Ludhiana, September 29
A domestic help, along with his two accomplices, decamped with ornaments worth Rs 12 lakh and Rs 3 lakh in cash after taking a woman a hostage in the posh Rani Jhansi Road area here today. The residence of Congress MLA Surinder Dawar is located in the same area.

The incident took place this afternoon when Anju Vatsa (42), wife of a hosiery businessman, was alone at her home. She told the police that her domestic help Varinder Bahadur, who had left home in the morning, returned in the afternoon along with his two accomplices. Soon after entering the house, they tied her with a rope and stuffed cloths in her mouth.

The deomestic help and his accomplices then took the woman to the bathroom and told her that she must keep quiet or else they would kill her. Varinder broke the almirahs where the cash and the gold ornaments were kept. After stealing the cash and the gold ornaments, the accused fled from the house.

After sometime, Anju freed herself and came out of the bathroom. She informed her husband Anil Kumar about the incident. Anil further informed the police. Soon, the police reached the spot and started investigation.

The owner of the house, Anil Kumar, said they had employed Varinder as domestic help nearly a year ago. Soon, Varinder won the trust of all members of the family with his hardwork and good nature.

The investigating officer said they had obtained the photographs of the domestic help and all three accused would be nabbed soon.

Ludhiana, September 29
If the show of strength and determination of employees and officials of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) during a protest march and rally at the Mini Secretariat here today was any indication, taking over 32 acres of prime land of the power utility on Ferozepur Road (a national highway) would be no cake walk for the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA).

In a massive protest march from central zone office of the PSPCL to the Mini Secretariat held under the banner of the Coordination Committee of Employees and Engineers, the power employees made it clear that they would oppose the move tooth and nail.

Movement of traffic on Ferozepur Road was obstructed as the protesters marched towards the deputy commissioner’s office to submit him a memorandum to him. “We shall not let the PSPCL land go to GLADA for commercial purpose. This will not only inflict a financial blow to the power utility but will also dislocate offices of senior officials as well as more than 200 families of employees and officials residing in two power colonies,” said the protesting employees. The residents of power colonies, along with their families, also joined the protest.

Speakers at the rally pointed out that with offices of senior PSPCL officials being shifted elsewhere, the public would have to suffer inconvenience as various services would not be available to them under one roof.

They said the transfer of the land without making any provision for alternative accommodation to the employees and officials residing in the power colonies would be in violation of the directions of the High Court.

Ludhiana, September 29
The tehbazari wing of the Zone D office removed rehris and temporary encroachments from the posh Sarabha Nagar market here today. The drive, kept a secret by the authorities, was carried out at around 5:30 on the directions of in charge of Tehbazari Satwant Singh.

Superintendent of Tehbazari JS Sekhon said more than a dozen rehris put up in corridors meant for the general public were removed by the MC team. Confiscated rehris and other material were shifted in three vehicles of the MC.

“The shopkeepers allow these vendors to put up rehris in corridors for vested interests. These rehris leave no space for the general public to move in the market. The corridors are meant for shoppers. The team cleared all these corridors,” said Sekhon.

Satwant Singh said: “Since the festival season is on, we cannot allow such kind of nuisance in the markets. The drive will continue in the future”. 

Ludhiana, September 29
Though the date of submission of proposals with regards to the City Bus Service has been extended for a few more days from October 7 due to the extended holidays, the municipal authorities are hopeful that the service will be resumed by November.

The Municipal Commissioner said in pre-bids, three or four companies had shown interest and it was expected that the new proposal to get different bidders/contractors on different routes would bear results. “Even if the MC does not earn anything, the service should be provided to the masses on a no-profit-no-loss basis,” said Aggarwal.

The service was abruptly discontinued following controversies a few months ago. The company had demanded about Rs 3 crore from the Municipal Corporation authorities as compensation for its losses. Petrol stations had stopped providing fuel to the buses as the company had failed to clear its dues.

Another major reason for the stopping of the service abruptly was differences between the company officials and the contractual drivers and conductors. The bus conductors had reportedly refused to bow to the “pressure-tactics” of the company.

Baljit Singh, in charge of City Bus Service, said since the High Court had issued directions to the State Transport Department that it could issue registration numbers to the new fleet of buses, standing in the city since February, more routes could be introduced, which will benefit of the public.

Chanderkanta, who works at a showroom on Mall Road, said she lived at Dugri. Earlier, it was very convenient to reach the workplace by the local buses. Now, she had to pay high fares to auto-rickshaw operators to reach her workplace. 

Ludhiana, September 29
A postgraduate student of Punjab Agricultural University suffered electric shock while he was doing research in a rice field on the campus here yesterday. The student has been identified as Umesh Garg of MSc (Agriculture).

He came in contact with an iron door of a tube well unit in a rice field on the campus and got electrocuted. Current was passing in the door due to loose wiring electric in the unit. The students working along with him rushed him to the the PAU Hospital. He was stated out of danger.

Meanwhile, students demanded installation of auto-cut equipment on the campus to avoid such incidents. — TNS

Ludhiana, September 29
A government schoolteacher, Jasbir Singh Sandhu, has claimed to have developed software for easy management of the salary accounts of the employees facilitate the government offices. The software Payroll Management System (PMS) for Punjab is a free payroll software and is specially designed for use in government offices in the state.

Jasbir Singh Sandhu is Agriculture Master in Government High School, Gill village. He has done MSc (Agriculture, Plant Breeding).

Sandhu claims more than 17,000 downloads have been done to date and more than 1,500 offices are successfully using this software. The software can be downloaded from Sandhu’s website .

He said: “It is a non-porfit project and has been aimed at providing automated payroll activities in government offices. The PMS project was initially started with the only aim of printing paybills, but later on other payroll reporting procedures were also incorporated in this package. Unlike the simple excel sheets, which are used in a majority of the offices, the PMS has many additional features. All features are designed to make calculation by the system itself”.

He said the software had data backup option, generates MS Excel file of ECS data for direct upload on the IFMS website.

He provides training on the software on YouTube and can be contacted for troubleshooting on email and telephone. The training is free of cost.

Sandhu developed the software by using free editions of visual Studio Express 2008, Microsoft SQL Server Express 2005, FYI Reporting Report Designer 4.1 and Inno Script Studio.

According to Sandhu, his future plans are to implement suggestions received from users, customisation of the PMS to meet the new notifications of the government. Development of new modules for related works of centrally sponsored schemes is also part of his future plans.

Sandhu said developing software was his hobby. “It gives me inner satisfaction and help me keep busy in doing something innovative,” he added.

Ludhiana, September 29
There seems to be no respite for 23 ad hoc employees of the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board (PWSSB) who have not been paid their salaries for the past six months.

Resorting to a strike for the past 8 days in front of the office of the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) here under the banner of the district unit of the Punjab Field and Workshop Workers Union, the workers have failed to evoke any response from the two departments and face financial uncertainty during the forthcoming festival season.

Harpreet Singh Grewal, district president of the union, while flaying the indifferent attitude of the authorities towards the suffering employees, has threatened that the employees would organise a district-level protest rally on October 1 if the salaries of these employees were not paid by that time.

In fact, the said employees have been caught in a row between the LIT and the PWSSB over the maintenance of water supply and sewerage facility in various schemes of the trust.

PWSSB officials claim that as per the government decision, the board had stopped the maintenance of water supply and sewerage in the LIT schemes and the decision was duly conveyed to the trust authorities. Accordingly, the ad hoc employees deployed for the maintenance of water supply and sewerage were also discharged.

“If the employees still continued to work on tubewells and sewerage disposal network in the trust schemes even after they were discharged, the PWSSB is not liable to pay salaries to them,” said an official of the board.

LIT officials said in the past, payments were made to the PWSSB for the maintenance of water supply and sewerage facility in various schemes of the trust against annual estimates and salaries to the staff deployed by the board for this purpose were paid to them from out of these funds.

“The problem of the employees is genuine and a humanitarian view has to be taken towards this issue,” said an official of the trust.

He said the matter had already been taken up with the state government (Local Government Department) so as to find a way out to ensure the payment of salaries to these employees.

Ludhiana, September 29
One can change friends but not neighbours and it is the government’s endeavour to establish cordial relations with its demographical neighbours. Former Army General and Minister of State for External Affairs and Minister of State for North-East Region VK Singh stated this when asked about the government’s intension of building ties with Pakistan.

Singh was in the city to attend a function at BCM Senior Secondary School, Shastri Nagar.

He said the government was determined to establish strong bilateral ties with its neighbouring countries.

He said the recent visits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Bhutan, Nepal, Japan and the Chinese Premier’s visit to India and now Modi’s visit to America showed the government’s commitment to strengthening bilateral relations.

Singh was optimistic about improving relations with Pakistan. He said: “I believe that our neighbours have started realising that terrorism is not the solution of any problem.”

When asked about spearheading Anna Hazare’s campaign and finally clinching a seat on the BJP ticket with a massive margin, Singh said the Congress revolved around dynastic politicians while the BJP was determined to work for nation building.

He said the people of the nation and NRIs living abroad continued to show tremendous support to the government.

Singh claimed that the prices of commodities have started declining and soon they would be brought under control.

Ludhiana, September 29
The management of Verka milk plant organised an award function for dealers associated with the plant in Ludhiana today. Eight dealers of Verka were awarded for good sale of milk products produced by the plant.

Ajmer Singh Bhagpur, chairman, Verka Milk Plant, said: “Verka is a brand known for its quality products. All products, including milk, butter, curd, kheer, ice cream, produced by Verka are good for human health. Verka assures the delivery of products on the doorsteps of its consumers. Dealers play a vital role in the distribution of the milk products”.

Bhagpur said this year Verka would supply the sweets prepared with pure ghee in the market.

Verka milk plant is going to install vending machines that will provide flavoured milk outside schools and colleges. Bhagpur said the demand of Verka had increased in villages, too.

Bhagpur awarded the dealers - Kamlesh Kumar, Sunil Kumar, Ramesh Kumar, Vijay Naryan, Billa, Kewal trading company, Sham Lal Nirmal Kumar and Sohan Lal Jawahar Lal - with a cash prize of Rs 21 and a memento.

Ludhiana, September 29
The Greater Ludhiana Area development Authority (GLADA) today netted Rs 2.35 crore from sale of residential properties and commercial sites through public auction. The sold properties carried a reserve price tag of nearly Rs 2.15 crore.

On offer were three shop-cum-offices (SCOs), five shop-cum-flats (SCFs), 20 booths in Sector 32-A and four HIG flats in Sector 40 on the Chandigarh Road here. While there were no takers for SCOs and SCFs, three booths and three HIG flats were sold.

According to GLADA Estate Officer RK popli, who conducted the auction along with Additional Chief Administrator Kuldeep Singh, in all, 11 bidders participated in the auction proceedings having paid eligibility fee of Rs 1 lakh for booth site and Rs 2.5 lakh for HIG flats.

For booth sites, with a floor price of Rs 1,36,112 per square yard, highest bid was offered at Rs 1.55 lakh, while the lowest successful bid was Rs 1.40 lakh per square yard.

The HIG flats, carrying a reserve price of little more than Rs 39.23 lakh, were sold against a highest bid of Rs 50 lakh, while the lowest successful bid stood at Rs 42 lakh.

Some of the intending buyers pointed out that the eligibility fee of around Rs 10 lakh, being two per cent of the reserve price (Rs 4.94 crore), fixed for taking part in the auction of SCOs and SCFs was on a higher side.

“The unreasonably high eligibility fee had acted as a deterrent against more bidders attending the auction proceedings,” said a property dealer.

Ludhiana, September 29
Residents of Prem Nagar, whose “illegal” houses were to be demolished by the Municipal Corporation as per the directions of the High Court, can feel bit relieved for the time being as the authorities have decided to take “action” against them once the festival season is over. The civic body has decided not to take any action, at least, till Diwali.

The MC had decided to raze the structures on September 26 and 27. The drive against the encroachers could not be initiated since the Police Department expressed its inability to provide sufficient number of staff.

Apart from it, a few occupants of the “MC Land” moved the court seeking a stay and the civic body prefers to wait and present its own point before the court with the relevant records.

MC Chief Pradeep Aggarwal confirmed that the drive had been postponed for about a month.

It is pertinent to mention here that about 50 residents had encroached upon the government land in Prem Nagar about two decades ago when the land was purchased by the MC to start a toy train at the Rose Garden. But later, the toy train was started at Rakh Bagh and the land remained with the MC. The civic body decided to sell the land through an open auction.

In the meantime, a few residents encroached upon the vacant land in Prem Nagar. The High Court, after hearing the case, left it to the MC Commissioner to take the action and it was made clear to residents that the houses would be demolished as the land belonged to the MC.

Following the decision, taken by the authorities, a few residents again moved the court seeking stay.

It has also been learnt that one of the councillors was “shielding” the occupants sitting on the particular land as the latter paid “monthly instalment” to the councillor.

Pritam Singh (name changed), a resident of the area, said: “They cannot demolish the houses as we are paying regularly to an elected representative. The person has given is an assurance too that nothing wrong could be done to the residents living in Prem Nagar”, said the resident. 

Punjab, Haryana varsities promote DSR technologyA ten-day national training workshop on “Principles and practices of direct seeded rice (DSR)” has been organised by the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) and the CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hissar, in Ludhiana and Karnal, respectively.

The workshop is being held under the Australian government funded project “Zero tillage rice establishment and crop-weed dynamics in rice and wheat cropping systems in India and Australia”. As many as 40 participants from 11 states, including West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Punjab are participating in the workshop. 

Ludhiana, September 29
The NCC cadets and staff of 1 Pb R&V Sqn NCC, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, organised a poster-making competition on energy conservation and use of alternate sources of energy.

Gauravpreet Kaur and Jivesh, students of the College of Veterinary Sciences, GADVASU, bagged the first and second prizes, respectively. Lt Col Ashwini Goel, officer commanding, 1 Pb R&V Sqn NCC, congratulated the winners. A rally was also taken out by the cadets on the college campus to create awareness regarding the importance of energy conservation. The rally was organised under the supervision of Dr PP Dubey, caretaker officer, of the unit. — TNS

Doraha, September 29
A series of extension lectures were conducted at Guru Nanak National College, Doraha. Experts from various universities shared their academic and cultural experiences with the students during the week-long activity.

The Department of Music organised an extension lecture on the topics “Folk music of Punjab’ and “Institutional music system” today. Prof Shamshad Ali, Department of Music, ASSM College, Mukandpur, was the resource person. The Post Graduate Department of Commerce and Business Administration conducted an inter-disciplinary lecture on the topic “Organisational goals and effectiveness”. Nidhi Saroop from the Department Of Sociology was the resource person. In her lecture, she stressed on the organisational effectiveness which can be achieved through the effective establishment and achievement of goals. 

“Structure of the organisation and competency of workforce are the key factors that can help in ensuring organisational effectiveness,” said Saroop. All the faculty members and MCom students attended the lecture. Meanwhile, the Post Graduate Department of Punjabi invited Dr Joga Singh and Dr Surinder Kumar Daveshwar to deliver extension lectures on literature and criticism for the benefit of the post graduate students of Punjabi. Dr Surinder Kumar Daveshwar dwelt upon the criticism part while Dr Joga Singh discussed about language and its technicalities. An extension lecture on challenges posed in performing arts was organised by the Career Guidance and Counselling Bureau of the college. The president, Saarthak Rangmanch Welfare Society from Punjabi University, Patiala, Dr Inderjit Kaur, was the resource person. Dr Inderjit Kaur, an established performer, explained the nuances of performance and the technicalities involved. Gursharanjit Singh, head of the Post Graduate Department of Commerce, Ranjit, in charge of the Career Guidance and Counselling Bureau, Dr Sukhwinder, head of the Post Graduate Department of Punjabi, and Prof Rampal, head, Department of Music, conducted the lectures for the benefit of students.

Raikot, September 29
NRIs from Nathowal village in Ludhiana district vowed to join hands with the state government to develop the village and surrounding localities. An oath was taken in response to an appeal made by SAD legislator Manpreet Singh Ayali during a function organised jointly by the Young Sports Club and the village panchayat to distribute tricycles among differently abled persons of the region.

NRIs, led by Hardyal Singh Buttar, announced to contribute liberally to projects to be launched for the development of the village and surrounding localities. They also donated around 80 tricycles to needy persons. Earlier, presiding over the function Ayali called upon the NRIs of the segment to associate with proposed projects for the development their respective localities.

Appreciating the gesture shown by the family of Hardyal Singh Buttar, an NRI settled in England, Ayali said the donated tricycles would help the beneficiaries earn their livelihood more comfortably.

SGPC member Gurcharan Singh Grewal, who was the chief guest at the function, urged activists and office-bearers of social and constitutional bodies to motivate and recognise NRIs from their respective areas, which would help the government provide better facilities to the residents.

Prabhdeep Singh Nathowal, Jai Singh Dhurkot, Bhag Singh, Manpreet Singh Buttar and Jagpreet Singh were among others who addressed the gathering.

Jagraon, September 29
Mullanpur Dakha MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali has appealed to the farming community to conserve water for the better future of coming generations. Showing concern over the continually receding level of the groundwater, Ayali asked the farmers to make optimum use of rain and canal water instead of ground water to irrigate their farms.

He also asked the farming community to take benefit from various welfare schemes initiated by the state government for the benefit of farmers.

The MLA inaugurated a district-level farmers’ training camp at Mullanpur Dakha today. A large number of farmers from various parts of Ludhiana district took part in the camp.

“The development of the country depends on agriculture and Punjab is the spinal cord of the nation which produces maximum grain as compared to other states. But farmers of Punjab still need to adopt innovative ideas to increase the agricultural output”, said Ayali.

Director, Agriculture, Mangal Singh Sandhu, urged the farmers to adopt dairy farming, fish plants, honey bee-keeping along with agriculture to uplift their economic status.

He also asked the people to leave the “paddy-wheat circle” and grow other crops.

An exhibition regarding different extension activities of the Department of Agriculture, agricultural machinery, role of self-help groups in food processing and activities related to the crop diversification programme was also displayed on the occasion.

Experts from the State Department of Agriculture and Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, shared their technical views about conservation of natural resources and environment during the camp. The experts informed the farmers about various latest farming techniques by using which they could increase their agriculture output.

Chief Agricultural Officer, Ludhiana, Sukhpal Singh Sekhon, was among those others present.

Jagraon, September 29
The Jagraon Municipal Council authorities seem to have learnt no lesson from the past incidents of people losing their lives after falling in uncovered sewerage manholes across the country which is evident from the fact that the former have failed to cover the open manholes in various parts of the town.

Though these have been putting the lives of commuters and local residents at risk, the council has failed to check the issue.

One of these uncovered manholes is located at the road connecting Shashtri Nagar with the Disposal road. Situated right in the middle of the road, local residents fear that it can prove fatal if someone falls into it. The risk increases more during the night as these become almost invisible to the commuters.

Residents said this manhole was laying uncovered for over six months.

“This is a busy road and hundreds of people pass through the road everyday. It seems as local municipal council officials are waiting for a tragedy to happen before initiating any action,” said Rajinder Jain, a local resident.

The residents rue that though they have brought the matter into the notice of the MC officials, but no action has been taken in this regard so far.

Jagraon Municipal Council executive officer Davinder Singh Toor was not available for comments despite repeated attempts to contact him on his cellphone.

Ludhiana September 29
The police have registered seven cases of fraud in various police stations in the past 48 hours here.

A case has been registered at the Police Station Division No. 5 against two agents for producing fake receipts of tax outside the District Transport Office. The accused have been identified as Bindarpal Singh of Vishkarma Colony, Dholewal, and Tikku, an agent.

The complainant, Ram Parshad of Surjit Nagar, Giaspura, said he gave Rs 7,400 to the accused to deposit the road tax of his auto-rickshaw in July. They gave the deposit receipt of the tax to Ram Parshad. When he submitted the receipt at the DTO Office, officials told him that the receipt was fake. The police registered a case of forgery against the accused.

In another such case, the Salem Tabri Police booked four persons for producing fake air tickets and a recruitment letter on the pretext of sending a person abroad. The accused have been identified as Paramjeet Singh, Nisha Rani, Sawinder Singh and Sachin.

The complainant, Ramdeep Bhardwaj, said he gave Rs 13 lakh to the accused to send him abroad for job. They gave the fake recruitment letter and tickets to Ramdeep. After several requests, they did not return the money.

Yesterday, another fraud case was registered at the Sarabha Nagar Police Station. The police booked five persons on the complaint of Mangal Khanna of the Durgapuri area for selling a 150 square yard plot with forged papers. The accused have been identified as Raj Gill, Paramjeet Singh, Parminder Singh, Jagdeesh Kaur and property dealer Aneja. The police said the accused sold the same plot to several persons. The plot is also mortgaged with a bank.

In another case of forgery, the Model Town Police booked five persons on the complaint of Vipul Koshik, chief manger of PNB, Ferozepur Road, for getting loan fraudulently. The accused have been identified as Ranvir, Varinder, Wariyam and Ram. A woman is still unidentified in this case. The police said the accused produced a woman, Veena Rani, who posed as a bank costumer for getting the loan in February 2007.

In another case, four residents were booked for not giving the money, which they promised while finalising the deal of a vehicle, to the complainant. The accused have been identified as Bhupesh Kumar, Sandeep Kumar, Vijay Verma and Santosh Verma. The complainant, Rajinder Singh of Model Town area, told the police that he sold a car for Rs 8.25 lakh to the accused. They gave Rs 4.75 lakh at the time of the deal and promised to give the remaining money after getting loan from the bank. But the accused did not give the remaining money on the fixed date.

In another case registered at the Model Town Police Station, a person was booked on the complaint of Taranjeet Singh, a resident of Model Town, for not registering the plot on his name after getting token money. The accused has been identified as Gurinder Singh of Model Town. The police said the accused got Rs 10 lakh token money from Taranjeet, but he did not register the plot on his name. The accused did not return the token money.

In yet another case registered at the Mehrban Police Station, three persons, including a woman, were booked for cheating a youth on the pretext of sending him abroad. The accused have been identified as Sarmukh Singh, Sarabjeet Singh and Paramjeet Kaur.