Ludhiana, March 9
Till a few days ago, they had been flaunting their guns and bragging about their political connections, but today they were hiding their faces.

The alleged Youth Akali Dal (YAD) leaders, including Kulwinder Sharma, alias Kinda, and Sandeep Singh, alias Kaka Grewal, who are facing charges in the Sarabha Nagar mini-market shootout case, tried to ward off cameramen as they were being taken to the local District Courts Complex for a hearing.

The duo, along with the other members of their group, was produced before the duty magistrate who sent them to one-day police remand. It learnt when Kaka and Kinda were brought to the complex, around 50 supporters from both groups were present.

Heavy police force was deployed in the complex. The supporters, a majority of whom have suddenly risen to higher economic status, were seen showing solidarity with the accused.

Meanwhile, the police have installed close-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in the Sarabha Nagar Mini-market. The move has been aimed at instilling confidence among the local residents.

The Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police-III, Satvir Singh Atwal, said lawlessness would not be tolerated. "The footage of these CCTV cameras will be used as evidence in case somebody breaks law," said Atwal. Personnel of the PCR staff have been deployed in the market for round-the-clock security, he added.

Police sources said security had been beefed up as the February 27 shootout had triggered public outrage. The area residents claimed while both groups had exchanged fire for nearly an hour, the police were nowhere to be seen. 

Ludhiana, March 9
A majority of residents, whose Aadhaar cards have been linked with gas agencies and banks, have not received LPG subsidy. As anger among the affected residents is brewing, the cooking gas may become an issue in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Savitri, a domestic help, has been struggling to keep the fire burning in her kitchen. "I could barely earn a few hundred rupees by cleaning utensils. My husband does odd jobs. It has been nearly more than a month since I received the last LPG subsidy. I am scared of booking another cylinder as I do not have enough money."

The Union Ministry for Petroleum and Natural Gas issued a notification on December 31, delinking the Aadhaar with the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme for LPG.

A consumer was to link his gas connection and bank account with his Aadhaar card. According to the scheme, the consumer will have to pay Rs 1,150 to the gas agency and the subsidy of Rs 736 will be refunded in his bank account.

But, in a majority of cases, residents have not received the subsidy.

Usha Rani, a homemaker, said: "We were told that the subsidy would be deposited in our bank accounts once the delivery status was cleared by the gas agency owner. It has been over a month since I received the cylinder and I am yet to receive the subsidy."

Many residents say bank staff did not link their Aadhaar number with their accounts. "I handed a copy of my Aadhaar card to a bank employee. I was assured that my Aadhaar details would be linked with the bank account. When I received the cylinder, I was told by the gas agency staff that my Aadhaar had not been linked with the bank account.

“I met the bank employee, but the latter said he had not received my Aadhaar card copy," said Amit Katyal.

Ludhiana, March 9
Renowned singer Nitin Mukesh mesmerised the audience with at a concert here last evening. The audience clapped in sync with music as he sang all-time hits and soulful melodies one after the other. As he walked among the audience, many touched him and some shook hands with him.

"It was a nostalgic day. He sang very beautiful old songs of Mukesh," said Harneet, a resident.

Nitin Mukesh’s voice is as soothing as it is melodious, says Ravi Sharma, a local resident. It was a great opportunity to listen to the great singer live, he said.

After the concert, Nitin’s fans gathered around him to have his autographs. 

Ludhiana, March 9
The Republican Party of India (Athavale) will support the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The party chief and Dalit leader, Ramdas Athavale, who was in the city for a programme, said this today.

Athavale had earlier said if the BJP inducted Raj Thackery's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) into the NDA, his party would walk out of the alliance.

Talking to Ludhiana Tribune, Athavale said his party would remain a constituent of the BJP-led NDA despite the declaration of the support by the MNS to the NDA. Today, Thackery is reported to have pledged the MNS support to the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.

According to Athavale, the NDA will not need the support of the MNS. "The NDA will win the majority in the Lok Sabha poll," he said.

The Dalit leader alleged the Congress-led UPA Government had failed to curb corruption and inflation. Unemployment has increased and the poor has become poorer. The nation's global image has taken a beating, he added.

Athavale, who is a Rajya Sabha member, said the people wanted a change in the governance at the Centre.

He dismissed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as a party that had lost its credibility among the people. He said the "Third Front" would not be a successful venture, as the Left was politically a spent force.

Athavale announced that the party would field Bittu Balbir as its candidate from the Ludhiana Lok Sabha constituency. He said the party would contest only from the Ludhiana seat in Punjab. Referring to the Akali-BJP candidate from Ludhiana, he said it would be a "friendly fight" (with him). The RPI (Athavale) will field candidates from 80-90 Lok Sabha seats across the country, he added. 

Ludhiana, March 9
Despite repeated appeals by Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Election Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal that Booth-Level Officers (BLOs) will be available at polling booths on March 9, an average of 10 persons visited each of these special camps in the district.

Sukhdev Singh Bhangu, Election Tehsildar, Ludhiana, said: "There are 2,623 polling booths for the 14 Vidhan Sabha constituencies in Ludhiana district. Booth-Level Officers were deputed at each polling booth from 10 am to 4 pm today. Voters in fairly good numbers turned up at a few polling booths. An average of 10 persons visited each of these booths and got the required corrections done. A number of visitors filled in forms for enrolling as voters."

The Deputy Commissioner, along with the Election Tehsildar, visited these polling booths.

Bhangu said: "The BLOs will submit the corrected forms and newly filled forms to the Supervisors for making necessary changes in the voter lists. The supervisors will further hand them over to the Assistant Returning Officers (AROs). There are 14 AROs in Ludhiana district."

The Deputy Commissioner said: "I visited many polling booths and found the response from the youth was overwhelming. Voters who could not get the necessary corrections done today may contact the Assistant Returning Officers concerned in the coming days."

Ludhiana, March 9
Though the Punjab State Board of Technical Education and Industrial Training (PSBTE&IT) has made tall claims about upgrading the quality of education in the state, the website of the board has no accurate information about the upcoming Joint Entrance Test (JET). Four of the five helpline numbers, which the board has displayed on its website, are out of order. One of them remains "switched off."

An advertisement of the PSBTE&IT for the JET also mentions the same helpline numbers.

A large number of students are unable to contact the authorities concerned. Gurpreet Singh, a student, said: "I have some confusion regarding the submission of the form for the JET. I opened the website of the Punjab State Board of Technical Education and found some contact numbers mentioned in the helpline. I dialled all the numbers one by one but none was working".

Ludhiana, March 9
Ludhiana has the unenviable distinction of being the pollution capital of Punjab. The main reason behind this pollution is its vast industry, increasing number of vehicles, decreasing green cover, besides several other factors. The city residents feel that the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation (MC) is not doing enough to restore the green cover. Even the residents are to blame as they expect the MC to do this job on its own.

Even as the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has been making efforts to check the increasing pollution levels in the city, Ludhiana continues to be one of he most polluted cities of the country. Though PPCB officials claim that the pollution level has come down, it doesn't seem true.

The city's famous industry should not be the only culprit for this as Ludhiana has the maximum number of vehicles in Punjab. As per a rough estimate from the District Transport Office, around 10,000 vehicles are added to the city roads every 75 days.

To bring down the pollution caused due to thousands of diesel-run auto-rickshaws in the city, LPG-run auto-rickshaws were launched here sometime ago. However, it soon turned out to be a problem for the owners of such auto-rickshaws. The plan failed as there were not enough filling stations from where auto-rickshaw drivers can buy fuel for their vehicles.

About 900 trees were axed for a project related to the eight-laning of Ferozepur Road (starting from Octroi Post to Sidhwan Canal). However, to compensate for the axed trees, the GLADA authorities, instead of planting these trees in the city, decided to plant them in Gurdaspur, just because they managed to get land at much cheaper prices as compared to the same land in Ludhiana.

Now that Ferozepur Road is to be eight-laned (from Sidhwan Canal to Jagraon Bridge), around 1,000 more trees will be axed, which means that the green cover will deplete further.

Some of the city’s hosiery, machine parts, electroplating, heat treatment, cycle manufacturing, dyeing units and chemical industry are still discharging effluents into the Budha Nullah, which meets the Sutlej later. As a result, the river is also getting polluted.

Ludhiana, March 9
The plan to provide cellphones to Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) by the state government remains a distant dream.

ASHA workers have been struggling for long regarding pay hike and incentives. In January, the state government had promised to provide cellphones, along with SIM cards, to ASHAs but nothing has been done so far. With the code of conduct being imposed due to the coming Lok Sabha elections, the wait seems to be endless.

The move aimed at bringing a positive change to preventive healthcare, including maternal and disease-control programmes.

The state government had promised to provide cellphones to all ASHAs in the state. These activists are community health workers in the World Bank-sponsored National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), which is being implemented by the Union Government across the country.

“The state government had promised to provide us cellphones, along with SIM cards, to help us perform better,” said Sukhdeep Kaur, president of the Ludhiana branch of the ASHA Association.

Another ASHA worker said they were hopeful of receiving cellphones but had been left disappointed once again.

"The government had promised to provide Closed User Group (CUG) SIM cards with cellphones, but it seems to be a hollow promise,” she said.

According to the NRHM guidelines, ASHAs are paid performance-based incentives for promoting universal immunisation, referral and escort services for the Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) and other healthcare programmes.

ASHA workers are the first port of call to meet the health needs of people at the village level.

“The government should recognise our services and equip us with adequate financial support and technological tools. We are the fountainhead of community participation in public health programmes in our villages. Prepaid cellphones would have been an added advantage to promote health programmes. It would have helped us in communicating effectively with the people as well as the health system such as doctors, nurses and Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs),” said Sukhdeep.

Amarjit Kaur, another ASHA worker, said they were spending their own money to submit daily reports to the ANMs and doctors.

“With several villages coming under one primary health centre (PHC), it is important for us to find out the availability of the doctor and medicines before escorting the patient to the PHC. The cellphones would have helped us communicate better,” she said. 

Ludhiana, March 9
Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) has failed to get a road near its veterinary hospital entry gate repaired. A portion of the road caved in around a month ago, but the university authorities failed to get it repaired.

GADVASU is constructing a new hostel near the veterinary hospital and several trucks loaded with building material pass from there daily.

The road caved in after some heavily loaded trucks passed over it. As the process of getting financial permission is long, the matter got delayed.

A PAU professor, who uses this road daily, said: “I commute by a two-wheeler. When I was passing that way a few days ago, I could not see the damaged portion of the road and lost balance. Instead of repairing the road or cordoning it off, the GADVASU authorities covered it with a tree branch. This is height of irresponsible behaviour on the part of a university of international repute,” said the professor.

Dr SPS Sangha, Director Student Welfare-cum-Estate Officer, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, said he was aware of the issue. “The trucks loaded with building material caused damage to the road as one of our hostels is under construction nearby. The road could not be repaired earlier as we were to get financial permission. Even weather conditions were not favourable. Now we will get the road repaired within this week,” said Dr Sangha.

Ludhiana, March 9
To chalk out the next action plan for getting its demands fulfilled, the LPG and CNG Auto Welfare Society has decided to hold a meeting on March 12.

Disclosing this, Jaspal Singh Islam Ganj, president of the society, said: “We had submitted a charter of demands to the District Transport Officer, the Traffic Police in-charge, Ludhiana, and some political leaders, but to no avail. So, we have decided to hold our meeting on March 12 in which we will chalk out our next action plan.”

Jaspal Singh said: “Cell auto and geo auto (autos with four wheels) are still plying on the city roads with state permit. There are already many autos, which have the permit of other cities but are plying on the city roads. By giving permit to cell auto and geo auto, the government has deceived the LPG autos as many diesel-run auto owners converted their vehicles into LPG and CNG. But now, as the government is also allowing the diesel autos to ply on the city roads, it is affecting the business of LPG auto owners.”

The LPG and CNG Auto Welfare Society had already submitted a memorandum in this regard to the Deputy Chief Minister, Sukhbir Badal, through the District Administration on January 15.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, March 9
Office-bearers and activists of various social and educational organisations of the region vowed to play active role in educating masses about the significance of implementation of the Right to Education Act in letter and spirit.

The oath was taken during the concluding session of ICSSR sponsored seminar on ‘Challenges in Implementation of RTE’ at Guru Nanak College of Education at Gopalpur village near here.

Dr Balwinder Singh Walia, chairman, presided over the seminar and Bhupinder Singh Sidhu, AIG Punjab Police, Ludhiana, was the chief guest.

Speakers, including Dr Balwinder Singh Walia, Bhupinder Singh Sidhu, Iqbal Singh Walia, principal Neetu Ohri, Dr Jatinder Grover, Dr NR Sharma and Senator Mukesh Arora highlighted various aspects of the legislation that was enacted for making formal education available to children of lowest rung of the society.

Showing concern towards the widening gap between the desired goal and achieved targets, speakers called upon office-bearers and activists of various social, religious and educational organisations of the region to join hands with the Administration in the movement launched to aware masses of the act.

Also, a book on edited papers on the subject was released on the occasion.

Ludhiana, March 9
Shiv Ram Saroay, a member of the Rogi Kalyan Samiti of the Civil Hospital, has accused the hospital authorities of neglecting the persons admitted to the unknown patients’ ward.

Saroay, who is also the president of Ann Jal Sewa Trust, said the patients were not receiving proper treatment at the hospital.

"One patient was admitted to the ward in a very critical condition. When members of our society went to the ward to serve meal, they saw the patient’s head was hanging out of the bed. The members gave him necessary assistance," said Saroay.

Despite a number of attempts, the Senior Medical Officer of the Civil Hospital could not be contacted for comments.

Ludhiana, March 9
Punjabi Sahit Academi wants the government to give Punjabi the status of “state language”.

To make this happen, it will be appealing to all the political parties to include this promise in their election manifestos.

This was decided during a meeting of the office-bearers of the academy at Punjabi Bhawan today. The meeting was presided over by Dr Gurbhajan Singh Gill.

The members said steps should be taken for uplifting the Punjabi language and culture.

They also want the parties to include the promise of making Punjabi the medium of work in all government offices.

A monthly meeting of Vishav Punjabi Sahit Manch was also held at Punjabi Bhawan. The meeting was presided over by president Pritam Pander. He said the need of the hour was to impart quality education to children, so that they could become responsible citizens. The gathering also discussed works of various writers.

Ludhiana, March 9
A convention of Paramedical and Health Employees’ Front, Punjab, was organised at Rakh Bagh here today.

While addressing the gathering, the convener of the employees’ front, Swaranjit Singh, asked the government to stop the privatisation of health services in the state.

Among various demands of the paramedical and health employees are the filling of vacant posts and regularisation of the services of the contractual employees.

Swaranjit Singh urged the employees to join hands in order to force the government to fulfil all their demands. 

Khanna, March 9
Two persons, residents of the nearby Cheema village, have been reportedly missing under mysterious circumstances for the past five days. They have been identified as Jagjit Singh Jagga and his cousin Jagrop Singh Roop.

Jagjit Singh’s wife, Kamaljit Kaur, said five days back, Jagroop Singh came to their house and asked her husband to accompany him to Salana village, where he had left his motorcycle.

She said her husband refused to go as he was not feeling well but Jagroop pressurised him into accompanying him.

“The duo then left the house in their Maruti car for Salana village. They have been missing since then,” she said. After failed attempts to get any clue of their whereabouts, she reported the matter to the police.

The Payal station house officer confirmed the incident and said they were waiting for the call details of the missing persons.

No case had been registered till the filing of this report.

Ludhiana, March 9
The city police have arrested a man for conspiring to usurp a woman’s property, allegedly in connivance with a Municipal Corporation employee.

The man allegedly had a property dispute with the woman’s husband.

The accused, identified as Vishal Goel, a resident of Kuldeep Nagar Basti, Jodhewal, was arrested on Friday night. He was booked under Sections 420, 465, 468, 471 and 120-B of the IPC for fraud and forging the woman’s signature. Vishal was presented before the Court of Duty Magistrate and sent to a day’s police remand.

It was nearly seven months back when an employee of the civic body was caught while trying to apply for a copy of the TS-1 of a land by forging signatures of its owner, Asha Sood.

The Superintendent, Zone B, Neeraj Jain, who knew Asha’s husband, Harish Sood, told him about it.

"I was shocked when the MC employee, identified as Tarun, confessed before Neeraj Jain that an inspector in the MC had sent him to apply for the TS-1," said Harish Sood.

Tarun, who was made to sit in a room, escaped through a window.

Sood brought the matter to the notice of senior MC officials, who forwarded the matter to the police. Police Commissioner Paramjit Singh Gill ordered a probe into the matter.

"My ordeal began when the case was handed over to the police. I was made to run from pillar to post. The investigating officer kept making excuses each time I visited the police station," said Sood.

Exasperated, Sood lodged a complaint on the Punjab Police helpline number 181.

"In December, last year, I received a response from the helpline stating that my complaint had been forwarded to the higher authorities," said Sood.

Finally, DCP Harsh Bansal and ACP (Central) Deepak Hilori began probing the matter, and it came to light that Vishal Goel, with whom Harish Sood had a property dispute, had hatched the plan.

Ludhiana, March 9
Christian Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) organised the 29th annual sports day on its premises. It was declared open by the chief guest, Kuldeep Singh, Additional Chief Administrator, GLADA. He took the salute from the participating contingents.

Students of Medical College, Dental College, College of Physiotherapy, College of Nursing, allied health services, doctors and staff members presented a march past.

The event kicked off with an oath-taking ceremony by the participants. Later, students and staff members participated in events like 100m, 200m and 400m races, long jump, high jump, discus throw, shot put relay and shot put.

Results

100m (girls): Jannet from Christian Medical College 1st; Tanu from Christian Dental College 2nd; and Anjana from College of Nursing 3rd. 100m (boys): Abhishek Thomas, College of Nursing 1st; Anupam from Christian Medical College 2nd; and Suramya Rajan Kumar from Christian Dental College 3rd. Long jump (staff men): Sandeep from Cardio Department 1st; Brijesh (Pharmacology) 2nd; and Sunny from Pharmacy 3rd. Long jump (staff women): Dr Rinchu Loomba 1st; Janifer from College of Nursing 2nd; and Tanu from Phiso 3rd.