free and compulsory education. "The government has failed to create awareness about the right," says Rohit, a resident.

Oblivious of his rights, Pramod, a child who works at a shop in Model Town, says although he wanted to study in school, he had to work as his parents could not pay for his education. 

Ludhiana, September 7
Realising the "plight" of local residents who go through a harrowing time while getting high-security number plates from the District Transport Office here, the company concerned responsible for the delay has been asked to depute a senior official in Ludhiana district to clear the backlog.

The state transport department has asked the company to issue at least 2,300 number plates everyday so that the backlog is cleared by October-end.

Confirming this, District Transport Officer MS Chatwal said the decision was taken recently during a meeting of the high-ups in Chandigarh.

"Seeing the quantum of work in the district, the decision has been taken by the transport department. There is a huge backlog of number plates here and residents have regularly been complaining against the delay in getting the high-security number plates," said DTO Chatwal.

Sources said the company had got just four machines to make such number plates in the district where hundreds of new vehicles were registered everyday, besides the old vehicles. About 40 more such machines are expected to be added to streamline the work.

Meanwhile, the residents have been regularly raising hue and cry over the working of the contractor and his attendants in issuing the number plates. The residents complained that there were just two to three attendants and they could never get through to them. When certain residents lodged complaint with the attendants for not attending the phone calls, they were told that it was not possible to answer each and every call.

Arvind Vashisht, a local resident, lamented that even after three months he was not able to get a high-security number plate from Dana Mandi (where these are issued). "I am simply fed up," complained Vashisht. 

Ludhiana, September 7
All 290 brick kiln owners in Ludhiana district will observe a one-day strike on September 12 to protest against the state government's decision to increase the lump sum amount of VAT on kilns to Rs 40,000 per month. The brick-kiln owners said it came as a jolt to them as till now, they had been giving the VAT of Rs 20,000 per month. The owners also threatened to intensify their agitation if the government did not rollback the increased amount of VAT.

General secretary of the Ludhiana Brick Kiln Association Sarabjit Singh Dhillon said the government had put an additional burden on the brick kiln owners. The lump sum amount of VAT of about Rs 20,000 per month was levied by the state government about five years ago and all kiln owners were paying it religiously. At that time, it was decided that the government would increase the amount to 8 per cent per annum.

"But in the recent decision, they set the VAT amount to Rs 40,000 per month, which is uncalled for. That means, the brick kiln owners will have to pay Rs 4,80,000 per year even if their business is not running smoothly. For four months from July to October, it is almost off season when people stop construction work due to rain. Though, we are given another option to deposit the VAT as per our sale, which is deposited every three months. But that way Inspectors start taking us for a ride and government loses its revenue as Inspectors start asking for money." said Dhillon.

President of the association Darshan Singh Jawanda said there were about 2,000 brick kilns in Punjab, out of which 1,000 were near the city while the remaining were on the outskirts.

"The kilns near the city can sale the bricks due to increased demand but there are not much sales in rural areas. How can they pay such a huge amount as VAT to the state government when their business suffers losses? Our executive will hold a state-level meeting in Chandigarh tomorrow to decide the next course of action," said Jawanda.

Ludhiana, September 7
The issue of shifting of garbage dump from near Orient Cinema in Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar has once again cropped up. Residents and shopkeepers of Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar and other adjoining areas are up in arms against A2Z Waste Management Ludhiana Ltd, the company that have been given the contract of solid waste management for the city.

Residents and shopkeepers are demanding that the company should shift the garbage dump near Orient Cinema as it is operating without permission from the Ludhiana municipal corporation. This is not for the first time that residents and shopkeepers have held a protest against the garbage dump.

The garbage dump is called a secondary garbage collection point in technical terms and private garbage collectors dump garbage of Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar and other adjoining localities here. The dump is then lifted by the A2Z company and sent to the garbage dump in Jamalpur village on the Chandigarh Road.

However, the area residents and shopkeepers allege that the garbage dump is a blot on the face of posh Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar locality.

Col Jagdish Singh Brar (retd), president of an NGO, Maha Sabha, Ludhiana, alleged that the particular garbage dump was running without permission from the MC.

“This is not only an illegal dump but is also poorly maintained. This can be gauged known from the fact that a 10-year-old migrant girl had lost her life here last month. The MC should shift the dump to some other area so that the residents are not made to suffer. If the MC fails to redress this problem, we will be forced to intensify our protest,” claimed Col Brar.

He added that they would not let the private garbage collectors dump garbage here. When the Maha Sabha Ludhiana members were protesting against the garbage dump, a group of private garbage collectors led by Surinder Kalyan, chairman of Valmiki Samaj Bachao Aandolan, too, reached the spot.

Manoj Mishra, deputy-general manager, A2Z Waste Management Ludhiana Ltd, claimed that after their company got the contract of solid waste management, they had lifted more than 200 trucks full of garbage from the dump.

“The dump has been in the area for several years and after we took over, we have maintained it in a better way than it was maintained earlier. We have kept several garbage bins in the area, but instead of dumping garbage in those, the private garbage collectors bring it to the dump. If they dump it in garbage bins, our trucks will lift it directly from there and take it to Jamalpur garbage dump and that particular garbage will not reach the dump near Orient Cinema. I have met the members of Maha Sabha, Ludhiana, and have assured them that the garbage dump will be maintained in a proper manner so that no person is affected,” claimed Manoj Mishra.

Ludhiana, September 7
The Punjab Roller Flour Millers' Association has urged the Government of India to withdraw the amendment to Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS).

Naresh Ghai, president of the Punjab Roller Flour Millers' Association, said, "The Government of India through its Open Market Sale Scheme, which has been in place for the past 20 years, allocates wheat through the tender system in the entire country. Under the scheme, one reserve price is fixed for the whole country and rail freight from Ludhiana is charged as per distance up to the state's capital. Now, the policy has been amended and the producing states of Punjab, Haryana, UP and MP have been subjected to discrimination."

He said the government had selectively identified the above stated four producing states and had imposed 14.5 per cent extra tax.

Ghai said,"The Centre is penalising consumers by devising policies to "fix" consumers of the state and is forcing them to pay highest price for wheat products."

Ludhiana, September 7
In view of the rising consumption of habit-forming drugs among as, the scientists of the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) have impressed upon parents to save their children from this menace. PAU home scientist from the human development department Dr Tejpreet Kaur Kang said the term ‘drug abuse’ described habits such as smoking, alcoholism and consumption of narcotics including ganja and marijuana. 

Ludhiana, September 7
At the freshers’ party of Guru Nanak Institute of Management and Technology, Gujarkhan Campus, Sahil Grover was crowned Mr Freshers, while Shaveta Thakur won the title of Miss Freshers on Friday. The event was organised by the student chapter of Indian Society for Technical Education (ISTE) for the newly admitted students of undergraduate courses. The programme commenced with a welcome dance by Kamaldeep, followed by a cultural programme by the senior students of the institute. 

The main attraction, however, was the Mr Freshers and Miss Freshers competition. Harjot Singh and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu were declared as the first and second runners-up among the boys, while Harman Kaur and Pavneet Khurana were declared first and second runners-up among the girls. The function was followed by lunch hosted by senior students.

Khanna, September 7
The Khanna police has claimed to have recovered 19 bags of poppy husk from four different places here today. Addressing a press conference, Senior Superintendent of Police, Khanna, Ravcharan Singh Brar said a police party led by Inspector Waryam Singh laid a checkpost near Mandiala Kalan village and recovered six bags of poppy husk from a vehicle. 

Two persons, Shankar and Navjeet Singh, both residents of Mandiala Kalan village, who were carrying the contraband were arrested, he said. Further investigation led to recovery of two more bags of poppy husk from Navjeet, and five bags from one Harmeet Singh and four bags from one Manjit Singh. Both Harmeet and Manjit worked with Shankar and Navjeet, Brar said.

Another police party arrested a woman from Raikot who was carrying two bags of poppy husk. The police has registered cases in this regard under the NDPS Act and is questioning the accused.