Ludhiana, July 2
The district administration is gearing up to combat floods. It has issued instructions to all officers of the department concerned to constitute evacuation teams.

Talking to The Tribune, Rajat Aggarwal, Deputy Commissioner, Ludhiana, said: “The monsoon has set in. All necessary instructions have been issued to the officers of the Health, Revenue, Animal Husbandry, Drainage, Water and Sanitation Departments and Punjab State Power Corporation Limited, BSNL. Many have constituted evacuation teams while the others are in the process of constituting ones. The evacuation teams will come in handy in case of flood-like situations in the district.”

Mukesh Sharma, District Revenue Officer, Ludhiana, said: “We have given the list of flood-prone villages to the BSNL. The BSNL has been instructed to ensure connectivity with these villages. Similarly, PSPCL officers have been instructed to stay alert so that no loss of life is caused by electrocution.”

Dr Subhash Batta, Civil Surgeon, Ludhiana, said: “We have constituted evacuation teams and have provided them with necessary medicines.”

Meanwhile, the administration has purchased four new boats. The District Revenue Officer said: “We have eight boats in the district. We have sent a few boats to the dhussi bundh site and kept the rest on the premises of the mini-secretariat.”

The Deputy Commissioner said: “Although there are no specific areas which get totally cut off during floods, we are going to arrange life-saving jackets. We have again called tenders for these as per the specification of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).” He said villages had been asked to remain in touch with the District Development Panchayat Officer through Block Development Panchayat officer of their area.

Ludhiana, July 2
The city has witnessed 13.2 mm rainfall in the past 24 hours, resulting in a dip in the minimum and maximum temperatures. The maximum temperature in the city was recorded at 30.2 degrees Celsius whereas the minimum temperature was 24.0 degrees Celsius. The residents got relief from scorching heat.

According to the meteorology experts, the weather is expected to remain cloudy. There is a possibility of rain and thundershowers in the city and its adjoining areas during the next 24 hours.

Dr LK Dhaliwal, Head, Department of Agro Meteorology, Punjab Agricultural University, said the arrival of the monsoon was on time this year.

“However, there is a deficit in the monsoon. As paddy transplantation is going on in the state, it will help farmers. We are expecting more showers in the next 24 hours,” said Dr LK Dhaliwal.

Ravinder, a city resident, said: “We were waiting for the monsoon. It’s good news that this year, it’s on time. There were showers last evening but today, when I woke up in the morning, it was raining heavily. I enjoyed the whole day. The weather is pleasant after the rain”.

A few areas of the city witnessed water-logged roads. In view of the rainy season, the district administration has established a control room. Rajat Aggarwal, Deputy Commissioner, said control room phone number 240161-2433100 would remain functional round the clock till September 30. 

Ludhiana, July 2
Vigilance sleuths arrested a junior accounts assistant working at the Civil Surgeon’s office while he was accepting bribe for issuing a birth certificate.

A team of the Vigilance Department, led by DSP Gurpreet Purewal, raided the office of the Civil Surgeon following Varinder Singh of Sayian Kalan village filed a complaint. The team arrested accounts assistant Mohinder Singh while he was accepting Rs 5,000 from the complainant in lieu of issuing him a birth certificate.

The SSP (Vigilance), Satinder Singh, said Varinder Singh had complained that Mohinder Singh was demanding bribe for issuing him a birth certificate.

Meanwhile, senior officials of the office reached vigilance office after the arrest of the employee.

The SSP said a case had been registered against the accused under sections 7 and 13 of the PC Act. He would be produced in court on Thursday.

Ludhiana, July 2
Fed up with a family dispute, a couple attempted suicide by consuming toilet cleaner in the Mundian Kalan area here today.

The couple was rushed to the Civil Hospital. They were stated to be out of danger.

Mukesh, father of the woman, said his daughter Richa (29) was married to Deepak of the Sunder Nagar area eight years ago. The couple has two children.

Mukesh alleged that his daughter’s mother-in-law had been harassing her on petty issues since they got married. Richa was forced by her mother-in-law to bring more dowry, alleged Mukesh.

When Richa expressed her inability to press her parents for more dowry, her mother-in-law started forcing Richa to divorce Deepak. Fed up with this constant abuse, Richa consumed toilet cleaner this morning.

In the meantime, Deepak entered the house and saw his wife struggling for life.

He, too, picked up the same bottle of toilet cleaner and consumed it.

Both were rushed to the hospital by the local residents.

The Mundiyan Kalan police have initiated investigation into the case.

Ludhiana, July 2
Hopes of cash-strapped Municipal Corporation have been dashed with property tax collection barely crossing the Rs 60-crore mark against the target of about Rs 100 crore. This is despite tax rebate, the last date for which ended on June 30. Earlier, when During the 10-month period, the civic body collected Rs 64.21 crore as property tax in the city.

Earlier, the civic body offered a tax rebate of 10 per cent without any penalty but that too failed to bring the desired results.

As per the data available with the department, the owners of a total of 2,40,664 properties had paid the tax from September 1, 2013, to June 30, 2014. Among all the four zones, Zone D received the maximum number of applications (27,497) for filing the property tax. The maximum revenue of Rs 14.97 crore on account of the property tax was generated from Zone D, followed by Rs 13.35 crore from window/Suvidha Centre, Rs 11.35 crore from the Zone B area, Rs 8.63 crore from Zone C and Rs 6.63 crore from Zone A.

Apart from these figures, Rs 8.8 crore was collected through online submission of the property tax and Rs 45 lakh through a mobile van.

The Zonal Commissioner-cum-Nodal Officer for Property Tax, PS Ghuman, said Rs 13.97 crore was generated as house tax prior to the imposition of the property tax. The total collection on account of both taxes comes to Rs 78.19 crore.

“The government has not directed for further extension of the rebate on the property tax. Now, the residents will have to pay the penalty while submitting their property tax,” said Ghuman.

Ludhiana, July 2
The Education Department has issued instructions to all the government schools of the state to conduct eye check up of students.

A circular, in this regard, has been issued by Principal Secretary School Education Anjali Bhawra to all the District Education Officers.

Bhawra said students facing any kind of problem of eyes should be examined at government hospitals. Thursdays have been reserved as the eye examination day at government hospitals.

In her orders, Bawara asked school teachers to make provisions for the check up at nearby Primary Health Centers, Community Health Centers and state government-run hospital.

The transport charges will be given by the department.

Principal Secretary said the check up should be completed before 5 of every month.

The Education Department will bear the expenses of the visit, treatment and spectacles.

Meanwhile, teachers working in the rural areas have appreciated the move of the government.

Sandeep Singh, a teacher, said, “Due to a change in diet and environment, a number of students facing eyesight problems have surfaced even in rural areas. Some of the parents cannot even afford vision check and hence neglect such issues. This initiative will definitely prove a boon for underprivileged students.”

Ludhiana, July 2
The Education Department has, once again, extended the date for submission of admission forms to the newly established residential schools for meritorious students. The District Education Officer (DEO) said, now, the interested students can submit their forms till July 15.

The move came in the wake of poor response to the initiative. The education officer said the department hoped that eligible students who were not aware of the scheme yet would apply for admissions. Earlier, the department had extended the date for submission of forms from June 21 to July 1.

DEO Gurjot Singh said, “The number of applications has increased since the extension of date. We don’t want any deserving student to be left out. So, the department has extended the date again. Meanwhile, construction of the academic block of the school has been completed.”

The officer said government schools opened after summer vacations on July 1 and teachers were now available to help and guide interested students.

Students of government schools who have secured more than 80 per cent marks in Class X examinations can apply for admission to these residential schools. As Ludhiana district got maximum positions on the state merit list of examinations conducted by the Punjab School Education Board, the department was expecting a good response to the school here. The first batch of Class XI will begin at the district school with 500 students.

Ludhiana, July 2
The Central Board of Direct Taxes has asked the Income Tax Department to ensure prompt action and timely redressal of taxpayers’ problems.

The instruction, if implemented properly, is bound to bring big relief to those taxpayers whose applications have been pending for long.

“Sometimes the grievance applications are not forwarded to the official concerned. The instruction will surely bring relief to the taxpayers whose applications have been pending for a long time,” said Jatinder Khurana, a taxation lawyer.

Senior officials in the department said they had been directed to look into complaints on a weekly basis with special focus on grievances pending for more than a year.

Jagroop Singh, a taxpayer, said last year he had to visit the department a number of times as he had addressed his complaint to a wrong range office.

“My letter was not sent to the designated official; as a result, I kept wandering from one range office to another. The step taken by the CBDT is appreciable. If we file our returns on time, our problems should also be redressed on time,” he said.

The CBDT has also directed that “new grievances received shall be transferred to the authorities concerned on the same day”. The board also instructed the I-T Department to check the government’s online portal for public grievance redressal on a daily basis.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) supervises the functioning of the I-T Department and has sent the directions to all Chief Commissioners of the department.

Students and parents protest at Baba Jaswant Singh Dental College in Ludhiana on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Himanshu Mahajan

Ludhiana, July 2
Accusing the college authorities of violating university rules, students and their parents who had come for admission to the BDS course protested at Baba Jaswant Singh Dental College here today.

College principal Dr DS Kalsi, however, put the blame on parents who did not want to submit original certificates of their wards.

“We did not violate any rule. Students often block seats and shift to another college. To avoid this practice, we collect their original certificates every year, as per the university guidelines,” said Kalsi.

The principal said students could get their certificates back if they wanted to attend counselling of any other institute.

One of the protesting parents, Gurmeet Singh, meanwhile, said the air-conditioner and fans were not running in the rooms where parents were sitting, agitating them. Also, college authorities collected fee without giving any receipts, he said.

“They harass us a lot as we came from far-flung areas. They, also, did not conduct medical examination of students as was stated earlier,” said Gurmeet Singh.

“There was a communication gap. Later, the issue was resolved,” said the principal.

Ludhiana, July 2
Dr Geetika Sheemar, a PAU scholar from the Department of Vegetable Science, has been conferred with the “Dawarka Das Memorial Award 2013” for the best PhD dissertation by the Indian Society of Vegetable Science, Varanasi. The award that carries a gold medal and a citation will be given for her work that paved the way for development of hybrids in onion.

Dr Geetika has recently joined as a scientist at the Central Institute of Temperate Horticulture, Srinagar.

Ludhiana, July 2
They freed themselves from the clutches of drugs and decided to counsel drug addicts undergoing treatment at the de-addiction centre of Dr Lord Mahavir Civil Hospital, Ludhiana.

Members of the Nishkam Lok Sewa Society, who are in the 25 to 35 age-group, work for the welfare of the addicts.

Harkinder Singh, a member of the society, said, “I spoilt seven precious years of my life by hooking on drugs. When I thought it was the end of road, something happened and I decided to shun drugs. Doctors at the centre helped me overcome my fears and lead a normal life.”

Harkinder has also helped his friends give up the bad habit. Forty such youngsters formed the society. Every day, they visit the drug de-addiction centre and share their experiences with the addicts.

They stay at the centre till 5 pm. Another youngster said, “I find solace here. I counsel the addicts and try to make them understand that the world is beautiful and our lives are precious. Its my duty to serve them.”

Harkinder has helped 200 youngsters and has got 35 addicts admitted to the centre. All smiles, Harkinder said, “Now, I have started earning my livelihood and have also got a water cooler installed at the centre. My only wish is to see them lead a normal life.”

Ludhiana, July 2
Doctors of Pediatric Cardiology Department of SPS Apollo Hospital successfully carried out a surgical closure of a perimembranous ventricular septal defect in a child .

Three-and-a-half-year-old patient, Harshpreet from Dasua, had a hole in his heart from birth. The hole was closed by fitting a button like device in the hole without even opening the heart or the chest.

“The patient was conscious for 1-2 hours after the procedure and was discharged after keeping him under observation for two days. He fine now and has not complained of any problems so far,” said Dr Anurakti Dev Singla, senior consultant, Department of Pediatric Cardiology, SPS Apollo Hospitals, here today.

Dr Singla said these diseases in children can be present since birth (congenital) or could develop later in childhood (acquired). According to an estimated statistics, every 100th baby born in the world has a congenital heart disease of which one-third have critical heart disease and one-fifth die during infancy.

Dr Anurakti Dev Singla further added, “Though some conditions require open heart surgery, there are many which can be tackled without surgery as well.”

Ludhiana, July 2
The Congress Member of Parliament (MP), Ravneet Singh Bittu, has demanded new trains to connect Ludhiana to other cities directly.

Bittu has written a letter to the Union Minister of railway in this regard.

Bittu has demanded a new train between Gurdwara Nanaksar Kaleran, Jagraon, to Sachkhand Takhat Shri Huzoor Sahib for the convenience of the pilgrims.

The Congress Member of Parliament (MP), Ravneet Singh Bittu, also demanded stoppage of special train between Ferozepur-Chandigarh at Nanaksar Kaleran.

He has also demanded four trains daily between Ludhiana and Chandigarh.

“This will help commuters in a big way. A large number of people travel on a daily basis. This step will definitely make the journey comfortable for them,” said the minister.

Ludhiana, July 2
Congress councillors held a protest at the Zone A office of the Municipal Corporation today.

They resented the slack approach of the civic body towards the development of the city.

Hem Raj Aggarwal, Leader of Opposition, said due to the shortage of funds, the development works were suffering.” Contractors were not willing to carry out works as they had not received their payments. Residents in large numbers come to us with their problems and we have to cut a sorry figure,” said Aggarwal.

Spokesperson for Congress councillors Parminder Mehta said despite making requests to hold the General House every month, no efforts were being made by to do the needful. “How can the civic body runs the show like this? The authorities are answerable to the public”, said Mehta. Apart from this, the councillors, including Narinder Kala, Gurpreet Gogi and Rakesh Prashar, said the residents’ queries related to the City Bus Service and Advertisement Scam needed to be answered. “The civic body is avoiding holding a meeting as it does not have answers. We will protest till a meeting is held by the MC”, said Gurpreet Gogi. 

Ludhiana, July 2
The Chamber of Cycle Parts Manufacturers Association, Gill Road, is being used as a “marriage palace” by its members. The members have encroached upon the footpath, but the civic authorities are yet to take action against the violators.

Residents said they had filed a complaint with the MC Commissioner, Pradeep Aggarwal, but to no avail.

Former president of the Northern Railway Pensioners Welfare Association Sher Singh said the office was being used as a “marriage palace”. Information obtained under the RTI Act stated that the chamber had not sought permission from the Municipal Corporation to hold such functions.

“The office can be used for conferences or meetings. But marriages cannot be solemnised there. It is a violation and the MC needs to take stern action against the violators,” said Sher Singh, adding that a complaint had already been submitted to the MC Commissioner. He added that the members had encroached upon the footpath.Besides, the residents feel that in the absence of dividers on Gill Road, commuters were putting their lives at risk by jumping these. “To deposit electricity bills, commuters/residents jump the dividers and put their lives in danger. The MC authorities need to construct one or two dividers on the stretch for the convenience of the public,” said Ishwar Singh, another resident.

The residents lamented that the only park near Gill Bridge was in a state of neglect. The MC was not bothered to develop it, they said. “Saplings need to be planted in the park. Senior citizens will also get a place to sit and chat. Despite repeated attempts, the MC has not taken action,” said Sher Singh.

Chamber president Charanjit Singh Vishkarma said: “Functions are held on the premises once in a blue moon. As far as the footpath is concerned, the MC never objected to it. We have never stopped anybody from using the footpath.”

Ludhiana, July 2
The Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings (CICU) organised a programme on cost reduction methods.

Avtar Singh, president, Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings, said business opportunities were increasing in the country. “Business in terms of volume/turnover is growing, but margins are shrinking and profits are declining. One factor that needs our immediate attention is cost pressure, which has become one of the major challenges in today’s manufacturing business. In order to meet the price reduction challenge, suppliers must reduce cost through continuous improvements in their factory,” he said.

Upkar Singh Ahuja, general secretary, Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings, said the CICU was committed to enhancing global competitiveness of its membership.The training will enable participants to introduce cost reduction methods for promoting a new, more creative and effective approach so as to deliver superior values and maximum gains to their organisations.

More than 45 participants comprising proprietors, partners, directors, general managers, plant heads and senior mangers representing various industries attended the programme.

The training provided to the participants extensive knowledge on the subject.

Ludhiana, July 2
The Bharti Kisan Union (BKU) today said the farming community was feeling disillusioned from the NDA government led by Narendra Modi over the minimum support prices of kharif crops which were far from being remunerative.

BKU general secretary Ajmer Singh Gill and Harinder Singh Lakhowal said by denying the MSP which would give farmers 50 per cent margin of profit over the total input cost, as had been promised during the Lok Sabha elections by the BJP leaders, the government had exposed its anti-farmer stand.

“The farming community had extended support to the BJP and its allies during the elections hoping that the new NDA government would reverse the policies being pursued by the previous UPA government in order to improve the lot of farmers,” the BKU leaders stated. Lambasting the incumbent government for hike in railway fares, petroleum prices and failure to curb inflation, Gill and Lakhowal said the farmers were the worst sufferers as the input cost of farming had registered a steep rise while the government had failed to fulfil its promise of providing remunerative prices of kharif crops.

They asked the government to announce the MSP of different crops once before the sowing season and make provisions for the revision of the MSP at the time the crop was brought to mandis for sale if the input cost further went up in the intervening period.

The BKU, they added, would chalk out its next course of action to seek justice for the farmers in its state executive meeting to be held here on July 10, 2014 when Ajmer Singh Lakhowal, president of the body, would return from his foreign tour.

Ludhiana, July 2
The tehbazari wing of Zone A today removed temporary encroachments from the Bhadaur House area. Rehris and tea vendors were told to vacate corridors. Zonal Commissioner Devinder Singh asked owners of hotels not to use public parking or corridors.

Singh said the drive would continue. Bhadaur House and the Mata Rani area remain abuzz with activity throughout the day. Shopkeepers encroached upon the area as there was nobody to check them. 

Ludhiana, July 2
Milk producers accused SR Saini, general manager of Verka Milk Plant, Ludhiana, and AS Bhagpur, chairman, of buying milk worth Rs 1.30 crore from Rajasthan, and not from them.

In a press release issued today, dairy farmers Tejinder Singh, Jaswinder Singh, Manpreet Singh, Balwasnt Singh and Gurpreet Singh said to give a clean chit to the general manager, a meeting of the board of directors was being held in Ludhiana on July 4.

“Hundreds of milk producers of the district will gherao the venue for the meeting,” they said.

They alleged that instead of buying milk from them, the officials purchased it from Rajasthan and that they felt cheated. The dairy farmers alleged that Bhagpur was trying to shield the general manager. Refuting the allegations, AS Bhagpur said, “Not only Ludhiana, but Sangrur and Mohali too bought milk from Rajasthan following the directions of Milkfed, Punjab. Ludhiana Milk Plant has no role in it. The allegations are baseless.” SR Saini, general manager, said, “It is not true. We did not cheat the farmers and only followed the instructions issued by Milkfed, Punjab. It is an attempt to dent my image.”

Ludhiana, July 2
A mobile transformer fell off the rooftop of a house in the Jamalpur area a few hours after its installation.

No one was injured, but the incident triggered panic in the area. Politicians have demanded a probe into the matter. Residents said a case should be registered against the company.

Ludhiana, July 2
Mini-bus operators, whose vehicles were demanded by the transport department during the Lok Sabha elections, are up in arms against the authorities for not releasing their dues even after two months of the poll. The bus operators lamented that despite making rounds of the office, treasury officials were not making their payments.

JS Grewal, president of the Mini-Bus Operators’ Association, said their payments were being delayed for reasons best known to the state government.

Khanna, July 2
The Khanna Police have claimed to have arrested two persons and recovered 30 kg of poppy husk from their possession in two separate cases.

A police party of Khanna Police, led by ASI Balwinder Singh, was patrolling the area, when they spotted a person with a bag at a bus stand, near Faizgarh village.

The police recovered 18 kg of poppy husk from his possession during his search. The accused has been identified as Surjit Singh, a resident of Faizgarh village.

A case under the NDPS Act has been registered against the accused.

In another incident, a police party of the Khanna police arrested a person and recovered 12 kg of poppy husk from his possession. As per the information, a police party of Khanna Sadar Police, led by Gurcharan Singh, stopped a person near Lalheri village. About 12 kg of poppy husk was recovered from the bag that he was carrying. The accused has been identified as Gurmeet Singh, a resident of Samrala Road, Khanna. A case under the NDPS Act has been registered in this regard.

Both the accused have been awarded judicial remand for 14 days and are behind bars.