01022023-LT-01.qxd 2/1/2023 12:47 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune NETFLIX TO CELEBRATE YASH CHOPRA'S 50-YEAR LEGACY DIRECTOR TARSEM SINGH SHOOTS FIRST FILM IN INDIA Netflix is set to celebrate filmmaker Yash Chopra’s cultural legacy in series titled The Romantics. P3 POOR HEALTH FOUND IN KIDS OF LOWER, MIDDLE CLASS FAMILIES Mobile health teams deployed under RSBK reported poor health of a majority of kids between 6 and 18 years. P2 Hollywood director Tarsem Singh recently shot his first feature film in India titled Dear Jassi. P4 » » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 22°C | MIN 7°C YESTERDAY MAX 22°C | MIN 11°C SUNSET WEDNESDAY 6.01 PM SUNRISE THURSDAY 7.18 AM WEDNESDAY | 1 FEBRUARY 2023 | LUDHIANA Objections raised over construction of OHSRs on green belts Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 31 A meeting pertaining to objections against the construction of overhead service reservoirs (OHSRs) was held at the MC’s Zone D office here on Tuesday. During the meeting, members of the Council of Engineers raised objections over the OHSRs proposed to be constructed on the land of parks or green belts for the upcoming 24x7 canal-based water supply project. Kapil Arora and Mohit Jain from the Council of Engineers, an NGO, and another activist, Kuldeep Singh Khaira, said today’s meeting was supposed to be conducted by the MC Commissioner but it was later held by a joint commissioner. Raising objections, the members of the Council of Engineers alleged that incomplete procedure was adopted by the Municipal Corporation for calling the objections. They alleged public notices had not been displayed in parks where new OHSRs were supposed to be constructed. They objected to the OHSRs which were proposed to be constructed on the land of parks/green belts. They claimed that these would further decrease green areas left for the better health of Ludhiana. A number of green belts and parks were under encroachments. Further, decrease in the area of green belts would be an act against the “clean air action plan” of Ludhiana too, they alleged. They demanded that the corporation should make alternative arrangements and find another suitable place to construct such OHSRs. “In case, there is no government property available in the vicinity of the proposed areas, the government should purchase or acquire vacant land for constructing the OHSRs,” they claimed. No fresh virus case Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 31 No fresh case of Covid-19 was confirmed here on Tuesday. As per the Department of Health and Family Welfare, 1,13,638 positive cases of the virus have been confirmed in the district. The department has confirmed 3,018 deaths due to the virus so far. COVID FIGURES SAMPLES 40,67,844 POSITIVE 1,13,638 DEATH 3,018 EPFO recovers ~33 lakh from Two more members of extortiongang in police net 50 defaulting establishments Proceedings initiated to attach properties of remaining defaulters Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 31 The Ludhiana Regional Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has recovered a sum of Rs 32.96 lakh from 50 defaulting establishments during a month-long drive to recover dues and initiate penal action against defaulters. Besides, proceedings have been initiated to attach the properties and bank accounts of remaining non-payer establishments who had failed to clear dues till January 31. These defaulters will face strict penal action as per law. The penal action entails attachment of movable/ immovable properties of the defaulting establishments and employers, appointment of receivers, attachment of bank accounts, receiving amount from third party dues, arrests and detentions of defaulters in civil prisons and filing of cases under appropriate sections of relevant provisions. Regional Provident Fund Commissioner-1 (RPFC-1) Saurabh Swami told The Tribune here on Tuesday that the EPFO Regional office in Ludhiana had declared January as recovery month, during which a TOP 5 DEFAULTERS ESTABLISHMENT Rajit Paints Ltd GS Auto Comp Pvt Ltd Govind Rubber Ltd JSM Constructions Nalanda Woollen Pvt Ltd DUES 89,68,515 75,90,243 22,29,915 18,73,123 11,27,976 (Source: EPFO, amount in rupees) DUES RUN INTO CRORES As per initial estimates, the amount of dues from defaulting establishments run into crores of rupees, which, if recovered, will give a big boost to the state exchequer. NON-PAYERS TO FACE ACTION ❝ Legal proceedings and penal action have been initiated as per Sections 8B to 8G of the Employees’ Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952, against all remaining defaulting establishments to recover their pending statutory dues immediately. Saurabh Swami, RPFC-1, LUDHIANA ❞ POSSIBLE PENAL ACTION ■ Attachment of movable/ immovable properties ■ Appointment of receivers ■ Attachment of bank accounts ■ Receiving amount from third sum of Rs 32.96 lakh had been recovered from 50 defaulting establishments. He said 37 revenue recovery certificates had been party dues ■ Arrests and detentions in civil prisons ■ Filing of cases under appropriate sections closed in January. With this, a total of 156 revenue recovery certificates had been closed during the current financial year up to January 31, of which 117 revenue recovery certificates pertained to the 2021-22 fiscal. “Special focus had been laid to recover demands from top defaulting establishments like Rajit Paints Limited, GS Auto Comp Private Limited, Govind Rubber Limited, JSM Constructions and Nalanda Woollen Private Limited,” Swami said. He added that a sum of Rs 20.17 lakh had been recovered by attaching the bank account of the directors of M/s GS Auto Comp Pvt Ltd. Besides, a sum of Rs 5 lakh had also been received from M/s JSM Constructions. While revenue recovery certificate in respect of Rajit Paints had been transferred to the regional office in Bathinda, prohibitory orders had been issued against Nalanda Woollen Mills through the Noida regional office for speedy recovery of arrear demand. Another prohibitory order had also been issued in respect of Govind Rubber to attach the movable property of the establishment. Swami appealed to all defaulting establishments to deposit assessed amounts without delay to escape penal action. Police officials address mediapersons in Ludhiana on Tuesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 31 In an alleged extortion case in which a member of international extortion gang, Jagtar Singh, alias Jagga, of Feroke village, Zira, had recently suffered a bullet injury during an encounter with officials of the Ludhiana rural police in Jagraon, the police yesterday nabbed two other members of the gang identified as Amandeep Singh, alias Amna, and Sukhwinder Singh, alias Sukha, both residents of Chuharchak village in Moga. The gang is allegedly being operated by Canada-based terrorist Arsh Dalla and his accomplices based in Phillipines. Notably on January 22, Jagtar and his accomplice Amandeep had come to receive an extortion amount of Rs 1.5 lakh from a provisional store owner of Jagraon. Dalla and his aides staying in Manila, namely Manpreet Peeta and Amrik Singh, had demanded Rs 15 lakh extortion from the trader and they had sent the two suspects, who are also members of their gang, to collect part of the extortion amount. Since the Jagraon police was aware that the gangsters would come to collect extortion, a trap was already laid under the leadership of DSP Dalbir Singh. When a bag containing the extortion amount was received by them, the police started chasing the duo. During the chase, shots were exchanged between the police and gangsters. One of the gangsters, Jagtar, had suffered a bullet injury on his feet due to which he was arrested and his accomplice Amandeep had managed to flee the spot. SSP Ludhiana (rural) Harjeet Singh said besides Amandeep and Jagtar, Sukhwinder was also arrested as he had sent Amandeep along with Jagtar to receive the extortion amount. “We will seek their police remand to probe the case fur- ther and more disclosures are expected from the nabbed suspects. Their past record is also being scanned,” the SSP said. Manila-based Dalla’s aide Amy also booked SSP Ludhiana (rural) Harjeet Singh said during the questioning of the suspects, role of another suspect in the extortion racket Amritpal Singh, alias Amy Manila, a native of Chand Nawan, Moga, at present staying in Manila, had also cropped up and he was also booked in the already registered case. “Sukhwinder was in touch with Dalla and other members of the Dalla gang staying in Manila, including Amy. So far, no past criminal record of Sukhwinder has been found but he has been operating the extortion gang here at the behest of Dalla and others, “the SSP said. Manpreet Singh, alias Peeta, and Amrik Singh based in Manila (both close aides of Arsh Dalla), were already booked in the extortion case in the past. Minor girl raped at 500 children, parents given helmets RTA graft case: Bail plea cremation ground under ‘Ride to Safety’ programme of ‘agent’ Sukhi dismissed Ludhiana, January 31 The Sarabha Nagar police yesterday registered a case of rape against a boy who had allegedly sexually exploited a 15-yearold girl at the cremation ground of Badewal Awana village. The suspect is also a minor. The complainant, the girl’s mother, told the police that her daughter works as a domestic help at a house in Badewal. On January 29, the suspect had gone to that house and told the girl to accompany him as her aunt was not well and she had called her. “Later, he forcibly took my daughter to the cremation ground where he sexually exploited her. He told her not to reveal about the incident to anyone, else he will kill her. She garnered courage and informed me about the sexual assault. Following which, we filed a police complaint and yesterday, the police registered a case against him,” she said. 15-yr-old raped for over 2 months, suspect held The Shimlapuri police yesterday arrested a boy who had allegedly raped a 15-year-old girl for over two months. The suspect, also a minor, is a native of Jharkhand. He was staying in Ludhiana. The girl’s mother told the police that he was their neighbour. He had been sexually exploiting her for the past over two months. A few days ago, she revealed that he had developed sexual relationship with her several times after threatening her. “I informed the police when I came to know about the matter,” the complainant said. A case has been registered. — TNS Ludhiana, January 31 The city traffic police and a private insurance company conducted a ‘Ride to Safety’ rally in Ludhiana, with the aim to raising awareness about roadsafety measures. A total of 500 ISI-marked helmets were distributed among children and parents on the occasion. The step was taken by the company under its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative. Joint Commissioner of Police (JCP) Saumya Mishra said around 250 students and 250 parents from nearby schools participated in the rally and were given ISI-marked helmets. “More than 500 helmets were distributed at the rally to kids and parents. The company tried to bring about a behavioural change in par- JCP Saumya Mishra gives a helmet to a student during an event in Ludhiana on Tuesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN ents and children about road safety through direct contact programmes. Since the inception of the programme in September 2015, the company has touched 2,75,000 lives by creating awareness for life-saving road safety rules and the need for motor insurance from a formative age,” JCP Mishra added. The JCP addressed a gathering and apprised students and parents about the benefits of wearing helmets. She encouraged the gathering to further motivate near and dear ones to wear helmets. — TNS Ludhiana, January 31 The Court of Additional Sessions Judge Dr Ajit Attri today dismissed the anticipatory bail application filed by the alleged agent Balwinder Singh, alias Lucky, who faces accusations of collecting bribe money for RTA Dhaliwal from transporters. Earlier, the same court had dismissed three anticipatory bail applications moved by transporters, apart from dismissing the regular bail application of PCS officer Narinder Singh Dhaliwal, Regional Transport Authority (RTA), Ludhiana, who was arrested in the case on January 6. Dismissing the bail plea, the court held: “There is every possibility that with the progress of the investigation, more accused could be arrested in the case because there seems to be a possibility of much bigger scam than it appears at this stage. There appears to be a long trail of events awaiting further investigation in the case. Therefore, the arguments of the counsel for the accused have no force.” In the bail application, Sukhi had claimed himself to be innocent and said he had been falsely implicated in the case. He had submitted that he did not indulge in any corrupt practice as was being alleged. However, the Vigilance Bureau has made specific allegations and in their support, produced the statement of the Home Guard jawan attached with the RTA, who had made statement before a court regarding the alleged malpractices involving the present ‘agent’. — OC Industrialists, traders pin high hopes Two arrested with 250 gm of heroin UNION BUDGET 2023-24 Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 31 The Union Government is all set to present the Budget tomorrow and businessmen and traders have high hopes from the annual financial statement. Taxpayers are hoping that the current basic exemption limit of Rs 2.5 lakh will be increased to Rs 5 lakh under both tax regimes. The current threshold of Rs 10 lakh for the 30 per cent tax bracket may also be raised to Rs 20 lakh, said CA Mantosh Gupta, adding that currently, the taxpayers can claim a deduction for interest paid up to Rs 2 lakh on home loan. The limit may be revisited as EMIs have reached highest in the past several months due to RBI’s changes in the repo rate. Besides, many traders feel that GST rates of 28 per cent category may be reviewed to bring down rates of some items to 18 per cent to increase the overall collection and decrease theft/avoidance of tax. The GST rates of textile category should not be changed. Tarun Jain Bawa from the Textile Association, Bahadurke Road, said the textile manufacturing business, which is highly labour intensive, has gone down drastically during the past two years. “One basic reason is that raw cotton prices in the country are higher than the average international prices. To increase the textile production for domestic as well as export market, the import duty on raw cotton should be reduced/abolished to bring parity in international prices and become competitive,” said Bawa. Businesses, domestic as well exports, especially of MSMEs, since 2020 have been slow due to various reasons. Hence, the income have gone down drastically. Many businessmen suggested that rate of income tax of proprietorship partnership companies and individuals be brought down to 25 per cent. This way the number of taxpayers will also increase with an overall increase in the tax collection. The mega textile park at Mattewara in Ludhiana refused by the government should be reinstated on a suitable land in consultation with the textile industry. c m y b Ludhiana, January 31 The CIA and the anti-narcotics wing of the city police today nabbed two persons and recovered 250 gm of heroin from their possession in two separate cases. In the first case, the CIA team, led by its in-charge inspector Beant Juneja, nabbed a man and seized 200 gm of heroin from him. The suspect has been identified as Sandeep Singh, alias Sanju (28), of Zira. A case under the NDPS Act was registered against them. Inspector Juneja in a statement issued said the police party was present on the Chandigarh road to keep a The suspects in Ludhiana police custody on Tuesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO tab over smugglers where on suspicion the pedestrian was stopped for checking. During frisking, 200-gm heroin was seized from his possession. He said during preliminary questioning, the suspect admit- ted that he was into the smuggling trade for the past around eight months and he had entered into the illegal trade to become rich in a short time. The smuggler runs a cars spare parts shop in Zira. He also has a criminal past as two cases of opium and heroin smuggling were also registered against him in the past by the Fazilka and Ferozepur police and after coming out on bail in July 2021, he again started the trade, Juneja said. In the other incident, the anti-narcotics cell arrested Gaurav Batra of the Rahon road area and seized 50 gm of heroin and Rs 10,000 drug money from him. SI Tamanna Devi said the suspect was nabbed from Sunder Nagar and after registering a case under the NDPS Act, further probe was launched in the case. — TNS