20042024-LT-01.qxd 4/20/2024 1:00 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune PASSENGERS FACE TROUBLE AS 21 TRAINS CANCELLED SALMAN SPOTTED AT MUMBAI AIRPORT WITH TIGHT SECURITY JUNAID KHAN COMPLETES HIS SECOND UNTITLED FILM Train services have been affected due to ongoing ‘Rail Roko’ protest by farmers near Shambhu border. P2 Days after a firing incident outside his residence, Salman was spotted at Mumbai airport. P4 Junaid Khan has completed filming for his upcoming second film following an intensive 58-day shoot. P4 » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 35°C | MIN 22°C YESTERDAY MAX 35.8°C | MIN 25.6°C SUNSET SATURDAY 6.53 PM SUNRISE SUNDAY 5:49 AM » SATURDAY | 20 APRIL 2024 | LUDHIANA Sukhbir visits city, meets SAD halka in-charges Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 19 SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal visited the city today and kept his visit low profile but during his short stint here, he met almost all prominent local leaders of the party. One of the party leaders said by April 22, the name of the SAD candidate to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from the Ludhiana parliamentary seat will be announced. “There was a divided opinion of leaders. Suggestions were received and pros and cons were discussed with the party president by all those present. Now, the final decision will be made by the party chief along with two other seats — Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur,” the Akali leader said. Sources said the leaders who met Sukhbir today at a hotel in the Jamalpur area included Hira Singh Gabria, Ranjit Singh Dhillon, Vipan Kaka Sood, Maheshinder Singh Grewal, Harish Rai Dhanda, RD Sharma, Parupkar Singh Ghuman, Manpreet Singh Ayali and SR Kler. Speculations were rife that the SAD may field some female celebrity from Ludhiana to give a tough competition to BJP candidate Ravneet Singh Bittu but the same did not materialise, said another party leader. “If the candidate will be selected from the Ramgarhia community, it can be Hira Singh Gabria and in case it’s not from the community, Ranjit Singh Dhillon’s name is also doing the rounds,” the leader said. Interestingly, not all these leaders met the party president together. “Sukhbir held brief meetings with all prominent leaders separately at a hotel. He reached here around 2 pm and stayed for approximately two-and-ahalf hours. We have given honest opinion about the leaders and now, the president has to take a call,” said another Akali leader. nabbed for demanding Fire safety project fails to take Twoextortion from bizman ~3cr off, courtesy lack of firemen SUV, five mobile phones, pistol along with cartridges seized Civil Hospital functioning without NOC from Fire Dept since 2018 Manav Mander Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 19 Though summer months witness more fire incidents due to overloading on circuits or malfunctioning equipment, the civil hospital which daily receives nearly 10,000 patients in various departments is yet to set its house in order. The hospital is working without a ‘No Objection Certificate’ from the Fire Department since 2018. Officials from the department had visited the hospital multiple times in the past but it lacked fire fighting arrangements due to which licence was not renewed, and NOC was not given. Though the good news is that the project for installing the firefighting and fire detection system had been completed, it now lacks firemen. It is only after the appointment of the fire personnel that all formalities will be completed, the firefighting and fire detection The project for installing the firefighting and fire detection system has been completed. INDERJEET VERMA system will be started and NOC will be issued. Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney during her recent visit to the hospital had raised the issue of the firefighting system and asked the authorities to appoint firemen as soon as possible. “The training of staff of the hospital has been completed on April 15 by the fire officer and the propos- al for recruitment of the firemen was sent by the Senior Medical Officer to the Deputy Medical Commissioner but it was incomplete. She has been instructed to resend the proposal as per guidelines,” the DC said. Deputy Medical Commissioner, Dr Amarjeet Kaur, said the proposal for appointment of firemen had been sent to the gov- ernment. “I will also take up the matter during the meeting with the Deputy Commissioner so that appointments are made at the earliest,” she said. Maninder Singh, sub-fire officer said the work of fire safety of the civil hospital was completed but for the appointment of firemen, NOC would be issued once the same would be completed, he said. Overcast sky but no rain, farmers relieved Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 19 The weather turned cloudy this afternoon in Ludhiana and there was no rain, which gave a much-needed relief to farmers. The maximum temperature recorded by the Department of Climate Change and Agricultural Meteorology of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) on Friday was 35.8°C while the minimum temperature was 25.6° C. The forecast by the Pun- An overcast sky in Ludhiana on Friday. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN jab Agricultural Uinversity (PAU) states that the weath- er is expected to remain cloudy with the possibility of thundershower over Ludhiana and its adjoining areas during the next 24 hours. Kulwinder Singh, a farmer from Lopon village, said he was relieved that it did not rain in Ludhiana today. “I will be harvesting my crop next week and hopefully the weather will remain clear,” he said. Meanwhile, experts have asked the farmers not to irrigate their wheat crop as there is possibility of rain in the region, which could lead to lodging in the crop. Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 19 The Sarabha Nagar police held two persons who had demanded Rs 3 crore extortion from a city- based industrialist. The police managed to crack the case in a short span of time with the arrest of two persons. The suspects have been identified as Amritpal Singh, alias Amritsar (32), of Mullanpur Dakha and Tajinderpal Singh (47) of Rajguru Nagar. The police seized a Toyota Fortuner (bearing registration number PB65AX0008), five mobile phones and one .32 bore pistol along with seven cartridges. ADCP-3 Gurpreet Kaur Purewal, ACP (West) Murad Jasvir Singh and Sarabha Nagar SHO inspector Paramvir Singh addressed a press conference regarding the matter on Friday. The ADCP said city-based industrialist Gaurav Mittal, a resident of Aggar Nagar, had lodged a police complaint on April 17 that he received a WhatsApp call on his personal mobile number from some foreign number. The caller posed himself as gangster Ramandeep and a close aide of dreaded gangster Goldy Brar. The caller threatened the businessman that if he failed to give Rs 3 crore extor- EARLIER, DUO DEMANDED RS 1 CR FROM DOC ADCP-3 Gurpreet Kaur Purewal said during the questioning of the duo, the police managed to crack another extortion case in which they had demanded ~1 crore from city doctor Daman Makkar. He had lodged a complaint with the cyber cell but the suspects were yet to be identified. However, their arrest in the latest case helped solve both cases. tion money, he would kill him and his family members. “The suspect told me that they have all information about me and family members, including children. He said they are also keeping a tab over locations of my family members. I was frightened when he sent pictures of my wife and children clicked when they were out in the market,” the complainant told the police. He said on March 29, his wife and children had gone towards South City when the suspect chased them. Luckily, his wife had noted the registration number of the Toyota Fortuner, which was later given to the police along with the complaint. The ADCP said after launching a probe, suspects were identified and with the arrest of the two suspects, the case was cracked in a few hours of investigation. Revealing about the modus operandi, ADCP Purewal said both suspects used to identify prominent industrialists or businessmen and then, keep a tab over them and their families. They Police personnel address mediapersons in Ludhiana on Friday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN Two more women farmers become NaMo drone didis in dist Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 19 Taking forward the first-ofits-type initiative launched two months ago, two more women farmers in Ludhiana district, Rupinder Kaur and Mandeep Kaur Pannu, have become the NaMo drone didis under the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship scheme aimed at helping women to become integral stakeholders of their local farming supply chains and rural prosperity. Four progressive young peasants had been given drones worth Rs 60 lakh free of cost in the state’s biggest and largest district, in terms of area and population, in February. Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney had handed over four drone systems, comprising an electrical vehicle and generator, costing Rs 15-lakh each, free of cost to the young progressive peasants — Rupinder Kaur from Lapran village in Payal, Mandeep Kaur Pannu from Barundi village in Pakhowal, Gurinder Kaur from Machhiwara, and Simranjit Kaur from Marewal-Gehlewal village in Machhiwara. Aged between 25 and 40, the beneficiaries are well- Six progressive young female peasants get drones to do farming ELIGIBILITY ■ Applicant should be a woman. ■ Should belong to lower economic groups. ■ Should be involved in agricultural activities. BENEFITS ■ It will help increase number of Mandeep Kaur Pannu, one of the NaMo drone didis, operating her drone at Barundi village in Ludhiana on Friday. ASHWANI DHIMAN qualified with most of them graduates in agriculture and heading the self-help groups (SHGs) dealing in agro and farmers’ producers’ companies in their respective villages with hundreds of farmers as their members. State head of Grant Thornton Bharat, Manpreet Singh, told The Tribune, here on Friday, that IFFCO Chandigarh in collaboration with STREE Project of HDFC Parivartan and GT Bharat, have launched a pioneering initiative in Ludhiana aimed at revolutionising agricultural practices and promoting women’s empowerment in agriculture. He said new drones were distributed among accomplished pilots — Rupinder Kaur, Board of Director of Lapran Women Farmers’ Producers Company, and Simranjit Kaur, member of Satluj Women Farmers’ Producers Company, Machhiwara, and Mandeep Kaur Pannu of Barundi village in Pakhowal. “Besides the comprehensive training programme conducted by IFFCO in women working in the agriculture industry. ■ Drone Didi Yojana also acts as the next stage in empowering women through SHGs to become self-reliant (atmanirbhar). The programme will give more people chance to find work. Manesar earlier, these beneficiaries will also receive a twoday on-farm training in their villages, focusing on adept handling and operational techniques of the drone technology,” Manpreet said, adding that these skilled female pilots, known as NaMo drone didis were ready to navigate agricultural fields of Ludhiana to achieve higher productivity, enhanced crop health and reduced environmental impact using Nano urea and Nano DAP . Congratulating the women farmers on becoming part of c m y b the national revolutionary scheme which has an allocation of Rs 1,261 crore to empower the female SHGs in the use of drones for agricultural purposes, the DC said the beneficiaries have undergone a comprehensive training at Manesar near Gurugram between November and December last following which they became eligible for becoming the NaMo drone didis. “The scheme aims to boost their self-confidence and encourage active participation in the latest agricultural endeavours,” Sakshi said while hoping that the economically empowered women would contribute to the development of the state and the nation. She said these skilled female pilots, known as NaMo drone didis, would help to achieve higher productivity, enhanced crop health and reduced environmental impact using Nano urea and Nano DAP with drones. The DC said with the help of the drones, the spraying could be done on one-acre area within seven minutes. “With an aim to revolutionise agricultural practices and promote women’s empowerment in agriculture, the beneficiaries have also been imparted two-day on-farm training in would even click photographs and make videos of family members, which they would send to victims through their phone numbers. Tajinderpal has a notorious past as he is facing four cases registered against him in the past at Barnala, Moga and Ludhiana. ADCP-3 Gurpreet Kaur Purewal said during the questioning of the suspects, the police managed to crack another extortion case in which they had demanded Rs 1 crore from a city-based doctor, Daman Makkar. Dr Makkar had already lodged a complaint with the cyber cell but the suspects were yet to be identified. However, their arrest in the latest case helped solve both cases. The suspects tried to extort money by using the same modus operandi from Dr Makkar as their mobile phones were having photographs and videos of Makkar and his family. Further investigation might provide more clues to the police regarding extortion calls made in the past. Barundi village, focusing on adept handling and operational techniques of drone technology,” she revealed. Beneficiaries Rupinder Kaur from Lapran village in Payal is chairperson of Board of Directors of Lapran Multipurpose Farmers’ Producer Company. She had worked on paddy straw management. Mandeep Kaur Pannu from Barundi village in Pakhowal is heading the Board of Directors of Barundi Agro Farmers’ Producer Company. She herself is a vegetable grower over 5 acres of land. Gurinder Kaur is a progressive farmer from Machhiwara. Simranjit Kaur from Marewal-Gehlewal village in Machiwara is also on the Board of Directors of Satluj Women Farmèrs’ Producer Company. Know the scheme Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the launch of NaMo drone didi scheme, a revolutionary scheme with an allocation of Rs 1,261-crore approved by the Union Cabinet, from the ramparts of Red Fort on August 15, 2023, for helping women to become integral stakeholders of their local farming supply chains. With a goal to create twocrore lakhpati didis in rural areas, the scheme entails training to 15,000 female SHG members to operate and maintain drones. Launched under his flagship Lakhpati Didi project, the PM had announced that the drones will be given to female SHGs so that they can use the technology to support their livelihoods under the Drone Didi Yojana 2023-24. Over the course of next three years, the Union Government will give 15,000 drones to women SHGs across the country. Objective The primary objective of the scheme is to empower women and make them independent financially. The beneficiaries will be able to work, which will help them become independent. Additionally, more farmers would employ drones, which would strengthen the agriculture industry. The idea of the scheme is to enhance the capacity and improve the livelihood of the sisters associated with self-help groups. It will also help protect the bodies of farmers, which were affected by pesticides, DAP , and urea during the manual spraying in the fields. Youth found dead in STP drain at village Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 19 A youth was found dead in a drain at a sewage treatment plant (STP) in Bhattian village on Friday. It was unclear whether the victim was murdered or he fell into the drain accidentally. After getting information, officials from the Salem Tabri police station rushed to the spot and conduted a probe. The body was taken out from the drain and later shifted to the civil hospital mortuary. The police said the deceased, who seems to be aged around 25, was yet to be identified. Alert was sounded in the district to check complaints pertained to missing persons lodged by various police stations in the past. Local residents were also questioned by the Salem Tabri police to get any clue about the deceased youngster.
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