Ludhiana, July 3
Shiromani Akali Dal Youth Wing district president Simarjit Singh Bains (councillor), facing accusations of being involved in launching murderous attack and stripping off tehsildar-cum-executive magistrate, Ludhiana, Major BS Benipal, was today remanded to judicial custody till July 17.

Three other co-accused -- Sarabjit Singh, Jaspreet Singh and Rupinder Singh of Shimlapuri -- were also remanded to judicial custody by the court of Duty Magistrate Jagdeep Sood.

Police officials heaved a sigh of relief with the pronouncement of the order of sending the accused to judicial custody, as they were facing immense pressure from several quarters.

When this high profile accused was produced in the court for remand purposes, several SHOs of different police stations, DSP and even SPs were seen standing in the court complex to ensure that no untoward incident took place.

Bains had surrendered before the police officials at Sadar police station on June 23. He had surrendered under pressure from all quarters. Sensing the mood of general public as well as the government officials at all levels, his political bosses had distanced themselves from Bains. He remained in police custody for nine days.

The troubles for the SAD Youth Wing president had deepened when the tehsildar had specifically accused Bains for hitting him under his eyes with a lathi, in a supplementary statement recorded with the police. In the FIR, no specific role was attributed to him, but his name stands mentioned therein.

Due to his closeness with the SAD supremo Sukhbir Badal, no action was taken against him at party level. However, his opponents within the party made hectic lobbying in convincing the party leadership that this episode has shaken the image of the party in the eyes of masses.

Another accused Kamaljit Singh Karwal, Akali councillor, was sacked from the party. Generally, the police produces arrested persons in court during afternoon, but today he was produced at 11 am in order to avoid any untoward incident at the hands of supporters of accused persons.

Two water tanks belonging to the brother of Bains were seen in the court complex.

Ludhiana, July 3
People from various walks of life here have welcomed the decision not to increase passenger fare and freight tariff in the Railway Budget for 2009-2010 presented by Mamata Banerjee today.

The younger generation expressed happiness at the proposal to launch a special “yuva” train.

Talking to The Tribune, Ishita Gupta, a college student, said so far the government had watched the interest of senior citizens and other categories alone. For the first time, a train for the youth was being started in the country.

The new “Izzat” scheme for travel with dignity was also taken well by residents.

Under the scheme, people in unorganised sector with monthly income up to Rs 1,500 can avail of a concessional monthly season ticket of Rs 25 for travel up to 100 km.

A rickshaw-puller, Ram Sahay, said though he was not aware of the railway budget, if poor section was taken into consideration, it was appreciable.

Dr Vipin Gupta, another city resident, said the minister’s proposal to reduce advance booking time and minimum charge in the tatkal scheme was a passenger-friendly move.

“Another good decision is the starting of women’s special train (during rush hour) in Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata. At times, women hesitate to travel alone due to security reasons, but now travelling in such exclusive trains will not be a problem,” said Gupta.

Local journalists were also a happy lot after the proposal of giving them 50 per cent concession instead of existing 30 per cent in the budget.

Jaswinder Kaur Ginni, wife of a journalist, said she would now be able to travel with her husband on 50 per cent concession once a year. 

Khamano, July 3
A resident of Hargana village near Khamano, after procuring information under the RTI Act, alleged that panchayat department officials had committed a fraud in lakhs between 2002 and 2006. It is alleged that the panchayat officials released advertisements for the sale of its land in different newspapers by inflating the original price.

In a complaint filed with senior district administrative officials, panchayat officials, the Chief Minister and the police, Harjeet Singh alleged that the panchayat department had released advertisements in different newspapers for the sale of land belonging to the department in various villages of Khamano block.

The block chairperson of the Human Rights Manch, Manjit Kaur, and some other social workers and prominent people of the area demanded an immediate action in this regard. They alleged that the practice of minting money by exaggerating the rate of advertisements was on for the past many years, but was stopped after information in this regard was sought under the Right to Information Act in 2007.

They said those who have committed the fraud must be booked to set an example in the future.

“Before 2007 the village sarpanches in connivance with the officials of the panchayat department had been releasing the advertisements at an inflated price,” said Harjeet Singh.

District development panchayat officer Kuldip Singh said an inquiry was pending in this connection. The block development panchayat officer, Nishan Singh, also said the inquiry was pending in various government departments, including the police. “Some policemen from Fatehgarh Sahib reached today and demanded documents pertaining to the advertisements released by the panchayat department. We have satisfied them over the issue and also informed them that these advertisements were released before 2006,” he said.

Ludhiana, July 3
The slow pace of infrastructural projects in the city is posing a major hurdle in easing traffic. The bridge under construction, which was to replace the “lakkar pull”, has turned into a grazing ground for stray cattle and is a classic example of official apathy.

“The elevated road from Jagraon bridge to Jalandhar bypass is an example of poor engineering of the municipal corporation. The elevated road, which took ages to be completed, initially had no connecting ramp to the city.

When the elevated road proved to be a failure, MC decision makers woke up from their deep slumber only to realise their folly and started construction on a connecting ramp from Lakshmi Cinema to Jagraon bridge. Commuters hoped that it would ease traffic snarls, but the slow pace of the project has only increased the problem,” rued Sahil Saluja, a resident of Lakkar Bazaar.

Residents of Gill Road, who are witnessing the construction of a second overbridge in less than a decade, have got used to the traffic chaos.

The construction of a new overbridge has compounded the traffic problem at Gill Chowk which is also a major intersection of the city.

Though the overbridge is being constructed to ease the traffic, unauthorised parking of vehicles by shopowners of motorcycle bazaar continue to create traffic bottlenecks in the area.

With the construction of the road in progress and absence of any signboard indicating diversion towards Pratap Chowk, commuters find it difficult to find a way to cross Gill Chowk. A road was constructed alongside Budha Nullah to ease traffic at Domoria bridge and provide a direct passage to people coming from Haibowal and surrounding areas to the city. This road is also an example of neglect.

Ludhiana, July 3
Alarmed at the growing number of farmer deaths every year during repair work of tube-well motors, scientists of the department of soil and water engineering at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) have issued an advisory for farmers during monsoon.

Dr Rajan Aggarwal and Dr Samanpreet Kaur say such accidents occur due to accumulation of harmful gases in tube-well pits after the outset of monsoon.

People who go down the pit to repair pump sets often feel breathlessness and fall unconscious within minutes. This may result in death if they remain in the pit for longer time.

The scientists say analysis of air samples drawn from tube-well pits show excess presence of carbon dioxide and nitrogen and very low oxygen contents.

According to them, heavy rains and continuous flooding of rice fields result in formation of sheet of water over large areas, thus preventing the replenishment of oxygen and escape of carbon dioxide gases from pits.

“The near-absence of oxygen is the real cause of such accidents,” observe the scientists.

They have suggested preventive measures. “Detection of these harmful gases in pits is very easy and simple. Just lower a lighted kerosene lamp inside the pit before entering it. If it blows out, it indicates the presence of harmful gases below that point,” they say.

They have suggested several ways to remove such harmful gases. “The harmful gases can be disposed of quickly by using air blower connected with a flexible pipe. The blower is placed on the ground, while the flexible pipe goes down to the bottom of the pit. When fresh air is blown into the pit, harmful gases are pushed out. It may take about 10-20 minutes to dispose of the gases for an 18 m-deep pit.

The gases can also be removed by lowering a table fan to the bottom of the pit. It takes around 30 minutes to push gases out of the tube-well pit up to 9 m deep.

In case of shallow pits, farmer may lower an umbrella. When the umbrella is raised, the gases are removed.

The raising and lowering will have to be done till the well is completely free of gases. This operation takes about an hour.

One can also use a jute bag in place of an umbrella. In case of belt-driven pump sets, run the pump idle. The gas will be pushed out of the pit.

For tube-well pits up to 6 m deep, it takes only 10 minutes and for those up to 12 m deep around 30 minutes to clear the gas.

Another solution is to pour lime solution in the pit. It neutralises carbon dioxide.

For an average diameter of pit (around 1.75 m), use 1 kg lime for every metre depth of gas column in the pit.

Plastering of walls may reduce the entry of harmful gases but may not prevent it fully.

After using the measures, the presence of gas should be tested again with a kerosene lamp before going into the pit, advise the scientists.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, July 3
As part of their establishment day celebrations, staff of the State Bank of India, treasury branch, Ludhiana, organised an awareness drive on the significance of ecology and preservation of planet.

Over 300 saplings of trees were planted at schools, colleges and other places.

Addressing a gathering at Government Senior Secondary School, Mansooran village, VP Gupta, branch manager, and Pavittar Singh, principal, exhorted youth to come forward to save environment. They should also undertake drives to plant saplings, they added.

“The youth, including students, can ensure the survival of these plants by adopting individual sapling and looking after them till they become self-sustaining,” they added.

Saplings were planted at Government Senior Secondary School, Dehlon, GSSS, Maherna, Kartar Singh Dukki Memorial Senior Secondary School, Latala, and other places. Dr Ravinder Ravi, president, Rotary Club, Ahmedgarh, and IP Singh, secretary, were also present.

Ludhiana, July 3
Education Minister, Punjab, Upinderjit Kaur has called for a national consensus on education reforms as initiated by Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal.

In an exclusive interview with The Tribune yesterday, Upinderjit said before implementing education reforms, the central government must have a debate to have national consensus on important issues like making Class X examination optional and introducing grading system.

She pointed out that there were regional disparities and one system could not be implemented to all states. Moreover, there was need to make accountability as an integral part of the education system.

The Education Minister further said they were already having internal and external systems of assessment of students in the state. After the examination of Class XII, almost all competitive examinations were being held at the national level.

Upinderjit said they were organising annual examinations of middle, matric and senior-secondary classes through the Punjab School Education Board and more than 10 lakh students had appeared in these examinations during 2008-09 academic year.

She disclosed that the state had 20,000 government schools and 20 lakh students were studying in these schools having 11 lakh boys and nine lakh girls. All efforts were being made to raise the standard of education.

The annual budget of the Board for 2009-2010 was to the tune of Rs 184 crore and there were 20 regional offices of the PSEB, one in every district.

The Board, which was set up in 1969, has been conducting examinations of these classes successfully. The sanctioned strength of the employees of PSEB is 2,373, whereas at present nearly 2,000 employees are working there. During 2008-09, 10,80,092 students appeared in examinations of Classes VIII, X and XII conducted by the PSEB.

The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan wing of the Punjab School Education Department conducted the Class V examination, in which more than 4 lakh students appeared in the same.

According to vice-chairman of the PSEB Ranjit Singh, the semester system has been introduced in Classes IX and XI from the current academic year. The Board has also proposed to declare annual examination results online from next year.

Regarding the new education reforms, Ranbir said the state government was confident to take to the decision.

Ludhiana, July 3
Members of the Democratic Employees Front, Punjab, held a meeting under Ramanjit Singh Sidhu and decided to support the Mulazam Sangharsh Committee by joining their protest in Chandigarh on July 7.

Sidhu stated that demands like regularisation of contractual employees, implementation of master scale, increment of 5 per cent, etc. were genuine and the organisation would help them in every way.

“We are committed to the cause and special vehicles would ferry its members from Raikot, Mullanpur, Ludhiana and Samrala to the venue,” he added.

Samrala, July 3
Four head of cows, a calf and a bull died after consuming some poisonous substance at Khatran village near here around 10 last night. The dairy farmer, Amar Singh, fed his animals yesterday around 5 pm and later he went off for some work.

After he came back around 8 pm his family members informed him that condition of their cattle was serious and many of them were unconscious. He immediately called a veterinary doctor. Six heads of cattle, including four cows, died around 10 pm and four buffaloes were in a critical condition.

According to Amar Singh, he suffered a loss of about Rs 3.5 lakh due to the death of six heads of cattle. Today he presented a memorandum to the SDM, Samrala, and demanded that a team of trained veterinary doctors should be sent to save his remaining animals. He also sought postmortem of his dead animals to know the cause of the death.

He further demanded compensation for huge loss. The SDM marked the application to the veterinary doctor in charge and ordered him to take necessary steps in saving the remaining animals and to conduct postmortem.

Ludhiana, July 3
The transporters, including tempo and mini-truck operators, in the district are sore over the harassment caused to them by government officials. They feel though the SAD-BJP government had come up with certain steps, which were in favour of truck/tempo transporters, a lot had to be done for making the working more streamlined.

Jathedar Kirpal Singh Sandhu, president of the All-Tempo and Mini-Truck Operator Union, Punjab, told The Tribune that the state government must stop the overloading system.

Strict measures should be taken at the barriers and overloaded goods must be seized on priority.

He said police officials were unnecessarily harassing the truck-tempo transporters in a dictatorial manner, which must be stopped immediately.

“The police personnel in their private vehicles stop the trucks under the garb of checking. They want transporters to grease their palms. They should be told to check the vehicles but not to harass the transporters,” said Sandhu.

The president of the Tempo and Mini-Truck Operator Union, Ludhiana, Gurpal Singh Dholewal, said on the sale-tax barriers, innocent drivers and transporters were often blamed for tax theft.

“A businessman, whose goods are transported, is responsible for the tax theft and not the transporter. Action should be taken against them, not the drivers. We are facing several other problems, which are often being neglected. We must be issued driving licenses without any dilly-dallying by the government offices,” said Dholewal.

The tempo/truck operators also complained that certain encroachers encroached upon the main roads, thus making it difficult for truckers to move freely.

He said the decision taken by the state government to finish transport offices in districts was a welcome step.

The operators said they had a massive union in the state, yet their representatives were never included in district-level committees.

Mullanpur Dakha, July 3
The Sudhar police yesterday arrested a youth and seized an unlicensed pistol from him. The police on a tip-off had intercepted two youths riding a motor cycle. However, one of the youths jumped off the motor cycle (PB 10 BH 0076) and fled.

The arrested youth was later identified as Mandeep Singh of Boparai village. During search, a UK-made 32 caliber pistol was recovered along with three cartridges from him. The other youth has been identified as Hartej Singh of the same village.

Mandeep Singh is an international powerlifter and has won various championships in India and abroad. Hartej Singh claims himself to be a worker and local leader of the Students Organisation of India (SOI).

Mandeep had also been training youths in various sports at the village gymnasium.

Mandeep, who was fond of keeping arms, had a dispute with Joginder Singh of Raqba village and had apprehended attack on himself.

He had contacted Rakesh Kumar, another powerlifter from Delhi, whom he had met in competitions and camps, and requested him to a arrange for a pistol.

As he was unable to get an arms licence, he decided to go in for an illegal firearm.

He arranged Rs 60,000 and an equal amount was financed by Hartej for the firearm.

Around one and half month ago, Rakesh Kumar had sent his men to deliver the pistol to Mandeep. The transaction had taken place at the Ludhiana railway station.

Investigation by The Tribune revealed that Hartej Singh wanted to marry a girl of Ghuman village and was beaten up by some villagers when the girl complained about him. The accused had reportedly been roaming in the area to avenge the thrashing.

SHO Sudhar Tehal Singh said a case had been registered against the accused and a hunt was on to arrest the other accused.

Ludhiana, July 3
Residents of Chhawni Mohalla staged a dharna outside the division No. 4 police station following the death of a youth, who succumbed to his injuries in the Civil Hospital here today.

The victim, Nishad, a resident of Chhawni Mohalla, had sustained grievous injuries four days ago when he was allegedly attacked with sharp-edged weapon.

The residents of the area alleged that Nishad was a victim of rivalry between two groups. Meanwhile, the police said investigations were were on in the case.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, July 3
Dashmesh Club, Ahmedgarh, emerged winners in the Day Night Cricket Tournament that concluded at MGMN Senior Secondary School here yesterday Munish Cricket Club finished runners-up in the tournament.

Councillor Ravinder Puri and Ram Pal Sood, managing director, Sood Hospital, gave away prizes to the winners. The tournament was organised by the GC Welfare Association.

Earlier, councillor Bimal Sharma had inaugurated the tournament. According to Bhoj Raj Sharma, co-ordinator of the organisation, 70 teams of the area had participated in the tournament.

Neel Money of Khan Pur team, the second runner-up, was declared man of the tournament and Jontty of winning team was declared the man of the final match.

Ludhiana, July 3
As many as 149 students drawn from different games are taking part in the annual National Sports Organisation (NSO) camp, which began at the Punjab Agricultural University campus ground, here today.

During the amp, which will continue till July 17, students will be imparted training in different disciplines.

Dr Dulcha Singh Brar, director, students welfare, Punjab Agricultural University, inaugurated the fortnight camp.

He advised the students to concentrate on their respective games to achieve perfection.

Ramandeep Singh Grewal, deputy director, sports, PAU, along with coaches of all sports disciplines was also present.