Ludhiana, October 30
Public auction for the sale of commercial sites and built-up properties conducted by the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) authorities here today drew a blank as not even a single buyer turned up at the venue. After waiting for more than two and a half hours, the officials decided to call off the auction.

Executive officer of the LIT Jiwan Bansal said the officials designated to conduct the auction proceedings kept waiting at the venue from 11 am to 1.30 pm. As no buyer had evinced interest in offering bids for the properties proposed to be put under the hammer, nor had anyone deposited earnest money for any site or property, the auction was called off. Fresh dates for the auction of commercial sites and built-up properties would be announced in due course, he said.

Today’s auction was the third successive unsuccessful attempt to sell commercial properties. Earlier, auctions conducted on July 23 and July 30, 2013, had also remained unproductive. At these two auctions, the LIT had put on the block 128 commercial sites and built-up properties with a reserve price of Rs 76.90 crore.

At the public auction held today, the Trust intended to sell 36 commercial sites and built-up properties in different schemes with a total reserve price of nearly Rs 28 crore.

As per the offer document, the sites and properties to be sold through open auction included built-up booths at Model Town Extension, Maharishi Valmiki Nagar, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar and Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar, built-up shop-cum-flats at Bharat Nagar Extension, a coal depot site at Model Town Extension, a school site at Kidwai Nagar and a shop-cum-flat site at Rajguru Nagar.

While the LIT officials attributed the lack of interest among buyers in commercial properties offered for sale by the Trust to overall recessionary trends prevailing in the real estate sector, developers and investors were of the view that the reserve price of the properties being offered for sale by the LIT was exorbitant in comparison to the prevailing market price of similar properties.

A majority of buyers and property dealers chose to keep away from government properties for the simple reason that the entire cost of a property has to be paid from out of accounted money.

“It is no secret that unaccounted money plays a big role in high-value transactions in the realty sector, which is not possible in the case of buying properties from a government agency,” said a property dealer.

Ludhiana, October 30
Cracking the whip on VIP offenders, the city traffic police, in a joint drive with the District Transport Officer, challaned 30 violators, including the son of a high-rank police officer.

The drive was conducted following the orders of Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal. The DC had yesterday talked tough against VIP traffic violators.

The vehicle having red and blue beacons were stopped for checking at a special naka set up near MBD Mall this evening.

The SHO, Gagandeep Singh, supervised the drive. — TNS

Ludhiana, October 30
A survey of buildings in all blocks of the city came to an end today with 32 teams submitting their reports to the MC. Around 14 teams have asked for three more days on the plea that their blocks were too big.

A meeting on this issue was conducted here under the guidance of Additional Commissioner Rishipal Singh. He said a few teams wanted more time as their areas were too big. Besides, the number of buildings in those blocks was also more. “We have given them more time till Monday. After Monday, when we have got all the lists, we will start checking the status of these buildings. After that action will be taken accordingly,” said Rishipal Singh.

The MC had constituted around 48 teams. Since, the MC has received a large number of complaints about illegal buildings, the survey was conducted by the officials from branches other than the building branch, so the task could be accomplished in a transparent manner.

Ludhiana, October 30
Assistant Town Planner (Headquarters) Kamaljit Kaur, who was transferred to Jalandhar a month ago but was not relieved due to a shortage of officers here, is learnt to have been suddenly relieved by the authorities. Her fault, it was learnt, was that she got an “illegal” construction removed from a public park near Chand Cinema.

The demolition took place two days ago. The leaders, who were instrumental in getting that illegal room constructed on the park, reportedly put pressure on the minister to take “stern” action against the official for getting the room razed.

The construction of the room was started in the first week of October allegedly at the instance of certain local leaders. A formal complaint was filed before the authorities by an RTI activist on October 14. After going through the facts and recording statements of the local residents, the ATP got it removed on October 27.

Meanwhile, MC Commissioner Pradeep Aggarwal said since the ATP was transferred about a month ago, the authorities were in the process of relieving her.

Kamaljit Kaur did not respond to the calls made on her mobile phone.

An official of the building branch said there was alot of political pressure on the officials of the branch. With lone permanent ATP here now, the already crippled MC is on the path of collapsing, it seems, he added.

Jagraon, October 30
The procurement of paddy has begun but there is huge stock of paddy at Jagraon Grain Market, second largest grain market in Asia after Khanna. The lifting of crop has begun but it is on a slow pace due to which there is no space in the grain markets for the farmers to unload their crops. The slow lifting of paddy has left massive stocks of paddy lying in the local grain market.

The grain market is packed with huge stock of procured paddy because of slow lifting process. Similar is the situation at the other grain markets located in rural areas of Jagraon where huge stocks of paddy crop have been waiting to be lifted. During a visit to grain market, it was found that hundreds of tons of procured paddy crop were lying in the open at the grain market. The situation is worst at grain markets located in rural areas where the lifting process is too slow.

The sudden influx of paddy crop in the grain markets during the recent past has further complicated the situation. As the arrival of paddy continues, the farmers and commission agents fear that if the situation does not improve in coming days, there would be no space at the grain markets. The slow lifting process has irked the farmers as well as commission agents who fear losses if it rains in coming days. The poor arrangements at rural grain markets have increased the problems of the farmers. The farmers are forced to spend their nights at the markets.

The farmers and commission agents said their produce has been lying in the open in the grain markets for past some days due to slow lifting process. “The crop lying openly in the grain markets is being damaged by stray animals. Officials of market committee have failed to step up the lifting process,” rued Amarjit Sngh, a local commission agent.

Jagraon Market Committee Secretary Jaswinder Singh admitted that the lifting process is a bit slow due to shortage of labour. “The sudden influx of paddy crop during last some days and shortage of labour have delayed the lifting. But we are making every possible effort to streamline the lifting process. The pace of lifting will pick up soon and all the stock will be cleared in time,” he claimed. 

Mandi Ahmedgarh, October 30
Panicked over the Gohana bank heist, customers of various banks have started approaching banks for availing loans against their gold and silver jewellry.

Besides ensuring security of their most vulnerable moveable assets, customers aim to arrange funds on easy terms for their business.

Farmers are luckier among borrowers as they can avail subvention in interest on loans available on lower rates of interest.

Sources at banks of the region informed that the agreement between the bank and the client hiring a locker on rent was that of a lesser and lessee wherein owner of the locker (bank) only receives rent for providing the space to store valuables. Since there is no way to ascertain the quantity and value of goods stored by a customer, the banks cannot compensate the customer in case of theft.

The recent heist is not a first of its kind. A few months ago 39 lockers at Reru Chowk Branch of Punjab and Sind Bank were broken and majority of the customers had failed to support their claims with evidence.

The modus operandi used by miscreants in Gohana heist had further shaken the faith of customers as the robbers had reached the lockers without being noticed in CCTVs.

Hue and cry about non-installation of CCTV cameras inside the locker room has also proven unwanted as banks are not authorized to peep in directly or indirectly when the customers use their lockers.

Shocked over insecurity of valuables kept in lockers of commercial banks, Pawandeep Singh Jand and Kuldeep Singh Guram said they had decided to surrender their lockers and avail gold loan by keeping the ornaments with the bank authorities. “When our ornaments are not safe in lockers and at our home why should not we ensure their security by availing loan against them,” argued Jand and Guram. 

Ludhiana, October 30
Weeklong Inter-College Youth Festival 2014-15 got off to a colourful start at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) today.

Participating students from the four constituent colleges of the PAU participated in events such as collage-making, creative writing and cartooning. In collage-making and cartooning competitions, students displayed their artistic skills on diverse themes such as ‘Swachh Bharat’, ‘role of information technology in today’s world’, ‘Corruption’ and ‘Pollution’. In the creative writing event, students exhibited their writing skills on ‘Loneliness in old age” and ‘At the touch of love, everyone becomes a poet’.

Inaugurating the fest, Dr Ravinder Kaur Dhaliwal, Director Students’ Welfare, PAU, who was the chief guest, said such events provide a platform to the young generation to demonstrate their talent in a plethora of events.

“The spirit of participation is more important than winning,” she said while exhorting students to keep their spirits high in the future as well.

Harmeet Singh Kingra, former president, PAU Teachers’ Association, was also present during the inauguration ceremony. He appreciated the innovation and creative abilities of students in various events.

Presiding over the prize-distribution function, Dr HS Dhaliwal, Dean, College of Agriculture, said: “Besides academics, participation in extra-curricular activities helps in exploring the hidden talent and shaping the overall personality of the students.”

Later, he distributed prizes among winners.

Earlier, Dr JS Bhalla, coordinator, cultural activities, and organising secretary of the fest, welcomed dignitaries and the participants. Dr Ramandeep Singh, Deputy Director (Sports), proposed the vote of thanks.

Satvir Singh, welfare officer, PAU, said poster-making, debate, clay modeling and poetic recitation/hass rass events will be held tomorrow.

Results

Collage-making: 1 Saachi Chugh, College of Agriculture; 2 Gurwinder Kaur, College of Basic Sciences and Humanities; 3 Insea Mittal, College of Agriculture.

Creative writing: 1 Navneet Kaur, College of Agricultural Engineering; 2 Ashwandeep Kaur, College of Agriculture; 3 Karan Gakhar, College of Agriculture.

Cartoon-making: Chetan Kaur, College of Agriculture; 2 Varinderdeep Kaur, College of Home Science; 3 Gurpal Singh, College of Agriculture.

Ludhiana, October 30
The Director-General School Education (DGSE) wrote to the Deputy Commissioners of the state to exempt teachers from the duty of booth-level officer (BLO). The district administration deputes the teachers as BLOs to revise the voter lists, make new votes and cancel the votes of the deceased and of those who shift their residences. Though the administration deputes cadre from all other government departments, a large number of teachers are deputed as BLOs every year.

The circular issued by the office of the DGSE GK Singh asked the Deputy Commissioners to not to depute teachers as BLOs as it disrupts the teaching process.

The DGSE gave reference of the Right to Education (RTE) Act to stop the practice.

While referring the RTE, Singh said the Right to Education Act exempted the teachers from non- educational tasks so they should not be deputed as BLOs.

It was a long-pending demand of teacher’s union to not depute them as BLOs. They claim that the practice effects the education in schools.

The Math Teachers’ Association welcomed the move of the DGSE.

“We have been opposing the practice to depute the teachers on non-educational tasks. It is a good decision, teachers will utitlise their time in teaching the students,” said Gurinder Singh, a government teacher.

“There are thousands of non-teaching employees working in the Education Department such as clerks, lab attendants and librarians. They can be deputed as BLOs. Moreover, CV cadre teachers such as drawing and PTI can also be deputed on such tasks. The government should avoid deputing teachers, especially of important subjects like English, mathematics and science,” said another teacher.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, October 30
The Agriculture Department has launched a coordinated programme to educate farmers about the latest techniques and methodologies for cultivation of wheat.

Besides, persuading farmers to check wastage of water, farmers of the area have been advised to follow agricultural practices which need lower quantity of water for cultivation.

Responding to the clarion call made by DC Ludhiana Rajat Aggarwal, farmers of villages falling under Pakhowal, Sudhar and Dehlon block had resolved to adopt conservative practices of wheat sowing, optimal use of fertilizers and rationalise spraying of pesticides and insecticides.

A team of agricultural officers led by chief agricultural officer Sukhpal Singh Sekho organised workshops and field demonstrations at various villages of the area to educate peasants about cutting costs of inputs for wheat cultivation.

Acknowledging that profitability of agriculture had declined due to lack of knowledge about various chores of cultivation Dr Narinder Singh Benipal told the farmers at Kalakh village that continuance of traditional practices would further affect the productivity of peasants.

Stressing on need of new technologies of sowing wheat without burning straw, straw wheeler, rationalization of consumption of fertilizers and pesticides, Dr Benipal maintained continuance of earlier practices would degrade quality of soil besides decreasing the productivity. 

Ludhiana, October 30
Even as the CBSE has directed schools to celebrate the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, many students, when asked about him, were caught unawares and didn’t have idea about who Sardar Patel was or what his contribution to the country.

As National Unity Day is celebrated tomorrow, many of the students had a vague idea about the first Deputy Prime Minister of India.

A student said he was perhaps a minister. A class VIII student said he was the Prime Minister. Even universities and colleges have been directed by University Grants Commission to celebrate his birth anniversary as National Unity Day, but most of the college students when asked said they didn’t know who he was, while one of them said he was a freedom fighter.

“Awareness about Sardar Patel is no doubt low, but by celebrating his birth anniversary from this year as National Unity Day, awareness him will increase,” said a schoolteacher.

Vinay Kumar, Principal, Don Bosco Public School, said, “It is true that the new generation is not aware about Vallabhbhai Patel. As there is not much mention of him in text books or curriculum, the new generation doesn’t know about his contribution to the country.” Kumar said youngsters mostly know about Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, or Bhagat Singh, but they need to be told about more leaders of the Struggle for Independence of the country and their birth anniversaries should also be celebrated apart from remembering the contribution of Patel, he added.

Another school principal, not wanting to be named, said it appears to be a political move of the Modi government, after Modi laid the foundation stone of the 182-mtr idol of Patel last year.

Ludhiana, October 30
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) employee, posted at Anandpur Sahib, and a Nambardar are in the dock for helping three NRIs in usurping the property of their NRI brother in Khwajke village.

Rajesh Thakur, station house officer (SHO), Meharban police station, said the anticipatory bail plea of Sukhwinder Singh Grewal and Desraj (Nambardar) had been turned down by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. “We have initiated efforts to nab the accused,” said Rajesh Thakur.

Maninder Kaur Grewal, widow of NRI Satinderpal Singh Grewal of Khwajke village, who is presently living in Canada, said the duo had helped the accused in usurping the ancestral land of her husband.

She stated that her husband died under mysterious circumstances on March 11, 2011. While Maninder was trying to recover from the sudden demise of her husband, she received another shock when she was told that her husband had left an unregistered will in favour of their brothers.

Maninder filed a complaint with the police. The unregistered will was sent to the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory (CFSL) and the reports concluded that the will was forged.

On August 19, 2011, a case was registered under Sections 420, 465,467, 471 and 120B IPC at Meharban police station against the three NRI brothers, Sukhwinder and Desraj.

Ludhiana, October 30
Where did Atul vanish after the fatal BMW crash which led to the death of Gagan Sharma and Rajat Dua?

Atul met with the accident on the night of October 25 while he was admitted to Mediways Hospital on the evening of October 26.

If he was injured and learnt to be in a state of shock, why was he kept off hospital for over 12 hours.

An insider said Atul was rushed to hospital when Gagan’s family started mounting pressure on the police for taking action against the accused.

One of Gagan’s relatives claimed that Atul had fled the Civil Hospital on the night of October 25 to avoid medical check up and got admitted the next day to avoid police action against him.

A day after Atul Bansal, the lone survivor of the BMW car crash, was booked for causing death by rash and negligent driving, the police action led to war of words between the relatives of the accused and the victim. Atul’s sister Rupika who is married and lives in England stated that her brother was not driving the vehicle when the accident occurred.

Rupika reacted on the Facebook post of Rajat Dua’s sister Ridhima who had allegedly stated that Atul was overspeeding the BMW which led to the death of his brother and Gagan Sharma.

Megha, Gagan Sharma’s sister, termed Rupika’s reaction as awful. “Instead of expressing condolence to the families who have lost their only sons, Atul’s sister Rupika was playing a blame game,” said Megha, Gagan’s cousin.

She added that where was Rupika when her brother was performing car stunts and sharing videos on Facebook.

Dr Gaurav Sachdeva of Ludhiana Mediways Hospital said Atul had not suffered any major injury. He was in a state of shock following the incident. He was responding well and would be discharged from hospital tomorrow.

It was alleged that Atul was driving his BMW car over 200 km per hour when it flipped over and rammed into at tree near Deepak Hospital on October 25. While Gagan died on the spot, Rajat died on the way to the Civil Hospital. Atul was admitted to a private hospital.

Ludhiana, October 30
The six-day march by the CPI, CPI-M, CPM-Punjab and CPI-ML (Liberation), which started from Hussaniwala on October 25, culminated at Bhaiwala Chowk after paying homage to Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev.

During these six days, the Jatha organised rallies in Ferozepur, Muktsar, Faridkot, Moga and Ludhiana against the anti-people policies of the state and union governments.

Leaders, including Raghu Nath Singh, Kartar Singh Bowni and Gurnam Singh Daudh, flayed the Punjab government for framing a repressive law in the name of “Prevention of Damage to Public and Private Properties” which is in fact an excuse to implicate the struggling toiling masses for their just demands.

The speakers said they had launched a struggle against the black laws while at the same time they were agitating to highlight just demands of the common people such as to waive urban property tax, strict action against drug peddlers, jobs to the unemployed, filling of vacant posts in government departments, to bring the health and education under the control of the government.

The leaders said the state government led by Parkash Singh Badal was responsible for extending patronage to mafia groups operating in forcible occupation on land, illegal sand mining and drug peddling without any fear of law in the state. They said the government was burdening the people by imposing taxes in the form of property tax, bus fare, increase in electricity tariff, registration of vehicle rates and regularisation of private colonies and plots. Targeting the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, they blamed it for its pro-corporate policies, spreading of communalism, implementing agenda of Hindutva in education and culture, allowing FDI in every sector and disbanding the National Planning Commission. They vowed to continue the struggle and hold a state-level rally in Ludhiana on November 28, 2014, to wake up the government from its slumber.

Ludhiana, October 30
The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) will strike work on November 12. Demanding wage revision, members of the unions said they would observe relay zonal strikes from December 2 to 5.

Bank employees demonstrated in front of the State Bank of India, Civil Lines.

Naresh Gaur, convener, United Forum of Bank Unions, said wages and service conditions in the banking sector were governed by industry-level bipartite settlements signed between the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and the workmen unions and officers’ associations.

The United Forum of Bank Unions, representing five workmen unions and four officers’ associations, is negotiating with the IBA for the revision of wages.

The wage revision for bank employees is due from November 1, 2012, subsequent to the expiry of the last bipartite settlement on October 31, 2012. The common charter of demands, separately for workmen and officers, was submitted by the UFBU to the IBA on October 30, 2012.

“The UFBU has been requesting for a time-bound approach to hold the negotiations and the settlement of wages at the earliest. But the recalcitrant and callous attitude of the IBA has inordinately delayed the negotiation process and there is no significant progress in the wage negotiations despite a lapse of two years,” said Gaur.

“The bank employees, workmen and officers have been performing well despite stress due to substantial increase in workload due to inadequate staff and on account of opening of many branches under financial inclusion. The employees never lagged behind in the implementation of all government-sponsored programmes/schemes, including the recently implemented Prime Minister’s Jan Dhan Yojna. In spite of their wholehearted support, they are not being paid well,” said Pawan Thakur, president, Punjab Bank Employees Federation (Ludhiana Unit). 

Ludhiana, October 30
Lovepreet Kaur of Bathinda proved her mettle by emerging victorious in the 800m race in the Punjab State Women Games which began at Guru Nanak Stadium today.

She clocked 2.17:30 seconds to bag the first gold medal in the three-day sports extravaganza. Sharanjit Kaur from Gurdaspur followed her closely with 2.19:07 seconds and had to content with a silver medal while Jyoti Saini of Hoshiarpur timed 2.21:54 seconds to secure a bronze medal.

Around 2,000 players drawn from all over the state are taking part in 12 sports disciplines at different venues in Ludhiana. Performance in the games will be taken into consideration while selecting the state women contingent for the forthcoming National Women Games to be held next month.

Pawan Kumar Teenu, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Sports and Youth Affairs, declared the games open. Before the formal inauguration, he took salute from the participants at an impressive march past. He wished them good luck and a comfortable stay in Ludhiana.

He released colourful balloons to mark the start of the games. He also unfurled the games flag.

Teenu said the state government encouraged the youth to participate in the games. “The best available sports infrastructure had been provided to the sports persons to improve their skills and compete in tournaments to bring laurels for their country,” he added.

Earlier, Rupinder Singh, Assistant Director, Sports, Punjab, extended a warm welcome to the chief guest while Kartar Singh Sehmbey, officer on special duty to the Director of Sports, Punjab, proposed the vote of thanks.

The torch bearing ceremony was performed by Navjot Kaur, Ramandeep Kaur,Rajni, Upneet Kaur (athletes), Shubhkarman (swimmer) and Nagma, an international basketball player. The star swimmer, Ishpreet Kaur, took oath on behalf of the participants.

The main feature of the opening ceremony was giddha by students of Ramgarhia Girls College.

In kabaddi, first round matches were played at the main venue in which Amritsar outplayed Fatehgarh Sahib 37-22, Roop Nagar trounced Moga 50-11; Faridkot overwhelmed Gurdaspur 35-6 and Kapurthala outwitted Barnala 32-12.

In the preliminary matches of kho-kho, Ferozepur defeated Pathankot 14-2, Faridkot outplayed Muktsar Sahib 13-5, Hoshiarpur beat Amritsar 10-3, Fazilka prevailed over Fatehgarh Sahib 5-4 and Sangrur defeated Mohali 11-3. In volleyball, Amritsar defeated Faridkot 3-0, Bathinda beat Fazilka 3-0, Moga outplayed Pathankot 3-0, Ludhiana beat Tarn Taran 3-0, Mohali beat Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar 3-0 and Hoshiarpur beat Ferozepur 3-0. In handball, Ludhiana beat Mohali 10-2, Barnala defeated Gurdaspur 13-9, Kapurthala beat Faridkot 22-19, Ferozepur beat Jalandhar 14-9 and Roop Nagar beat Moga 21-14.

In basketball, Patiala beat Sangrur 49-36, Bathinda outplayed Faridkot 35-20, Amritsar defeated Muktsar 40-15, Kapurthala outnumbered Mansa 39-20 and Gurdaspur outclassed Fazilka 29-6, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar blanked Hoshiarpur 2-0.

In badminton, Amritsar beat Fatehgarh Sahib 2-0, Saangrur beat Barnala 2-0, Roop Nagar beat Gurdaspur 2-0, Jalandhar beat Pathankot 2-0, Ferozepur beat Faridkot 2-0, Moga beat Bathinda 2-1 and Ludhiana beat Muktsar Sahib 2-0. 

Results

In table tennis, Ludhiana beat Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar 3-0, Gurdaspur defeated Ferozepur 3-0, Patiala beat Fazilka 3-1 and Muktsar Sahib beat Fatehgarh Sahib 3-1. In hockey, Ludhiana beat Ferozepur 5-0, Jalandhar drubbed Moga 10-0, Tarn Taran beat Gurdaspur 4-0, Muktsar Sahib defeated Sangrur 3-2 and Patiala beat Barnala 7-0.