01052024-LT-01.qxd 01-05-2024 01:03 Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune JUSTICE STILL ELUSIVE FOR GIASPURA TRAGEDY VICTIMS 2 YOUTHS HELD FOR KILLING THEIR GRANDMOTHER BILLIE LOCKS SEPTEMBER FOR HER WORLD TOUR Family members of victims still await justice as no culprits responsible have been caught to date. P2 Fazilka police claimed to have cracked the blind murder case of the woman who was ‘strangulated’ to death. P3 Singer-songwriter Billie Eilish is gearing up to embark on a world tour in support of her forthcoming third album. P4 » » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 34°C | MIN 16°C YESTERDAY MAX 34°C | MIN 16°C SUNSET WEDNESDAY 7:00 PM SUNRISE THURSDAY 5:39 AM WEDNESDAY | 1 MAY 2024 | LUDHIANA Ekampreet bags first position in state Ayesha, Ravneet top district, share PSEB Class XII Chetna gets second rank in state, Farleen, Sneha emerge third in dist Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 30 Ekampreet Singh from BCM Senior Secondary School, Jamalpur Colony, here, has topped the Class XII examinations, the results of which were declared by the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) today. A national-level gatka player, Ekampreet is from commerce stream. He scored 500 out of 500 marks and topped the state. Ekampreet wants to pursue a career in law and wants to see himself in the GNDU Law Department. His father is working with Oswal Woolen Mills while mother is a housewife. Regular study of 4-5 hours and hard work remained the strengths of Ekampreet, who never went for tuition. “Schoolteachers were enough to support me to achieve the rank,” he said. The second rank in the state and the district is bagged by Chetna Rani, a student of Teja Singh Sutantar Memorial Senior Secondary School, Shimlapuri, having commerce stream. She has scored 499 out of 500 marks. Chetna, a commerce student, wants to become a company secretary. Her father is a private plumber while mother is a housewife. She used to fourth spot in state Tribune News Service CHETNA RANI EKAMPREET SINGH COMMERCE COMMERCE 499/500 500/500 FARLEEN KAUR COMMERCE 497/500 SNEHA VERMA NON-MEDICAL 497/500 study religiously during late night hours till 3 am. She had taken tuition for accounts. Farleen Kaur and Sneha Verma from Teja Singh Sutantar Memorial Senior Secondary School, Shimlapuri, have bagged third rank in the district and fourth in the state by scor- ing 497 marks out of 500. Farleen Kaur, a student of commerce wants to do BCom first. The choice of career is yet to be decided by her. Her father works as a supervisor at a factory in Focal Point while mother is a housewife. She used to study from 8-10 hours a day to achieve the goal. She also did not take any tuition. While Sneha Verma, who took non-medical in Class XII, continued on page 2 Ludhiana, April 30 The Punjab School Education Board today declared the results of Class VIII. Ayesha from Senior National High School, Krishna Nagar, and Ravneet Kaur from Dashmesh Model Senior Secondary School, Doraha, have stood fourth in the state and first in the district by scoring 596 marks out of 600 (99.33 per cent). Sehejpreet Kaur from Government Senior Secondary School, Begowal; Pallavi from Children Valley Public Senior Secondary School and Gursimran Kaur from Dashmesh Public High School, Mehdoodan, have stood fifth in the state and second in the district by scoring 595/600 marks, while Shivam Mishra from Children Valley Public Senior Secondary School came in sixth in the state and third in the district with 594 marks. A total of 2,91,917 students had appeared in the Class VIII exams, of which 2,86,987 passed (98.31 per cent). As many as 4,641 students will reappear while 289 results were withheld by the board. In the district, PSEB Class VIII Of 323 students on merit list, 45 are from district OTHER ACHIEVERS ■ Sehejpreet Kaur from Government Senior Secondary School, Begowal; Pallavi from Children Valley Public Senior Secondary School and Gursimran Kaur from Dashmesh Public High School, Mehdoodan, have stood fifth in the state and second in the district by scoring 595/600 marks ■ Shivam Mishra from Children Valley Public Senior Secondary School came in sixth in the state and third in the district with 594 marks in the PSEB Class VIII examinations ■ A total of 2,91,917 students had appeared in the Class VIII exams, of which 2,86,987 passed (98.31 per cent). As many as 4,641 students will reappear while 289 results were withheld by the board 41,959 students had appeared of which 41,030 passed the exams. Of the 323 students on the merit list released by the PSEB, 45 are from the district. Rape suspect nabbed by Sahnewal police in 24 hrs NHAI rejects MC’s proposal for ads on Elevated Road pillars Sahnewal, April 30 The Sahnewal police claimed to have arrested the suspect in a rape case in less than 24 hours. The victim is undergoing medical treatment and will be examined thereafter. The father of a two-year old girl, had complained to the Sahnewal police that his daughter had gone missing on Monday. “We heard her screams from the room of Radhe Sham, a 32-year-old man, at Satya da Vehra in Giaspura. When we rushed to his room, I saw my two-year-old daughter was being violated by the suspect. She was profusely bleed- Ludhiana, April 30 In the midst of a controversy surrounding an advertisement tender, the Municipal Corporation’s plea for handing over the Elevated Road stretch (on Ferozepur Road and Bharat Nagar Chowk to Bus Stand) for the purpose of advertisements on its pillars has been rejected by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The NHAI Project Director has returned the proposal submitted by the MC for advertising on piers of the Elevated Road stretch, stating that it is not approved. Questions were earlier Was trying to escape to UP after raping two-yr-old ing. The man managed to flee the scene,” he said. Chowki in-charge, Giaspura, Dharminder Singh, said a case was registered against Radhe, a native of UP and at present staying in Giaspura here. “Themanwasarrestedtodayas he was trying to escape to UP from the Dhandhari railway station. He was presented before court and has been taken on police remand. The medical examinationofthevictimisbeing conducted,” he said. — TNS Harshraj Singh Tribune News Service BEYOND SCOPE OF CIVIC BODY, SAYS NHAI In a letter written to MC Commissioner, NHAI’s project director stated that the placement of any type of advertisement on a section of the national highway by the MC, Ludhiana, or through its contractors is beyond the scope of the civic body. Therefore, it should not be allowed in any case. raised over the MC’s advertisement project tender due to the inclusion of pillars of the Elevated Road constructed by the NHAI. The civic body recently floated tenders with a reserved price of Rs 6.25 crore for the auction of a number of outdoor media devices in different locations of the city. As many as 280 units of Elevated Road pillars on Ferozepur Road and Pakhowal Road ROB were included in the project, constituting 38.70 per cent of the total reserved price. However, Elevated Road (on Ferozepur Road) falls under the jurisdiction of the NHAI. According to NHAI’s letter sent to the MC, on Tuesday, the the corporation’s action of floating a tender without any permission or approval from the NHAI is an infringement of the NHAI’s operational domain. Previously, on April 26, 2024, the MC Commissioner had written to the NHAI, seeking the transfer of control over the Elevated Road stretch for the placement of advertisements on pillars. In the reply sent to the MC Commissioner the NHAI’s Project Director, Navratan, clarified that as per the guidelines dated September 7, 2016, of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways: “No advertisements are permitted on the national highways within the Right of Way.” Advertisement hoardings on national highways cause distractions and may cause accidents on the highway. Keeping in view the safety of road users, no advertisement is allowed on the stretch of the national highway. Notably, the road stretch from Samrala Chowk to the MC limits on Ferozepur Road is a part of the NH-95, and the same has been constructed and currently being maintained by the NHAI. In the letter to MC chief, the Project Director also mentioned about the gazette notification published by the ministry vide dated December 18, 2019, regarding the NH notification of the subject stretch. Therefore, it becomes ample clear that MC Ludhiana has no jurisdiction over the stretch of the national highway. He said it becomes clear that the placement of any type of advertisement on a section of the high- 85% of wheat crop over 2.45 lakh hectares harvested in district Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 30 Notwithstanding unfavourable weather conditions, the harvesting of wheat has picked up pace after almost a month of the official procurement of the main Rabi crop had begun on April 1 and over two weeks after Baisakhi, the festival of harvest, in Ludhiana. Mustard harvesting complete, wheat procurement still less than last year Following the initial delay in the wheat harvest, over 85 per cent of the total wheat sown over 2,45,200 hectares has now been harvested in the state’s biggest and largest district till Tuesday. Agricultural experts have attributed the delayed harvesting to the recent rainfall and low temperatures continuing for the past several days, besides the inclement weather conditions, which were still Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney interacts with farmers during inspection of a grain market in Ludhiana. TRIBUNE PHOTO persisting in the region. However, the yield of wheat has gone up by almost 10 per cent this season as compared to the previous year, official figures have revealed. From 4,591 kg per hectares in 202223, the wheat yield this season has touched 5,000 kg per hectare, which will lead to 12.26 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of crop production in the district this year. The harvesting of mustard, another Rabi crop, was, however, completed with the entire crop sown over 2,600 hectares already harvested in the district till Tuesday. The yield of mustard has also increased from 1,916 kg per hectare last season to 1,950 kg per hectare this year, which is expected to result in the production of 5 LMT of the crop in the district this season. On the procurement front, over 6.7 lakh MT (LMT) of wheat had arrived at mandis (grain markets) across 13 market committees in the district till last evening. Of this, over 6.61 LMT grains have been purchased with 8,467 MT of the stock lying unsold due to higher moisture content in the mandis till last evening. Arrival, procurement less This season’s wheat arrival and procurement was still almost 11 per cent and around 12 per cent, respectively, less than over 7.51 LMT of the crop that had arrived and over 7.48 LMT of it had been procured at the mandis in the district during the corresponding period last year. The official figures compiled by the Agriculture Department, a copy of which is with The Tribune, showed that 2,09,312 hectares, which accounted for 85.4 per cent of the total 2,45,200 hectares of wheat crop, has been harvested in the district so far. The block-wise harvest figures revealed that 11,560 of the total 13,600 hectares of wheat has been harvested in the Ludhiana block, 23,250 of 31,000 hectares in Mangat, 16,536 of 21,200 hectares in Pakhowal, 22,080 of 27,600 hectares in Jagraon, 25,670 of 30,200 hectares in Sidhwan Bet, 26,315 of 27,700 hectares in Sudhar, 16,650 of 18,500 hectares in Khanna, 17,864 of 20,300 hectares in Dehlon, 14,976 of 19,200 hectares in Doraha, 11,160 of 12,400 hectares in Samrala c m y b and 22,325 hectares of the total 23,500 hectares of wheat crop sown in the Machhiwara block has already been harvested. When it comes to procurement, Asia’s biggest grain market Khanna has received the maximum of 89,812 MT of wheat so far followed by 76,953 MT at Jagraon and 74,119 MT at Mullanpur Dakha. Among other mandis, 54,719 MT of the crop has arrived at Doraha, 34,824 MT at Hathur, 39,796 MT at Kila Raipur, 29,311 MT at Ludhiana, 28,075 MT at Maloud, 65,166 MT at Raikot, 37,473 MT at Sahnewal, 39,109 MT at Samrala, and 34,517 MT of wheat has arrived at the grain markets under Sidhwan Bet market committee so far. Of the total arrivals so far, government agencies have procured 5.69 LMT while private agencies have purchased 93,021 MT of wheat, which together was 98.74 per cent of the total 6,70,206 MT arrivals, leaving 8,467 MT, which accounted for just 1.26 per cent of the total stocks, unsold. While 2,97,429 MT of the procured wheat, which accounted for less than 44.95 per cent of the total purchased stock, has been lifted from the mandis, the rest 3,64,310 MT of the purchased grains, which accounted for 55.05 per cent of the total purchased wheat, were yet to be lifted from the grain markets. However, Deputy Commissioner, Sakshi Sawhney, who has been reviewing the wheat procurement by visiting the mandis on a daily basis, told The Tribune, on Tuesday that the procured grains were supposed to be lifted within 72 hours of the purchase and under that time frame, almost 170 per cent of the wheat has already been lifted from the grain markets. “In a record of sorts, the procurement agencies had lifted 44,700 MT of purchased wheat from the mandis within 24 hours. Though the lifting process is well in place and has been expedited, we are further accelerating it to avert any glut-like situation in the mandis as the progressive arrival has picked up exponentially this week,” Sakshi added. The maximum price that the procured wheat has fetched was Rs 2,285 per quintal while Rs 2,275 per quintal has so far remained the minimum sale price in the district. On the mustard front, the entire 2,600 hectares of the crop has already been harvested in the district. Every grain to be procured: DC “Procurement agencies have been asked to instantly lift all of their procured stocks from mandis to make space for fresh arrivals. We have made elaborate arrangements to ensure that farmers did not face any inconvenience. Besides swift procurement and lifting, we have also ensured quick payment of procured stocks with Rs 1,387 crore already paid to the peasants. We are committed to purchasing every grain arriving at the mandis and ensure instant purchase, payment and lifting to facilitate them,” said Sakshi Sawhney, DC. way by the MC or through its contractors is completely beyond the scope of the civic body; therefore, the same shall not be allowed in any case. Meanwhile, city resident Kuldeep Singh Khaira, who had sent a complaint to the Regional Office of the NHAI against MC’s tendering process for advertisements, has also demanded that the government must probe the matter and fix responsibilities of the MC’s officials concerned. Following his complaint, the NHAI sent a reply to Khaira, stating that no permission or approval had been given by the NHAI office to the MC for advertisement on the elevated highway. Man dies after being attacked by stray dogs Ludhiana, April 30 In a heart-wrenching incident near Jagraon, a man lost his life after being attacked by stray dogs in Ramgarh village. The victim, Hardeep Singh (35), from Malsian Bhai Ke village, had gone to reconcile with his wife amid a domestic dispute. Hardeep wanted his wife to return home. Allegedly driven to frustration, he is said to have resorted to consuming alcohol on Sunday. It is believed that during this time, he fell victim to an attack by stray dogs in Ramgarh, resulting in severe injuries. Subsequently, villagers found Hardeep’s body and promptly alerted the police. According to information, the victim not only suffered bites from the dogs but also endured substantial flesh wounds across his body. Hardeep Singh, survived by two children, was known to his family as a hardworking person. — TNS
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