25022023-LT-01.qxd 25-02-2023 00:57 Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune PSPCL CONTRACTUAL STAFF STAGE DHARNA, FLAY CM RAM APPEARS ON TALK SHOW GOOD MORNING AMERICA AKSHAY KUMAR READY TO SHUN CANADIAN PASSPORT CHB&W staff of PSPCL staged a dharna to press their demand for regularisation of contractual workers. P2 RRR is going places ever since its release, especially the way the West has hailed the Indian film. P3 Akshay has become hot topic of trolls ever since netizens discovered that he holds a Canadian passport. P4 » » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 29°C | MIN 11°C YESTERDAY MAX 28°C | MIN 11°C SUNSET SATURDAY 6.21 PM SUNRISE SUNDAY 6:57 AM SATURDAY | 25 FEBRUARY 2023 | LUDHIANA Peddler arrested, heroin seized Tribune News Service Over 80,000 stray canines sterilised since 2015 in city Residents in various areas complain no relief from menace so far Harshraj Singh Ludhiana, February 24 The city police today arrested a smuggler and seized 85 gm of heroin from his possession. The suspect has been identified as Gagandeep Gill, alias Guggu, of Peeru Banda Mohalla. A case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act was registered against him. ADCP (Crime) Rupinder Kaur Sran said acting on a tip-off, the anti-narcotics cell conducted a raid in the Salem Tabri area and nabbed a peddler. The police seized 85 gm of heroin, Rs 7,000 drug money and a digital weighing machine from him. The man had a criminal past as a case of drug smuggling was already registered against him in the past at the Tabri police station. After coming out on bail, he continued to sell drugs, the ADCP said. Now, a police remand of the suspect would be sought to bust the entire supply line. Another undertrial contracts virus Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 24 Under multi-phases of the ongoing programme that was first launched on February 25, 2015, the Municipal Corporation (MC), Ludhiana, claimed to have sterilised 80,670 stray dogs in the city till date. But residents of various city areas have been complaining about the stray dog menace. According to information collected from the MC office, sterilisation of 51,583 stray dogs was done between 2015 and June 2021. After the construction of the new building of the MC’s Animal Birth Control (ABC) centre at Haibowal, another phase of the programme was launched in June 2021 under which 29,087 more stray dogs have been sterilised to date. Notably, a ‘V’ shape cut is marked on dog’s ear once the sterilisation process is done. The MC aims to complete the ongoing phase of the programme by March 31, 2023. However, no actual data is available that how many stray dogs are yet to be sterilised in the city. A former member of the Ludhiana West Grievances Redressal Committee and resident of Rishi Nagar, Satish Thaman, said even years after the launch- There is a need to take steps to prevent dog-bite incidents. ASHWANI DHIMAN NO DATA ABOUT CANINES YET TO BE STERILISED Notably, a ‘V’ shape cut is marked on dog’s ear once the sterilisation process is done. The MC aims to complete the ongoing phase of the programme by March 31, 2023. However, no actual data is available that how many stray dogs are yet to be sterilised in the city. ing of the sterilisation project, it seems to be no relief from the stray dog menace in the city. “A large number of incidents have been reported wherein stray dogs attacked people, including children and the elderly. Stray canines can be commonly seen chasing cyclists or two-wheeler riders in streets. The Centre and state governments must take steps to construct dog shelters in every area to prevent dog-bite cases. Moreover, vaccination of dogs must be ensured for the prevention of rabies and other diseases,” he said. When the programme was launched in 2015, the MC initially aimed to sterilise 25K stray dogs at an estimated cost of Rs 2 crore within one year. Later, the programme was extended due to the estimated presence of more stray dogs in large numbers in the city as per information. A former councillor, Inder Aggarwal, said: “When the mission that aimed to sterilise stray dogs had been launched eight years ago, we wanted that the project work to be carried out ward wise but it was not done like that. Thus, the mission seems incomplete today. The population of stray dogs is seemingly increasing in the city as a number of stray canines have not been sterilised to date. A four-year child was recently mauled to death by stray dogs somewhere in the country. It is also a national issue. There is a dire need to take concrete steps to prevent such incidents.” A dog lover, Major Amarjit Singh (retd), said: “We feel bad whenever any stray dog bite incident occurs. But, we can’t say every stray dog attacks or bites. Stray canines must not be provoked at all what I believe. There is a need to construct a shelter for them in every ward and a dog lover of the same area can be appointed as in-charge to look after them. Many suggestions were given by the dog lovers during meetings with the MC authorities a few years ago but nothing had been done at the ground level. Moreover, sterilisation of the stray dogs must be done in a well planned manner,” he said. Mayor Balkar Singh Sandhu said the sterilisation project was delayed for some time during the Covid-19 pandemic. “It seems that the ongoing programme for sterilisation of stray dogs can be extended. But, there is no figure available right now that how many strays are yet to be sterilised. The staff concerned were earlier asked to expedite the ongoing project work,” Sandhu said. The suspects arrested with ganja in police custody in Ludhiana on Friday. TRIBUNE PHOTO Four nabbed with 22-kg ganja Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 24 The Focal Point police today claimed to have nabbed four persons and recovered 22 kg of ganja from their possession. The suspects have been identified as Manish Kumar, a native of Bihar, at present staying at Samrat Colony here, Rahul of New Moti Nagar, Sunny Kumar, a native of UP and resident of Hargobind Nagar, and Pardeep Kumar of Samrat Colony. Commissioner of Police (CP) Mandeep Singh Sidhu in a statement issued said the police party, led by Focal Point SHO Inspector Amandeep Brar, had laid a naka on the Dhandari bridge where on suspicion a car (bearing registration no. PB10GN4641) was stopped for checking. During the search, 22 kg of ganja was seized from the vehicle. All four occupants of the car were arrested by the police. Sidhu said Manish was the kingpin of the gang. He had sent his accomplices Rahul and Sunny to Bareilly, UP, to bring a huge consignment of ganja from some big suppliers there. After they brought the consignment to Ludhiana in a train, Pardeep received them at the city railway station where Manish also joined them. Afterwards, they went to deliver the consignment to their clients in the city. The CP said the suspects had been buying ganja at Rs 3,500 per kg which they would further sell to their clients between Rs 9,000 to Rs 10,000 per kg. Kingpin Manish used to keep a big share of the profit from the sale of narcotics. Brar said three of the suspects had no criminal past while Rahul has a criminal history as he was already facing five cases of drugs, robbery, etc, registered against him at various police stations in the past. Now, the police remand of the suspects would be sought to further probe their links with other smugglers. Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 24 According to the office of the Civil Surgeon, Ludhiana, one person tested positive for Covid while no loss of life was reported due to the virus in the district on Friday. The person who tested positive is a 22-year-old youth, an undertrial from Chhoti Haibowal. Another undertrial tested postive for Covid on Thursday. Civil Surgeon Hitinder Kaur said a total of 1,13,641 persons have tested positive and 3,018 patients have lost their lives to the deadly virus since March 2020 in the district. On Friday, 330 samples were sent for testing which include 296 RTPCR and 34 antigen samples. Goods worth ~25L 4 land in Khanna police net with charas, opium stolen from factory Ludhiana, February 24 Thieves targeted a farm product manufacturing unit, BS Agricultural Factory, at Raeya here and decamped with farm products worth Rs 25 lakh from there. Owner of the factory Mohan Singh said yesterday morning when he came to open the factory, he was shocked to see that miscreants had decamped with some generators and other farm products from the factory. He saw a big hole in the outer wall of the factory from where they entered and decamped with the goods. He said the footage of the CCTV camera installed at the factory showed on the night of February 22, over 10 thieves had come in two trucks which they had parked near the factory. Later, they loaded the stolen goods in the vehicles and fled the spot. Kamaljit Singh, ASI at the Koom Kalan police station, said after registering a case against the miscreants, further probe was launched. Soon, they would be arrested. — TNS Ludhiana, February 24 The Khanna police today claimed to have nabbed four persons and seized drugs from them in separate incidents. Three of the suspects were nabbed with one kg of charas and another person was arrested with one kg of opium. Cases under the NDPS Act were registered against the suspects in both incidents. Khanna Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Amneet Kondal addressed a press conference regarding the matter on Friday. Kondal said yesterday the Samrala police, under the Cops address mediapersons in Khanna on Friday. TRIBUNE PHOTO supervision of DSP Waryam Singh, had laid a naka at a strategic spot in Samrala and stopped a car (bearing registration no. HP39A7744) for checking. During the search, 1 kg of charas was seized from the vehicle. The three occupants of the car, identified as Acchar Singh, Mukesh and Hemraj, all residents of Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, were arrested by the police. The SSP said they had concealed the narcotics beneath the driving seat in the car. “The smugglers had brought the drug from Kasol, near Kullu, and they were going to supply the same to their clients in Khanna. The suspects had already supplied narcotics to their clients in Khanna four times in the recent past. In further questioning, the trio can make big disclosures about the supply chain and some major recovery can also be made, “ Kondal said. The Samrala police yesterday also nabbed a smuggler, Hari Nandan, of UP and recovered 1 kg of opium from his possession. The SSP said the Samrala police had laid a naka on a road for routine checking where on suspicion, the pedestrian was stopped. During the checking, opium was seized from him. During preliminary questioning, the suspect said he was supposed to supply opium to his client in Ludhiana at Rs 1.4 lakh per kg. The official said now, further probe in the case would be conducted to bust the entire drug supply chain. — TNS A first, fertility rate almost halved, below replacement level: Survey MC seeks details Nitin Jain Rural women have slightly higher fertility rate than urbanites Tribune News Service FERTILITY TRENDS NFHS-1 2.9 NFHS-2 NFHS-3 NFHS-4 2.2 2 1.6 (Children per woman) UNMARRIED MEN DOUBLE THAN WOMEN NFHS-5 1.6 ■ The median age at the first marriage WILL HELP SET BENCHMARKS: MINISTER “NFHS-5 estimates on median age at marriage, TFR, and teenage motherhood illustrated in fertility section will help set benchmarks for sustainable development goals at sub-national level,” said Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar, Union MoS for Family Welfare. WHAT IS TFR? The total fertility rate (TFR) is the average number of children born to a woman “at the end of her reproductive period”. REPLACEMENT LEVEL ISTOCK Ludhiana, February 24 In what appears to be a positive trend towards family planning, the total fertility rate (TFR), which is calculated according to children per woman, has come down from 2.9 per cent to 1.6 per cent per woman in the district, which was even below the replacement level for the first time, a national survey has revealed. The National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), conducted by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, through the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, has also indicated that the TFR in rural women was slightly higher than their urban counterparts. The TFR of 1.6 children per woman, which is well below the replacement level of fertility, recorded in the NFHS-5 was almost half Replacement level is the term to define the level of fertility at which a population replaces itself exactly from one generation to the next. than 2.9 per children reported in the NFHS-1. With a decline from 2.9 in the NFHS-1 to 2.2 in the NFHS-2 and two children per woman in the NFHS-3, the TFR has remained unchanged at 1.6 children per woman since the NFHS-4. The TFR in urban areas ABOUT THE SURVEY The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had designated the IIPS, Mumbai, as the nodal agency to conduct the NFHS-5. The main objective of each successive round of the the survey has been to provide high-quality data on health and family welfare and emerging issues in this area. was recorded at 1.6 children per woman, which was a bit lower than 1.7 children per woman in rural areas. While the TFR among both c m y b was recorded at 23 years among women aged 25-29 years and 21.4 years among women aged 25-49 years. Only 15 per cent of the women aged 20-49 years were never married, compared with 34 per cent of men in same age bracket. Nine per cent of the women aged 20-24 years got married before attaining legal minimum age of 18 years, which slightly increased from 8 per cent in NFHS-4. ■ Showing that the age at marriage was much lower for women than men, 57 per cent of the women aged 20-24 years were never married, compared with 89 per cent of men in the same age group. urban and rural women was much below the replacement level, 6 per cent births reported in the three years preceding the survey were of birth order four or higher, which was the same as in the NFHS-4. The current survey, fifth in the NFHS series, which provides information on population, health and nutrition for India and each state and Union Territory, with district-level estimates for many important indicators, a copy of which is with The Tribune, showed that big differentials in fertility were by religion and schooling. At current fertility rates, women with no schooling or less than five years of schooling will have an average of one child more than women with 12 or more years of schooling. Christian women were found to be having an average of 0.2 children more than both Hindu and Sikh women, having a TFR of 1.8 children per Christian woman as compared to 1.6 children per Hindu and Sikh woman. of properties with arrears from LIT Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 24 The Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) has handed over many properties from its colonies to the Municipal Corporation (MC), whose arrears are still pending. Now, the MC Joint Commissioner has written to the Trust’s Executive Officer to send details of those properties whose arrears have not been deposited to date. Notably, the LIT had earlier written to the civic body that if an applicant files a request to obtain a TS1 certificate or other important certificate regarding properties that fall under various schemes of the LIT, it should be ensured to get a ‘no objection certificate’ (NOC) from the Trust in this regard so that the latter and the government did not face any financial loss. Several colonies that are part of Ludhiana Improvement Trust schemes have been handed over to the Municipal Corporation. Sources said arrears against a number of properties were yet to be recovered from defaulters.