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Brick-kiln owners hold rally Ludhiana, December 12 This despite the fact that the Sahnewal police registered a case against the accused under section 382/447/336/506/148/149 of CrP.C. Those booked include Darshan Singh, Manmohan Singh, Saroj Rani, Arun Kumar and Jagmohan. They were accused of robbing bricks from J.M Brick-kiln at a gunpoint. Raising slogans against the land mafia and police, hundreds of brick-kiln workers and their owners gathered at Chattar Singh Park in the morning to discuss the next course of action. Having suspended the production and sale of bricks in the district from December 9, the workers claimed that they were out of work for the last three days and this would starve their families. Mr Akhtiar Singh Hans, president of LDBKA said that the administration had given them a deadline till today and a case was registered against the accused yesterday. But the police failed to arrest all of them. Naming the accused, he said that on December 5, they had visited the brick-kiln in cars and trucks and decamped with as many as 12,000 bricks. He added that despite the complaint filed with the Sahnewal police, no case was registered against the accused till yesterday. He alleged that the police was dilly-dallying the case. The union leader said that it was after the days of militancy that the brick-kilns were closed. He also said that they would keep the sale and production of bricks suspended till the accused were arrested. He claimed that he had the support of owners of all 330 brick-kilns of the district as well as the workers. The case has snowballed into a major controversy during the last one week. While the protesters are alleging police inaction, the police had been claiming that they could not book anybody on the basis of allegations only and an inquiry was a must prior to registering such a case. Mr Hans has been claiming that Mr Harbans Singh and Mr Om Parkash had been manufacturing bricks at M/s J.M. Brick-Kiln since 1983 on a leased land. The land was given to them on lease for a period of 25 years in 1983. The kiln and its adjoining land measuring 10 acres were owned by Mohinder Singh who sold it to one Karnail Singh in 1995. Out of the total land Karnail Singh sold 20 kanals to JM Brick-Kiln, who has a sale deed executed in its name. But now some people were forcing them to vacate the land. On August 18, 2003, a decree challenging the possession of Mohinder was filed and the party got warrants of possession. Mahinder Pal Singh had also moved an application for setting aside
exparte decree. In their complaint to the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Hans had claimed that Ms Saroj Rani, the decree holder and others have obtained warrants of possession . “The court issued warrants of possession on 15.11.2003 and thereafter no warrants have been issued. The concerned Tehsildar in utter violation of statutory provisions of law made paper entries regarding delivery of symbolic possession on 25.11.03 and made certain entries and this has been done with the assistance of police, through, there was no such order for police help passed by the executing court. It is a misuse of authority by the concerned officials,” he said. |
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No more basking in sun for govt teachers Ludhiana, December 12 An order in this regard was communicated by Mr Avinash Chander Sethi, District Education Officer (secondary), and Ms Sudesh Bajaj, Deputy DEO, to over 300 principals and headmasters of government senior secondary and high schools in the district at a meeting held at Atam Public Senior Secondary School, Atam Nagar, here today. The DEO said unless there were insufficient number of a classrooms in a school, there was no reason why a class should be held outside. Mr Sethi said the government had spent so much in raising buildings and had recently even given grants for the repair of classroom, furniture and teaching aids. The DEO also instructed that the principals should not allow more than three teachers to go on a leave on any given day, this month. He said an order in this regard was being passed as it had been observed that many teachers kept away from schools during these days to avail themselves of pending casual leaves. Mr Sethi said in case a teacher was absent, classes should not be merged, as this would disrupt the schedule of the other class. Instead, a teacher who is free in a particular period should be asked to teach the class. Regarding the utilisation of funds by rural education development committees of schools, he said inspections had been held and it was observed that the grants were either misused or under-utilised. He said from now onwards, the grants should be used only for the purpose they had been sanctioned for. He said grant utilisation certificates should be presented by all schools heads to the department. On the occasions, Ms Bajaj announced that after the ongoing second terminal examinations were over, a parent-teacher meeting should be held on December 24. She said parents must be told about the progress of their child, his or her weaknesses and achievements. She said signatures of all parents would be a must on result cards. During the final examination, the Deputy DEO said that deputed staff must make it a point to reach the examination centre. She said no outsider, including attendants, parents or police personnel, would be allowed to enter the gates of the centres. |
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BSNL launches ‘Tarang’ Ludhiana, December 12 The service will connect customers to any type of network, including landline, mobile (GSM) and WLL(CDMA), using radio frequency signals as a substitute for conventional wires for all or a part of connection between subscribers and telephone exchange. According to BSNL officials, salient features of the service include CDMA technology, excellent speech quality, reliable network, wide coverage, connecting remote and scattered rural areas, limited mobility without any air-time charge, talk at local call rate and life-long battery. Mr G.S.Julka, General Manager Telecom, said “Tarang” would be able to compete with private operators. He said the industrial
In his address, Mr Prithipal Singh said the BSNL was not running into losses. “Five per cent revenue was added to the BSNL, last year and this year the revenue was expected to increase by another 5 per cent. At present, more than 1 million WLL connections are being run in the country and by March 31, 2004, more than 16 lakh new connections are expected to be given”, he said. He also announced to waive off Rs 50, the clip charges on the WLL service. He said that very soon, mobile phones of the BSNL would become roaming throughout the world. Mr Prithipal Singh added that last year, the BSNL had spent Rs 12,000 crore on the infrastructure and this year, investments worth Rs 14,000 crore would be made. Mr G.S.Bhatia, Chief General Manager, said 50,000 WLL connections would be released till March 31, 2004, throughout the state. Out of the total number 10,000 connections would be given in Ludhiana and Patiala each. Similarly the facility would be given to Chandigarh, Amritsar and Jalandhar-based subscribers later. “The BSNL has more than 2.74 lakh subscribers in Ludhiana alone”, said Mr Bhatia. The first five connections of WLL were given to Mr Gian Chand, Mr Surinder Kumar, Ms Manju Bhandari, Mr Suraj Chabra and Mr Vipin Malhotra. |
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Girls go for style & comfort Ludhiana, December 12 Many girls have started wearing jeans and trousers. Vandana and Jitu of Devki Devi say,” We like to wear short jackets and jeans. If the day is cold then we wear long coats and trousers. Tops are generally short. Pants have to be figure-hugging. It is important that we have a daring attitude. The college authorities are also becoming tolerant of our dresses. But we also take care that we don’t offend the authorities.” Nishu and Sonia of Government College for Women say: “Blazers are also favoured by us. They give us a smart look. We like to wear boots as they keep our feet warm and look smart with blazers. Generally dark colours like navy, black and maroon are favoured by us . Even knitted blazers are in.”
Some girls like to wear loose oversized sweaters, whereas the others like to figure-hugging short sweaters . No one likes to take shawls in traditional manner as the girls say that wrapping a shawl around makes one look ‘dowdy’ and makes them appear to be ‘behnjis’.” No we like to drape colourful stoles. They are light and easy manageable and enliven our plain black or other sombre outfits. Stoles are a rage these days. We can either wear them checked, striped or embroidered on edges. Stoles with long colourful tassels lend a lot of colour to our entire outfit and make us look very trendy,” said Samira, Kanika and Shruti of Khalsa College of Women. The girls say that they like to wear matching accessories. Long looped earrings are in. Make-up is light in college - just a ‘kohl pencil to accentuate eyes’ will do. But we must wear exotic perfumes,” the girls chimed in.
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All set for Vijay Divas Ludhiana, December 12 Ludhiana has always been in the forefront as far as contribution towards the nation’s defence by any region is concerned. There are over 300 highly decorated soldiers in this district, some of whom have achieved honours and awards like the Param Vir Chakra (PVC). The models of the tank, fighter plane and the statues of the war martyrs of 1971 war, put up outside the Mini Secretariat, here are being given a fresh look in view of the Vijay Divas. A team from Halwara Air Force Station was in the city yesterday to repaint and clean the memorials outside the Mini Secretariat. The models of tanks and plane were painted afresh. The day is observed by the district administration every year on the Mini Secretariat premises and the statue of Fg Offr Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon and Major Bhupinder Singh who lost their lives while fighting for the country in 1971 Indo-Pak war are garlanded.
Fg Offr Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon belonged to Issewal village and was decorated with Param Vir Chakra posthumously. The sublime heroism, supreme gallantry, flying skill and determination above and beyond the call of duty displayed by Sekhon in the face of certain death had set new heights in the Indian Air Force’s traditions. He was a pilot of a Gnat detachment based at Srinagar for the air defence of valley against Pakistani air attacks. On December 14, 1971, Srinagar airfield was attacked by Sabre aircraft. Flying Officer Sekhon was on readiness duty at that time. Immediately nearly six enemy aircraft were overhead and began bombing the airfield. In spite of the danger of attempting to take off during the attack, Flying Officer Sekhon took off and immediately engaged a pair of the attacking Sabres. In the fight that ensued, he secured hits on one aircraft and set another one on fire. By this time other Sabre aircraft came to the aid of their hard-pressed companions and Flying Officer Sekhon’s Gnat was outnumbered by four to one. Even though alone, he engaged the enemy in an unequal combat. In the fight that followed, at treetop height, he almost held his own, but was eventually overcome by the sheer weight of numbers. His aircraft crashed and he was killed. Major Bhupinder Singh set an inspiring example of personal sacrifice and bravery in the best traditions of the Indian Army. Major Bhupinder Singh, Squadron Commander, Hodson’s Horse, led his squadron with distinction in the battle of Phillore and Sodreke in Pakistan between September 11 and 19, 1965. With skilful deployment and bold action, his squadron was able to cause large-scale destruction of Pakistani tanks and other equipment. Although his tank was hit on several occasions, he continued to remain in effective command and by several acts of personal gallantry, inspired his men to fight courageously. On September 19, 1965, in the battle of Sodreke his tank was hit and caught fire. While abandoning the tank, he was burnt severely and died. According to Lieut Commander, Tarlochan Singh, District Sainik Welfare Officer, Air Marshal, M.S. Sekhon (retd) would be the chief guest on the occasion. Mr Anurag Verma, Deputy Commissioner, would address the participants.
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Predicting future through thumb impressions Ludhiana, December 12 Some experts have started practicing this art in the city too at Shri Agastya Nadi Ashram in Model Town. According to experts, they are making an effort to save the dying art. Not many people make predictions by using this method. According to this art, a thumb impression can tell about the present, past or future, name, date of birth, arrangement of constellation of stars of a person. Besides this the name of the parents, number of children and the incidents of life can also be known. Thumb reading was a special science of telling future from thumb impressions and was called “ Nadi” science. It takes time to search papers of a particular person. On the basis of 108 signs of thumb impressions. The reader of the ashram, Mr Rakesh, said, “Reading of these patras is a dying art. We have started an ashram here and brought “some patras” to preserve this ancident art. Mr Natrajan, a Tamilian, has brought these patras from Tamilnadu. This art is alien to North Indians. In North India, people consider “Lal Kitab” as bible of astrologers as it contains the detailed future of several people. In the North, many people posses the “Lal Kitab” but again only knowledgeable persons interpret it correctly. Mr Inder Raj Sehgal, an expert on ‘Lal Kitab’, chanced to find accurate details of his life on “taad patar”. Mr Sehgal then thought of finding more about “taad pataras”. Hence the ashram came into being. Mr Rakesh said according to “Nadi” science there are 108 signs of thumb impression that foretell future. A Nadi reader through the signs of thumb takes out the specific patra. Through Nadi science the future can be read between sunrise and sunset only. It is a very uncanny experience when one sees hundreds of years old “taad patras” physically. He said the person whose thumb impressions were not found here, was sent to Gurukul in south. And once information is found, the person is informed and called to the ashram . According to Mr Rajesh, during the British rule, a large number of valuable “patras” were taken away by them along with Nadi readers and it forms the basis of their study even today. If they are interested in our science, then why should we not preserve our ancient culture when it can be helpful in solving the problems of many? In Tamil language “Nadi” means ‘search’. The science was developed by Maharishi Agast. He predicted the future of many in Sanskrit and his followers scripted his
predications on “tamapataras”. Those “tamapatras” were discovered by Sarvoji Maharaj some 500 years ago. Sarvoji Maharaj was very close to Shivaji. He at once knew the importance of these ‘taad pataras’ and he got them preserved . These “taad patras” were preserved in Kullimalaiin village. They are safely kept in bundles in a guru kul there. Every bundle contains 50 to 100 “taad patars” and each “patar” contains the life history of ordinary and great people.
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ABVP to observe security week from today Ludhiana, December 12 ABVP asked the government to take stern measures to curb anti-national activities along the borders and also demanded that the state government concerned should take action in this regard. “As many as three crore illegal migrants from Bangladesh had created social divide, unemployment, population growth, mismanagement of economy apart from influencing political stability”, he added. Some of the states, especially Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh Madhya Pradesh are affected by Naxalite violence which is a matter of grave concern for internal security of the country,” he said. He commended the action taken by the government in nabbing and dealing with the terrorists involved in the attack on the Parliament house, Ansal. Plaza, Akshardham, Raghunath Mandir, but expressed concern as the attacks on pandits in Nadi Marg, bomb explosions at Mumbai, murder of Harer Pandya had not been solved. “In view of this situation, it is doubtful whether the talks initiated by India with Pakistan would have any positive results. The “Healing Touch Policy” adopted, by the coalition government of Mufti Syed and the Congress had led to increase in the instances of terrorism in Kashmir. Maos in Nepal, PDP in Kerala, PWG in Andhra, ULFA in Assam, PULF in Manipur, Lashkar-e-Toiba in Kashmir are major terrorist group and government must adopt harsh measures to curb these terrorists group”, he added. Vikas Sharma, joint secretary of the local unit of ABVP, said the party had decided to organise functions in connection with the ‘National Security Week.’ Debates and discussions would be held during the week. |
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YC activists defend Babbu Ludhiana, December 12 Mr Pawan Diwan, senior vice-president, Punjab Youth Congress, Mr Jarnail Singh Grewal, Chairman, Mr Guriqbal Singh Sekhon, vice-chairman, PYC Urban Development Cell, and Mr Jaspreet Singh, district president, National Students Union of India, said in a joint statement here yesterday that Mr Babbu had been falsely implicated in the case by his political opponents, who were out to tarnish his image and growing popularity among the ranks of the party. “During his tenure as the state chief of the YC, Mr Babbu had rejuvenated the party and had provided a dynamic leadership. Each and every worker of the party stands behind him leader and the party will make every effort to exert pressure so that the real truth comes out and Mr Babbu is exonerated of false accusations.” The YC activists, demanded a high-level inquiry into the case. |
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Water supply tubewell
inaugurated Mandi
Gobindgarh, December 12 Special arrangements have been made to provide better sewerage and cleanliness in the town. Some parts of the town on Amloh road have been given on contract for sanitation, he asserted. The aim of the council to give contracts of octroi collection was to fetch more money under this head, to explore more development schemes for the benefit of the people at the same time no contractor will be allowed to harass the innocent people, he maintained. Executive officer Lachman Singh Saini, Municipal Engineer Sunil Khosla, S.C. Deepak Sapra, Mr Jagdev Singh Bhangu and other
councillors were present on the occasion.
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Rally championing Dalits’ cause reaches city Ludhiana, December 12 The rallyist will travel the length and breadth of India
propagating the ideas of Baba Bhimrao Ambedkar.They will to campaign against the rights of Dalits which they feel are in great danger. The rallyists will reach Mumbai on January 15. From January 16 to January 21, they will take out a massive rally in Mumbai against privatisation policy of the government. The rally was attended by Mr Vijay Dilawar, Lovely Paul Dilawar, Lala Jiwan Kumar, Jaswant Singh, Bjinder Singh, Resham Sidhu., Harmesh mal, Jiwan Singh Bhatti, Subash Dilawar, Ajwed Nahar, Gian chand, Charan Das sarpanch , HansRaj Gagat, senior leader, Amarjit Khalsa, Master Jaggu Ram, Balwant Rai Mattu, Madan Lal Josh, Tejpal Billa, Rakesh Sharif and many others. Many of them addressed the rally.
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Shaheen Niharika
Club president Ludhiana, December 12 The two judges on the occasion were Ms Daljeet Kochhar and Ms Dolly Chabra. Games of tambola were also played by the club members. |
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Ludhiana SP (Traffic) bereaved Ludhiana, December 12 |
Taxation Bar terms VAT a ‘black law’ Ludhiana, December 12 Addressing a seminar on VAT in Mini Secretariat Bar Room here last evening, the speakers, including Mr P.C. Garg, who also presided over the seminar, provided detailed accounts of allegedly draconian provisions in the said legislation for traders like seizing of stocks, which would paralyse the business, checking of cash by the authorities and hearing of appeal only after the deposit of tax and penalty, howsoever wrongly tax and penalty was imposed by the authorities. Similarly, for exporters tax had to be paid at the time of purchase while tax paid would be refundable after a gap of long time. The speakers observed that in the VAT system of taxation, the provisions of audit was just duplicity of the work for the traders because such provisions already existed in income tax, central excise law and service tax law. However, tax audit provisions were not made under the proposed law. The entire exercise would lead to an increase in unnecessary expenses and would result in the wastage of time and money of the traders “Many items which are tax free at present are proposed to be taxed under VAT. Similarly, many provisions which are liable to lower the rate of tax at present, will attract taxes at much higher rate. For keeping accounts on the computers, the dealers will have to obtain prior provision from the department and further the dealers will have to inform the department whenever changes are to be made in the system of computer accounting which are absolutely unjust and arbitrary provisions.” The members of Sales Tax Bar further decried that for small and technical mistakes heavy penalties were proposed. They were of the firm view that the implementation of VAT should be deferred till it was implemented all over the country. It would be wrong and premature to follow the example of Haryana because the government must realise that VAT legislation of Haryana was comparatively a balanced law and not loaded against the traders. They cautioned the government that if given effect in the present format, it would increase corruption manifold. The government should initiate a comprehensive exercise to interact with members of trade, industry and taxation bar on all aspects of the proposed law. On this occasion, Mr Mohan Lal Maini, Mr Jatinder Khurana, Mr Arun Kawal, Mr Deepak Kapoor, Mr Ramesh Sharma, Mr S.S. Galib, Mr K.S. Grover and Mr Deepak Chopra were also present. |
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Crisis-ridden bicycle industry threatens to agitate Ludhiana, December 12 According to Mr G.L. Pahwa, president of the United Cycle and Parts Manufacturers Association (UCPMA), the largest representative body of cycle and parts manufacturers in the country, the prices of basic raw material like iron and steel, pig iron and nickel had undergone a steep rise, rendering the industry uncompetitive both in the domestic and the global markets while the government was watching the dismal scenario like a mute spectator. While the prices of steel material like MS rounds had registered a hike of Rs 2000 per metric ton only during the last fortnight, the rates of pig iron and nickel had also shot up to a prohibitive level. To add to the woes of the industry, particularly the small and tiny sector, a host of duties, that too on a very high level, were levied on imported material. Elaborating further, Mr Pahwa said the customs duty on prime steel was 25 per cent with an additional 16 per cent excise duty and 4 per cent special additional duty. The structure of the custom duty in the same way was so ridiculous as to defy any logic. Whereas the duty structure on HR coils, CR coils, CR strips, steel ingots, steel flats, MS rounds, cuttings was on a higher side, the secondary and defective category attracted a total customs duty of 69 per cent. “Even the steel scrap, which is the basic raw material for secondary producers, has been burdened with a duty of 25 per cent, which has led to the prices going up by almost 100 per cent, thereby rendering the secondary producers gasping for survival. With countries like China and Bangladesh also starting the import of scrap, the Indian steel producers are finding it difficult to get hold of scrap even at economically unviable prices.” he said. Lamenting the indifference and apathy of the government, Mr Varinder Kapoor, general secretary of UCPMA, observed that the SSI sector contributed more than 40 per cent to the total industrial production in the country, more than 36 per cent to the total exports and almost 80 per cent to the total employment generation in the entire industrial sector in the country. As the industry was being pushed towards ruination and the industrial economy of the country was about to face a major setback, the total inaction on the part of the government was a cause of concern. Both Mr Pahwa and Mr Kapoor made a fervent plea for complete rationalisation of the duty structure on prime steel material, secondary and defective material and nickel, which was imported in entirety along with the implementation of the Kelkar committee’s report. They also wanted effective measures to discipline the steel producers and ensure adequate availability of raw material at reasonable prices to sustain the SSI sector of industry. Meanwhile, the Federation of Tiny and Small Industries of India, at a meeting held here today under the presidentship of Mr Joginder Kumar has rejected the proposed power tariff hike by the Punjab State Electricity Board for the year 2004-2005. Giving details, Mr Kumar said in a press release that the proposal to jack up domestic power rates by 33 per cent was totally uncalled for and unjust. Power being a basic necessity, ought to be provided at affordable rates. The proposed hike for small power (SP) from Rs 3.15 to Rs 3.50 per unit and medium power from Rs 3.57 to Rs 3.75 per unit was vehemently opposed, particularly in view of the fact that the tariff for large supply was proposed to be slashed from Rs 3.66 to Rs 3.25 per unit. |
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