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MC carves out plots on park land
Ludhiana, March 24 In 1994, three MC employees (two from the horticulture branch and one from the building branch) were allotted land in the Balloke area in the city. Even after making payments, these officials were not given the possession of the land. Later, these employees approached the court, which directed that the employees be given land at an alternative place. Some MC officials, in connivance with these three employees, allotted them land illegally in a park in Joshi Nagar. The building branch not only allotted them land, but also sanctioned their building plans. When the matter came to the notice of members of the park management committee, they took up the issue with senior MC officials, but to no avail. A large number of area residents gathered at the spot today to register their protest. Congress MLA Bharat Bhushan Ashu and councillor Maharaj Singh Raji also reached the spot. In 2005, the 1,045 sq yard piece of land was converted into a park. A boundary wall was constructed there and saplings and flowers were planted there by the MC. The MLA said though the building plans of only three MC employees were sanctioned by the MC, eight persons had constructed boundary walls on this land. “Eight plots of different sizes have been carved out here. This is strange since a park existed on this land. A park management committee was set up for this park. Whenever such a committee is formed, the horticulture branch conducts a survey of the land.The two employees of the horticulture branch who have allegedly encroached upon this land must be knowing that a park existed on this land,” said Ashu. Ashu spoke to MC Commissioner Rakesh Kumar Verma and Additional Commissioner Isha Kalia over the phone, who assured that these encroachments would be removed and the park would be developed by the MC. As soon as area residents were assured that the encroachments would be removed from the park, they demolished a portion of the boundary wall. When one of the land "owners" came to know about it, he reached the spot with his supporters. Timely intervention by the local police saved the situation from turning ugly. Mayor Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria said the land would be developed as a park. “If a park existed on this land, we will not let anyone encroach upon it,” he said.
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Finally, revised policy on unauthorised colonies ready
Ludhiana, March 24 Sources in the Housing and Urban Development Department said most of the points discussed during meetings between government functionaries and stakeholders had been incorporated in the revised policy. "The new policy, to be announced in a couple of days, will aim at promoting regulated urban growth and taking proper care of the existing unlicensed colonies. The government will try to provide adequate powers to the regulatory bodies to ensure that unauthorised colonies do not come up in the future and erring developers are brought to book," a senior government official said. While the indication that a revised policy on unauthorised colonies is on the cards has brought cheer to the crisis-ridden real estate sector in general and developers in particular, stakeholders expect that a liberal and realistic policy will help tackle the menace of proliferating unauthorised colonies in the state. The developers feel that the government needs to put the real estate business back on the tracks in the wake of a heavy revenue shortfall in stamp duty collection, which is way short of the projected income during the current financial year. Kultar Singh Jogi, president of the Punjab Colonisers and Property Dealers Association, feels that the real estate business should be accorded the status of an industry as has been done in many other states. He wants that the time period of 90 days for the grant of a licence for the development of a colony should be followed in letter and spirit, and, if possible, the licensing process should be brought under the purview of the Right to Service Act. Among other problems that he wants to be taken care of in the revised policy are grave anomalies in rates of external development charges (EDCs) and the composition fee for the existing colonies as per different categories of cities and towns, announced by the Housing and Urban Development Department in 2011. Jogi asked the government to make a provision in the new policy to set up an urban development assistance cell to address the grievances of developers, buyers and other stakeholders. He expressed confidence that the points raised in several meetings held with the government functionaries about parity in the licensing procedure and regulatory control for new colonies, both outside as well as within the city limits, grant of licences under the provisions of the Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation Act-1995 and levy of EDCs in residential plotted colonies on plotted area would also be incorporated in the new policy. |
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City records 29 mm of rainfall
Ludhiana, March 24 Heavy rain, accompanied by strong winds, caused massive loss to the wheat crop in the region. The velocity of winds was recorded at 14 mph. Hailstorm was also reported from some areas in the region. "The winds damaged our crops. Farmers who irrigated the crops a few days ago suffered the maximum loss," said Darshan Singh, a farmer. The weather has, however, become pleasant after the rain. The city had recorded an above normal temperature during the past few days. The maximum temperature recorded today was 27°C and the minimum 12°C. |
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Brick-kiln owners bear the brunt
Ludhiana, March 24 Brick-kiln owners maintain the rain last night has caused a loss of around Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh to each one of them on a average. As huge stocks of kutcha (raw) bricks were lying in the open, these were damaged completely by
the rain. General secretary of the Ludhiana District Brick-Kiln Owners Association Sarabjit Singh Dhillon said the rain had caused a lot of loss to the kiln owners, who had stocked raw bricks in the open. These were to be baked in kilns. "Brick-kiln owners have suffered losses to the tune of Rs 5 lakh each due to the rain during the past 24 hours. We spend Rs 500 on moulding 1,000 bricks. The labour cost is extra. Now, we will not be able to put raw bricks for baking due to the non-availability of labour during the Holi festival. Besides, the fields are also wet. Since production will be slow, there will be less availability of bricks in the market, which may push up the prices," said Dhillon. Brick-kiln owners said they were already finding it difficult to run the business due to the increased prices of sand in the market. The thunderstorms last night had added to their woes. "It has become difficult to survive and the government seems to be in no mood to control the prices of sand," said J Sood, a brick-kiln owner. |
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70-year-old man ends his life
Ludhiana, March 24 The police said one of the victim's two sons ran a chemist shop from his residence. Family members said Preetam Singh woke up early this morning. He opened the shutter of the shop and shut it down from inside. After sometime, the family members noticed that Preetam Singh did not come out of the shop. When they opened the shutter, they found him hanging. Dharmpal, SHO, Salem Tabri, said, "The cause of the suicide is not clear. We are investigating the matter. According to the family members, he was not well for the past few days and was suffering from depression. what the Family says
According to the family members, he was not well for the past few days and was suffering from depression |
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hola mohalla
Ludhiana, March 24 The police seems to have turned a blind eye to this violation, which poses a threat to precious lives. Traffic policemen are present in almost every roundabout in the city, but fail to take notice of the violation. Some truck operators are charging from Rs 50 to Rs 60 to ferry passengers from Ludhiana and Moga to Anandpur Sahib. Passengers, including women, children and the elderly, can been seen huddled in jampacked trucks. To accommodate more passengers, the capacity of tractor-trailers and trucks is increased by fixing a wooden board in the vehicles horizontally so that passengers can sit on the floor as well as on top of the wooden board. This, however, poses a risk to the passengers' lives. Asked about the passengers' safety, a tractor-trailer driver said, "Chardi kala! The Almighty is with us; so there's nothing to worry." "We have been visiting Anandpur Sahib for several years on tractor-trailers, and never faced any problem. The owner of the tractor is doing sewa by managing our visit to the holy city. I haven't paid a single penny for this visit. The bus fare would have been at least Rs 120 for one side alone," said a passenger, Balwant Singh. what the sho says
We haven't seen such trucks passing through city roads. If we find any violator, we will take action. People are using their own tractor-trailers, which is not a violation of the rules. Moreover, the tractor owners are not charging passengers for the
travel — Bulland Singh, SHO, Traffic |
Prefer herbal colours this Holi
Ludhiana, March 24 Urging the residents to have a safe
Holi, Dr Anshu Vatsayan, a city-based Ayurvedacharya, said: "People should use home-made herbal
colours. These can be made by mashing flowers and mixing them with water.” For the yellow
colour, marigolds can be used; indigo (commonly known as jakarda) can be used for the blue
colour. Turmeric powder ca also be used to prepare the yellow colour. Dr Vatsayan said the chemical colours could cause skin allergies as well respiratory diseases. Herbal colours of different brands are available in the market. Daljeet Singh, a shopkeeper in Ghumar Mandi, said these
were costlier than the chemical colours. A city-based skin specialist, Dr Vidushi Malhotra, said before playing with colours on Holi, we should apply olive oil or baby oil. Sun-screen lotion could also be used, but mustard oil should be avoided as it could lead to skin irritation, Dr Malhotra said. People should wear full sleeves and dark-coloured clothes, she
said
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Chief of Namdhari sect addresses congregation amid tight security
Ludhiana, March 24 The city police strengthened the security arrangements in the area. Visitors were frisked thrice before entering the assembly hall. The police also
closed vends in the neighbouring markets. The International Namdhari Sangat has been opposing the selection of Thakur Uday Singh as the Satguru. While addressing devotees, Thakur Uday Singh
gave the message of love and peace. A traditional kirtan was held. Punjabi poets Gurbhjan Singh Gill, Rashpal Singh Pal, Tarlochan Lochi and Bibi Rajinder Kaur Pannu recited poems on social issues.
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Beware of fraudulent mails: I-T Dept
Ludhiana, March 24 Cyber criminals in a sneaky attempt are trying to cash in on the rush at the end of financial year. The I-T Department
has cautioned people against sharing any information related to their accounts or debit/credit cards and warned them to avoid responding to such mails altogether. This
latest modus operandi has come to light with many people receiving such emails in the past
few days. A senior I-T official said cyber criminals have shifted to asking for net banking details instead of card details to trap taxpayers. "Many people now pay their taxes online, hence the cyber criminals are now using this new way to dupe people," he said. "If anybody sends the details they will lose money as the fraudster can hack into their account and transfer their balance," he said. Gagan Taneja, a city resident, said he himself came across such an e-mail but did not replied back as he came to know that something was fishy. "After inquiring from the department I came to know that department is not sending any such e-mails. But many innocent people may fall in trap of these e-mails and lose money. We need stringent laws when it comes to cyber crime," he said. Senior I-T officials said they suspect the involvement of a Nigerian, Pakistani or Israeli gang. On checking the Internet Protocol (IP) address the mails came from, the department found they were from different
countries.
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Civic body postpones demolition drives
Ludhiana, March 24 Following these orders, the MC had carried out a demolition drive on Chandigarh road on March 8 and on GT road on
March 20. After two failed demolition drives of Gur Mandi and Talaab Bazaar, all eyes were set on the two demolition drives scheduled on Monday and Tuesday. As per information, the Zone C of the MC was to remove encroachments from Gill road and GT road on Monday, and Zone D was to remove encroachments from Ferozepur road on Tuesday. An official of the building branch informed that the Monday's drive has now been postponed to April 1 while the new date for drive on Ferozepur Road has not been fixed now. "The Assistant Town Planner of Zone D is to attend a court hearing in Punjab and Haryana
High Court on Tuesday and it is unlikely that this drive would be carried out on Ferozepur Road," said a senior MC official.
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Industrial policy of Punjab discussed
Ludhiana, March 24 Badish Jindal, national president of FASSI, said: “The micro and small enterprises are anxious and concerned about shifting of industrial units from mixed and residential areas to the
industrial areas keeping in view the scarcity of land in the designated industrial areas and non-availability of bulk lands for developing new Industrial areas.” Jindal, while giving suggestions, said: “Some of the Central Government Ministries/Departments have introduced self authentication/self certification aspect in their
contracts with their suppliers. It is therefore, high time for Government of Punjab to start the
self authentication regime, particularly in the departments like PPCB, Municipal Corporation, Town Planning and PSPCL. The applications require considering as
the NOCs or consents subjected to the completion of the verification process.”
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Regularise services: Teachers
Ludhiana, March 24 Hundreds of teachers from all over Punjab, including leaders from Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala and Moga, gathered at the grain market near Arora Cinema and proceeded to the Mini-Secretariat. The agitating teachers raised slogans against the state government for making "false promises" to the teaching community. Deedar Singh, president, SSA/RMSA/CSS Teachers' Union-Punjab said the teachers should be brought under the education department and be regularised. Besides, as per notified on September 13, 2012, regular scales should be provided to teachers from the coming financial year, he said. Satnam Singh Fatehgarh, another leader, said the CSS teachers should get their 12 months salary at the earliest. The teachers working under these associations should also be provided holidays like other government teachers, he said. "The false cases against 59 teachers at Kotha Guru should be immediately withdrawn,” demanded the teachers. Protest remains peaceful
The Ludhiana police deployed a huge force, including policewomen, to avoid any unruly incident during the teachers’ protest. The teachers, however, carried out a peaceful march. The leaders maintained they did not want to cause any inconvenience to the general public
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BSP protests against abolition of SC/ST posts
Ludhiana, March 24 The protesting BSP activists demanded that the decision be revoked and action be taken against those responsible for it. The BSP leaders further charged the government with misappropriation of Rs 900-crore grant received from the Centre for providing scholarships to SC/ST students.
— OC
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from schools and colleges
Ludhiana: A three-day entrepreneurship awareness programme concluded at Ludhiana College of Engineering and Technology. The programme aimed at encouraging qualified candidates to come forward and look beyond seeking a job by opting for entrepreneurship. BTech and MBA students of the pre-final year got the opportunity to interact with a number of successful entrepreneurs. The guests apprised students of ways to start small-scale industrial units, government rules and regulations, financial assistance, etc. The chief guest, Rampaul Singh, encouraged students by sharing anecdotes about a few successful entrepreneurs.
Pre-schoolers celebrate annual day
The annual day celebrations at Apple Tree Preschool started with the lamp lighting ceremony and a dance performance on Ganesh Vandana. Students of Pre-nursery sang rhymes. The audience was captivated by the bhangra performance of the Nursery students. Games were organised for parents. The event came to an end with the graduation ceremony. Children were also given trophies for excellence in respective fields.
Students get
warm send-off
Around 100 students of Mother's Pride Preschool were bid adieu during a function on the school premises. The school was decorated with balloons and festoons. Children played fun-filled games such as musical chairs and danced on popular songs. A few students performed on the stage. Parents were also in attendance. They enjoyed snacks and spending time with their children. School director Shobhan Soi blessed the children and wished
them luck.
IGNOU to focus on rural masses
Khanna: Twenty-four coordinators and programme in-charges from different learner support centres in Punjab attended a meeting at the regional centre of Indira Gandhi National Open University in Khanna. During the meeting, emphasis was laid on providing education to the rural masses and women. Earlier, regional director of IGNOU Dr Santosh Kumari lighted the lamp and delivered the welcome address. She also gave a lecture on organisational set-up of the university. She said IGNOU was one of the largest universities in the world and had completed 27 years. At present, the university had strength of around 4 million learners and the regional centre played an important role in imparting education in the region, she said. Dr Kumari said IGNOU was the only university where working people could upgrade their professional skills by pursuing various programmes in the field of management, education, health sciences, information technology, journalism, etc. — Tribune Reporters
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LUDHIANA SCAN
Ludhiana: New management team of the Bharat Vikas Parishad was elected at the Viklang Sahayta Kender on Sunday. The election was presided over by Dr Rajesh Ratan. The annual report of the organisation was also read on the occasion. Members of the organisation also played 'Tilak - holi' on the occasion. They also observed martyrdom doay of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and
Sukhdev. Railway pensioners’ annual meeting
The 15th annual general meeting of the Northern Railway Pensioners Welfare Association was organised on Sunday at the NRMU Complex. Secretary report and financial report were read on the occasion .Chairman of the organisation Sher Singh criticised the finance minister for ignoring the full parity to pre-2006 retirees, as inflation has increased many folds and the basic pension of pre-1996 and pre-2006 retirees remains the same. Artificial limbs distributed
The Shaheed Sukhdev Branch of the Bhartiya Vikas Parishad organised a free artificial limbs distribution camp at the Viklang Sahayta Kender at Rishi Nagar on Sunday. As many as 50 persons were given artificial limbs. MLA Simarjeet Singh Bains was also present on the occasion. The programme was presided by Yash Pal Gupta from the organisation. Medical camp
A free heart check-up camp was organised at the Kulwant Heart Centre. As many as 150 patients were checked during the camp. Free testing was done and free medicines were provided to the patients Young Indians’ team announced
Young Indians Ludhiana Chapter which is an integral part of the CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) announced its new team for the Year 2013-14 at their 1st annual session held at Hotel Park Plaza. Young Indians, Ludhiana, Annual Session, was followed by Panel Discussion on “Does being Young Mean Healthy” and “Discovering the link between Age and Health in today’s scenario”. Environmental awareness
Promotion of healthy environment through conservation of biodiversity and to maintain ecological balance is the need of the hour not only to save human life but all the flora and fauna around. This was said by Dr Arun Mitra, General Secretary of the Bharat Jan Gyan Vigyan Jatha (BJGVJ), at a function organised on the occasion of the 83rd martyrdom day of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev organised by the BJGVJ in collaboration with the Punjab Istri Sabha and the Voice of Youth foundation. The event was organised under the auspices of the Punjab State Council for Science and Technology (PSCST), Chandigarh, under the National Environment Awareness Campaign. On this occasion a free medical check-up camp was also held at Shaheed Bhagat Singh Public School, Haqiqat Nagar, Haibowal Kalan. As many as 200 patients were examined by a team of doctors. The patients were also given free medicines. Elected
Meeting of the Diploma Engineers’ Association was held on Sunday during which Manjinder Singhs and Rajinder Kumar gaur were elected as president and general secretary, respectively. Both these have been selected for the fourth consecutive term. After assuming their posts, both of them promised to work towards the welfare of the association and take try to solve their problems. World TB Day
To mark World TB Day, the Aastha TB Projects and the NIMA, Ludhiana, organised an awareness lecture and nukkad naatak at the Dr Surinder Gupta's Clinic in Shivpuri. A team of doctors educated the masses regarding tuberculosis in detail and about various facilities available under the RNTBC programme.
— TNS
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Earrings snatched from woman
Jagraon, March 24 The victim, identified as Darshan Kaur, a resident of Agwar Ladhai area of Jagraon, also received minor injuries during the incident. “Both the youths had covered their faces and fled towards Raikot after snatching the earrings,” she said. The woman claimed that the gold earrings snatched weighed 10 grams. Jagraon. SHO Kanwarpal Singh Bajwa said, “No complaint in this regard has been lodged so far. If anyone comes forward with the complaint, we will take a suitable action against the guilty.”
— OC
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Minor accuses youth of rape
Ludhiana, March 24 According to the police, the accused has been identified as Sandeep Singh, who resident of Mohalla Sutantar Nagar at Tibba road. Victim informed her parents that Sandeep met her in a street and asked her to visit at a religious place on the banks of Sutlej. Sandeep allegedly told the victim that her parents were already there and had asked him to bring her their. ASI Gurmeet Singh, Jodhewal Basti, investigation officer, said: "We have recorded the statement of victim. Tomorrow we will get the girl medically examined to confirm the rape. Accused Sandeep is still at large."
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Rain plays spoilsport, U-14 cricket trials postponed
Ludhiana, March 24 “A large number of aspirants turned up to attend the trials for the academy to be run under the patronage of the Punjab Cricket Association while many interested boys contacted over phone whether trials will be held today,” said, LDCA general secretary Vinod Chitkara. “As the play field was not fit for any activity, we were forced to postpone selection process. Trials will now be held on March 26 from 12 noon onwards at the same venue,” said
Chitkara.
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200 athletes attend selection trials
Ludhiana, March 24 Ishar Singh Deol, general secretary, Punjab Amateur Athletics Association (PAAA), said the trials were conducted by the District Amateur Athletics Association, Ludhiana, under the aegis of PAAA in which aspirants from across the state besides those from the Punjab Police, Border Security Force and Railways took part. The members of the selection committee included Satbir Atwal, Jagroop Singh, Prem Singh, Sanjeev Sharma Sonu and Jaswinder Singh. “The names of the selected probables will be announced in a couple of days who will attend a coaching-cum-trainingcamp prior to their participation in the federation cup,” said
Deol.
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Wrestler honoured
Mandi Ahmedgarh, March 24 Jagdeep Singh Bittu, director, Punjab Land Mortgage Bank, presided over the function and MLA Dakha Darshan Singh Shivalik and Santa Singh Umaidpuri, chairman, Service Selection Board, were the guests of
honour.
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