24022021-LT-01.qxd 2/24/2021 12:32 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana TRIBUNE MAN DUPED OF ~6L ON PROMISE OF MBBS SEAT IN RUSSIAN VARSITY Kingpin of the gang, a woman staying in Amritsar, lured victim’s family to transfer money in various bank accounts. FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY Khanna man shot dead by robbers in USA PAGE 2 NOT AFFECTED BY REJECTIONS, SAYS KRISHNA KAURAV PAGE 3 Krishna talks about his acting career so far, how he handles rejection and shares details of his upcoming movies. MAX 29°C | MIN 14°C | YESTERDAY MAX 29°C | MIN 13°C SUNSET WEDNESDAY 6:21 PM SUNRISE THURSDAY 6:57 AM Two fatalities; 81 +ve in district Tribune News Service Regularise contract staff, demand unions Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 23 Members of various unions met AK Sinha, Principal Secretary, Department of Local Government, Punjab, and raised issues related to employees. Members of the Municipal Employees Sangharsh Committee, Ludhiana, submitted a memorandum in this regard to the Principal Secretary. Committee chairman Ashwani Sahota and president Jasdev Singh Sekhon said they had sought regularisation of services of contractual employees. They demanded that the rank of ‘safai sainik’ should be awarded to all safai karamcharis and sewer men in the Continued on page 2 Ludhiana, February 23 Two persons lost their lives to Covid, while 81 tested positive for the virus which also included five school and college students and seven school teachers in the district today. With this, the total positive cases in Ludhiana district have reached 26,782 and the death toll in the district has reached 1,023. Today, five students who tested positive belong to GMT College Girls Kitchlu Nagar, Government School Chauta, Government School Kailpur, Punjab Public School Samrala and ITI College Samrala. Seven teachers who tested positive today included one teacher from Government School Model Town, one teacher from Government School Dhandari Khurd, two teachers from Government School Chauta, one teacher from Punjab Public School Samrala, one teacher from Government High School Kot Mangal Singh and one teacher from GHG Khalsa School Ahmedgarh. In addition, two staff of the Police Department, two staff COVID-19 CONTROL ROOM ■ For Home Isolation: 78147-64759 ■ For Ambulance Problem: 78143-63850 ■ For Hospital Problem: COVID-19 FIGURES SAMPLES POSITIVE ACTIVE DEATHS 62845-31852 Weblink where residents can check real time status of vacant and filled beds in all hospitals: https://ludhiana.nic.in/notice/covid-19bed-status-in-ludhiana-district ■ On TRIBUNE PHOTO: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN nurses from the DMCH tested positive today. Two patients who lost their lives today were both 57year-old males and belonged to Dhandra Road and Bajurg village. One patient had the co-morbidity of hypertension and diabetes. The total samples collected till date are 6,52,551, while the reports of 1,226 are pending. Now, there are 442 active cases and 70 were sent to home quarantine today. Deputy Commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma appealed to the residents to Tuesday, five students who tested positive belong to GMT College Girls Kitchlu Nagar, Government School Chauta, Government School Kailpur, Punjab Public School Samrala and ITI College Samrala. ■ Seven teachers who tested positive today included one teacher from Government School Model Town, one teacher from Government School Dhandari Khurd, two teachers from Government School Chauta, one teacher from Punjab Public School Samrala, one teacher from Government High School Kot Mangal Singh and one teacher from GHG Khalsa School Ahmedgarh. adhere to all safety protocols like wearing masks, maintaining social distance and washing hands frequently. District epidemiologist Dr Ramesh said people had started adopting careless attitude towards Covid which should not be done. “Both teachers and students need to be careful and adopt all necessary precautions while attending the school. They should cover their faces with masks and wash their hands frequently. Parents wary of sending kids to school p2 WEDNESDAY | 24 FEBRUARY 2021 | LUDHIANA Major power theft detected in Focal Point colony ~27L fine on garment dealer, FIR lodged Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 23 Acting swiftly on a tip-off, the enforcement team of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) detected a major power theft by an industrial consumer in the Mahavir Jain Colony of Focal Point here today. Besides imposing a penalty of ~27 lakh, a case has been lodged against the garment manufacturer. Sources said the consumer had connected heavy load of 45 kw through a power cable of 20-m length direct from the distribution transformer. The consumer, who was running a garment manufacturing unit, has been penalised ~27 lakh on account of power theft, and an FIR under Section 135 of the Indian Electricity Act, 2003, has been registered against the consumer. “The involvement of the local PSPCL staff in the ‘ADOPT ZERO TOLERANCE TOWARDS POWER THEFT’ PSPCL CMD A Venu Prasad had already given clear direction to the enforcement wing for adopting zero tolerance towards power theft and corruption cases in the corporation. power theft was also being probed,” said PSPCL Chief Engineer, Enforcement, Jasbir Singh. He added that any official found involved would face strict disciplinary proceedings. PSPCL CMD A Venu Prasad had already given clear direction to the enforcement wing for adopting zero tolerance towards power theft and corruption cases in the corporation. Completion of projects: Weekly targets fixed Principal Secy visits village DC reviews progress, tells officials to finish ongoing projects on time Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 23 In a bid to ensure the timely completion of the development projects initiated by the state government, the Deputy Commissioner (DC) Varinder Kumar Sharma today fixed the weekly targets of various departments which he would review on a regular basis. Chairing a review meeting with officials of different departments at Bachat Bhawan here, the DC directed the officials to complete the ongoing development projects within a month and submit utilisation certificates (UCs) for the funds they had received for the works. He said the projects being undertaken with the help of funds from the village panchayats, Finance Commission and the Rural Development kitty should be completed within the stipulated timeline while announcing that he would hold a weekly review on the progress of the works. The DC also fixed the weekly targets of the over plan to shift dairies Residents to discuss civic body’s proposal tomorrow Tribune News Service DC interacts with officials during a review meeting in Ludhiana on Tuesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO departments concerned so that pending works could be completed in a timebound manner. He further asked the officials to expedite the pace of the ongoing works to alleviate rural and urban distress. He said scaling up performance would foster the development of the rural and urban areas. Sharma asked the officials to leave no stone Protest against overflowing sewage Ludhiana, February 23 Members of the Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) staged a protest against the Punjab Government, Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana, and the MLA concerned for allegedly not paying attention to address the problem of overflowing sewers on Jassian Road in Ludhiana. They demanded that the problem should be resolved at the earliest, otherwise they would be forced to intensify their agitation. Residents said the matter regarding the overflowing sewage was under the notice of the MC officials concerned, but nothing had been done to provide them relief. The LIP leader Randhir Singh Sibia said several mishaps had taken place as 6,52,551 26,782 442 24 1,023 62849-12553 ■ For General Problem: UPWARD TREND A cop puts a mask on the face of a child as the police intensify checking to implement the Covid-19 guidelines in Ludhiana. PAGE 4 Noted artist Reena Chopra has made a special painting to commemorate Parineeti's forthcoming release. Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 23 A 31-year-old man, Gurpreet Singh, a resident of Chakohi village near Khanna, was Gurpreet shot dead by Singh armed robbers in the USA’s Sacramento city. Robbers rained several bullets on him in a loot attempt at a store. Gurpreet was working in the store named 7- Eleven located in the city. Gurdarshan Singh, sarpanch, Chakohi village, said Gurpreet had gone to the USA about two years ago on work permit and was working in the store as a clerk. He had married six years ago and had a five-year-old son. Singh said last night, Gurpreet had a scuffle with the robbers at the store and they shot him dead on the spot. He was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital but in vain. As per the sarpanch, a few minutes before the incident, Gurpreet was talking to his wife Sukhpreet Kaur and he suddenly hung up the phone, saying he would call her back soon, but unfortunately that call turned out to be his last one. The family has, meanwhile, initiated talks with the authorities to bring back Gurpreet’s body to his native village in Khanna. The incident was captured on CCTV cameras. PARINEETI’S MOTHER DRAWS A SPECIAL PAINTING FOR HER unturned to achieve the set targets. He made it clear that any type of laxity in these works was unwarranted and undesirable, adding that the constant monitoring of target achievements would be done regularly. The DC asked the officials to adopt a multipronged strategy to ensure that people were benefited from these policies and programmes of the state government. Sharma also reviewed the progress of various schemes, including Smart Village Campaign, Urban Environment Improvement Programme, Basera, Jal Jiwan Mission and Rural Transformation. ADC (Development) Sandeep Kumar, Additional MC Commissioner Rishipal Singh and DDLG Amit Bamby were present on the occasion. Ludhiana, February 23 Principal Secretary, Department of Local Government, Punjab, AK Sinha, along with MC chief Pardeep Kumar Sabharwal and officials from different departments visited Gorsian Kadar Baksh village wherein the civic body has planned to shift dairies from city areas. Sinha also talked to residents of the village regarding the MC’s proposal of shifting of dairies to Gorsian Kadar Baksh, which is located at a distance of around 33 km from Ludhiana. According to information, panchayat members have decided to hold a session on Thursday to conduct a discussion on the MC’s proposal. MC Chief Pardeep Kumar Sabharwal said everything was positive regarding the proposal for shifting of the dairies. Officials of the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority, PPCB, Irrigation Department and other departments were present. MC Superintending Engineer Rajinder Singh said there was a plan to shift the dairies on around 374 acres of land at the village. “The residents said they would hold a mahapanchayat in the village to take a decision on the proposal,” he said. The Superintending Engineer said: “The Principal Secretary told the village residents about benefits of the project under which dairies from the city would be shifted to the village. He said the project was in public interest and a veterinary hospital would also be set up after shifting of the dairies. Employment opportunities will be generated. A plant will also be set up for handling cow dung.” According to a report prepared by the MC, there are two dairy complexes in the city — Haibowal Dairy complex, which is spread on around 179 acres, and the other located on around 45 acres on Tajpur Road in Ludhiana. The MC has planned to shift around 44,000 cattle from two dairy complexes and thousands of cattle from other sites. Earlier, a high-powered committee under the chairmanship of Mayor Balkar Singh Sandhu was formed to take a decision on the dairies. In December 2020, members of the committee had taken a decision for shifting the dairies from the city to Gorsian Kadar Baksh and a report in this regard was sent to the Principal Secretary of the Department of Local Government, Punjab. A resolution regarding the shifting of the dairies is likely to be presented before the MC House soon. Inspect ongoing work at Jamalpur STP Principal Secretary AK Sinha and MC Commissioner Pardeep Kumar Sabharwal also inspected the ongoing work at the Jamalpur sewerage treatment plant under the Rejuvenation of Buddha Nullah project. Meanwhile, they also planted a sapling along nullah near Chand Cinema here today. Traffic chaos rules Basti Jodhewal Chowk Many times fire tenders get stuck in traffic; more crossing points, underpass needed Residents protest against overflowing sewage on Jassian Road. sewage was getting collected under the railway bridge. "Many vendors from the Haibowal side use this stretch to reach Sabji Mandi and they face inconvenience. There is no check on snatching incidents on this stretch. If the sewer problem is not solved, we will intensify our agitation", he said. Balwant Singh of the LIP said, “People are suffering a lot. Bike riders and cyclists, generally, lose balance here and fall while passing through the stretch due to the accumulated water. Even some children had been injured in mishaps in the past. The authorities should act fast in this regard.”— TNS BLACK SPOTS PART-III Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 23 Basti Jodhewal Chowk located on the 5National Highway44 is also one of the deadly black spots declared by the Ludhiana police. As per a study conducted by the police, as many as c m y b Basti Jodhewal Chowk in Ludhiana. PHOTO: ASHWANI DHIMAN nine persons have lost their lives at the spot in three years (2016, 2017 and 2018) after they were hit by speeding vehicles. Most of these victims include pedestrians, cyclists and two-wheeler riders. The construction work of Rahon Road at Basti Jodhewal is on for the past few years, which is causing traffic congestion near Jodhewal Chowk. Service lanes are not constructed in a proper way on both sides of the road. Encroachments and wrong parking of vehicles on the road are also adding to traffic woes. There is only one crossing point under the bridge to pass through Basti Jodhewal Chowk and on both sides of the point, there is a 12X12 sq ft area, which is left unpaved and restricted for traffic movement due to which the width of road is not sufficient for vehicles to pass. The Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana, has encroached the service lanes on both sides of the road for dumping garbage. Road leading towards Shivpuri or the Rahon side, where a large number of industries exist, hardly remain free from traffic hurdles. Many times, fire tenders get stuck in traffic at the chowk. Continued on page 2