Ludhiana, October 14
It's raining chaos at the city railway station. Long queues of passengers outside ticket counters are a testimony to the bedlam.

With festivities in the air, everybody seems to be in haste to get home. In order to confirm their reservation, people are seen waiting for hours at the railway station.

The wait gets longer as ticket confirmation is a time consuming process. Some people do not mind sleeping on the platforms.

Getting a seat on the train is like a dream come true. The city is a home to a large number of migrants.

Officials at the reservation centre said the waiting list on the Amrapali Express, Jansewa Express, Satluj-Ganga Express and Garib Rath was getting longer.

Ram Khilawan, a migrant, who wants to join his family in Bihar for 'Chhat Pooja', said, "I was to go to Bihar in the first week of November. It is my third visit to the reservation counter. Despite booking tickets on time, my name figures nowhere on the confirmation list. " "I had booked five sleeper class tickets from Ludhiana to Kota in Rajasthan on the Golden Temple Express a few days ago. So far, only two tickets have been confirmed. My travel plans will be marred, if the remaining tickets are not confirmed," said Rijvan, a trader from Kota. VL Meena, Reservation Supervisor, Ludhiana railway station, said, "The trains for Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are running packed. Chances of ticket conformation are bleak. New trains have been started to deal with the heavy rush."

Ludhiana, October 14
Four persons landed in soup for roughing up policemen during Dasehra celebrations in the Moti Nagar area yesterday.

Situation worsened after the Moti Nagar police booked the four persons on charges of liquor and drug peddling.

The irate relatives of the four persons, arrested by the police, staged a dharna and blocked traffic on Chandigarh Road. The protesters led by Shiv Sena leader Gagan Sharma and Samajwadi Party leader Munna Sahni claimed that the four persons were implicated in a false case.

The protesters were accompanied by a pregnant woman who was allegedly thrashed during the Dasehra festival.

"The police can do anything, be it custodial torture or implicating innocent people in false cases. The poor youths had to pay a heavy price for entering into an argument with the policemen," said Munna Sahni and Gagan Sharma.

The incident took place last evening when Satish Kumar, Deepu, Arun Kumar and Roop Kumar, all resident of Tibba Road and surrounding areas, had gone to Moti Nagar to watch Dasehra celebrations. The kin of Satish, Deepu, Arun and Roop Kumar claimed that the police officers were in civvies and they beat the four persons and the woman with a stick following which a heated argument ensued.

They stated that Satish, Deepu, Arun and Roop were later taken into custody.

In the morning, the police stated that 10 boxes of illicit liquor and over 200 gm of suspected psychotropic drug powder was recovered from the possession of the accused. The registration of case sparked a protest. Sensing trouble, ADCP-IV Swapan Sharma reached the spot and pacified the protesters.

The dharna was lifted after Swapan Sharma assured them that three inquiries would be conducted.

Police sources said Satish Kumar had a criminal record and was booked in the past for drug peddling and assault.

Last night, Satish and his accomplices were extorting money from roadside vendors. The police reached on time and nabbed the four. While the suspected drug powder was seized from Satish, 10 boxes of liquor were recovered from the other three accused persons.

Ludhiana, October 14
Ten scan centres have been issued show-cause notices for violating the PNDT Act.

This was stated by Civil Surgeon-cum-District Appropriate Authority of the PNDT Advisory Committee Dr Subhash Batta during a meeting today. Dr Batta said there were 239 scan centres in the district. Checks were conducted at 78 centres in September and notices were served on 10 of them. A green signal was given to the setting up of five centres.

PPCB cracks whip

The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has served notices on 200 units at Focal Point in Phase VIII. Asking them to connect to the common effluent treatment plant, the board has set October 31 as the deadline.

Those failing to comply with the directions will be dealt with sternly.

"It was found that a number of units were discharging dirty water into sewer lines. Notices have been issued to the violators. We may even seal the units," said Babu Ram, member secretary, PPCB. The work on the effluent treatment plant at Tajpur Road commenced yesterday.

Ludhiana, October 14
The Punjab Government has exempted colonies developed before 1955 from paying development charges and these are deemed to have been regularised, but in the absence of specific directions or a notification, the relief given to residents of such colonies has left many unanswered questions.

The property owners in the colonies carved out before 1995 feel that rather than exempting these colonies from regularisation under the revised policy, the government should have issued a notification to the effect that these colonies stood regularised. "In the absence of such a notification, all these colonies will remain illegal for all times to come and the property owners will remain under constant threat of facing penal action," said Tarlok Singh, a resident of Durgapuri in Haibowal.

If the developers and stakeholders are to be believed, no data or layout plans of the colonies are available with the government or regulatory bodies like the Municipal Corporation and the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority.

Since the government has exempted these colonies from regularisation, the competent authorities will have no record of all such colonies falling under the category.

A senior MC official was of the view that instead of blanket exemption, a nominal regularisation fee should have been charged from plot and building owners in these colonies so that a comprehensive data base of all colonies could have been created for future reference and carrying out development works as and when required. There could be several instances where construction work was carried out in these colonies after 1995. And with the colonies being exempted, all unauthorised constructions or buildings in these colonies would have been regularised. Similarly, most of the colonies which might have existed before the cut-off date (1995) did not have their boundaries marked and developers as well as plot/property owners of adjoining colonies developed after 1995 would, in all probability, make attempts to take advantage of the exemption," said the official.

The stakeholders in the colonies developed before 1995 feel that the government ought to issue a specific notification declaring all these colonies as regularised even if the plot and property owners have to pay nominal application fee. Moreover, complete data and layout plans of such colonies also needed to be brought on record and the government should direct the regulatory bodies to put some mechanism in place for the purpose which will facilitate future development of the beneficiary colonies.

Ludhiana, October 14
It sounds incredible: The top brass of the Municipal Corporation is misusing police force provided to the civic body for enforcement as a status symbol for serving officials, elected representatives and even a former mayor.

Information obtained under the Right to Information Act by the Vigilant Citizens' Forum, a group of city-based RTI activists, revealed that out of the 57 police personnel and officers provided by the Punjab Police to the MC for enforcement work with the tehbazari and building branches, 15 have been attached with the city Mayor and officials, including the MC Commissioner, Additional Commissioners, Joint Commissioners and Zonal Commissioners.

Three police personnel still remain on security duty with the former mayor, Hakam Singh Giaspura, but at the same time, he is the only person who has taken permission from the Director General of Punjab Police for security cover. In stark contrast, the security personnel attached with other functionaries and officials of the MC have not been authorised by the higher-ups of the Punjab Police.

The forum, in a communication sent to the Punjab government, said with a substantial part of the police force being misused for security duty, which is a status symbol for the dignitaries, work related to removal of encroachments and violation of building bylaws was suffering as adequate police force was not being made available to the field staff as and when required.

Kuldip Singh Khaira, president of the forum, and other office-bearers referred to the ruling of the Apex Court against providing police protection to 'all and sundry', including the MPs and MLAs, facing no security threat. "Even if functionaries or the officials of the civic body apprehend any security threat, the right course for them is to approach the the police authorities, who are competent to decide on providing security cover based on intelligence output," the forum stated.

City Mayor Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria, however, defended the deployment of security personnel with the MC functionaries and senior officials saying all of them have to deal with the public in the course of duty and at times, have to visit spots of trouble during anti-encroachment and tehbazari drives.

He did express surprise over deployment of three police personnel with the former mayor. "On the face of it, this seems irregular and we shall have this matter examined," he said.

Ludhiana, October 14
With a nip in the air, the local hosiery industry is in an upbeat mood and is expecting a good season ahead. An increase of nearly 20 per cent in production has been witnessed by the industry. Local orders have started pouring in and the workload on the industry has increased manifold.

“We were already working on the orders from the neighbouring states, but now local orders have also started coming. The rainfall a few days ago has herald the arrival of the winter season,” said Suresh Kumar, a yarn dealer, Mochpura Bazaar.

"Winters have become short and likewise our season has also become snippy. But this year, the season is expected to last longer. With a nip in the air, we are expecting a good business this season,” said Suresh.

While international orders have already been dispatched, it is the local market that is placing more orders with the manufacturers to cater to the rising demand. Traders do not place orders in bulk as the season has been cut short from a couple of years.

“Now, my unit is running day and night shifts as orders from the local market have started coming. We expect this year turns out to be good. I have engaged extra man force to complete the orders on time,” said Lalit Sharma, a hosiery manufacturer.

“With the timely arrival of winters, the industry is hopeful of 15-20 per cent increase in the profit,” said Kamlesh Jain, owner of a knitwear unit at Bajwa Nagar.

Ludhiana, October 14
Before exempting yarn dealers and traders from the advance tax, Excise and Taxation Department officials will be personally visiting the units of dealers to ascertain if actually the knitting of fabric is taking place and machines are in functional order.

In the recent past, many frauds have been detected by the department where dealers were getting exemptions by quoting that the yarn is to be converted into cloth.

The Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Range III, HPS Ghotra, had recently detected a case of M/S Balaji Sales Corporation where the dealer had imported yarn amounting to over Rs 6 crore but did not pay any tax on it taking the plea that he has converted it into cloth, which is tax free. But when the premises of the dealer were inspected, it was found that the machines were not functional. Enquiries revealed that the dealer has sold yarn as such and had duped the state of tax, which is approximately Rs 35 lakh.

“Apart from checking the machines, the department will also be seeing the electricity consumption record to confirm that he is a genuine fabric manufacturer. His past track record showing details of tax free and taxable goods will also be seen. This will not only help in safeguarding the legitimate government revenue but also ensure the level playing field for the honest traders/ manufacturers,” said Bhupinder Gupta, AETC, Range II.

AETC Gupta said till now only four applications had been received for exemption from advance tax, of which three were complete in all respects and after due enquiry, the same had been submitted to the DETC for final orders.

“The department is on duty to stop the dealers from taking any undue advantage, which will result in loss to the state exchequer and any dealer with mala fide intention is not able to mislead the department with wrong facts,” said AETC Gupta.

Ludhiana, October 14
Protest of employees of ESIC, Model Hospital, Bharat Nagar, Ludhiana, entered fourth day today.

The agitated employees alleged that the hospital authorities are forcing them to do the duties which are not part of their job profile and if they refuse to do these duties, they are allegedly harassed by issuing show-cause notices.

Ramandeep Kaur, president of the ESIC Employees Union said, "We have sent our memorandum of demands to Director General ESIC, New Delhi and have been old that if the problems being faced by the staff were not solved within one week, then administration and the corporation will be held for the consequences."

The agitating members of the union held a protest outside the hospital and raised slogans against the hospital authoirities.

However, the staff worked today wearing black badges.

Ludhiana, October 14
Members of the Federation of Industrial and Commercial Organization met Rashpal Singh,Chief Engineer, PSPCL, Central Zone. They discussed the problems faced by them and also handed him a memorandum.

Gurmeet Singh Kular, president of FICO discussed the problem regarding the implementation of night tariff discount on large supply connections on monthly basis.

"We have come to know that the calculation of total amount used will be calculated after three months by Mobile Meter Testing Squad (MMTS), As the meters are electronic the tariff can be calculated on monthly basis. Rachpal Singh assured the delegation that all measures will be taken to solve the raised issues. — TNS

Ludhiana, October 14
Adopting pressure-tactics and openly coming to the rescue of a “tainted” patwari Jaspreet Singh Jassi of Taraf Saidan, who was caught red-handed while accepting bribe, the patwaris of Ludhiana city today held a protest and announced to go on leave for one month till an FIR was registered against the leaders of Active Anti-Corruption Group, who “forcibly” took the government fees from patwari Jaspreet Singh Jassi, when the incident took place.

The president of Patwari Union, Rupinder Singh, said about 40 patwaris of Ludhiana city have decided to go on leave for one month. "We are not going to work till an FIR was registered against the office-bearers of the Active Anti Corruption Group, who forcibly took the government fees from the patwari. One-sided decision is not acceptable to us and an enquiry should have been done properly to prove the charges,” said the president.

When asked that camera recording of a mobile proved that the patwari was guilty of accepting bribe, Rupinder Singh said the group members forcibly gave him the money because they wanted patwari to make fake documents. “I agree that mistake has been committed by patwari too but the case should be registered against the office-bearers also, who barged into the room and created ruckus,” said Rupinder Singh adding that authorities should have conducted a proper enquiry into the matter and then only an FIR should have been registered.

Deputy Commissior Rajat Aggarwal said, “Revenue Department is like a family. I will give a patient hearing to the patwaris and try to address their grievances as soon as possible. As far as regularisation of colonies is concerned, registry and document of agreement are enough to the needful.”

Ludhiana, October 14
The employees of Punjab Agricultural University organised a protest rally outside the Vice-Chancellor's office against the dilly-dallying attitude of the state government regarding the release of salaries.

Thousands of employees and pensioners participated in the rally and raised slogans against the state government. Women employees also participated in the rally.

One of the protestors said, "The employees did not receive the arrears of revised pay scales which is due since May, 2011." A number of pensioners also participated in the rally led by Jila Ram Bansal, president, PAU Retirees Association.

Paramjit Singh Gill, president of the PAU Employees Union, said: "The state government is not giving its clearance to regular grant-in-aid to disburse the salaries to the entire establishment of the PAU."

Dr Harmeet Singh Kingra, president, PAU Teachers Association, said: "The state government has adopted step-motherly attitude towards the PAU. There is a great resentment amongst the teachers, employees and pensioners due to the non-payment of salary and pension."

Dr Gulzar Singh Pandher, general secretary of the employees union, said, "As half of the month is going to pas,s the government did not release our salaries. The festival session is on and the employees have empty pocketed. If the government will not release our salaries we will intensify the protest."

Ludhiana, October 14
The issue of advance tax dominated the meeting of single window for industry. Meeting was chaired by Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal.

Industrialists listing their grievances said that it would not be possible for them to pay advance tax. The Excise and Taxation Department recently replaced entry tax with advance tax. "Industry's capital in crores is already blocked with the department in form of the VA and now they are asking for advance tax. How will our business survive if our investment is locked with the government?" questioned Vinod Thapar, chairman of the Knitwear Club. But the department did not agree to it and said the industry would be required to pay in cash only.Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner directed all the departments concerned to hold meetings with the industry from time to time. "Many problems can be solved while interacting with each other. Sometimes there is communication gap and problems occur, so holding timely meetings is the key," said the DC.

Joginder Kumar, president of the Ludhiana Electroplating Industries Association requested to the Deputy Commissioner that separate space should be allocated to the electroplating cluster so that they can treat their water from one place.

Ludhiana, October 14
The District Legal Services Authority today organised a seminar for differently-abled persons at Sarabha Nagar market under the supervision of its Secretary-cum-Chief Judicial Magistrate KK Singla.

Speaking on this occasion, Singla apprised that such types of persons are entitled for availing free legal-aid services through their guardians. He said, "It is the duty of the police to produce such persons before the concerned SDM'S, if found wandering in public area without any guardian. Thereafter, he will be provided with free medical services."

Councillor Bhupinder Singh Bhinda and several persons were present during the seminar.

Ludhiana, October 14
A delegation of the Maths Teachers Association, Punjab, met Additional Director General of Secondary Education (DGSE) Parampal Kaur at Chandigarh. The delegation was led by the president Gurbachan Singh Libra and general secretary Rajesh Monga.

The delegation deliberated about the problems being faced by the teachers in remedial coaching, Edusat Schedule and vacancy of posts of Maths in Middle Schools. The Additional DGSE gave assurance to the delegation that the Education Department will soon issue a communication, addressing to the problems being faced by the teachers on remedial education. — TNS

Jagraon, October 14
The state unit of International Council of Ayurveda under the aegis of Punjab State Council for Science and Technology organised a seminar on medicinal plants and environmental awareness today.

Jagraon MLA SR Kaler was the chief guest on the occasion. The seminar was held at Government Senior Secondary School, Leelan Megh Singh.

A large number of students of the host school and nearby schools attended the seminar. The chief guest urged the gathering to save the trees and protect the environment by planting maximum trees to live a healthy life. — OC

Ludhiana, October 14
A 12- year-old boy was assaulted by his employer and the others on the suspicion of stealing Rs 3,000 from a shop. The child who was thrashed in full public view near MBD Mall was spotted by Narinder Singh, employee of a Child Helpline office.

He rescued the boy and reported the matter to the police. The boy told the police that his father was no more. He said him mother remarried another man. Pawan Kumar, who run a shop opposite MBD Mall, suspected that the boy had stolen Rs 3,000 from the shop.

Pawan, along with his accomplices Jatinderpal Singh, Kuldeep Singh, Daljit Singh and Gaurav Sethi, thrashed the boy badly. Following the boy's statement, the police booked the accused under Sections 374, IPC, and 14 of Child Labour Prevention Act, 1986. — TNS

Khanna, October 14
The police has recovered an unidentified body of a person from Guru Nanak Mohalla near Military Ground.

The deceased seems to be in his late 20s.

The police said the body was having multiple wounds inflicted through sharp-edged weapons on the neck and mouth.

The body has been kept at a mortuary in the Civil Hospital for identification and post-mortem examination.

A case has been registered in this regard and the police is investigating the matter.

Ludhiana, October 14
Hosts Ludhiana dominated the proceedings in handball (girls) in the 59th Punjab State Inter-District School Games being organised by the Punjab Education Department at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), here today.

Their dominance was so complete that they wrapped up all three matches.

They outplayed Patiala 12-8, blanked Jalandhar 5-0 and defeated Muktsar 10-2 to stamp their superiority.

In other matches in the girls’ section, Bathinda beat Gurdaspur 10-2, Muktsar prevailed over Patiala 16-10, Kairon Wing toiled hard to pip Ferozepur 19-13 and Bathinda went down fighting 8-12 against Kairon Wing.

In the boys’ section also, Ludhiana players came out triumphant to prove their class. In the first match, Ludhiana trounced Patiala 27-12 and in the second fixture, they survived many anxious moments against Muktsar before romping home winners 12-11.

Muktsar beat Barnala 11-4, Amritsar overpowered Ferozepur 16-12, Faridkot outclassed Bathinda 25-18 and Faridkot got the better of Amritsar 24-21.

In tug-of war, 20 teams are competing in the boys’ section and those from Fatehgarh Sahib, Ropar, Jalandhar and Kapurthala won their respective matches to reach the last four stage.

District Education Officer (senior secondary), Paramjit Kaur Chahal, Dr Charanjit Singh, Deputy DEO, Ajitpal Singh and Santokh Singh were present there to encourage the participants.

Jagraon, October 14
Hosts Guru Hargobind Public Senior Secondary School, Sidhwan Khurd, near Jagraon, emerged champions in the Ludhiana Sahodaya Schools Complex (West) Handball Tournament concluded at the school ground today.

As many as 14 teams from various schools affiliated to the Central Board of School Education (CBSE) participated in the tournament in different age groups.

The host school also clinched the overall trophy with the U-19 (Boys’), U-19 (Girls’) and U-14 (Girls’) teams winning first positions and U-14 (Boys’) team finishing second.

Guru Ram Rai School, Ludhiana, emerged victorious in the U-14 (Boys’) age group, while Saint Kabir Academy, Talwandi Khurd, bagged the second position in the U-14 (Girls’) category.

While expressing delight over the performance of the school teams in the handball tournament, principal of the school Satinderjit Kaur congratulated the winning teams and credited this achievement to the hard work done by the players and the coaches.

Ludhiana, October 14
Fazilka warded off a stiff challenge from Moga before emerging victorious 6-3 to win the title in the girls’ section in the 15th Sub-Junior Punjab State Softball Championship being held at the ground in front of the multi-purpose indoor hall of Guru Nanak Stadium here today.

In the match to decide the third position, Ludhiana eves pipped Gurdaspur 2-1 and had to content with hard line cup.

Earlier, in the league matches, Moga and Fazilka scored facile victories over their opponents. Moga routed Tarn Taran 10-0, while Fazilka scripted an identical 10-0 win against Gurdaspur. In another match, Moga sweat it out to edge out Ludhiana 6-5.

Matches in the boys’ section will be played tomorrow.