21112024-LT-01.qxd 11/21/2024 1:00 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune CITY RESIDENT GETS 20-YR JAIL UNDER POCSO ACT RESIDENTS MIFFED OVER CONCRETE RELINING OF CANALS CELEBS CAST THEIR VOTE IN MAHA ASSEMBLY POLL A fine of ~1.20 lakh has also been imposed on the convict, Shiva Disva, of Vishwakarma Colony. P2 Water Resources Department had put on hold the relining of 10 km of Indira Gandhi Canal after a protest. P3 Celebs, who cast their vote in huge numbers in the Maharashtra Assembly poll, urge people to do the same . P4 » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 25°C | MIN 10°C YESTERDAY MAX 26°C | MIN 10°C SUNSET THURSDAY 5.24 PM SUNRISE FRIDAY 6:53 AM » THURSDAY | 21 NOVEMBER 2024 | LUDHIANA Engineers’ body files plaint against MC chief for not appearing before court and spent money on its books. “The summons sent to the respondent corporation served through the clerk were received back by the Court of Civil Judge (JD), Ludhiana. However, no one from MC LIBRARY ON GREEN BELT Tribune News Service Ludhiana, November 20 The Council of Engineers (CoE) has filed a complaint against the Municipal Commissioner as well as other unidentified staff of the Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana, for deliberately not appearing in the court of law and becoming ex parte in the matter pertaining to a public park situated near Dholewal Chowk. The council has shot a complaint to the Principal Secretary in this regard. The case was filed by the council through its president Er Kapil Arora in October 2022 regarding the park with area measuring 350 sq yards, situated near Dholewal Chowk, on which a Thieves steal batteries worth ~20 lakh Ludhiana, November 20 Thieves targeted an Exide battery agency, BK Enterprises, here and decamped with goods worth lakhs. They used gas cutter to cut the main locks of the shop and enter it. As per the shopkeeper, the miscreants stole 127 batteries worth Rs 20 lakh. An agency employee, Jagmohan Gupta, reported the theft, stating that the suspects after entering the shop damaged CCTV cameras and took away the DVR along with them after committing the crime. The Moti Nagar police registered a case on Tuesday. — TNS A library built in a park near Dholewal Chowk in Ludhiana. library building was constructed by the MC by going against the environment norms. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on October 4, 2024, directed the MC for restoration of the park within two weeks and the MC had taken the plea of shifting books from the library during the hearing held on November 5. Now, the petitioner has come to know that one society in the name of ‘Maharana Partap Rajput Sabha’ has filed a civil suit against the MC regarding the park in October 2024 and pleaded not to get the library in the park demolished as they had been looking after the library Not appearing in court by public authority was an act of failing to perform its lawful duty in protection of public property: Complaint appeared on October 22, 2024, as well as on November 4 and the MC has been declared ex parte on November 4 and the matter has been adjourned to December 4, for remaining ex parte evidence,” Arora said. “Despite being aware of the facts that the matter is pending before the NGT since the past over two years, the park was given for maintenance purposes to “Maharana Partap Rajput Sabha” under the Park Management Policy,” he added. The MC chief as well as other unidentified persons have deliberately not appeared before the court through any counsel and became ex parte and it appears that the MC Commissioner and other staff of the civic body want to lose possession of the park and not appearing in the court of law by the public authority was an act of failing to perform its lawful duty in protection of public property and thus, probe into the same was need of the hour and strict action should be taken against them, said Arora in a complaint submitted to the Principal Secretary. Manav Mander Tribune News Service Ludhiana, November 20 The Congress is in an upbeat mood and all ready for the upcoming elections to the Municipal Corporation. A lot of enthusiasm is seen among party leaders and workers and preparations have already began in the Congress camp and over 250 nominations have been revived from a total of 95 wards. Though November 20 was the last day for filing nominations, keeping in view bypolls in other districts, which have kept halka in-charges and local party leaders busy, the last date for filing nominations has been extended by five days by the party. President of the District Congress Committee, Sanjay Talwar, said a lot of enthusiasm had been seen in the party and they had received NOMINATIONS TO BE EXPECTED TILL NOV 25 bypolls in other districts, ❝Keeping in viewand now, the nominationsthe last date has been extended will be accepted by the Congress till November 25 (5 pm). ❞ — Sanjay Talwar, DISTRICT CONGRESS COMMITTEE PRESIDENT over 250 applications. “Keeping in view the bypolls, the last date has been extended and now, the nominations will be accepted by the party till November 25 (5 pm),” he said. Talwar said the maximum number of nominations had been received from the Atam Nagar and South constituencies. “The selection will be done on the basis of merit. Those who were in the House in the past will be given preference and public opinion will also be sought regarding candidates before finalisation,” he said. The DCC president said the party was all set for the poll and they were confident of forming the House. “We are sure the Mayor of Ludhiana will be from the Congress,” he said. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had damaged itself by not holding the elections to corporations earlier as now the people have come to know about the real face of the party and it has lost people’s trust, he said. A local Congress leader said the party was all ready and confident of win. “AAP was the first party that was slipping away from holding the poll but the time will arrive soon and it will come to know about the reality,” he said. 4 of snatchers’ gang in police net Clash between cousins claims one life Ludhiana, November 20 The Ludhiana police on Wednesday claimed to have busted a gang of snatchers and nabbed four of its members. The police also recovered 10 mobiles, two sharp weapons and one motorcycle from them. They have been identified as Sukhwinder Singh of Aman Nagar, Rahul Sharma of Bhattian, Nitin Sharma of Aman Nagar and Vipan of Meharban. ACP (North) Davinder Chaudhary in a statement issued stated that the police had received a tip-off that the suspects were on the way to commit mobile snatchings in the city. The police erected a naka where they were arrest- The suspects in Ludhiana police custody on Wednesday. ed. Later during questioning, mobiles, which they had looted from residents from areas such as GT Road, Bhattian and Hassainpura, were recovered from them. The ACP said now, the police remand of the suspects would be sought from court. Meanwhile, Chaudhary said instructions were issued to SHOs to keep a tab over snatching incidents and take speedy action against the suspects. They were also told to keep a check over snatchers who were out on bail as they continue to indulge in criminal activities even after coming out on bail. — TNS Ludhiana, November 20 A clash occurred between two truck drivers, who were cousins, near Jhar Sahib in Machhiwara Sahib, Khanna late on Tuesday night. One of them died and the other suffered serious injuries. The deceased has been identified as Rachpal Singh (52), a resident of Gumanpur Majitha, Amritsar. The suspect, Chamkaur Singh (36), who is also a resident of Amritsar rural, is undergoing treatment at the Samrala Civil Hospital. He will be arrested after getting discharged from the hospital. He was stated to be out of danger. The police received information about the incident at 15% paddy deficit this season, 99% procured, 82% lifted 99 per cent payments made to farmers as kharif season nears end in district Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Ludhiana, November 20 In what appears to be a sign of low yield, almost 15 per cent less paddy as compared to corresponding period last year has arrived in grain markets across the district this season so far even as the kharif marketing season draws close to an end. While almost 99 per cent of the arrived grains had been procured and 82 per cent of the same had already been lifted, farmers had been paid Rs 3,418 crore, which was 99 per cent of the total due payments, for their crop in Ludhiana till Tuesday. Not only the arrival this season so far was almost 86 per cent of the last year’s arrival, 15,50,908 metric tonnes (MT) of paddy that had yet arrived across 146 mandis, including 38 temporary yards, under 13 market committees in the state’s biggest and largest district, in terms of area and population, was also around 84 per cent of the total crop expected to arrive here. While the Central agency, Food Corporation of India (FCI), had remained away by procuring not even a single grain so far, the private purchase of paddy has also remained dismal with commission agents (arhtiyas) procuring mere 0.02 per cent of the total procured foodgrains despite the government’s MC elections: Cong gets over 250 nominations, extends last date Paddy procurement in progress in Ludhiana on Wednesday. PHOTO: ASHWANI DHIMAN assurance to increase their commission. Claiming that the situation has been completely normal after facing initial hiccups, District Food and Supplies Controller (DFSC) Geeta Bishambu told The Tribune here on Wednesday that lifting has picked up pace with almost 82 per cent of the total procured paddy already been cleared from mandis. She said the district administration in close coordination with the Food and Civil Supplies Department and the four stateowned procurement agencies had been ensuring swift procurement and timely payments to the farmers for their procured stocks. “We have been able to purchase almost 99 per cent of the total paddy that had arrived in our mandis so far and have paid up to 99 per cent of the payments due to the peasants,” Geeta said. She said 15,31,836 MT of the total arrived 15,50,908.3 MT of paddy had been procured in the district while Rs 3,417.8 crore had already been paid to the farmers, which was almost 99 per cent of Rs 3,467 crore payments due within 48 hours of the purchase. On the lifting front, 12,54,647.8 MT of the procured 15,31,836 MT paddy had been lifted from the mandis, which comprised 85.1 per cent of 14,74,500.4 MT stocks due to be lifted within the last 72 hours of the purchase. On Tuesday, 15,015.9 MT of more paddy arrived in the mandis while 17,042.9 MT was purchased and 37,440 MT was lifted during the day. “It shows the swift pace of lifting as more than double the daily purchase was cleared from the mandis during the past 24 hours,” the DFSC said. Barring 379.4 MT paddy purchased by arhtiyas, rest of the stocks had been procured by Pungrain, Markfed, Punsup, and Punjab State Warehousing Corporation (PSWC). The DFSC detailed that of the total 497 rice shellers in the district, 494 had applied for storage, 493 had already c m y b been allotted stocks after they had signed the agreements for storage and milling of procured paddy. “Since godowns have been almost cleared of the milled rice of the previous season, the lifting is in full swing,” Geeta added. Besides the parmal variety of paddy, 43,354 MT of basmati rice had also arrived and fully procured in the district till Tuesday. The growers had fetched as high as Rs 3,145 per quintal and as low as Rs 2,670 per quintal for the basmati so far. On the harvesting front, 2,51,079 hectares, which accounted for 97.9 per cent of the total 2,56,500 hectares of area under paddy in the district, had been harvested so far. According to the data compiled by the Agriculture Department, the Ludhiana block had harvested 12,870 of 13,200 hectares of paddy, Mangat 30,096.6 of 30,900 hectares, Pakhowal 21,408 of 22,300 hectares, Sudhar 28,322 of 28,900 hectares, Jagraon 30,674 of 31,300 hectares, Sidhwan Bet 32,700.6 of 33,300 hectares, Khanna 19,492.2 of 19,600 hectares, Doraha 18,333 of 18,900 hectares, Dehlon 19,738.2 of 20,100 hectares, Samrala 13,959 of 14,100 hectares and Machhiwara had reaped 23,422 of the total 23,900-hectare area under paddy till date. Cops at the crime scene in Machhiwara Sahib on Wednesday. the police control room at 12:50 am. Following which, SSP Ashwini Gotyal along with other senior officials reached the scene and started investigation. DSP Tarlochan Singh said Rachpal and Chamkaur were cousins. A family feud between their families had been going on for a long time. On Tuesday night, Rachpal was going in a truck from Ludhiana to Baddi, Himachal Pradesh. Chamkaur was going towards Ludhiana in another truck. When both of them came face to face at Machhiwara Sahib, they challenged each other and started fighting. They attacked each other with a sword and an axe. Rachpal suffered serious wounds on his neck which led to his death. The DSP said Chamkaur was admitted to a hospital for treatment. When the suspect would be discharged, he would be arrested on the murder charge. A case of murder was registered against him. Gotyal applauded the Machhiwara police for acting swiftly after getting information in the case. — TNS