17052025-LT-01.qxd 5/17/2025 12:13 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune NCC GIRL CADETS TO GET DRONE TRAINING FROM MAY 19 TO 23 GIDDERBAHA ARTIST EXPLORES EXISTENTIAL THEMES VIA ART I get ideas in my dreams. Sometimes like a poem, sometimes a flash of design, says Sureel, the artist. P4 PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 44°C | MIN 25°C YESTERDAY MAX 43°C | MIN 24°C 78TH CANNES FILM FESTIVAL IMPOSES STRICT DRESS CODE The specialised training programme will be conducted for 15 cadets of 3 Punjab (Girls) Battalion of NCC. P2 FORECAST On the red carpet, no nudity or voluminous outfits with long trains are allowed. P4 » » SUNSET SATURDAY 7.10 PM SUNRISE SUNDAY 5:27 AM » SATURDAY | 17 MAY 2025 | LUDHIANA DGGI busts inter-state nexus involving three companies ~13.41 crore GST evasion detected, two arrested Tribune News Service Students of Nankana Sahib Model High School, Janta Nagar, in a jubilant mood after the declaration of the PSEB Class X results, in Ludhiana on Friday. AASHWANI DHIMAN Girls sweep top positions yet again Arshnoor, Shweta, Akshita, Arshdeep excel; Of 300, 52 from dist on merit list PSEB CLASS X Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 16 The Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) on Friday declared its Class X results. The first three positions are bagged by girls. Being the biggest district of the state, of the 300 students on the merit list, 52 are from Ludhiana. Of the 52 students, 11 are boys while 41 are girl students from different schools in the district. At the same time, contrary to the PSEB Class XII results in which government schools had done exceptionally well, in Class X, not even a single student from any government school here secured any position in the first 10 spots of the merit list. Arshnoor Kaur from Teja Singh Sutantar Memorial Senior Secondary School has secured 4th position in the state and first in the district in the exams. She has scored 646 marks out of 650 with 99.38 per cent marks. Shweta Singh, a student from Sachdeva Public Senior Secondary School, has secured seventh position in the state and second in the district with 643/650 marks (98.92 per cent). While Akshita from Teja Singh Sutantar Memorial Senior Secondary School and Arshdeep Kaur from Baba Zorawar Singh Fateh Singh Senior Secondary Public THE TOPPERS ■ Arshnoor Kaur from Teja Singh Sutantar Memorial Senior Secondary School has secured 4th position in the state and first in the district. She has scored 646 marks out of 650 with 99.38 per cent marks. ■ Shweta Singh, a student from Sachdeva Public Senior Secondary School, has secured seventh position in the state and second in the district with 643/650 marks (98.92 per cent). ■ While Akshita from Teja Singh Sutantar Memorial Senior Secondary School and Arshdeep Kaur from Baba Zorawar Singh Fateh Singh Senior Secondary Public School, Kotan, have scored 642/650 marks (98.76 per cent). Both are third in the district and 8th in the state. School, Kotan, have scored 642/650 marks (98.76 per cent). Both are third in the district and 8th in the state. Ninth position in the state and fourth in the district is bagged by two students — Raj Kumar from MGD Grammer Senior Secondary School, CM, Kejriwal in city for MP Arora’s house-warming Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 16 AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal was in the city on a private visit. On Saturday, he will be attending two events, one near Jodhan. MP Sanjeev Arora said Kejriwal had come to the city as he (Arora) had purchased a new house in Gurdev Nagar here and Kejriwal was invited to attend the house-warming. Kejriwal was accompanied with CM Bhagwant Mann and AAP Punjab incharge Manish Sisodia. They all attended the path of Sukhmani Sahib and had langar afterwards. Speculations were rife that Kejriwal would be here in the city till the time elections were over. One of the leaders said he would stay back in Ludhiana as win- ning the Ludhiana West bypoll was a prestigious issue for all and AAP leaders had high stakes involved. “It was not any political event and he was invited. Today, he will be staying in Ludhiana and after attending two events, he will leave for Delhi on Saturday,” said Arora, adding that no political persons came as it was purely a personal visit. Dhandari Kalan, and Gurkirat Kaur from Teja Singh Sutantar School, who have scored 641/650 marks (98.62 per cent). A total of 2,77, 746 students had appeared for the exams, of which 2,65,548 passed. The pass percentage of girls is 96.85 while it is 94.50 per cent for boys. Rural students have done better than their urban counterparts. Their percentage is 96.09 as against urban students with 94.7 per cent. All three girl toppers in the state have scored cent per cent marks i.e. 650/650 marks. Meanwhile, one of the principals of a government school when asked about the reason why students failed to get any position in the first 10 in Ludhiana from any government school, she said: “The entire focus of the state government is on SOEs and enrolment. Teachers need to be given proper guidance and day-today assessment of students need to be done in a transparent manner, only then we can bring improvement.” Class XII student ends life over exam failure Ludhiana, May 16 A Class XII student, Jarnail Singh (17) ended his life as he could not perform well in his annual exams conducted by the PSEB, the results of which were declared on Wednesday. A resident of Chahar village, near here, he ended his life by hanging himself as he could not pass Class XII board examinations. The body was kept at the mortuary of the Civil Hospital, where his autopsy will be conducted. The SHO, Laddowal, Gurshinder Kaur, said Jarnail was not happy with his result. He was a student of a government school and had failed in three main subjects. His father is a granthi at a gurdwara in the village. His family members said he went upstairs to sleep at night on Thursday but did not come down in the morning. Later, they found him hanging from an iron angle. The youth’s kin rushed him to a private hospital but he breathed his last. — TNS Ludhiana, May 16 In an investigation by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), Ludhiana, three business entities, Aar Dee Enterprises, Aashi Steel Industries and Abhi Alloys, all based in Mandi Gobindgarh, were found to have been involved in illegal sales of Rs 87.91 crore which had led to GST evasion of Rs 13.41 crore. The firms were involved in trading of iron and steel articles. The case has been unearthed due to the intra-organisational and inter-regional synergy between two offices, DGGI Lucknow in UP and DGGI Ludhiana in Punjab. Two individuals namely, Raman Kumar Chaurasia and Devinder Singh of Mandi Gobindgarh and Khanna, respectively, in Punjab used to procure iron and steel articles fraudulently through fake billing from Deepanshu Srivastava and one of his accomplices, Mohit Kumar, based in Lucknow, Uttar PROJECT DETAILS Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 16 The work of four bridges over Sidhwan Canal on Laddowal Bypass in Ludhiana is going on in full swing as steel structures of the bridges have been assembled. Residents are eagerly waiting for them to become operational and these will help to decongest massive traffic congestion in the busy South City area, which is becoming a hotspot for city residents for food and recreation. The four bridges over the canal were slated to become operational by April this year by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) but missed the deadline. The 17.041-km-long four steel truss bridges are being built at four locations and length of each bridge would COST: ~16,64,11,000 BRIDGES: Four LOCATION: Two each near F2 Raceway bridge and near Barewal bridge LENGTH: 17.041-km The construction work of one of the four bridges in progress in Ludhiana. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN be around 34 metres and width 11 metres. The four bridges are being constructed 300 metres away from F2 Raceway bridge (both on right and left sides) and 300 metres away from Barewal bridge (both on right and left sides). Shruti, a resident of South City, said earlier only people residing here used to come towards this side of the city but with Canal Road turning into a market place and Sunview Market also attracting a lot of crowd, the road had started remaining crowded and congested. “The bridges will definitely ease out the traffic flow and we are looking forward to the opening of the same,” she said. Ashika, a frequent visitor to the Sunview Market, said traffic turns haywire during evenings and stituation is worrisome on Saturdays and c m y b Slated to become operational by April this year but missed deadline Sundays. “Residents have been demanding the bridges for long and these will help improve the traffic flow in South City, where rapid commercial expansion, including hotels, restaurants and residential complexes, has led to the congestion,” she said. of fake billing and fraudulent availment, utilisation and passing of Fake ITC. Fake billing and fraudulent Input Tax Credit (ITC) claims pose a serious threat to the integrity of the indirect taxation system, under the GST regime. Moreover, fake billing significantly impacts government revenue, reducing funds available for public welfare, infrastructure and social development. It distorts the economy, disrupts fair market competition, and can even lead to inflationary pressures when cascading effects trickle down the supply chain. DGGI is the Government of India’s premier Intelligence and Investigating Agency for GST tax evasion, functioning under the Ministry of Finance. In order to tackle the menace of GST evasion, the DGGI develops intelligence, especially in new areas of tax evasion, through advanced tools for data analytics besides using its intelligence network across the country to collect such information. Atal Apartments: Allottees raise key issues with LIT officials Ludhiana, May 16 The construction of LIT Atal Apartments here is progressing at a slow pace, leading to delays and concerns among allottees. The actual construction work has not progressed as quickly as anticipated and a meeting of the allottees with LIT officials was held on Friday in this regard. The Atal Apartments project is currently under construction by the LIT in Ludhiana. Key issues raised by the allottees during the meeting included the non-execution of the RERA-mandated agreement, despite clear directives issued by RERA, Punjab, on December 24, 2024. “The RERA order had directed the LIT to sign a standard agreement with allottees, mandating inclusion of the project completion date and a payment plan aligned with actual construction progress. Currently, despite only 20 per cent of the construction being completed, 75 per cent of the pay- Work of four bridges over Sidhwan Canal nearing completion Manav Mander Pradesh. The Lucknowbased individuals, through 37 of their fraudulent business entities, had passed on fake Input Tax Credit to the Mandi Gobindgarh-based business entities. On investigating the Punjab based entities, it was learnt that they had taken fraudulent ITC through fake billing from 78 business entities involving an illegal sales of Rs 87.91 crore, which led to the GST evasion of Rs 13.41 crore. During investigation by the DGGI Ludhiana, many pieces of incriminating evidence were found and seized. It was further coorborated in voluntary statements made and admitted by these individuals. On May 15, the DGGI, Ludhiana, placed under arrest Raman Kumar Chaurasia and Devinder Singh for their acts leading to the GST evasion of Rs 13.41 crore. They have been sent to judicial custody. The DGGI, Ludhiana, has made multiple strides in its bid to weed-out the menace “The new bridges would save time, fuel and reduce pressure on existing infrastructure and were the need of the hour. Many city residents had approached me to take the initiative to get the project started as it was the need of the hour to provide relief to commuters from traffic congestion. Following which, the matter was taken up with the NHAI,” said AAP MP Sanjeev Arora. , Many commercial establishments and high-end markets, besides flats and housing enclaves, have come up on both sides of the Sidhwan Canal. As a result, commercial and other activities are increasing at a fast pace in this area, which has resulted in increased traffic. It is expected that the four bridges will bring a drastic change in vehicular traffic and the flow will be eased. LIT officials interact with allottees in Ludhiana. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN ment has been collected from allottees, which is a major point of concern,” said advocate Inderpreet Singh Sohal, who led the delegation. The meeting remained positive throughout, with both sides expressing a mutual desire to resolve outstanding issues. In light of the pending compliance with the RERA order, it was agreed that the next instalment due on May 21, 2025, will be deferred. A revised payment schedule, in accordance with RERA directives, will be issued after formal compliance, Sohal said. In addition to this, LIT officials agreed to verify allega- tions of misappropriation of compacted earth using existing level charts and assured that accountability would be fixed if discrepancies were found. Concerns regarding construction quality would be addressed by conducting randomised lab tests through three reputed laboratories. “If there is any delay, the engineer concerned will be required to submit written reasons and an undertaking that project deadlines will still be met,” Sohal said. The flats are expected to be handed over within the remaining 17-month timeline, by October 2026. — TNS Stolen motorcycle, 7 mobiles seized, 3 held The suspects in Ludhiana police custody. Ludhiana, May 16 The police claimed to have arrested three members of a gang that had been involved in burglaries and thefts during nights. One stolen motorcycle and seven mobiles were recovered from the possession of the suspects nabbed from different places during the past two days. The suspects were identified as Ajai Kumar Ganja of the Bhattian Bet area, here, Vicky Kumar Banauti of Khajur Chowk and Parminder Singh Khopli of Ludhiana. Commissioner Police (CP) Swapan Sharma said the suspects were arrested during a coordinated movement launched against anti-social elements by the Salem Tabri police under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner Police Rupinder Singh, ADCP Samir Verma and ACP Davinder Chaudhary. — OC