Ludhiana, May 8
Heart-rending scenes were witnessed at 18-year-old Sachin Gupta's house here today. His body was recovered from the storeroom of a house in the neighbourhood at Basant Avenue near BCM School, Dugri, here yesterday.

A large number of people thronged Sachin's house to stand by the side of his family in this hour of crisis.

A heavy police force was deployed in the area to tackle any eventuality.

However, the funeral was by and large peaceful. Family members and friends broke into tears when Sachin's body was taken home from the Civil Hospital following a postmortem.

"Someone, wake up my child. Please tell Sachin to wake up. I cannot live without him. My child had not done any wrong to anyone; why did they kill him," said Ranju, while mourning her son's death. Residents of the locality gathered in small groups outside Sachin's house and discussed the tragic murder case.

People who visited Sachin's house to express sympathy with the family were looking curiously at Manjeet Singh's house from where Sachin's body was recovered yesterday.

Sardari Lal, who lives in the locality, said, "We kept sitting in Manjeet Singh's office all these days while searching for Sachin. Who knew that the body was lying in the same house."

Tragic scenes were witnessed at the cremation ground. The family members and relatives were inconsolable.

Vijay Gupta said Sachin was his only son. "I was working day and night to ensure a better future for Sachin. If they (killers) needed money, I could have given them money; why did they kill my son," said Vijay Gupta.

Namita, Sachin's sister, was distraught. She is yet to come to terms with the tragedy. The siblings shared a strong bond with each other. As Namita was studying at Patiala, Sachin used to speak to his sister regularly on the phone, said a family member.

Senior police officials, including DCP Harsh Bansal, ADCP-II Bhupinder Singh Sidhu and ADCP-III Jaswinder Singh, attended the cremation.

Ludhiana, May 8
The police is working on various theories to crack the Sachin murder case. It has not ruled out the direct or indirect involvement of Manjeet Singh or his family members. "It is a small house. If someone was being beaten to death, the victim must have screamed for help. It is indeed strange that none of Manjeet Singh's family members, who live on the first floor of the house, heard Sachin's cries. Besides, Sachin was physically stronger than Chhotu, the servant who has confessed to the crime. It is highly unlikely that Chhotu alone could have killed Sachin," said one of the investigating officers.

The police is also working on the theory that Sachin and Chhotu may have entered into a dispute over betting on IPL matches, that may have led to the killing.

The police feels that the strike of a baseball bat on Sachin's head could have turned out to be the killer blow.

Chhotu reportedly told the police that he had a casual conversation with Sachin. He told the police that Sachin was kidnapped when he was visiting Model Town to change his pair of shoes. The phone used by Chhotu to speak to Sachin belongs to Manjeet's wife Mamta.

Manjeet's wife also reportedly acted in a strange manner when Chhotu was being interrogated for the first time by the police on the night of May 4. "She was overprotective and claimed that Chhotu could not be involved in Sachin's kidnapping. She reportedly told the police that she had nurtured Chhotu just like a child and had full faith in him," said the officer. "The motive behind the murder is still unclear," said ACP-Gill Gurpreet Singh Sikand.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, May 8
Three members of an NRI's family of Abbhuwal village, near here, were murdered last night. The Sudhar police has registered a case under Section 302 of the IPC in this connection.

Old rivalry is believed to be the reason behind the murders as no valuables or cash were taken away by the killers. The assailants entered the house through a small gate that was open at the time of the incident.

Villagers came to know about the killings when a neighouber, from whom the family used to purchase milk, visited their house to confirm whether they wanted to buy milk today or not.

The deceased have been identified as Shingara Singh (70), his wife Manjit Kaur (65) and sister-in-law Surjit Kaur.

Claiming that a special investigating team, led by Rajesh Sharma, SHO, Sudhar, had received some vital clue to the crime, Senior Superintendent of Police, Ludhiana (Rural), Ashish Chaudhary said the case would be solved soon.

Preliminary investigations revealed that Shingara Singh and his wife had come to stay at their native village in March. Surjit Kaur had come to meet her sister Manjit Kaur.

The other members of the family are settled in Canda and the UK.

Though the police is yet to receive the postmortem reports, preliminary investigations revealed that the assailants attacked the victims on their heads with sharp weapons. 

Ludhiana, May 8
Led by activists of the PSEB Employees Federation, employees of the grid maintenance division of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) today held protest rallies and burnt effigies of the PSPCL management at divisional offices in support of their demands.

Addressing a rally on the occasion, trade union leaders flayed the PSPCL authorities for adopting delaying tactics to concede the genuine demands of the employees, which, they claimed, had already been accepted in principle.

Union leader Nirmal Singh said the employees would be left with no option but to resort to a two-day strike if the PSPCL management failed to begin fresh recruitment to fill vacant posts and remove anomalies in the pay scales without delay.

Rachpal Singh, general secretary of the PSEB Employees Federation, said protest rallies were organised at all divisional offices of the PSPCL all over the state.

Other speakers at the rally criticised the PSPCL authorities for continuing with contractual recruitment, failing to deal with the issue of stagnation of technical and other employees and denial of financial benefits to employees despite having given assurances during a series of meetings with leaders of trade unions.

Ludhiana, May 8
The Ludhiana Municipal Corporation has postponed its demolition drive in the Barewal Awana area in the city in view of the checking of parking-related violations on the Ferozepur Road service lane. MC officials, accompanied by the police, will check parking-related violations tomorrow morning.

According to the action plan prepared by the MC, officials of the building branch were to carry out two demolition drives in the Barewal Awana area. They were to demolish 33 encroachments today, while 79 encroachments were to be removed tomorrow.

The demolition drive today was postponed as officials of the building branch had gone to attend a court hearing in Chandigarh. Since the checking is to be conducted tomorrow, the drive has been postponed.

On Monday, the MC had served 48-hour notices on 10 commercial establishments on Ferozepur Road, including a five-star hotel and a shopping mall, asking these to ensure that they had adequate parking arrangements.

The notices were served on the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The MC will conduct a survey of these properties tomorrow and if the arrangements are not found in line with the rules and building plans, the properties will be sealed.

The commercial establishments put on notice are former Congress MLA Jassi Khangura’s Hotel Majestic Park Plaza, Ansal Plaza, Hotel Friends Regency, Hotel Nagpal Regency, Khushi Ram and Sons, Olivia, Hotel Batra, Hotel A, KP Complex and Jay Sons, all located on Ferozepur Road.

It is learnt that following the court orders, some property owners have already started making the necessary parking arrangements.

A building branch official said a five-member panel comprising Joint Commissioner Ajay Sood, Municipal Town Planner Raj Kumar, Assistant Town Planner Rajinder Sharma, Additional Commissioner (Technical) Dharam Singh and ACP (Traffic) had been formed to check the premises of these 10 properties.

“If any property is found violating rules, its premises will be sealed,” said the MC official.

Ludhiana, May 8
Notorious criminal Jagminder Singh, the mastermind in the Vikramjit Singh murder case, has jumped parole.

Jagminder and his accomplice Ranjit were sentenced to life imprisonment for kidnapping and killing Vikramjit Singh.

The jumping of parole by Jagminder, alias Happy, alias Aman Verma, has sent the police in a tizzy.

Sources said a massive hunt had been launched to arrest Jagminder.

The lust for leading a luxurious lifestyle by making easy money and squandering it on girlfriends drove Jagminder to the world of crime.

A resident of Canadian Enclace, Ayali Chowk, Jagminder kept on adopting new identities to hoodwink the police and travelled in India and abroad. He even possessed a fake identity card of a being a journalist with a British newspaper and spoke fluent English.

He entered the world of crime in 2000 when he came in contact with his cousin Harvinder Singh, alias Bittu. They stole a car and were later arrested by the police.

They were also arrested in a car theft case at Bathinda and later got bail. Jagminder became friendly with a girl of Jodhewal Basti.

To fulfil his girlfriend's demand, he formed a new gang with Ranjit Singh, alias Ghukki, and Rajinder Singh. They stole a bag from a car on the Mall Road. They were arrested in this case and later bailed out.

He went to Delhi and joined the Brahma gang with his accomplice Subash. This gang kidnapped Amit Gogia. Later, gang leader Brahma was killed in an encounter with the Delhi police and Jagminder, along with others, were arrested and taken to the New Ashok Nagar police station in 2001.

Another case of murder was registered against him in the Vasant Kunj police station, Delhi, in June 2001. He was arrested and sent to the Tihar Jail. He remained in the Tihar Jail from June 2001 to September 2003.

In September 2003, he came to Bathinda to appear in a court in connection with a case from where he escaped from police custody with the help of his accomplices Amardeep Singh and Talwinder Singh.

He started living in the Kochar Market area in the city as a tenant in the house of Kulwant Singh till January 2004.

The police raided this house, but he escaped to Sonepat, where he met Pardeep, who took him to Ghaziabad.

Jaminder was behind the dacoity at Nakshtra Diamond Showroom in Noida that took place in March 2004. He decamped with jewellery worth Rs 60 lakh. He then went to Chandigarh.

He stayed in Chandigarh in Sector 8 in a rented accommodation along with his accomplice. In August 2005, he shifted to Sector 21. He sold diamond jewellery in Chandigarh and Amritsar.

Jagminder, along with Manoj Sharma, alias Shanty (whose father was a DSP in Muktsar Jail), and Honey Sharma of Dhonla kidnapped Nipun Joshi, owner of Joshi Auto Zone, Chandigarh, on November 18, 2005.

Ludhiana, May 8
The tragic kidnapping and murder of Sachin has reminded city residents of the sensational Vikramjit Singh murder case that took place nearly seven years ago.

Though the police had arrested the killers, who were sentenced to life imprisonment, the victim's family is struggling hard to come to terms with the tragedy.

The family, which had observed the birth anniversary of their only son recently, rued that Jagminder Singh, the mastermind in the murder case, had jumped parole.

Jagminder Singh and his accomplice Ranjit Singh were recently sentenced to life imprisonment for kidnapping and murdering Vikramjit.

"How can such hardened criminals be sent on parole. What kind of a system is this? Now that Jagminder is on the run, he may indulge in some criminal activity," said Rajinder Singh, Vikram's father.

He demanded the extradition of the key conspirators, who had hatched a criminal conspiracy from Dubai and the UK to kill his son.

"No action has been taken against UK-based NRI Parduman Singh and his close aide Sheikh Hassan of Dubai, who are evading arrest," said Rajinder Singh.

Rajinder Singh alleged that Parduman Singh was the key conspirator in the case.

"He was once lodged in the Tihar Jail, where he met Jagminder and conspired to kidnap Vikram. After kidnapping the victim, Parduman Singh and his accomplice Sheikh Hassan, made a call via Dubai and demanded ransom for releasing Vikram," said Rajinder Singh.

Parduman Singh had been named in the FIR as a co-conspirator in the case, but no action has yet been taken to extradite him.

Ludhiana, May 8
As many as 791 nominations were filed by various parties for the panchayat samiti elections on the final day of nomination. As many as 82 nominations were filed for the zila parishad elections. This was said by Dr Rishipal Singh, Additional District Election Officer-cum-Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development).

He said that 40 candidates of different constituencies of zila parishad, 50 candidates from the block panchayat samiti, Ludhiana-I; 86 candidates from different constituencies of block panchayat samiti, Ludhiana-II; 66 candidates from panchyat samiti, Doraha; 42 candidates from panchayat samiti, Jagraon; 44 candidates from panchayat samiti, Khanna; 50 candidates from panchayat samiti, Dehlon; 44 candidates from panchayat samiti, Sudhar; 35 candidates from panchayat samiti, Pakhowal; 53 candidates from panchayat samiti, Samrala; 36 candidates from panchayat samiti, Bet; 33 candidates from panchayat samiti, Raikot; 55 candidates from panchayat samiti, Machhiwada; from parties, including Shiromani Akali Dal, Indian National Congress, CPIM and independent candidates, filed their nominations.

He said that after scrutiny of nominations on May 8, candidates can withdraw nominations on May 9. Votes would be casted on May 19 and results would be declared by May 21.

Later, Dharampal Gupta, Observor, sub-division Jagraon, Khanna, Ludhiana East and West, inspected the nominations filed by candidates. He directed Returning Officers, Assistant Returning Officers and other officers that election code must be strictly implemented during the elections so that elections can be conducted in an impartial and transparent manner.

He said that a candidate can spend Rs 1.56 lakh for zila parishad election campaign and up Rs 65,000 for block samiti election campaign. He said that no candidate would be allowed to use government buildings or public places for hoarding, banners or posters for election campaign. “No candidate can use loud speaker without permission from officers concerned. It can only be used from 7 am to 10 pm after the permission,” he said. Votes would be cast on May 19 from 8 am to 4 pm.

Returning Officer, Jagraon, said that 25 zones had been created in the sub-division for block samitis and 72 candidates had filed nominations till the date of filing nominations April 7. Returning Officer, Khanna, said that two zones have been created for zila parishad elections in the sub-division and 18 zones have been created for block samitis.

“As many as 111 booths would be used for casting votes,” he said. 

Ludhiana, May 8
The government college teachers will now have to spend at least five and a half hours at their respective colleges and principals will now maintain all the record of the entry and exit of the teachers. During a surprise check, if a teacher is found absent (for one or two periods), they will be marked absent and departmental action will be taken against them.

This was said by Principal Secretary of Education Ravneet Kaur. She was in the city to attend the annual day function of SCD Government College as the chief guest.

She said teachers need to spend quality time at the colleges and must take pains for the skill development of the students.

She said, “Professor grades will be provided as per government's rules and lists sent by the DPI (Colleges).” Commenting on the upcoming community colleges at four places, including Bathinda, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala, Ravneet Kaur said: “90 per cent of the financial grant will be provided by the Central Government while remaining 10 per cent will be given by the state government.” She said, “Many new courses will be introduced for the welfare of the students in these community colleges.”

When asked about the government colleges was not making regular recruitments and many courses were on the verge of closure, the Principal Secretary Education said: “The department will ensure that courses are not abolished due to non-recruitment of regular teachers.”

The move has always been opposed by the government college teachers, who maintain since they were class I gazetted officers; they will not mark their attendance in the registers. 

Ludhiana, May 8
Thirty three government schoolteachers from Punjab have been served show-cause notice for remaining absent from duty for long. Of these, 15 teachers are from Ludhiana district alone and a majority of them are women. The notices have been served by KS Pannu, Secretary-cum-Director General, School Education, Punjab.

Through the notice, the 33 teachers are called upon to show cause, within a period of 30 days (from May 6), as to why action should not be taken against them for remaining absent.

“These teachers have remained absent from their duties for a long period of time and their unauthorised absence had resulted in loss of studies of the students and negatively impacted the teaching-learning atmosphere in the schools,” said an official.

The teachers from Ludhiana include Paramjit Kaur (Macchiwara), Jagjit Singh (Government High School, Johlan), Baljit Kaur (Government High School, Nagra), Baldeep Kaur (Gill), Amandeep Kaur (Patti Multani), Depinder Kaur (Barewal), Harwinder Kaur (Government High School, Harnampura), Gurpreet Kaur (Government Senior Secondary School, Koomkalan), Gurpreet Singh (Dholan), Kiranjit Chaudhry (Ayali Khurd), Tejinderpal Singh (Nathowal), Rupinderjit Kaur (Rasulpur), Amandeep Kaur (Khanna), Kamalpreet Kaur (Sherpur Bet), Vipanjit Kaur (Takmodi).

Some of these teachers had not reported to their respective duties since 2003. Taking stern action against these teachers, state government has already dismissed more than 600 teachers in Punjab. This is the third list released by the department. Education Minister Sikandar Singh Maluka had already made it clear that such careless attitude of teachers will not be tolerated.

An office bearer of the Punjab Government School Teachers' Union said, “It is bad on the part of teachers to remain absent for such a long time. Whether they will join or not, they need to tell it to the department. Besides, before going abroad, they need to seek permission from the department. We have been told that majority of these teachers have gone abroad for greener pastures.” 

Ludhiana, May 8
A school teacher was assaulted by a swindler acting as a police official following an argument at Jalandhar by pass today.

The incident took place at 10 pm when the victim was returning home on an auto-rickshaw along with her son.

A man identified as Kashmir Singh was also travelling on the auto-rickshaw.

She said the man had an argument with the auto-rickshaw driver and the former was demanding Rs 200.

When she raised objection for the harassment posed to the poor auto-rickshaw driver, the man pulled her out of the vehicle. He punched and kicked her badly.

The 10 year-old son of the woman identified the man.

He said the man was wearing a khakhi uniform and his batch read Kashmir Singh.

The woman sustained serious injuries and was rushed to the civil hospital. In the meantime, SHO Dharampal also reached the hospital.

The police has recorded the statement of the victim and hunt is on to nab the accused.

ACP North J Elanchezhian said, “The suspect is not a police official but a swindler who was robbing innocent commuters and auto-rickshaw driver. For past several months the search is on to nab him. we are in process of registering the case and the accused will be nabbed soon."

“The accused is still at large and has been cheating people by posing as a police official,” said one of the police official. 

Jagraon, May 8
The Sansar Chand Verma Memorial Trust, Jagraon, in association with the Guru Nanak Sahara Society, Jagraon, organised its 34th monthly pension and ration distribution function today.

Gurkirpal Singh Dhillon, convener of the Guru Nanak Charitable Trust, Glasgow (United Kingdom), was the chief guest at the function organised at RK Senior Secondary School, Jagraon.

Gurmail Singh Dhillon, chairman, Guru Nanak Charitable Trust, United Kingdom, distributed pensions and ration to the needy persons on behalf of the Sansar Chand Verma Memorial Trust, set up by a social activist of Jagraon, Captain Naresh Verma, in the memory of his late father Sansar Chand Verma.

Speaking on the occasion, chief guest Dhillon highly applauded the efforts made by Sansar Chand Verma Memorial Trust president Captain Naresh Verma in the field of social service. Dhillon urged the other social organizations to take inspiration from such efforts and come forward to help the needy persons.

The members of the Sansar Chand Verma Memorial Trust and Guru Nanak Sahara Society jointly provided monthly school fees and uniforms to 51 needy students of various schools.

Among others who were present during the occasion included Book Bank Society Jagraon secretary Sudarshan Sharma, Supereme Welfare Society joint-secretary Tony Verma, Dr Rajinder Sharma and many others. 

Ludhiana, May 8
On the call of All-India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists, the Ludhiana Distict Chemists Association has decided to go a one-day strike on May 10.

There are 3,900 chemists in Ludhiana and about 8,000 in Punjab.

GS Chawla, general secretary, and Tikka Dalip Singh, president, Ludhiana Distict Chemists Association, said: “We are approaching all the chemists, both who own shops outside as well as inside the hospital premises to join the strike of May10.”

Chawla said, “We appeal to the attendants of patients to buy the medicines well in advance for that day, so that none one suffers. In case there is any emergency, we will make arrangement for that.”

Amandeep Ahuja, president, Ludhiana District Retail Chemists Association, said: “Our demands include that in the new policy, profit of retail chemists should be the same, proper steps should be taken for solving problems of pharmacists, amendment in the Drug and Cosmetics Act 2008.”

Chawla said, “We want that chemists should not be a party when a drug sample fails or a drug comes out to be of a spurious salt. In such a case the onus should be of manufacturers. Drug licences should be issued and the police's intervention in the functioning of chemist shops should be stopped.”

The chemists also demanded that the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) should not interfere in the pharmacy line.

Over 39,00 chemists from Ludhiana alone are expected to take part in the protest.

Ludhiana, May 8
To mark World Asthma Day, Dr Rajinder Gulati, Paediatrician at the Civil Hospital, Raikot, interacted with the parents of asthmatic students of SGG Senior Secondary School Gondwal, Raikot.

He said, “Asthma is a chronic disease which leads to recurrent episodes of wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness and coughing. However, in children the clinical symptoms of asthma are variable and non-specific. Asthma at present is non curable but with modern methods it can certainly be kept under control. A person having asthma can live a near normal life.” A workshop for paramedics and staff nurses on drug delivery system in asthmatics was also organised by the Civil Hospital, Raikot. —TNS

Ludhiana, May 8
Veteran Punjabi actor Satish Kaul is all set to teach acting again as Punjabi singer Vishal Sonu is going to start his own acting school. The school is dedicated to Kaul, who will teach acting at the school.

He said talented actors wouldn't have to struggle in Mumbai as they would be given appropriate support in the B-town. “The school has been dedicated to Satish Kaul for his contribution to Punjabi cinema,” said Sonu.

“We will run the school in Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Malerkotla, Sunam and Amritsar,” he said.

He said the auditions for the upcoming talent hunt programme titled 'Kaun Banega Superstar of Punjab' would be held on May 14.

He said for the programme, best singer, dancer, model and comedian would be short listed and the final of event would be conducted on June 9 at Punjabi Bhawan.

Ludhiana May 8
A meeting of teachers of the Sarv Siksha Abhiyan along with RMSA/CSS teachers was held today in which the teachers condemned the state government for the anti-teacher policies.

The leaders of these organisations said, “The SSA teachers were not paid their salaries for the last 13 months and when these teachers raised their voices for their rights, the state government registered fake cases against the teachers at Bathinda and they were sent to Faridkot jail.”

“Against this inhumane act, teachers will burn the effigies of state government. On May 10 in Ludhiana the effigy will be burnt and a memorandum will be submitted to the government,” said the teachers. Baldev Singh Raj, president of the district unit of Sarv Siksha Abhiyan and Rashtriya Madhyamik Siksha Abhiyan, said: “The state government should do justice with the teachers, else be ready to face the 
agitation.” 

Ludhiana, May 8
Bihar is going to be the next investment destination for the industry after Gujarat. The Central Government has recently given a relief package worth Rs 12000 crore to Bihar. The grant has been given for four years, under which Rs 3,000 crore will be sanctioned every year. Meanwhile the Punjab industry is feeling dejected by this.

"The relief package given to the Bihar state will attract industry from our state. Ludhiana is known for hosiery, cycle and sewing machine industry and interestingly the consumption of these goods is more in Bihar then in Punjab. Be it cycles or sewing machines, they are consumed more in Bihar then in Punjab," said Badish Jindal, president of Federation of Punjab Small Industries Association.

The industry will automatically shift to Bihar, since the state provides incentives and the cost of land, besides labourer rates also far reasonable over there.

"Bihar will be the new land of opportunities as It has steel and coal mines. In addition to this labour is easily available and at lesser rates. The biggest advantage is that items manufactured by the industry in our state are consumed there," added Santosh Aggarwal, another industrialist from the Jalandhar.

"Punjab is feeling dejected and some relief package should also have been announced for the state. With high rate of taxation and power shortage, Punjab is becoming incompetent and industry will be left with no other option but to shift from here," said Raman Saluja, a sewing machine manufacturer from Ludhiana.

Ludhiana, May 8
After fake CDs, gadgets, electronic goods, now even fake fairness creams and antiseptic creams are available in the markets. City's Gur Mandi, a well known place for availability of fake electronics has come to news for selling fake and locally manufactured creams, these days.

Gucci, Chanel, MAC, VOV, name the brand and it is available here and that too at half the price of its original. Interestingly, even baby shampoos, soaps and milk lotions are not spared and are available in bulk. Besides, fake herbal and ayurvedic cosmetics from popular Indian brands like Ayur, Shahnaz Hussain etc are also being sold like hot cakes. Perfumes and deodorants from iconic brands such as Gucci and Chanel can also be pegged at the cheapest of prices, from these markets.

Almost every cosmetic shop has set up a separate counter of leading brands. A salesgirl or salesman standing at the counter claim to be a company's representative, but interestingly nobody carries any identity card to prove such a claim.

Shweta, a city resident said, "When I asked a salesgirl about her identity card, proving her representation, she said she did not have any identity card and that nobody had ever asked her for the same. I seriously doubt if these salesgirls or salesmen really are company representatives." 

Ludhiana, May 8
Arpinder Singh, a trainee of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Training Centre, Ludhiana, has been consistently performing to prove his mettle at the international arena.

After winning a bronze medal in triple-jump event (16.74 m) during the first leg of the ongoing Asian Grand Prix Meet, being held at Bangkok, Thailand, once again Arpinder hogged lime light, when he secured the third position in the second leg of this major tournament.

This talented athlete, with an attempt of 16.53 m jump, won bronze medal to justify his participation in the Grand Prix. The third and final leg will be held on May 12 at Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Hailing from a sleepy village, Harsha Sheena in the Amritsar district, Arpinder Singh started his training at SAI Centre here around four years ago and under the guidance of senior athletics coach, SS Pannu, enhanced his skills to perform better at different level tournaments.

The in charge of the local SAI Training Centre and coach, SS Pannu was an elated person after Arpinder finished among the position holders at Bangkok. "He is a one of the best guys and we expect more success from this lad in the forthcoming tournaments," said Pannu.

Ludhiana, May 8
Perturbed over non-payment of dues and assurances, the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation contractors today staged a protest outside the office of MC Commissioner Rakesh Kumar Verma in MC’s Zone-A office, here.

The contractors rued that their payments of around Rs 80 crore were pending since May last year. They rued that every time they meet the MC Commissioner, they were reassured of payment, which are never made.

Interestingly, when the MC Commissioner came to know about the protest outside his office, he did not go to his office and instead went to Additional Commissioner Dr Sumit Jarangal’s office in the same building. When the contractors came to know about it, they shifted their dharna outside Dr Sumit’s office.

Thereafter some of the contractors were called inside the office, where the MC Commissioner assured them that their payments of May last year would be cleared today, while the payments till July 31, 2012 would be cleared by May 15.

“We lifted our dharna and went to Deputy Controller of Finance and Accounts (DCFA’s) office where we were told that payment could not be made as there were no funds at all. Till the evening we kept on waiting for the payments, but they were not cleared. It is due to this attitude of the MC Commissioner that the contractors have stopped showing interest in the MC tenders,” rued a MC contractor.

Whereas the MC Commissioner Rakesh Kumar Verma claimed that MC was badly short of funds. “It is due to this financial crunch that we are unable to clear the payments. We have already applied for loan from a bank as well as some other financial institutions and once our loan is cleared, we would be able to clear all the payments. We do not intend to hold anyone's payment."

Ludhiana, May 8
District election officials said the government employees would have to perform the election duties and they could not be spared unless there was some genuine reason. Except for pregnant and lactating mothers, handicap persons or persons suffering from serious ailment (certificate of government doctor to be attached), none could be spared from duties of zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections, to be held on May 19.

The concerned officials of the district administration, have been under tremendous pressure from the influential persons, to spare their near and dear ones. An official, wishing not to be quoted said that a local MLA had asked to remove the names of at least five employees.

"How can we oblige everyone like this? This is a government job and the elected representatives must realise this. Instead, they need to snub those, who approach them for escaping from election duties. Ludhiana is a big district and we need the services of at least 7,000 persons directly, where 1,000 would be kept for the distribution of election material. Besides, we need 500-700 stand-by employees in case of emergency. There will be persons with genuine reasons, who would not be able to perform the duties", said the official. He added if they were performing duty for 18 hours, why could not all others?.

Ludhiana, May 8
After receiving complaints from customers, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is now looking into sale of gold coins and gold-related investment products, by more than two dozen banks, to ascertain whether their employees were forcibly selling such products to the customers.

RBI is also looking into complaints that bank staff is being pressurised by their senior officials to sell gold coins and other gold-related products in lieu of incentives. Earlier last month, RBI had ordered an investigation into three private-sector banks for alleged violation of money-laundering norms.

A customer of one such private bank said, "I went to the bank for getting an insurance policy and a bank employee insisted me on buying gold coins as well. In the end I fell in their trap as they offered me some incentives on the policy that I was buying".

RBI said that it had undertaken a thematic study in respect of banks that were active in selling gold coins, wealth management products, to examine whether there were systemic issues and to plug deficiencies and legal loopholes, if any.

Now RBI has widened the scope of its probe to include any systemic issues in sale of gold-related investment products by the banks and further as many as 30 banks have been included.

An RBI working group has already proposed a slew of measures like mandatory quoting of PAN numbers for high-value gold purchases, restriction on gold loans and check on NBFC branches dealing with gold loan.

Ludhiana, May 8
A huge amount of VAT refunds, pending with the department, is making industry anxious, whereas, the government is yet to launch the online system of VAT refunds. Recently, the Deputy Chief Minister made an announcement for making the VAT refunds online, while the traders have been waiting for the same.

The department is in the process of going paperless and the industrialists will be divided into three categories regarding the payment of tax refund to them. Category-A industrialists will be eligible for an automatic fast track VAT refund. For category-B, the refund will be given in minimum possible time, while for category-C; certain checks would be incorporated for giving tax refunds.

"It is a long pending demand of the industry to make the VAT refunds online. Though the government has announced it on several occasions, nothing has been done so far. The amount worth Rs crores is pending with the department, in the form of VAT, which should be released at the earliest," said Santosh Baini, a trader.

Adding further, another cycle part industrialist said t Under such circumstances it was becoming impossible to carry on the trade as they had to make investment from their own pocket.

Ludhiana, May 8
In a bid to control the high domestic demand for gold and further reduce the current account deficit, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has proposed to clamp down gold imports by banks. It suggested banks could only import bullion on consignment basis, to meet the genuine need of export of gold jewellery.

In the past two years, rising gold imports have been putting pressure on a widening current account deficit (CAD).

The central bank also said non-banking financial companies should not give loans against gold coins weighing more than 50g per customer. The detailed guidelines will be however be finalised before the end of this month.

So far, some banks were importing more than the demand and later pushing for higher sales, as the imports were on a consignment basis and hence, no funding was required while buying gold.

“Such sales were creating artificial demand for gold and the measure by RBI will streamline gold supply now,” said a senior bank official.

RBI has also capped the facility of advances against gold coins as collateral at 50 g per customer. This means higher investment in gold coins will not be allowed to be leveraged to generate cash and reinvest it again in other securities.

Ludhiana, May 8
A fire broke out inside a private room on the third floor of Dayanand Medical College and Hospital which lead to panic, here late last night. Though it was a minor fire incident, the entire ward of the hospital was full of smoke, due to which the patients as well as attendants had to be shifted to other floors.

The incident took place at around 9:15 pm and the hospital staff somehow managed to control the fire by 10 pm.

A stabiliser of an air conditioner, in private room number 361 on the third floor of this four-story building, caught fire due to a short circuit. The stabiliser fell on the bed, due to which there was fire in the room. Thankfully, the room was vacant, when this incident took place.

On coming to know about this incident, DMCH security staff rushed towards the room so that the fire could be controlled. The fire brigade was also called, which dispatched two fire tenders to the spot. But by the time the fire tenders reached DMCH premises, the staff had already doused the flames.

Though, the situation was very much under control, a panic in the minds of patients could not be avoided. Dr Sandeep Puri, medical superintendent, said “It occurred due to a short circuit in the air conditioner of a private room. But we managed to douse the flames ourselves,” he claimed.

Ludhiana, May 8
Nearly a month after Ludhaina Tribune highlighted the issue of the rich reaping the benefits of schemes meant for poor; the police today booked two beneficiaries in a fraud case. On March 30, Ludhaina Tribune had highlighted the misuse of schemes by cronies of politicians.

Following Ludhaina Tribune report, Block Development Officer (BDO- Ludhiana -II) Dhanwant Singh Randhawa conducted a probe against two brothers, Jatinderpal Singh and Kuldeep Singh, both residents of the HE Colony, Jamalpur.

In the report, the copy of which is with The Tribune, Randhawa said that Jatinderpal and Kuldeep had availed the benefits of government schemes meant for poor by submitting false documents.

The report was tabled before Additional Deputy Commissioner- Development (ADC-D) Dr Rishipal Singh. The ADC-D has sought a nod of Deputy Commissioner (DC) Rahul Tiwari for taking legal action against Jatinderpal Singh and Kuldeep Singh.

The ADC-D had stated in the letter that the duo has committed a fraud with the department and hence a strong legal action shall be taken against the culprits. He had also marked the report to District Food Supply Controller (DFSC) Sona Thind for further action.

“Jatinderpal and Kuldeep Singh were the beneficiaries of the blue card and used to receive subsidised ration, wheat flour for Rs 4 per kg and pulses for Rs 20 per kg, while their children study in good schools,” alleged Namit Dewan, a social activist who had prepared the list.

Namit demanded action against government employees who had allotted the blue card to Jatinderpal. Namit alleged that when Jatinder was allotted the blue card in 2007, he had nearly Rs 1 lakh in his bank account and was paying a monthly installment of Rs 7,360 to repay a car loan. Besides, he had also taken a personal loan and was paying an installment of Rs 3,120 to a bank. Jatinder had also given Rs 3 lakh as a loan to a city resident for running an acting school.

The police today registered the case against the duo under Section 420 and 177 of the IPC for fraud and deliberately giving false information to the government employees. The accused are still at large.