Ludhiana, July 12
As van operators are on strike to press for their demands, students continue to be at the receiving end of their agitation. Some van owners told parents the previous day that they would not come the next day while others picked up students in the morning but did not turn up in the afternoon to drop them back home. The students kept standing in the scorching heat and reached home nearly an hour late.

There was utter chaos outside schools. Sitting in the scorching heat, student were seen making efforts to inform their parents about the situation. The parents who daily come to pick up their wards extended a helping hand to some students.

"My van did not turn up to pick me up after school. After enquiring from my classmates, I came to know that no van came today to pick up the students. Since both my parents are working and I go to my grandmother's place, I did not know who to seek help from. It was generous enough of my friend's mother who dropped me at my grandmother's place," said Shubham, a student of Sacred Heart School.

"The moment I heard my son's voice over the phone from an unidentified number I got anxious and it was only after patiently listening to him that I came to know about the matter. There was a massive traffic jam and chaos outside the school and we reached back home after struggling for an hour on the road," added Poonam Bajwa, whose ward studies in BCM School.

Sukhjit Gill, whose ward studies in Guru Nanak Public School, said: "It has become a routine affair with the van drivers. Sometimes they drop the children at a distance and ask them to walk down to the school. And now they have again gone on strike. Since I am also working, it becomes very difficult for me to drop and pick my child. They should at least inform the parents in advance," she said.

Ludhiana, July 12
Leaving students in lurch, van operators today held a protest outside the mini-secretariat here. They demanded that the van operators should be given maximum time to get documents of their vehicles prepared and the buses, which had been impounded by the Transport Department, should be released.

"The administration should collect tax from the vehicle owners and allow them to ply their vans. The papers of the vehicles can be completed only with the help of the officials concerned and the school managing committees," said Bhupinder Singh, president of the All-School Van Operators Association.

The Transport Department has challaned the school vans since a majority of them have been modified by their owners to accommodate maximum students. A majority of the operators do not have proper documents to ply their vehicles on roads.

"Since some of the school authorities are not cooperating with us so we need time. We had submitted our memorandum to the Transport Minister and the Chief Minister in this regard and the latter said he would discuss the issue in the Cabinet. Students are also suffering due to our strike, so the administration should give us some time to settle the things," added Bhupinder.

Meanwhile, an official from the Transport Department said they couldn't release the buses till the operators produced proper papers or the school authorities made an undertaking that the buses belonged to them and they would be held responsible eventually. We had released about a dozen buses on the condition that the operators would dispose of these. 

Ludhiana, July 12
The Congress has managed to pip the Akali Dal in the announcement of its parliamentary poll candidate from Ludhiana. Manish Tewari, the Congress Member Parliament (MP) from Ludhiana who’s also the Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, has declared that he will be the Congress candidate from the Ludhiana Parliamentary constituency for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Senior Akal i Dal leader and Punjab Chief Minister’s adviser Maheshinder Singh Grewal, expressing ignorance about the Akali Dal’s parliamentary poll probable from Ludhiana, said it was the party high command’s prerogative to decide on the matter. “Tewari is the sitting MP. As far as the issue of the Akali Dal candidate (for the Parliamentary poll) from Ludhiana is concerned, I have no idea about it.” Besides, it’s too early to come to a decision on it, he added.

Tewari, meanwhile, has reiterated what he had said last July. He said he would contest from Ludhiana. “There was never any question of trying to look for an alternative.”

He said he’s one of the few (Punjab) MPs who visited each and every village of his constituency at least twice.

“The 2014 parliamentary poll will be yet another occasion to rededicate myself to the welfare of Ludhiana,” said Tewari, while talking to The Tribune.

Interestingly, he added that there’s no gainsaying the ambitions and aspirations (of party leaders and workers) are circumscribed by whatever decision the party takes.

Asked whether the incumbency factor and an early start (the Akali Dal has not yet zeroed in on its candidate) will go in favour of the Congress in Ludhiana, he said the Congress did not draw its strategy considering who the rival is. “Our focus is and will be on what we have delivered to the people here and on what more needs to be done.”

Ludhiana, July 12
Unable to by medicines worth Rs 3,800, a 28-year-old man, who was suffering from an acute liver problem, allegedly committed suicide by jumping into the Sidhwan Canal.

The man, identified as Lakhwinder Singh, an electrician by profession and a resident of Azad Nagar, near Daba, was feared drowned in the canal. The police had conducted a search operation alongside the canal, but in vain.

Lakhwinder left his house on his motorcycle in the morning. He called up his friend and told him about his decision of ending his life by jumping into the canal. His friend informed the police about the matter.

A pal of gloom descended on Azad Nagar. Lakhwinder's wife Surjit Kaur (25) was inconsolable. She was worried about the future of her three-year-old daughter and barely seven-month-old son.

Ludhiana, July 12
Bollywood movie on legendary Milkha Singh hit the cinema screens today and youngsters were ecstatic about the movie. They said the movie was fun and the grit and determination of Milkha was inspirational.

"Although we had heard the stories about Milkha, about the hard work he did, seeing Farhan playing Milkha on screen was a different experience altogether," said Rajvinder Singh, a Class IX student. As many as 693 students from Pothohar Sayyed Khalsa School went to watch the movie. "The movie is inspirational, it teaches us that we should strengthen our weaknesses," said Simranjit Kaur, a Class XI student.

Sanjiv Sharma, athletics coach, sports department, said, "It is good that the movie has been released as youngsters will get to see the story of Milkha on screen. Through the movie, they will at least get to know about the hard work he has put in." "This is the first time that a movie on a sportsman has been made. Milkha Singh had to go through a lot of struggle in life and yet he emerged a winner. The adulation and this movie on his life is a deserved reward," said SS Pannu, senior athletics coach, SAI, and in charge, SAI Centre.

Another coach Harinder Singh said the movie would inspire sportspersons that one can only win through passion and hard work and one can overcome all odds with dedication. "It is a splendid movie. Milkha is a role model. The movie tells that the joy of victory only comes from the pain of struggle," said Satinder Singh, an aspiring athlete.

Machiwara, July 12
Residents of Sehjo Majra village, especially school children, are facing issues due to the dismantling of an old bridge of Buddha Nullah by a contractor before constructing the new one. The residents are forced to walk through the flowing water of the nullah. This bridge links several villages of Bet and Dhaha areas with this village. In the absence of the bridge, people are cut of from the rest of the villages.

Residents of the village said a contractor was allotted a tender to construct a new overbridge on the Buddha Nullah. The contractor allegedly smashed the old bridge before making any alternative arrangement. Besides farmers and daily commuters, students of primary and middle schools are the worst hit. Panchayat member Dilbag Singh, Ranvir Singh, Shami Grewal, Swarn Singh and several others alleged that in the absence of this bridge they were forced to go through their fields and had to pass through the flowing water of the nullah. Otherwise, they have an alternative way, which is around 25-km-long.

They alleged that the contractor dismantled the bridge without informing the residents.

They said some students of adjoining areas were not able to attend their schools as they were not able to cross this passage. The residents have demanded a passage as an immediate alternative arrangement to go across this bridge area. They have also demanded action against the contractor.

XEN, PWD, GS Sangha, said the contractor had made an alternative arrangement diversion before dismantling this bridge but this arrangement was washed away by the rain. He assured that they would make an alternative route for this area in a week.

Ludhiana, July 12
Raids were conducted by the Excise and Taxation Department at two hotels, Hotel Rehmani on Shahpur Road and Hotel Red Star at Samrala Chowk, here today.

The raids were conducted under the supervision of Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner (AETC) HPS Ghotra. These hotels were said to be evading luxury tax.

"Both the hotels come under the purview of luxury tax but have not got themselves registered so far," said an official.

Ludhiana, July 12
Following a landslide, a team of doctors, who went to treat sick and needy people at Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand, got stuck up there. The 11-member team included doctors from the Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD) and the Indian Medical Association, Ludhiana, and some paramedics.

Dr Aun Mitra of the IDPD said: “We started from Ludhiana on July 7 in three taxies and reached there on July 9. During our stay we visited 16 villages situated in the tough terrain."

"After returning to Uttarkashi, we were moving towards Haridwar this morning. We had a narrow escape when a landslide blocked the whole road leading to Hardwar. Since morning, we are struck up there on the roadside and have also approached the local police and administration for help.

We hope that the road would be cleared by tomorrow morning and we would be able to come back,” Dr Mitra said. Dr Neelam Sandhu from Yamua Nagar, Dr Shakeer-Ur-Rehman from Patna, Dr SK Prabhakar from Ludhiana and Dr Rachna from Faridkot were the other doctors of the visiting team. — TNS

Ludhiana, July 12
Irked over the 'unlawful promotion' of junior patwaris by the Financial Commissioner (Revenue), the Revenue Patwar Union today staged a four-hour dharna against the state government at Mini-Secretariat.

Rupinder Singh Grewal and Darshan Kumar Sharma, president and secretary of the union, respectively, alleged that the commissioner had promoted junior patwaris in Patiala district to the post of kanugos in 2003 while granting them seniority from the year 1995.

"Not only this, the unlawfully promoted patwaris were given the charge of naib tehsildars in a blatant violation of the directions of Punjab and Haryana High Court and earlier decisions of Romila Dubey and AR Talwar, who had held the posts of the Financial Commissioner (Revenue)," the functionaries of the union maintained. They said there was resentment against gross injustice inflicted upon patwaris of all seven districts in Patiala division and they had decided to continue their fight against the state government and the 'erring' officials.

Sharma said a meeting of the patwar sangharsh committee of Patiala division would be held on July 13, 2013. The members would prepare the strategy to intensify the agitation.

Kuldeep Singh Mann, Pawan Kumar, Sukhdev Singh, Bhushan Kumar, Surinder Pal Singh, Ranjit Singh, Budh Singh, Parminder Singh Toor, Gurmel Singh, Sukhminder Singh Virk, Dalip Singh, Sukhjinder Singh. Mohan Singh, Jagir Singh, Balwinder Singh and Inderjit Singh were among the speakers.

Ludhiana, July 12
Activists of Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), along with a large number of residents of unauthorised colonies, today held a protest in front of the office of Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA) against the new policy formulated by the Punjab Government for the regularisation of unauthorised colonies.

Ludhiana, July 12
The health department is not 'upgrading' government 100 hospitals, but equipping these with latest equipment.

The hospitals will have adequate staff. This was said by Health and Family Welfare Minister of Punjab Madan Mohan Mittal while talking to The Tribune.

The health minister said, "We have identified 100 government hospitals in the state and are in the process of appointing staff."

The health department had transferred 523 medical specialists to the hospitals in the first week of June. Following which, the PCMS doctors went on a strike on June 10. Dr Harpreet Singh State, president of the PCMS Association, Punjab, said, "On June 10, we held a meeting with the health minister in Chandigarh and we too were under the impression that the doctors were transferred in order to upgrade the hospitals. But the health minister told us that the hospitals were not being upgraded."

The health minister said, "Recently, I paid a visit to eight to nine districts and found that there were about 29 to 30 government hospitals. As a large number of patients are dependent on those hospitals, we will equip these with latest equipment. Experts will be sent there."

When asked if the hospitals on peripheral areas from where the doctors had been sent to the 100 hospitals would get replacements, Mittal said, "We will recruit doctors through walk-in interviews and send them there."

He said 550 staff nurses and 300 medical officers would be appointed by the end of July in different government hospitals.

Ludhiana, July 12
The 10-15 per cent rise in yarn prices has hit the industry hard. The worst-affected are the manufacturers who had booked orders on old rates during the buyer-seller meet held in Delhi.

"Since the orders have already been finalised on old rates, it will not be possible for us to increase the prices while supplying the consignment. Now, there will be no profit margin left for us. The hike in power tariff has already affected the industry and now the rise in yarn prices has aggravated our woes," said Darshan Dawar, president of Knitwear Club.

Every year, when the manufacturing period starts, mill owners increase the prices. The hike should be rolled back for the survival of the knitwear industry. We have also decided to meet mill owners in this regard," added Subhash Singla, another apparel manufacturer.

The hosiery industry is passing through a rough patch.

The hike has made things difficult for the industry," said Vinod Thapar, chairman of Knitwear Club.

"We want the state government to intervene in the matter and make a wool bank at the government level. If things continue to be the same, soon the industry will vanish from the state," said Thapar.

"We cannot increase the prices now and if we supply the orders according to the present yarn prices, there won't be any profit. We will only be able to get the manufacturing cost. The government should intervene to roll back the prices," said Karnail Singh, another exporter.

Ludhiana, July 12
A career counselling programme was today organised by the district Education Department for those students who have secured above 80 per cent marks in their Class X examinations.

Over 100 students from various government schools participated in the programme.

While addressing students, Pardeep Kumar from Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) made students acquainted with the different courses available in the university. PN Divedi from GADVASU was also present.

Dr Surinderveer Singh, former Principal of GNE College, made students aware about different engineering courses and the fee structure.

Deputy Director, Sports, Sarabhjeet Singh Toor, also addressed the students and encouraged them to take up sports as career.

Paramjit Kaur, District Education Officer (secondary), said: “Students should study with full concentration and take up only those courses in which they have interest.”

Ludhiana, July 12
Two patients with symptoms of diarrhoea died at Muslim Colony and Sherpur.

District epidemiologist Dr Anil Verma said,"Ram Bhagat died on the way to the Civil Hospital today. He was suffering from chronic bronchitis."

On July 10, another death was reported from the same area. Senior Medical Officer, Community Health Centre, The health department held a camp at Muslim Colony.

A medical team from the office of the Civil Surgeon examined 154 patients. Twenty-one persons were diagnosed with diarrhoea and one person with gastroenteritis was referred to the Civil Hospital, Ludhiana. The patient is recuperating. Sahnewal SMO, district health officer and district epidemiologist said there was no need to panic. "The health department has stationed 108 Ambulance in the area for rushing gastro patients to the Civil Hospital.

Ludhiana, July 12
The Ludhiana Municipal Corporation has decided to auction parking zones alongside Ferozepur Road on July 18. During the previous auction, the MC was able to auction only four zones, out of the total nine, and this time the remaining nine lots will be put under the hammer.

The first auction was held on June 26. No bidder had shown interest in the remaining nine sites due to high reserve price. Through the auction of four parking sites, the MC had earned a revenue of Rs 83.40 lakh.

The auction of parking sites alongside Ferozepur Road was held following the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The court had directed the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation to auction the parking zones so that no one could encroach upon the road.

The MC has managed to auction the sites starting from New Courts till A Hotel, from Hotel Park Plaza till Punjab Furniture, from Punjab Furniture till Aarti Chowk and from Aarti Chowk till Gurdev Nagar for a price of Rs 13.10 lakh, Rs 23 lakh, Rs 25.10 lakh and Rs 22.20 lakh, respectively.

This time, the MC is planning to lower the reserve price to attract more bidders. This time, the reserve price of parking lot from Shiraz Hotel till Bharat Nagar Chowk has been fixed at Rs 14.40 lakh, from Bharat Nagar Chowk till New Courts Gate and from Gurdev Nagar up to Sandhu Tower, the reserve price is Rs 14 lakh, from Sandhu Tower till Malhar Road it is Rs 17.56 lakh, from Malhar Road till Mandir Street Sarabha Nagar the price is Rs 12 lakh, from PAU gate number 1 till Circuit House it is Rs 11.52 lakh, from Circuit House to Aarti Chowk the reserve price is Rs 20 lakh, from Aarti Chowk to Bhai Bala Chowk it is Rs 28 lakh and from Bhai Bala Chowk to the irrigation department the reserve price is at Rs 21.60 lakh.

It is learnt that the shopkeepers association of the area has moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court against paid parking alongside Ferozepur Road. The shopkeepers demanded that they should not be charged for parking in front of their shops.

MC Additional Commissioner Isha Kalia said the reserve price had been reduced. "Our staff had conducted a survey based on the occupancy of vehicles in a particular parking lot. It was after the survey that the committee had decided to reduce the reserve price. We also hope to attract more competition due to the reduced reserve price," she stated.

Ludhiana, July 12
Four persons, including a boy, died in road accidents on the National Highway No.1 near the Focal Point area in the past 24 hours.

In the first incident, two migrants travelling in a truck died after their vehicle rammed into another truck moving ahead.

The incident took place last night when the deceased, identified as Jaipal of Panipat and Mohammed Azad, was taking the mango- laden truck to Uttar Pradesh. The truck driver, Kala, reportedly fled from the scene.

In the second incident, 50-year-old Chotte Lal, a resident of Dhandari, who was riding a bicycle, was crushed to death by a speeding truck near Oswal Woolen Mill here today.

In another incident, a 13- year-old boy was crushed to death by a SUV. The deceased has been identified as Abhishek, who lives in a shanty near Dhandari.

Residents said he was playing outside his house when a SUV came from behind and ran over the boy. He died on the spot.

A woman was run over by a train near Baddowal here today. She could not be identified. The incident came to light in the morning when a resident of the Baddowal area spotted the damaged body of the woman and informed the GRP about the same.

Ludhiana, July 12
The police has claimed to have busted a 10-member inter-state gang of copper wire thieves and recovered two trucks and one earthmoving machine from the possession.

The police said notorious criminals, Abu Bakar and Abdul Ganni, who were booked for stealing underground BSNL wires in Delhi, were the main players of the gang.

The gang members were nabbed last night following a raid conducted in the Jodhewal Basti area.

ADCP-IV NK Sharma and ACP (East) Satish Malhotra said Balwinder Singh, SHO, Jodhewal Basti, and his team foiled the theft attempt.

They said if the accused had managed to steal the wires, the telephone connections of a huge section of BSNL users would have been snapped for quite sometime.

The officers said person identified as Tahir, who has the contract of laying underground cables of the BSNL, had masterminded the theft. ACP (East) Satish Malhotra said Tahir had established contact with Abu Bakar and Abdul Ganni a few days ago.

He told the duo that the gang could 'strike gold', if they managed to steal underground cables laid in the Jodhewal area.

A Delhi-based scrap dealer, identified as Kalim, told Abu and Tahir to bring the entire stolen material to his godown in Delhi. He told Abu that they would share the profit.

As per plan, Abu and his men arrived in the city. As the task was huge, Abu arranged labourers from Delhi.

Abu told the labourers that he he had got the order of removing the underground wires.

Abu told the police that it would have taken the labourers three days to remove the underground wires from Jodhewal and surrounding areas. The stolen wires were to be loaded on to a truck and further taken to the godown of Kalim in Delhi. Sources said Abu had formulated fake contract documents to hoodwink the authorities.

After arranging a truck and an earthmoving machine for Rs 500 per hour, the 10-member gang reached the National Highway I near Kirpal Nagar.

Tahir dug up a manhole and the gang members started pulling out the underground wires.

Someone informed the police about the theft, following which the accused identified as Mohammed Farman, Chunna, Kaif Ahmed, Mohammed Yusuf, Abdul Johar, Mehtab Alam and Nand Kishore were arrested. The masterminds Abu Bakar, Abdul Ganni and Tahir were also nabbed.

Jagraon, July 12
The local police has arrested two drug peddlers and seized 10 gm heroin and five kg of poppy husk from them in two operations during the past 24 hours.

The police said the first consignment of drug was seized by a police party, led by ASI Joga Singh, near Sherpur chowk, Jagraon, while the second drug contraband was seized by a police team, led by Raikot Adda police chowki in charge ASI Satpal Singh, from the Raikot Road.

The accused have been identified as Lal Chand of the Bagh Kheta Ram locality, near LRDAV College, and Aakashdeep Verma of the Shaheed Karnail Singh Gate locality of Jagraon.

Giving details, Jagraon city police station SHO Mohammad Jamil said the first accused was arrested near the Sherpura Chowk when a police team led by ASI Joga Singh was patrolling in the area.

“On seeing the police personnel, a youth riding a motorcycle tried to fled away from the spot, which made the police suspicious. The police nabbed him. When searched, the police recovered five kg of poppy husk from his bag. It also recovered five gm of heroin from his pocket following which the youth was arrested,” said the SHO.

SHO Mohammad Jamil said the police arrested another youth and seized five gm of heroin from him in a separate incident.

“A police team had set up a checkpost at the Raikot Road where the police stopped a youth over suspicion. When searched, it recovered five gram of heroin from him following which he was arrested by the police", the SHO added.

The police has registered separate cases under the NDPS Act against both accused at the Jagraon city police station.

Machhiwara, July 12
The Machhiwara police has booked a youth for raping a minor girl on the pretext of marriage.

As per information, the father of the girl, a resident of Machhiwara, in a statement to the police said earlier, Chaman Parkash (21) was trying to lure his 13-year-old daughter.

The complainant also brought the matter to the notice of the youth's parents but he did not mend his ways.

On the night of July 9 the parents of the girl found their girl missing from the house. They reported the matter to the police.

A police party today arrested the duo from near the bridge of Behlolpur village. A medical examination of the girl conducted today confirmed rape. — OC

Ludhiana, July 12
The police today arrested three drug-peddlers during a naka in the Phulanwal area. Shammi Kumar, a resident of Field Gunj, and Rishi Nayar, a resident of Harike Pattan near Tarn Taran, were held with 30 gm of heroin.

The duo were in a Mahindra Scorpio and tried to escape on seeing the police, but were nabbed following a chase.

The police also recovered a licensed .32 pistol and six live cartridges from their possession.