Extend vacations till Jan 13, DC to schools

Deputy Commissioner Rahul Tewari has instructed all schools to extend the winter vacations of primary section till January 13. The Deputy Commissioner has issued direction to the district education officer to conduct inspections at private primary schools for the implementation of orders. "If the primary section of any school is found open, strict action will be initiated against the defaulters," he added.

Ludhiana, January 7
With foggy weather coupled with low visibility showing no signs of improvement, the rail traffic in the region continues to be erratic.

After running almost on schedule for a couple of days, trains on the New Delhi-Ludhiana-Amritsar section, including two Shatabdi trains and Shan-e-Punjab, arrived late by 30-45 minutes. Many long-route trains were also running behind schedule by 1.15 to 12 hours causing inconvenience to passengers.

Railway officials said the Saharsa-Amritsar Jansewa Express was running late buy 11.50 hours, the Katihar-Amritsar Amrapali Express by 10 hours, the Amritsar-Saharsa Jansewa Express by 6.30 hours, the Pune-Jammu Tawi Jhelum Express by 5.20 hours, Nanded-Amritsar Sachkhand Express by 3.30 hours, the Muzaffarpur-Jammu Tawi-Maur Dhwaj Express by 3.30 hours, the Howrah-Amritsar Mail by 3.10 hours, the Howrah-Amritsar Express by 2.50 hours and the Sealdah-Amritsar Akal Takht Express by 1.15 hours.

The passengers are missing important social, professional events or are not being able to make it to the connecting trains or flights due to erratic train schedule, the Railways are also facing a loss of revenue.

Railway officials admit that railway tickets booked much in advance are being cancelled. Passengers had to alter or shelve their travel plans necessitating cancellation of journey tickets and seeking refund. An undue rush of people at the railway reservation centre waiting to get their tickets cancelled and seeking refund is a the testimony to the fact that erratic running of trains had an adverse impact on earnings of the Railways.

A railway official said people seeking cancellation of their tickets reserved in advance and seeking refund is a routine process. "No specific figure can be given for the extent of refund made to the passengers," said an official. 

Ludhiana, January 7
Power cuts have added to troubles of government school students as the classrooms turn dark due to foggy weather.

Expect from some schools like Government Model Senior Secondary School, PAU, where the building is new, most of the government schools of the city have been facing the same problem.

Government schools for girls are low-lit as sometimes the school authorities do not have sufficient funds to install bulbs in the classrooms. The Punjab Government had exempted the girls studying in government schools from paying fee, so the schools are facing shortage of funds.

Ludhiana, January 7
Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) has increased the walkers' entry fee on its campus, saying that morning walkers harm experimental areas which affect the research works.

According to a circular issued by the PAU estate officer, the entry fee for 
the general morning walkers has been increased to Rs 2,000 from Rs 1,000 annually.

The university authorities also increased the walkers' entry fee for senior citizens as now they will have to pay Rs 500 annually. The PAU used to charge Rs 200 from the senior citizens till December 31, 2012.

The PAU campus is known as the breathing space of the city. There are around 1,500 walkers who visit the campus for morning or evening walks. The PAU usually increases the walkers' entry fee every year, but from the past two years, it has started doubling the fee.

Most of the walkers are unhappy with the hike in the entry fee. Vikash Sharma, a morning walker, said: "I saw the notice on January 4. I was about to get a new pass, but the PAU authorities have been charging almost double the amount from last year. We feel that Rs 2,000 is a big amount. The PAU increases walker's entry fee every year, but the authorities do not provide any facility on the campus for daily walkers. They can install benches and water coolers on the campus".

When connected, estate officer, PAU, Dr Jaskarn Singh, said: "Inflation has its effect everywhere. We have to make the arrangements for morning walkers so there is a proposal to increase the entry fee. Moreover, some of the walkers pluck corn cobs, sugarcane and cotton bud from the experimental fields which affects the ongoing research projects. We have decided to strengthen the security in experimental area of the PAU ." 

Ludhiana, January 7
In a glaring example of deterioration of relations and social fabric in the city, a man committed theft at his sister’s house after sedating his nephew.

Investigating officer of Basti Jodhewal police station Narinder Singh said the incident took place on Sunday when the accused, identified as Surinder Sharma, offered food laced with sedatives to his nephew, 15-yar-old Vikas.

Vikas’ father Mohan Lal said the family was on a pilgrimage following the marriage of his brother Gagandeep. Mohan Lal’s brother- in-law Surinder hired a taxi for them. He assured the family that he would take care of his nephew in their absence. Vikas’s cousin Rahul also stayed at home.

On Sunday afternoon, Surinder got something to eat for Vikas and Rahul. He gave one plate to Vikas while Rahul said no to food and went upstairs.

After having lunch, Vikas complained of nausea and Surinder asked him to rest. Vikas dosed off and when he regained conscious, he found his legs and arms tied. Meanwhile, Surinder ransacked the house and fled with valuables and cash.

Rahul came downstairs and saw Vikas tied with a rope. Without wasting time, he rushed Vikas at the Civil Hospital. “We have raided Surinder’s house at Gandhi Nagar, but he was found missing. We have registered a case against him,” said Narinder Singh. 

Ludhiana, January 7
The Court of Additional Sessions Judge Mandeep Pannu has convicted Vijay Kumar of Nanda Colony, Basti Jodhewal, on the charges of raping his 14-year old sister-in-law. He was sentenced to 10-year rigorous imprisonment. The court also ordered the accused to pay Rs 25,000 compensation to the victim.

The accused was also sentenced to seven-year rigorous imprisonment on the charges of abetment to suicide. However, both the sentences will run concurrently.

The accused’s wife died four years after their marriage. She was reportedly told that she would be thrown out of the house if she objected to keeping her younger sister in the house or if the matter was reported to the police.

A case under Sections 306, 363, 366, 376 and 120-B of the IPC was registered against the accused, his mother Vijay Kumari and younger brother Sanjeev Kumar.

Vijay Kumari was acquitted by the court while his younger brother was declared a proclaimed offender.

The complainant had stated before the police that the accused had forcibly kept his sister-in-law with him. “He had threatened us not to disclose it to the police,” said the complainant.

However, the accused pleaded innocence. But after appreciating the evidence on record, the court found him guilty and sentenced accordingly.

Ludhiana, January 7
Mystery shrouds the disappearance of a 13-year-old boy of the Mundian area, who went to a dairy to fetch milk on Sunday evening, but did not return.

After search, Sarabjit Singh’s parents spotted the container and his kite near a village pond this morning. Suspecting that Sarabjit had drowned, his parents started wailing and informed the police.

The police reached the spot and an earth-moving machine pressed into service to fish out the body. The search operation continued for a few hours. Even professional divers failed to find the boy. After a four-hour search, the police arrived at a conclusion that the boy didn’t drown in the pond.

“We suspected that the boy might have drowned while trying to catch a kite. We conducted a four-hour-long search operation, but could not locate him. We informed the police stations across the state about the boy,” said SHO Davinder Singh.

The boy’s father, Tersem Singh, who works as a security guard at an industrial unit, said: “I was shocked to see the container and the kite and thought that Sarabjit had drowned in the pond. Fortunately, my son was not located. It means he’s still alive.” 

Ludhiana, January 7
More youngsters are becoming addict to heroin, in Ludhiana district. There is a singnificant increase of 50 per cent, in the number of heroin addicts, in Ludhiana district.

Dr Rajiv Gupta, a city based clinical psychiatrist said," Youngsters between the age of 17 years to 30 are falling an easy prey to it.''

The most dangerous part of this addiction is that youngsters take it through injectables and fall in the death trap at very early age, as it affects nervous system as well as circulatory system.

Dr Gupta further said, "It is ironical that heroin is too costly, about Rs 2,000 per gm and newly addicts generally consume between 1 to 3 gm of heroin per day. While rich youngsters have enough resources to arrange this quantity, others earn for this by becoming drug peddlers."

Confirming this Dr SS Dhir, Medical Officer Incharge Opioid Substitution Therpay at Lord Mahavir Civil Hospital Ludhiana said, "Family plays a singnificant role in the life of drug addicts."

Doraha, January 7
Government Pensioners Association, Doraha, held a meeting today at KK Kaushal Memorial Bhavan which was presided over by Pawan Kumar Kaushal. He gave a detailed report regarding the tehsil level dharna and a vast rally at Mohali in December which was met with success from all quarters.

“The pensioners are facing continuous harassment at hands of the banks. The banks never make payment of the pending dues to the pensioners in time. The pensioners are forced to visit them repeatedly to receive their benefits given to them by the state government such as DA instalments and its arrears, payment of old age allowance, travel concession eligible after every two years etc”said Pawan Kumar Kaushal, President, Government Pensioners Association, Doraha.

Ram Sarup and Pritpal Singh, pensioners said, “Our association has demanded from the higher authorities of these banks to direct the concerned banks officials to disburse the benefits to the pensioners at the earliest. After the meeting, a deputation of the association also met the senior officials of these banks, which assured the deputation that the payment of dues should be made the earliest".

The meeting also condemned the dilly dallying policy of the government to concede the genuine demands of the pensioners such as release of third and last instalment of the arrears due in November 2012 due to pension revision w.e.f January 2006, merger of 50 per cent DA in basic pay as per the recommendations of the pay commission, increase in medical allowance, avoiding corrupt practices and harassment of pensioners for the reimbursement of their medical bills.

The members expressed concern over the deteriorating law and order situation in the state in which the senior citizens especially those couples, living alone, were being targeted and murdered with the intention of loot. “Security must be provided to the senior citizens” said Gurdial Dalal, one of the pensioners.

Khanna, January 7
The condition of bus stand at Khanna is very pitiable. Municipal Council Khanna earned Rs. 2,32,84,219 just in four and a half years, from all the earning sources of city’s main bus stand but it is really shocking and disappointing that not even a single penny has been spent in the public interest. Being the biggest grain market in Asia and situated on G.T. Road, thousands of people come here daily but Nagar council never tried to look into the problems that the people generally face on this bus stand. 

This was disclosed by P D Bansal, President Lok Sewa Club Khanna, while addressing a press conference on the basis of information received under the RTI Act 2005. A memorandum was also given to the sub-divisional magistrate Khanna in this concern, by the club.

Bansal said that there was no drinking water facility for the passengers and they were bound to purchase costly packaged drinking water bottles. He further said that it was not easy to explain the filthy condition of bathrooms, there was no gate to any toilet and a deluge was always there in the bathrooms. Authorities' overlooking resulted in illegal possession of bathrooms by the nearby shopkeepers and they stored their old tyres etc. in this space. Shopkeepers used to get their reparable trucks parked in the boundary of bus stand for longer time and it created traffic problems. No rate list was displayed at any dhaba/canteen to facilitate the needy passenger, consequently the food points charged the rate at their own will. If the authorities would have spent even a small amount of the total earnings on the inside road, the pathetic condition of the bus stand could be avoided.

Now the question arises that if no funds are reserved to fulfil the utmost needs of the passengers, then who will do it. Bansal warned that if things are not improved shortly, the whole matter shall be brought to the notice of Punjab Govt. Lack of facilities on the bus stand is today’s burning topic in the city. Club President claimed that they had brought all the points to the notice of Nagar Council President and executive official, Khanna but no serious response was ever received in this concern.

E.O. Nagar Council Khanna:- Maintenance of bus stand is yearly given to contractors through tenders and thereafter contractor is responsible for providing facilities to the public. There is no such provision to reserve any specific amount for bus stand from the earnings.

S.D.M. Khanna :- The matter has been brought to my notice, therefore necessary action will be taken as early as possible.

S.H.O. City Khanna :- Strict action would be taken against the defaulter who had used to park trucks within the bus stand boundary and the standing truck must be picked.

Ludhiana, January 7
A 15- member delegation of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officials (trainees) (2012 batch) visited Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) today and interacted with the senior officials, deans, directors, additional directors of the university and members of the PAU Kisan Club. In his remarks, Dr RK Mahey, Registrar, PAU, informed the delegates that the university was established in 1962 on the pattern of Land Grant Colleges of the USA.

PAU played a pivotal role in ushering in an era of green revolution, he said. He further said that this was possible due to new varieties and technologies evolved by this university backed by hard working farmers of Punjab and supportive government policies.

The Director of Research, Dr SS Gosal said that 60 Percent of the budget of PAU was invested in research. "Currently, we are not only food secured but also have exportable surplus food grains," he remarked. So far, PAU had released/recommended 707 varieties and hybrids of different crops, he said.

Dr MS Gill, Director of Extension Education, said the university had a strong technology transfer network and holds excellent linkages with the state farmers, in addition to the officials of the State Department of Agriculture and Horticulture.

The extension mechanism of PAU, including 17 Krishi Vigyan Kendras and 12 Farm Advisory Service Scheme across the state, regularly conducted the training programmes, frontline demonstrations, to update the knowledge of the farmers on various agrarian issues, he added.

Welcoming the delegation members, Dr HS Sehgal, Additional Director of Communication, highlighted the accomplishments of PAU.

The Dean of Postgraduate Studies, Dr Gursharan Singh, said that more than 50 Percent of the girl students had been enrolled in PAU and that the majority of the gold medals were being bagged by them.

Briefing about 84 academic programmes of the university, Dr Singh said PAU was imparting education in 35 disciplines. Dr DS Cheema, Dean, College of Agriculture, presented the historical background of the college and said that its alumni had been serving in various capacities at national and international institutions/organisations.

Dr PPS Lubana, Dean, College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, said the college was imparting education in processing and food engineering, soil and water engineering, farm machinery and power engineering (FMPE), and mechanical and civil engineering.

The President of the PAU Kisan Club, PPS Pangli, Coordinator of the Club, Dr TS Riar; Coordinator of the ladies wing of the club, Dr Rupinder Kaur, and the progressive farmers of the state also interacted with the delegates.

Dr Ramandeep Jassal, Deputy Director (Public Relations), accompanied the visiting delegation to the School of Information Biotechnology and the research hall of the College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology. 

Ludhiana, January 7
Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertaking (CICU) organised a training program on “Effective Use and Maintenance of Hydraulics", today.

Avtar Singh, General Secretary, CICU, welcomed the participants and said that in the present economic scenario, MSMEs were to be encouraged for raising talents and skills, which could lead them towards the door of success in these challenging times.

Hydraulic, pneumatic are being extensively used for low cost automations on conventional machines. A lot of manpower can be saved by using hydraulic, pneumatic for automation. Productivity increase of up to 20 to 30 percent can be achieved through this. "It is significant to know how these equipments should be maintained for effectively reducing the operational and breakdown costs", said Avtar Singh.

Upkar Singh, Joint Secretary, CICU, in his concluding remarks said that this program would lead to knowledge on effective use of low cost automation, for achieving cost savings through productivity increase, which are essential to compete, survive and prosper. The participants learnt the skills and techniques of usage and maintenance of hydraulics to be adopted in their organisations. He further said that in this competitive scenario, this training would enable participants to deliver superior values and where to put in efforts to provide maximum gains for their companies.

More than Sixty participants comprising proprietors, partners, directors, general managers, plant heads and senior level managers from production and maintenance participated and interacted in this program. 

Ludhiana, January 7
The CNG/LPG run auto-rickshaw drivers in the city feel cheated as the District Transport Department has begun issuing permits to cell auto-rickshaws, which will be run on diesel.

The agitated CNG/LDG run three-wheeler drivers said that respecting the sentiments of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to make the city “pollution-free”, the former had switched over to CNG/LPG from diesel, but with the issuing of permits to diesel-run autos again by the authorities, they felt cheated.

Talking to The Tribune, the president of the LPG, CNG Auto Welfare Society, Jaspal Singh said that they were already perturbed over the plying of “Jugadu” autos on city roads. Despite several attempts and protests, the authorities had miserably failed to curb the menace, which was causing financial losses to them (CNG/LPG run). Now, the transport department had started permitting cell autos, which would run on diesel.

“If they have allowed the diesel-run autos on roads then why did they pressurize us to switch-over to CNG? There are just around 2,000 CNG/LPG autos on roads in the city while the number of “Jugadu” autos is above 15,000. What kind of efforts are being made to reduce the pollution in the city? This is nothing just an eye-wash”, rued the president.

Balwinder Singh, another auto-rickshaw driver, said that autos having permits from Khanna, Jagraon, Payal, Gobindgarh etc were plying openly on the city roads, but the authorities had failed to curb the menace. The new permits will add to our woes, said the agitated driver.

The union members also submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner Rahul Tiwari and DTO MS Chatwal in this connection today at Mini Secretariat and protested against the authorities’ for issuing permits to cell autos. 

Ludhiana, January 7
Representatives from different industries met Ravinder Singh, chairman of the pollution control board, who was in the city today. At a meeting it was announced that the common effluent treatment plant (CETP) at Bahadur-ke-Road would be made operational from January 16.

Ashok Makkar, president of the Ludhiana Dyers Association, said that they were required to submit Rs 64 lakh as development charges for the CETP at Tajpur Road. "

The amount meant for development charges is too high since the industry has managed the amount for setting up of the CETP at Tajpur Road with great difficulty. We will not be able to bear this expenditure, so it should be waived off," said Makkar.

During the meeting Gurmeet Singh Kular, president of the United Cycle and Parts Manufacturers Association discussed the problem of the site approval committees (SAC).

"Approval from the SAC should not be required for those units which are in the industrial area. Only that industry, which is located in residential areas should need approval of SAC," said Kular, during the meeting.

Putting forward another problem Kular said the industry should be allowed to drop the effluent for treatment. "The company which picks the effluent from their units charges 35 paise per liter which proves too costly for them to bear. We want that every unit should be allowed to drop their effluents at the treatment plants themselves", said he.

Doraha/Ludhiana, January 7
The university staff and teachers deployed on evaluation duty by Panjab University to evaluate the answer sheets of postgraduate semester classes were provided heaters while evaluating answer sheets today.

Neelam Bhardwaj, principal, S.C.D Government College, Ludhiana, said, “I have been visiting the evaluation centre time and again and have asked the teachers about their problems, but nobody has ever put forth their demands. Today, I came across the news report in the columns of Ludhiana Tribune and immediately ordered for three heaters for the staff deployed on duty”.

“We will try our best to make the staff comfortable if things are brought to my notice”, the principal added.

The university officials and teachers on evaluation duty had complained of poor arrangements at the evaluation centre.

Ludhiana, January 7
Keeping in view the safety of the riders, the local cycle industry has started using reflector tapes on bicycles. During the celebration of traffic awareness week, the industry was urged by traffic officials to use reflector stickers on cycles to avoid accidents.

"A majority of accidents on cycles that occur at night are due to no reflectors on the cycles. Sometimes the cycle is not even visible at night. We have given a reflector area in the bicycle on its mudguards. The tape will reflect during night and help in averting any accident," said Gurmeet Singh Kular, president of United Cycle and Parts Manufacturers Association (UCPMA).

During the traffic awareness week, the traffic officials said that no cycle without a reflector tape will ply on the road and it will be the responsibility of the traffic police to check the same.

"It has been a month since we have started using reflector stickers on the cycles after the instructions came from the International Road Federation. The number of deaths in road accidents is increasing every year and this is what we can do to prevent incidents," added Ramesh Kundra, another small cycle manufacturer.

Number of deaths in road accidents is increasing and the step taken by the cycle industry to use reflector tapes on the mud guards is appreciating. Cyclists fall prey on busy roads especially highways during night. This will help in saving many precious lives," added member of a NGO engaged in road safety.

Phillaur, January 7
The Phillaur Police has arrested one Barnala resident youth Rajesh Kumar under Section 376/366 of the IPC on the charges of kidnapping and raping a minor girl. The girl was admitted in local civil hospital for medical examination. 

Ludhiana, January 7
A 19-year-old girl was raped by a youth in the Jamalpur area here today. The victim, who lives in a shanty at Jamalpur, claimed that Deepak (21), who lives in the nearby shanty, forcibly took her to a secluded place and raped her.

She reported the matter to the police following which the police conducted medical examination of the victim and booked the man for rape.

Paramjit Singh said the police conducted a raid to arrest the accused, but he managed to flee from the spot. 

Ludhiana, January 7
The XVIth All-India Mohinder Partap Singh Grewal Women's Hockey Tournament is scheduled to be held here at the Olympian Prithipal Singh AstroTurf Stadium, Punjab Agricultural University, from January 19 to 22.

DS Grewal, president of the MPSG Memorial Charitable Trust, said that 12 teams that will take part in the tournament are Central Railway (Mumbai), Western Railway (Mumbai), northern Eastern Railway (Goarkhpur), Northern Railway (Delhi), Lyallpur Khalsa College Academy (Jalandhar), Ludhiana XI, Gwalior Academy, Western Central Railway (Jabalpur), South Eastern Railway (Kolkata), Shahbad Markanda Hockey Centre (Haryana) besides the current champions, Rail Coach Factory (Kapurthala), and last year's finalists Chandigarh Hockey Academy.

Out of the teams, eight teams will be selected to take part in the tournament on a knock-out basis. The current and the past players of international level will be seen in action during the tourney.

The winners will be richer by Rs 70,000 while the first runners up will pocket a cash prize of Rs 40,000 and the team finishing third will receive a cash prize of Rs 15,000 in addition to the running trophies.

Harbhajan Singh Grewal, honorary secretary of the trust and organising committee, said that a five-member panel had been formed to select the best player of the tournament and highest scorer of the event.

Members of the selection panel are Ramandeep Singh Grewal, Sharanjit Kaur, HS Bhullar, Pritpal Kaur Kohli and Pushpinder Kaur.