25032021-LT-01.qxd 3/25/2021 12:23 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana TRIBUNE SONG RELEASED TO MOTIVATE KIDS TO ENROL IN GOVT SCHOOLS The Edu Dept has come up with ‘Aajo chaliye school sarkari’ to encourage more admissions in govt schools. FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY SKY PAGE 2 PAGE 3 OPRAH WITH MEGHAN, HARRY SET TO AIR IN INDIA ON MAR 28 BIG B SENDS BEST WISHES TO MOHANLAL FOR BARROZ The show will be telecast at 8 pm on Colors Infinity. It will also be available on Colors Infinity TV on Voot Select. MAX 29°C | MIN 14°C | YESTERDAY MAX 29°C | MIN 15°C SUNSET WEDNESDAY 6:45 PM PAGE 4 Malayalam superstar Mohanlal, who was recently seen in Drishyam 2, is now all set to don the director’s hat. SUNRISE DAY 6:24 AM THURSDAY | 25 MARCH 2021 | LUDHIANA Ludhiana, March 24 To scale up the Covid vaccination drive, the Deputy Commissioner, Varinder Kumar Sharma, on Wednesday directed the Health Department to set up mobile teams for administrating Covid jabs to everyone above than 45 on their doorstep with special focus on covering labourers in the factories, villagers and people of residential societies from April 1. Presiding over a virtual meeting of the District Task Force, the DC asked officials to prepare a schedule of the mobile teams targeting the migrant workforce in the factories and other industrial units. He said today as many as 6,600 persons have received Covid-19 vaccine shots in the district, the highest in a single day, show the people are coming forward and this momentum needs to be further augmented to break the transmission of the virus. No detailed discussion held; agenda was approved without even reading Tribune News Service MC gives nod to ~1,064-cr Budget MAIN EXPENDITURE Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 24 After heated arguments between councillors of different political parties on the issues like advertisements, NOCs to fuel stations, road construction works, etc, the Municipal Corporation’s House unanimously gave nod to the estimated annual Budget of Rs 1064.85 crore for the financial year 2021-22. No detailed discussion was conducted on the estimated Budget and it was approved even without reading its agenda during the House meeting that was held at Guru Nanak Dev Bhawan on Wednesday. The MC is yet to achieve the Budget target that was fixed for 2020-21. As the House meeting started today, heated arguments were exchanged between Leader of Opposition Harbhajan Singh Dang and some Congress councillors. Dang Area Roads Bridges/projects Streets and drains Streetlights Parks Slum areas Buildings, library, public toilets New works ~40 crore ~20 crore ~35 crore ~2 crore ~7 crore ~1.50 crore ~ 2 crore Maintenance ~16.53 crore ~50 lakh ~10 crore ~15 crore ~6 crore ~50 lakh ~1 crore Councillors raise issue of low income from advertisements in the MC’s House meeting during Budget session in Ludhiana. INCOME SOURCES ■ Share of GST ■ House tax and property tax ■ Municipal tax on electricity ■ Advertisement ■ Licence fee u/s 343 ■ Slaughter house fee ■ Rent and tehbazari ■ Composition fee ~ 500 crore ~ 135 crore ~ 30 crore ~ 15 crore ~ 2.20 crore ~ 1 crore ~ 10 crore ~ 40 crore ■ Development charges, CLU, OTS Total ~ 20 crore ~ 13 crore ~ 8.65 crore ~ 60 crore ~ 90 crore ~ 40 crore ~ 100 crore ~ 1064.85 crore raised questions over low income from advertisement continued on page 2 ■ Building application/regularisation fee ■ Other miscellaneous income ■ Sale of property ■ Income of O&M cell ■ Additional excise duty ■ Loan from bank had demanded zero hour time (question hour) for councillors to discuss various issues. Later, two councillors from each party were given a chance to speak. During the zero hour, the councillors from the SAD, BJP and Lok Insaaf Party CP launches mobile app to find stolen vehicles Police stations to compete with each other Tenant rapes minor girl for months, held Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 24 A mobile application to find the stolen and lost vehicles recovered by the police in the state was launched here on Wednesday. The first-of-its-kind initiative of the Punjab Police developed in collaboration with the Ludhiana Commissionerate Police was launched by the Commissioner of Police (CP), Rakesh Agrawal. The brainchild of the Director General of Police (DGP), Dinkar Gupta, the hi-tech and robust vehicle finder solution, “PP VFS”, was launched as a pilot project in Ludhiana. “To overcome the problem of tracing the recovered vehicles, we have made a mobile app called, “PP VFS”, for the public to find out whether their stolen vehicle has been recovered in any of the police stations across the Ludhiana, March 24 The Ludhiana police have started an initiative where police stations in the district will compete with each other on various parameters. There are 29 police stations, 30 police posts and 12 other units in Ludhiana. Police Commissioner Rakesh Agrawal said, “The idea to organise police station competitions was floated by DGP Dinkar Gupta. The topranked police station will get a reward amount of Rs 3 lakh, the second-ranked police station will get Rs 1 lakh while the third-ranked police station will get a reward of Rs 50,000, besides certificates. Among the police posts, the police post bagging top three spots will get Rs 1 lakh, Rs 50,000 and Rs 25,000 each.” The CP further said there are other police units such as women’s cell, AHT unit, continued on page 2 Police Commissioner Rakesh Agrawal launches the app in Ludhiana on Wednesday. PHOTO ASHWANI DHIMAN state,” said the DGP while , adding that “PP VFS” stands for Punjab Police Vehicle Finder System. Launching the app, the Ludhiana police chief said sometimes a vehicle was stolen and recovered in different police stations or even different districts. “In such cases, public find it difficult to know whether their stolen vehicle has indeed been recovered unless the police contact them,” he explained. “There is also an advanced search system in the app, wherein the public can search their vehicle by uploading the make, model and colour details,” the CP said. Ludhiana, March 24 A 43-year-old Jalandhar man had been raping a 17-year-old girl of Ludhiana for months. He had also made an objectionable video of the girl and was threatening her to make it viral on social media. The matter came to light when the girl attempted to commit suicide by consuming poison. The Daba police arrested the man, identified as Harjinder Singh of Chomo village, near Adampur, Jalandhar. The victim complained to the police that she had been living with her maternal grandparents in Jalandhar for the last five years. The accused was tenant in their house in Jalandhar. The girl used to call the accused uncle. continued on page 2 PHOTO: ASHWANI DHIMAN Tribune News Service 311 fresh cases, 2 succumb to virus Harshraj Singh Mobile teams to vaccinate on doorstep Ludhiana, March 24 Two persons succumbed to the virus while 311 fresh Covid cases were reported from the district in the past 24 hours. The Health Department confirmed six deaths, including two persons from Ludhiana district, one each from Nawanshahr, Jalandhar, Gurdaspur and Kapurthala. In Ludhiana, a 60-year-old man from Shimlapuri and a 76-year-old woman from Jagraon died due to the disease. The department confirmed 354 fresh cases, including 311 from Ludhiana and 43 from other districts. In Ludhiana, three more teachers, one each from Sacred Heart School, BRS Nagar, Government High School, Daad village and GSSS at Ladhowal. Besides, 15 students, including three from GSS School Ladhowal, two from Lala Sarkara Mal School Khanna, one from Nanakan Sahib School in Samrala, three from All Saints College of Physiotherapy, five students from CMC Nurising College and one student from Baba Jaswant Singh College. The number of active case has increased to 2,280 at present. A total of 7,60,461 samples have been taken, out of which 7,23,246 samples were found negative. The total number of patients related to Ludhiana district is 3,17,41 and 5,039 patients belong to other districts/states. The total number of persons who lost their lives including 1,091 people from Ludhiana and 563 from other districts. As many 5,334 samples for Covid-19 test were collected today. The District Administration appealed to the residents to adhere all the safety protocols like wearing masks, maintaining social distance and washing hands frequently. Govt schoolteacher dies A woman teacher of a government school at Sehala village in Samrala died today. Dr Ashwani Chaudhary, MS, DMCH, said the woman was tested positive for Covid-19. However, the Health Department has not confirmed her death due to Covid-19. District Epidemiologist Dr Ramesh Bhagat said he has no information in this regard. COVID-19 CONTROL ROOM ■ For Home Isolation: 78147-64759 ■ For Ambulance Problem: 78143-63850 ■ For Hospital Problem: COVID-19 FIGURES SAMPLES POSITIVE ACTIVE DEATHS 7,60,461 31,741 2,280 113 1,091 62849-12553 ■ For General Problem: 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 Appeal filed against Local Govt Director’s order SBS NAGAR RESIDENTIAL PLOTS Kuldip Bhatia Ludhiana, March 24 Allottees of residential plots in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar Colony of Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) have filed an appeal with the Secretary, Local Government Department, against the decision of the Director, Local Government, Punjab (DLG) which had stipulated that these applicants be allotted alternative residential plots at prevailing collector rate. As per the decision, 114 remaining applicants were not given the benefit of reserve price prevailing in 1999 — when their allotment was withheld as the con- cerned land had been earmarked for now defunct ‘City Centre’ project — which was much below the collector rates in force in the year 2015 when alternative plots were allotted to them in the colony. In the appeal, some half a dozen aggrieved allotted have cited a letter written by the Directorate of Local Government, Punjab (memo no S-2-DLG-TSC-2021/7886 dated January 27, 2021) to the Punjab State Information Commission with regard to appeal case 2487/2020 which clearly stated that there was no provision for charging prevailing collector rate to applicants allotted residential plot on the basis of their long-pending applications. continued on page 2 Work on int’l airport at Halwara picks up pace Govt to widen road leading Tender for new terminal finalised; boundary wall, approach road almost 50% complete Nitin Jain TERMINAL CONCLAVE SPREAD IN 135 ACRES Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 24 Ludhiana, known as the Manchester of India, will soon have its own international airport. The facility is coming up at the Halwara Air Force Station, which is one of the oldest frontline airbases of the Indian Air Force (IAF). While the tender document for the construction of new terminal building and associated works has been finalised, the construction of boundary wall and approach road is underway and almost 50 per cent complete. The tentative cost of the civil terminal conclave to be spread across 135 acres, worked out by the Public Works Department (Buildings & Roads), is Rs 58 crore, which is subject to change by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). Rs 11.31 crore is being spent on the construction of 630- ■ The tentative cost of the civil terminal conclave to be spread across 135 acres, worked out by the Public Works Department (Buildings & Roads), is ~58 crore, which is subject to change by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). ■ A total of ~11.31 cr is being spent on the construction of 630-mlong boundary wall (~3.01 c) & 5.1-km-long & 5.5-m-wide approach road (~8.3 cr). Work on full pace to construct the approach road to upcoming international airport at Halwara on Wednesday. metre-long boundary wall (Rs 3.01 crore) and 5.1-km-long and 5.5-metre-wide approach road (Rs 8.3 crore). Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan reviewed the progress of the project at a virtual meeting with the district officials here recently and discussed the issues concerning the ongoing work, Deputy Commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma told The Tribune here on Wednesday. The Chief Secretary directed the district administration to ensure quality control and timely completion of the project. “We have fixed November 10 as the target date for the completion of the project, following which the process to start the international flights c m y b from here will commence,” disclosed the Deputy Commissioner. He said the tender document for terminal building, prepared by the PWD (B&R), was sent to the AAI for comments and observations, following which the work would be allotted likely in May. The estimated time limit for the completion of work was six months. With the construction of the approach road and boundary wall almost at the halfway mark, they were targeted to be complete by May 31 (road) and June 9 (wall). The decision to build a new international airport in the Maximum City of Punjab was taken after the state government had raised the demand with the Centre sometime back, following which the AAI conducted a pre-feasibility study of the Halwara IAF continued on page 2 to Sukhdev’s ancestral house Ludhiana, March 24 The Punjab Government has deputed SDM Dr Baljinder Singh to acquire land for widening the road leading to ancestral the house of Shaheed Sukhdev Thapar at Mohalla Naughara from Chaura Bazaar area. According to the information, around 40 sq yards area would be acquired for the project. On Tuesday, Ludhiana DC Varinder Kumar Sharma had announced the project. The All-India Shaheed Sukhdev Thapar Memorial Trust had been demanding for a direct way from Chaura Bazaar to the birth place of Shaheed Sukhdev Thapar at Mohalla Naughara for a long time. The SDM said there is a structure on a piece of land which is to be acquired. “We will follow the required process to acquire the land”, he said. In 2019, the Municipal Cor- A havan being held at the ancestral house of Shaheed Sukhdev at Naughara in Ludhiana. PHOTO: INDERJEET VERMA poration had taken action to remove the alleged encroachment near Chaura Bazaar after members of the trust had demanded from the administration to make direct way to the martyr’s ancestral house. Ashok Thapar, kin of Shaheed Sukhdev Thapar, said, “We have been raising the demand to make a direct way from Chaura Bazaar to the house for a long time. The government has also assured us that a direct way will be made soon. The government has also announced to renovate the martyr’s birthplace. If the direct way is constructed from Chaura Bazaar, the visitors can easily reach the birthplace of Shaheed Sukhdev Thapar.” — TNS