Ludhiana, September 18
Visitors to the Civil Surgeon's office in Ludhiana remained at the receiving end today as the staff went on a three-day strike on a call given by the Punjab Health Department Subordinate Offices Clerical Association.

People who came to collect death and birth certificates of their relatives, those who wanted to apply for drug licences and the ones who wanted to get handicapped certificates made had to return disappointed.

Balwinder Singh of Jawaddi village said, "I wasn't aware of the strike and came along with my cousin for getting his medical examination, required for a job, done. Now, we will have to wait for five days as after the strike, the department will remain closed on Saturday and Sunday."

More than 150 death and birth certificates and about 20 medical certificates are issued daily by this office.

Work also suffered at community health centres, ESI dispensaries and at the Civil Hospital, Ludhiana.

Members of the Punjab Health Department Subordinate Offices Clerical Association also staged a dharna outside the Civil Surgeon's office in support of their demands.

The Civil Surgeon, Ludhiana, Dr Subhash Batta, said, "Work suffered due to the strike by the clerical staff. Their demands are genuine.''

Sukhvinder Singh, president and Jagdish Thakur, general secretary of the association, said, "We held two meetings with a former Health Minister in August 2011. However, the Director, Health and Family Welfare, Punjab, has been dilly-dallying the issue. On September 3, 2013, we warned the Health Minister, Punjab, the Secretary, Health, and the Director, Health Services, that if our demands are not met, the association will go on a three-day pen-down strike. On September 17, the Director, Health Sevices, called us for a meeting in Chandigarh and said the government needed some more time to give a practical shape to our demands, but we wanted these demands to be implemented immediately."

What the association wants

Regular promotions for assistants, superintendents, stenographers and the statistical staff

Filling of 60 posts of accountant through promotion

Finalisation of seniority list of employees

Employees of other cadres should not be deployed on clerical posts 

Ludhiana, September 18
Skeletons have begun to tumble out of the closet after the city police exposed one of the biggest white collar loan scams involving a whopping amount of Rs 26 crore.

Two days after the police booked five persons, including an industrialist, for allegedly orchestrating the multi-crore fraud, Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal has asserted that he will examine the case and necessary action will be taken if any Revenue Department employee was found guilty.

Documents available with Ludhiana Tribune show how Jagjit Singh, the owner of NKH Garments Private Limited and mastermind of the scam, arranged two impostors who posed as Gurmail Singh (who died in 2008) and Gurdev Singh (US-based NRI) and got fake registries done of land measuring around 10,000 sq yards in Jugiana village.

The scam has also brought the role of the then Sub-Registrar, now posted as Sub-Registrar outside the district, and nambardar Balvir Singh under the scanner. The documents show how the sale deed of the land was executed in the presence of the revenue officials.

Ludhiana, September 18
With even bicycles going out of the reach of the common man, loans will now be available for buying cycles. Hero Cycles is tying up with financial institutions across the country to enable weaker sections of society to get loans for buying bicycles.

Though loans for buying cars or two-wheelers are there for the asking, no such facility is available for buying cycles. To fill the gap, Hero Cycles has come up with this initiative. A normal bicycle costs between Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,000, an amount poor people often find difficult to spare in one go.

Ludhiana, September 18
Fourteen cases of dengue were confirmed today from various hospitals in the district. Of these, six cases are from Ludhiana district — one each from Dugri, Muradpura, Giaspura, Daad, Karnail Singh Nagar and Jugiana — while eight cases are from other districts — one each from Bathinda, Fatehgarh Sahib, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Pathankot and Sangrur, and two from Hoshiarpur.

With this, 41 cases of dengue have so far been reported from Ludhiana district, while 46 cases of dengue have been reported from other districts who received treatment at hospitals in the city this season. There were 11 patients of dengue from other states who received treatment in the city. 

Ludhiana, September 18
The Excise and Taxation Department today seized 150 consignments coming from other states. Officials of the department conducted a raid at the railway station early this morning following a tip-off information received by it.

The consignments were despatched from Delhi and belonged to different parties. "At the time of seizing the goods, they were found without bill. The parcels mostly contained garments. The actual value of the parcels can be known only after verification," said Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner Bhupinder Gupta.

Meanwhile the Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Tejbir Sindu, also conducted a raid at a unit located in the Focal Point area. The unit is engaged in the manufacturing of transformers and had been under the department's scanner for VAT evasion for a long time.

Ludhiana, September 18
Once again India has turned an importer of onion. Around 300 tonnes of onion (15 container loads) has landed in the country and people are hopeful that its prices may come down now.

Onions have been imported from Egypt and China and importers have obtained the necessary permission for its release into the market.

"The imported onions hit the mandis on Monday in Maharastra and may soon travel to the North. Its prices may moderate," said a vegetable vendor at the Civil Lines.

Traders have got permission to import 24,000 tonnes of onion this year to meet the rising demand. This is the first imported consignment. Some more are in the pipeline.

"I doubt if the prices will come down after the import of onion. Traders will keep their margins and after that the price of the imported onion will be higher than the normal," said Amarjeet Singh, a vegetable wholesaler.

Meanwhile Ritika, a homemaker from South City, said she had to shell out nearly Rs 70 after every two days to add extra flavour to her recipes. Since onion is an essential ingredient of the North Indian dishes, one cannot do without it. I hope its prices come down as the demand cannot be cut down by the consumers," she said.

India had imported huge quantities of onion from Pakistan in 2011. In 2012, there was no need to import it. This year, India has become a net importer despite adequate supply from domestic markets.

Ludhiana, September 18
The Excise and Taxation Department has increased the processing fee.

The fee was levied in August last year and the department used to collect Rs 800 as annual processing fee from the traders. The fee is collected for C forms and doing assessment of the VAT returns filed by traders. But now the department has revised the fee and will be collecting different amount of fee according to different categories.

Senior official from the department said traders have been divided into different categories and different amount of fee would be collected from them.

He said, "Dealers who have not filed their returns during the last financial year and whose gross turnover was nil during the previous financial year will be charged Rs 1,500. While dealers who have paid no tax and whose gross turnover is up to Rs 1 crore will pay Rs 1,500, whose turnover is between Rs 1-5 crore will pay Rs 2,500, those having turnover between Rs 5-10 crore will be paying Rs 3,500 and those having turnover Rs 10 crore and above will pay Rs 5,000. Apart from this all other traders will be paying Rs 800 as processing fee."

Jatinder Khurana, taxation lawyer, while commenting upon the increase in processing fee, said: "It will be a financial burden on the traders. There is no need of levying processing fee when the revenue of the government is increasing. Since, the online system of the department is not up to the mark, it should not charge processing fee."

Gurmukh Singh, a trader, said the department has no right to charge processing fee from them. "The online portal of the department does not function properly. In addition to this if department officials are assessing the returns, they should not charge for it, as it is their duty," he said. 

Mandi Ahmedgarh, September 18
Vendors at 'Mela Chhapar' were disappointed on the second day of the event. Owners of sweetmeat, fast food stall and consumer durables were the sufferers.

Decrease in number of women and children among devotees were cited as major factors behind the tendency.

Contrary to earlier trends, roads leading to Chhapar village did not support massive vehicular traffic. Instead of carrying passengers on rooftops, conductors of special buses and tempos plying on the route could not even book all the seats.

Majority of the devotees reached the Guga Mari directly to pay obeisance and returned to their places after spending some time near the shrine. Number of devotees purchasing parshad from vends established near the shrine had also declined for obvious reason of difference in price. Majority of devotees preferred to make purchases from their native localities.

Dhan Raj, an owner of a sweetmeat shop, was upset that he could not even meet out of his expenses even as number of devotees stopping for purchases had declined steeply this time. "Though we transacted fairly good business on Tuesday, the situation was very disappointing today," said Raj. 

Mandi Ahmedgarh, September 18
Thousands of devotees thronged ‘Chhapar Mela’ to pay obeisance to Guga, the embodiment of “nag devta”, on second day today.

Local leaders of various political parties gave final touch to the venues of their respective conferences scheduled to take place on Thursday and addressed their conferences today, though they had to take the help of singers and "dhadies" to attract people.

Though normally no stall can be installed at the mela without prior written permission of the administration, here no stall owner had any permission. When asked about the no-objection certificates (NOCs), most of the organisers answered that the documents were with their owners who were not present at the site. The police had a tough time verifying the NOCs of the stall owners.

Local leaders of various political parties, including the Congress, SAD and Left Front Parties addressed their respective conferences today. Whereas the SAD and Congress leaders recounted the achievements of state and Union government the CPI and CPI (M) leaders termed the governments as complete failure.

Jagpal Singh Khangura, Jasbir Singh Khangura, Pawan Dewan, Ranjit Mangat (Congress), Manpreet Singh Ayali, Harvir Ayali, Darshan Singh Shiwalik, Jagdish Singh Garcha, Jagwant Singh Jaggie and Yadwinder Singh Phallewal (SAD), Sikandar Jartauli, Baldev Latala, Sukhwinder Singh Sekhon, Amarjit Mattoo and Kartar Singh Buani (Left front) addressed the gathering. 

Jagraon, September 18
Allegedly harassed by a senior official of his own department, a contractual JCB Operator working under Block Development and Panchayat Office (BDPO) Baghapurana in Moga district and his wife consumed some poisonous substance in a bid to end their lives at their house in Kothe Khajura village near Jagraon today.

Husband and wife have been identified as Tarakjot Singh alias Joti and Usha Rani. According to the doctors at the Civil Hospital, the condition of both the husband and wife is out of danger.

In a letter written by Tarakjot Singh before consuming poisonous substance, he alleged that he was forced to take this extreme step only because of continuous harassment caused to him by a senior official at the Block Development and Panchayat Office, Baghapurana.

"A senior official has been continually harassing me for a long time. As I belong to schedule caste, my senior often uses abusive language and discriminate me. He has been pressurizing me to quit the job," alleged Tarakjot Singh in the letter.

No police case was registered in this regard till the filing of this report. Investigating Officer ASI Satpal Singh said, "The police is yet to record the statements of the victims. Both the husband and wife are not medically fit to give any statement at this stage. We will record their statements tomorrowand an appropriate action would be taken on the basis of their statements."

Meanwhile, BDPO, Baghapurana, HS Jassal, said that he was not aware of the incident. When reprimanded about the allegations leveled by Tarakjot in the letter Jassal said, "Tarakjot never raised any issue with me. Personally I have very good relations with Tarakjot and his family and if he would have taken up the matter with me, I would not have let this unfortunate incident take place."

Tarakjot Singh got married to Usha around three years back and has a one-year-old daughter. 

Ludhiana, September 18
Wait of Hindi teachers, working under the RMSA came to an end when the Education Department allotted stations to them in Punjab.

According to sources, 308 teachers were struggling to get the stations. Previously, they were working under the Central Government sponsored scheme but no salaries were given to them for over a year as Central Government stopped giving funds.

On August 1, 2013, the Punjab government recruited them on contractual basis but they were not given the stations. Now, they have been allotted stations and will get a fixed salary of Rs 10,300 per month. —TNS

Ludhiana, September 18
On the call given by the Elementary Teachers Training union, the Democratic Teachers Front, Government Teachers' Union, Elementary Teachers Union, SSA/RAMSA, Government Primary Elementary Teachers Association and Education Service Provider Punjab will hold a protest outside the Zila Parishad Office on September 26.

The unions are protesting against setting up of Panchayati Directorate by the government. 

Ludhiana, September 18
The 10-day-long Ganesh Chaturthi culminated today with “Ganpati Visarjan” (immersion). Hundreds of devotees were seen taking idols of Lord Ganesha towards the Sutlej for immersion. With religious fervour, some of the devotees were seen bidding adieu to Lord Ganesha with wet eyes, while others were seen dancing on the beats of dhol and chanting “Ganpati bappa morya” while immersing the idols in the river.

The devotees, who had kept the idols of Lord Ganesha at their homes, business premises, temples and educational institutions, immersed them in water bodies at BRS Nagar, South City and Jalandhar Bypass, besides the Sutlej. While some devotees kept it a low-key affair and immersed the idols by offering prayers and flowers, others held big functions in which dignitaries from the city were invited.

During the immersion ceremony, devotees offered “Modaks” (sweets) to Lord Ganesha and said their prayers into the ears of “Musa” (mouse), the carrier of Lord Ganesha.

The Kanhaiya Club of Punjab Agriculture University here immersed the idol of Lord Ganesha with religious fervour. PAU students brought an idol of Lord Ganesha on September 9. They kept it in a room in the hostel, where students of all religions offered prayers to Lord Ganesha.

Ram, president of the club, said such festivals gave an opportunity to the students to come closer to each other and spread the message of peace and brotherhood. Lord Ganesha was given a warm farewell by Greenland Public School, too. The school had kept a huge idol of Lord Ganesha.

Mandi Ahmedgarh: Various local religious organisations and those from surrounding localities celebrated Ganesh Mahotsav and immersed the idols of Lord Ganesha amid drumbeats and chants of “Ganpati bappa morya” in the Sirhind Canal and Bathinda Canal near here today.

As the 10-day Ganesh festival drew to a close, idols of Lord Ganesha were taken for “visarjan” to the nearby canals under the banners of the Ganesh Ustav Committee, Ludhiana, Bhartia Mahabir Dal, Ganpati Seva Sangh, Shri Ram Mandir, Shri Sanatan Dharam Sabha, Har Har Maha Dev and Bajrang Dal.

Bimal Kumar Sharma, chairman of the Ram Mandir Committee, said puja was performed at various temples in the past 10 days. Men, women and children joined the puja and procession on Tuesday and Wednesday. 

Ludhiana, September 18
Star cast of Punjabi movie, Young Malang, visited the city today. Actors Yuvraj Hans, Balli Riar, Vinaupaul and Anjana Sukhani were in the city to promote their film.

Yuvraj Hans said, "The movie is a full entertainment package, dotted with comedy, romance and action." Meanwhile, Sukhani has worked in Hindi movies like Salaam-e-Ishq, Golmaal Returns, Jai Veeru and Jashnn. "

The movie is a maiden venture of Rahulinder Singh Sidhu and is a mixed bag of star cast marking entry of Bollywood beauty Anjana Sukhani in Punjabi cinema and singer Yuvraj Hans.—TNS

Ludhiana, September 18
To "accommodate" the workers working under the MGNREGA scheme (through panchayats) in other districts of Punjab, on the "verbal orders" of the state government, funds worth Rs 2 crore were sent back by the local authorities. The funds were meant to be spent on the MGNREGA workers in Ludhiana district alone. Now, the authorities here are finding it difficult to pay wages to the workers as there are hardly any funds left under the particular scheme in the district.

According to sources in the district administration, funds worth Rs 2 crore were sent back to the government about 15 days ago. "Since April, we had spent about Rs 7.5 crore on workers under the MGNREGA scheme in the district. After making all payments, little funds were left with us. We had got a total of Rs 11 crore. On verbal orders from senior officials in Chandigarh, we had to send back Rs 2 crore, though they wanted more," said one of the top officials in the district administration.

The official added there was total "mismanagement" of the funds at the government level. After a month or so, the local authorities would have no funds left to make payments to the workers in the district.

As if it is not enough, the state government, having empty coffers, has also failed to pay to around 3,000 beneficiaries under the Shagun Scheme in Ludhiana (East, West and Jagraon) from 2009-2011. Wishing not to be quoted, one of the employees of the District Welfare Office here said though the authorities claimed that owing to the online system, problems were being encountered at various levels and hence pendency of cases, in reality schemes, including Shagun Scheme, Widow Pension Scheme, were badly hit due to the paucity of funds.

According to the information gathered by The Tribune, the district is still to get from the Sports department an outstanding amount of about Rs 1.25 crore spent on the last Kabaddi World Cup. Besides, payments are still to be released to the district by the state government on account of organising events, including Independence Day, swearing-in ceremony of the Zila Parishad members, etc.

Jagraon, September 18
With the arrest of one person, the police has claimed to have busted a gang of grain thieves here. The accused, arrested by the police, has been identified as Meena, a resident of Bagh Kheta Ram locality of Jagraon.

The police has termed Meena as the kingpin of the gang. Three other members of the gang, including Meena's brother, Sanju, and two unidentified persons, managed to escape. The police also recovered a bag of rice and some cash stolen by the gang members from a truck driver a couple of days ago.

Mohamad Jamil, SHO, Jagraon, said Meena, the kingpin of the gang, was arrested from the Sherpur road during a raid conducted by a police team, led by ASI Baldev Singh, yesterday night. Three other members of the gang managed to escape under the cover of darkness.

A case was registered against Meena, Sanju and two unidentified persons under various sections of the IPC at the Jagraon city police station on a complaint filed by a truck driver, Gora Singh, of Dholan village. The efforts to nab the remaining gang members were on, said Jamil.

In his complaint to the police, the truck driver said Meena and his three other accomplices had stolen three bags of rice and some cash from his truck on Monday afternoon while he was ferrying grain to a rice mill.

The police said this gang was active in the area for a long period of time.

“The members of this gang have executed several theft incidents in the area in the recent past. They used to target rice mills, grain godowns, etc., and steal grain items from there. They are known for stealing grain from fast moving vehicles,” said the SHO.

The police had arrested Meena and his brother, Sanju, a few months ago on the charge of stealing grain from government godowns. Both of them were released on bail a few days ago.

Investigating Officer ASI Baldev Singh said during the preliminary investigation, Meena confessed to executing several theft incidents. Later on, the accused was produced in court, which sent him to one-day police remand.

Ludhian, September 18
Following the Indra Aawas Yojna scam, another scam has rocked the district administration wherein a former sarpanch has been booked for usurping grants worth Rs 1.63 lakh.

The suspect, identified as Dilbag Singh, former Sarpanch of Model Colony, Jagirpur, was indicted in an inquiry conducted by the Block Development and Panchayat Officer (Ludhiana - II).

Even the district attorney (legal) had suggested registration of a case against Dilbag Singh.

The BDPO said: "The former Sarpanch has committed misappropriation of funds worth Rs 1.63 lakh and showed some bogus entities. The funds were meant for development of the village. I had conducted the probe and referred the case to the police for further action."

Mandeep Singh, SHO, Meharban police station, said he had registered the case after receiving the report and started investigation." Dilbag Singh has been booked under sections 409, 465, 467,468, 471 and 120-B of the IPC on a complaint of Nambardar Gurmeet Singh. 

Doraha, September 18
Guru Nanak Model Senior Secondary School of Doraha is going to host the 46th State-level Boxing Championship, the inauguration of which will be held at Dr Ishwar Singh Memorial Hall of Guru Nanak National College here tomorrow. It will be a three-day event and boxers from across the sate will participate in it.

Harpratap Brar, promoter of this mega event and general secretary of the Managing Board of Guru Nanak National College, Doraha, said it was the only public school to have an international boxing ring.

“The state government is interested in promoting rural sports so that youngsters can channelise their energy in the right direction. Holding such a mega event in a rural school is a sincere step in this direction,” the general secretary added.

School Principal DP Thakur stated that the aim of this boxing championship was to promote the spirit of sports in the rural areas of Punjab. “More than 210 boxers (in the age group of U-19) from different districts of the state will show their boxing skills in this championship,”he added.

The opening ceremony will be held on September 19. Major Caur Singh (retd) and AIG Jaipal Singh will be the chief guest on the occasion.

Ludhiana, September 18
The four-day match between Ludhiana and Jalandhar in the ongoing Inter-District Katoch Shield Senior Cricket Tournament played here on the Punjab Agricultural University ground ended in a draw today.

Facing a deficit of nine runs in the first innings, Ludhiana began last day's play at 57 for 2 and crawled till the end with the scoreboard reading 306 for the loss of five wickets. Anil Sihag carried his bat with individual score of 128 runs. Geetansh Khera and Bharat Malhotra scored 52 runs each.

On the basis of the first innings' lead, Jalandhar earned three points while Ludhiana had to content with just one point.

Brief scores: Ludhiana (first innings)- 332 all out in 134 overs (Arjun Puri 14, Anil Sihag 73, Akhil Aggarwal 0, Abhinav Bhatia 89, Geetansh Khera 72 n.o. and Bharat Malhotra 46; Navdeep 1 for 85 and Yogesh 5 for 86).

Jalandhar (first innings)- 341 all out in 108 overs (Mandip Jr 46, Taruwar Kohli 115, Luv 24, Himanshu 58; Deepak Bansal 1 for 25 and Rahul Singla 4 for 100 and Amrit Pal Singh 3 for 67).

Ludhiana (second innings)- 306 for 5 in 98 overs (Arjun Puri 15, Abhinav Bhatia 8, Akhil Aggarwal 29 and Anil Sihag 128 n.o. Geetansh Khera 52, Bharat Malhotra 52; Navdip 1 for 42, Gurkirat 1 for 15, Anmol 1 for 24 and Yogesh 2 for 108).

Ludhiana, September 18
The students of Guru Nanak Girls College, Model Town, Ludhiana, has retained the title for the second consecutive year in the Panjab University Inter-College Cross-Country held recently.

The college team, comprising Ramandeep Kaur, Prabhveer Kaur, Kulwant Kaur and Sandeep Kaur, completed 5km distance well ahead of the others to secure 27 points, which got them top honours.

On the basis of their performance in this meet, Amandeep Kaur clinched the individual silver medal while she, along with Ramandeep Kaur and Kulwant Kaur, was selected to attend Panjab University Cross-Country Training Camp for the All-India Inter-University Cross-Country Championship at Udaipur in Rajasthan.

Gurbir Singh and Dr Charanjit Kaur Mahal, president and principal, respectively, of the college, lauded the girls and their coach Sanjiv Sharma on this outstanding achievement.