01072024-LT-01.qxd 7/1/2024 12:53 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune DRIZZLING TEMPTS RESIDENTS, PROVIDES SOME RELIEF SWEET AROMA FILLS GOVIND GODHAM DURING MANGO FEST SAND ARTIST SUDARSAN PATTNAIK CONGRATULATES TEAM INDIA Light drizzle in morning followed by a cool breeze gave much needed relief to residents at few places in the city. P2 Scents of mango varieties mingled with one another, filling the air with a sweet aroma as devotees celebrated Mango Fest.P2 Noted sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik created a sand sculpture of a 20 feet-long bat and 500 balls with a message. P4 » » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 36°C | MIN 28°C YESTERDAY MAX 34°C | MIN 27°C SUNSET MONDAY 7.33 PM SUNRISE TUESDAY 5:27 AM MONDAY | 1 JULY 2024 | LUDHIANA Bike racing leads to serious mishap, biker among 2 killed Ludhiana, June 30 In a tragic accident near Kotla Shamshpur village on the Ludhiana-Chandigarh National Highway in Samrala on Sunday morning, a biker driving a racing bike rammed his vehicle into an Activa scooter. The collision was so intense that the biker died on the spot and his racing bike also caught fire. A woman riding pillion on the Activa scooter also succumbed to injuries on the spot. Her son, who was driving scooter, suffered serious injuries in the accident. Parminder Singh, a resident of Hedon, said today morning his son Sanpreet Singh (24), along with his wife Parminder Kaur (50), was heading towards Nagra village from Hedon on their Activa scooter. As his son was turning towards Samrala side from Kotla Shamshpur on the national highway, a biker coming from the Samrala side suddenly came and rammed his bike into his son’s Deceased was from bikers group racing on highway A fire tender douses flames after a bike caught fire following collision with an Activa scooter in Samrala on Sunday. FILE PHOTOS Tribune News Service Biker Vivek Chauhan and Parminder Kaur who died in a road mishap. scooter. He said his wife and the biker, whose negligence led to the death of his wife, died on the spot. The bike also caught fire. The deceased biker was identified as Vivek Chauhan, a resident of Sector 42-B, Chandigarh. Tarlochan Singh, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Samrala, said biker Vivek Chauhan, who also died in the mishap, was racing with a group of other bikers from Chandigarh. After the accident, other bikers didn’t stop to check their friend, he said. Rather they fled from the spot, he added. Since accident was caused by biker Vivek Chauhan, a case of negligent driving was registered against him and further investigation was launched in this connection, the DSP said. Meanwhile, people of Kotla Shamshpur village located on the national highway also arrived at the spot. They alleged that every weekend, bikers drive their bikes at high speed. They usually drive at the speed of 150 km per hour, they said. The police need to take this lapse seriously to prevent such accidents in the future, they added. Expenditure observers examine candidates’ accounts at meeting 7-month-old child stolen from rly station Ludhiana, June 30 The final account reconciliation meeting with all candidates, who contested Lok Sabha polls, and election agents in the Ludhiana parliamentary constituency was held at Bachat Bhawan on Sunday. The meeting was attended by expenditure observers Pankaj Kumar and Chetan D Kalamkar, DEO Sakshi Sawhney, and ADC Anmol Singh Dhaliwal along with the expenditure monitoring team and representatives of various political parties. During the meeting, candidates’ documents, such as receipts, invoices, and bank statements, were examined to ensure that all campaign expenses were incurred in adherence to legal standards. The exercise included assessment of candidates’ spending with shadow registers. — TNS Ludhiana, June 30 A seven-month-old girl was stolen by some miscreants from the Ludhiana railway station. The Railway Police after registering a case against unknown persons have launched an investigation in this connection. The police are scanning footage of the CCTV cameras installed on the railway station premises and in the nearby areas to find clues about suspects. As per information, a citybased family had returned after paying obeisance at Mata Vaishno Devi Temple in Jammu and Kashmir. The family reached the railway station at 2 am on Sunday. Instead of going home, the family preferred to spend night at the railway station. When the family members woke up in the early morning, they were shocked to Tribune News Service Seven-month-old Khushi Patel who was stolen from the Ludhiana railway station. find that their daughter was missing. They raised an alarm and informed the Railway Police. Chandan Kumar, father of missing child identified as Khushi Patel, said they had slept at the railway station considering it would be safe only to find that the place was vulnerable to crime. He said a complaint was lodged with the Government Railway Police regarding their missing daughter. In November last year, a three-month-old baby was stolen from the Ludhiana railway station. Fortunately, child was found after 20-hour struggle by the Government Railway Police and Railway Protection Force in a joint operation. The suspects involved in the crime were identified as Jatinder and his wife Poonam, alias Pooja, a native of Bihar, at present staying in Kapurthala. The child was recovered from Kapurthala. Officials of the Government Railway Police said an investigation had been launched to trace the missing child. They said the footage of the CCTV cameras of the railway station was being scanned to identify the suspects. PSPCL employee dies while rectifying fault in Jagraon Tribune News Service Ludhiana, June 30 A Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) employee, who was repairing a fault in the electricity supply near Chungi No. 5 in Jagraon, got electrocuted yesterday evening. The deceased has been identified as Mandeep Singh, resident of Dholan village. On receiving complaint of a fault in the electricity supply, Mandeep Singh climbed a pole near Chungi No. 5 to rectify it. While repairing the fault, he accidently touched live wires and fell straight on the road. Seriously injured Mandeep was rushed to a hospital by fellow workers where a doctor declared him brought dead. On learning about Mandeep’s death other employees working under a contractor in the PSPCL got angry. Dozens of employees held a sit-in outside the complaint house of the PSPCL on Saturday night and raised slogans against the powercom and the Punjab Government. The protesting employees said as there was no safety equipment, there was always danger to their lives while they fixed faults in the electricity supply. They alleged that they did not even have torches, gloves and ladders what to expect about other safety equipment. They said not only this, the maintenance work was done by only two employees on 10 PSPCL feeders. Due to powercom’s apathy towards contractual employees, their colleagues were dying every day, the protesters said. The government was not paying attention to employees working under the contract system, they added. Farmer unions protest at the Ladhowal toll barrier in Ludhiana. TRIBUNE PHOTO: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN Farmer unions shut Ladhowal toll plaza booths, lift dharna Barrier to remain tax free till protesters demands are not met Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, June 30 During the ongoing protest by farmers at the Ladhowal toll plaza on Sunday, farmer groups locked booths of employees working at the plaza while declaring it toll free for commuters. The farmer groups announced that they would lift their dharna from the site, but the toll plaza would remain locked. They said if plaza officials try to open the locks of booths and start toll collection, they would again start their dharna. The farmer groups from Shambhu border and from across the state too joined the protesters at the Ladhowal toll plaza on Sunday. Interestingly, today children and women in large numbers also took part in the protest. Since morning, there was lot of hustle bustle at the Ladhowal toll plaza. For almost two weeks this agitation has been going on as farmers raised the issue of high rates at the toll plaza. They claimed that high rates were burning a hole in the pocket of common man so they were against this toll plaza. Dilbagh Singh, state president, Bhartiya Kisan Mazdoor Union, said they had given a warning to the government to reduce toll rates by June 30, but their demand was not fulfilled. So, they locked the booths where employees sit and collect tax, he said. “Even after recovering crores of rupees from the public, the agreement with the company for running this toll plaza has not been terminated by the government. Rather, the firm has increased the toll rates twice,” he said. “Since these toll booths have no locks, we have covered them with tarpaulins. Commuters will not have to pay any tax. The toll bar- rier will remain closed for an indefinite period. Farmer unions will not allow toll collection till the NHAI initiates talks with us and agrees to reduce the toll to bare minimum like Rs 100 or Rs 150 for multiple rides for 24 hours,” Dilbagh Singh asserted. The Ladhowal toll plaza is the costliest barrier in Punjab. Earlier too, several protests were held against the hike in toll charges. In a year, toll charges have been hiked thrice by the NHAI. Apart from farmers, other people from the cross section of society are extending support to protesters. They are holding a sit-in along with farmers at the protest site. Since no toll is being collected at the barrier from the past two weeks, the daily average loss to the NHAI is pegged at Rs 1 crore. In the past two weeks, the total estimated loss suffered by the NHAI is Rs 15 crore. Finish cleaning work of drains in 2 days: DC to officials Ludhiana, June 30 Deputy Commissioner (DC) Sakshi Sawhney on Sunday took stock of areas vulnerable to floods, besides work of cleaning drains in the district. Accompanied by ADC (UD) Rupinder Pal Singh, DRO Gurjinder Singh, Executive Engineer (Drainage) Rajat Grover and other officials, the DC visited Dhulewal Complex (Machhiwara), Maini-Chamkaur Sahib-Machhiwara and Buddha DariyaKoom Kalan link drains. She checked the progress of cleaning work of drains by two poclain machines. She directed officials to complete the work within next two days. She also asked officials to make arrangements for sandbags near Dhulewal Complex for use in case of an emergency. Sawhney said agencies were working round the clock at all crucial sites along the Sutlej River. She said Sub-Divisional Magistrates (SDMs) were daily monitoring the progress of the works. Any laxity on part of officials concerned in strengthening vulnerable points on the entire stretch along the river would not be tolerated, she added. She said, “Every effort is being made to ensure that flood-like situation is averted in the district. No stone should be left unturned to evolve a fool-proof mechanism for fortifying the weak points along the Sutlej River so that people don’t face any inconvenience during the upcoming rainy season.” — TNS Saplings destroyed while cleaning Snatchers' gang busted, four Three gamblers nabbed with ~11.48L Buddha Nullah in Peeru Banda Mohalla heldwithauto-rickshaw,four from house in Model Town Extension two-wheelers, 20 cellphones Tribune News Service Ludhiana, June 30 The work to clear garbage and filth from the Buddha Nullah has been expedited since monsoons are round the corner. Sadly, saplings planted along the banks of the nullah a few weeks ago by the municipal corporation (MC) have been destroyed during cleaning of the nullah. The stretch of nullah in Peeru Banda Mohalla is being cleaned with the help of ditch machines. The entire garbage taken out by these machines is dumped on saplings planted for the beautification in the area. BJP’s state media panellist Parminder Mehta said a lot of money was spent on building a concrete wall, installing grills and iron strainers along this stretch to check overflowing of nullah. He said all tall claims to contain water in the nullah Tribune News Service A JCB machine cleans banks of the Buddha Nullah in Ludhiana. turned out be hollow after rainfall on Thursday as the nullah was full to the brim. “The MC is not only cleaning nullah, but also destroying plants along its banks that planted last month for its beautification,” he said. He has also written to the CM to mark an inquiry into funds spent on cleaning the Buddha Nullah. A resident of Salem Tabri said every government promises a solution, but whenever it rains, the nullah overflows. “Life becomes difficult as filth from nullah comes on roads,” he said. The MC has deployed machines for cleaning internal drains including Dharampura drain, Dhoka Mohalla nullah and Barewal drain. Ludhiana, June 30 The Haibowal police claimed to have busted a gang of snatchers with the arrest of four of its members. The gang was preparing to commit a robbery in the Haibowal area. The arrested suspects have been identified as Pawan Singh, a resident of New Shimlapuri, Harish Verma, alias Soni, a resident of Ram Nagar, Mandeep Singh, alias Bunty, a resident of New Shimlapuri and Mukesh Kumar, alias Munshi, a resident of Satguru Nagar. In a statement, the police stated that Jagatpuri police post in-charge ASI Sukhjinder Singh received a secret information that a gang of snatchers had committed several snatchings in the recent c m y b past. Acting on the tip-off, a police party raided the suspected hideout of the gang and nabbed its four members. The police recovered two sharp weapons, one autorickshaw (bearing registration number PB10 HI5412), two motorcycles, two Activa scooters and 20 mobile phones which the suspects had snatched from city residents in the past. Vehicles also seemed to have been stolen by the suspects, the police said. A probe was on to verify the ownership of the recovered vehicles, the police added. The police said owners of the snatched cellphones and stolen vehicles would be traced. Cellphones and vehicles would be handed over to their respective owners after following the due procedure, the police added. Ludhiana, June 30 The police raided a house from where three gamblers were caught gambling redhanded. The police also recovered Rs 11.48 lakh in cash and currency counting machine from the house. The arrested suspects were identified as Harjit Singh, alias Chacha, a resident of Model Town, Sushil Kumar, a resident of Jamalpur, and Parvinder Kumar, a resident of Karnail Singh Nagar. In a statement, ADCP Shubham Aggarwal, ACP Jatin Bansal and Model Town SHO Inspector Avneet Kaur stated that yesterday investigating officer ASI Baldev Singh received a secret information that a group of people were gambling at a house in Model Town Extension. ASI Baldev Singh said these gamblers were also forcing people into gambling and would cheat them. The ASI said a police party The cash recovered from gamblers in Ludhiana. TRIBUNE PHOTO immediately raided the house and arrested three suspects from the spot identified as Harjit, Sushil and Parvinder while raids were on to nab Shalu, a resident of Haibowal. Illegal gambling continues at various places in the city. Some people rent their houses to gamblers. They charge hefty amount to allow gambling in their houses. Owners also assure gamblers that the police would not raid their houses. In the year 2017, a biggest raid was conducted at a fivestar hotel in the city and 34 persons were arrested out of which 33 were held on the charge of gambling. The police arrested one employee in whose connivance the illegal activity was going on at the hotel. The police caught high profile businessmen of the city and the adjoining areas red-handed while gambling at the hotel. — TNS
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).