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| Wednesday,
November 28, 2001,
Chandigarh, India
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PAU demand for CBI probe dumped Ludhiana, November 27 The latest move of the state government has become an embarrassment for the PAU and put a question mark on the authority of the board. A senior official of the state government said the BoM has overstepped its authority as its decision was against the directions of the university Chancellor and Punjab Governor who had ordered an inquiry into the scandal by the Finance Commissioner of Patiala Range. The official said the BoM recommendation had not gone well with the government. Mr N.K. Arora, Chief Secretary of Punjab, said the BoM should deliberate over the matter again and make a proper recommendation through the right channel. Mr Arora said the CBI inquiry had also been rejected because there was no need of a CBI inquiry into the scandal. He said the case involved revenue records and the CBI inquiry was normally ordered in those cases where a lot of departments or agencies were involved. Mr Arora’s reveals the reasons behind the rejection of the recommendation that had remained unexplained, earlier. The university sources said the government’s direction had put the university in a fix. The BoM had recommended the CBI inquiry as the Patiala Commissioner had not finished his probe even after over three years of investigations. The university sources said the BoM had now limited options before itself as it could either recommend a CBI inquiry to the Governor or urge him that the Patiala Commissioner be asked to finish the inquiry within a fixed time. The land deal was signed on March 14, 1995, where the then PAU Vice-Chancellor was accused of allegedly transferring more than two acres of the PAU prime land in Kitchlu Nagar to the Punjab Wakf Board. The wakf board had, later, leased out the land to a leading industrial house for much less than the market price. The issue was raised by the then office-bearers of PAUTA. Then, an inquiry was conducted into the case by the then Finance Commissioner Development, Mr R.N. Gupta, who had suggested a thorough probe by an independent agency. |
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‘Privatisation no panacea for banking sector ills’ Ludhiana, November 27 They stated that though the government, under the influence of the World Bank and IMF, was proclaiming privatisation to be the panacea for all problems facing the public sector banks in the country, the Reserve Bank of India’s just released report on ‘Trends and progress in banking: 2000-01’ made clear that privatisation was no guarantee to healthy banking. According to the RBI report, the non-performing assets (NPAs) of the private banks, set up with much fanfare in mid-90s, have risen from Rs 946 crore in 1999-2000 to Rs 1,619 crore in 2000-2001, showing an increase of over 71 per cent. Mr Gaur alleged that new private sector banks had been unduly aggressive in their pursuit of new avenues of business. Their lending rates to the capital market, generally regarded as more risky than other sectors. As against the nationalised banks’ exposure of just 0.36 per cent of total advances and foreign bank exposure of 2.26 per cent, new private banks had a much higher exposure of 5.80 per cent. Given the sharp fall in stock market valuations during the last year, much of this has, no doubt, become sub-standard. He pointed out that the quantum of NPAs in public sector banks was much higher as compared to the new private sector banks. However, the privatisation was not a panacea for the ills in the banking sector. |
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Ebony’s wheel of fortune comes under fire Ludhiana, November 27 The Ebony store managers have, however, sticked to the authenticity of the wheel and said there could have been some aberration which was co-incidental. They refuted the claims of the complainant asserting that tampering was done. Quite a scene was actually created at the Ebony Stores yesterday when a city resident, Dr Vivek Saggar, had along with his family gone to purchase some items from the stores. As he purchased items more than Rs 1000, he became eligible for the scheme and spinned the wheel. The wheel carries boxes marked with different percentage. If the needle points to figure 10, then the winner would pocket 10 per cent of the money he had spent. Dr Saggar said he spinned the wheel and the needle rested at 5 per cent. He said he accepted it but was surprised to see that when some other customers availed the scheme in his presence, the needle always pointed at figure 5. Dr Saggar and other persons lodged a protest and claimed that the wheel was tampered with by making it heavy at the higher denomination boxes so that the Ebony had to dish out few freebies to the winners Dr Saggar also claimed that by adjusting the wheel, he proved the tampering by showing them that the needle always point first at 7.5 per cent and then at 12.5 per cent. He claimed that the Ebony managers
conceded his point of view. Dr Saggar went on to allege that the scheme was a farce. Mr Pawan Rangru, manager of the Ebony Stores, however, defended the schemes claiming it was genuine. He said if the needle was pointing at one figure only, it could be a
coincidence only. |
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‘Nip heart disease in the womb’ Ludhiana, November 27 Dr Sood, who recently performed an interventional procedure on a 15-year-old boy, Kaushal Kumar, who had a congenital heart defect, said about 2 per cent of the newborns in the city suffered from such defects. Dr Sood said Kaushal Kumar had complaints of breathlessness and recurrent chest infections. On investigations, he was found to have a large PDA, a congenital heart defect, “This is a sort of communication between the aorta (the main artery supplying blood to the body) and pulmonary artery (the main artery supplying blood to the lungs), which results in the flooding of lungs with excess blood, causing a rise in blood pressure leading to complications”, said Dr Sood. Kaushal’s PDA was 1.3 cm in diameter and the pressure in the arteries of the lungs was high. “The defect was corrected using a closer device (amplantzer) that was put in place via the right femoral vein (a blood vessel in the groin). The pressure in the arteries of lungs normalised after this,” said the consultant cardiologist. Dr Harshbir Singh Pannu, a cardiac surgeon of Sigma Hospital, says there has been an increase in the number of operations of congenital heart defects among children. He said, “Three such operations have been performed in the past four months in the hospital. Genes and complications during pregnancy are the main causes of these defects, so, precautions should be taken in the first three months of pregnancy to avoid these defects”. Dr Pannu said about 10 per cent of such children needed reoperation, whereas, the others easily recovered after only one surgery. Dr Iqbal Singh of a nursing home said certain environmental infections in the initial stages of pregnancy caused many congenital heart defects among children. “Besides, these defects, newborns suffer from a number of other defects, so, mothers should not take drugs without consulting their doctors,” he said. |
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Dereservation policy opposed Ludhiana, November 27 He said the thrust of the government had always been to boost exports to earn foreign exchange for a balance of trade. As per the present policy, any unit that exported 50 per cent or more of its production could invest to any limit in plant and machinery and was not barred from manufacturing any reserved item. |
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LUDHIANA CALLING The hip fracture to the Chief Minister, Mr Parakash Singh Badal, could not have happened at a more inappropriate time. Particularly, when Mr Badal was busy in his sangat darshan programmes. Mr Badal had always been challenging his rival, Capt Amaridner Singh, for his (latter’s) inability to wake up early in the morning and keep on moving for the entire day. While Capt Amarinder was graceful enough to wish a speedy recovery to Mr Badal, a number of ticket aspirants seem to have stolen this opportunity to get closer to the CM and try to prove themselves to be “more loyal than the king”. In fact, a local leader, who is aspiring for the party ticket and is placed in a tough competition for the same with another leader, organised a press conference to announce holding of special path for the speedy recovery of the Chief Minister. Not just that, the political leaders of the ruling party reportedly made a beeline of the private hospital Mr Badal is admitted in. In fact the absence of prominent leaders from the all important National Games going on in Ludhiana and some other cities was attributed to their (the leaders’) preoccupation with “marking their presence with Mr Badal and the family. On time Being late at any function in Ludhiana has become a character of most of the Ludhianavis. If a function is supposed to start at 8 p.m, people understand that they should reach not before 10, lest they may find it difficult to pass time. Recently, the Cycle and Parts Manufacturers’ Association organised its annual general body meeting. The meeting was supposed to start at 10 in the morning. To ensure punctuality, the association had announced fabulous prizes like coloured television sets and refrigerators for those people who would arrive within 10 or 15 minutes of the time mentioned on the card. And there were not many claimants for these awards.
Bright, colourful
There is nothing new about Ludhiana’s cosmopolitan character. Given the rapid race of progress made by the people of the city with leading industrial houses having record-breaking performances to their credit, it is natural for the people from different parts of the country to come here for making a fortune and most of them do. Ludhiana presents a mini India look as there are teams from different parts of the country participating in various sports events at the XXXI National Games. It is not only the athletes, but other people, including scores from the media, who have added colour to life in Ludhiana. National Games would not have come at a better time. The weather is pleasant and cool and people can roam round under the sun. Cutting across their regional identities, the players have all praise for the hospitality accorded to them. Again, nothing new in it. Punjab is known for its hospitality. To top it all the players were accorded an outstanding reception on the inaugural day of the events which was attended among others by the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, with keen interest. And when the school students lined along the
march past route with colourful, balloons awaiting to be flown in the sky, inside the Guru Nanak Stadium, the spectacle was not just colourful it was bright and brilliant.
Doping antidote For the first time in the country’s sports history, anti-doping tests are being conducted on players. The anti-doping tests are conducted to check whether the players have used some
prohibited drugs for improving their performance or not. The tests have been restricted to gold
medallists only. And the tests were supposed to be conducted at random. Obviously, the organising committee for the games set up the dope test centre in the stadium only. During the Games, about three days ago, an official deputed at the test centre, got so much boozed that he started misbehaving with some women. He was removed from the job. Paradoxical indeed that it could happen at the dope test centre itself.
Unsound system From last two months , the SPIC MACAY ( Society for Promotion of Indian Classical Music Art Among Youth) is arranging to get best of musicians, both instrumental and vocal, of the highest calibre like Wadali brothers, artistes of international stature like Niladri Kumar and Vishwa Mohan Bhatt. But in some of the institutions the sound system is not up to the mark. The inappropriate sound system does affect the tonal quality of their singing and upsets the artistes. It is another matter that those artistes have humility and they make do with whatever sound system is provided them. But they do not carry pleasant memories. The artistes do not charge any sum for their concerts for they are keen to promote Indian traditional art and culture among the young generation. The institutions could pay more attention to this important aspect though no one can fault the hospitality extended by these Institutions to the artistes.
Maroon Town There are elements of cross continental brotherhood in Maroon Town. Named after a Carribean town, Maroon Town is a musical troupe consisting of people from Jamaica, India and England, who have got together to create a unique synthesis of various music forms. Maroon Town is currently on a whirlwind tour of the country giving musical performances at some select places. Thanks to the Ludhiana Sanskritik Samagam (LSS), an organisation, that promotes cultural
activities and organises various shows, Luhianvis also got a chance to watch the performance of the group at the lawns of Satluj Club on Sunday evening. Satluj Club seems to have emerged as one of the main centres of cultural activities in the city only next to Guru Nanak Bhavan. And it was a remarkable musical performance by the colonial cousins who belonged to different countries of
Commonwealth. And language was definitely no barrier for people to understand what came out of the Maroon Town. because music is an absolute language in itself which is universally
appreciated, if not understood, by all.
Crowd problem The organisers of the National Games surely took lot of pains to ensure that the Guru Nanak stadium looked full of spectators at the time of the opening ceremony on November 19. School kids were made to sit through the session. Those who came to the stadium on their own in the morning were not allowed to leave the venue. It mattered little after the opening ceremony whether the stands were empty or occupied. May be the organisers would have to worry on this front again at the time of the closing ceremony which is scheduled for December 1. Sentinel |
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CITY SCAN
Ludhiana, November 27 The invention of loud-speaker is taking us to mass deafness. Spoken wisdom became oral tradition. The invention of script provided a dress to speech. Wisdom was preserved in the form of written word. The synthesis of culture and civilisation brought about the book. A book is a treasure of wisdom for posterity. Jews have an advice written in their synagogues: “Save the book, and the book will save you!” Great nations hold books close to their mind and heart. Human survival depends upon learning. Knowledge through books is kept in libraries. It is the library that we suitably call a silent temple of learning. An ideal library is a storehouse of books, documents and written relics. Here total silence is maintained. Quality and range of subjects of books as well as their immediate requirement and imagined utility in distant future are foremost factors. Great cities have great libraries. Great libraries have always been playing a silent role in the making of great men. Ludhiana has quite a few such silent temples. These quiet but contributing treasuries of knowledge and wisdom must be accorded recognition. School students have become too much career-conscious. Perhaps teachers do not attach due importance to general reading. For the development of balanced and progressive personality of every ward, habit of book-reading is a must. Punjab Agricultural University has the most heavily stocked and duly staffed library as a true memorial to late Dr Mohinder Singh Randhawa. Its utility is a subject for a separate research paper. The prospectus of any college bears a statement by way of introduction :the college has a well-stocked library. The test which certifies the utility and qualifies the college for an outstanding academic image lies in the quality of its alumni. That way the library of Government College holds a record. Thousands of its alumni made rich use of it. They include many ICS, IAS, IPS, IFS, and allied services officers etc — both past and serving. The Punjabi Sahit Academy has a rich reference library for higher research. The PU Extension Library occupies a pride of place in the domain of book-culture. Way back in 1959, it was housed in a rented portion of the zila parishad office. A large number of books were gifted by the USIS of the USA. Dr V.V. Giri, former Vice-President of India in his capacity as Chancellor of Panjab University, inaugurated it in 1967. It has a beautiful campus of 2.45 acres. It has two staff sections — technical and public. The library has nearly 2 lakh books, including rare books, documents, reference books, besides files of periodicals, newspapers etc. Despite a decline in the reading habits, the number of members and visitors is on the rise. Mr A.R. Talwar, former librarian of Government College Lahore, was the builder of Government College Ludhiana’s excellent library. Mr S.S. Lal is the founder-librarian of the PU Extension Library which richly deserves public esteem. M.S. Cheema |
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Parties target UP, Bihar migrants Ludhiana, November 27 The migrant population, which resides mainly in the Focal Point area and outskirts of the city, are quite in demand with leaders from various political parties coming with generous offers of including them in the voters’ list. The Congress has taken the lead in it. The Bahujan Samaj Party and the Rashtriya Janta Dal of Laloo Prasad Yadav have decided to field migrant candidates from the Ludhiana Rural, where maximum number of migrants from UP and Bihar live . The Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) general secretary Mr Nahar Singh Gill who is an aspirant for this seat, has been instrumental in getting them included in the voters’ list. He justifies their inclusion in the voters list while pointing out that they have been living here for the past many years and have made lot of contribution towards the development of the city. The BSP has been organising regular rallies and corner meetings in these areas and has reportedly started process of identifying the prospective candidates. The BJP supported Awadh Navyuvak Sabha also organised a well-attended public rally in Focal Point area, which was addressed by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader and Bajrang Dal chief, Mr Vinay Katyar. The BJP is patronising the Awadh Navyuvak Sabha to attract the migrants from UP and Bihar towards its fold. The BJP sources disclosed that some more senior party leaders from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh will come in the next three months and address public rallies. This is obviously being done with an eye on the forthcoming assembly elections. The Indian Youth Congress (urban development cell), has launched special campaign for cleanliness and development of the migrant colonies. The national chairman of the cell, Mr Pawan Dewan, has been himself taking interest in this programme, which also aims at involving these people with the party. |
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Programme on stress management Ludhiana, November 27 Giving details about the programme on stress management, Dr D.J. Singh, course director said issues like creative use of emotions, stress-related disorders, anxiety mangement, art of joy for living, effect of alcohol and drugs on behaviour and related medical issues etc will be taken up by experienced and renowned behavioural experts . It has been observed that due to working pressure police officials encountered very high stress due to which various aspects of their personality are affected. With the help of such specialised training programmes, the officers shall be sensitised regarding various stress management techniques. |
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Congress plans
big rally Ludhiana, November 27 The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee General Secretary, Mr Nahar Singh Gill, said the rally was part of an ongoing mass movement against corruption. He said the rally was targeted against the Akali-BJP government to expose its corrupt practices. Mr Gill alleged the youth was disillusioned with the Badal government as thousands of them in the state were unemployed even after receiving good education. He alleged that every job was on sale. Regarding ticket distribution, the Congress leader said the party high command had already set the criteria for allotting these. He said committed, loyal and honest workers had a fair chance of winning the tickets. The PPCC General Secretary said the party’s priority was not to distribute tickets, but oust the Badal government. Ludhiana rural Assembly segment is one of the biggest constituencies in the state. |
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IHRO, HRDF against POTO Ludhiana, November 27 IHRO chairperson D.S. Gill and HRDF chairperson Jaspal Singh Dhillon, along with other activists, at a joint meeting yesterday, decided to hold a protest rally here on December 10, International Human Rights Day, to demonstrate their opposition to the draconian law of POTO and to seek the release for Sikh youth rotting in jails without trial since long. In a significant move, both human rights groups have also decided to investigate jointly the recent sacrilege and desecration of Guru Granth Sahib at different places in the state, with special reference to the episode of Sant Piara Singh Bhaniara. The joint six-member ‘independent investigation panel’ on Guru Granth Sahib’s sacrilege will consist of D.S. Gill, Jaspal Singh Dhillon, Bhai Surinderpal Singh, Bhai Tejwant Singh Grewal, Bhai Kalyan Singh Patna Sahib and IHRO Secretary General Mohinder Singh Grewal. The protest rally will start from the Old District Courts to mini secretariat to submit its memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner, Ludhiana, for forwarding it to the Centre and the state governments. |
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Veterinary officers
take leave en masse Ludhiana, November 27 Mr Harbans Singh Dhalla, district president, PSVOA, in a press statement said that the step was taken to press the government for the implementation of conveyance allowance and postgraduate increments. The president said that veterinarians of neighbouring states like Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and vets of Punjab Agricultural University were being given NPA, whereas they were still without these facilities. |
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92 shagun cheques distributed Doraha, November 27 Mr Achara Singh, sarpanch of the village, apprised him of poor academic atmosphere in schools because of teachers’ posts lying vacant. |
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Book released Ludhiana, November 27 Many prominent figures were present on the occasion. Dr Shinderpal said that his student Kulwinder was a sincere and hardworking girl. Principal Prm Singh Bajaj said she has made her place in the field of literature in a very short period. |
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Case registered for demanding dowry Ludhiana, November 27 Road mishaps The focal point police has registered a case under sections 279, 337 and 427 of the IPC on the statement of Mr Sunil Puri, a resident of Railway Road, Sirhind, in Fatehgath Sahib district, against the unknown driver of a Tata Sumo. The complainant stated that he was going to Jalandhar on Monday. When he reached Sherpur Chowk, the accused hit his car, as a result of which his vehicle was badly damaged. The driver of the Tata Sumo fled from the scene. The Shimla Puri police has also registered a case under Sections 279 and 337 of the IPC on the application of Mr Rajpal, against an unknown driver. The complainant was on his way to Guru Nanak Engineering College on his scooter. When he approached the canal bridge, he was hit by an unknown driver and injured.
Knife seized Raj Kumar, a resident of Indergarh village, was arrested on Monday by the division number two police for possessing a kamanidar knife. The accused has been booked under Sections 25,54 and 59 of the Arms Act. The recovery was made from near the Civil Hospital during special checking. |
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One dies in accident Ludhiana, November 27 The driver of the bus fled the scene. The case was registered on the statement of Mr Sunil Kumar, son of Mr Naresh Sharma, resident of Joshi Nagar, Haibowal, who was present at the site of the accident. |
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CICU presents memo to Municipal Commissioner Ludhiana, November 27 Mr Indejrit Singh Pardhan, president, CICU, said,‘‘The corporation should emphaise on the proper development and maintenance of roads, parks, simplification of octroi rules, vehicle parking, water shortage in industrial estate the removal of encroachments in the city as well as industrial areas. The corporation should also try to cut down the rate of house tax, water supply and sewerage charges. The lack of proper traffic lights, fly-overs, recovery of arrears, payment of water and sewerage bills and fire fighting services should also be looked in to.’’ CICU presented this memorandum at a simple function organised here on Sunday. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Kalsia said that he would hold a special meeting with the industrial associations on December 15 to discuss their problems. He assured the industrialists that the corporation would continue all projects initiated by Mr Sandhu. Reacting to the points of the memorandum, Mr Kalsia said that all constructive works already taken up by Dr S.S. Sandhu will continue, and further informed that special attention would be given to the works required for the promotion and maintenance of the industry which was the main source of income to the municipal corporation, state and the Central Government. Among others, Mr Avtar Singh, general secretary, CICU, Mr M.S. Bhogal, Mr Ajit Singh Kular, Mr Satish Dhanda, Mr Vinod Thapar, president, Knitwear Club, Mr Joginder Kumar, Mr Upkar Singh, joint secretary, CICU, Mr Indejrit Singh Hassapuri and Mr Som Nath Maini were present on the occasion. |
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