Ludhiana, May 22
A delegation of Congress councillors have submitted a memorandum to the Mayor, alleging that "injustice" is being done to the poor in the name of the anti-encroachment drive. The councillors have demanded an immediate meeting of the MC house to discuss this sensitive issue.

"The poor and needy have been made the scapegoats in this political battle. The ruling party is out to settle a score with the Congress, which has won the Lok Sabha seat from Ludhiana. The Congress-dominated areas are being targeted by officials. In this war, injustice is being done to innocent residents," said Congress MLA Bharat Bhushan Ashu.

Ashu said it was a pick-and-choose policy of the ruling party. If the demolition drive was not stopped, the Congress leaders would launch an agitation with the support of the affected residents.

The demolition squad of the MC razed houses at Baba Balak Nath Colony, Rishi Nagar, yesterday. Two of the house owners reportedly have allotment letters. Both of them were out of station when the demolition was carried out in the area.

More than 50 shops were razed in Ghumar Mandi recently. The area comes under the Town Planning Scheme and the authorities could have waited till the schemes were regularised. Three posh localities, the land of which has been "encroached" on by big industrialists, also come under the Town Planning Scheme.

"This MC land, on College Road, at Gurdev Nagar and on the main Ferozepur Road, is in possession of big industrialists. Can anyone dare to remove these encroachments? Nobody will touch them as they are politically well connected. If we can wait for this land to be regularised, then why cannot we rescue the poor and needy?" asked Congress councillors Sanjay Talwar, Rakesh Parashar and Narinder Sharma, who were part of the Congress delegation. 

List submitted to HC faulty: Mayor

The Mayor said: "The list submitted to the High Court also includes certain properties that are clean and the court should be informed about it either by residents or by the MC officials. So, these are regularised on priority."

Demolition drive to be suspended till May 27

Mayor Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria has said since officials have to prepare a reply to be submitted to the High Court, the demolition drive will be suspended till May 27 (the date of hearing of the case). 

Political drama continues

Akali leaders reportedly told the residents of the Barewal area that they could feel safe in their company. The leaders met the residents ahead of the inauguration of a bridge across Sidhwan Canal that connects Ayali Kalan village with Ayali Khurd village.

Ludhiana, May 22
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued a notice to the state government for inaction in removing liquor vends from the national highways. The court has asked the state government to file a reply by July 22.

Earlier, the state government had informed the Punjab and Haryana High Court that according to the state excise policy, liquor vends along the state and national highways cannot function after April 1. It was resolved that the licence holders, whose liquor vends are located along the national highways, would be compensated for their closure or the amount deposited by them would be refunded.

However, according to sources, these vends continue to do business as usual in connivance with the department officials or under political patronage. The vends keep their shutters down but continue business from the back doors. Posters guiding consumers towards the back doors have been displayed on the front side. The department officials say according to the excise policy, “a vend should not be visible” from a highway. The vends, which are operating from the back doors, keep their shutters down. Hence, these are not visible from a highway and can carry on with their business, they add.

“The department is regularly checking the national highways to detect violations and violators are fined. No vend is operational from the national highways,” says the Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Amrit Kaur Gill.

The state government was asked to remove all liquor vends from the national highways after an NGO, Arrive Safe Society, filed a public interest litigation (PIL). The NGO says the liquor vends along the national highways in Punjab and Haryana are the major cause of accidents.

Ludhiana, May 22
The power engineers have decided to intensify their ongoing agitation against the management of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) and the state government for their apathetic attitude towards them.

Addressing a meeting of the regional committee of Punjab State Electricity Board Engineers’ Association (PSEBA), the functionaries of the body said power engineers all over the state will keep their official mobile phones switched off during the duty hours (9 am to 5 pm) on May 23. If the government doesn’t pay heed to their demands, the engineers of will go on a mass casual leave during next few days.

Spokesperson of the PSEBA Jaswant Singh Zafar said the agitating engineers were committed to take their stir to its logical conclusion. “The power engineers have held protest, candle march and leaders of the central body have also observed a day-long hunger strike at the PSPCL headquarters in Patiala. But the government and management were not moved by the protests.”

He claimed that as a result of the ongoing “work to rule” agitation by the engineers, several units of thermal power plants had tripped on Saturday and Sunday and power generation was adversely affected. However, the Punjab government and the PSPCL management have shown no inclination to discuss the issues raised by the association.

Contesting the government claim of the state being power surplus, Zafar said Punjab will not have surplus power by its total dependence on private thermal plants. He further alleged that the vested interests of PSPCL management and the government had hatched a conspiracy to interrupt the coal supply to public sector thermal power plants to give benefits to the lobby of private vendors and to purchase costlier power.

Focusing on contentious issues, the power engineers maintained the government and the PSPCL management had created two cadres for engineers after the bifurcation of PSEB, thereby violating the tripartite agreement signed at the time of creation of two corporations.

“Punjab government further tempered with the tripartite agreement by enhancing the upper age limit for the post of CMD and directors of the power companies unilaterally. With this, they snatched the right of professional elevation of working chief engineers. Now there are talks of enhancement in the retirement age from 58 to 60 years which will jeopardise the promotional growth of entire cadre of power engineers,” they added.

The meeting was attended by the representatives of power engineers from Ludhiana, Khanna, Doraha, Sirhand, Amloh, Gobindgarh, Ahmadgarrh, Jagraon, Raikot, Dakha, Lalton and nearby areas. Sanjeev Sood, general secretary and Bhupinder Singh, senior vice-president of PSEBA were also present.

Jagraon, May 22
High drama was witnessed in Kukkar Bazar area when SAD leader Jagdev Deol and his supporters allegedly attacked the officials of Municipal Council. They had gone to remove encroachment made by Jagdev on the land belonging to MC.

Municipal Council employees led by executive officer Davinder Toor reached the market to reclaim the land. The SAD leader and his supporters allegedly started misbehaving with the officials. The whole drama continued for around two hours but the situation turned tense when the SAD leader and his supporters allegedly started pelting stones on MC employees.

Following this, the MC authorities informed local police about the incident but no police team reached the spot for around two hours which annoyed the local residents and MC authorities. The situation was brought under control when the police reached the spot. But till than the SAD leader and his supporters who had pelted stones on MC employees had fled from the scene.

Later on, the Municipal Council employees removed the encroachments with the help of police personals.

Irked over the attack on MC employees by a ruling party leader, the employees staged a protest in front of the shop owned by him and raised slogans against him. Later in the evening, the MC authorities also lodged a complaint with the police against the SAD leader and his supporters who allegedly attacked them.

SHO Jagraon confirmed that the police have received a complaint regarding attack on MC employees by some persons. "The police are investigating into the matter and an appropriate action will be taken against the guilty," added he.

Meanwhile, the Municipal Council Employees have decided to go on an indefinite strike till the SAD leader and his supporters are not booked and arrested by the police. 

Ludhiana, May 22
There is a huge gap in the world of art, particularly in the state as more and more people go for the work of renowned artists whereas work of other talented professional artists remains unknown. But online art galleries in the country are filling the gap, according to a couple that has set up online art gallery.

A couple that has moved to the city has set up online Banyan Art Gallery. Natasha Khanna and Varun Khanna moved to the city and found that there is an immense space and need for talented artists to get a platform.

The duo said online art galleries are filling the gap, which is great for giving a boost to art. "There is an immense talent of professional artists across the country and online art galleries are helping them to reach out to people not only in India, but across the globe." The couple moved from West Bengal to Ludhiana found that the gap is more pronounced here.

"You can feel the connection and understand the depth of a painting only by actually seeing it," said Natasha. "This the reason we are holding an exhibition of the works by the artists associated with the gallery at Radisson Blu hotel on May 23 and 24," she said.

The work of artists from Bengal, Rajashtan, Gujarat, Delhi and Lucknow of different genres will be displayed during the exhibition. The exhibition is titled 'The Journey Begins'. 

Ludhiana, May 22
Schools across the city witnessed many students making it to top positions and bagging a perfect 10 Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) after the results of CBSE Class X examination was announced.

Sacred Soul Convent Senior Secondary School

Khushdeep Kaur, Jashandeep Rawat and Amandeep Singh are among the Class X toppers of the school. The overall pass percentage of the school is 100 per cent. Principal Monica, chairman GS Gill and secretary Sukhdeep Gill congratulated the students and staff members on their success.

MGM Public School

Twenty students out of a total of 88 have secured a perfect 10 CGPA. School principal Poonam Sharma congratulated the students for their performance.

Saraswati Modern Senior Secondary School

Class X students Mehak and Shweta brought laurels to the schools proud by scoring CGPA above 9. As many as eight students have got CGPA above 8.5, whereas six students have got CGPA above 7.

Guru Nanak International Public School

Twenty-three scholastic students secured a score of perfect 10 (CGPA) out of a total of 196 students. The students included Gurleen Kaur Babbar, Harleen Kaur, Harmanpreet Kaur, Jasmine Kaur, Kamaljit Kaur, Komalpreet Kaur, Manpreet Kaur, Navdeep Kaur, Prabhleen Kaur, Simranpreet Kaur, Tamanpreet Kaur, Arshdeep Singh, Avdeep Singh, Baljit Singh, Gurjot Singh, Harshdeep Singh, Jashaninder Singh, Jaskaran Singh, Mahaveer Singh, Manmohan Singh, Navneet Singh, Sangatren Singh and Harleen Kaur.

Green Land Convent School

Students brought laurels to the school by giving 100 per cent results in Class X examination. More than 30 per cent students scored 10 CGPA.

New GMT Public School

The school achieved 100 per cent result in the Class X boards. Gunjan Goyal (9.6), Vaishali Joshi (9.2), Jasmine Kalsi (9), Kirti (9), Niharika Malhotra (9), Prachi (9), Mansi (8.8), BhupinderKaur (8.6), Priyanka Sharma (8.6), Rahul Sadana (8.6), Lovish Gogna (8.2), Simran (8) and Satyam Arora (8) scored well.

Guru Gobind Singh Public School (Daad)

Avneet Kaur Bhangu, Kiranpreet Kaur, Rupan Grewal and Simranpreet Kaur joined the league of CGPA 10 holders. While others, including Dilpreet Singh, Gurpreet Kaur and Gursimran Singh Dhillon scored 9.6 CGPA along with Amritpal Singh and Jasmeet Singh Deogon got 9.4 CGPA.

Guru Nanak Public School

Mullanpur: Ten students of the school scored A1 grade, while 12 Students scored A2 and 15 students scored B1 grade in the Class X boards with Gurjeev Kaur scoring 10 CGPA.

Tagore School

Jyoti, Gurjot Singh, Era Singla and Vipul Kaushal scored 10 CGPA followed by Muskaan and Ashvita with 9.8 CGPA. Nehal, Rajandeep, Divya got 9.6 CGPA, while Smarth Mittal and Komal Jindal got 9.4 CGPA.

Om Parkash Bansal Modern School

Mandi Gobindgarh: Out of 40 students, who appeared in the Class X board examination, 12 got CGPA of 10, while 19 students got CGPA of 9. Chairman Vijayant Bansal, founder-chairman Dr Hukam Chand Bansal and principal PK Arora appreciated the efforts of the students.

Also, students of other schools, including Shifaly School, Guru Harkrishan Public School (Phallewal Khurd) and Tagore International Senior Secondary School, Sahnewal, performed exceptionally well and managed to score good grades.

Ludhiana, March 22
Neither age nor do the vast stretches of land and countries were an impediment for 63­year­old Abdul Karim Saleh from Malaysia who set out to pay obeisance at Mecca and Medina Sharif cycling all the way.

He reached Ludhiana today. He was accorded a warm welcome by Shahi Imam here. Shahi Imam said Saleh was a retired Army officer and a resident of Kuala Lumpur.

The distance from his country to Medina Sharif is 15,000 km, and he hopes to reach there by the first of the Arab month of Jilhizza.

He starts his journey in the morning after reciting his namaz and winds up his journey by 9 pm and takes rest in the mosques located on the way.

He is carrying a road map along with him which helps him in finding the way. Wherever he stops, he takes information about the next mosque.

Saleh said when he reached Thailand from Malaysia he was not allowed to enter Myanmar on a bicycle.

So, he came to Bangladesh from Bangkok by air and has been bicycling since then.

He said he would enter Pakistan through Wagah Border and from thereon, he would enter Saudi Arabia via Iran and Iraq border areas.

Ludhiana, May 22
People coming at civil surgeon’s office for getting birth and death certificates face double whammy. Firstly, they have to wait in the scorching heat without any shade and if the applicant happens to be an illiterate there are chances of him getting fleeced by the agents.

Although department claims that no touts are allowed to enter inside the civil surgeon office but these agents can be seen wandering inside civil surgeon office.

Civil Surgeon, Dr Subhash Batta said, “No such agent is allowed to sit inside the office premises. Earlier, they use to sit outside the office premises but after we complaint to the police no such agent now sits near the office premises.” Talking about the sitting arrangement, Dr Batta said they have made sitting arrangements for the people and have also arranged drinking water for the public for the convenience.

“I have come all the way from Dhaba Road to get the birth certificate of my grandson and I have been waiting for two hours that too under the scorching sun. There is no proper sitting arrangement and no separate queue for senior citizens,” rued Gurdev Singh.

Meanwhile, the agents continue to charge people for the forms and then filing and submitting the forms. Illiterate people who come from far flung areas and do not have much time fall easy prey to these agents.

Forms can be downloaded from www.pbhealth.gov.in but unaware residents end up paying money for the same. The health department has put up a notice board to warn people about the touts. These agents charge Rs10 for the forms. Further they charge people for filling forms and sometimes struck a deal for Rs 500 for getting the entire work done.

Shyam Lal who visited the civil surgeon office for getting the certificate said he did not know what to do after arriving at the office and was asking for help. “Finally a person came to me and offered help and asked for Rs 500 in return. I thought it was better option than wandering here and there. He asked me to collect the certificate in three days,” said Shyam Lal unaware of the fact that this service is provided free of cost by the government.

Shivram Siroa, president, Vishwa Guru Ravidas Mission, has submitted a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner in this regard and said, “There should be a special enquiry counter so that people can get the required information. Separate queues should be formed for senior citizens and women. Proper sitting arrangement should be there. In addition to this the work for making birth and death certificates should be shifted to ‘suvidha center’ at mini secretariat.”

Ludhiana, May 22
Following a complaint of Bachpan Bachao Aandolan, a Non-Government Organization , two teams of district administration and the labour department raided a knitwear factory at Vishnu Puri in Shiv Puri area and at some shops, succeeded in rescuing 7 child labourers.

After medical examination, the children were handed over to Child Welfare Committee. They will be further sent to child home, Ropar.

Dinesh Kumar one of the state level activist of the NGO said, “We got the survey done for these child labourers. We informed the district administration. Two teams of district task force were constituted. One of the teams raided at factories while the other team raid at shops and rescued 7 children below the age of 14 years.”

The teams included representatives from different government departments including health department, labour, police, education, NGO, labour and social security.

Dinesh Kumar said, “Our 22 complaints about child labourers have been lying pending with the district administration. In these complaints we have informed the administration that nearly 1,200 child labourers are working in different factories and shops. But district administration acts very slowly.”

He alleged, “Today when the team rescued six child labourers from a factory, I informed the team that there are 10 more child labourers working in the adjoining factory. But Mohit Singla assistant director, Factories, said first they will fulfill the whole process of these 6 rescued children and denied to conduct raid at the adjoining factory. This way the effort of our NGO goes in waste as the children about whom we complain to the district administration keep working there till the time the next raid is conducted.”

Refuting these charges, Mohit Singla said, “We held the raid at places where we were told by the district administration on the basis of complaint by the NGO.”

An officer said administration keeps holding such raids to rescue child labourers. It is a continuous process.

Whenever the team rescues any child, they have to get their medical done. If any one team conducts raid at more than one place on the same day and rescues children of more than one place, there remains chances that children rescued from different places get mixed and it become a cumbersome job for the team to identify as which child was working at which factory or shop.

Ludhiana, May 22
Starting door to door collection of garbage in the city, Mayor Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria handed-over garbage bins to the residents at Zone D office here today.

A pair of garbage bins -blue and green, to segregate biodegradable and non-biodegradable material, were given to residents.

Mayor said from today onwards, bins will be given to residents by the company hired by the MC for door to door collection for garbage. "The size of the bins is small so we have asked company officials to make it slightly big for the convenience of residents.

They have assured to replace these within a week and then new bins will be provided to the residents", said Gohalwaria.

Ludhiana, May 22
It seems that ministers were eagerly waiting for the code of conduct to end so that they could start with the formal inaugurations of the bridges and roads etc. PWD minister Sharanjit Singh Dhillon inaugurated the bridge at the Sidhwan Canal, which joins Ayali Kalan with Ayali Khurd village. In his address, Dhillon said Punjab government had given this benefit to hundreds of villagers.

The bridge has been constructed in a period of 70 days with the cost of about Rs 63 lakhs. On the performance of the party in Lok Sabha elections, Dhillon said party had taken serious note of the results and was doing best to remove discrepancies.

Speaking on the issue of sand-mining in state, Dhillon said the former Congress government at the centre had "dumped" the files of the auction of sand-mines in Punjab due to which the people had to buy sand at exorbitant amount. "But now that NDA government has taken over at the Centre, the files will be cleared soon and people will be able to buy sand at reasonable prices," said Dhillon.

Amongst others present on the occasion were Manpreet Ayali, Darshan Singh Shivalik and Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria.

The PWD department has claimed that bridge got ready in the "record" period of 70 days. One of the officials of PWD Department wishing not to be quoted said foundation stone of bridge was laid on February 21, 2014. With that calculation, the particular bridge should have been constructed by May 2, 2014 but it was thrown open to public after the formal inauguration by the minister.

Ludhiana, May 22
The city police have arrested three persons with more than 550 boxes of illicit liquor. They have been identified as Amritpal Singh of Raikot and his two accomplices Imtiaz and Ankit.

Khanna, May 22
The police have arrested six persons for durg peddling. The police recovered 7 kg poppy husk from the possession of Kesar Singh of Katahri village, while in another incident the police recovered 5 kg poppy husk from Kamikkar singh of Bhathhal village.

Ludhiana, May 22
Former MLA Malkit Singh Birmi today accused the city police for sheltering his daughter’s father- in- law booked in a dowry harassment case.

Maninder Singh Heera, former chairman, Amritsar Improvement Trust, is father- in- law of Birmi’s daughter Sonia Heera, was arrested by Sarabha Nagar police on Wednesday but he was not presented before the court.

Harpreet Sandhu advocate of Birmi’s daughter said the complainant had filed an application before the Duty Magistrate for seeking report from police pertaining to non-production of accused.

Sandhu said the court had directed the SHO Sarabha Nagar to submit a report before court.

“We were shocked when the IO concerned stated that the accused Maninder Singh was let off as he was unwell. The police have released the accused arrested for a non-bailable offence from custody without seeking permission of the court,” stated Sandhu.

When contacted, SHO Sarabha Nagar Amrinder Singh said, “I am out of station for past two days. I do not have any details of the case.”

SI Navdeep Singh, investigating officer of the case, was also not available for comments.

Besides dowry harassment charge, Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating and thereby dishonestly inducing delivery of any property) of the IPC 
have also been slapped on the accused persons, including husband Gagandeep Singh Heera, father-in-law Maninder Singh Heera, mother-in-law Vajinder Kaur Heera and brother-in-law Bikramdeep Singh Heera.