Ludhiana, March 23
Amid protests by roadside vendors, the tehbazaari wing of the Municipal Corporation today cleared encroachments from Jawahar Nagar Camp, Midha Chowk and some other parts of the city. The MC officials had to call the police after a group of "rehriwalas" objected to the drive under the bus stand flyover.

Besides, the officials also visited the Surya Kiran building on Mall Road. The owners of the building were asked to remove seven power generator sets from the rear side of the building within a week.

During the drive, a total of 11 "rehris", several "farhis", tables, counters and other such things were confiscated. Thirtyeight challans were issued in the Jawahar Nagar Camp area alone.

Tehbazaari Superintendent Naveen Malhotra said the drive started from Mall Road. “In view of the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, we have asked the owners to remove seven power generator sets from the rear side of the Surya Kiran building. The owners have assured us that they will get these removed within a week,” he said.

After removing encroachments from Mall Road, the officials went to the the bus stand flyover. They faced a tough time when a person, claiming to be the president of the rehri vendors, stopped the MC officials from going ahead with the drive. The police was informed, and four rehris were confiscated from the spot.

Later, the tehbazaari officials cleared encroachments from the Jawahar Nagar Camp area. “Certain shopkeepers had allowed 'farhis' to be set up in front of their shops. We challaned all such shopkeepers because they had connived with the 'farhi' vendors in illegal encroachment on the road. A total of 38 such shopkeepers were challaned today,” said Naveen Malhotra.

Ludhiana, March 23
After facing embarrassment due to the "non-prepared" Ludhiana Municipal Corporation staff at a meeting of the monitoring committee on encroachments, MC Additional Commissioner Isha Kalia has issued directions that next time a meeting is held, all the senior officials concerned would attend it. Senior officers don't take much interest in such meetings and would often skip them by sending their subordinates.

During the meeting of the committee, which was held on March 15, Isha Kalia had to face embarrassment when the committee members asked about the progress on the issues raised during the previous meeting held on September 5, 2012.

The Additional Commissioner was also surprised when she learnt that a majority of the subordinate staff had come to attend the meeting on behalf of their seniors. A Junior Engineer of the bridges and roads branch had come to attend the meeting on behalf of his Executive Engineer.

In a letter dated March 13, a copy of which is in possession of Ludhiana Tribune, Isha Kalia has asked the Executive Engineers (XENs) of the bridges and roads branch from all the four zones (A, B, C and D), XENs of the operations and maintenance cell from all the four zones, the Municipal Town Planner, the Assistant Town Planners of Zone A, B, C, D and the Headquarters, the Landscaping Officer (LSO) and the Superintendents of the Tehbazaari zones to attend the meeting without fail. 

Ludhiana, March 23
An unidentified man was found murdered near Bhamian Kalan village on Chandigarh Road this morning. According to the police, the victim was around 45 years of age and was murdered hours before the body was found.

The body was lying in the fields at the village. Passersby spotted it around 9.30 am and informed the police.

The Jamalpur police has registered a case and sent the body to the Civil Hospital.

Davinder Singh, SHO, Jamalpur, said according to the preliminary investigation, it seemed the body was dumped in the fields after murdering the man somewhere else. The cause of death is still not clear but they were suspecting that the man was murdered. We are working on different angles. There are some wounds on the body.

Gold chain snatched

Rama Sharma, a resident of New Kitchlu Nagar, said on Saturday that two bikers snatched her gold chain while she was standing on a street outside her house. The police has registered a case.

Ludhiana, March 23
Finally, the state government has directed the Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA) here to allot 102 CRPF houses at Dugri to the "danga peerats" (riot vicitms), who had completed their documents, by March 31. The directions of the state government came recently following the orders of the High Court in this regard.

In 1980s, PUDA had constructed around 804 houses at Dugri where the CRPF had set up its camp. The charges for the maintenance of the houses is given to the PWD by the Housing Board. Meanwhile, a few "danga peerats" occupied these houses in an "illegal" manner.

The High Court had issued directions that the riot victims of 1984 (having the Red Card) might be allotted 102 houses in the particular colony at Dugri about two months ago.

One of the officials here said the file of allotment kept on shuttling between PUDA and the PWD for about a month and a half, as none of the two agencies wanted to be involved in the "tedious" procedure of allotment of these houses. "The file was even sent to the Chief Secretary, who forwarded it to the Financial Commissioner, Revenue, for the final decision. Since a few days were left for the High Court deadline to expire and it could be lead to contempt of court, the state government has finally asked PUDA to allot the houses," said the official.

Meanwhile, the Assistant Chief Administrator, PUDA, Baldev Singh said the district administration had verified the credentials of these 102 riot victims and they had received all their documents. 

Ludhiana, March 23
Fifteen-year-old Eva Reidesperger from Austria is working at Nirdosh School for the last leg of her stay in India under the Youth For Understanding, a student-exchange programme.

She came to India and joined a school in Patiala and stayed with a host family. Now, she has come to the city, as part of the social work the students have to do. She joined Nirdosh, a school for mentally challenged children, as a teacher.

Initially, she encountered a bit of difficulty in communicating with the special children at the school. Soon, she found it very satisfactory to help them learn different things, she says.

She has learnt a lot about the Indian culture as also Punjabi language. She can understand the language and speak a few Punjabi words. She says, "main thori thori Punjabi boldi ha."

She says people in Punjab are very friendly. She likes the 'loud' and outgoing nature of Punjabis. She really likes the Punjabi food, "palak and saag with makki di roti", in particular, she says.

Bowled over by Punjabi wedding ceremonies, she says: "I really love the weddings here. There are so many ceremonies here, so many," she smiles. "I also like to get 'mehndi' applied on my hands," she adds.

She finds similar family bonding back in her hometown of Salzburg, but the schooling system is "totally different" there, she says. "Most of the children study in government schools there and prefer government schools, unlike here. We have to study the whole year, without much exam stress. But, here students study too much during exams, and there is a lot of stress on exams in India. In Austria, we get more homework but learning there is less stressful. And we have a lot more subjects," she says. 

Ludhiana, March 23
As the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation has now started issuing the TS1 certificates without taking any fee, there has been a huge rush of applicants seeking this certificate.

Earlier, MC offices used to get very less applications but ever since the charges on the TS1 certificates were waived off, hundreds of certificates are made every day.

A TS1 certificate means a tax superintendent register number 1. It is a certificate which proves the ownership of a particular property.

During the MC General House meeting held on March 12, it was decided that the MC would not claim development charges to the building branch while issuing a TS1 certificate. But later on, it was decided that the residents seeking a TS1 certificate will not have to pay any charges and in fact that certificate would be delivered within an hour.

In November last year, the municipal commissioner had passed orders that residents seeking a TS1 certificate would have to clear all dues and take a no objection certificate from the department concerned. It was after the submission of the NOC that the TS1 certificate was issued.

Earlier, the process was tiresome and the development charges were high. It was observed that the number of TS1 certificates made in MC offices came down considerably. Prior to November, a large number of TS1 certificates were issued every day.

As per rough estimates, ever since the new orders were enforced, roughly around 100 TS1 certificates are being issued in each zone of the MC. This clearly shows that the city residents want to avail this facility because they know that such orders can be revoked anytime.

Mayor Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria said the process of issuing a TS1 certificate has been simplified for the benefit of city residents. “Soon we will be formulating a new formula under which the outstanding dues will be recovered from the residents in some other manner,” he said.

Ludhiana, March 23
On the issue of tinted glasses and use of black films on buses, the police and transporters seem to have lock horns. The police says as per the directions of the High Court, black film and tinted glasses should be removed immediately from the buses. On the other hand, transporters say the police is unnecessarily harassing the operators and they do not have any such machine that can check the visibility mandated by the Supreme Court or mentioned in the Central Motor Vehicle Act.

A meeting in this regard was held here today between the traffic policemen and about 40-50 bus operators. The police has asked the bus operators to immediately remove black films from windowpanes, else their buses would be challaned and impounded.

A writ petition, number COCP 275/13, had been filed in the High Court and the police had to adhere to the directions, said SS Atwal, ADCP Traffic.

Atwal said the transporters were unnecessarily dragging the issue and they had already taken the writ petition number to get all details.

“They have noted everything and want to escape from the issue. The next date of hearing is April 12 and we are certainly going to crack whip on the defaulters. No one will be spared,” said Atwal.

JS Grewal, president of the Minibus Operators’ Association, said bus operators were already adhering to the orders of the Supreme Court over the use of black films on buses.

“We are against the use of black films on buses. The police can challan or impound buses having black films. But on the issue of tinted glasses, the police has to show the documents or any such order of the court. The department here has no such machine that can check the visibility criteria of these glasses. Mohali district has such machines and they challan the buses accordingly. We need to see the documents and then they can challan and impound the vehicles of defaulters,” said Grewal.

He said the police was also “threatening” the operators that they would not allow buses to run if tinted glasses were not removed.

Ludhiana, March 23
Even after a day, the city police has failed to make any headway in the robbery in which manager of Shingaar Cinema was shot at and robbed of Rs 3.5 lakh.

The police has summoned more than 30 persons for questioning, but failed to get any information about the robbery. Officials said the police had been working on different theories in this case.

Randhir Singh, SHO, Police Station Division 6, said: “Efforts are on to get any clue about the robbers. We have questioned a number of persons today. We are unable to draw the sketches of the robbers as, according to the victim, both accused were wearing helmets at the time of the robbery. No CCTV camera was installed near the spot”.

In a broad daylight robbery, two motorcycle-borne assailants shot at the manager of Shingaar Cinema and fled with Rs 3.5 lakh.

The incident took place at around 1 pm on the Shingaar Road when Gurdas, manager of Shingaar Cinema, was on his way to bank on his motorcycle to deposit cash. Two motorcycle-borne youths intercepted his vehicle.

Before he could react, the miscreant riding pillion pulled out a gun and shot Gurdas at the left thigh. 

Ludhiana, March 23
"Eh sariyan cheezan asin apne hatthan naal baniayan ne; je tuhan chandiyan ne te sade to khareed lo (We have made all these items ourselves; buy them if you need them)," says Gita to a resident, while showing him phenyl, stain remover and other items. In convincing the prospective customer, Amit and Mangat too pitch in.

The trio belongs to a non-governmental organisation "Ek Jot Viklang Bachon ka School", which is empowering physically challenged youngsters. It helps these youths to prepare and sell daily-use items, thus trying to bring them into the main stream. Mangat, sitting on a wheel chair and holding containers of toilet articles, says: "Rates are very nominal and the quality is good. The only difference is that these products are not branded."

As the customer, after some convincing, buys a few products, Amit, who is partially visually impaired, helps Mangat to move on.

There is another group of youngsters busy selling similar products in another locality. The group comprises of Ranjeet, Money, Rekha and Kulwant.

"There are 12 such children who prepare and sell these products door to door,” says Satwant Kaur, one of the volunteers who takes care of the school where education is imparted to 40 special children and 80 children of underprivileged families free-of-cost.

Sharing her experience of door-to-door marketing, Gita says, "Some people don’t even open their doors and pass very rude comments, which hurt us. We, however, keep doing our work with a hope to earn better."

The profit earned is distributed among all the children to make them realise that they are capable of earning their livelihood. 

Ludhiana, March 23
With fluctuation in temperature, city hospitals and clinics have been receiving cases of viral fever. Patients are complaining of high-grade fever, soar throat, cough and cold.

Dr Harkamal Sidhu, head of the medicine department at BL Kapoor Memorial Hospital, said: "Five to seven patients suffering from high-grade fever, soar throat and respiratory infections visit the OPD everyday. Out of these, we admit one or two patients who are too ill.”

Exposure to changing weather is the main reason behind increased cases, say doctors. Dr Monika Malhotra, a city-based Ayurveda medical officer, said: "People from all age groups are contracting viral fever. Residents should prevent exposure to changing weather.”

Around 60 patients suffering from viral fever visit Christian Medical College and Hospital every day. Medical superintendent Dr Kanwal Maseeh said, "People have started eating ice creams, and drinking cold drinks, while the weather is still changing. People also switch on fan, leading to viral cases.” — TNS

Ludhiana, March 23
Despite awareness programmes on tuberculosis (TB) being run by the Central Government through the Health Department and different non-government organisations, myths are still prevalent in society.

Some people who keep coughing for weeks together are overconfident that they cannot have this disease because of their rich diet.

This has been observed during awareness programmes being carried out by an NGO, Volunteer Health Association of India, which has implemented a TB-related “Akshay project” being funded by an international funding agency, Global Fund Round 9.

Mohinder Singh Rana, district coordinator of the NGO, said: “People who keep coughing for weeks together are hard to be convinced for sputum test. People say they cannot have TB or AIDS as they eat meat of tortoise. We have to counsel them a lot, then they agree to undergo test.”

This level of unawareness is not only in slums, but also in youngsters.

A schoolteacher said: “Once a class IX girl who had her first menstrual cycle asked me if she was suffering from TB as she was bleeding.”

TB is still considered a “touchable” disease. Rana said: “We have observed that people who suffer from TB, their utensils and beddings are isolated at home. People think that by touching any of these things, other family members can also catch this disease.”

TB spreads through droplets released by an infected person and not by touching. So it is important to cover up the mouth before coughing and sneezing.

Ludhiana, March 23
"Punjab has contributed a lot towards "Green Revolution" and other states generally consider Punjab as a role model. It is really importan for the students of agriculture to know the pros and cons of Green Revolution", says Sulakshna Rao, a student of agricultural economics of Punjab Agriculture University.

Sulakshana, who hails from Alleppey district of Kerala, is carrying out a research on the growth of credit in Punjab after Green Revolution. Besides Sulakshana, there are a few other students who are trying to explore the causes of agriculture credit and debt-ridden farming in the state, as a part of their academic researches at the PAU.

While conducting a research on the topic of "Growth of institutional agricultural credits in Punjab" Sulakshana has been studying institutional loan on the farmers of state. In this research she would examine the growth trend and source of credit i.e. commercial banks, regional and rural banks, cooperative banks. Moreover she will find out as to where farmers used this debt.

Meanwhile, Sarbjit Singh, another student of Agricultural Economic, who is also carrying out a research on "Patron of credit in rural Punjab", has infact been doing this in a particular village to know the patrons of credit. He selected a village Kutiwal Klan in district Bathinda.

"My research is based on the status of credit among farmers, land labourers, servicemen and self-employed. Primarily I will find out as to how much is the credit on these rural households. Further, I will find out whether the credit is institutional or non-institutional and ofcourse the purpose of the credit. According to my observation most of the farmers in Punjab are not able to return the debt".

Dr Sukhpal Singh, Senior Economist PAU said, "It is good that students have chosen such issues to learn the ground realities of agrarian crisis in Punjab". 

Mandi Ahmedgarh, March 23
Floral tributes were paid to martyrs Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru at several functions organised by social, cultural and political organisations at the town and surrounding localities today.

Activists and office-bearers of the Kissan Mazdoor Mulazim Talmel Committee, led by Sikandar Jartauli, Baldev Latala, Sukhcharan Jit Singh and former president Jatinder Bhola, organised a march which arrived at the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Chowk after passing through the Main Bazaar, Railway Road, Galla Mandi and Gandhi Chowk. Flowers and garlands were offered to the statues of Bhagat Singh.

Addressing the party activists, speakers said the country would never forget the sacrifices made by the martyrs and their deeds would continue to inspire the people.

They asked the residents to take a pledge to strive for bringing such changes in the political system in which there should be no room for religious fanaticism, terrorism and corruption.

Bhartiya Janata Party and Bhartiya Yuva Morcha activists led by Surjit Gogna and Ashok Verma organised a rally at the Bhagat Singh Chowk and paid floral tributes to the martyrs

Ludhiana, March 23
Ludhiana West MLA Bharat Bhushan Ashu has raised the issue of Ludhiana City Centre in the Punjab assembly.

MLA Ashu, who is from the Congress party, has demanded from that an arbitrator should be appointed so that the project could reach its logical conclusion.Ever since this multi-crore project was started on around 26 acres of prime land in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar area of the city, it remained 
in one controversy or the other.During the assembly session, Ashu had listed a question in which he had asked the local bodies' minister to state what steps have been taken by the state government regarding the completion of this project.In reply to his question, Chunni Lal Bhagat, Local Bodies minister, said: "As per the information received from Improvement Trust, Ludhiana, the matter of city centre between Ludhiana Improvement Trust and its developer, M/S Today Homes is sub-judice since 2007 and as such the required action can be taken to complete or develop the city centre only after the decision of the court." 

Samrala, March 23
The Samrala police claims to have solved a blind murder case and arrested two accused with stolen mobile phones. Sri Lal (37), a resident of Samrala, who ran a tea stall near Kapila Petrol Station, was murdered in 2011.

Addressing a press conference, senior police officials said they got a tip-off that two persons were going to sell some stolen material. A police team set up a naka near the local ITI and arrested two persons when they were going to board a bus to Ludhiana. The police recovered seven stolen mobile phones and an LPG cylinder from their possession.

The arrested persons have been identified as Satnam Singh (24) and Pardeep Kumar (25), both residents of Ward No. 8 of Samrala.According to the police officials, both have confessed that on the night of December 23, 2011, they asked Sri Lal for a cigarette, but he refused as he was closing his "khokha". They threw chilli powder into his eyes and stabbed him to death. Both of them were presented before a court at Samrala, which sent them in police remand for two days.

A student waits for his turn during the annual day celebrations at St Xavier’s Play Way School in Ludhiana. Tribune photo: Himanshu mahajan

Ludhiana: Students of Kiddies' Paradise School, Kochar Market, commemorated the martyrdoms of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh, Raj Guru and Sukhdev. The students decorated the school campus with slogans such as, "Sar Faroshi Ki Tammana", "Shaheedo Ki Chittaon Mein Lagainge Har Bars Mele” and "Inqlaab Zindabaad". The school children paid their obeisance to the supreme sacrifices of martyrs and offered them flowers. They sang patriotic songs "Mera Rang De Basanti Chola" and presented a skit "Aye Watan Tere Liye" and reminded everyone that a nation was made by the supreme sacrifices of great patriots, heroes and leaders. The school children also came dressed up as Bhagat Singh, Raj Guru and Sukhdev. School Principal Taranjit Kaur while highlighting the importance of the day briefed life history of Shaheed-e-Azam who made millions of Indians to breathe in air of independence.

Graduation ceremony

The graduation ceremony was celebrated in the auditorium of BCM Basant City for the students of UKG and class V. On this occasion Dr Paramjeet Kaur, principal of BCM Shastri Nagar, presided as chief guest while Satinder Singh was the guest of honour. Dr Paramjeet and RB Khanna, education advisor, BCM institute, honoured the students with the degrees. The students presented beautiful and melodious items like 'Naache Mayuri' and ‘Mere Dosto' and bade good bye to their seniors. In the end the coordinator, Anuradha Bhanot, extended the vote of thanks to chief guest and the principal, Amarjyoti Chawla, congratulated all the students and their parents as well.

Book Exhibition

As a part of the ongoing celebration of the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, a book exhibition on the life achievements of Swami Vivekananda was organised by the Swami Vivekananda Sardh Shati Samaroh Samiti in Bhartiya Vidya Mandir, Udham Singh Nagar. The exhibition was visited by parents and students.—TNS 

Mandi Ahmedgarh, March 23
The Sadar police has arrested three liquor smugglers. They were involved in the distribution of illegal English whiskey among petty dealers of the area for further supply among boozers.

Nearly 1,200 litres of different brands of English whiskey and the vehicle used in transporting the liquor were also seized from their possession. The accused were identified as Sandeep Kumar of Ludhiana, Tarsem Chand of Rayian village and Krishan Kumar of Samrala.

The Deputy Superintendent of Police, Amargarh, Sukhdev Singh Virak, said a police team led by Harnek Singh Ghuman had arrested the accused when they were trying to smuggle a huge quantity of English whiskey without valid documents.

Royal Stag, Blenders Pride, DSP Black, McDowell and Imperial Blue were among the brands being smuggled.

Investigations revealed that the accused had lifted the stock from some wholesale depot situated on the outskirts of Ludhiana city on Thursday. They were caught by the police when they could not show valid permit to transport the liquor.

The police is yet to ascertain outlets from where the liquor was to be supplied to consumers. 

Ludhiana, March 23
The city police yesterday arrested a man with illegal weapons from Guru Nanak Park, Dholewal. The police found one automated 9MM pistol, two magazines and 7 
cartridges from his 
possession.

The accused has been identified as Mohamand Jamal (24), a resident of Mehsol in Sitamarhi district, Bihar. According to the police, the accused had a country-made duplicate, for which he had no licence. Mohamand has been running a hosiery unit from his house at Kundanpuri for several years.

Harbans Singh, in charge, Narcotics, said: “The accused was arrested at a checkpoint at Guru Nanak Park near the Chima Chowk. The police recovered a pistol, rounds and magazines from his possession during his search”.

“Form the first look, the weapon looked like a US-made pistol. But after examining it properly, we found that it was a country-made pistol. The accused told that he had purchased this pistol from Sitamarhi (Bihar) recently,” Harbans said.

“We have taken the police remand of the accused. We hope that we will get some important information from the accused during interrogation,” he said.

Ludhiana, March 23
Wrestling bouts, kabaddi and bullock cart races will be the main features of the 10th edition of the Annual Sports Festival to be organised by the Bhai Nigahia Ji Sports Club at Alamgir village, about 12 km from here on the Ludhiana-Malerkotla Road, from April 2 to April 4.

Malkit Singh Almagir, member of the Block Samiti and president of the organising club, said these games were being organised with the help of the Gram Panchayat, villagers settled in foreign countries and residents of the area.

“On the opening day of this sports festival, competition in wrestling would be held in which known wrestlers of the region, including Satish Alamgir, Dharminder Alamgir, Kamal Dhoomchheri, Rubal Patiala, Laddu Dhoomchheri, Binda Bishanpuria, Teerath Phagwara and Gaurav Machhiwara, will be seen in action," said Malkit.

“Kabaddi matches in the 40-kg, 52-kg, 60-kg and for academies will be played on the second day in which players of national and international repute from different parts of Punjab and the adjoining states will take part. Bullock cart races will be conducted of the final day,” said Malkit.

Darshan Singh Shivalik, MLA from Gill, will be the chief guest . — OC

Ludhiana, March 23
The Ludhiana District Cricket Association (LDCA) will conduct trials here on the Arya College grounds on March 24 from 10 AM onwards to select the probables (U-14) for the PCA Non-Residential Academy. This was stated by Vinod Chitkara, honorary general secretary, LDCA.

Players under 14 years as on September 1, 2013, are eligible to appear for the trials. They have been asked to bring their age proof certificates.

A four-member selection panel, including two selectors, appointed by the Punjab Cricket Association, one from the LDCA, besides director, PCA Academies, Dronacharya Awardee, DP Azad from Chandigarh, will watch the aspirants' abilities before shortlisting the probables. No entry fee would be charged from aspirants appearing for the trials, said Chitkara.