Ludhiana, January 2
Acting on an inquiry report, conducted by the Chief Vigilance Officer, Local Government, Punjab, the government has cancelled the allotment of 2,000 square yards for a community centre in the H and I block of Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar.

An official letter in this regard has been written to the chairman of Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT).

In its memo no 5/189/2013(12)-2ss2/138288 dated December 19, 2013, the LIT authorities have been directed to fix the responsibility of staff and officials for loss of the original file pertaining to allotment of land for community centre and lodge an FIR with police as per rules.

Further, the trust has been asked to initiate proceedings for cancellation of allotment of land for failure to deposit balance 75 percent amount as per the schedule of payment after initial deposit of 25 percent paid at the time of allotment and amendment carried out in the approved lay out scheme without following the laid down procedure.

The government has also desired that action be taken against the management of the community centre for carrying out unauthorised construction without approval of building plan and also for running commercial activity in the shape of a marriage palace in the community centre.

It all started with information obtained under the Right to Information Act by an area resident Baljit Singh which disclosed that the welfare society running a marriage palace in the community centre had made only 25 percent payment at the time of allotment, and no subsequent payment had been deposited with the LIT during last more than 25 years.

Not only this, the residents complained that the said community centre had been practically converted into a commercial entity where a marriage palace was being run for which no house tax, water and sewerage charges were being paid to the civic body.

It was alleged by the residents that no building plan had been got approved for construction of two big halls and 30 rooms in the community centre which were being offered on rent for marriages and other functions.

All the allegations levelled against the management of community centre levelled by Baljit Singh and other area residents were found substantiated during the probe conducted by the Vigilance wing of the Local Government department.

The LIT executive officer Jatinder Singh told that the letter written by the Local Government department for cancellation of allotment of land to community centre, Block H and I, Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar had not been received in the Trust office. “We shall initiate action as per the directions of the government on receipt of the said letter,” he said. 

Ludhiana, January 2
The Ganda Nullah project seems to be jinxed. Ever since its inception, it has been marred by controversies. Eyeing credit for the project, there has been a slugfest going on between two Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, former health minister Sat Pal Gosain and BJP councillor Gurdeep Singh Neetu.

When the work on the project was to start on December 16, supporters of Gurdeep Singh Neetu and Sat Pal Gosain entered into a scuffle.

Later, questions were raised over the quality of material being used for covering the nullah and a couple of days ago, an area resident accused Neetu of financial irregularities.

Gurdeep Singh Neetu admitted that it was Sat Pal Gosain who brought the project in the area. "But the work remained suspended for almost two years and it was after I took up the matter in the MC General House meeting that Rs 5 crore was sanctioned and the work resumed. But now some persons with their own vested interests are levelling baseless allegations of corruption against me and everyone knows who is supporting those persons. Our party high command is keenly monitoring the entire matter and I am sure action will be taken against those trying to malign the image of BJP," said Neetu.

Staking claim, Neetu, on December 16, wanted the project to start from near a temple while Gosain wanted to start it from Gurdwara Dukh Niwaran Sahib. This led to a scuffle which caused much embarrassment for the party.

Sat Pal Gosain stated: "I have written several letters to the state government requesting it to release funds. But now if any person wants to stake claim to the project, let him go ahead. But residents of the Ludhiana Central constituency know who got the funds sanctioned."

Ludhiana, January 2
The hike in the price of non-subsidised cooking gas cylinder by Rs 220 will add to the miseries of the common man.

Already burdened by the steep rise in the prices of essential commodities, the hike has come as a jolt to the common man.

The 14.2 kg non-subsidised cooking gas cylinder, after the quota of nine subsidised cylinders, will now be available at Rs 1,250.

Sukhminder Kaur, a resident of BRS Nagar, said it was a New Year’s gift by the government to consumers.

“This will upset the household budget. It has become difficult to manage things with prices of essential commodities going through the roof. We have already exhausted out quota of nine cylinders and now we will have to pay Rs 1,250 for getting another cylinder,” said Sukhminder Kaur.

Another city resident, Suresh Kumar, who is a bank employee, said: “Our salaries have not been increased, but prices of almost all commodities have increased manifold. Cooking gas is a necessity not luxury,” he said.

City residents also complain that the subsidy is not being transferred to their bank accounts on time. “The government claims to deposit the subsidy within a week, but even after 20 days, I have not been able to get the subsidy on a cylinder,” rued Manvinder Singh, a resident of Civil Lines. A majority of consumers are yet to be linked to Aadhaar cards to receive subsidy. There are over 9.5 lakh LPG consumers in the district. About 85 per cent of the consumers have Aadhaar cards, but only 35 per cent have been linked so far, said Sona Thind, District Food and Supplies Controller.

Ludhiana, January 2
On an assurance given by the state government today, the Punjab Motor Union, comprising the district bus operators and mini bus operators, have decided to cooperate with the government and start paying the "adda-fees" from tomorrow, which the operators did not pay for last two-days (January 1 and 2) to protest against state government.

General Secretary of the Union RS Bajwa said in two-days, the operators did not give the ‘adda’ fees at the bus-stands in the districts. “We were being unnecessarily burdened under taxes and adda-fees. But today we were given an assurance that government will come-up with some policy within 10-15 days and till then we have decided to cooperate with the government,” said Bajwa.

The president of mini bus operators, Punjab, JS Grewal said the operators want abolition of adda-fees. "Since we are already paying road tax and other taxes, why should we pay adda-fees at every bus-stand? The district buses are paying Rs 40 per bus while mini bus operators are paying Rs 25 and each mini bus approximately pays four times more. In big districts like Ludhiana, Patiala, Jalandhar and Amritsar, the average adda fees per day is about Rs 1 lakh," said Grewal.

Ludhiana, January 2
BJP Mahila Morcha held a protest today at Clock Tower against hike in non-subsidised gas cylinders to Rs 220 per cylinder.

Leading the protest Kiran Sharma, general secretary, BJP Mahlia Morcha said the recent hike will be a big financial burden to the common man. She demanded that government should roll it back.

Sakshi Julka, president, BJP Mahila Morcha, said the government should withdraw this hike, or they will further intensify their struggle. On this occasion many others including BJP District President Parveen Bansal, general secretary Ramesh Sharma, vice president Amita Madaan and Santosh Vig were also present.

Khamano/Khanna January 2
Joyous with Delhi victory of Aam Aadmi Party had knocked the area with meetings and party membership. Youth, retired teachers and common people are coming forward to join AAP.

At Khamano a meeting of AAP was held at Durga Mandir Dharmshala under Dis. co-ordinator Vishal Modgil. A large number of people participated in the meeting. In his address Vishal Modgil and two other office bearers Gulshan Chhabra and Ashutosh Tandon gave information about the policies and objectives of AAP and appealed the persons to join the AAP for a change in system and society. A number of people joined AAP.

In Khanna a special camp was organised at GTB market Khanna to recruit new members in which several youths including girls participated and became members of AAP. AAP office bearers clarified that corrupt persons will not be taken into party fold. They gave information that they will visit villages in the coming days to recruit members on mass level.

Ludhiana, January 2
Rahul Tiwari, Commissioner of Municipal Corporation, has been given additional charge of the chairman of Ludhiana Improvement Trust (relieving Supreet Singh Gulati of the additional charge).

His services have also been placed at the disposal of Department of Housing and Urban Development, Punjab for posting as Chief Administrator of Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA).

Rakesh Verma has been posted as Secretary to Government of Punjab, Department of Technical Education and Industrial Training, against a vacant post.

Meanwhile, the Department of Local Government has posted nine new building inspectors in the Municipal Corporation. Eight of them today joined the duty, according to MC officials.

Ludhiana, January 2
The Punjab Agricultural University has installed CCTV cameras on all gates for electronic surveillance and deputed a number of security guards to check the entry of visitors and trespassers on gates but all these arrangement are useless as the boundary wall of the PAU is broken at various place.

The boundary wall along with Sidhwan Canal was breached at various places which is a safe entry of anti -social elements. According to the PAU officials when the road along Sidhwan Canal was constructed the boundary wall of PAU got damaged at several places.

The visitors from south city and Barewal Road prefer to adopt shortcut from damaged wall. The motorcyclist and cyclists easily commute from theses breaches.

A cop on Police Control Room (PCR) patrolling duty inside the campus stated that the damaged boundary wall provides an easy entry to anti-social elements in the campus.

The field workers complained that some time stray cattle also enter in the campus moreover the entire wall is no hurdle for the stray dogs. The wall is also damaged at the Peer Baba area and back side of the employees' quarters.

"The security guards at PAU check the identity of visitors and some time restrict their entry. But the same person enters, from the damaged part of the boundary wall. So the checking practice on the gates is just a mere formality," said an employee. Despite several attempts Jaskaran Singh, estate officer, PAU could not be contacted.

Ludhiana, January 2
The 18th National Youth Festival will be held at Punjab Agriculture University from January 12 to January16. Nearly 5,000 students from different parts of the country will participate in the event. The event will be held jointly by the Sports and Youth Department, Government of India and State government.

A meeting in this regard was held at Circuit House today, which was chaired by Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal. Ghansham Thori, SDM, Samrala, will be the nodal officer for the event. To make the event successful, 13 teams have been constituted by the authorities and senior officers have been appointed as in-charges of the teams.

DC said students will represent their states and during all the five days, cultural programmes will be presented and leading singers including Sonu Nigam and Gippy Grewal will enthrall the audience. Amongst others present on the occasion were Neeru Katyal ADC, Anil Garg, DTO, KS Mahi and Ajay Sood (SDMs).

Ludhiana, January 2
The Malwa Sabhyacharak Manch, Punjab, is going to dedicate Lohri to the girl child. The celebrations this year has been dedicated to the acid-attack victim who passed away, recently. This would be the 18th Lohri celebrations.

The Lohri mela will ve organised at Punjabi Bhawan on January 11. Convener of the organization, Ravinder Ranguwal, said that a seminar would organised to spread awareness about the loss of lives due to drug addiction, female foeticide and road accidents on January 10. He added that many Punjabi artistes would participate in the event. Chairman of the organization, KK Bawa, president Pawan Dewan and convener Ravinder Ranguwal in addition to others were also present on the occasion.

Sahnewal, January 2
Children and their parents have demanded extension of winter vacations in schools due to the chilly weather conditions. The demand came as some of the schools, despite of biting cold, opened today in Sahnewal.

The kids were seen huddled up early this morning in auto-rickshaws and rickshaws that take them to their schools. “It was really heartening to see small children in such a pitiable condition where on one hand they are frightened of taking a leave on the very first day and on the other hand trembling with the cold breeze, literally cutting through their body,” shared a worried parent.

“What do the schools want to prove? Is health of students in any way less significant than their studies? Can they put in their best in such chilly weather conditions? They shall go for a day and later get unwell and have to be on bed for days, thus missing their studies altogether,” said Neha’s mother.

“The school authorities should have at least thought twice before reopening the schools. When the chill has taken almost everything in its stride, is it possible for a student to wake up early in the morning, reach school and attend classes with frozen hands and numbed body? If the schools close for another week or so, it is not going to affect much but if the kids continue to go to school in such adverse conditions, they are sure to invite trouble for themselves and their parents,” shared father of Shruti.

In the wake of such weather conditions the parents and the guardians are demanding the immediate closure of schools. “The cold wave is increasing day by day and in such weather conditions it becomes difficult for the children to go to school and study .A common policy should be framed for winter vacations. Putting the students to test every time has become a common practice with majority of the schools,” complained father of a class VIIth student.

“If the senior students can fight with the adverse weather conditions and are sensible to the extent of saving themselves, the smaller ones are not even aware of how they can protect themselves from the cold, once they leave their homes,” rued the parents.

One of the directors of the local school when contacted said, “Though it is cold but it was equally sunny today. Only if the higher authorities instruct us to extend vacations then we can think about the same.” 

Ludhiana, January 2
To the dismay of residents, nothing has been done to fix the non-functional rail ticket reservation counter at the Head Post Office. It has been closed for the past couple of months. Anvinder Singh, a resident, said “I have been getting railway tickets booked from the Head Post Office for a long time. But since it was not available at the post office, I have had to get it done from other places.”

“There is some problem with the computer and we have written to the railway authorities to fix the system a number of times, but there is no response from their side,” says Senior Postmaster, Head Post Office Swaraj Kaur. “A letter of complaint regarding the issue was again sent a few days back, but nothing has been done,” she added.

Although the postal officials claim to have submitted complaints about the issue, but Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Ferozepur NC Goyal denied having any prior knowledge about the problem. “I'll get it fixed up soon,” he said. — TNS

Ludhiana, January 2
If the building branch of the municipal corporation is found lacking in taking regulatory action, including demolition of buildings, coming up in blatant violations of bylaws all across the city, it is either the political interference or “corruption at high places” which is to be blamed.

While unauthorised construction of commercial and other buildings is proliferating everywhere in the city, the building branch has acted, or fully/partially demolished only 48 buildings in the city for violation of building bylaws from January 2008 to August 2012, and it is official information as per the record available with the building branch of the MC.

The information obtained under the Right to Information Act by Council of RTI Activists indicates that the building branch had carried out partial or complete demolition of three buildings in Zone A, six in Zone B, 20 in Zone C and 19 in Zone D in the last more than four years.

If the data provided by the MC is shocking in the wake of thousands of unauthorised buildings coming up in various parts of the city, there is more to come.

The information provided by the MC further reveals that the building branch had not maintained any register where details of identified unauthorised buildings identified or demolitions carried out by the building staff, were entered. Not only this, the MC had no record of recurrence of unauthorised constructions carried out in commercial or other buildings. While it is common knowledge that field staff and other officials of buildings branch connive with the builders and city residents and they deliberately close their eyes to violations, both compoundable and non-compoundable, for “obvious” reasons, the officials of building branch attribute the poor track record to political interference, mostly by councillors, legislators and other senior functionaries of the ruling and opposition parties.

“There are numerous examples when the area councillors, irrespective of their political affiliation, have scuttled the action initiated by the MC even in cases where encroachments or unlawful construction is to be removed on the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court,” said a senior MC official requesting anonymity.

Rohit Sabharwal, president and Arvind Sharma, secretary of the Council of RTI Activists, in a representation to the Punjab Government, have sought a thorough probe into the inaction on the part of the staff and officials of the building branch of the MC and action against the guilty persons as per the law.

Ludhiana, January 2
On the New Year eve, while the city residents partied all night, prisoners in Central Jail too ushered in the New Year hearing singer Nachhatar Gill singing latest Punjabi numbers. Gill is currently undergoing judicial remand after being booked for rape of an aspiring model.

A jail guard requesting anonymity said, "Gill has a huge fan following and many prisoners requested him to sing. He sang a few songs and went into his barrack.

Jail officials also posed for a photograph with the singer on this occasion.

Jail Superintendent SP Khanna said Gill was kept in a separate barrack due to security reasons.

Sources said that Gill was kept separately following inputs that some prisoners were planning to attack the Punjabi singer to hog limelight.A jail guard said that Gill remained aloof and preferred staying in his brack. He was served the same food which was served to other intimates, said the jail official.A Punjabi singer and a close friend of the jailed singer said the arrest had caused financial loss to Nachhatar Gill as he was scheduled to perform at a club on the New Year eve. Further, he was to perform at several weddings, which were cancelled at the last minute.

The city police booked Gill and four others for allegedly raping a city-based modeling aspirant and using an MMS to blackmail her. Punjabi singer Nachhatar Gill had rebutted the allegation. He alleged that the 26-year-old woman was trying to frame him to ruin his career.

Ludhiana, January 2
Dilawar Singh, an inmate of Central Jail, who was deputed as a watchman at a biscuit manufacturing unit of the jail was at attacked by a fellow inmate.

Dilawar was rushed to Civil Hospital. According to a paramedical staff, the inmate had sustained injuries inflicted by a sharp-edged weapon.Dilawar said Gurdeep Singh wanted to make a phone call from a phone booth in central jail.Dilawar said as jail officers were conducting a meeting, he asked Gurdeep to wait for sometime.Gurdeep lost his temper and attacked him. The jail officials said that they had informed the police.

In another incident, jail officials nabbed an inmate identified with 20 tablets of habit-forming drugs.

Khanna, January 2
A promising music director Nishantdeep Sharma(23) died in a road accident last night. The deceased was the only son of famous classical singer Pawandeep Sharma. Nishant was coming back to Khanna after meeting his friend from Bhari village.

Ludhiana, January 2
The state team of Softball (boys) won the 35th edition of National Senior Softball Championship for the second consecutive year. The National Softball Championship was held from December 25 to 30 at Burdwan, West Bengal. The team comprised of six players from Ludhiana who won the championship for the second time, meanwhile the women squad secured the third place in the championship.

There are 26 state teams across India that participated in the championship. The boys' team of Punjab beat Madhya Pradesh, whereas team from Haryana stood third. The women team of Punjab, who was the runnersup last year was defeated by Kerala this year. The girls team from Madhya Pradesh won the championship after defeating Kerala.PN Passi, secretary, Punjab Softball Association, said, "The boys team was in good form and we were expecting them to win. Despite the ignorance of the state government, our players are doing well and brought laurels to the state".

The Softball players from the state have been performing well for the past 12 years. Last year, the boys team bagged the first position in the national championship in Bhubhnesver. In 2009, both teams of Punjab won the national championship. Earlier, the girls team won in 2007. Both boys and girls teams won the national championship in 2006. Both the teams had won in 2004.The players from Ludhiana, including Vikram, Rajwansh, Amritpal, Rajwinder, Ikwinder, Manisha and Neelam Sharma were a part of Punjab team.

Ludhiana, January 2
Teja Singh Swatantar Memorial (TSSM) Senior Secondary School and SDP Senior Secondary School registered victories in the Cremica Cup T-20 Cricket Tournament that began at the Satish Chander Dhawan Government College ground here today.

In the first match, TSSM School defeated Government Model Senior Secondary School, PAU, by 47 runs to start their title hunt on a positive note.

Batting first, TSSM School made 164 runs in which the main contributions were made by Bhupinder and Sukhjinder Singh who scored 70 and 44 runs, respectively.PAU school began the chase on a promising note but sudden collapse saw them reeling under pressure with their inning's folded at 117 runs.

In the second match, SDP School beat GMT Public School by eight wickets. GMT Public School made 85 runs and SDP School made the required runs after losing just two wickets. Ashish and Rishav chipped in with 26 and 22 runs, respectively while Vishwanath claimed four wickets for the winning side.

Ludhiana, January 2
Nitin of Ludhiana gave an excellent performance and won a silver medal in the Open National Prize Money Kurash Championship 2013 held at Cherai Beach in Kerala on December 29.

Two participants from each state were selected to represent their respective state in the meet and Nitin from Ludhiana finished as the first runners-up. He bagged a silver medal besides a cash prize of Rs 25,000. The participant from the Border Security Force emerged victorious and pocketed a cash prize of Rs 50,000.Nitin was accorded a warm reception on his arrival to the city today. His coach, Parveen Thakur, senior judo coaches Rakesh Singh and Sonia Kumari along with trainees of the Sports Authority of India Training Centre, Ludhiana, were present at Guru Nanak Stadium to receive Nitin.

Ludhiana, January 2
Formula One fans in the city are sad as the Formula One champion Michael Schumacher has met an accident that has endangered his life.

His fans in the city said that they were praying for his wellness. City resident Arjun Bhakoo, an F1 fan, “Michael is a legend and should not have met with such a life-threatening accident. He has been a seven-time world champion and nobody in the game is like him.” Another fan, Taran, said that he was the Sachin Tendulkar of Formula One and meeting with such an accident has been disheartening.“It is unfortunate that he has met such an accident in this manner”, says Maninder Sobti, another Formula One fan. "Earlier too, he has suffered many injuries. He is a strong man and made a comeback after he suffered a serious spine injury. Hoping he'll pull through this time around too," he says.“My friends and I got into following F1 only after watching Michael Schumacher’s race. He is such a charismatic personality ," said another resident. — TNS