Ludhiana, September 19
Patients have to suffer as the Punjab Civil Medical Services (PCMS) Specialist Doctors’ Association went on a two-hour strike from 11 am to 1 pm today.

Many patients left hospitals after waiting for doctors for a couple of hours. Some went back with the hope of returning tomorrow while others opted to visit private practitioners.

All PCMS specialist doctors of Ludhiana district today assembled at the Civil Hospital and observed a pen-down strike for two hours by wearing black badges.

“I had kept waiting for the doctor for three hours but nobody turned up. Since my child is suffering from fever, I have no other option but to take him to a private clinic,” said Ram Parkash, a visitor to the Civil Hospital.

Another patient at the Civil Hospital said she would wait for some more time for the doctors to turn up as she couldn’t afford to go to a private hospital or clinic. “Doctors should not go on strike as it affects patients,” she said.

Dr Avinash Jindal, president of the Ludhiana Chapter of the PCMS Specialist Doctors’ Association, said: “The government is not paying heed to our demands for a long time and we are left with no other option but to go on strike”.

Due to the terms of the state government, young doctors are reluctant to join the government hospitals, which were now facing an acute staff crunch. The terms of service must be relaxed, said another doctor.

The doctors said the careless attitude of the state government had forced them to adopt the path of agitation.

PCMS doctors submitted a memorandum to the Civil Surgeon. 

Ludhiana, September 19
A diplomatic attempt by Mayor Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria to reach out to the SAD councillors and ensure smooth sailing at the coming general house meeting of the Municipal Corporation was rudely rebuffed by the councillors of the ruling party, who created a ruckus over poor pace of development due to the resource crunch.

A meeting of the party councillors, convened by the Mayor at his camp office late last evening, failed to arrive at a consensus over some of the stormy issues proposed to be discussed at the general house meeting, which is likely to be held during the next week.

Most of the SAD councillors were apparently peeved at poorly maintained roads and pending development works related to water supply, sewerage and parks in their respective wards, which were not being taken up due to financial crisis in the MC.

A senior SAD councillor, Pal Singh Grewal, accompanied by some his colleagues and former cabinet minister Hira Singh Gabria, had a tiff with the Commissioner, Pradeep Aggarwal, over declaring roads and streets falling in his ward as “public streets”. He said the MC had already done so in 100-odd colonies across the city where basic amenities were being provided.

As the commissioner disagreed with the proposal, saying that development works could not be taken up in unauthorised colonies just like that, especially in the wake of lack of adequate financial resources, Grewal, who was joined by other party councillors, maintained that “funding” was not their problem. On the intervention of the mayor, the issue was deferred till Friday next and the commissioner said an appropriate decision as per the rules would be taken.

Some other councillors raised the issues of scarcity of water and pending works pertaining to roads and streets and development of parks which were either awaiting nod from the Finance and Contracts Committee or the contractors had stopped work due to non-payment of their bills. Gohalwaria is said to have assured the councillors that their grievances would be addressed.

The Congress councillors were charging the mayor with being scared of convening the general house meeting for a couple of months, saying that the mayor was facing opposition more from his own party councillors than others.

“The fierce factionalism within the SAD and group of councillors owing allegiance to the firebrand independent (formerly of SAD) legislator Simarjit Singh Bains is the main factor that the general house meetings, which ought to be held once a month, are rarely convened by the mayor,” said a Congress councillor.

Ludhiana, September 19
The city police have booked a man for raping his 11-year-old daughter and doing unnatural sex with his nine- year-old son.

The accused is a resident of Ram Nagar village, near Mundian Kalan, near here. The mater came to light on September 16 when both children narrated their ordeal to their mother.

The brother-sister duo said their father would abuse them and threaten them, saying that if they told anybody about this then he would beat them with a stick.

Their mother reported the matter to the Jamalpur police station and got a case registered against her husband. The woman claimed that her husband had been doing this heinous crime for the past one year.

Ludhiana, September 19
The allottees of shop-cum-offices (SCOs) in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar colony are a harassed lot. Even after two years of purchase of properties, they are still to get papers or physical possession of the SCOs. Most of the buyers have made a major part of the payment to the Municipal Corporation. The MC had also failed to provide basic amenities and develop necessary infrastructure at the site.

Having exhausted all other channels to make the MC move, some of the allottees have served legal notices on the civic body, demanding immediate development of the site, deliver physical possession of SCOs and also waive the interest charged on instalments paid by the allottees towards cost of the properties as the MC had failed to develop the site and provide promised facilities as per the terms and conditions of the agreement.

Kanwalpreet Singh, one of the buyers, said the MC had sold 56 SCOs, measuring 100 square yards each, through public auction in November 2012. As per the terms and conditions of sale, the MC was to develop the site by providing water supply and sewerage, streetlights, parking and approach roads to the site within 60 days of issue of allotment letters while possession of SCOs was also to be given on payment of 25 per cent of the cost.

“To the utter dismay of the buyers, the MC has adopted an indifferent attitude from the outset. Allotment letters of properties were not issued for several months after the buyers had paid the stipulate 25 per cent of the cost of SCOs. While the MC continued to put off delivery of possession till now, the allottees were made to pay the instalments on due dates,” he said.

Kanwalpreet said after failing to evoke positive response from the MC authorities after repeated representations and personal meetings with senior officials, he was left with no other option but to serve a legal notice on the MC to secure possession of the property and make them provide basic amenities and infrastructure on the site.

Some other allottees Rishabjit Singh, Meetpal Singh Dugri and Nanu Sodhi said almost all the buyers had paid anything from 50 to 70 per cent of the cost of SCOs.

“The site has not been developed, possession of properties has not been given to us, which stands in the way of most of the allottees going for bank loans to cover the cost of property and construction of SCOs,” the allottees said, calling upon the civic body to provide basic facilities and infrastructure at the site, deliver possession and waive the interest on instalments for failure to abide by the terms and conditions of the agreement.

Khamano, September 19
The ongoing tussle between two groups of Ria village near here came to the fore, when a group led by SGPC member Avtar Singh Ria blocked the traffic on the Ludhiana-Chandigarh road demanding action against block samiti member of the same village.

The protesters raised slogans against the local police, block samiti member and the local MLA. Avtar Singh, Gurjant Singh along with others gave information that block samiti member Iqbal Singh Bali had called BDPO officials to check plots allotted by village panchayat. They alleged that Bali had called some outer persons with him, who misbehaved with some villagers. They said a police team was also present in the village at that time. They demanded that a police case should be registered against Bali. They alleged that local MLA was helping Bali.

The traffic blockade was lifted about an hour after the protesters were assured by the district Akali Dal president, Jagdeep Singh Cheema, an action would be taken against the block samiti member. The commuters had to face difficulty due to traffic blockade to reach their destinations.

When Iqbal Singh Bali was contacted in this regard, he said the BDPO officials came to the village on his complaint of illegal occupation of a plot against a village panch and Avtar Singh while others raised hue and cry due to personal and political reasons. Meanwhile, local MLA when contacted said he was out of area and was unaware about this incident. DSP, Khamano, Harinder Singh said they were enquiring the matter and action would be taken against those found guilty.

Reportedly, some days ago cross cases were registered against both the sides and the police are enquiring the matter. 

Jagraon, September 19
The police team formed to crack the ATM theft executed a few days ago has obtained some significant clues about the thieves. According to sources, the ATM theft was executed by two persons who have been captured in the CCTV camera installed in the ATM machine.

The police have obtained the CCTV footage of the ATM machine. “Both the accused wore monkey caps while executing the theft. Though the accused sprayed the CCTV camera of the ATM machine to avoid being captured on the camera, still their images were captured while they were entering the ATM,” the police said.

Some unidentified persons reportedly decamped with Rs 5,40,000 from an ATM of the Bank of India at Gidarwindi village near Sidhwan Bet on the intervening night of September 16 and 17.

Following the incident, Jagraon SSP Ravcharan Singh had formed a special investigation team comprising Jagraon DSP Surinder Kumar, DSP (D) Naveen Kumar, Criminal Investigation Agency (CIA), Jagraon, in charge Inspector Varyam Singh and Station House Officer (SHO), Jagraon sadar police station, Lovdeep Singh Gill to crack the theft incident.

The police said the thieves who executed the theft were professional thieves as they took only 10 minutes to execute the theft. “The accused entered the ATM cabin at 2:24 am and left the cabin at 2:34 am after executing the theft. It appears as the accused specialises in ATM thefts,” said a police officer attached with the investigation team.

Apart from the CCTV footage, the police have managed to obtain some other important clues about the theft.

DSP, Jagraon, Surinder Kumar acknowledged that the police had obtained some important clues about the incident but he refused to divulge the details. 

Ludhiana, September 19
Workers of one of the cycle units from the city under the aegis of Central Indian Trade Union (CITU) today staged a dharna outside the office of additional labour commissioner.

Surinder Kumar Yadav, president of the cycle union, said the union had handed over the memorandum to the management in the month of May. The demands included abolition of contract system, 20 per cent hike in salaries and bonus, salary be given category wise and factory workers be given the benefit of easy loan of upto Rs 1 lakh.

“None of the demands have been accepted by the management. They are left with no other option but to follow the path of agitation,” Kumar said.

While addressing the gathering, district vice-president of CITU, Tarsem Jodhan said the labour laws were not being followed in the state and even the workers were not getting the minimum wages.

“Even after the formation of the Modi government at Centre there has been no relief to the workers,” Jodhan said.

Ludhiana, September 19
The state government is committed for ensuring smooth functioning of Community Policing Resource Centres (CPRCs), Community Policing Suvidha Centres (CPSCs) and Saanjh Kendra’s across the state, stated Jagpal Singh Sandhu, principal secretary, Department of Home Affairs and Justice, Punjab, while chairing a review meeting of Saanjh Kendra here today.

While speaking to mediapersons, Sandhu said, “For carrying forward the governance reforms initiated by the state government, I am visiting different parts of the state to seek feedback from the stakeholders. We want effective governance so that people can be benefitted from our services. First we will identify the bottlenecks and then we will find out ways to iron out those bottlenecks,” Sandhu said.

During his visit to the district today, Sandhu, along with SK Sharma, Director General of Police, visited CPSC at Samrala and CPRC in the city. At both the places, they held a meeting of Saanjh Kendra Committee members, where feedback was sought on ways in which the functioning of Saanjh Kendras and other governance reform initiatives of the state government can be improved.

DGP SK Sharma said during last year, more than 21,000 family disputes were solved through Saanjh Kendra’s in Punjab. 

Ludhiana, September 19
Construction work of building of four major government senior secondary schools of the city to accommodate more students is going on snail’s pace. The officials of the Education Department said non-availability of sand in rainy session became a hurdle in the construction work. The state government has fixed November 30 as deadline for the completion of work.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh had visited the four government schools in the month of February. He gave grants to construct more buildings at Government Senior Secondary Model School, PAU, Government Senior Secondary School, Cemetery Road, Government Senior Secondary School, Haibowal and Government Senior Secondary School, Model Town, to accommodate more students.

Office of District Education officer received two installments of grant. During a visit, it seems that the Public Works Department will not be able to meet the deadline.

Anoop Pasi, principal, Government Senior Secondary School, Cemetery Road, said, “The work is going on but it might not be able meet the deadline. The next academic session in our school would start in March.”

Sanjeev Thapar of Government Senior Secondary Model School, PAU, said, “16 rooms in our school are about to complete. We expect that PWD should complete the work on time.”

Paramjeet Kaur, District Education Officer, said, “I have visited at schools and the work is in progress. We have received regular grants from state government. Hopefully the buildings would be completed on time.” 

Ludhiana, September 19
A deputation of PAU Retirees’ Welfare Association held a meeting with Dr Ramesh Kumar, comptroller, Punjab Agricultural University. The comptroller was apprised regarding the pending issues relating to the retirees of the PAU which included LTC pending since January 2014 and July 2014, arrears of DA pending from July 2013, arrears on account of enhanced old age pension on attaining the age of 65, 70, 75, 80 onwards.

Deputation discussed other issues also relating to retirees including supply of free medicines for chronic diseases from PAU Hospital, LTA and other benefits to the non-pensioner retirees who opted for CPF. Comptroller took keen interest and responded very positively and also assured early implementation of all issues raised by the deputation. The deputation comprised of Jila Ram Bansal, president, Satish Sood general secretary and DP Maur, chairman, PAU Retirees’ Welfare Association.

Maur said the association will work hard for the fulfillment of demands raised by the pensioners which include free and cashless treatment for all the pensioners and employees, enhancement of medical allowance from Rs 500 to Rs 1,500 pm annually one pension extra in lieu of house rent allowance, implementation of removed anomalies of revised pay scales wef 1/1/2006 on pensioners also as had been done to the employees of Punjab Government, payment of arrears of ADA as notified from time to time, Pensioners’ Bhawan for PAU retirees.

A deputation of PAU Retirees’ Welfare Association met Maheshinder Singh Grewal, advisor to CM, Punjab, and discussed the issues. Grewal discussed the pros and cons of the issue at length with the delegation and fully assured them. 

Ludhiana, September 19
A team of doctors examined students at the government schools for iodine deficiency disorder.

Ninety students, in the age group of 6-12 years, from Government Primary School, Dakha Mullanpur and 90 students at Govt Primary School Gagra (Hathur) were examined for goiter. Eighteen students were randomly selected for urine sample and 36 samples of salt used by students were taken.

September is being observed as month for Iodine Deficiency Disorder and the exercise to examine the students is being conducted in four district of Punjab namely Ludhiana, Sangrur, Patiala and Ropar.

A team under the supervision of Dr Anil Verma, District Epidemiologist, includins Dr Jasleen Gill, (medical officer), Balwinder Pal Singh, Prem Singh (health supervisor), Vipinjit Kaur and Manjit Kaur carried out the examination.

The exercise will be continued till 15 October in which 30 areas of the district will be visited.

A total of 2,700 children in the age group of 6-12 years will be examined. In this process so far 10 schools have been visited, said Dr Verma.

Ludhiana, September 19
Dr Balwinder Kumar, forage crop expert, working in the Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana, attended the international workshop on “Innovative Farm Management Practices to Enhance Agricultural Productivity” at Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.

The workshop was jointly organised by Asian Productivity Organization (APO), Japan, in collaboration with National Iranian Productivity Organisation (NIPO) and Ministry of Jihad-e-Agriculture, Iran. Around 25 participants from different countries including India, Japan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Nepal, Republic of China, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Iran, Republic of Korea, Philippines, and Vietnam attended the workshop. They discussed important innovative farm and dairy techniques for boosting the agricultural and livestock production.

Innovative agricultural and dairy production practices such as off season production of crops, poly house flower farming, raising crops with limited water application, watershed management, precision agriculture technologies, zero tillage, use of robots in agriculture, integrated pest control, profitable hill farming, livestock friendly shed cooling system, livestock waste disposal system, animal feeding systems for higher milk production and value addition of agricultural and dairy products for higher profits were discussed in this workshop.

New agro and dairy techniques suitable to our condition which are being followed and adopted successfully by the farmers in other countries can be adopted here were discussed.

These practices may be helpful in enhancing the agricultural and livestock productivity in sustainable manner, said Dr Kumar.

Dr Muhammad Saeed and Dr Eiji Morimoto from Japan, Dr Woody Maijers from Netherland, Chan Seng Kit from Malaysia were the resource persons. Dr Balwinder Kumar was selected by National Productivity Council (NPC), New Delhi.

Ludhiana, September 19
The National Productivity Council (NPC), New Delhi, is all set to hold a one-day national seminar on “Augmenting Processing and Shelf Life of Perishable Food Products” at the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) on September 26.

The Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries will support and facilitate the seminar, based on the theme “Processed Food for Better Quality of Life.” Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Union Minister of Food Processing Industries, will inaugurate the seminar. Harbhajan Singh, director general, NPC; and Dr U Venkateswarlu, joint secretary, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Government of India, New Delhi, will deliver a welcome and thematic address, respectively. Dr Baldev Singh Dhillon, vice-chancellor, PAU, will deliver a special address on the occasion. J Aggarwal, director (agri-business), NPC, will also attend the seminar.

Representatives from food processing units including fruits, vegetables, beverage, dairy, poultry and meat; dairy development boards/federations; state poultry federations; Food Safety and Standards Authority of India; Indian Council of Agricultural Research; APEDA, FICCI, ASSOCHAM, research institutions; equipment and machinery manufacturers; vaccine and medicine manufacturers, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, various NGOs, and progressive farmers are likely to participate in the seminar.

As per Food and Agriculture Organisation, nearly one-third of the food produced is wasted globally, costing the world economy about $750 billon (more than Rs 47 lakh crore). India and China alone are causing loss of about 1.3 billion ton of food every year. The highest wastage of cereals, pulses, fruits and vegetables occurs in India both at pre and post-harvest stages. The proposed seminar is an endeavour to focus attention of all concerned stakeholders on vital issues pertaining to control the losses in perishable food products in the country and formulate sustainable strategies to maximise returns to farm-entrepreneurs.

Ludhiana, September 19
The MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) Contract Employees Union continued protesting outside the office of the Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development), Ludhiana, for the fifth consecutive day here today.

District President of the Union Sandeep Singh said the MGNREGA employees should be regularised.

To press upon their demand, the agitating employees also burnt effigy of the government and raised slogans today. The employees claimed that they are paid less than the Minimum Wages Act.

The vice-president, Gurpreet Singh, Jagjit Singh, general Secretary, Prabhjot Singh, Prithpal Singh and Jasveer Singh were also present during the occasion.

Ludhiana, September 19
The Department of Community Medicine, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), organised refresher training for all anganwari workers of the Ludhiana district on behalf of the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot, sponsored by the Government of Punjab.

A total of 2,234 anganwari workers were trained in 41 batches by eight resource persons.

The main purpose of the training included teaching the anganwari workers regarding early identification of at-risk pregnant and lactating women, children under five years of age and adolescent girls and advising them prompt referral to health care facilities. Other objectives included training regarding counselling to parents about good child care practices, family planning, early identification of mental disorders etc. — TNS

Ludhiana, September 19
Trying to focus on the revenue generation through advertisements in the city, the Municipal Corporation has reportedly sent a proposed list of revised advertisement tax to the state government for approval.

In the proposal, the advertisement tax has witnessed almost a 10 time increase.

The important meeting on advertisements was held late last evening in which new rates were proposed so that maximum revenue could be generated through advertisements.

As per the available information, the advertisement tax on malls and private buildings will now be Rs 50 per square foot for first 200 square feet. For the next 200-400 square feet, the advertisers or the agencies have to pay Rs 35 per square foot taxes to the civic body. After 400 square feet, tax amount will be Rs 20 per square foot.

Similarly, the boards displaying lights will have to pay Rs 5 extra per square foot. For example, they will have to pay Rs 55 per square foot for first 200 sq ft if they put advertisements on malls and private buildings. On dynamic media with LEDs and tri-vision, Rs 5 extra will be charged on the advertisement tax by the MC.

As far as bidding of big tenders is concerned, which will decide on the rates on putting advertisements on uni-poles, kiosks, over-bridges, garbage points etc, another meeting will be convened on September 22.

In the initial phase, the advertisements will be put-up on about 1,300 such points. But as per the master plan of the city, there are over 2,000 identified points on which advertisements can be put up and greater revenue can be generated.

Apart from this, keeping in mind the traffic violations, nine major markets in the city have been identified by authorities, where advertisements can be put as per the directions issued by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

It may be mentioned here that on account of advertisement tax, MC was getting peanuts as from 2005. The advertising agencies were paying the tax at the rate of Rs 5 per sq ft to the MC. It was only after certain MC councillors raised hue and cry in this regard, that new policy on ads was formulated by the state government. 

TEN TIMES INCREASE PROPOSED IN THE AD TAX

The advertisement tax on malls and private buildings will now be at the rate of ~50 per square foot for first 200 square feet. For the next 200-400 square feet, the advertisers or the agencies have to pay ~35 per square foot. After 400 square feet, tax amount will be ~20 per square foot. Similarly, for the boards displaying lights, one will have to pay ~5 extra per square foot. As far as bidding of big tenders is concerned, which will decide on the rates on putting advertisements on unipoles, kiosks, overbridges, garbage points etc, a meeting will be convened on September 22.

Ludhiana, September 19
Vehicles overloaded with building material or debris more than the mentioned limits of the Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana, will not only challaned but legal action will also be taken against them. This was said by Additional Deputy Commissioner (General), Ludhiana, Amrit Kaur Gill, while conducting a meeting of the District Road Safety Committee at Bachat Bhawan here today.

Gill said the Safe Vahan School Scheme should be given a practical shape. She instructed the concerned officers to ensure that none of the school buses or vans should be older than 15 years. She instructed the SDMs to hold a meeting with the school heads of their areas and instruct them in this regard. In case they come across any such vehicles plying on the roads, help from the police should be taken.

It was also decided that lights will be installed at Sherpur Chowk and Jalandhar Bypass or sign boards will be installed, so that anyone entering the city may not face any problem. The commuters who violate traffic lights at night will be checked through nakas by installing speed radars. Special teams will be constituted for night patrolling for this purpose.

On the occasion, she appreciated the traffic police for chalaning drunk drivers. She instructed the Traffic Police (Khanna) and Jagraon to initiate similar drive against drunk driving.

The meeting was also attended by District Transport Officer, Ludhiana, Anil Kumar Garg, Apneet Riat, Paramjeet Singh, Gurdeep Singh, ADCP (Traffic) and Krishan Lal Malik.

Ludhiana, September 19
Taking a serious notice of absence of some officers from a monthly review meeting, Amrit Kaur Gill, Additional Deputy Commissioner (General), said this type of carelessness would not be tolerated and show cause notices will be issued to the erring officers. The monthly review meeting of officers of different departments of the state government was held at Bachat Bhawan here today.

The Additional Deputy Commissioner (G) issued instructions to all the officers to ensure that reports related to different developmental works and redresssal of complaints should be submitted on time. “It has been observed many a times that some departments submit their reports only during the monthly review meeting. This consumes lot of time in reconciling with the reports and also creates problem in proper analysis of the departments,” said the ADC (G).

While issuing instructions to the Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana, Block Development Panchayat Officers and officers of the PWD department, she said the released funds for different developmental works should be utilised within the stipulated time. She further added that if the funds are not used, they should report about it. They must get these works done and the report should be sent before the next monthly meeting, said Amrit Kaur.

She instructed all the BDPOs to utilise the grants issued for the development of villages and implement the schemes of the state government.

“Delay in developmental works will not be tolerated and the higher authorities will be informed for dereliction of duty,” said the Additional Deputy Commissioner (G).

While reviewing the cases related to NRIs, Gill said all the officers should consider their cases at the earliest.

The in charge of the Suvidha Centre said there is nil pendency at the centre. He said applications from the SDM (West) office are not received in time, which in turn affects working of the centre. The ADC (D) has warned the staff of the SDM (West) to not be careless in this regard. Such negligence would not be tolerated at any cost, said the ADC (D).

Ludhiana, September 19
Exclusive launch of electronic products and smartphones, in particular, on online shopping portals is pushing many residents to take online shopping seriously.

A lot of smartphones, particularly budget phones, have been launched online in the past few months. Expectedly, residents are buying the gadgets online. “Although I had never indulged in online shopping earlier, but I wanted a budget smartphone that an acquaintance owned. I was flabbergasted to learn that it was available online only. So I ordered it online and my friend helped me order it online,” said 45-year-old Navraj, a resident.

“It was easy. A person delivered the phone at my home and I paid the amount. I would like to do online shopping more often now,” he said.

The way people shop is evolving now, say youngsters.

“I found it frustrating when I could not buy a Chinese smartphone. The brand launched the phone only on an online platform. I logged on and I was surprised to know that the stock had already sold out in a matter of few minutes. So many people are now shopping online. I myself was attempting for the first time because the phone was too good,” said Sahib, a student.

But online shopping has retailers worried. “Earlier people used to rush to us whenever a new handset or any new product was launched, but now they get to their computers to shop online instead. In fact, the buzz around the new products launched online is responsible for making a difference in the footfall and the sales,” said a manager from a smartphone store in Shastri Nagar. 

Ludhiana, September 19
The Excise and Taxation Department conducted an inspection at three plywood units at Focal Point today.

The inspection was held on the directions of the Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Pawan Garg. The officials seized some important documents.

The inspection was held to ascertain if the units were paying the lump sum tax according to their turnover.

Ludhiana, September 19
A city-based businessman, Ashok Kumar Garg, fell victim to a pickpocket at the railway station.

Garg was visiting the railway station to see off one of his relatives. He visited an enquiry counter and asked for the platform counter. Thereafter he visited the platform counter to buy tickets. When he looked for his purse he was shocked to find it missing. The matter has been reported to the Government Railway Police. A theft case has been registered. 

Ludhiana, September 19
The District Revenue Officer, Ludhiana, Mukesh Kumar, said the district administration has now started issuing marriage certificates at the Suvidha Centre.

Except the NRI marriages and divorcee marriages, duty magistrate will record the statement of the parties in case of simple marriages and will attest on its own.

After that, parties will not need to present themselves before the marriage registrar. Parties will be freed and the marriage certificate will be sent to the concerned tehsildar. The tehsildar will then sign the marriage certificate. — TNS

Jagraon, September 19
A woman allegedly committed suicide by setting herself on fire under mysterious circumstances at her house in Jagraon today early morning.

The victim has been identified as Shilpa Rani (26), a resident of Mai Jeena locality situated on the Raikot Road, Jagraon.

The incident came to light when her in-laws admitted her to Civil Hospital, Jagraon, in a critical condition today morning. She succumbed to the burn injuries while undergoing treatment at the hospital.

Following the incident, the parents of the victim blamed her in-laws for her death. In his complaint to the police, father of the victim Paramjit Singh alleged that his daughter killed herself due to continued harassment by her in-laws.

“The in-laws of my daughter had been harassing her for bringing lesser dowry than they demanded. They had been pressing my daughter to bring more dowry. So, she preferred ending her life rather than getting harassed at the hands of her in-laws,” alleged Paramjit Singh.

The police have registered a case of abetting to suicide against five members of the in-laws family at Jagraon city police station on the complaint filed by the father of the victim and further investigation is on.

According to Station House Officer (SHO), Jagraon, Bikramjit Singh, the accused include victim’s husband Surjit Singh, father-in-law Mohinder Singh, mother-in-law Kulwant Kaur, brother-in-law Harpreet Singh and sister-in-law Sandeep Kaur.

“The police have arrested Surjit Singh and his mother Kulwant Kaur while three other accused are absconding. We are conducting raids to nab the remaining accused,” the SHO said.

Meanwhile, the police handed over the dead body of the victim to her family members after conducting an autopsy. Shilpa married Surjit Singh around one and half year ago and the couple have a five-month-old child. 

Ludhiana, September 19
Guru Nanak Khalsa College for Women, Model Town, Ludhiana, emerged champions in the Panjab University Inter-College Baseball Tournament held on the university campus ground, Chandigarh. The tournament was held from September 15 to 18.

In the opening match, girls from the city college fought a pitched battle against Guru Gobind Singh College, Sector 26, Chandigarh, and the tie remained undecided, 4-4.

In the next encounter, the Ludhiana college proved too good for the Khalsa College for Women, Civil Lines, Ludhiana. The team outplayed them, 10-3. In the third match, the eves got the better of Ramgarhia Girls College, Ludhiana, 7-3.

Guru Gobind Singh College, Chandigarh, and the Khalsa College for Women, Ludhiana, secured second and third positions, respectively.

The principal of the college, Manjit Kaur, appreciated the performance. She congratulated the players, Arvinder, head of the Sports Department, and coaches Harbir Singh Gill and Sukhdev Singh Aulakh.

Ludhiana, September 19
The Government College for Girls, Ludhiana, clinched the title for the fifth time in the Panjab University Inter-College Basketball Tournament at Chandigarh.

Players from the college faced a little resistance from their opponents and stamped their class.

They kept their slate clean to clinch the title.

In the first league match, the Government College for Girls, Ludhiana, routed the Government College for Girls, Chandigarh, 60-15.

In the next encounter, they romped home to victory without being challenged (64-2).

In the third and the last league fixture, players from the city college weighed down the GGS College, Gidderbaha, 64-2.

The principal of the college, Gurminder Kaur appreciated the outstanding performance of the girls. She congratulated the players besides Sharanjit Kaur, head, Physical Education Department, Prof Balbir Kumar and basketball coach Davinder Singh Dhindsa.