04012025-LT-01.qxd 1/4/2025 12:50 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune V-C, POTATO SEED GROWERS DISCUSS BREEDING METHODS ADMIN TO ROPE IN ACTIVISTS TO FIGHT DRUG MENACE The Malerkotla district committee has prepared draft plan to rope in activists in fight against drug abuse. P3 PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 18°C | MIN 9°C YESTERDAY MAX 17°C | MIN 8°C MANY STAR KIDS LIKELY TO MAKE THEIR DEBUT THIS YR V-C discussed techniques pioneered at PAU, which have reduced time to develop new potato varieties. P2 FORECAST The year brings fresh ammo for the critics of Nepo kids as many star kids are poised to make their debut. P4 » » SUNSET SATURDAY 5.36 PM SUNRISE SUNDAY 7:19 AM » SATURDAY | 4 JANUARY 2025 | LUDHIANA Ludhiana retains best smart city rank in state, 49th in country Among 100 smart cities, Amritsar ranks 53rd, Jalandhar 62nd Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 3 Even as most parts of the city still grapple with lack of basic civic amenities, Ludhiana has retained the best smart city rank in the state. The latest rankings released by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) recently have ranked Ludhiana 49th among 100 cities being developed as smart in the country under the Smart City Mission (SCM). With Amritsar ranking 53rd and Jalandhar lagging at 62nd rank, Ludhiana remains at the top among three smart cities in Punjab. Ludhiana Smart City Limited (LSCL) CEO, Aaditya Dachalwal, told The Tribune on Friday that the rankings were decided on the basis of various parameters, mainly depending on the progress of works under the SCM, by taking into consideration details of projects completed, in progress, under tendering and still under planning, besides analysing the expenditure aspect as well. Dachalwal, who is also the Municipal Corporation Commissioner, disclosed that 64 projects worth Rs 711.3 crore have already been completed, 17 schemes amounting to Rs 187.7 crore were under execution, and four projects costing Rs 27.68 crore were under the tendering stage. He said a sum of Rs 959.25 crore had been allocated under the SCM to Ludhiana, including Rs 490 crore from the Centre and Rs 469.25 crore from the state, of which Rs 944.72 crore, accounting for 98.49 per cent of the allocation, has already been utilised. “Since the SCM implementation has been extended till March, the work on the ongoing projects has been expedited to meet the deadline,” the MC chief said. On the general public perception that the SCM had not made any impact on the entire city and all six MLAs of the rich million-plus city lamenting in unison that the mission has neither beautified nor developed Ludhiana on the whole, the LSCL CEO said: “The Smart City concept was an area-based development for which the West Assembly seg- Railway bridges with obligatory span constructed on Pakhowal Road; and (below) an athletics track relaid at Guru Nanak Stadium under the Smart City Mission in Ludhiana. TRIBUNE PHOTOS: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN Ludhiana, January 3 A woman died under mysterious circumstances at Omaxe Residency here in the wee hours. It is learnt that the victim fell from the third floor of the building and succumbed to her injuries. The woman has been identified as 28-year-old Gagandeep Kaur, who had come from Bengaluru with her friend. Her father Harvinder Singh, who is a resident of Lohara village, near here, said his daughter had come from Bengaluru to spend her holidays and had to return there on Sat- Manav Mander Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 3 Thirteen days have passed since the Municipal Corporation (MC) elections were held but no party has been able to prove its majority so far. The city’s wait for the Mayor is getting longer. Earlier, talks were on between the Congress and the BJP to form the MC House but with the BJP high command outrightly refusing the same, now chances of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) forming the House remains high and expectations are there that it will declare its majority in the second week of January. With the Delhi Assembly elections expected to be held next month, the alliance by any party can cast its direct impact on the poll. The Ludhiana Municipal Corporation has 95 wards and 48 councillors are required to form the House. SMART CITY AT A GLANCE STATE 1 2 3 NATIONAL 49 53 62 EXPENDITURE 711.3 187.7 27.68 926.68 ALLOCATED UTILISED 490 484.08 469.25 460.64 959.25 944.72 Utilisation percentage 98.49% (Source: MC, funds in rupees crore) ment was chosen through citizen participation. In the West segment also, a defined area was picked up for targeted interventions, which was being developed as a replicable model for other parts of the city.” He said besides spending 25 per cent of the total funds under the SCM on the Buddha Nullah rejuvenation, several pan-city projects such as street lights, integrated command control centre, e-challaning system, CCTV network urday. On Friday night, she went to visit her friend at Omaxe flats. He said his daughter and her friend were busy packing their bags as they had to return. Later, the victim slipped and fell from the third floor of the building. The woman was not taken to hospital immediately due to which she succumbed to her serious injuries. Residents of the residential society, however, alleged it was not a natural death and a policeman was involved in the incident. The body of the woman was handed over to her family after a post-mortem examination. Investigation is on in the matter. In the MC elections held on December 21, AAP won 41 seats, Congress got 30, BJP won 19, SAD got two seats and three seats were won by Independents. The ruling party, AAP is making every effort and leaving no stone unturned to make more councillors join AAP . MLA West Gurpreet Gogi said they had the highest number of councillors and were confident of forming the House and their Mayor would be elected soon. Now, the Congress is trying to adopt another alternative by supporting an Independent candidate. On the other side, the BJP has outrightly refused direct or indirect alliance with the Congress. It has ruled out the possibility of offering external support to Independent candidates as well. President of the District Congress Committee Sanjay Talwar said AAP was going to any extent to elect its Mayor. “The recent revelation by one of the councillors has exposed their tactics. We were ready for alliance with the BJP but things did not work out. Now, if any Independent candidate is ready, we are ready to give support,” he said. BJP district president Rajneesh Dhiman said the party high command had refused to enter into any alliance with the Congress. No direct or indirect alliance was possible with it, he said. Tribune News Service FUNDS & UTILISATION SHARE Centre State Total Earlier, talks were on between the Congress and the BJP to form the MC House but with the BJP high command outrightly refusing the same, now chances of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) forming the House remains high and expectations are there that it will declare its majority in the second week of January. Youth dies as bus hits auto TELLING NUMBERS STATUS PROJECTS Completed 64 Under execution 17 Under tendering 4 Total 85 AAP LIKELY TO DECLARE MAJORITY NEXT WEEK Parking violations: MC seals 8 hotels RANKINGS CITY Ludhiana Amritsar Jalandhar 28-year-old woman fallsfrom third floor of building, dies Tribune News Service MC poll: 13 days on, no party comes out with clear majority and sports infrastructure had also been created and developed for the entire city. “Those raising objections are oblivious of the fact that the SCM was never for the entire city,” Dachalwal said. This time’s ranking was better for Ludhiana than 2020 when it was ranked at 54th spot in the country. Since then, its ranking has been constantly improving. From 54th rank in 2020, Ludhiana had ranked 37th in 2021, 48th in 2022, 32nd in January 2023, 48th in October 2023, 53rd in January 2024, 52nd in June 2024, and has retained the 49th rank of October last in January 2025. However, the latest ranking was 1 spot down from the October 2023 and 2022 positions and 17 ranks below the January 2023 rank, which was the best so far, but a jump of four spots as compared to January last. But despite the national rankings going up and down, Ludhiana continues to remain the 6 kg marijuana recovered, man nabbed Farmer leaders refuse to hold talks with SC panel Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 3 The Police Division Number 2 have recovered 6 kg of marijuana from a man, Bona, a resident of Mohalla Janakpuri here. A case has been registered against the suspect under Sections 20, 61 and 85 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. According to the police, when assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Sukhdev Raj was patrolling near Cheema Chowk, they got a tip-off that Bona was waiting to sell the drug to customers. Following which, the man was nabbed by the police. The value of the huge quantity of drug seized from the suspect was in lakhs. Ludhiana, January 3 A meeting of Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) was held here in which farm leaders have refused to hold talks with the high-power committee formed by the Supreme Court and said the final decision in this regard would be taken by the mahapanchayat. Farm leader Buta Singh said the morcha would hold a mahapanchayat at Tohana in Haryana on January 4 and on January 9 and a mahapanchayat would be held in Moga, Punjab. The decision regarding holding talks with the committee formed by the SC would be taken during the mahapanchayats. A discussion was also held on the health of farm leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who is siting c m y b best among three smart cities in the state since 2023. In 2022, Ludhiana was adjudged the second best in Punjab with Jalandhar bagging the top spot and Amritsar finishing third. In 2023, Ludhiana jumped to the top spot in the state with 32nd rank while Jalandhar had slipped to third rank in the state with 67th rank in the country and Amritsar had stood second in Punjab with 53rd national ranking. continued on page 2 MAHAPANCHAYATS TO TAKE DECISION The victim said he had lodged a police complaint against the suspect in December 2022 and after months of investigation, the police registered a case against him. on fast at the Khanauri border. Buta Singh said there were rumours that the SKM and other farm unions were not together. “There might be difference of opinions among various farm unions but when it comes to the cause of farming community, we all are one and fighting together,” he said. Joginder Singh Ugrahan said: “The SKM will never step back from the cause of the farming community and they are united and standing strong for them,” he said. Ludhiana, January 3 The Sahnewal police have registered a case under Sections 125, 106, 324 (4) (5) and 281 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against bus driver Maninderjit Singh, a resident of Maadpur village in Samrala, for hitting a youth, who later succumbed to his injuries. The complainant said his 26year-old son Rajinder Singh was an autorickshaw driver. On January 1, the youth went to ferry passengers and he himself was going behind the auto. When he reached near the gate of Majra village in Sahnewal, a rashly driven bus hit his son’s auto, following which the victim got badly injured. He was taken to the Civil Hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. Maninderjit, who was driving the bus, was arrested by the police. MC employees seal a hotel in Ludhiana on Friday. Ludhiana, January 3 Acting tough against hotels for parking violations, the building branch of the Municipal Corporation (MC) sealed eight hotels on Friday. These are situated in areas falling under the Zone D of the MC, including the Barewal road, Ferozepur road, Sham Nagar road, Harnam Nagar road and Dugri road. MC Zone D building branch officials said the drive was conducted on the directions of MC Commissioner Aaditya Dachalwal and action would be taken against more hotels with similar violations in coming days. — TNS Man nabbed with heroin Ludhiana, January 3 The Jodhewal police have arrested Rajat Sharma of Ghuman State Colony and seized 110 gm of heroin from him. A case has been registered. SI Sunita Kaur said they got a tip-off that the suspect was going towards Gehlewal village to sell the drug, he was arrested and the drug was seized. — TNS Businessmen hail PPCB’s ‘chatbot’ facility for industry Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 3 The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has launched a new facility, ‘chatbot’ for the industry, which has been appreciated by industrialists as it would ease out many problems. President of the Association of Trade and Industrial Undertakings (ATIU) Pankaj Sharma hailed the decision of the state government to start the facility. “The facility would provide 39 types of services to the industry. It is appreciable that the PPCB has announced to start a helpline, website and the chatbot facility. It would not only provide hassle-free services to the industry but would also help investors to get online clearances. It would also help 39 TYPES OF SERVICES “The facility would provide 39 types of services to the industry. It would not only provide hassle-free services to the industry but would also help investors to get online clearances. The facility would also help complete projects at a faster pace, said Pankaj Sharma, president, ATIU. complete projects at a faster pace and would also answer all queries of entrepreneurs covering each and every zone of the PPCB,” Sharma said. Besides, the PPCB has also decided to start an online helpline, which will be available for the entire week. A help desk has been started at the head office, Patiala, which would be open from 9 am to 5 pm daily and would answer all queries of the entrepreneurs. He said: “Keeping in mind that entrepreneurs were facing a lot of problems in filing documents resulting in delay in obtaining consents, the state government has initiated unique services which are first of its kind. As new projects get delayed due to official hiccups and these affect investments in the state, the government has taken measures to start the services which would boost the working of the PPCB due to more transparency and higher efficiency”. At the same time, many industrialists believe that the software should be good and harassment should not be caused to users.