21042024-LT-01.qxd 4/21/2024 12:44 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune MONTH ON, SMART TRAFFIC LIGHTS YET TO BE INSTALLED ANANYA PANDAY TALKS ABOUT HER PROJECTS SUNNY BEGINS SHOOTING FOR HER MALAYALAM FILM Month after MC initiated process to install smart traffic lights at Sarabha Nagar, progress has been sluggish. P2 Ananya Panday remains highly engaged on social media and frequently updates her fans about her life.P4 Sunny Leone is excited to be part of a Malayalam film. She shared a glimpse of muhurat ceremony on the sets.P4 » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 35°C | MIN 21°C YESTERDAY MAX 35°C | MIN 20°C SUNSET SUNDAY 6.54 PM » SUNRISE MONDAY 5:48 AM SUNDAY | 21 APRIL 2024 | LUDHIANA 83 establishments owe ~4.37 cr to EPFO in city 9 top defaulters not paid ~3.21 cr, final notice served to clear dues Nitin Jain TOP NINE DEFAULTERS Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 20 As many as 83 establishments have defaulted in deposit of provident fund (PF) amounting to a whopping Rs 4.37 crore in Ludhiana, the Regional Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has confirmed. Of the total establishments, the top nine defaulters have not paid the PF of their employees, amounting to Rs 3.21 crore, which constitutes almost 74 per cent of the total default money, officials have said. Taking serious note of the lapse, the Ludhiana Regional office of the EPFO has warned the defaulters of strict penal action in case of their failure to clear their default amounts forthwith. The defaulting establishments in the business and industrial hub of the North have been issued the final notice to clear their pending statutory dues without any further delay, else, proceedings to initiate penal action will be initiated against them. The penal action entails attachment of movable/immovable properties of the defaulting establishments and employers, appointment of receivers, attachment of their bank ESTABLISHMENT DUES Rajit Paints Limited 83.58 Jindal Cotex Limited 76.74 GS Engitech Pvt Limited 59.68 GS Automotives Limited 25.88 Freemans Measures Pvt Ltd 20.92 JSM Constructions 18.28 Thapar Agro Limited 16.91 Ahuja Cotspin Pvt Ltd (Unit-II) 10.5 Nalanda Woollan Pvt Ltd 11.28 Total 323.77 The EPFO building in Ludhiana. FILE accounts, receiving amount from third party dues, arrests and detentions of the defaulters in the civil prison and filing of cases under appropriate sections of the relevant law provisions. Regional Provident Fund Commissioner-1 (RPFC-1) Saurabh Swami told The Tribune here on Saturday that the EPFO’s regional office in Ludhiana, functioning under the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment, has been undertaking a sustained campaign for the purpose of recovering pending statutory dues from the defaulting establishments since January. “Under the ongoing efforts to ensure strict compliance, we have announced the top nine defaulting establish- ments that have failed to deposit the amount as levied under the Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions (EPFMP) Act, 1952,” he said. Swami disclosed that these establishments have repeatedly neglected their obligation to remit employees’ contribution under Section 7A, penalties under Section 14B, and interest under Section 7Q, levied against them and have violated law provisions under the Act. “The nine establishments constitute around 74 per cent of pending arrear demand, which affects hundreds of members of the EPF and EPS,” he stated. He said enforcement officers had been directed to augment the recovery from the Vehicle damages power pole, traffic hit Ludhiana, April 20 The traffic movement was disrupted and business at several shops was affected after an electricity pole collapsed on the main market road in Ghumar Mandi, here. According to an official of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), a vehicle rammed the pole last night, causing damage to it. Consequently, electricity wires and other cables fell down, obstructing traffic movement. Meanwhile, power supply in the area was also affected. The collapsed pole was located on the roadside portion outside a shop. On receiving information, a team of the PSPCL sprang into action to remove the pole and cables. However, Broken parts of the power pole being removed from the main market road in Ghumar Mandi on Saturday. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN the repair work was going on till this evening. Almost half of the damaged pole had tilted towards the ground, with some wires touching the road and others hanging in the air. The stretch was later barricaded to stop traffic movement to prevent any mishap. The sub-divisional officer of the PSPCL, Ludhiana West, said the repair work would be completed soon, adding that a vehicle had rammed the power pole on Friday night. Ramesh, a worker at a local store, said: “I don’t know how the mishap occurred. I saw the damaged pole and cables this morning. Many customers could not reach shops near the incident site as the road was closed for traffic movement.” — TNS (Source: EPFO, amount in rupees lakh, figures till Mar 31) defaulting establishments under the special drive and prepare documentation for launching penal proceedings against the defaulters, who fail to fall in line. The regional office of the EPFO here has jurisdiction over the employees working in the establishments covered under the EPFMP Act, across the state’s biggest and largest district, in terms of area and population. “Under the drive, action will be initiated against the establishments which fail to remit the assessed amount immediately,” Swami asserted while informing that the data of defaulters had been tabulated to initiate the recovery and further proceedings. continued on page 2 Man ends his life Ludhiana, April 20 A man died by suicide by hanging himself at his house in Khanna on Friday. His father Dharamveer alleged that he took the extreme step after being harassed by the victim’s wife. The deceased has been identified as Ravi Kumar (34). Dharamveer said seven months ago, an NRI asked his son to stay in his house at Raja Colony as a caretaker. The NRI had also allowed his son to keep his wife there. However, the woman threw his son out of the house and she himself started staying alone there. His son had been suspecting that his wife had an illicit relationship with somebody due to which he took the extreme step. The police said after recording the statement of victim’s father, action would be taken. — TNS Driver charred to death after truck catches fire Our Correspondent Payal, April 20 In a tragic incident, a truck driver was charred to death after the front cabin of the vehicle parked in front of a petrol station at Bija near here caught fire about 3.30 am on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday. Though the exact reason behind the incident is yet to be ascertained, it is suspected that the fire was caused either due to a short-circuit in wiring of the vehicle or probable smoking by the deceased before sleeping. The deceased was identified as Sandeep Kumar (32) of Garh Shankar in Hoshiarpur. He was married five years ago. The trucker was returning from Payal town after deliver- The truck engulfed in flames at Bija near Payal. TRIBUNE PHOTO ing a consignment to a trader. Feeling sleepy, the victim took a nap near the petrol station, following which the vehicle caught fire, his kin said. Investigation revealed that the driver of the truck (bearing registration number HP 12 C 8365) had parked his vehicle near exit point of the petrol station near Bija Chowk on the national highway about 11.30 pm on Friday. It was about 3.30 am that employees of the petrol pump noticed smoke and flames in front cabin of the truck. Besides trying to extinguish the fire, they raised an alarm and tried to rescue the driver, who had woke up on hearing the noise. As windows of the truck were locked from inside, these could not be opened after the vehicle caught fire. The panicked driver also failed to come out from the vehicle quickly due to which he was engulfed in flames. All efforts by petrol pump employees to douse the flames failed after which fire tender reached the spot and controlled the fire. Kuldeep Singh and Jagjit Singh, employees of the petrol pump, said the police had kept the charred body of the deceased at a mortuary of the Civil Hospital, Khanna, which would be handed over to his kin after autopsy. Meanwhile, owners of the truck were identified on the basis of registration of the vehicle and informed in the morning. c m y b Sting op: Lab technician caught taking bribe Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 20 In a sting operation carried out today by Civil Surgeon Jasbir Singh Aulakh, a lab technician of the Civil Hospital, Ludhiana, was caught taking bribe for turning a positive report of the dope test into negative. An applicant complained to the Civil Surgeon that he went to the hospital to get his dope test done and a lab technician asked for bribe from him and assured him that the test would come negative even if he get the same done after consuming alcohol. He, in turn, asked Taxi driver dies in hit-and-run Ludhiana, April 20 In a hit-and-run case reported on Friday night, a speeding Mahindra Pik-Up vehicle hit a taxi driver in front of the Khanna SSP’s office and killed him on the spot. After the mishap, the errant driver fled the scene. The deceased was identified as Sagar Mander (46) of Turmaric village. He was a taxi driver, working with a travel firm. He often used to visit Delhi. Around 10.30 pm, Sagar, after giving the firm’s car to another driver, was crossing the service lane when the vehicle hit him from the rear and left the scene. A case has been registered. — TNS Civil Hospital employee took money for turning positive report of dope test into negative for a bribe of Rs 3,000 from him. A seven-member committee was formed to carry out the sting operation. Its members included SMOs Mandeep Sidhu, HS Sood and Deepika Goyal, deputy mass media officer Rajinder Singh, district community moboliser Amandeep Singh, Pakhowal CHC’s radiographer Prabhjot Singh and computer operator Mandeep Singh. An amount of Rs 3,000 was given to the complainant and photocopy of the currency notes was kept. The applicant went to the hospital, got his test conducted and took the report. The lab technician sent a Class IV employee at the main gate of the hospital, before going himself there. Later, he went to the spot and collected Rs 3,000 from the applicant while hiding behind an ambulance. The team caught him red-handed while taking the bribe from the complainant. The Civil Surgeon has prepared a report and sent the same to the Director, Health, and further action will be taken after getting directions from the latter. “I received a complaint a few days ago that the report of an applicant has been turned negative, though he was under the dose of intoxication. I directed the SMO, and his test was repeated and the second time, the test came positive and it was found that the applicant was under the influence of four types of drugs,” Dr Aulakh said. Now, the Civil Surgeon said after deciding a specific time span, all dope tests done during the period would be conducted again. He would also recommend the authorities to cancel arms licence of applicants that later turned positive. Patna man dupes city resident of ~1.70 lakh in online fraud Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 20 A Patna-based fraudster duped a resident of Ladhowal, Ludhiana, of Rs 1.70 lakh on the pretext of selling a tractor to the latter. After receiving money, the suspect switched off his phone. The suspect has been identified as Mukesh Kumar, a resident of Patna, Bihar. The complainant, Mundar Singh, a resident of the NDRF Camp, Ladhowal, told the police that in May last year, he had seen an advertisement on OLX and after getting the mobile number of the seller, he called him to strike a deal. After negotiation, the deal to buy the tractor was fixed at Rs 2.60 lakh. On different dates, he transferred Rs 1.70 lakh to the bank account of the seller. Later, when he told the seller that he would give the remaining amount after taking the delivery of the tractor, the suspect kept pressing him to pay the remaining payment prior to the delivery, the complainant said, adding that when he refused to pay the remaining amount, the suspect stopped taking his calls and also switched off his mobile phone. Following which, he lodged a police complaint against the suspect. Inspector Pargat Singh said after registering a case under Section 420 (cheating) of the IPC and under Section 66 of the IT Act, further investigation was launched by the police.
The Tribune, now published from Chandigarh, started publication on February 2, 1881, in Lahore (now in Pakistan). It was started by Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia, a public-spirited philanthropist, and is run by a trust comprising four eminent persons as trustees.
The Tribune, the largest selling daily in North India, publishes news and views without any bias or prejudice of any kind. Restraint and moderation, rather than agitational language and partisanship, are the hallmarks of the paper. It is an independent newspaper in the real sense of the term.
The English edition apart, the 133-year-old Tribune has two sister publications, Punjabi Tribune (in Punjabi) and Dainik Tribune (in Hindi).