26012025-LT-01.qxd 1/26/2025 1:18 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune ARMY TO DISPLAY ARMS, EQUIPMENT ON R-DAY ARJUN BAGS MAIDEN MEDAL IN NAT’L JUDO C’SHIP E-CHALLANING SYSTEM EXTENDED ACROSS CITY Indian Army will host an exclusive equipment and arms display at the PAU on Republic Day. P2 Arjun from the city gave an impressive performance at national judo c’ship in Pune by winning a medal. P2 E-challaning system has now been made fully operational at several points across the city. P2 » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 21°C | MIN 7°C YESTERDAY MAX 21°C | MIN 8°C SUNSET SUNDAY 5.54 PM SUNRISE MONDAY 7:16 AM » Ludhiana DC among officials feted for best electoral practices HIMANSHU MAHAJAN SUNDAY | 26 JANUARY 2025 | LUDHIANA State-level celebrations were held to mark 15th National Voters’ Day in city Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 25 Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner (DC) Jitendra Jorwal, Amritsar DC Sakshi Sawhney, Mansa DC Kulwant Singh, Hoshiarpur DC Komal Mittal and Director, Youth Services, Harpreet Singh Sudan, were among senior IAS officers feted for the best electoral practices at the state-level celebrations to mark the 15th National Voters’ Day here on Saturday. Additional Chief Electoral Officer Harish Nayar presided over the event while Joint Chief Electoral Officer Sakatar Singh Bal was among others present. The event commenced with a bike rally in which hundreds of youths riding Harley Davidson and other super bikes disseminated the message of right to vote among the people. During the state-level function, the election officials were felicitated for their exemplary services during First-time electors show voter cards during the National Voters’ Day celebrations at the Government College for Women in Ludhiana on Saturday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN the Lok Sabha elections 2024. Among other officials, the ADC of Ropar Pooja Syal Grewal and Jagraon Kulpreet Singh and Moga SVEEP nodal officer Shubhi Angra, Ferozepur election tehsildar Chand Parkash, differently abled cyclist Manmohan Singh, Best ERO Kuldeep Bawa, Best SVEEP nodal officer Harjot Singh and Best BLO Karamjeet Kaur were also awarded for their best practices adopted during the last parliamentary elections. Besides, winners of the Punjab Election Quiz-2025 Sumeet Narula from Moga, Gurleen Kaur from Patiala and Lavish from Mohali were felicitated with a laptop, tablet and smart watch, respectively. A video message of Chief Election Commissioner Rajeev Kumar was also played during the event. The Electoral Literacy Club portal was also launched and the SVEEP Coffee Table book was released during the event. First-time voters were also given the EPIC cards. Winners of poster-making, mehndi, and speech competitions were also honoured. Students from Red Cross Deaf and Dumb School and other educational institutions presented a cultural programme. Motivating the youth to exercise their right to vote in the elections, the Additional Chief Electoral Officer exhorted them to vote in large numbers. He told them about the importance of the day being celebrated since January 25, 2011, and how voting was one of the greatest tools given by the Constitution to protect democracy. Nayar stressed that casting vote was a duty and all should perform the same sincerely as it will ensure protection of their rights. He also administered oath to the participants for exercising their right to vote in a free and fair manner. POLLUTION IN BUDDHA DARIYA Submit daily action-taken report, Will hold monthly minister tells pollution board review meeting, MP pulls up officials over failure to check rising water level Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 25 Local Bodies Minister Ravjot Singh has asked the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) to submit a daily report on the action taken against those responsible for polluting the Buddha Dariya in Ludhiana. The minister had come to meet Rajya Sabha MP and environmentalist Balbir Singh Seechewal at Gau Ghar, where a temporary pumping station has been established by the latter to stop the direct discharge of untreated waste into the dariya. During his visit to the city on Saturday, the minister directed PPCB officials to provide a daily report on the action taken against those polluting the nullah. PPCB Chief Engineer RK Ratra claimed that they had recommended disconnection of power connections of defaulters. The minister stated that he would personally ensure that action was taken against defaulters and he would pressure Powercom officials to take immediate action. says Governor Tribune News Service Local Bodies Minister Ravjot Singh, RS MP Balbir Singh Seechewal and officials during a meeting in Ludhiana. ASHWANI DHIMAN Around 700 tonnes of cow dung are discharged into the dariya daily and some dairy units’ waste is also entering STPs through the sewer system. Dr Ravjot instructed MC officials to hold a meeting with dairy unit operators on Tajpur Road and Haibowal Dairy Complex next week to prevent dairy discharge from entering sewerage and the dariya. He also directed the Commissioner to take action against illegal slaughterhouses. PPCB Chief Engineer RK Ratra claimed that environmental engineers were monitoring dyeing and electroplating units at night. Some units were caught bypassing the discharge norms during a joint operation by the PPCB and the corporation. Two major dyeing units were caught and a decision to shut them down will be made at the chairman’s level. Seechewal pulled up the MC officials for their failure to check the water level, which was rising in the drain for the past three days. He asked MC Commissioner Aaditya Dachalwal to check reasons for the same as some people, who did not want the issue to be resolved, were trying to create hindrances in works. He said he would not budge from his goal and solve the menace. Ludhiana, January 25 After RS MP Balbir Singh Seechewal took a vow and started camping at the pumping station in the city with a motive to clean the Buddha Dariya, Governor Gulab Chand Kataria’s visit on Saturday further gave boost to the campaign of the environmentalist as he announced to hold monthly review meeting over the issue. The Governor also assured that if any help from the Centre is required for the issue, he will pursue it on a priority basis. The Governor visited the Gaushala Point of the dariya and announced that he would hold monthly meeting on the site to closely monitor the Buddha Dariya Rejuvenation Project. Accompanied by Seechewal, MLA Ashok Parashar Pappi, Mayor Inderjeet Kaur, MC Commissioner Aaditya Dachalwal and officials from various departments, the Governor said he had already convened two meetings at the Raj Bhawan to evaluate the project’s implementation. Starting from February, a monthly meeting will take place at the Gaushala Point. The meeting will include MPs, MLAs, officials, NGOs and other stakeholders, with the objective of rejuvenating the dariya before the onset of the monsoon season this year under the supervision of Seechewal. Kataria stressed the importance of making the rejuvenation of the dariya a mass movement. He proposed dividing the work along the 14-km stretch into different segments to expedite the efforts. It was essential to engage the public to ensure speedy rejuvenation and protect the Sutlej from effluents. Later, the Governor also visited the 225-MLD STP at Jamalpur and reviewed its operations. APAAR project: Teachers, Edu Dept at loggerheads Former are being told to complete task soon, flay authorities for putting undue pressure Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 25 Getting details on APAAR project seems to have become a Herculean task. While the district education authorities are pressing upon teachers to complete the task as soon as possible, the latter condemn the authorities for putting so much pressure on them, especially during the times when board examinations are approaching and parents themselves were not willing to provide any details of their wards. Meanwhile, many teachers rue that governments were harassing them and putting unnecessary pressure to do non-teaching jobs. Collecting data is not part of the teaching job, they said. Gurpreet Singh from the Democratic Teachers’ Front said making another ID under the APAAR project was nothing but sheer wastage of time. Several IDs of students had already been made, regular data about their performance is sent on various portals of the state Education Department. Moreover, when parents are reluctant to provide details of their wards, how could teachers put pressure on them for the same, he asked, adding that when they approach district education officials about problems being faced during the exercise, their requests go unheard. While strict instructions are being sent by the Education Department to DEOs and teachers to make the IDs of the students under the APAAR project, only 30-40 per cent of the task has been accomplished by schools in the district so far. Another teacher complained that government schools were also having students belonging to the migrant population and many of them had got their children registered both at their native villages and in Ludhiana. “Such parents are not eager to provide their Aadhaar card or other details to the schools in the city. These problems are not being resolved by higher-ups and even we don’t c m y b have any right to put pressure on the parents to provide documents,” the teacher added. At the same time, DEO (primary) Ravinder Kaur said the APAAR IDs were to be made and there was no escape from the same. “Teachers need to make parents understand about benefits of the project. With it, performance of students, their records and results, etc, will be just a click away. Hence, the teachers should convince the parents to do the needful,” she added. An anti-sabotage squad conducts a checking at the venue of R-Day celebrations in the PAU. Ludhiana. Over 2K cops to ensure peaceful Republic Day celebrations in city Ludhiana, January 25 The Ludhiana police made elaborate security arrangements for the Republic Day celebrations to be held in the city. Hi-tech nakas at entry and exit points of the city were installed where suspicious vehicles and persons were checked. On Saturday, anti-sabotage checks were conducted at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) where the state-level function will be organised and Governor Gulab Chand Kataria would unfurl the Tricolour. The venue has been secured by deploying police personnel and installing hi-tech nakas. The people visiting the venue would undergo security checks and frisking to prevent the entry of any unwanted element. As per information, over 2,000 police personnel will be deployed to ensure peaceful celebrations. All SHOs and heads of various police wings have been given duties to keep a tab over anti-social elements. Police officials said a team sitting at the police control room (PCR) has been keeping a tab in the entire city through hi-tech cameras and on noticing any suspicious person or vehicle, it would alert the police station concerned or officials for immediate action. They added that the police would also conduct patrolling in the city and at the venue of the Republic Day celebrations in civvies. — TNS Misbehaviour with PSPCL XEN:FIR sought against protesting employees Ludhiana, January 25 A meeting of the PSEB Engineers Association, Ludhiana region, was held on Saturday in which it condemned an incident in which the vehicle of the Chief Engineer was gheraoed by the ‘complaint handling bikes’ staff of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) at the head office of the power company here on Friday. A resolution was passed in the meeting to lodge an FIR against responsible individuals to prevent such incidents in the future. Speaking on the occasion, Er Amandeep Singh, vice-president of the association, along with engineer Jagdeep Singh Garcha and engineer Sandeep Singh Chahal said the police should register a case against such hooliganism and action should be taken against the erring employees. On Friday evening, the protesting contractual employees of the PSPCL and staff attending complaints had gheraoed the vehicle of the Chief Engineer at the office on Ferozepur Road. The latter had to call the police as the employees did not allow his vehicle to move. The engineers gathered on Saturday to discuss the matter and have asked the police to register a case against the erring employees. — TNS
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