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Steel goods worth Rs 100 cr pile up Ludhiana, August 11 The steel re-rolling mills and induction furnace owners have been facing difficulty in sending the goods to other parts of the country due to the suspension of trains for the past one week. The train services on the Ludhiana-Delhi track were suspended following damage caused to the track in the recent torrential rain. Mr R.P. Bhatia, senior vice-president, All-India Steel Re-rolling Mills Association, said today that the truckers had raised the freight charges by 10 to 15 per cent due to the hike in the petrol and diesel prices. According to Mr Bhatia, more than 25 per cent of the total production of re-rolled goods in Mandi Gobindgarh are sent to Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh besides Mumbai and South India. There are about 200 steel re-rolling mills which daily produce more than 80,000 tonnes of goods, including channel, guarders, flat roll and angle iron. Industrialists are perturbed over the fact that despite the
accumulation of finished steel goods, the prices of steel have not gone down. Earlier, the steel re-rolling mills and the induction furnaces were being subjected to 48 hours power cuts. But following the widespread rains during the past one week, the power cut has been reduced to 24 hours only. The reduction in the power cut has resulted in more production. The steel prices continue to remain high at Rs 27,000 per tonne for ms rounds and ingot Rs 2,43,000 per tonne respectively. Mr Bhatia said the prices of raw material had gone up during the past one week. Sponge iron was quoted at Rs 14,000 per tonne. There was a rise of Rs 15,000 per tonne in the price of sponge iron. Similarly imported iron scrap was quoted at $ 250 per tonne. The main steel producers were not supplying the basic raw material to the steel the mills, he added. Meanwhile, Mr Avtar Singh, general secretary, Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings, expressed his concern over the pooling of the steel trade as a result of which the prices were not coming down. Mr Avtar Singh said there was no hope of reduction in the steel prices. He said the induction furnace owners were following in the footsteps of the main steel producers who were exporting steel and the local manufacturers were exploiting the situation. |
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Poohla in judicial custody till August 25 Ludhiana, August 11 Baba Poohla was produced in the court this afternoon amidst tight security. Some of his supporters were also seen outside the court. The local police had claimed that the accused was booked for an attempt to murder on July 1, 1980. At that time he was known as Jaswinder Singh. But later he changed his name to conceal his identity. |
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Cops reprimanded for press conference Ludhiana, August 11 Sources told Ludhiana Tribune that a few local police officials had been reprimanded by the state government and given dressing-down by their seniors for organising a press conference in which Poohla vent ire on the Congress and said that his arrest was politically motivated. Poohla was brought to Ludhiana yesterday on production warrant regarding a two-decades old attempt to murder case. Senior officials questioned the need of organising the press conference before the remand actually started. |
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Govt College abuzz with activity Ludhiana, August 11 The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Anuraag Verma, held a meeting with district officials this morning to review arrangements for the function. Mr Kewal Krishan, Speaker, Vidhan Sabha, will hoist the flag and take the salute. Several contingents of the Punjab Police, Home Guards, ex-service men, NCC and Scouts will participate in the function. The show will begin at 9am. A PT show will be held after all the formalities are over. The teachers have been training their respective batches in their own schools and mass synchronisation for the PT show will be rehearsed in the college. Students rehearsing in hot humid weather say,"We have fun though the weather is not good. But at least we are happy practising for our Independence Day." Students of Sacred Heart Convent Senior Secondary School would dance on the song " I love my India' whereas students of DAV School will sing
'Mera rang de basanti chola. Students of Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School, BRS Nagar, will present ‘Aie watan , aie
watan, tumhe meri kasam' while 'leke aayin hai hawein ye ishara’ will be performed by
R.S. Model School. Rangla Punjab will be presented by students of Nauhrian Mal Jain School. The function will conclude with a bhangra and giddha. |
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HIV infection case takes new turn Ludhiana, August 11 He claimed that the accused doctor was trying to mislead the inquiry committee by claiming that the HIV infection among one of the donors might have been in incubation period. He had come to Dayanand Medical College and Hospital along with his wife and child for recording the statements with the inquiry committee constituted for the purpose. He told the TNS that the infection in the donor could have easily been detected had the doctor conducted a test before giving the blood to his wife. Quoting doctors, Mr Surinder Singh said, he had come to learn that the said doctor was also guilty of giving four blood points to his wife during a single day. Besides, she did not have an approved blood bank in her hospital. He hoped that he would get justice from the inquiry committee constituted by the Ludhiana chapter of the Indian Medical Association after a complaint was referred to it by the Senior Superintendent of Police, Ludhiana. Mr Surinder Singh said that his statements and that of his wife could not be recorded yesterday, as the chairman of the inquiry committee, Dr LS Chawla, was said to be not well. He said Dr Kum Kum Avasthi, one of the members of the inquiry
committee, had told him that the next date for recording their statements would be conveyed to them later. The accused doctor, who runs a private nursing home at Sarabha Nagar, claims that she had checked the blood samples of all four donors and all had tested negative. |
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Jagraon Police Dept gets tough with
‘corrupt’ personnel Ludhiana, August 11 To check indiscipline among police personnel, a policy of strict action is being followed. As a result, departmental inquiries have been initiated against 55 police personnel within the last two-and-a-half months on charges of criminal capability, consumption of liquor while on duty, illegal confinement, tampering of official record, extortion and absenteeism. It is a record of sorts. Mr Rajiv Ahir, SSP, Jagraon, said he aimed at taking the problem of corruption and lack of co-operation between the police and the public head on. He said thanks to public participation in the exercise, the police was not only able to solve many crimes but had also managed to prevent some. He said by taking prompt action against some corrupt cops, he aimed at spreading the message that corruption was intolerable to him. He has requested the public to come forward with complaints and justice would be done, he added. Under the anti-corruption drive, Inspector Manmeet singh, former SHO, Hambran police station, and his two gunmen were arrested for taking bribe of Rs 1 lakh from Baljit Singh of Ludhiana. Head constable Harjit Singh and constable Harjinder Singh of Wireless Staff had been suspended for tampering with record. Similarly, Major Singh and Baldev Singh were booked for beating up a man and keeping him in illegal custody. Action had also been taken against a group of cops headed by HC Pritam Singh and others for helping narcotic smugglers. The police of the district had also taken a lead of others in seeking co-operation from ex-servicemen, retired cops and senior citizens of the society by taking their help in settling marital disputes, economic offences, social problems, traffic problems and general maintenance of law and order. A total of 10 meetings had been held so far where people had been educated about social responsibilities, aids, observance of appropriate decorum and 'maryada' while visiting a gurdwara. At present an eight-member committee was working under the Women Cell, which had so far held two meetings, dealt with 15 cases and successfully disposed of five cases. There were three committees set up at Jagraon, Dakha and Raikot sub-division headquarters to deal with disputes relating to financial transactions. Under the community policing resource centre, Jagraon, the unit of the Punjab Police Sate Apex Committee on NGO Projects had been formed. The unit had decided to take up one social evil every month to campaign against. The month of August was being observed as the month of drug de-addiction. The campaign was launched with an 'awareness march' by over 1,000 schoolchildren in Jagraon. Mr Ahir informed that the police was also taking care for the training and welfare of the police
personnel. In this context, a training cell had been set up at Police Lines. They were being trained on subjects such as public dealing, community policing, apart form normal police subjects like investigations, discipline, crew control etc. A yoga workshop for the police personnel was held which was conducted by Mr Vinod Kumar, a local yoga expert. Such yoga classes were going to be a regular feature. Also in the pipeline were sessions on science of living, meditation, techniques based on the Jain philosophy. A workshop on the NDPS Act was organised for all officer, SHOs, Sub-Inspectors and ASIs. It was conducted by Mr Rakesh Goel, IRS, Zonal Director, Narcotics Control
Burasu, Chandigarh. |
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PSEB schemes ease low-voltage problem Ludhiana, August 11 According to Mr Hari Om Garg, Chief Engineer, keeping in view the problems of consumers and instructions from the Member, Distribution, PSEB, 5O schemes were prepared by Deputy Chief Engineer, OP Suburban Circle, and work was completed in a record time. In most of the cases, erection of link lines of one or two LT spans and shifting of load on the underload transformer was undertaken. As a result of this, lengthy transmission lines were strengthened and overloading of transformer was checked. Agricultural power consumers had been complaining of low voltage at their tubewells. The low voltage problem was due to the extraordinary length of LT Lines and overloading of transformer than rated capacity, whereas in many cases, it was seen the load on the nearby transformer was only of one or two motors. It is also worth mentioning that no extra material was required for the completion of these schemes but on the other hand 13 km of ACSR conductors and 37 PCC Poles were saved. The member, distribution, PSEB, Patiala, was so impressed with the results that he immediately imparted instruction to all distribution zones to prepare similar schemes and implement the same in the shortest possible time. Deputy Chief
Engineer, OP Suburban Circle, Ludhiana, has further prepared 100 such schemes which are likely to be completed within a very short span of time, he added. |
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5 killed in road mishaps Ludhiana, August 11 The bodies were sent to the Samrala Civil Hospital for postmortem. The police has impounded the bus. Mandi Ahmedgarh: Three members of a local family were killed when they were run over by a speeding bus at the Pohir road yesterday. They were travelling on a scooter when the accident occurred. The Dehlon police impounded the bus and registered a case against its driver Mann Singh of Tunga village. Police sources said that Harpal Singh, a truck driver, and his two grandsons Hamma and Kaka were killed on the spot when their scooter was run over by the Sangrur-bound bus while overtaking another vehicle. Harpal Singh was going to the office of the local Truck Union along with his two grandsons, who had desired to watch the "pukar", a practise wherein the truck owners got ready to carry load in their vehicles by turn. Their scooter got stuck in the bus and was dragged to some distance. |
BJP opposes reservation based on religion Ludhiana, August 11 The party further observed that the concession being extended to the people of a particular community, also violated the maximum limit of 50 per cent reservation to all categories, fixed by the Supreme Court. In a memorandum submitted to the district authorities here today for forwarding the same to the President, the BJP functionaries, led by its district President, Mr Subhash Verma, maintained that the proposal of the Andhra Pradesh government, to offer reservation to members of Muslim community, was a flagrant violation of all norms. The constitutional provisions for such reservation for Backward and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were governed by the social, economic and educational backwardness of these sections. Mr Verma further said even though some state governments had extended the reservation benefits under the category of 'other backward classes' it was done in view of the social backwardness of the community in that particular state rather than religious considerations. Mr Verma and other party leaders claimed that even though the decision was taken by the Andhra Pradesh Government, but practically the entire Congress leadership was responsible for it. This decision could not have been taken without seeking approval from the party high command. Mr Verma said if put into effect, such religion-based reservation would have a nationwide ramifications. The BJP urged the President to intervene and scuttle the nefarious and politically-motivated design of the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh. The BJP asserted that political compulsions and pseudo-secularism of the ruling party had forced it to take such a step.  |
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Jangpur residents up in arms against Mandi Board Ludhiana, August 11 Senior Congress leader Jagpal Singh Khangura said, during a recent visit to the village he had found that the Mandi Board was planning to drain the untreated water through Jangpur village. The drain was being dug along the outer wall of the Government High School. He pointed out that besides causing pollution in the area, it could also threaten the school building. Mr Khangura regretted that the officials of the Mandi Board had taken the decision without any proper plan. He said, it will be a sheer wastage of resources as from Jangpur onwards the drain does not have any outlet. He said, the entire village would turn into a swamp as there is a huge daily output of waste water from Mullapur town. Mr Khangura has appealed to the board to make some alternate arrangements to ensure that the residents of Jangpur were not made to suffer. He said, the development of one area should not be at the cost of other area. Mr Khangura said, he had assured the villagers that he would raise the issue in relevant circles and seek a solution. |
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Authorities look the other way as filth, stench fill city Ludhiana, August 11 On the GT Road side of the railway station there are several exit points, including the two major ones from platform number 1. Among other exit points are the short-cuts near the RMS office and the parcel office in addition to the new bridgeway that leads one to the back of the Reservation Wing. With the exception of the two major exits, all other exit points are being used as open urinals with utter disregard to hygiene. If one goes on foot from the railway station towards the Ghanta Ghar via the GRP police station, one comes across filth and stink behind the boundary wall of the police station as the place is also being used as an open urinal. Close by, the Ghanta Ghar area is also full of stink with auto-drivers and others urinating near the historic monument. The vacant space along a bank branch adjoining Ghanta Ghar also serves as another open urinal. A barbed wire , which is placed from time to time, to discourage this habit does not last very long. This area, which is perhaps one of the busiest business centres of the city, does not have a public toilet. Most of the persons do not prefer to use the small toilet at the end of the lottery market. Similar is the case in the adjoining Chaura Bazar which does not have the provision of toilets for the shoppers. The lone toilet near the Girja Ghar Chowk is tucked behind a row of buildings in such a manner that tits location is not known to the shoppers. So it is being used by the shopkeepers of the area only. In the adjoining Pindi street and Meena Bazar, people can be seen squatting along the drains to relieve themselves. In Bhadaur House too, which is an upbeat market of the city, the lane sandwiched between the market and the Society cinema, remains littered with garbage all the time. It was a kutcha lane for many years and was recently cemented. It was hoped that the lane would wear a cleaner look but the lane is still being used as an open urinal and a garbage dump. The residential areas of the old city as also of the outer city are no better as far as hygiene is
concerned. While some mohallas and colonies of the city are spick and span, others, such as Salem Tabri and Sabzi Mandi are full of filth. Even plots, earmarked as public parks, are being used as open toilets and garbage dumps. Even the upcoming posh localities such as the Rajguru Nagar and Sarabha Nagar have their share of filth due to encroachments on the roadsides by migrants and the growth of slums near these localities. The Focal Point area, including the Urban Estate, devised and built by the PUDA, is littered with garbage. Thus the city seems to have become an open litter house stinking all the time. This stink becomes unbearable in the rainy season as the filth is dissolved and spread by the rain waters. This also spreads a number of throat and respiratory infections among the residents and creates favourable conditions for an outbreak of cholera, gastroenteritis, malaria and dengue. These diseases have become almost an annual features in the city. Whenever some deaths occur due to any of these diseases, higher officials rush to the spot and take some immediate steps to tackle the gravity of the situation. Chlorine pills are distributed free of cost, a number of vaccinations are given and safai workers are pressed into service but nothing is done on a long term basis. It is high time that the administration took the issue of construction of public toilets seriously to ensure hygiene and cleanliness in the city. |
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Employees’ front flays ordinance Amloh, August 11 The president of the front, Mr Devinder Singh Punia, has said with the new notification, higher pay scales of the teachers had been withdrawn and recoveries of salaries drawn in the higher grade had been initiated. A large number of teachers of this category have retired, others are near superannuation. This ordinance is against the decision of the apex court in such cases, he claimed. The front has urged the government to withdraw the notification. |
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Paswan to address rally in Bathinda Ludhiana, August 11 Mr Patna said the chief of the state unit of the party, Mr Amar Singh Mehmi, and other leaders were touring several districts of the state in this regard. He would address party workers in Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur on August 13, in Ferozepore, Muktsar, Moga and Faridkot on August 14, in Sangrur, Patiala and Fatehgarh Sahib on August 15, in Ludhiana, Nawanshahr and Ropar on August 22, in Amritsar and Gurdaspur on August 27 and in Mansa and Bathinda on August 30. |
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BKU flays govt on petrol prices Ludhiana, August 11 Through another resolution, the meeting demanded that the government should fix the minimum support prices for various crops in proportion to the general price index. The union demanded a price of Rs 742 to Rs 812 for paddy varieties, Rs 3,500 for cotton and Rs 3,080 for cereals and oil seeds. The union also warned the government that it would start a struggle to get the prices of various crops linked with the general price index. It also demanded that a compensation of Rs 14,000 per acre for those farmers who had either to plough their paddy fields for lack of water and those whose crops had been destroyed in the flash floods.
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AT THE CROSSROADS THIS is the dilemma of a number of English teachers that they take recourse to Punjabi language for creative writing. Iqbal Singh Ramoowalia taught English at GHG Khalsa College, Gurusar Sadhar, but composed poems in Punjabi during that period. In 1975, he migrated to Canada where he had to work as a security guard and a taxi driver. It was much later that he once again donned the academic gown as a teacher of English. Still he continued writing poems in Punjabi during the period of struggle. He was born in 1946 at Ramoowala village in Moga district, which was at that time an obscure place. It was his father Karnail Singh Paras who, as a kaveeshar, invested this village with a distinct identity. Later his brother Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, a former Union Minister, etched out the name of this village on the national political map. Iqbal Singh graduated from D.M. College, Moga, and later studied in Government College, Ludhiana, for his postgraduation in English. He worked as a lecturer in English at Gurusar Sadhar from 1970 to 1975 and then left for Canada. There again, after some years, he obtained his MA English degree from the University of Waterloo and B.Ed. degree from Dalhousie University. Now he is a teacher in Peel District School Board, Canada, and also writes editorial comments for a weekly newspaper. Iqbal Singh is in Ludhiana these days with his newly published novel “The Death of a Passport”. The Canada Council has selected it for promotion in the literary world for the arts. He considers this work his singular achievement as he has come up the ladder by dint of hard work and deep devotion. He has already earned renown as a Punjabi poet with his five collections of poems, namely “Sulaghde Ahsas” (1974), “Tinn Konn” (1978), “Kujh Nahin” (1984), “Paani da Parchhawan” (1991) and “Kavita Mainun Likhdi Hai” (1995). Besides these, his verse-play “Palangh Panghura” (2000) has been acclaimed as a unique contribution to the Puran-Loona legend. “The Death of a Passport” reveals the fact that an immigrant is known by the passport he holds. His death in a foreign land is the death of a passport and nothing else. The illegal immigrant Seema suffers untold miseries as she overstays in Canada where she had gone after her marriage on a tourist visa. When the conjugal relations are strained, she leaves her husband and a six-month-old child in Vancouver and goes over to Toronto to fend for herself. There the innocent girl is lost in the wilderness of frustrated hopes and unfulfilled desires. She is attractive physically, as such she finds herself many a time in the dens of callous, sadistic and lecherous persons. The novel tells the tale of a girl who is on the run like an animal pursued by the hounds. She has no future in Canada without a valid passport, for which she puts even her dignity at stake. Once she is on the verge of seeing light at the end of the tunnel but, before long, her dream becomes a nightmare. Thus she is deprived of the opportunity to get a passport by a strange quirk of fate. Thereafter she comes out of her apartment and pauses at its door for another blind flight without wings. She is in a hurry to get “a passport with a landed stamp before the cruel noose of immigration closed around her neck for a quick deportation.” This novel will create ripples in the literary world, both in India and abroad, with its moving tale and authentic character study. Undoubtedly Iqbal Singh knows the art of narration and stylistic presentation.
— N.S. Tasneem |
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Postal services paralysed Mandi Ahmedgarh, August 11 Mr Dharam Paul Sharma, a member of the Ahmedgarh Vidya Pracharak Sabha, said none of the passed students had received result cards by yesterday. The students have been delaying the despatch of their forms as they are supposed to enclose the cards with the forms. Worried over the fate of their candidature, now they have decided to contact university office at Faridkot. The examination was conducted on August 1 and the authorities had declared the result on the same day. Students desirous of attending the counselling are supposed to send the prescribed documents to the university by August 13. Happy Verma and Yadwinder Singh, both office-bearers of the All-India Sikh Students Federation, have urged the university authorities to wave the condition of submission of result cards and extend the last date for receipt of these forms. "Moreover, the university should not ask for submitting the documents which had been issued by them and the original records are with them," argued the office-bearers. The authorities at the local post office confirmed that receipt and dispatch of post had been paralysed for around one week. |
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Ludhiana youth drowned in Canada Ludhiana, August 11 Pardeep, who had migrated to Canada 10 years back was also a distinguished social activist and had always been helpful to the needy in Canada. Pardeep is survived by his wife Banwinder Kaur, two daughters Armaan and Simal. His body will reach Ludhiana from Canada on Saturday and s cremation will be held in cremation ground in Urban Estate, Phase II, Dugri Road, on August 15 at 11 am. |
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Doctor accused of being
careless Mandi Gobindgarh, August 11 He has stated that he admitted his wife Kamlesh Rani to the hospital where Dr Tirath Ram Goel, Senior Medical Officer, performed an operation on June 29 to remove stone from her gall bladder. The doctor demanded Rs 6,000 before the operation. He paid Rs 5,000 to the doctor but when he demanded a receipt for the money
he said it was his personal fee. The complainant has alleged that the doctor performed the operation carelessly and the condition of his wife deteriorated. Thereafter, he had to admit her to the Sidhu Hospital, Doraha, where a sum of Rs 1,00,000 was spent on her treatment. When contacted, Dr Tirath Ram Goel said after operation, the patient was discharged from the hospital in a sound
condition. |
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Tribune
photographer bereaved Ludhiana, August 11 |
FM assures industry on steel prices Ludhiana, August 11 The minister offered to organise a meeting of the industrial delegation with the Union Steel Minister in New Delhi sometime next week. Mr Singla also assured that if need be he can take the delegation to the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister also. Stating this here today, Mr P.D. Sharma, president of the apex chamber, said the members raised various problems with regard to the implementation of VAT. He said the harsh provisions provided in rules of VAT had caused too much concern among industrialists and traders. Mr Sharma said it was specifically brought to the notice of the Finance Minister that to obtain ‘no objection certificate’ from the Sales Tax Department to sell property was a draconian measure and should be removed from the statute. Similarly, powers for search and seizure by the Sales Tax Department under VAT rules should be removed. The delegation sought to remove or dilute all penal clauses in the VAT rules. With this, the industry and business community will have no hesitation in accepting VAT. Mr K.K. Seth, one of the members in the delegation, brought to the notice of the Finance Minister some other issues concerning industry. Deemed assessment of sales tax as promised by the Chief Minister earlier is not implemented. Some areas of the city where industry is running are debarred from extension of load and new power connection. The Finance Minister was urged to direct the PSEB to remove this hurdle. |
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