24102024-LT-01.qxd 10/24/2024 12:19 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune POLICE CRACK MURDER CASE, THREE ARRESTED PRITISH BELIEVES IF ONE DOES NOT EVOLVE, ONE BECOMES DINOSAUR! KAJOL JOKES SHE TRAINED HUBBY AJAY DEVGN FOR FILM SINGHAM Cops claimed to have cracked incident of murder of a youth occurred during a temple fair at Deengarh village. P3 Laughter truly is best medicine, and Pritish Narula, a stand-up comic from Chandigarh, is living proof of that mantra. P4 Actress Kajol shared that she imparted training to Ajay Devgn to portray character of Bajirao Singham in film Singham. P4 » » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 32°C | MIN 19°C YESTERDAY MAX 32°C | MIN 20°C SUNSET THURSDAY 5.42 PM SUNRISE FRIDAY 6:31 AM THURSDAY | 24 OCTOBER 2024 | LUDHIANA DISCHARGE OF TREATED EFFLUENTS INTO BUDDHA NULLAH FROM 3 CETPS Month on, PPCB orders remain on paper, industry moves NGT Activists blame government, board for not complying with own orders Tribune News Service Ludhiana, October 23 Even after almost a month, the orders passed by the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) to stop the discharge of 105-MLD (million litres daily) treated effluents from three common effluent treatment plants (CETPs) into the Buddha Nullah remain on paper. While environmentalists and activists, who have been waging a war on water pollution, have accused the PPCB of “intentionally” failing to implement its own orders and comply with the orders issued by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) as well, the dyeing industry, which flows its effluents to the CETPs for treatment, has approached the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to challenge the PPCB orders. Two separate appeals against the PPCB closure orders have been listed for admission before the Principal Bench of the NGT on Thursday. Effluents continue to flow into the Buddha Nullah in Ludhiana. Kapil Dev of ‘Kale Pani Da Morcha’, a civil society movement against widespread pollution in the Sutlej tributary, said: “The environment clearance issued to the indus- try in 2013 clearly and unambiguously stated that they are not allowed to throw even the treated effluent into the Buddha Dariya. Dyers have violated this condition with Showcasing emotions impunity for all these years with active collusion and connivance of the PPCB. Now, that those papers have come out in the open and the CPCB issued binding orders on the PPCB to correct this illegality on August 12, the PPCB was left with no other choice but to issue orders to close the CETPs, though they did so with a significant delay of over one month.” He said despite the PPCB orders issued on September 25 and 26, these CETPs were continuously running and throwing their effluent into the nullah in brazen defiance of the orders and the law. “The industry had earlier appealed to the appellate authority under the Water Act, 1974, before the Secretary Environment, against these orders but could not get any relief,” he said. Jaskirat Singh, another founder member of Kale Pani Da Morcha, said the team members visited the Tajpur Road outlets of the two CETPs Wednesday morning to check the current status and found that the plants were still releasing their effluent uninterruptedly into the Sutlej tributary. He wondered how the PPCB and the state government could tolerate this brazen defiance of the law and their own orders. “Now, it remains to be seen how this continued violation of the orders of statutory authorities would be treated by the NGT when it hears their appeal,” he stated. Activists Amandeep Singh Bains and Kuldeep Singh Khaira said the contamination of water body was an offence as per provisions of the Water Act and penalty at a rate of 10 paisa per litre could be imposed as environmental compensation which means, the daily penalty on these two polluting SPVs (operating CETPs through private companies) would come out to be Rs 90 lakh and for one year, it would be more than Rs 328 crore and for past 10 years, it would be Rs 3,280 crore. continued on page 2 One arrested with illegal weapon Students perform during the Panjab University Zonal Youth & Heritage Festival, Zone 2, at the Government College for Girls in Ludhiana on Wednesday. ASHWANI DHIMAN SEE ALSO P2 Ludhiana, October 23 The Ludhiana rural police on Tuesday arrested a man and seized a 9 mm countrymade pistol, along with one cartridge. The suspect has been identified as Rajdeep Singh, a resident of Lopoke Agwar. The investigating officer in the case, ASI Balwinder Singh, CIA, Jagraon, said when he, along with the police team, was conducting patrolling in Jagraon, they got a tip-off that the suspect was carrying an illegal weapon and he might use the same in some criminal activity. The police conducted a raid at Dhaliwal Colony from where the man was arrested and the weapon was seized. A case under the Arms Act was registered against the suspect and further investigation was launched by the police to inquire about the weapon supplier from whom the man brought the illegal pistol. Probe would also verify if he used the weapon in some criminal activity or not. — TNS Gold prices touch record high of ~80,800 per 10 gm Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service Ludhiana, October 23 The price of the yellow metal touched an all-time high of Rs 80,800 per 10 gm of 24 carats today. There has been a mixed response to the sale of gold in the city. Some of the jewellers say there are no buyers and people are waiting for prices to come down after the festival season and there are other jewellery shops where there is a huge rush of customers, purchasing ornaments for the wedding season. The president of Jewellers’ Association here, Anand Sekri, said the rate of gold was at a record high, touching Rs 81,000 per 10 gm. He said buyers were waiting for the prices to come down which was doubtful because of the global scenario (wars ,etc). There are few takers for gold as investment these Weddings spur purchase but customers prefer ornaments of lighter weight, say jewellers days, said Sekri. Manik Jain of Nikkamal Jewellery House, however, said customers were coming as the yellow metal remains a favourite for Indian weddings but the trend had changed towards lighter weight. “Everyone has to watch his pocket and budget. Customers do come to buy gold but then they go for lighter weight products. Gold remains a hot favourite for sale during the festival and wedding season,” said Jain. The rise in gold prices is also driving consumers to exchange old gold jewellery for new ornaments. Ruby Sharma (name changed), a homemaker, said her daughter was getting married but it was not possible to provide her with 50 tolas of gold as was given to her sister a few years ago. “I have got two old sets, which I am exchanging for new ones. We will get solid gold by melting these sets and then she can buy jewellery of her own choice. It is difficult to purchase gold at this rate,” said the worried mother. The prices will depend on the outcome of the US elections early next month. There is also a fear of Israel-Iran war. Much depends on these factors as to whether gold prices will further jump or dip in the days ahead. PRTC, PUNBUS contract workers observe 2-hr strike, passengers hit Tribune News Service Ludhiana, October 23 The PRTC and PUNBUS Contract Workers’ Union observed a two-hour strike from 10 am to 12 noon in favour of their long-pending demands on Wednesday. They raised slogans against the government over its failure to fulfil their demands. Union leader Shamsher Singh said their demands had been pending for a long time and Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann was in no mood to fulfil the same. Despite repeated meetings with government officials and senior politicians, no solution had been found. Meanwhile, passengers faced inconvenience as bus services were not available during the strike and they had to wait for two hours at the bus stand. After the strike, the travellers heaved a sigh of relief. Passengers wait for their buses during the strike at the bus stand in Ludhiana. ASHWANI DHIMAN Bihar woos city bizmen, offers incentives for investments 1,620-kg poppy husk Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Ludhiana, October 23 After Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, now it was the turn of Bihar to woo industrialists in Punjab, especially Ludhiana, while offering them a slew of incentives for attracting investments in another BJP-coalition-led eastern state, bordering Nepal. Top officials, led by Industries Secy, meet industry honchos A team of top officials from Bihar, led by their Industries Secretary Bandana Preyasi, reached the city on Wednesday to meet industry honchos in the business and financial capital of Punjab. Bihar’s Department of Industries organised the Bihar Business Connect2024, an investors’ meet in Ludhiana. The event was part of the Bihar Business Connect-2024 — Global Investors’ Summit. The summit aimed at showcas- Officials from Bihar interact with industrialists during an investors’ meet in Ludhiana on Wednesday. ing Bihar’s potential across various sectors, including textiles, food processing, and general manufacturing. It was conducted under a business-to-government (B2G) approach. Besides Bandana Preyasi, Bihar Industries Director Alok Ranjan Ghosh, Director of Food Processing Ravi Prakash and other senior officials met the business leaders. They interacted with the potential investors and discussed benefits of investing in Bihar, emphasising the continuous efforts by the state government to transform Bihar into an industrial powerhouse. The summit highlighted the improved connectivity and development-friendly policies. Industrialists Kamal Oswal and Rishabh Oswal from Nahar Group, Bharat Goel from Hero Cycles, Prem Lal Saini from APEC, Ajay Kumar from AK Knitwear, and Swastik Jain from Arihant Knit Fashion were prominent among those who attended the summit. Speaking on the occasion, the Industries Secretary reaffirmed Bihar’s commitment to development and emphasised their investorfriendly approach. “Our priority is to simplify the investment process in Bihar. We have made significant progress in industrial policy reforms, land acquisition and infrastructure development,” she said. Bandana shared that the summit in Ludhiana highlighted these initiatives and demonstrated how Bihar was c m y b poised to become the next major industrial hub. “Additionally, we are organising a “Bihar Business Connect” in December, attracting several foreign investors,” she said. Discussing the Bihar Investment Promotion Policy-2016, the Industries Secretary mentioned that the focus areas included food processing, textiles and leather. These sectors fall under the Bihar Investment Promotion Policy-2016, with specific policies for each area. The policies offer employment generation subsidy, freight reimbursement subsidy, patent registration, tax incentives, skill development subsidy and 100 per cent exemption on staff registration fees and land conversion fees. Under the export promotion policy, export subsidies were provided for seven years along with performancebased incentives. She said many investors had shown interest in Bihar in recent years. “The first “Bihar Business Connect” was held last year and received encouraging responses, resulting in the signing of 278 MoUs worth Rs 50,000 crore,” Bandana said while stating that within 10 months of last December’s event, MoUs worth Rs 28,000 crore were converted into physical investments. She said Bihar had created an entire ecosystem, from ease of doing business to single-window clearance systems, to support these investments. Bandana also noted that Bihar’s law-and-order situation had become stable and encouraging for manufacturing. “Additionally, the MSME sector is robust, fostering supply chain networks through large manufacturers. Small enterprises are being integrated into this ecosystem through the government’s start-up policy, which has supported 700 start-ups so far, contributing to the development of an innovative ecosystem,” she added. continued on page 2 seized, two nabbed Tribune News Service Ludhiana, October 23 The Ludhiana rural police nabbed two persons and seized 1,620 kg of poppy husk from their possession. The suspects have been identified as Gurloveleen Singh and Baljinder Singh, both residents of Dharamkot. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Ludhiana rural, Navneet Singh Bains, in a statement issued stated that the police team had received a tip-off that the suspects, who were into smuggling of poppy husk, had been supplying narcotics in Jagraon and Moga. As per information, they were on the way to Jagraon in a Isuzu D-Max vehicle to deliver a huge quantity of poppy husk. The SSP said the police team conducted a raid and found the vehicle parked at some place. During search of the vehicle, 1,620 kg of poppy husk was seized. A case under the NDPS Act was registered against the suspects continued on page 2 Cops address mediapersons in Ludhiana on Wednesday.