Ludhiana, July 17
In a daring daylight robbery, four car-borne persons looted Rs 2.5 lakh from an employee near Punjab National Bank in the Shivpuri area here today. They bundled him into their car and dumped him near Sahnewal after snatching the bag containing cash.

The police rescued the victim, Sunil Garg (28), from Sahnewal and recorded his statement. The police have taken in its custody the footage of a close circuit television (CCTV) camera installed in the Shivpuri area.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Nilambari Jagdale said a case would be registered after investigation.

The incident took place this afternoon when Sunil Garg, who works for an agent of a telecommunication agency, Rohit Kumar, went to Punjab National Bank (PNB) near Salem Tabri for depositing the cash.

Rohit was waiting for him in the bank. Garg reportedly told the police that he parked his scooter near the bank and was walking towards the bank when two persons engaged him in a conversation. Soon, two more persons arrived there in a grey Tata Indica and entered into heated arguments with Sunil.

They alighted from the vehicle and accused Sunil of being a pickpocket. In no time, all of them started thrashing Sunil. Commuters also joined in.

Soon they pushed Sunil into their car on the pretext of taking him to a police station and drove towards the National Highway I.

When the robbers reached near Sahnewal, they snatched the bag from Sunil and threw him out of the moving vehicle.

Sunil reportedly told the police that the robbers were carrying sharp weapons. The police were collecting the footage of other CCTV cameras installed in the area.

Ludhiana, July 17
A shortage of gynaecologists at the Civil Hospital is giving a tough time not only to patients but also nurses. Since there are only two gynaecologists at the Civil Hospital, nurses and patients sometimes have to wait for the gynaecologists to arrive even as the patient writhe in severe labour pain.

Lovey Kalyan, a staff nurse at the Civil Hospital, said there were only two gynaecologists at the hospital and cases keep on pouring in throughout the day. The Civil Hospital not only caters to Ludhiana city but also neighbouring towns.

“Normal deliveries are mostly carried out by the staff nurses while whenever there is a need for a c-section procedure, we call up the gynaecologists. Sometimes, the patient is having severe labour pain and we keep waiting for the doctor to arrive. Things are in a very sorry state at the hospital and we need more doctors at the gynaecology ward,” said Kalyan.

Another staff nurse said on the one hand there is a shortage of nursing staff and on the other they had to perform certain procedures on behalf of the doctors.

“Normal deliveries are mostly done by the nursing staff and it is only during emergency situations that the doctors come to operate upon patients. Like nurses, gynaecologists should be put on round-the-clock duty,” she said.

Senior Medical Officer RK Karkara said there were two gynaecologists in the hospital and one more was given appointment letter only today. “Hopefully the new gynaecologist will join from tomorrow and things will improve. The doctors cannot sit in the hospital round the clock. Whenever there is any emergency during the odd hours, they are called to attend to patients,” said Dr Karkara.

Ludhiana, July 17
A day after head constable Harjit Singh was booked for thrashing an SDO of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited, it has come to light that the erring policeman was availing himself of the benefit of 200 units of free electricity by claiming himself to be a Dalit, which a government employee cannot avail.

Rachpal Singh, Chief Engineer, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited, alleged that Harjit had been stealing power despite availing himself of a subsidy of 200 units meant for the Dalit families. “As he was a government employee, he was not eligible for the subsidy,” he said.

The corporation officials were investigating for how long Harjit Singh was availing himself of the illegal benefit.

Harjit Singh was yesterday suspended for allegedly thrashing a power corporation sub-divisional officer (SDO), Perminder Singh. The power official had detected a “kundi” connection at Harjit’s house in the Ranjodh Park area, near Haibowal, on Tuesday.

Amarjit Singh, Haibowal SHO, said efforts were on to nab Harjit.

The corporation has pasted a notice outside Harjit’s house for stealing power. As the house was locked, the corporation disconnected the power connection.

Rachpal Singh said XEN Sandeep Garg and SDO Perminder Singh learnt about the power theft. A team of the department raided Harjit Singh’s house and detected the kundi connection.

Instead of admitting to the violation, Harjit and his accomplices assaulted Perminder Singh and manhandled his colleagues.

Ludhiana, July 17
Cracking the whip on school vans flouting the rules, officers from the District Transport Office and the Traffic Police today impounded vans ferrying the students of Sacred Heart Convent Senior Secondary School, Sarabha Nagar. Although the action against the school vans was taken in accordance with the rules and regulations, it caused a lot of inconvenience to the students.

The joint move started at around 1:30 pm after school hours. Both the departments challaned 37 school vans. Of these 23 vans were impounded.

Anil Garg, District Transport Officer (DTO), Ludhiana, along with the Traffic Police personnel, started checking the school vans parked outside the school. The DTO said: “Our department challaned 13 school vans, of which 12 were impounded for not carrying any documents. One van was allowed to ferry the students back to home.”

The traffic police challaned 24 vans of the same school and impounded 11 of them. Vinod Kumar, SHO (Traffic), said: “The school vans or buses must have all the necessary documents.”

Meanwhile, the action caused a lot of inconvenience to the children. After getting to know that the school vans have been impounded by the DTO, parents themselves picked up their wards.

The DTO said: “The buses, which were impounded, were allowed to ferry the children back home under the security of a gunman”. “We will continue this drive against school vans,” he added.

Sunil Kumar, the father of a class VII student, said: “The authorities should take action against violators but not soon after school hours. It causes a lot of harassment to the parents as well as students.”

Mandi Ahmedgarh, July 17
The Administration was caught off-guard as the first shower of the season threw normal life out of gear besides flooding government offices, including the local municipal council office and the police station here.

Flooded roads and compounds of the government buildings, including the Town Hall, exposed the inadequacy of the authorities to check flooding, especially in the low-lying areas.

None of the officials of the civic body were at the disposal of the residents as they kept on calling former councillors for help as their localities were filled with rainwater.

However, the civic body authorities claimed to have strengthened the sewerage system to cope up with the future situation.

Normal life came to a halt with intermittent downpour on Wednesday and Thursday morning when even mild rain flooded the low-lying areas, including the Railway Road, Jawahar Nagar, Mahavir Road, Dehliz Road, Gandhi Chowk, Bhagat Singh Chowk areas and police station along with the municipal council office.

The rainwater entered some houses located in Amarpura Mohalla, Guru Nanak Colony and the Jawahar Nagar areas. Owners of these houses had to drain off the water with the help of buckets. Disposal pumps were pressed into service to drain rainwater out of school compounds.

Leaders of various political parties, including former councillors of the affected wards, were seen consoling residents of their respective areas. The situation also forced residents to wade through knee-deep waters at certain places to reach their respective destinations.

A large number of two-wheelers were seen stranded on inundated roads. People preferred hiring rickshaws to taking their vehicles back home after attending functions in the afternoon.

Admitting laxity on the part of the officials concerned, former councillors led by former president municipal council Ravinder Puri regretted that the authorities had failed to take the required steps
to fight the situation in advance.

The situation gave a chance to aspirants for the next municipal council election to criticise their probable rival contestants and former councillors.

Rakesh Shahi, a social activist and aspirant for the election, said the situation had arisen due to defective policies of successive civic bodies and lack of vision during fixing priorities.

“Instead of issuing statements about higher demands, the representatives of people should first try to provide basic amenities which included efficient disposal system too,” said Shahi. 

Mandi Ahmedgarh, July 17
Office-bearers and activists of the Class IV Government Employees and Workers’ Union announced to launch an agitation in a phased manned to get their demands accepted and implemented without any further delay.

Activists led by president Ram Avtar and secretary Surinder Singh alleged that the successive government had failed to implement reforms regarding the welfare of Class IV employees of various departments. None of the promises made by the SAD leaders at the time of previous assembly and Lok Sabha election was kept, alleged the activists.

Regularisation of temporary employees working at veterinary dispensaries, part-time workers at schools, Anganwari workers and helpers, merger of DA in salary, payment of arrears, enhancement of medical allowance and honourable wages for mid-day meal workers were the major demands. 

Ludhiana, July 17
On the directions of Civil Surgeon Dr Subhash Batta, a team of officials of the Health Department collected food samples from various parts of the city, today.

The team under the supervision of District Health Officer Dr Abnash Kumar collected as many as 32 samples of masala, refined oil and salt from a hotel near Doraha. Sample of curd, cold drink and water were also collected from a dhaba at the GT Road, Doraha. From Jaspalo village, GT road, Doraha, a sample of turmeric powder was taken and red chili powder was collected from a factory engaged in making spices. Sample of cold drink and water were also collected from a dhaba at Sahnewal.

Samples of curd, milk, paneer and namkeen were collected from roadside dhabas at Samrala Chowk. Sample of moong dal and mah dal were collected from a departmental store at Moti Nagar. A sample of milk was also collected from sweetmeat shops from the same locality.

From the Shingar Cinema road, the department collected samples of salt, garam masala, deghi mirch, refined oil, and banaspati ghee from different departmental stores. Samples of cold drinks and biscuits were taken from a bakery located at CMC Road.

Meanwhile, the department issued challans to seven people for not pasting a warning board outside their shops or vends. Challans were issued to seven people and an amount of Rs 1,210 was collected as fine.

Challans were issued under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003 or COTPA.

Pamphlets distributed

Following the directions of Senior Medical Officer Parwinderpal Singh Sidhu, Sahnewal, officials of the Health Department spread awareness about diseases such as dengue and malaria. The officials advised people to keep their surroundings clean and avoid water stagnation. Pamphlets carrying information were also distributed among residents. 

Challans issued

Challans were issued to seven defaulters under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003.

Ludhiana, July 17
On the call of the Principal Association of Colleges, affiliated to Panjab University, managements, principal federation and teachers of government-aided private colleges held a protest and staged a dharna in Chandigarh today.

The protest was held against the deficit in grant-in-aid to aided college of the state. The government decreased the grant from 95 per cent to 80 per cent.

As the teachers were on mass causal leave, classes of all the 27 government-aided colleges in the city remained suspended.

It was the second day of the new academic session in colleges. Most of the colleges did not depute ad-hoc teachers, so students remained free throughout the day.

Dr Swarnjit Singh Deol, president. Principal Association of Colleges, affiliated to Panjab University, said, “Apart from the cut in grant, the teaching and non-teaching staff has not received salaries for the last 15 months. How are the employees supposed to manage without salary?”

Dr Deol added that they will intensify the protest.

“We know students will suffer due to the protests. But, we have to struggle against the injustice,” said Deol.

“It was my first day at college after the long vacations. There were a less number of students. The teachers were on leave so we just met our friends and came back,” said Hardeep, a student.

Dr VK Bhardwaj, professor at Arya College, said, “The hidden agenda of government is to privatise education and it is not in the favour of state. We oppose the move of government to cut on the grant to aided colleges.” 

Ludhiana, July 17
A seminar on Minimum Wages Act was organised by the Medical Representative Association (PMRA), today. A certified RTI consultant from Government of India's Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (DoPT), Jatinder Jain, was the resource person on the occasion. Jain elaborated on the constitutional rights of medical representatives as per the act through audio-visual presentation.

Jain highlighted that as per the Central Government notification, medical representatives are sales promotion employee, under Sales Promotion Employees (Conditions of Service) Act 1976. Minimum wages Act 1948 is applicable on medical representatives under SPE Act section 6(3) for minimum salary fixation.

On the occasion, Jain also presented data on how pharma companies are openly flouting the labour laws and law of land by not giving the minimum wages to their employees.

Jain asked all the concerned to come together and fight for their right.

Ludhiana, July 17
Youngsters in the city are excited for the tree plantation drive, an attempt at setting the Guinness world record for planting maximum numbers of saplings in a set span of time. A lot of youngsters in the city are participating in the event to make a cut to the list of famous world records.

“I have been watching Guinness World Record programmes online and on television, so when it is the turn of the city to be a part of the glorious history of setting the world record, I could not stay back and I am going to do my bit to help city make a history,” says Ramandeep, a Class X student.

“Although a lot of youngsters do not understand the gravity of pollution problem and may not have planted a single sapling earlier, but now they want to be a part of the historic event,” says Amandeep, a resident.

“My nephews are also excited about planting trees during the Earth Hour,” added Amandeep.

According to Baljit Kaur from VMAD, planting of about 1.25 lakh trees have been sanctioned by the government. She said earlier due to some miscommunication, the trees had not been sanctioned, but now these have been sanctioned. A lot of groups are coming forward to support and encourage. A group of bikers, Punjab Enfield Generation, and several schools are also encouraging children and youngsters to lend their support for the campaign, she added.

She said about 12 species of trees would be planted. The varieties include neem, amaltas, jamun, shehtoot, kikar, burma and gulmohar.

10 lakh saplings to be planted

DFO Daljit Singh Brar said the Forest and Wild Life Conservation Minister, Chunni Lal Bhagat, has sanctioned 10 lakh plants for plantation in the state for free. Of the ten lakh plants, one lakh saplings would be provided to the NGOs of Ludhiana to make an attempt at setting the world record, said Brar.

Ludhiana, July 17
Heated arguments over the tenure of presidentship were witnessed during the general body meeting of the Punjab Agricultural University Teachers Association (PAUTA), here today.

The PAUTA executives had called the general house meeting to discuss the issue of the tenure of president and other confusions regarding the constitution of PAUTA. The PAUTA election will be held on July 22.

There are two contesting group i.e. Harmeet Singh Kingra led Kingra Group and Dr Mukesh Siag led Siag group.

The discussion took a turn after a teacher’s speech against Kingra.

The controversy started a few days ago when Siaag group raised an objection on the eligibility of Harmeet Singh Kingra. They said he can’t contest for the elections as per the constitution of PAUTA. As per the constitution, one can not contest the election fourth time. The constitution was, however, amended in the recent years and the tenure was decreased from two years to one year. But the clause regarding the tenure for presidentship was not amended. So to clear the confusion, the PAUTA called for the meeting.

Dr Sukhpal Singh, returning officer of PAUTA elections, said, “There was no voting on any issue. But in an open discussion, the confusions about constitutions were clarified. We have no objections on Kingra’s nomination.”

Meanwhile, Harmeet Singh Kingra said he will not contest for the elections from Kingra Group. “Although I am eligible to contest for the elections but I have decided not to do so due to some personal reasons. The group members gave me all rights to decide the name of the candidate today and I have decided that Dr Sanga will contest from our group,” said Kingra.

PAUTA POLL

“Although I am eligible to contest the elections, I have decided not to do so due to some personal reasons. The group members gave me the right to decide the name of the candidate and I have decided that Dr Sanga will contest the poll,” said Harmeet Singh Kingra.

Ludhiana, July 17
Labour crunch faced by the local industry can be effectively dealt with employing women workforce. The industry is currently working on strategies to rope in the fair sex to fill in the 40 per cent void in the industries.

The corporate entities are trying to reach out to the employable womenfolk and are disseminating information about the employment opportunities and good working condition in the mills. The textile units are trying to draw maximum benefits, as women workers can work in three shifts.

Timings for women working in textile units are flexible and night shifts are also open for women. Companies such as Vardhman and Malwa Cotton have also set up hostels for women employees inside the factories while, some are providing transport facility for women workers.

Sawitri, working at a factory near Kanganwal, said she commutes through the transport facility provided by the unit. “I come from near Ferozepur octroi post. I am able to work only because we have the transportation facility. My parents too are happy,” said Sawitri. “India’s ratio of women workforce as compared to men workforce is on a very lower side. Most of the women are in agro sector. On the other hand, there is a huge scope for women workforce in industries. However, their migration/security and staying arrangements are the cause for concern. There is a dire need to make amendments in working hours of the women workforce. The government should provide assistance to the industries to setup the women hostels on their premises. The state governments must provide land for these projects,” said Badish Jindal, president of Federation of Association of Small Industries of India.

Vinod Thapar, chairman of Knitwear Club, said he is planning to open a skill development institute and the plan has already been submitted to the state government. The government should provide some relief on social security charges to industries, who come forward to employ women workforce in their units. Beside, there should be a provision such as aanganwari, which would take care of children of the women workers during their working hours, added Jindal. “The female workers are more focused and they do not indulge in unionism, so most of the millers prefer them over men. At my unit, I provide a free pick-up and drop facility to all the female workers and in addition to this, creche facility is also provided to them,” said Vijay , a textile unit owner.

Ludhiana, July 17
Development of the city seems a distant dream. A number of projects have been hanging fire, with the authorities looking the other way.

Councillor of Ward No. 42 Gurdeep Singh Neetu said he had already submitted the estimate of his ward and floated tenders, but the work has not been outsourced to date. “The repair of streets in the Habib Ganj area is yet to see the light of day. Roads and parks are in a bad condition in Kidwai Nagar. Ditto is the situation at Ajit Nagar and Amar Pura. Despite repeated requests made to the authorities, the work has not been started,” lamented Neetu, adding that Gunda Nullah had not been cleaned up for the past four years. “Area residents have lost hope now,” said Neetu.

Sushma Mehta, Congress councillor, said the contractors were not ready to complete the pending projects as the civic body had failed to pay them. “Some of them manage to get payments while the others are left in the lurch. We cannot force them to complete work unless they get payments,” said the councillor.

At Ward No. 59, the situation is grim. Water supply pipes are to be laid, but due to paucity of funds, the work is not being started. Tanveer Singh Dhaliwal, SAD councillor, said the work had been pending for almost a year now. “Internal roads are to be constructed because they are in bad shape. The residents are bound to suffer and we have to face their wrath, but we are helpless as the MC does not have funds,” said Dhaliwal.

Ludhiana, July 17
Two days after a spy camera was found in a changing room of a garment shop, Kiran Makkar and her husband Narinder Makkar met the Police Commissioner and filed a complaint against the Division No. 8 police station.

They said the police were not acting against the shop owner.

Narinder Makkar and his wife Kiran Makkar, who were accompanied by Mahila Congress president Leena Taparia and other party workers, handed over a memorandum to the Commissioner, demanding stern action against the owner.

Kiran said accused Rohit Sahni and his family members were trying to put pressure on them for a compromise.

The involvement of a woman employee also came to light today. Kiran claimed that on July 15, when her husband found the spy camera in the changing room, the saleswoman deliberately tried to underplay the issue and said it was just a stick.

“When my husband shouted, the woman agreed to show him the spy camera, which means that the employees knew about the hidden camera,” claimed Kiran. Narinder Makkar said it was cyber crime. Yesterday, Charanjit Singh, an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) posted at the Division No. 8 police station, was booked for negligence and subsequently suspended. It was learnt that the ASI had let off the owner of the shop.

Panjab University, Chandigarh, has approved MCom course at GCG, Ludhiana. As many 30 seats have been allotted for the course. The college has also received approval of MSc-IT and PGDCA course. About 30 and 40 seats have been allotted for the courses, respectively. The university has allowed admission of 40 students in BBA first year. The admission for BBA-I will be held on July 21 at 9.00 AM while, the admissions for MSc-IT, PGDCA and MCom will be held on July 23. The students can submit forms for MSc-IT and PGDCA till Saturday.

Students shine in BSc exams

Students of the Khalsa College for Women, Civil Lines, achieved excellent results in BSc-I (honours) biotechnology examinations.Ravneet has bagged second position with 79.7 per cent, Sunpreet Kaur secured third position with 78.4 per cent while, Pavneet and Riya scored eighth and ninth positions, respectively. — TNS

Ludhiana, July 17
Motorcycle-borne snatchers snatched purses from two women travelling on a rickshaw at Udham Singh Nagar. Bhavika Goel, a resident of Kitchlu Nagar, said she, along with her sister-in-law, was going towards Hero Heart Centre when two persons snatched their purses and fled.

Bhavika said she was carrying Rs 6,000 in cash, a PAN card and a debit card while her sister-in-law’s purse contained Rs 3,500 in cash and keys of the house. A case has been registered.

The incidents of snatching are on the rise in the city. Patrolling needs to be intensified in the city.

Bag stolen from car

Thieves smashed the windscreen of a car and decamped with a bag containing a laptop, a cheque book, registration certificate (RC) and insurance.

Complainant Anil Kumar said he had parked his car near a shop at Harcharan Nagar on GT Road.

After 10 minutes when he returned, he was shocked to find the bag missing. He reported the matter to the police.

A case has been registered in this connection.

Ludhiana, July 17
Despite the Punjab and Haryana High Court putting both the Municipal Corporation and the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) authorities on notice for illegal change of land use in schemes developed by LIT, some of which are presently under the administrative control of the MC for maintenance, residential buildings are being put to commercial use with impunity.

Taking up a CWP (11140 of 2014), the HC had issued directions that the issue of jurisdiction, if any, should be sorted out and necessary action as per law be initiated against offenders in shop-cum-flats (SCFs) in Sarabha Nagar Market.

HIG Flats on Maharani Jhansi Road, SCFs in E Block of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar and SCFs in F Block of Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar. The court had also sought compliance report three days before the next date of hearing on August 2, 2014.

The recent conversion of a shop-cum-flat (SCF) into a completely commercial establishment in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar colony developed by LIT leaves no one in any doubt that at least the LIT authorities have not taken the HC directions in right earnest. Ironically, construction at the said SCF still continues even as the site office of the LIT was just a stone’s throw away.

As far as Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar locality is concerned, there is no ambiguity in the jurisdiction also as the colony is under the administrative control of LIT unlike Sarabha Nagar and Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar, which have been transferred to the MC for maintenance.

While LIT officials said a three-member committee had been set up jointly by the MC and LIT to sort out the jurisdictional issue in cases of illegal change of land use in Sarbha Nagar and Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar, they failed to chose to side step on the issue of such flagrant violations in the colony which was still in their administrative control.

An official of the Ludhiana Improvement Trust said, “We can only issue notice as per rules in case of illegal change of land use which is being done. We cannot physically intervene and take action against the offenders.”

Rohit Sabharwal, president, and Arvind Sharma, secretary, Council of RTI Activists, who had filed the CWP in the Punjab and Haryana High Court against violations, said inaction on the part of LIT authorities and no enforcement worth the name in cases of illegal change of land use had led to the problem assuming alarming proportions in the city.