21032025-LT-01.qxd 3/20/2025 11:49 PM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune CABINET MINISTER INAUGURATES EAT RIGHT MELA BOLLYWOOD ACTRESS LISA RAY CRITICISES AIRLINE SERVICE NANDITA DAS AND RANDEEP HOODA SHOWCASE THEIR WIT Dr Balbir Singh announced the government's decision to ban energy drinks at educational institutions. P2 Lisa expressed her frustration with Air India for denying the waiver despite submitting all documents. P4 Speaking at the second edition of the Cinevesture International Film Fest, she opens up about her journey. P4 » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR MAX 31°C | MIN 14°C YESTERDAY MAX 30°C | MIN 13°C SUNSET FRIDAY 6.38 PM SUNRISE SATURDAY 6:28 AM » FRIDAY | 21 MARCH 2025 | LUDHIANA MC House meeting turns stormy Man held with 220 gm heroin Tribune News Service Manav Mander Ludhiana, March 20 High drama was witnessed at the first General House meeting of the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation (MC). The meeting turned stormy as the Mayor passed the Budget, while the Opposition raised slogans against the AAP government demanding zero hour, to which the Mayor refused. The Congress has now decided to submit a memorandum in this regard, while the Bharatiya Janata Party has termed the working of the MC House as a one-sided affair. The Budget session saw protests by the Opposition parties, which resulted in an agitated debate. This was the first meeting of seventh General House of the MC, which was held after a gap of two years. The meeting was held at the MC Zone A office near Mata Rani Chowk on Thursday. Before commencement of the meeting, a two-minute silence was observed in memory of Ludhiana West MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi, Deputy Mayor Prince Johar’s father Raj Kumar Johar and Ward No. 8 councillor Raj Kumar, who passed away earlier this year. As the Opposition was demanding zero hour, Mayor and AAP MLAs clearly said only Budget would be passed during this meeting. They said one member from each party would be given a chance to speak, but as ruckus increased in the House, Mayor passed the Budget before discussion and dismissed the meeting. Reacting to the development, the Opposition started protesting and sat on dharna, while TRIBUNE PHOTO: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN Tribune News Service Members of the Opposition parties blocking the way of Mayor Inderjit Kaur, while not allowing her to leave the MC office in Ludhiana. COUNCILLORS NOT ALLOWED TO SPEAK Everything was passed in a hush-hush manner. What was Giving information about major sources of income, Mayor Inderjit Kaur said the annual recovery target for the property the need of holding a meeting, when councillors were not tax wing was fixed at Rs 160 crore. She said the recovery target allowed to speak. I came to know that instead of Mayor, it was for water-sewer charges had been fixed at Rs 60 crore. Similarly, the recovery target for the building branch was fixed the MLAs who were addressing participants at the meeting. We at Rs 75 crore, while the civic body expected to receive Rs 680 will be submitting a memorandum with the Local Bodies Minister crore as the GST share during the 2025-26 fiscal. Other to get this meeting declared null and void. sources of income include rent/lease, Tehbazari fee, RECOVERY TARGETS FOR 2025-26 advertisement tax and additional excise duty, she added. ❝ ❞ Sanjay Talwar, DISTRICT CONGRESS CHIEF MURDER OF DEMOCRACY PROTESTS POLITICALLY MOTIVATED This is murder of democracy. Very important Budget Protests by the Opposition were politically meeting was held today. Budget was passed within a few motivated and baseless. We want to work minutes. Hopes of newly elected councillors were dashed to the harmoniously for the development of the entire city, ground as they were not able to speak about anything for the but the Opposition parties are unnecessarily area from which they were elected. The AAP is just passing the creating disruptions. Tughlaqi farman. Rajneesh Dhiman, DISTRICT BJP CHIEF Inderjit Kaur, Mayor, LUDHIANA MUNICIPAL CORPORATION ❝ ❝ ❞ alleging that Mayor passed the Budget without discussion, which was entirely wrong. Leader of the Opposition, Sham Sundar Malhotra from the Congress and others tried blocking the door, while not let- ❞ ting Mayor leave the office. The annual Budget of approximately Rs 1,100 crore for 2025-26 fiscal was passed out of which Rs 400 crore was allocated for development in the city. After passing the Budget, Mayor Inderjit Kaur said all aspects had been covered. She said it was a comprehensive Budget with focus on development of the entire city. An amount of Rs 400 crore had been allocated for taking up development works in the city, including reconstruction/repair of roads, installation of water-sewer lines, purchase and maintenance of streetlights and maintenance of parks, she said. Ludhiana, March 20 The crime wing of the city police claims to have arrested a man involved in drug smuggling and recovered 220 gram of heroin from his possession. The arrested accused was identified as Karan Kumar, a resident of Atal Nagar, Ludhiana. Amandeep Singh Brar, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP), Crime, said a police party was patrolling in Iqbal Nagar where they got information that the accused was running an illegal trade of heroin smuggling. The police received a tip-off that he was standing at New Preet Nagar to deliver heroin to his client. The police party conducted raid on the spot The accused in custody of the Ludhiana police on Thursday. and nabbed the accused red-handed. During search, heroin was recovered from the possession of the accused. A case under the NDPS Act was registered against the accused. The ADCP said accused had a criminal past and four cases, including that of drug smuggling and kidnapping were already registered against him. He said after obtaining police remand of the accused, he would be questioned to bust the entire drug supply line and arrest other heroin suppliers. The police would even inquire if the smuggler had purchased properties from proceeds of the illegal drug trade, the ADCP said. Autodriverheldcaptive,stabbed multiple times at City Enclave Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 20 A man on Dhandra Road held an auto driver captive and stabbed him repeatedly. The victim said the drunk accused tortured him all night. At 5 am, the accused fled with the victim’s auto. Jagdish Prasad, 60, said he was hired by the accused, identified as Ranbir Singh, at the bus stand on March 17 to take him to City Enclave on Dhandra Road. When the victim Tortured all night, locked inside house asked for payment from the accused on reaching destination, the latter pulled him inside house and locked him up. From 7 pm to 5 am, the victim endured torture by the accused. The accused stabbed auto driver on his arms, face, legs and body. When the victim begged for mercy, the accused showed none. At 5 am, the accused fled with the victim’s auto. The accused demanded 2 lakh from the victim, while threatening to kill him. The victim broke window with a cylinder and alerted residents in the colony. The accused also took victim’s cellphone. Residents gave first aid to the victim and informed his family. The police registered a case against Ranbir Singh of Dhandra Road on the basis of complaint lodged by Jagdish Prasad and started search for him. Seven travel agents booked for cheating Big relief for residents as Domoria bridge opens after 90 days residents on promise of sending abroad Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 20 Two residents of Khanna and Jalandhar were cheated by agents of the immigration firms on the pretext of sending them abroad. The accused had taken lakhs from the complainants, but failed to arrange visas for them. The first case was registered by the Khanna city-2 police station against the accused, identified as Sahej Jeet Gill, Simranjit Singh, Karamjit Singh, Amritpal Singh and Harsimranjot of Visa Gadget, GTB Market, Khanna. Complainant Kulwant Singh, a resident of Harkrishan Nagar, Khanna, told the police that on the pretext of sending Ramanpreet Singh and Randeep Singh abroad, the accused took Rs 2.97 lakh and Rs 2.80 lakh, respectively from them. Despite taking money, the accused failed to arrange visa for the victims. The accused also refused to return money to the victims. In another case, the Division No. 7 police registered a case of fraud against two travel agents identified as Avneet Kumar, a resident of Adarsh Nagar, Zira, Ferozepur, and Dilpreet Singh of The Visa Point Overseas, Chandigarh Road, Ludhiana. Complainant Mangat Singh of Phillaur told the police that the accused had taken Rs 11.45 lakh from him and several others for sending them abroad, but failed to arrange visas for them. When the complainant asked the accused to return money, the latter failed to do so. Recently, the accused locked their office and went underground. Investigating officer ASI Prem Chand said after registering a case, further probe had been initiated into the matter by the police. Ludhiana, March 20 After 90 days, a portion of the Domoria bridge has been reopened for the traffic, while its other side is expected to open in April. The reopening of the bridge brought relief for commuters and local shopkeepers who were affected by its closure. The bridge was initially closed for three months for the expansion work to accommodate a new rail line. The closure of the bridge had caused significant traffic congestion in the area, with vehicles crawling along Old GT Road and Lakkar Bridge. Shopkeepers on both sides of the bridge had also seen a sig- Vehicles pass through Domoria bridge in Ludhiana on Thursday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN nificant decline in their business. With reopening of one side of the bridge, traffic movement is expected to ease, while shopkeepers are hoping for the business to return to normal. Municipal Commissioner Aditya Dachalwal inspected the site after reopening of the bridge. One side of the bridge heading from Deepak Cinema to Kailash Cinema Road has been reopened for the traffic. Officials claimed that the remaining work on the other side of the bridge would be completed within the next 15 days. They said the second route might be opened in the first week of April. Meanwhile, the Chand Cinema Bridge project, which was initially expected to be completed by March 31, has been delayed. The Municipal Corporation extended the project deadline to April 30. The purpose of the project, part of the Ludhiana Smart City Mission, is to rebuild a bridge over Buddha Darya. World Sparrow Day: Two city-based organisations come to rescue of feathered companions Manav Mander Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 20 Every year, March 20 is celebrated as “World Sparrow Day”. The theme for this year’s celebrations was “A tribute to nature’s tiny messengers’ highlighting the crucial role played by sparrows”. Two organisations from the city are doing exemplary work which is proving boon for the feathered companions. Bhagwan Mahavir Jeev Trust and Shri Gau Rakshini Sabha are giving shelter and taking care of birds. In one of its kind initiative, twin bird towers were constructed one year ago by Bhagwan Mahavir Jeev Trust. These towers are giving shelter to more than 2,500 birds. The trust is also taking care of the injured and sick birds. Each bird tower is 45-feet high and constructed atop a building near Govind Gaudham. The building on which towers are constructed is Pakshi Dham, which has a hospital for treating injured and sick birds. Trust president Rakesh Jain said, “The population of sparrows is decreasing at an alarming level. These birds are close to extinction. Once a familiar sight in our backyards, house sparrows have become scarce in the urban areas due to our growing disconnection from the nature and biodiversity.” He said it was the fast disappearance of sparrows had become a cause of consideration. He thought of developing such a place where birds Children feed birds; and (right) twin towers which shelter thousands of birds near Govind Gaudham in Ludhiana. TRIBUNE PHOTOS: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN could be nestled. Jainism had a special place for birds and animals and these birds were Godly to him, he said. When asked how the idea of building towers stuck him, Jain shared he got inspiration from Ujjain in Madhya c m y b Pradesh where a temple had a bird tower. “I visited the temple and got in touch with some Gujarat-based artistes, who had constructed the tower. I brought them to Ludhiana for construction of the tower. The raw material was also brought from Gujarat. It took nine months for the completion of the tower,” he said. Devotees visiting Govind Gaudham to pay obeisance to Lord Krishna also make sure to visit this place and feed birds along with cows,” Jain said. Jaikrishan Sardana from Shri Gau Rakshini Sabha said they were building a bird hospital with the help of the DMCH. He said the sabha was feeding thousands of birds atop building located near Pracheen Gaushala every day. “We have constructed shelters for injured birds. Birds are treated and kept here till they are able to fly again,” he said. “Birds, especially house sparrow is also one of the oldest companions of human beings. Over a period of time, these birds have evolved with us and need to be preserved,” Sardana said.