17052024-LT-01.qxd 5/17/2024 1:16 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune 69 TRAINS CANCELLED DUE TO FARMERS’ PROTEST HANSAL MEHTA ANNOUNCES 3RD CHAPTER OF SCAM SERIES PRATEIK BABBAR TO ATTEND PREMIERE OF MOTHER’S FILM A total of 69 trains were cancelled and 104 diverted due to the ongoing farmer protest. P2 He announced the third edition of his smash hit series Scam, titled Scam 2010 — The Subrata Roy Saga. P4 Smita Patil’s film Manthan is scheduled to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival. P4 » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 43°C | MIN 27°C YESTERDAY MAX 42°C | MIN 25°C SUNSET FRIDAY 7.11 PM SUNRISE SATURDAY 5:27 AM » FRIDAY | 17 MAY 2024 | LUDHIANA 2 minor girls go missing, two booked Ludhiana, May 16 Rajni Rani, a resident of Ram Nagar, has complained to the police that on April 22, her minor daughter went missing. After searching for her, they came to know that Sumit Tandon took her daughter away with him on the pretext of getting married with her. The Tibba police have registered a case against Sumit, a resident of Bishnoi Sarai, Bijnaur district in UP under Sec, tions 363 and 366 A of the IPC. In another incident, a 17year-old girl went missing on May 13. Ganesh Mahato, the father of the girl, informed the police that the victim had gone to market but did not return home. The father came to know that Krishna, a tenant at Darshan Vehra, Street Number 5, Puneet Nagar, had fled with his daughter on the pretext of getting married with her. A case has been registered against him. — TNS Man booked for molesting minor girl Ludhiana, May 16 A case under Section 354 of the IPC and Section 6 of the POSCO Act has been registered against Arjan Kumar, a resident of Street Number 1, Janta Colony, on the complaint of the father of an eight-year-old girl, who is also a resident of the colony. The complainant said on May 13, his daughter was playing in the street when the accused molested his daughter. He said his wife witnessed the incident and raised the alarm. Following which, the suspect fled the scene. The matter was being investigated. — TNS No let-up in farm fires, city turns most polluted intally to 444 state 36 more stubble burning cases take season’s Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 16 With no let-up in farm fire cases, Ludhiana turned into the most polluted city in the state on Thursday. Following 36 fresh cases of stubble burning reported during the past 48 hours, the season’s tally has gone up to 444, which was still the lowest-ever so far. While 14 crop residue burning incidents were captured in the state’s biggest and largest district, in terms of area and population, on Thursday, 22 such cases were spotted on Wednesday. Even as the air quality index (AQI) in Ludhiana on Thursday became “unhealthy” from the “very unhealthy” category registered on Wednesday, the industrial and business capital of the state was ranked as the most polluted city in Punjab. The AQI level in Ludhiana was recorded at 158 on Thursday, which was the worst across the state. However, it was better than 226 on Wednesday, when the city was ranked second most polluted in the state after Mohali with the highest AQI of 230. Among other nine most polluted cities on Thursday, Amritsar stood second with AQI 153, followed by Mohali 138, Jalandhar 134, Ropar 126, Khanna in Ludhiana 103, Patiala 100, Mandi Gobindgarh 94, Mullanpur also in Ludhiana 79, and Bathinda 44. As the current wheat har- Stubble burning cases have witnessed a sudden spike in Ludhiana. PHOTO: ASHWANI DHIMAN FARM FIRE INCIDENTS YEAR 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 SUMMER 444 889 950 517 1,019 1,035 730 875 918 WINTER NA 1,801 2,682 5,817 4,330 2,532 2,481 2,941 7,697 (SOURCE: PRSC, SUMMER FIGURES FROM APRIL 1 TILL MAY 30, WINTER FROM SEPTEMBER 15 TO NOVEMBER 30 FOR PAST YEARS, TILL MAY 16 FOR 2024) vesting season, popularly known as Rabi, was over with a total crop over 2,45,200 hectares already harvested, farm fires have seen a sudden spurt in Ludhiana district during the past few days. The gravity of the spike could be gauged from the fact that as many as 368 of the total 444 stubble burning cases in the state’s biggest and largest district, in terms of area and population, have been reported during the past seven days. This season’s tally so far MOST POLLUTED CITIES CITY Ludhiana Amritsar Mohali Jalandhar Ropar Khanna Patiala Mandi Gobindgarh Mullanpur Bathinda AQI 158 153 138 134 126 103 100 94 79 44 (SOURCE: CPCB, FIGURES OF MAY 16) was still the lowest-ever in the past nine years. The sharp decline in the stubble burning cases this year was evident from the fact that Ludhiana had never reported less than 517 incidents of farm fires with the highest going up to 1,035 during the Rabi season since 2016. Ludhiana’s farm fires during the paddy harvesting in winters, popularly known as Kharif season, had also never gone below 1,801 in 2023 and had touched the high of 7,697 in 2016. On Thursday, as many as 529 farm fires were captured across 23 districts in the state, with a maximum of 24 cases reported in Amritsar, and minimum of one incident each was noted in Fazilka, Ferozepur, and Pathankot. Among other districts, Barnala had reported seven stubble burning cases on Thursday, Bathinda two, Fatehgarh Sahib four, Faridkot three, Gurdaspur 17, Hoshiarpur 10, Malerkotla two, Jalandhar nine, Kapurthala three, Mansa three, Moga 11, Muktsar two, Nawanshahr seven, Patiala three, Ropar two, Sangrur five, and Tarn Taran had captured 12 incidents of farm fires on May 16. The AQI of 158, which was considered “unhealthy”, with PM2.5 concentration in Ludhiana air currently 13 times above the World Health Organisation (WHO) annual air quality guideline value, has been leading to respiratory and allied problems to residents, especially th aged and children. SAD candidate Dhillon campaigns in Jagraon segment Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 16 Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidate from the Ludhiana Lok Sabha constituency Ranjit Singh Dhillon today took his election campaign to villages of the Jagraon Vidhan Sabha constituency. Dhillon, under the leadership of former MLA SR Accuses Ravneet Bittu of having no presence in rural areas Kaler, addressed public meetings in the villages, which started from Amargarh Keller and extended to Sherpur Kalan, Sherpur Khurd, Fatehgarh Sibia, Sheikh Daulat, Ghalib Khurd Ran Singh, Ghalib Clan, Rasulpur Malla, Nawan Dalla, Dangian, Gurusar and Kaunke Kalan. Both leaders appealed to the people to vote in favour of the Akali Dal and said: “You voted for Ravneet Bittu twice and made him a member of Parliament. But instead of developing the constituency, he did not even show his face to the people. Nobody recognises him in rural areas.” Targeting the Bhagwant Mann government in the state, Dhillon and Kler said the it had given huge guarantees to the people but none of the guarantees had been fulfilled so far. On the contrary, bribery, hooliganism and drug addiction have increased. “Bhagwant Mann had done a lot of damage to Punjab by becoming a puppet of his master sitting in Delhi,” they alleged while urging people to vote for the SAD and said only the Akali Dal could protect the interests of Punjab. Residents can visit my home any time for issues, says AAP’s Parashar INDIA VOTES 2024 Ludhiana, May 16 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate for the Ludhiana Lok Sabha seat Ashok Parashar Pappi visited Ward 44 and 45 in Atam Nagar here during his campaign. Addressing residents, he said voters of the Ludhiana constituency were aware which leader would consider and address their issues. They could easily access the person. In the past 10 years, candidates of opposition parties had only appeared during the elections and after the poll, they AAP candidate Ashok Parashar Pappi campaigns in Ludhiana. failed to respond to their calls. However, the Parashar family was known throughout Ludhiana for promptly addressing and resolving issues on the spot. Individuals could contact or visit their home with their problems any time, the AAP leader said. Ludhiana had endured sig- Cong candidate Warring calls for united front against BJP Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 16 Congress candidate Amrinder Singh Raja Warring has been energetically campaigning across different Vidhan Sabha constituencies in Ludhiana. Today, he met the electorate in the Vidhan Sabha constituencies of Gill, Ludhiana Central and Atam Nagar. In his addresses, Warring described the election as a battle for the existence of Punjab, its farmers and labourers, and the happiness of its people. He accused the BJP of harbouring animosity towards the state, citing controversial farm laws that led to deaths of over 700 farmers. He criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s lack of remorse and accused the Central Government of continuous attacks on state farmers. He highlighted the dramatic increase in national debt under the BJP regime and pointed out the surge in prices of essential commodities and the increase in poverty rate, contrasting it with the growth in wealth of certain industrialists, accusing the BJP of favouring them over farmers. Targeting the AAP government, Warring accused CM Bhagwant Mann of failing to deliver on promises such as ending the drug menace, providing jobs, ensuring MSP for farmers and improving the law and order situation. He alleged that activities of gangs had increased and the Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 16 Heads have started rolling in the Municipal Corporation (MC) after three-time sitting MP and BJP nominee Ravneet Singh Bittu alleged delay in issuance of no dues certificate (NDC) to him. While disciplinary action has been recommended against three senior civic functionaries, the suspension of two other MC officials has, however, been revoked after they were found “innocent”. Bittu had alleged that the MC had not issued him the NDC within 48 hours of application, which was mandatory as per guidelines of the Election Commission of India (ECI). Taking cognisance of his complaint, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sibin C had sought a report from the Local Government Secretary on the issue. Acting swiftly, MC Commissioner Sandeep Rishi conducted a preliminary probe into the matter and found delay Disciplinary action recommended against 3 senior functionaries and lapse on the part of several civic officials, who dealt with the MP’s NDC application. While disciplinary action has been recommended against two head draftsmen, Mohan Singh, who was holding the charge of receipt and dispatch in ATP Zone D, , Devinder Singh, and draftsman Gurmeet Singh for not dealing with the application in time and negligence on their part, superintendent Vivek Prabhakar and sewadar in drawing branch, Zone D, Paramjeet Kaur, who had been placed under suspension with immediate effect, have been reinstated. In his report to the Local Government Director, the MC Commissioner has reported that Bittu had applied with the Zonal Commissioner, Zone D, for NDC against Kothi No 6 in Officers’ Colony near Rose Garden here on May 2. “The Zonal Commissioner sent the file to the ATP Zone , D, and the drawing branch dealt with the application in a casual manner and initiated no action till May 5,” the report said while recommending disciplinary action against the three senior MC functionaries. It was on May 8 when Bittu took up the matter with the MC Commissioner that Rishi looked into the same and got the house rent assessed, recovered the amount and issued the NDC within 48 hours of the issue coming to his notice, following which the BJP candidate was enabled to file his nomination papers along with the NDC before the Returning Officer on May 10. Bittu was on Friday midnight dislodged from the government house here, where he was staying since 2016, which he alleged as a major security threat to him and his family. Rendered houseless, the three-time parliamentarian and the BJP nominee shifted to the party office here under the Z-plus security cover, which is the highest level of security protection after the SPG cover, comprising 55 personnel, along with 10 NSG and CRPF commandos, who guard the protectee 24x7. It had come almost 24 hours after a demand notice to pay Rs 1.83 crore as house rent and order to immediately vacate the house was served on him on Thursday midnight. Bittu had paid Rs 1.83 crore to the MC, which had served him the notice, to procure the mandatory NDC before filing his nomination papers on Friday. Calling it as a joint bid and nefarious design of the ruling AAP and the main Opposition Congress to prevent him from entering the poll fray and pose security threat to him and his family, the firebrand parliamentarian, who had recently quit the Con- c m y b gress to get the BJP ticket from Ludhiana Lok Sabha seat, has equated the action with that meted out to popular Punjabi rapper and singer Sidhu Moosewala, who was killed following his security cut in May 2022. “AAP and the Congress would be responsible for any harm caused to me or my family,” he said while asserting that he would not be cowed down by any such “anti-national” tactics and he was not even afraid of laying down his life as had been done by his slain Chief Minister grandfather Beant Singh for the sake of nation’s peace and tranquility. Accusing his opponents of playing with his life and liberty, Bittu said it was an unprecedented action wherein the ruling and the main Opposition parties had joined hands to not only finish his political career but also posing serious threat to his and family’s lives. “All this shows their Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government had further increased Punjab’s debt. The Congress leader cautioned people against voting for AAP and the SAD, as they unknowingly end up helping the BJP which they actually , want to defeat. “Every vote that would be cast for AAP or the Akalis will indirectly help the BJP he said , while pointing out that since neither of the two parties were in a position to defeat the BJP , they will end up cutting antiBJP votes only.
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