Ludhiana, April 18
The Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) is in trouble as the Local Fund Account, Punjab, has raised serious audit objections for 194 measurement books (MBs) which are not available in the official record.

The MBs are issued to field staff of the engineering branch and the record of works executed by contractors or construction agencies is maintained in these books for verification and payment against work orders.

The audit report of the LIT for 2012-13, obtained under the Right to Information Act by Arvind Sharma, secretary, Council of RTI Activists, revealed that as many as 194 MBs issued to 16 different junior engineers from 2001 to 2011 were not deposited by the officials concerned to the record clerk.

Taking up the gross financial irregularity with the Director, Local Government, Punjab, the Controller of Local Fund Account pointed out that by not returning the MBs, the officials had violated rule 30 (note 3) of the Punjab Town Improvement Act which states that filled in MBs had to be deposited with the record keeper.

Taking serious note of the lapse on the part of the LIT authorities in maintaining all records, the Controller asked the Local Government Department to instruct the LIT authorities to rectify the audit objections.

In a complaint lodged with the Principal Secretary, Local Government, Punjab, Arvind Sharma alleged that since the MBs were the only proof of the quantity of work executed and material used by the contractors, the possibility of misappropriation and financial irregularities could not be ruled out as the record was not made available to auditors of Local Fund Account, Punjab, during the annual audit.

He said several junior engineers posted with the trust had either been promoted or transferred during the intervening period.

"The Local Government Department, Punjab, should conduct an inquiry into the matter and those found guilty should be dealt with sternly," said Sharma. 

Ludhiana, April 18
With the arrest of three persons, the CIA police claimed to have busted a gang involved in smuggling of drugs and medicines.

The accused have been identified as Deepak Kumar, alias Deepu, Raj Kumar, alias Raju, and Jagmeet Singh alias, Meeta, all residents of Guru Arjun Dev Nagar.

The trio was nabbed at a naka near the Toll Plaza in Ladhowal village yesterday. A Toyota Innova (PB 11 AW 4675) coming from Jalandhar side was signalled to stop for checking.

Rajesh Kumar, in-charge, CIA-2, said a plastic bag containing 6,000 capsules and 100 bottles of cough syrup were recovered from them. "Deepak Kumar, alias Deepu, possessed a pistol and seven live cartridges," said Rajesh.

A case under the NDPS Act has been registered against the trio at the Ladhowal police station. Another case under the Arms Act has been registered against Deepu at the division number 7 police station.

The police said four cases had already been registered against Deepu. He was caught smuggling heroin. 

Ludhiana, April 18
Unidentified assailants bludgeoned a youth in his early 30's to death and dumped the body in a vacant plot near Lohara Canal Bridge yesterday.

The Daba police sent the body to the Civil Hospital.

Sarabjit Singh, station house officer, Daba police station, said area residents spotted the body. A case under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code has been registered.

Ludhiana, April 18
Senior civic officials seem to have 'surrendered' to the dilly-dallying tactics of their juniors.

Alleging misuse of parking space, an RTI activist filed a complaint against certain leading hospitals on January 23. On March 14, 2014, Zonal Commissioner directed Assistant Town Planners (ATPs) to provide details about the notices sent to the hospitals. They were also told to survey the sites and submit a report within seven days. It has been more than a month, neither the ATPs have submitted any report nor the Zonal Commissioner has taken them to task for not complying with the directions (a copy of the order is with The Tribune).

Forty hospitals in the city have violated building bylaws. As per the statutory provision of the Building Bylaws, the institutions should provide adequate parking space to visitors. Some of the hospitals were found using parking space for commercial activities.

This results in traffic chaos as visitors and patients park vehicles alongside roads.

Ludhiana, April 18
With the spring season, flowers abloom all around, nature rejuvenated and the weather being just right, residents are seen taking a stroll and enjoying the nature's bounty.

Many people have started going for morning walks just to enjoy the flowers. "I am not an early riser, but love the flowers. I have started waking up early. This is the best time of the year. It is so refreshing to see flowers," says Deepak, a Dugri resident.

Many consider this time of the year as New Year. "The Georgian Calendar year starts in the middle of winter and there essentially is nothing new about the season in India. Even though traditionally this is the harvest season and the typical New Year in an agrarian set-up, but otherwise also this is the new season when the winter is past and the summer is yet to begin," says Amandeep, a resident.

A variety of flowers and even flowering trees are in colour. "This is the joy of the spring," says Drishti, another resident, who loves rising with the sun.

Ludhiana, April 18
Members of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) have demanded that the election to the Medical Council of India (MCI) should be declared null and void as 50 per cent of the voters had not received their ballot papers.

The members said they should be allowed to vote in person and not through post. At a press conference today, Dr Kulwant Singh, a contestant, said an inquiry should be conducted into the matter.

"Ballot papers are sent through registered post but this time the papers were sent through ordinary post. We want action against the postal department and the authorities of the Medical Council of India," said Dr Manoj Sobti, president, IMA, Punjab. Dr RK Sharma, president, IMA, Ludhiana, pointed out anomalies in the electoral procedure. He said no separate certificate of posting was obtained for each elector. "This is against the rules of the MCI," he said.

Dr Kulwant said the matter needed to be probed. The election process should be declared null and void. "Seeing the seriousness of the issue, an inquiry should be conducted into the matter. During the Maharashtra Medical Council elections, members cast their vote in person. 

Ludhiana, April 18
With the election season picking up steam, residents have put on their thinking caps. Be it students or office-goers, poll fever has gripped all.

Schoolteachers are also putting in efforts to keep students updated on current activities. Students of Sacred Heart Convent Senior Secondary School, Sarabha Nagar, have been assigned an interesting project "A glimpse of the 16th Lok Sabha elections". Commenting on it, a student said: "The task was not as easy as it seemed. I had to work hard to complete the assignment. These are the longest-ever Lok Sabha elections."

Simarjeet Singh, a Class X student, who was busy collecting pictures for making a collage, said: "I surfed the Internet, downloaded pictures of political leaders and learnt a lot about the election process. Now, I know when a party is declared a national party. In the morning assembly, we were told about the model code of conduct. This time, a few candidates contesting the Lok Sabha elections violated the code while filing nomination papers."

Some schools are also involving parents. Harmeet Kaur Waraich, principal, Nankana Sahiv Public School, Gill Road, said,"We are creating awareness about the voting right. Students from classes II to XII were given pamphlets. Their parents pledged to vote and choose the right candidate."

At KVM, students voted to choose their class monitor. A number of candidates filed papers. They even campaigned for two days and announced their manifestos. A teacher was elected the Chief Election Commissioner. Polling stations were set up at various places in the middle section and students cast their vote. Results were declared. 

Jagraon, April 18
Sudden rains that lashed the region last night has made the farmers worried. They fear heavy losses as the rain could damage their wheat crop lying in the grain markets.

During a visit to Grain Market in Jagraon, which is the second largest grain market in Asia after the Khanna Grain Market, tension was visible on the faces of the farmers whose crop is yet to be procured by the procurement agencies. The farmers in the local grain market said that the procurement agencies were not purchasing their crop on the pretext of higher level of moisture in the crop.

“I brought the wheat crop in the grain market three days ago and I have been waiting for its procurement since then. But to no avail,” said Sukhdev Singh, a farmer of Jandi village.

Moreover, the dark clouds which are still hovering over the fields in the area have increased the problems of the farming community. With the weather department predicting more rain in the region in coming days, the problems of the farmers are bound to increase further. The harvesting of wheat crop has already been delayed due to inconsistent weather in the region for the past few weeks.

According to farmers, the harvesting of wheat crop has been delayed over two weeks. “Usually the harvesting of wheat crop begins in the first week of April but this time it got delayed by two weeks because of rain. We are bound to suffer heavy financial losses if the weather does not improve in the coming days,” said Kuljit Singh, a farmer of Sherpur village near Jagraon.

Asking the government to instruct the officials of procurement agencies to show some flexibility in purchasing the wheat crop, the farming community has demanded compensation from the government.

“First the harvesting of wheat crop got delayed due to bad weather. Moreover, the rain has also affected the output of the crop therefore we are bound to suffer heavy financial losses. The government shall instruct the procurement agencies to be flexible in purchasing the crop. The government shall also provide compensation to the farmers whose crop has been damaged due to rains,” said Amarjit Singh, a farmer of Janetpura village. 

Ludhiana, April 18
The Apex Chamber of Commerce and Industry has written a letter to Rajeev Kher, commerce secretary, regarding regional comprehensive economic partnership. Chamber said that the Government of India was thinking of enlarging regional comprehensive economic partnership but the country already had free trade agreements with ASEAN and other countries.

“The proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) includes countries such as China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. In this regard some facts must be taken care of before jumping into this venture,” said PD Sharma, president of the chamber, in the letter written to the commerce secretary. He further said the country was passing through an unprecedented and undesired phase of development.

All the factors of production are hugely unfavourable as compared to those existing in the proposed countries. Cost and availability of credit has no comparison with these countries. Raw materials of all sorts are mismanaged leading to enormous level of price. Electric power, which is the prime mover of economy, has many uncertainties in terms of availability and cost.

“The labour intensive industries are very uneasy on many aspects. In the prevailing environment, change in condition seems impossible in the near future,” he said.

The proposed regional comprehensive economic partnership may be kept in abeyance till we improve our own industrial infrastructure and other parameters, said Sharma. 

Ludhiana, April 18
The local Municipal Corporation (MC) is all prepared with their homework and surveys to avail benefit from the Central Government’s scheme- Rajiv Awas Yojana for the slum dwellers under JNURRM (on the lines of Indira Awas Yojana). In an effort to create slum-free Ludhiana, the issue will be brought for approval in the General House Meeting scheduled for May 6.

Giving details about the project, the Additional Commissioner MC, Dr Sumit Jarangal, said that 207 slums had been identified in Ludhiana wherein 60,000 population lives, who had to be rehabilitated under the scheme. “The teams have identified the slum areas in the city but there are hundreds of vehras, owned by private players, in which thousands of migrants live in pitiable conditions. We need to send another proposal to ask if the vehras could also be covered under the scheme or not. Even if we cannot do anything for vehras, we can at least bring other basic amenities, including roads, toilets, sewerages etc for them,” he said.

“The particular scheme aims to cover about 250 cities and towns. In Punjab, Ludhiana takes the lead in completing the survey reports. If the House approves this, we will make every possible effort to get benefits from the Centre,” said Dr Jarangal. 

Ludhiana, April 18
Around 190 participants drawn from all parts of the state took part in the Punjab State Chess Championship for (U-9 and U-15) boys and girls which began at St Thomas Senior Secondary School, Brown Road, here today.

Asrar Tareen, a prominent social worker of the area, inaugurated the meet in which more than 100 competitors from Ludhiana district got their names registered. Thus, the organisers decided to have five round matches.

At the end of third round, the following players were leading in their respective age groups.

Boys (U-15): Mumukshu Mittal, Pratyoosh Chitkara, Bhumik Kapoor and Hritik (Ludhiana), Dushyant Sharma and Raghav Bhalla of Jalandhar, Devang Singla of Sangrur.

Boys (U-9): Namitbir Singh and Jayan Pasricha of Jalandhar, Rachit Kansal of Bathinda, Yuvraj Sharma of Amritsar, Samneet Munde of Sangrur.

Girls (U-15): Meenakshi and Tanisha Gupta of Ludhiana, Simarjit Kaur, Garushi and Komal of Sangrur, Arushi Gupta of Bathinda.

Girls (U-9): Raavya Jain and Samaira Aggarwal of Ludhiana and Ananya Makkar of Jalandhar.

Ludhiana, April 18
Candidates contesting the Lok Sabha elections from the Ludhiana constituency made their poll pitch at an open session organised by the Ludhiana Management Association today. Aam Aadmi Party’s HS Phoolka, Congress’ Ravneet Singh Bittu and Shiromani Akali Dal’s Manpreet Singh Ayali shared their vision of development for the city and the state with various industrialists, academicians and youth present at the venue.

Ravneet Singh Bittu, while addressing the gathering, talked about his grandfather who “made the state free from the clutches of terrorism”.

“The need of the hour is to make our state free from the clutches of drugs. How can a state progress if its leaders are involved in drug racket?” he said.

Bittu said if he came to power, his major thrust will be towards making the state and country free of drugs.

HS Phoolka said when a senior leader of the Aam Aadmi Party came to him with the agenda of the party, he immediately made up his mind to join it.

“If I come to power I will get the Right to Service Act implemented within three months,” he said.

Manpreet Singh Ayali, meanwhile, laid stress on overall development of the city.

“Many funds are disbursed by the Central government for the development of the state. I will make sure these funds are used judiciously for the overall development of the city,” he said.

Ludhiana Management Association senior vice-president Dr KNS Kang said the association had always pioneered is raising social, business and political issues to create awareness among the educated and affluent class of the city.

Dr Kang said, “Our country, and especially our state, is passing through a phase of change. In such a scenario, we citizens want to be represented by such candidates who not only take our state and country forward, but also work towards uplifting our economic and social status.”

He said the open session gave the gathering an opportunity to listen to the road map prepared by all candidates, which would help in deciding who could represent the city in Lok Sabha. 

Ludhiana, April 18
Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal yesterday conducted a series of rallies in the city, in favour of the SAD-BJP candidate from Ludhiana, Manpreet Singh Ayali.

Replying to a query related to his cousin Manpreet Singh Badal, he said, "He is a bag of lies. He is not more than a paper tiger attempting to be in news by giving misleading statements.”

The Deputy CM said he did not want to comment any further on Manpreet Singh Badal as he had lost credibility by “backstabbing” his political godfather besides betraying the people who trusted him.

Describing the Congress as “no match” to the SAD-BJP alliance in the state, Badal said Punjab had rejected the cheap politics, negative propaganda and destructive slogans of the Congress time and again and these Lok Sabha polls would put the last nail in its coffin. Later, he held a meeting with industrialists at the Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertaking office.

Chamber president Avtar Singh said they had a detailed talk on problems faced by the industry that included shortage of power, problems related to change of land use and creation of new clusters for the development of industry.

Ludhiana, April 18
Congress candidate from Ludhiana Ravneet Singh Bittu today addressed more than 20 party meetings and listened to issues raised by the youth.

During his campaign in various areas, Bittu promised to adopt a strict approach towards drug peddlers active in the area to save the lives of Punjabi youth.

He also promised to address the issues of house tax and property tax by taking a stand against the state government.

"If elected to the Parliament from Ludhiana, I will work hard to start the Metro service here at the earliest, open more government educational institutes, promote public health services, clean Buddha Nullah and bring an international airport to the area,” said Bittu, addressing a poll meeting.

Meanwhile, Congress MLA from Khanna Gurkeerat Kotli, while campaiging for Bittu, said people were annoyed with leaders of the ruling alliance who have been encouraging drug peddling.

“Government employees are not getting salaries and pensioners, too, are feeling betrayed. Everyone wants to get rid of the SAD-BJP alliance and the Lok Sabha elections will be first step towards rooting out the alliance,” he said.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, April 18
In order to seek support for their party’s Lok Sabha candidate, top politicians are leaving no stone unturned to woo office-bearers of various social organisations in the area.

Special efforts are being made to highlight announcements of support made by heads and office-bearers of these organisations.

The tendency is more significant where the constituencies are reserved and the candidates belong to different categories.

Brahmin Sabhas, bodies of various sects of Jainism, Aggarwal Sabhas, Dalit organisations, Sikh organisations and Muslim bodies besides labour organisations and farmer bodies are the most sought after.

Devi Dyal Prashar, president of the Shree Brahmin Sabha, who had organised the “Rin Uttar Yatra” over a year ago and was close to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, has been “persuaded” by the Congress to support the party nominee from the Fatehgarh Sahib Lok Sabha constituency. Prashar has already started seeking votes for Dharamsot.

Soon after, the Shiromani Akali Dal leadership started searching for an alternative and succeeded in seeking support of Sarup Chand Kaushik, another top leader of Brahmin Sabha and other associated Hindu organisations. SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal felicitated Kaushik at a function recently.

Kaushik, besides being an active social activist, is the acting president of the Sanatan Dharam Mahavir Dal in North India.

Naresh Kumar Bhutta (Aggarwal Sabha), Des Raj Sharma (Brahmin Sabha) and Hamid Mohammad and Munir Mohammad (Muslim Youth Front) are other office-bearers who have been approached by supporters of various candidates in past few days.

However, getting the support of any social organisation’s leader might not mean its members will vote en masse for the candidate.

"Although, we do not mind announcements of support to particular parties by our leaders, we cannot be forced to follow in their footsteps," said Jatinder Sharma, member of a social organisation.

Ludhiana, April 18
MLA Balwinder Singh Bains, campaigning for his brother Simarjit Singh Bains, Independent candidate from the Ludhiana Lok Sabha constituency, accused the ruling SAD-BJP alliance of destroying businesses and industry by levying undue taxes.

Addressing a gathering at Shimlapuri, he said businessmen were burdened with taxes, and farmers were being bullied by the government. At other elections meetings in Lohara and Jawaddi villages, he alleged that the ruling alliance was misusing the government machinery.

During a rally at Jarkhar village, Balwinder Singh Bains said the Akali government was responsible for pushing the youth of the state towards drugs.

Meanwhile, Simarjit Singh Bains inaugurated his election office at Sarpanch Colony, Giaspura. He also held a rally at Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar.

During a roadshow at Jagraon, he passed through various places including markets. He said people should vote for a candidate with a clean image. 

Ludhiana, April 18
Aam Aadmi Party Lok Sabha candidate from Ludhiana HS Phoolka today carried out a roadshow in Dugri area.

A large number of people turned up at the roadshow that started in the morning from Urban Estate, Dugri, and passed through Himmat Singh Nagar, Baba Deep Singh Nagar, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar and Manakwal village before concluding at the party office on Pakhowal Road in the evening.

Addressing the public, Phoolka said, “The main agenda of AAP is to give the real power in the hands of the common man, so that he can decide on what and how to spend the money for the development of his respective area.” He said it became clear after Arvind Kejriwal’s roadshow that people were weary of the corrupt and wanted a change.

Phoolka said, “We want to establish a strong Jan Lokpal, so that there is no scope left for corruption.”

Ludhiana, April 18
Around 200 students 
of DAV Public School, BRS Nagar, today ventured out to spread awareness on the voting right among residents.

Holding placards in their hands, they appealed to the people to rise above the consideration of caste, creed, religion and language and vote for the deserving candidate.

During the rally, they raised slogans such as “30 April nu sauna nahi, vote da haq gavauna nahi (don’t keep sleeping on April 30, don’t lose the right to vote)”, “Vote pao, desh bachao (Cast your vote to save the country)”, “Aapka vote jeetega jang, dega desh ko nayi umang (Your vote will win the battle, will give the country a new hope)”.

The children also distributed pamphlets carrying messages such as “Rise above party lines, vote for the right candidate to make democracy a success”.

The students also performed a street play on the significance of voting near Orient Cinema and the Sarabha Nagar police station.

Ludhiana: A fashion show was organised by the students at the Guru Nanak Institute of Design and Technology (GNIDT) on Thursday evening. The designer competition-cum-fashion show featured garments created by the junior and senior fashion designing students. The colour trends, fashion trends and accessories were all incorporated in six themes of the show ranging from skirts, gowns, floor length gowns, tunics and one-piece dresses.

The element of fusion was evident in the costumes tailored by young designers, as the western cuts and Indian colours made each piece a treat for the eyes of the onlookers. The gaiety and confidence of the young students who walked down the ramp with perfection, was evident from the loud rounds of applauses by the audience as they walked down the ramp wearing their self-designed costumes. Solo performances, duets and giddha enthralled the audience.

“Due to better returns from Basmati rice during last year, farmers are rushing for Basmati seeds. But still they feel that too much increase in Basmati area may lead to glut which may result in crash of prices. Hence, they are treading the path very cautiously and are also buying the seeds of high-yielding non-basmati varieties.” This was observed by experts of the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU). Informing about the sale of paddy varieties (area specific), Dr SS Gosal, director of research, said in Malwa region, varieties PR 122 (high yield) and PR 118 (tolerant to poor quality water) were in great demand in Ludhiana. However, the variety PR 121 due to its one week early maturity period than PR 122 and PR 118 is finding favour with the farmers in the Majha and Doaba regions, he highlighted. This is evident from the sale at PAU, Seed Farm, Kapurthala, where PR 121 is outsmarting PR 122 in terms of sale, he told. Dr GS Mangat, senior rice breeder, said both PR 122 and PR 121 mature earlier than Pusa 44 and PR 118 by about 7-10 days, thereby, saving considerable amount of water. The new varieties also possess better disease resistance and grain quality characteristics, he observed. — TNS

Ludhiana: The apparel brand Duke has launched a new collection of t-shirts, shirts, jeans, lounge wear, shorts and ladies tops. The concept is a voyage, a summer vacation that a group of friends have embarked on for the summer in adventurous and picturesque surfing locations. Whether it is sightseeing, go-karting or simply sipping iced teas, the travelogue will hold you spellbound. The innovative concept draws attention, captures imagination and embodies the happy-go-lucky spirit of those warm summer days perfectly. — TNS