27042024-LT-01.qxd 4/27/2024 1:01 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune 138 HELD WITH HUGE CACHE OF DRUGS, LIQUOUR, WEAPONS ANOUSHKA SHANKAR TO GET HONORARY DEGREE EMINEM ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM DEATH OF SLIM SHADY Khanna police act tough against MCC violators; 75 per cent lincensed weapons deposited so far. P2 Sitarist Anoushka Shankar will receive an honorary degree from the University of Oxford. P4 Rapper Eminem has announced his 12th studio album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grace). P4 » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 37°C | MIN 22°C YESTERDAY MAX 40°C | MIN 21°C SUNSET SATURDAY 6.57 PM SUNRISE SUNDAY 5:42 AM » SATURDAY | 27 APRIL 2024 | LUDHIANA Labour shortage notwithstanding, wheat lifting in full swing: Chief Secy Verma visits Khanna grain market, reviews procurement arrangements Tribune News Service Khanna (Ludhiana), April 26 Chief Secretary Anurag Verma on Friday claimed that the lifting of wheat procured at mandis (grain markets) was in full swing despite the seasonal labour shortage in the state. He was reviewing ongoing wheat procurement arrangements at the Asia’s biggest grain market at Khanna this afternoon. He directed all procurement agencies to ensure that farmers did not face any problem in the mandis. Verma said 132 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of wheat was expected to arrive in mandis across the state during this season, of which, 66.8 LMT, which was more than half the target, had arrived in the mandis till Thursday evening. He said 60.9 LMT, which accounted for 91 per cent of the total arrival, had already been purchased. “All efforts are being made to ensure that crop is cleaned, purchased and weighed within 24 hours of its arrival in the mandi. Once it’s done, farmers are free to leave the mandi and the payment will be credited into their accounts within 48 hours of purchase and they will get SMS in this regard,” the Chief Secretary said. Verma divulged that as per Chief Secretary Anurag Verma reviews wheat procurement in Khanna on Friday. TRIBUNE PHOTO 54K MT WHEAT PURCHASED SO FAR IN KHANNA In Khanna, 54,000 MT of wheat had arrived and been purchased till Thursday. Against the payment of ~52 crore due to be made to the farmers within 48 hours of the purchase, a sum of ~72 crore has already been credited to farmers’ accounts. the norms of payment, which stipulate paying the farmer within 48 hours of purchase, the payment of Rs 7,950 crore was due to be made to the farmers till Thursday, of which a sum of Rs 9,170 crore has already been made to them. “It means that in many cases, the farmers have been paid even before 48 hours,” he claimed while informing that the payment had been made to more than 4 lakh farmers so far. The Chief Secretary also interacted with farmers. Sukhdeep Singh, a farmer from Bhamaddi village, told him that he had brought his crop to the mandi today at 7 am and his crop was purchased at 12:30 pm. Narinder Singh from Hussainpur village said he had brought his crop to the mandi at 7:30 am today and his crop was purchased at 12:40 pm itself. Most of the farmers present in the mandi had brought their crop to the grain market today only. Verma said following the delay in harvesting, arrivals in the mandis were initially slow but have picked up suddenly, following which the entire state machinery was working day and night to ensure that the farmers did not face any problem in the markets. Sharing the comparative lifting figures, he said peak lifting in a single day was 4.8 LMT last season while the lifting crossed this limit and was recorded at 5.5 LMT in the state on Thursday. “Even as the seasonal shortage of migrant labourers is existing, we have pulled all stops to ensure swift lifting of the procured stocks from the mandis,” Verma asserted. Trucker dies as trucks collide on overbridge Ludhiana, April 26 A truck driver died in a road mishap on the Tajpur road overbridge here this morning. The victim, Sukhdev, was reportedly driving the truck at a high speed and rammed his vehicle into the rear of another truck. It was also suspected that the driver fell asleep while driving due to which the accident occurred. He was going to Phagwara from Jandiali. The collision between the vehicles was so intense that the man got stuck in the driver’s cabin which got crushed badly. The driver of the other truck, Arjun, said he was heading towards Srinagar from Panipat. His vehicle was going at a speed of about 20-30 km per hour and when he was reached the Tajpur road overbridge, near Samrala Chowk, the speeding truck hit his truck hard from A crane being used to shift the damaged truck in Ludhiana on Friday. ASHWANI DHIMAN the rear. He came out of the vehicle and saw that the driver of the other truck had died and his body was stuck in the driver’s cabin. The man was seemed to be using a mobile as he was wearing headphones. “I raised the alarm and stopped commuters. We tried to take out the victim from the the vehicle but in vain. Later, the police were informed by somebody and a crane was called. A cutter was also brought which was used to cut the truck’s front part to take out of the victim’s body that got stuck inside the cabin,” he said. The body of the man was kept in the mortuary of the Civil Hospital for autopsy. — TNS He said he was reviewing the progress of the ongoing wheat procurement with deputy commissioners via videoconferencing every alternate day. He directed the deputy commissioners to visit the mandis daily and ensure that the ongoing lifting was further increased to 6.5 LMT per day to avoid any glut-like situation in the grain markets. In Khanna, 54,000 MT of wheat had arrived and been purchased till Thursday. Against the payment of Rs 52 crore due to be made to the farmers within 48 hours of the purchase, a sum of Rs 72 crore has already been credited to farmers’ accounts. Verma reiterated that the state government was committed to ensuring that the crop of the farmers was purchased in the mandis instantly and they were paid for their produce not later than 48 hours. “If any farmer faces any problem regarding purchase or payment, he may report on the government’s toll free number 1100,” he offered while assuring of immediate action on any such information given by the farmers. Director, Food and Civil Supplies, Puneet Goyal, Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney, and SSP Amneet Kondal accompanied the Chief Secretary during the visit to the grain market here. 18 inmates rescued from illegal drug de-addiction centre Ludhiana, April 26 The police along with the Health Department on Thursday conducted a raid at an illegal drug de-addiction centre situated on the Jangpur road in Dakha. The officials rescued 18 inmates from the illegal centre. Later, health officials asked addicts to get admitted to a government de-addiction centre but they refused citing various reasons. Sources said the raid was conducted by a team of officials on the complaint of one of the parents of an inmate. The team included Deputy Medical Commissioner Amarjeet Kaur, SMO, Sudhar, Davinder Singh, Vivek Kumar Goyal, psychiatrist, and officials from the Dakha police station. — TNS 75% weapons deposited, ~ 57.23L unaccounted cash seized the poll code, 35 cases under the NDPS Act were registered by the police with the arrest of 49 suspects. In these cases, the police recovered 5.290 kg of opium, 18.780 kg of poppy husk, 749.5 gm of heroin, 3,545 intoxicating tablets, 260 cap- INDIA VOTES 2024 Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 26 Licenced arms holders falling in the jurisdiction of the Ludhiana rural police deposited 75 per cent weapons since the model code of conduct came into force on March 16. As per details shared by SSP (Ludhiana rural) Navneet Singh Bains, the Ludhiana rural police issued as many as 8,629 arms licences and the licence holders were having Ludhiana rural police officials during a special checking drive. FILE 9,525 weapons. Till date, 7,142 weapons were deposited by the arms holders and strict instructions were issued to police station heads to ensure deposition of the remaining guns. He said during special election checking, Rs 57.23 lakh unaccounted cash was recovered by the police and the IT Department was also given information for further investigation. Revealing about recoveries and arrests made under the NDPS Act, the SSP said after the implementation of 32 proclaimed offenders arrested in special campaign sules, Rs 2,89,500 drug money, 13 motorcycles and eight cars/jeep from smugglers. Bains said besides, 38 cases were registered under the Excise Act in which 31 liquor smugglers were arrested by the police and 724 litres of illicit liquor, 586 litres of licit c m y b liquor, 1,68,340 litres of lahan, etc, were seized. The rural police also seized two illegal weapons along with 10 cartridges. During the special election campaign, 32 proclaimed offenders were nabbed by the police. Deposit arms before April 30 or face action Earlier, the deadline for deposition of weapons was March 31 but later it was extended to April 30. After the end of the deadline, if any licence holder fails to deposit weapon, he/she may face strict legal action. SSP Navneet Bains said: “We will take action against the violators as per action recommended by the Deputy Commissionercum-District Election Officer after the deadline.” Firemen douse the fire that broke out at a garment factory in Brahmpuri. INDERJEET VERMA Major fire breaks out in Brahmpuri garment unit Ludhiana, April 26 A massive fire broke out at a garment factory in the Brahmpuri area near Saidan Chowk late on Thursday night. Since the factory was situated in a densely populated area where many factories exist, owners of the other industrial units were a panicked lot when the incident occurred. As per information, late on Thursday evening, owner of the garment factory, Vicky, locked the unit and went home. Around 10 pm, he got a call from neighbours that smoke was billowing from his factory. He rushed to the factory and found that the fire engulfed the entire first floor while ground, second and third floors were safe. BLAZE CONTROLLED IN TWO HOURS Within two hours, fire personnel managed to douse the flames at the garment factory and five fire tenders were used for the purpose. The owner, along with other people, tried to control the fire with available fire extinguishers but they failed in their attempt as the blaze was intense. Later, they called the fire brigade which reached the place within a few minutes. Since the factory was located in narrow lanes, the fire tenders could not reach outside the affected unit, hence, they had to lay long water pipes to start the operation. Within two hours, the fire men managed to douse the flames and five fire tenders were used for the purpose. The factory owner told mediapersons that a short-circuit seemed to be the cause behind the fire. He said losses were yet to be ascertained. Aatish Rai, sub-fire officer, said the factory was lying closed when the fire broke out, hence, no worker was trapped inside it. Fire personnel doused the flames in two hours and no fireman suffered any injury. Sources said the factory lacked fire safety arrangements due to which the blaze could not be doused at the initial stage. SUSPENSION OF LAB TECHNICIAN FOR TAKING BRIBE Applicants who underwent dope tests in 45 days to be retested Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 26 After the suspension of medical laboratory technician (MLT) yesterday for accepting a bribe for changing a positive dope test into negative, now applicants who underwent dope tests in the past one-and-a-half months are being retested. All tests conducted from March 1 to April 23 at the Civil Hospital and all subdivisional hospitals are being repeated and 170 tests will be repeated at the Civil Hospital, Ludhiana, alone as 170 applicants undergone tests there. A separate board has been constituted for conducting the tests and to maintain transparency, no employee of the Civil Hospital is included in the board. “Tests are being conducted in three batches Civil Hospital offers free cancer surgery ~10.24 lakh unaccounted cash seized from 2 traders Ludhiana, April 26 Surgery for ENT, head and neck cancers has been commenced at the Civil Hospital giving much relief to patients who are unable to afford costly treatment. Two surgeries have already been performed here. Dr Vikramjeet Singh, who is giving free consultation at the hospital once a week, will be conducting these surgeries every Thursday. Till now, such patients were referred to either PGI or medical colleges in Chandigarh and Patiala. A surgery in a private hospital costs around Rs 7 lakh while they can get it done free if they have Ayushman card and if they don’t have it, they have to give Rs 1,000. — TNS Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 26 The Khanna police during a special checking at a hitech naka on a highway here seized Rs 10.24 lakh unaccounted cash from two cloth merchants. The traders were asked to produce supporting documents of the cash but they failed to do so, following which the police seized the cash and called officials of the Income Tax (I-T) Department and handed over investigation of the case to them. The cloth traders were reportedly from the city. and applicants are being given calls to come for the retest. Recommendation will be sent to cancel the arms licence of those whose test comes positive and those who fail to turn up for the same,” said Civil Surgeon Jasbir Singh. Sources said both of them had arguments with police officials, citing that the cash was related to their businesses. Since they could not produce any document, the police seized the money as the model code of conduct is being implemented in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, no individual is allowed to carry cash exceeding Rs 50,000 without valid documents, the sources added. Khanna Income Tax Inspector Ganesh Prasad said the case was handed over to the investigating team in Ludhiana.
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