28022023-LT-01.qxd 2/28/2023 12:01 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune 108 AMBULANCE REPORTS HIGHEST CASES FROM DIST AP ARJUN’S MARTIN IS ALL SET TO HIT THE BIG SCREEN RANBIR KAPOOR DENIES HE IS IN GANGULY’S BIOPIC As per request calls received by 108 Ambulance services, Ludhiana reported maximum cases. P2 The high-octane film is all set to release in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi. P3 Ranbir was spotted playing cricket with Ganguly, giving birth to rumours that he was doing the biopic. P4 » » » FORECAST GENERALLY CLOUDY MAX 25°C | MIN 14°C YESTERDAY MAX 29°C | MIN 13°C SUNSET TUESDAY 6.23 PM SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 6:54 AM TUESDAY | 28 FEBRUARY 2023 | LUDHIANA Ludhiana emerging best smart city in state, 32nd in country: New rankings Bags best ranking in the past four years with ~930-crore SCM push Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 27 Ludhiana is emerging as the best smart city in the state by ranking first and 32nd in the country, the government has confirmed. The latest rankings released by the Union Government shortly have put Ludhiana on the top in the state and at 32nd rank in the country, officials have said. This time’s ranking was the best for Ludhiana since 2020 when it was ranked at the 54th spot in the country. Since then, Ludhiana’s ranking had been constantly improving. From 54th rank in 2020, Ludhiana had ranked 37th in 2021, 48th in 2022 and 32nd in 2023, a jump of 22 spots in the past four years and up 16 ranks since December 2022. Last year, Ludhiana was adjudged second best in the state with Jalandhar bagging the top spot in 2022. This time, Jalandhar has slipped to the third rank in the state with the 88th rank in the country while Amritsar has ranked 68th in the country and has stood second in the state. The rankings were decided on the basis of various parameters, mainly depending on the progress of the works under the Smart City Mission (SCM), by taking into consideration details of projects completed, in progress, under tendering and still under planning, besides analysing the expenditure aspect as well. Ludhiana, spread over 169 sq km area with a population of 16.18 lakh as per the 2011 Census, was among 100 cities in the country and three in the state, which was selected under the SCM to be developed as a smart city in the first round of the selection by the Union Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) in 2015. The industrial and business hub of the north is fast moving towards becoming a smart city Two nabbed on trespassing, rioting charge Ludhiana, February 27 The police booked five persons and arrested two of them for allegedly trespassing and rioting at a house in Santokh Nagar, here. The suspects allegedly put some substance in the mouth of a woman who has been admitted to a hospital on Chandigarh Road. The arrested persons are Anil Kumar and Sanjay Singh, both brothers and residents of the Karimpura Bazaar area. Another suspect, Partap Singh, and two unidentified persons were yet to be arrested. Complainant Ram Teerath alleged that Partap had been harassing his 24-year-old daughter. “Partap abused me on a phone call on February 25 first. Later, he along with his aides forcibly entered our house and started rioting. They manhandled me and then put some substance into my daughter’s mouth. When my brother and neighbours reached the place, the suspects managed to escape but they left their scooter there. My daughter is under treatment at a hospital,” he said. — TNS Work in progress to construct the ROB and RUB over the railway crossing on Pakhowal Road in Ludhiana on Monday. TRIBUNE PHOTOS: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN MAIN GOALS ■ Rediscover the bicycle capital of the world and align it with ‘Make in India’. ■ Enhance the health and wellness of citizens. ■ Reduce traffic congestion. ■ Make a clean and green city. ■ Ensure public safety. ■ Enable e-governance. A bridge constructed over Sidhwan Canal in Ludhiana. ~1000-CR CORPUS SMART CITIES IN MAKING Our three cities – Ludhiana, Amritsar and Jalandhar – are close to becoming smart cities with the overhaul of the existing infrastructure and creating the best in class facilities for residents. We will ensure timely completion of all projects. Bhagwant Mann, CHIEF MINISTER Selected cities were granted Rs 1,000 crore each, on the equal sharing basis of Rs 500 crore each by the Centre and state, which can be leveraged for getting additional resources for funding the project implementation/ execution under the SCM. ❝ ❞ as envisaged under the SCM of the Union Government. Municipal Corporation (MC) Commissioner Shena Aggarwal, who is also the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ludhiana Smart City Limited (LSCL), told The Tribune, here on Monday that as many as 43 projects worth Rs 146.88 crore had already been completed while 27 more projects cost- ing Rs 783.12 crore had been put under execution and were at present under various stages of progress. Of the 27 under execution projects, the work on 19 projects worth Rs 582.9 crore had already been awarded and was under progress while other eight projects worth Rs 136.93 crore have been tendered out. Besides, the detailed project report was under preparation and approval was sought for another project, which will cost Rs 63.29 crore. With this, a total of 70 projects worth Rs 930 crore were undertaken by the LSCL to develop Ludhiana as a smart city. Dr Aggarwal said the progress of all undergoing projects was being regularly monitored to ensure their completion as per specifications within the prescribed time frame. “Besides making the projects complete on time, our main emphasis remains on ensuring quality control as well,” she asserted. The MC Commissionercum-LSCL CEO added that all efforts were put in place and all stops have been pulled to further improve Ludhiana’s ranking on the national front by escalating the progress of ongoing projects and ensuring their early completion. The projects completed so far included LED streetlighting at the cost of Rs 13.39 crore, development of smart school classrooms in government schools at Rs 6.26 crore, waterfront development and landscaping beautification along the Sidhwan Canal worth Rs 5.18 crore, façade light illumination of flyover at the Sidhwan Canal at Rs 2.38 crore, carcass utilisation plant at Rs 8.58 crore, procurement of sewer cleaning machines at Rs 4.44 crore, discharge of 200 cusecs fresh water into the Buddha Nullah at Rs 4.28 crore, installation of digital and analogue wayfinding and signages worth Rs 5.25 crore, installation of rooftop solar panels on existing buildings at Rs 6.54 crore, prefabricated toilet blocks worth Rs 3.1 crore, fabrication of firefighting vehicles on suitable chasis at Rs 6.45 crore, construction of government senior secondary schools in Ward 13 at Rs 3.34 crore, construction of top floor of existing multi-level car parking at DAC complex at Rs 4.75 crore, construction and commissioning masonry toilet blocks worth Rs 3.4 crore, construction of obligatory span on RoB and RuB on the Pakhowal road at Rs 45 crore, beautification and refurbishment of mini rose garden at Rs 3.49 crore, several parks were developed at the EWS colony at the cost of Rs 2.58 crore, and ancillary continued on page 2 Two of the suspects in police custody in Ludhiana. TRIBUNE PHOTO 3 arrested in two drug cases Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 27 The police arrested three persons in two separate incidents of alleged drug smuggling and claimed to have seized heroin from their possession. In the first case, ADCP (Investigation) Rupinder Kaur Sra said the police arrested two persons and seized a total of 60 gm of heroin and drug money from them. She said the suspects used to display a police sticker on an SUV to supply drugs. The suspects have been identified as Chun Mun Kumar (22) of Mohalla Kabir Nagar and Shiv Yadav (20), a native of UP at present resid- Undertrial tests +ve for Covid Ludhiana, February 27 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 Ludhiana on Monday. The person who tested positive is a 48-year-old man, an undertrial from Railway Colony. Civil Surgeon Hitinder Kaur said a total of 1,13,642 persons have tested positive and 3,018 patients have lost their lives to the deadly virus since March 2020 in the district. — TNS ing at Giaspura in Ludhiana. The police claimed that when the suspects who were riding a motorcycle were stopped for checking, 30 gm of heroin were seized from them. Later, a case was registered under the NDPS Act against them at the Shimlapuri police station on Sunday. After interrogation, the police claimed to have seized 30 gm of heroin, an electronic weighing scale, 35 transparent sachets, two gold rings and Rs 97,860 in cash from the SUV of Chun Mun Kumar. His motorcycle and SUV have been seized. The police said Chun Mun Kumar, who was arrested in another case under the NDPS Act in the past, had come out on bail in October 2022. In another incident, a man was arrested on Sunday allegedly with 65 gm of heroin from near the cemetery on Tibba Road, Ludhiana. The suspect has been identified as Rinku of Sandhu Colony, Jagirpur, here. SI Mohan Singh claimed that the suspect was moving ahead on foot but after seeing the police party, he started to flee the spot in panic. The policeman claimed that when the suspect was frisked on suspicion, 65 gm of heroin was seized from him. A case under various sections of the NDPS Act has been registered against him at the Tibba police station. 5-month-old foetus found dumped on vacant plot Our Correspondent Sahnewal, February 27 A five-month-old male foetus was found dumped on a vacant plot at Jaspal Bangar village here yesterday. A resident of the village saw the same lying on a vacant plot near his house. The police have registered a case against the unidentified person. No arrest has been made so far in the incident. Kimti Lal of Jaspal Bangar village informed the Sahnewal police that he saw a five- month old foetus lying on the vacant plot near his house. He suspected that some unidentified woman or her family members might have dumped it on the plot near his residence. He told the police that it seems that someone had tried to dispose of the foetus on the plot. The Sahnewal police have registered a case under Section 318 of the IPC against the unidentified suspect. No arrest has been made in the case. City resident held for making Vets annoyed over pay parity issue, to extortion calls to BJP leader intensify protest by holding zonal rallies Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 27 The Khanna police arrested a man who had demanded a ransom of Rs 3 lakh from a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader. The suspect had threatened to kill her if the extortion amount was not given to him. Khanna SP Pragya Jain said the suspect had been identified as Rajneesh Sharma of New Shivpuri Road, here. The man was already facing five FIRs which were registered against him at the Daresi and Jodhewal police stations in 2019. After Khanna BJP leader Manisha Sood complained about the extortion calls received from an unknown person demanding Rs 3 lakh from her, a complaint was filed with the Khanna police. A case of extortion and criminal intimidation under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the unidentified man was registered by the Khanna police. Ludhiana, February 27 Veterinary officers working in the Animal Husbandry Department have vowed to intensify their protest against the government’s decision to reduce the entry scale from that of medical officers. Desperate vets claimed that the previous government had disturbed the 45-year-old pay parity of vets with medicos but the present dispensation has not corrected it yet. Giving details after the statelevel meeting of the ‘joint action committee of vets for pay parity’ convener of the JAC Dr Rajinder Singh and coconvener Dr Gurcharan Singh in a written press communique stated that the ongoing agitation would be further intensified during the second phase of the protest campaign. During this, the JAC would hold zonal rallies throughout the state to make people aware of the antiemployee attitude of the government. To start with, the first zonal rally would be organised Cops address mediapersons in Khanna. TRIBUNE PHOTO The police said Rajneesh had made calls to the mobile number of the BJP leader for extortion. Now, the suspect had been arrested. During investigation, it came to light that Rajneesh was earlier accused of harassing and blackmailing a Ludhiana-based girl after which her family members had got FIRs registered against him at various police stations. To take revenge, Rajneesh had used Google Pay QR code of the account of the girl’s brother and sought a ransom of Rs 3 lakh from the BJP leader. The suspect wanted to falsely implicate the girl’s brother in the ransom case, the police said. The Khanna police said they investigated the case using technical methods. The police had asked telecom companies to block fake SIM cards. Further investigation into the case was underway. c m y b Veterinary officers stage a protest in support of their demands in Ludhiana. TRIBUNE PHOTO on March 12 at Patiala. Meanwhile, a state-level mass deputation will hand over a memorandum to the Minister of Animal Husbandry, Finance Minister, and the Principal Secretary concerned. Office-bearers of the JAC said the previous Congress government had disrupted the long-standing pay parity of veterinary officers with medical officers by reducing the entry scale of veterinary officers from 56,100 to 47,600 which was not just an economic issue but it pertains to the dignity and status of the entire veterinary profession. Through a separate resolution, the JAC has supported the struggle being waged by teachers of GADVASU and PAU for the implementation of the the UGC scales. Co-conveners of the JAC Dr Kanwaranoop Kler, Dr Gagandeep Kaushal, Dr Harman Joshan, Dr Gurdeep Kler, secretary Dr Surjit Singh Mal, state treasurer Dr Suraj Bhan, chief coordinator Dr Darshan Kheri, and social media incharge Dr Akshpreet Singh were also present. Expanding the state executive, Dr Tarpinderjeet Singh from the Sangrur zone, Dr Sarabdeep Singh from the Patiala zone, Dr Chatinder Singh from the Ludhiana zone, Dr Harwinder Singh from the Doaba zone, Dr Sudhir Kumar from the Majha zone and Dr Harinder Bhullar from the Faridkot zone were inducted as zone organisers whereas Dr Lakhmir Sophia and Dr Jasleen Kaur were also inducted as lady vet representatives in the state executive.