|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
Ferozepur road Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, March 4 On a writ petition filed by Ramneek Sehgal and Mohinder Pal Singh from Ceigall India Limited and Gawar Constructions Limited, respectively, the bench of Chief Justice, Punjab and Haryana High Court, Sanjay Kishan Kaul, and Justice Arun Palli has directed the Punjab Government and the Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana, against awarding the tender to any of the bidders till the next date of hearing on March 22, 2014. The court has ruled the processing of bids can continue but the final decision will not be taken till the disposal of the writ petition. In their petition, the petitioners have submitted that no reason whatsoever has been given by the authorities concerned for their technical disqualification and that when they were orally informed to increase the share of the lead partner to 70 per cent, they did so. It was also submitted before the court that the financial bids were opened on March 3, 2014, and the L-1 was Rs 233 crores, which was about Rs 17 crore more than the bid made by the petitioners. The petitioners’ bid was disqualified by the MC officials on the "technical ground" yesterday. The other three bidders, Navyuga Constructions, SP Singla and Company and Simplex Constructions had quoted Rs 233 crore, Rs 239 crore and Rs 352 crore, respectively, for the eight-laning of the Ferozepur Road. They have placed their bids in response to the re-tendering of the project. The state government has estimated the project cost at Rs 225 crore. Factfile
|
|
Shootout accused thrived on political patronage
Mohit Khanna Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, March 4 Police sources said Kinda was first booked in a rape case in 1993 by the Sarabha Nagar police, but the matter was latter resolved. Soon he started picking petty quarrels and also tried his hand at student politics. He formed a gang and even did vehicle recoveries for financiers, said the sources. He tried his luck in politics. He was soon inducted into the Youth Akali Dal (YAD). Tough the party denied Kinda was a member of the YAD, SAD MLA Simarjit Singh Bains confirmed that he was a member of the YAD during his tenure. Kinda again came into the limelight in 2010 when he kidnapped a SAD councillor and his childhood friend Tanvir Dhaliwal. He, along with his accomplices, assaulted the councillor and threw him out of a moving vehicle, thinking him to be dead. Thr Khanna police had booked him in a case of attempt to murder. He was released on bail. He is stated to be in close links with some of the top politicians of the city, said the sources. His name was also associated with a councillor and a police officer for running a land-grab nexus. Probe into weapon licence renewal
The Commissioner of Police, Paramjit Singh Gill, on Tuesday launched a high-level probe to find out how Kulwinder Sharma, alias Kinda, managed to renew his weapon licence in 2012. It has come to light that in 2010, the Khanna police had strongly recommended the cancellation of his weapon licence, after he was booked for murder attempt on SAD councillor Tanvir Dhaliwal. "No one will be spared and strict action will be taken against those, be it police officers, who helped Kinda in renewing his weapon licence," said Gill. Kinda had bought pistol for
Rs 7 lakh
The sources said Kinda had recently purchased a sophisticated Chinese pistol for Rs 7 lakh. It was used in the Sarabha Nagar shootout. |
|
Sukhbir lays stone for Rs 135 cr effluent treatment plant
Ludhiana, March 4 After laying the stone, he said all development projects recently initiated by the state government would become operational within the next two years. He said the treatment plant, after its completion within one and a half years, would prove to be a boon not only for the Ludhiana industrial units but also for the entire Malwa region. “Ludhiana is all set to witness massive development as the Punjab Government has started the implementation of Rs 2,000 crore development projects in the city, which would be accomplished within the next two and half years,” said Sukhbir. Sukhbir said the traders of the state should take full advantage of the recently launched Rahat Scheme of the state government. Soon, this scheme would be extended to the remaining towns of the state. He also announced that after six months, farmers would get on-demand tubewell connections as Punjab had become a power-surplus state. |
|
|
Public at receiving end of ministerial staff’s strike
Ludhiana, March 4 "It is my third visit to the Civil Surgeon’s Office to get the duplicate birth certificate of my son. He has to move abroad for higher studies and I have to get his duplicate birth certificate since the original one has been lost. Now, I have to wait till Friday," said Gunwant Singh. "The strike has severely affected the common man, who is caught in the ongoing battle between the ministerial staff and the state government. We have to avail some benefit under a
scheme of the state government for which a handicap certificate for my father was required. Since the employees are on strike, I am unable to get one and all I can do is wait and watch till they return to work," said another visitor, Ram Narayan. "We are well aware that the general public is suffering a lot because of our strike but we are helpless. We are left with no other option but to go on strike. Our main demand is a hike in salaries," said Sukhwinder Singh, president of the Punjab State Ministerial Services Association. An NRI, Amrik Singh, said he thought he would collect the death certificate of her mother today but would have to return disappointed. "I will be going back on Thursday. So, I have asked one of my relatives to collect it for me. The administration should make efforts to end the row or at least deploy additional staff on emergency duties," he said. |
|
DC removes red beacon from his vehicle
Ludhana, March 4 The state government directions have come after the recent orders of the Supreme Court. Those who will lose their red beacons include Members of Parliament (MPs), Chief Parliamentary Secretaries, Advisers to Chief Ministers and the Deputy Chief Minister, Mayors, all IAS officers, barring the Chief Secretary, and all IPS officers, baring the Director-General of Police, Deputy Commissioners and Senior Superintendents of Police. |
City docs resent MCI's decision
Ludhiana, March 4 City-based doctors have taken a serious note of the same and alleged that the executive committee was trying to create a loophole so that doctors associations could take money from pharma companies and other commercial interests without fear of any action. In the past, some medical associations were found endorsing products for private companies. A complaint against the same has also been filed in the Delhi High Court. The MCI is the apex regulatory body of doctors and the medical practice in the country. Clause 6.8 of the Code of Medical Ethics Regulation-2002 clearly states that it pertains to "code of conduct for doctors and professional association of doctors in their relationship with pharmaceutical and allied health sector industry". However, the MCI in its recently held meeting decided that the term "association of doctors" be deleted from the Clause. “I do not understand why the MCI has kept associations out of its ambit. If code of ethics is applicable to an individual, then it should also be applicable to a group as a whole,” said Dr Kuldeep Singh from one of the private hospitals. “The whole game is about endorsing and raking money. Endorsement is expressly forbidden by the code of ethics, which says that no doctor ought to endorse any commercial product or drug or therapeutic article and same should be applicable to a bunch of doctors as well,” said another doctor. Meanwhile, Dr Manoj Sobti, president of the Punjab chapter of the Indian Medical Association, said: “It is a welcome step. Every individual is a responsible person whether he is a member of any association or not. The responsibility lies on every individual and if he/she is not convinced, he will not promote or endorse any product”.
|
|
ASHA workers, ANMs to promote family planning
Ludhiana, March 4 Sukhdeep Kaur, president of the Ludhiana unit of the Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) Union, said they had been assigned the work of selling contraceptives among the couples in the rural areas. “We are regularly in touch with the rural folks and whenever anybody asks for contraceptives, we provide them with these. We also make them aware of adopting these methods,” she said. ASHA and ANMs work hand in hand to spread awareness about using family planning measures at the village and block level. Health Department officials claimed that contraceptive usage had more than tripled among women. Men were also adopting various methods to limit the size of their families. “ASHA workers, along with ANMs, help rural couples in adopting means of family planning. A series of events like street plays, short films, debates and poster competitions are also being held to promote family planning,” said Dr Nalini Saklani, Ayurveda Medical Officer at Primary Health Centre (PHC), Mehdudan village near Samrala. A National Rural Health Mission official said: “The state government is providing ASHAs the required family planning devices free of cost. Rural women have shown more interest in knowing about contraceptives while there is a decline in the graph of condom users". It has been decided to rope in departments like Child Development, Education and Panchayati Raj to ensure the success of these
programmes.
|
|
Crime is an ‘event’ forgotten at MC
Ludhiana, March 4 Interestingly, three to four officials, against whom the inquiries were pending, have already retired from the services. Thanks to the alleged callous attitude adopted by the Municipal Corporation and the Local Bodies Department. The information was officially revealed by the civic body, after an RTI application was filed by a local resident Ravi Sharma on February 21, 2014. The complaint and enquiry assistant, Municipal Corporation, in reply to the applicant said there were 37 persons against whom vigilance cases or FIRs were registered. These officials include tax collectors, inspectors house tax, sanitary supervisors, junior engineers, SDOs, executive engineers, draftsmen, clerks, fire officers, Assistant Commissioner and even
a retired Joint Commissioner. The Right to Information reply by the civic body reveals that some of the cases have been lying pending since 2002-03. The Vigilance Department had caught an Assistant Commissioner in 2011, who was suspended and then reinstated, but the Department of Local Bodies is yet to conduct an inquiry into the matter. Similarly, a Joint Commissioner was sentenced to a three-month imprisonment on September 2009. The Joint Commissioner and two inspectors with the building branch, involved in the matter have already retired, but the inquiries are still lying pending. Even during a general house meeting of the Municipal Corporation, that was held yesterday, councillors alleged that the authorities concerned do not perform their duties in a transparent manner. The councillors said
a stern action must be taken against the erring officials. “Punishing the culprits will set an example for others who will think twice before breaking law in future,” said a councillor on the
occasion. Official Speak The Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation, Shruti Singh, said she would look into the matter and would try to bring the pending inquiries to a conclusion.
|
|
PAU prof loses job
Ludhiana, March 4 Perturbed over the delay in the completion of several development projects and the alleged use of substandard construction material in Punjab Agricultural University, a show-cause notice was issued to a PAU associate professor. The show-cause notice, a copy of which is with Ludhiana Tribune, was issued to Deepak Gupta, associate professor, Department of Civil Engineering, PAU, on January 31 on the basis of an inquiry conducted by a panel comprising Dr Neelam Grewal as chairperson and Dr NK Khullar and Dr JS Mahal as members. While confirming this development, PK Khanna, registrar, PAU, stated that Dr Gupta’s services have been terminated. “He was given time to file his reply after which this action was taken,” he informed. When contacted on February 4, Dr Gupta had maintained that he was being targeted due to his personal differences with a senior PAU official. But he could not be contacted today despite repeated attempts. The committee observed that due to irregularities on part of Deepak Gupta, four green houses constructed at different Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) were smaller in size despite than the actual desired size. The notice even states that rules were flouted in the use of 8 mm thick triple-layered polycarbonate sheets, which were of inferior quality. Gupta had recommended that for the construction of an auditorium, 295 items should be kept in non-schedule (NS) category. The approximate cost of these items was around Rs 4.5 crore, which was more than 50 per cent of the tender cost. This also caused financial loss to the PAU. The under-construction auditorium in PAU has turned into a white elephant for the varsity authorities as the work on the auditorium is still going on at snail’s pace and the situation is such that even the budget has been doubled from initial Rs 9.5 crore to Rs 20 crore.
|
|
Working women hostelers seek uninterrupted supply
Ludhiana, March 4 PAU had secured a hotline connection after paying whopping Rs 1.5 crore in 2009. Since then, barring the working women’s hostel, the varsity campus is connected through a hotline. The working women hostel has a strength of 90 students, which includes those pursuing their graduation, post-graduation as well as Ph.D. The students rue that only the hostel mess has power backup in case of a power cut. “Only the hostel mess has an inverter facility, whereas the PAU authorities have not even provided us with any kind of power backup. If the PAU authorities don’t want to provide hotline power connection, they should at least provide us with a generator set or an inverter so that we don’t face any problem in case of a power failure,” she rued requesting anonymity. Another hostel inmate rued that around a couple of years back, some inmates had even staged a protest demanding hotline connection. “At that time, the hostel remained without power for two days, but sadly, no action was taken and still we are without a hotline. In case of a power cut, our hostel goes into pitch dark. Even last night, the hostel was without power supply for more than an hour,” rued the student. Students rue that they have submitted written requests with the PAU authorities regarding the same, but no action was taken. When contacted, Dr Ravinder Kaur Dhaliwal, director students welfare, PAU, claimed that she has no knowledge about any such request submitted by the students. “If there is any such problem, I would get it checked at the earliest,” she claimed.
|
|
Meritorious students of KCW awarded
Ludhiana, March 4 The Chief Guest was accorded a warm welcome by principal Dr Varinder Kaur Thind, college managing committee, entire staff and the students at his arrival in the college premises. Welcoming the Chief Guest Principal riveted the audience by presenting the annual report of the college through multimedia and in that she highlighted the achievements of students in academic, cultural and sports domains for the session 2013-2014. She in her address expressed the belief that the college always put strenuous efforts to impart holistic education that is aimed at preparing the students to become global citizens devoted to humanistic values. She thanked the charismatic managing committee which has been a persistent steering force ensuring the smooth administering of this institution and source of inspiration for all. She highlighted that the persistent endeavour of the students. 50 students secured top 10 positions in the various University examinations. She further added that with the objective of motivating deserving students the college provides several scholarships. Talking about the achievements of the college she mentioned that the sports dept. set new land marks this year. KCW stars garnered rich treasures of 60 gold, 21 silver and 25 bronze medals.
|
|
Teachers of private schools to gherao assembly on March 7
Ludhiana, March 4 As per the union leaders more than 4,000 teachers and employees have been demanding merger in government cadre from several years. Gurcharan Singh Chahal, president, Punjab State Government Aided Private School Teachers and Employees Union informed that they have met education minister, Deputy Chief Minister, Chief Minister and senior officials of education department. They have shown the positive response in this regard but did not act accordingly. “All the meeting with government officials and senior leaders proved unproductive. So we have decide to ‘gherao’ the state assembly”, said Chahal. The aided school teachers have been getting same facilities which government provides to teachers in government schools. “Our school managements have no objection as the managements will get autonomous status when government will shift us in government schools. The Haryana government has already implemented this”, said Davinder Rihan, secretary of the union. Meanwhile, the managements of aided schools have opposed the demand to teachers and employees.
|
|
Non-teaching staff hold protest in city
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana March 4 The rally was started from Arya College and passed through Dandi Swami Mandir Chowk, SCD Government College, Ghumar Mandi and concluded at Deputy Commissioner’s Office. Madan Lal Khullar, president, Private College Non-Teaching Employees Union of Punjab and Chandigarh said, "The State Government had granted pay parity to the non-teaching staff working in the private aided colleges of the state w.e.f from September 1, 1978. On the basis of the pay parity the government implemented all the benefits to the non-teaching staff of the aided colleges. Khullar informed that a deputation of employees had met with most of the Cabinet Ministers of Punjab but till date no action has been taken by the Government pertaining to their demands. He also emphasised that the Government should fulfils their genuine demands like arrears, implementation of revised grade pay, lifting of ban from the non teaching posts of aided colleges, implementation of 4:9:I4 step up increment, enhance medical allowance, HRA, pension and gratuity. Rajiv Bhasin of Arya College, Ludhiana, addressed the employees and said nobody listens to our demands. If the government will not show concern on our issues we will intensify the stir. The employees raised the anti-government slogans. Vice-president of the Union Bhupinder Thakur said Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, is once again discriminating with the non-teaching employees as the earned leave and leave encashment has been implemented to the principals and associate professors.
|
|
BKU demands reservation for Jats in Punjab
Ludhiana, March 4 The Union Cabinet had cleared a proposal for providing reservation under the OBCs to the Jat community in nine states, which do not include Punjab. After a meeting of the state committee here, BKU president Ajmer Singh Lakhowal said the Centre had yet again proved its anti-Punjab bias by denying a facility to the Jat community in Punjab, which had been provided to the same community in nine other states. He also mentioned the extension of industrial package to Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand while claims of Punjab in this respect had been ignored. Lakhowal said the BKU would submit a memorandum to President Pranab Mukherjee through Punjab Governor Shivraj Patil on March 6 to reiterate the demand for the OBC status to the Jat community in Punjab. He said the Centre had always been giving a step-motherly treatment to Punjab, especially its farmers and the industrial sector. The same discriminatory attitude had now been shown to the Jat community in Punjab by excluding them from the list of the OBCs unlike their counterparts in nine other states in the country. The BKU leader said farmers from across the state would gather at Gurdwara Amb Sahib in Mohali on March 6 where a kisan panchayat would be organised before marching towards Chandigarh for submitting a memorandum to the state Governor.
|
|
IMA holds emergency meeting
Ludhiana, March 4 “According to the Supreme Court orders, no doctor can be arrested and no case can be registered against him until the board of doctors proves medical negligence,” said Dr Raj Kumar Sharma, president of the IMA, Ludhiana. “The court orders were violated recently at a city hospital. The hospital property was vandalised by relatives of a patient, but even then no case was registered against the culprits,” said the chief of the association. Those responsible for destroying hospital property and police officers who registered cases against doctors should be booked, said Sharma.
|
|
Doctors’ association observes pen-down strike
Ludhiana, March 4 Dr Avinash Jindal, president of the Ludhiana Chapter of the PCMS Specialist Doctors' Association, said the government is not providing PG doctors with higher education allowance in spite of the repeated representations to the state government. “In June 2012, government gave only 15 per cent PG allowance on starting scale and that too was applicable to only those doctors who had passed their PG after 23 May, 2001,” said Jindal “We demand 50 per cent of basic pay as PG allowance on every increment for all PG doctors. The allowance should come into force as soon as the specialist doctor joins the duty,” added the president of the Ludhiana Chapter of the PCMS Specialist Doctors' Association.
|
|
|
PAU gets city bus service
Ludhiana, March 4 The buses start at plying at 9am onwards and keep on passing through PAU at an interval of every 40 minutes. The buses coming from Ferozepur Road octroi post side enter from gate number 1 and exit from gate number 2, while the buses coming from bus stand side enter from gate number 2 and exit from gate number 1. These buses are helpful for those who come to PAU for work, said Baljit Singh.
— TNS
|
|
Rehri-fari union members allege extortion
Ludhiana, March 4 According to the information, the contract had expired on January 31, 2014, and the board had asked for fresh tenders on February 17. The existing contractor has been given an extension till February 28. Members alleged that although the date of extension had already lapsed (February 28) but the contractor was still demanding money from the Rehri-Ferri Union. They termed the action as illegal. They further alleged that new tenders were not being opened as certain officials were hand in glove with the contractor. Members have urged the Police Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner to look into the matter. NGOs favour rehri-fari union
Some NGOs have urged the Police Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner to come to the rescue of the Rehri-Ferri Union. It was alleged that the contract for collecting money from the union members had expired but the contractor was still demanding money.
|
||
|
‘Mr & Mrs 420’ star cast comes calling to city
Ludhiana, March 4 Talking about the film, Jassi said the movie revolves around the life of four youths from a Punjab village. They move to a city in order to escape from their problems, but land themselves into troubles. Singers Rai and Gill are making their entry into the Punjabi industry with this movie. “It feels good that we are making our acting debut together,” said Jassi. Actress Swati, who has done work in television series such as “Kali” and “Humari saas Leela”, said she immediately grabbed the movie offer. The movie is scheduled to release on March 14, said the producer of the movie, Rrupali Gupta. The actors also performed at the Sarabha Nagar Market for the promotion of their film.
|
||
|
Vehicle inspection camp till March 9
The Dada Motors and Mahindra are organising a 75 point mega free check-up camp. The camp started on March 3 and will end on March 9. The camp was inaugurated by Suraj Dada, chairman, Dada Group, and Vinay Kumar, area service manager, Mahindra. During the camp various discount schemes and daily lucky draw will be rolled out for the delight of the customers. A car rally was also organised by the Dada Motors on the occasion. MBD Group launches special tablets
During the annual distributor meet at Amber Hall, Hotel Radisson Blu MBD, Ludhiana, the MBD Group Publishing House announced the launch of special content bundled tablets for Classes VI to XII. The tablets have been launched in partnership with Microsoft, Acer and Tata Teleservices. The device is a major step in transforming education by creating an enhanced teaching and learning experience for both the teachers and students. Ashok Leyland ‘Boss’ launched in Ludhiana Ashok Leyland, the Hinduja group flagship, commercially launched the BOSS in Ludhiana on Tuesday. An intermediate commercial vehicle (ICV), BOSS seamlessly combines the strength and ruggedness of a truck with the comfort of a car. Manufactured at the company’s largest state-of-the-art plant in Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, BOSS is available in LE and LX variants. It is the perfect answer to the growing need of a higher-productivity, high-performance vehicles in the ICV segment, one of the fastest growing segments in Punjab. Referring to BOSS as a truck-car, Vinod K Dasari, managing director, Ashok Leyland, said, “The product is specifically engineered to meet the evolving customer expectations in the areas of performance, comfort and reliability. It promises to make our customers more satisfied and offers a tailor-made solution to their needs and will certainly be a game-changer.” Steiger to introduce latest technologies
Steiger is likely to introduce latest technologies for Indian market in the coming financial year. The company has planned their footprints with sole selling agents KP Exim Inc. India Steiger knitting has also introduced 32 Feeder Intarsia New Aries 10 GG. The company has introduced the new aries with sinkers so as to make fashionable garments, especially with holding and partial knitting, for ladies.
— TNS
|
|
Hall inaugurated
The District Congress Committee (Urban) president, Pawan Dewan, and block president Satwinder Singh Jawaddi inaugurated Dr VN Tiwari Hall at Government High School in Jawaddi village on Tuesday. The Union Information and Broadcasting minister, Manish Tiwari, had issued a grant of Rs 4 lakh from his discretionary funds for the construction of the hall. Office-bearers elected
Sushil Kaura has been unanimously elected as the president of the Udham Singh Nagar Welfare Association on Tuesday. Satpam Bumbla has been elected as the chairman, Chaman Lal Setia as cashier, Kapil Gupta as general secretary and Jatinder Joshi as vice-president. Arun Sharma was selected as the secretary and Navin Bahari and Pankaj Sharma have been elected as advisors of the Udham Singh Nagar Welfare Association. Health cards distributed
Health cards, under Bhagat Puran Sehat Bima Yojna, were distributed by Public Works Development Minister Sharanjit Singh Dhillon at Sanhewal on Tuesday. Cards were distributed to 6,121 beneficiaries. Senior Medical Officer Dr Parwinder Pal Singh Sidhu said those who have blue cards are being given these cards. Health cards were also distributed at Bhadaur House. Swine flu
cases reported
Three more suspected cases of swine flu have surfaced in the region. The patients are undergoing treatment at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital and Christian Medical College and Hospital. One suspected patient belongs to Kapurthala, while two others belong to Ludhiana.
— TNS
|
Fraud case Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, March 4 Sources in the department said during the scrutiny and cross verification of returns of this firm located at Gill Road, it was noticed that the dealer had evaded tax on the basis of bogus inter-state sales and had, hence, defrauded the state exchequer. “The dealer had obtained registration certificate for the resale of nuts and bolts and HR sheets only. At the time of obtaining registration, the dealer had declared Rs 50 lakh as expected turnover per annum. However, in contrast to this, the dealer did a turnover running into crores,” said an official source.
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
