Ludhiana, July 4
In a change of events, MLAs would be attending the MC house on July 6 as the Punjab Vidhan Sabha has declared Monday off.

The news is not good for MC officials and the mayor since their effort to keep the meeting free of “pandemonium” would prove futile.

According to information, MLAs Harish Rai Dhanda, Darshan Singh Shiwalik and Satpal Gosain are ready to storm the house once again.

Sources said: “The meeting on July 6 was purposely kept so that MLAs would not be present and issues that had been passed by the finance and contracts committee won’t come under scanner. The mayor was careful about the date because last time, the MLAs had accused MC officials of corruption.”

They said the mayor was heaving a sigh of relief due to their absence in wake of the ongoing Vidhan Sabha session.

The MC house in December was a “horror” as MC officials and the mayor had no answer to several queries of the MLAs. The issue of missing files had also rocked the house floor.

The MLAs have already started playing the role of crusaders while councillors are busy in bickering and conducting rounds of the MC office for getting their work done.

Dhanda said: “We have kept the cards close to our chest and we would reveal these only on Monday.”

Ludhiana, July 4
Four cases of malaria have been reported in the city even as no initiative has been taken to clean epidemic-prone areas.

Instead of owning responsibility to take preventive measures against the outbreak of water-borne diseases, especially malaria and dengue, the department of health and the MC are playing the blame game.

District epidemiologist GP Mangla stated that the department of health had started communicating with the MC in January to take precautionary measures against seasonal diseases.

“Corporation officials were asked to issue advertisements for public awareness in April, but nothing was done. Also, the MC has not undertaken any challan in residential areas for coolers which should be dry and painted,” he said.

Asked about the role of the health department, he said the budget was with the MC and health officials were ready for drives, provided they got manpower and funding from the MC.

The recent rain has added to unhygienic conditions in low-lying and slum areas as puddles of stagnant water have become the breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Weary of the apathetic attitude of the authorities concerned, a doctor at a hospital in Giaspura (the hub of epidemics) said: “Despite our repeated requests, the authorities have not taken any step to clear garbage heaps.”

A resident of Fauji Colony (another area with a history of outbreaks) said this was just the beginning as the actual problem would surface after the onset of monsoon.

There has been no move to undertake fogging and anti-larvae spray, to which the district epidemiologist said: “Fogging is needed during an epidemic and malaria is on the decline. Anti-larvae spray is also required in high-risk areas and as Malaud is malaria-prone area, it has already been taken care of.”

Mandi Gobindgarh, July 4
The local branch manager of Prudential Life Insurance Company, Deepak Kapla, has been arrested while his accomplice, sales manager Rahul Verma, is absconding in an alleged case of fraud of Rs 1.5 crore.

Deepak is a resident of Guru Nanak Colony, Mandi Gobindgarh, and Verma belongs to Chandigarh.

Deepak was produced in the court of Ramesh Sharma, judicial magistrate, Amloh, today and was sent to judicial remand up to July 17.

A complaint had been lodged by AR Castings director Varun Bansal with district police chief Kaustab Sharma, who directed the economic offences wing of the police to act promptly.

Bansal had stated in his complaint that on the suggestion of ICICI Prudential LIC branch manager, he had invested Rs 1.5 crore in mutual fund through a demand draft number dated March 26, 2008, for Rs 50 lakh and the remaining amount was paid through two cheques.

It was alleged that Deepak had promised to pay back Rs 26 lakh within 30 days of the deposit. The manager, instead of investing Rs 1.5 crore in mutual fund, made the investment in pension plan for his vested interest and did not pay him any profit.

When the complainant demanded the money, the manager issued him a cheque for Rs 4 lakh which bounced. Later, he issued three more cheques, but these also bounced.

Khanna, July 4
Vikrant Shukla, an MBA passout, UPSC aspirant and an employee of Honda showroom in Ludhiana, was arrested for stealing two cars and a motor cycle here today.

A resident of Shiksha Marg, Shukla had recently cleared UPSC examination and had to appear for the interview for the post of Lieutenant with the Army next month at Allahabad.

The police has booked him under Sections 420, 379 and 411 of the IPC.

An intelligent student, Shukla stole his first car, a luxury Honda Civic, in February.

The car was bought from the showroom he was working in. When he went to deliver the car to the customer at Sherpur chowk in Ludhiana, he did not give the duplicate keys and instead kept the same with himself. Later, he stole the car.

Jagraon, July 4
In a clear case of misuse of power, an SDM posted at Ludhiana has “coerced” a school principal to send his daughter and wife abroad with a school trip.

Manjit Kaur, wife of SDM Ludhiana (East) Manpreet Singh Chatwal, is set to accompany students as an “escort” even though she is not a teacher at the school. She is escorting the students on a voluntary basis.

She would only be paying for the air tickets whereas the students are required to pay $2,900, besides tickets, as board and lodging charges. Investigation by The Tribune has revealed that Jashan, daughter of the SDM, is also a part of the tour even though she is a student of Sacred Heart Convent School, Ludhiana. Dr Kuldeep Singh, principal, has shown her as a “casual” student of the school.

The SDM confirmed that his wife and daughter were part of the tour going to the US on July 16. He said his daughter was a student of Sarabha village school of Dr Kuldeep Singh while his son was studying at Sacred Heart in Ludhiana.

He said he knew Dr Kuldeep Singh very well, but Dr Kuldeep Singh had denied he knew the family background of Manjit Kaur and her husband. He said he knew Manjit Kaur since long, but did not know anything about her husband and his occupation. Seven students of Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha International School at Sarabha village, near Raikot, have been selected by the Global Youth Leader Council of the US to visit Washington and New York for a 15-day global youth conference.

Khanna, July 4
Two youths, reportedly jewellers, were killed in an accident when the car in which they were travelling fell into a canal near the Samrala road late last night.

As per reports, Rajiv Kumar and Mukesh Kumar, both residents of Krishna Nagar, were on their way back from Khamano.

As soon as they reached near the Samrala road, the driver lost control over the car, and it fell into the canal. Police officials who reached the spot said it was still to be ascertained who was driving the car and what led to the accident.

The police said the incident took place around midnight. A case in this connection would be registered after the postmortem of the bodies at the local Civil Hospital.

Ludhiana, July 4
The Government of Punjab should compensate the industry for the tremendous loss suffered by it due to short and erratic supply of electricity in the state on the same pattern as it had decided to pay compensation to the farmers at the rate of Rs 4,000 per acre for the damage caused to crops by wild animals in the state. The industry in Punjab has been made to bear insurmountable sufferings due to the ill planning and deficient functioning of the PSEB, a public sector undertaking.

VP Chopra, president, Federation of Punjab Small Industries’ Associations, said the proposal of levying 10 per cent cess on VAT in Punjab will be another blow to the industry and trade of the state as it would render the products of Punjab uncompetitive.

The charge of VAT was not @ 4 per cent on all items here but it was also levied at 12.5 per cent on some items like auto parts, which would affect the sale of such items produced here. Moreover, imposition of cess on tax was not justified as well, which had not been endorsed by the recent 
economic survey of the Government of India.

The industrial policy of the state was still awaited although more than two years of ruling of present government had been covered. “The industrial policy needs to be circulated in the state for comments and suggestions from the quarters concerned prior to its finalisation. The need of the hour is to re-invent the industrial economy of Punjab,” said Chopra.

Sahnewal, July 4
The main market road of Sahnewal with its deep potholes and bumpy ride is the most troublesome stretch here.

Due to absence of recarpeting and poor maintenance, the condition of the road has worsened to the extent of causing major and minor injuries to the commuters especially the two-wheelers that ply in huge numbers on this particular stretch.

Sahnewal town is a major visiting hub for majority of the surrounding villages, including Pawa Khagat, Jugiana, Gobindgarh, Dhadhari, Tibba, Dharour, Dugir, Paddi, Sahgowal, Khanpur etc. But chaos witnessed on this road due to the occasional closure of the level crossing and the broken dusty stretch has reduced the life of shopkeepers to a virtual hell. The residents complain that it is an uncomfortable ride especially at some specific places and one has to apply sudden brakes to cross the bumpy road.

Sahnewal town presents a further pitiable picture when big trolleys, trucks etc, over-brimmed with seasonal produce, in order to reach the grain market, cross through this lone shattered road thus destroying the ‘bit’ left over to an irreparable extent.

The monsoon season plays a havoc as the deep or small holes, filled with rainwater are rendered smoothly even to the drivers’ eyes. Incidents of a two-wheeler drivers suddenly coming across a pothole and loosing balance to the extent of hurting himself and the pillion rider is an occasional happening in the town.

Residents fear that the monsoon is just going to add on to the woes of the commuters. “At night this road assumes a further ghastly strature. Just as one has to be careful while walking in the Maori villages lest one should stumble into a hot water pool here, too, the pedestrian or the two-wheeler riders never know what lies immediately ahead and in the process invites fracture for himself by accidentally falling into one such pit,” rued one of the shopkeepers.

Although the lifting of the toll barrier from Doraha came as a welcome relief for the commuters and shopkeepers but till the time the actual lifting happened, the road had disappeared by the non-stop plying of the toll evading vehicles, both heavy and light, due to the preference of their drivers to take the convenient Sahnewal- Kohara route.

Residents rue that the authorities had been informed several times but nothing has been done so far.

Ramesh Kumar, former nagar panchayat chief, said it had been nearly five years when the road was constructed during the Congress rule under the nabard scheme after which the PWD department did not bother to initiate even minor repair, leave aside its total recarpeting.

Ludhiana, July 4
The special investigation team constituted to investigate the fake stamp paper scam has arrested two more persons in the case.

The two were brothers of one of the prime accused, Bhupinder Kaur Jyoti, who had been arrested a few days ago.

Gobind Singh and Jagjit Singh were arrested after it was revealed during the investigation that they had been helping their sister in preparing fake stamp papers.

Jyoti was running a documentation centre at Dugri and another office in the vicinity, where the fake stamp papers were prepared.

The police is learnt to have confiscated a computer used in preparing fake stamp papers.

The two were produced before the court of Duty Magistrate here today and were remanded in police custody till July 7. Jyoti is already in police remand till July 9.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, July 4
With the legitimacy of stamps papers purchased from vendors under the cloud, land purchasers from villages and towns falling under Ludhiana district are now opting for stamp duty certificate from designated branches of the State Bank of India.

Stamp vendors, fearing monetary loss due to the aversion of clients, have urged the authorities to organise camps for revenue and treasury officials of the division to educate them regarding the identification of fake and genuine stamp papers.

Prospective buyers of small landholdings situated in the towns and villages of Ludhiana district who earlier used to get their sale deeds prepared on stamp papers purchased from stamp vendors are now preferring to get stamp duty certificates issued from designated branches of the SBI.

Though they have to pay Rs 100 as commission besides putting in more labour for purchasing the security document from the treasury branch of the bank in Ludhiana, they consider it worth the effort as it relieves them of the botheration of the legality of traditional stamp duty.

“I needed stamp duty worth Rs 24,000, which I could have purchased from any of the stamp vendors at Payal or Doraha. But I purchased stamp duty certificate from the SBI, as there is no question about its genuineness,” said Gurjit Singh of Sahnewal village.

Munish Sharma, a local deed writer, claimed that many of his clients had approached him with stamp duty certificates purchased from Ludhiana.

Purchasers were also sacred of complications arising out of affidavits demanded from them about the authenticity of stamp papers. “How can we be sure of the authenticity of stamp papers. The authorities, instead of finding methods of verifying genuineness on their own, are shifting responsibility to us,” rued Jagtar Singh of Latala village.

Meanwhile, stamp vendors have urged the administration to organise awareness camps in association with the Indian Security Press, ministry of finance.

Experts from the ISP could educate revenue officials and stamp vendors regarding the identification of fake and genuine stamp papers, they said.

There were two ways of execution of transfer deeds of property at the registrar offices in Ludhiana district. While stamp duty up to Rs 50,000 was paid in the form of stamp papers, higher amounts were deposited in government account maintained at the treasury branch of the SBI. There was little scope of forging the stamp duty certificate, as separate copies of each transactions were being sent from the bank to the state government officials.

Ludhiana, June 4
To curb growing number of accidents at unmanned level crossings, the police along with the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Government Railway Protection Force (GRPF) will spread awareness among the rural population and also provide security at the accident-prone railway crossings.

Strict action will be taken against those who try to cross manned level crossings that are closed just before the train passes.

Anjali Kumar, who has recently taken over the charge of senior divisional security commandant of RPF, Ferozepur division, has initiated a drive against the increasing number of accidents at manned and unmanned level crossings of the division.

According to additional divisional railway manager GS Ghera, there are around 1,000 unmanned level crossings and 5,000 manned level crossings in the division, which includes Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar.

Commandant, Ludhiana, RPF, Gurjasveer Singh said after receiving an encouraging response from Amritsar and Jalandhar, the department had decided to launch an awareness drive here from Monday. The commandant said they aimed at educating the rural folk about staying alert when they crossed an unmanned level crossing.

People who tried to cross the level crossing along with their vehicles by passing underneath manned barriers would be fined under the Motor Vehicle Act, said Gurjasveer Singh.

The initiative to educate children of rural areas would involve the sarpanch of each village. Gurjasveer Singh said they would also involve the GRPF and the police of the respective areas.

“I have talked to GRPF SHO Gian Chand about the drive and he has assured of full support. Talks are also on with the traffic police in charge, as challans under the Motor Vehicle Act will be issued by the traffic police,” said Singh.

Khanna, July 4
A first aid lesson was provided to the police officials today by a team of doctors from Apollo Hospital, Ludhiana.

The doctors imparted education about the ways of handling an accident victim, how to resuscitate a patient and how to get a patient to the hospital.

The doctors also provided first aid kits for nine ambulances and on two highways. DSP headquarters Manjit Singh Brar said the training was useful but it is yet to see how it will prove helpful practically.

The cops have learnt some new techniques. He pointed out that these days the problem arises when the accident victims are entangled in an SUV on highway. “We would call up a team of doctors again to throw some light on the issue,” he added.

Ludhiana, July 4
Biennial general body meeting and elections of the office-bearers of the Income Tax Gazetted officers Association was held here today.

Ravi Bajaj, general secretary, said they had sought a separate transfer policy for promotee officers.

He said the new transfer policy for Group-A officers had been formulated keeping in view only direct recruit officers.

“It failed to appreciate the fact that the service conditions of promotee officer, who constitute 40 per cent of the total IRS strength, are entirely different from that of direct recruits,” he said.

The members also discussed the injustice in pay and allowances and demanded senior scale for ITOs.

SB Shanthy Kumar and Rajesh D Menon, president and general secretary, respectively, of the All-India Income Tax Gazetted officers Association were also present on the occasion.

Ludhiana, July 4
Amid heated arguments here today, the MC core committee decided to make minor alterations in the agenda circulated among councillors for discussion on Monday.

The main topic that dominated the discussions was funds as the finance and contracts committee had already passed development works of more than Rs 200 crore and the MC has no money to undertake these works.

Committee officials stated that the revenue they had been getting was only through VAT from the Punjab government and that too according to 2006 norms.

Apart from it, a spat between senior deputy mayor Praveen Bansal and SAD councillor Pal Singh Grewal was also witnessed over the issue of the allotment of land for a gaushala.

According to the agenda, the site at the Haibowal dairy complex, where a dispensary is being run, should be allotted to Dandi Swami Golok Dham to take care of stray cattle. However, Grewal, with the support of Congress councillor Bharat Bhushan Ashu, rejected the proposal, stating that earlier too there was a cowshed in the area and death of cows were reported.

Even media reports of important issues being given a miss by councillors seems to have had no affect on the MC.

Another issue where SAD-BJP councillors differed was the allotment of land for a police station. A consensus was reached that an agreement may be signed between the police and the MC, where the latter could have the right to ask the former to vacate the land if required.

No objection certificates to businesses being run from houses was also mooted and it was decided to allot certificates so that residents were not harassed by the PSEB.

Meanwhile, officers of the agenda branch, including zonal commissioner Vinod Sharda, were on the receiving end for not divulging the details of issues included in the agenda.

Ludhiana, July 4
Activists of the Communist Party of India held a rally to protest against the hike in diesel and petrol prices at the local railway station here today. They said it would once again lead to inflation and the common man would have to bear the brunt.

Party spokesperson Dr Arun Mitra said: “The excuse of rise in international prices is untenable since when these prices had been drastically reduced in the world market the government had only marginally reduced the prices and, that too, under a lot of pressure from people and Left parties.”

Now with the increase in fuel and transportation charges, prices of daily commodities would once again soar and the common man would be at the receiving end.

Referring to the report by the Arjun Sen Gupta Committee appointed by previous government, which suggested that 77 per cent population lived on less than Rs 20 a day, the speakers said it was no surprise that majority of India’s population was undernourished as minimum cost of three meals was around Rs 50 these days.

The speakers also took strong exception to the government’s plan to give just six gas cylinders a year at control price.

Those present included Ramesh Rattan, Vijay Kumar, Gurnam Sidhu, Kuldip Singh Binder Gurzar Gorea and Gurnam Gill.

Ludhiana, July 4
Counselling sessions of Punjab Agriculture University (PAU), Ludhiana, once again got mired in controversy, here today, when over 400 students from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, alleged that they were asked by the PAU authorities to leave, as they did not possess their mark sheets.

Talking to The Tribune, the students, who had come for admissions to MSc (chemistry) and MSc (basic sciences), said on condition of anonymity that the university authorities had asked them to leave because they did not have their mark sheets. "Our university has not declared the results till date, where do we get the mark sheet from?" questioned a student of GND University.

The students revealed that most of them had secured good ranks in the entrance examinations conducted by PAU, the university had refused to consider them for admission due to absence of their mark sheets.

The counselling session was underway at Pal Auditorium of PAU and the students of Panjab University, Chandigarh, and Punjbai University, Patiala were asked to stay for the counselling as they had their mark sheets with them.

It is pertinent to mention here that in order to take admission to these courses, students need to have their pass out result sheets during the counselling session.

The parents of the students, alleging unnecessary harassment at the hands of PAU authorities, rued that various universities made their counselling schedule keeping in mind the dates of declaration of results of other universities so as to enable the students to apply for admission to different universities.

They said in case the university failed to do so, it should give admission to the students on the basis of the ranks obtained by them in the entrance examination conducted by the university.

Meanwhile, over 100 students of GND University and Punjabi University went to the PAU Vice-Chancellor's office to request for postponing the counselling for MSc(chemistry) and MSc (basic sciences).

However, Vice-Chancellor Dr MS Kang was not in the office, informed a student's father. "We have now been asked to come on Monday and meet the Vice-Chancellor," he said.

The university authorities could not be contacted despite repeated attempts. Registrar of the university Raj Kumar Mahey was said to be out of station.

Ludhiana, July 4
Quality Council of India (QCI) has developed the Accreditation Standard for quality school governance. These accreditation and quality standards will be implemented in Punjab government schools as directed by Director General Schools Education from this year.

According to sources, ten schools from Punjab have been selected for accreditation process. The two schools selected from Ludhiana are Government Senior Secondary Model School, PAU, and Government Senior Secondary School, Galib village.

According to QCI, there are three basic elements for quality in education - management quality, teacher quality and student quality. The school shall develop an accreditation manual describing background of the school, organising structure, linkages/affiliations/ recognitions, profile of senior management, facilities and scope of educational services.

The key parameters are school governance, educational and support processes, including Human Resources, curriculum, delivery of teaching, examinations and assessment, social and career development, ethical values, learning environment, infrastructure, health and safety and finally performance measurement and improvement.

Major issues are children attendance, timely availability of books, pupil teacher ratio, teaching learning process and motivation-level of teacher.

Rating criteria of the schools have five maturity levels based on the scores achieved by the institutions. School scoring less than 75 will get initial maturity level. Schools scoring between 75 and 125 will be rated as reactive. Schools scoring between 125 and 175 will be rated as stable. Schools securing between 175 and 225 will be rated as improving. Schools scoring above 225 will be rated as optimising.

Sanjeev Thapar, principal of Government Model Senior Secondary School told The Tribune that their school has been selected on the basis of good results, good infrastructure and good strength of students. Thapar said they would make the self-assessment report and send it to the QCI.

The HRD Ministry has already introduced NAAC scheme for assessment of the colleges on the basis of which grading of the colleges is done.

Doraha, July 4
The Academic Staff College, Guru Nanak Dev University, is organising a three-week refresher course in the discipline of research methods in social sciences starting from July 17.

Lecturers of various colleges and universities are eligible to attend the course.

Prof HS Bhatia, director of the college said the University Grants Commission, New Delhi, after taking into account the excellent performance, has allocated the course to the ASC of GNDU. He added that since this course is being organised by the ASC for the first time, therefore it is of great importance, more particularly to highlight the importance of research methodology.

“This special interdisciplinary course in social sciences shall make research organised, persistent, systematic, creative, testing oriented and scientific. But this is possible only if the principals and the teachers take keen interest in the course and apply for participation.”

Ludhiana, July 4
After receiving fellowship during the Sardar Kartar Singh Dhaliwal awards, Dr Surjit Patar said Punjabi bhawan is like a heaven for literary persons. Academy's highest award of fellowship was given to Dr Patar and Dr Harnam Singh Shan.

Dr Surjit Singh Patar, Ram Sarup Ankhi, Dr Harnam Shan, Dr Kulwant Singh Grewal, Simrat Gagan, Sukhdev Madpuri, Dr Jaswinder Singh, Inder Singh Khamosh and Dr Joginder Singh Kairon were bestowed upon the award.

A souvenir prepared by Swarnjeet, Surinder Kailey, Surinder Rampuri was also released. Dr Dalip Kaur Tiwana, president of the academy, congratulated the winners.

Mandi Gobindgarh, July 4
Two motorcycle-borne youths allegedly robbed two brothers of a bag containing Rs 10 lakh from a densely populated area here today.

Parveen Kumar and Mukesh Kumar, proprietors of Shiv Shanker Steel Corporation, were going to their Dashmesh Colony home on a scooter (PB 48 B 0851) after collecting the cash from another firm, M/s Makhan Lal Vinod Kumar when two youths, wearing ‘patkas’, rammed their black colour motor cycle into the scooter.

One of the robbers sprinkled chilli in the eyes of Mukesh Kumar, who was holding the bag. The two sped away with the bag containing cash. IG Rajpal Meena, district police chief Dr Kaustabh Sharma, SP (D) Shamasher Singh Boparai, SP (H) Inder Mohan Singh, DSP Raminder Singh later reached the crime scene. 

Ludhiana, July 4
“Game of kabaddi will be promoted at the sub-junior level from schools,” said former minister of Punjab and senior Akali leader and president of the Punjab Kabaddi Association (PKA), Sikander Singh Maluka after the general house meeting of the association, held here today.

He said the association would conduct district as well as state kabaddi championships in the sub-junior, junior and senior categories.

“To give a fillip to the game, around 16 kabaddi academies would be formed in the state,” he said.

The PKA would hold around 32 kabaddi cup tournaments towards the end of this year. As many as eight teams would take part in each tournament.

A five-member panel was formed, which would coordinate with district associations to chalk out programmes to promote the game, he said.

The winners in each event would be given a cash prize of Rs 51,000, while the runners-up would receive a cash prize of Rs 41,000. Each participating team would be given Rs 15,000, he added.

He further said the Senior National Kabaddi Championship would be held in October in Ludhiana. This would be followed by Punjab’s team tour to Pakistan. The Punjab team from Pakistan would visit India in January, he said.

He also informed that the World Kabaddi League would be conducted in November and a delegation of the PKA would call on the Chief Minister of Punjab Parkash Singh Badal in this regard.

Meanwhile, the Junior State Kabaddi Tournament would be held in Bathinda and the championship in the sub-junior section would be played at Jalandhar.

Among the others present in the meeting were Gurdeep Singh Malli, general secretary, PKA, Balwinder Singh Fidda, Pehalwan Gurmail Singh, Paramjit Singh Dala (Moga), Mukesh Inder Singh, principal, BD Sharma, former international kabaddi star and coach, Devi Dyal, Budh Singh Latala, Harbans Singh Datewal, Kewal Singh, Baljit Singh Barnala, Ajaib Singh Mansa, Bahadur Singh Barnala, Balkar Singh, Sadhu Singh, Karnail Singh, Dr Darshan Bari and Balbir Singh.