L U D H I A N A

Armed robbers loot workshop,
injure two
Fatehgarh Sahib, May 21
An armed gang of robbers struck for the second consecutive time within 15 days in the district and managed to escape after looting cash and jewellery and injuring two persons. Though the villagers informed the police well in time and raised an alarm, the police failed to turn up in time giving opportunity to the robbers to escape.

Man gets life imprisonment
Ludhiana, May 21
The Additional and Sessions Judge, Mr B.S. Mehandiratta, has convicted Ashok Kumar for murdering his wife.

Tension over truck union poll
Ludhiana, May 21
Tension prevailed in Mandi Ahmedgarh township here today over the controversy surrounding the elections of a truck union, in which a ruling Akali leader was alleged to have played a role in favouring one group.

2 recommended for PAU posts
Ludhiana, May 21
A four-member selection committee of Punjab Agricultural University is believed to have forwarded the names of Dr G.S. Nanda, Head, Department of Plant Breeding, and Dr M.S. Tiwana to the board of management, PAU, for appointment as Director, Research, and Dean, College of Agriculture, PAU, respectively.

Rise in crime fuels need for arms licences
Ludhiana, May 21
There has been a spurt in use of licensed weapons in property disputes and brawls in the city and in the issuance of licensed weapons by the district administration over the past four months. The figure of licences issued in the first quarter of this year has almost touched half the figure of last year.

Security arrangements go hi-tech
Ludhiana, May 21
The horror of being attacked in one’s own house and the helplessness to protect one’s family leaves behind permanent scars of unpleasant memories on the minds of the victims. The recent spurt in crime has given rise to a sense of insecurity among the city residents. They are no longer satisfied with the traditional security arrangements of hiring a night watchman, double locking the doors and arranging for stronger grills and doors.

Lure of ice candy:
 Increase in temperature makes a schoolchild give in to the cool temptation in Ludhiana on Monday. 
 — Photo: Rajesh Bhambi

	NRI alleges partisan role of police in shootout case May 21, 2001
	SHO transferred after Akalis hold dharna May 20, 2001
	Elevated road project approved amidst high drama May 19 , 2001
	PAU to deal firmly with staff doing private work May 18 , 2001
	CM’s sops for industrialists  May 17 , 2001
	Move on privatisation of water supply, sewerage May 16 , 2001
	Free power for PAU farms May 15 , 2001
	Abducted woman forcibly married off; police clueless May 14 , 2001
	Registration of case sought against samiti May 13 , 2001
	Police blames it on poor infrastructure May 12 , 2001

Youth killed, sister hurt in blast
Ludhiana, May 21
A youth was killed and his sister was seriously injured in an explosion that took place in scrap at Durga Colony Focal Point here today evening.

COMMUNITY

Amarinder ready with treatise on Kargil war
Ludhiana, May 21
The President of the Pradesh Congress Committee, Capt Amarinder Singh, may be very busy with the party work, addressing the party rallies and leading the demonstrations after the Tehelka expose to follow his leader and AICC President, Ms Sonia Gandhi. Besides, he may also be planning the strategy to checkmate his rivals within and outside the party, yet he manages to take out some time for his academic pursuits. Currently he is busy recreating the images of the Kargil war in his second book titled “The Kargil War — 1999”. The book is expected to be released in the month of July.

BJYM geared up for poll
Ludhiana, May 21
The Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the youth wing of the BJP, is fully geared up for the forthcoming Assembly election in Punjab and the party rank and file is all set to give the opposition parties a befitting reply. This was stated by Mr Kamal Chatley, district president of the BJYM, while addressing a party workers’ meeting in the party office here last evening.

CITY SCAN
A vital railway junction
LUDHIANA'S recent history has some important landmarks. The Phillaur fort was built by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The Baddowal-Aliwal battles of the first Anglo-Sikh War (1845-46) made it a temporary cantonment town. The realignment of the ‘Jarnaili Sarak’, the present GT Road, was a big step towards modernisation. But it was the railway that represented the big leap forward for the region.

Corruption at PSEB office flayed
Ludhiana, May 21
Mr Joginder Kumar and Mr Man Mohan Singh Ubhi, president and secretary of the Ludhiana Electroplates Association, respectively, have criticised the widespread corruption in the divisions of the Punjab State Electricity Board in the city especially in Model Town Division. They have alleged that the consumers had to ‘bribe’ officials at every stage to get the work done in that division.

A beautiful trendy pendant on a thin chain is a favourite with the new generation.

Designer jewellery captures hearts
Ludhiana, May 21
Jewellery! It conjures pictures of rich traditional jewellery fit for queens — the lovely tiaras, signet rings, lovely bracelets, and heart-shaped pendants to keep the pictures of lovers. Through the ages women as well as men have been wearing jewellery. But trends change with changing times and jewellery has come a long way from the pre-historic ornaments made of bones, feathers and leather.

Rajiv Gandhi remembered
Ludhiana, May 21
Youth Congress activists observed ‘anti-terrorism day’ and organised a scooter rally and a blood donation camp in the city to mark the 10th death anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi.

Christians seek ban on book
Ludhiana, May 21
The Punjab United Christian Forum for Human Rights has demanded a ban on the book ‘Satguru Nanak Dev Ji (Sampuran Jivan) Ate Mukti Marg’ which it claimed contained blasphemous and derogatory remarks about Jesus Christ.

Local talent shines in fashion show
Ludhiana, May 21
The “Face-n-Figure — 2001” fashion show organised here last night has marked the beginning of new trend in the city. This time professional models from Delhi and Mumbai were accompanied by budding models from the city. The young aspiring models were specially trained during a five-day grooming workshop organised by the Soft Reach company to promote the young talent in the city. The workshop had started here on May 16.

Gunjan, Nidhi win beauty contest
Ludhiana, May 21
A May Queen Ball organised by the Gayatri Ladies Club was held at Sutlej Club to choose May Queen here today. The participants were dressed in cool shades of summer. 

Contestants of the Gayatri Ladies Club walk on the ramp for the May Queen contest in Ludhiana on Monday.

CRIME

PSEB JE arrested
Ludhiana, May 21
The vigilance Bureau, Ludhiana, today arrested a junior engineer of the PSEB on charge of accepting a bribe of Rs 4,000 from a woman.

AGRICULTURE

Govt to promote fish farming
Ludhiana, May 21
The state government has formulated a comprehensive plan to promote fish farming as a profitable alternative to traditional paddy — wheat crop rotation in Punjab. Under the plan, water and soil testing laboratories are being set up at divisional levels to provide the testing facility for the fish ponds.

EDUCATION

200 take part in painting contest
Ludhiana, May 21
An inter-class painting and craft contest was organised at New Senior Secondary School, Sarabha Nagar, here today. Over 200 students from Classes IV to XII participated in the contest which was categorised into four groups. Group A comprised students from Classes IV and V, Group B included students from Classes VI and VII, Group C comprised students of Class VIII and IX and Group D included students from Classes X, XI and XII.

Computer centre inaugurated
Ludhiana, May 21
The Tata Infotech Limited opened its professional computer education centre, ‘Ambition’, at Model Town here today. The centre was inaugurated by Dr R.P. Singh, Principal, Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College.

COURTS

HC stays appointment
Ludhiana, May 21
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked the Union Public Service Commission not to make appointments to the post of Associate Professor of Neurosurgery till further orders.

Lawyers on strike
Ludhiana, May 21
Showing resentment against the lathi charge by the Sangrur police on lawyers on Friday, the District Bar Association observed a strike here today. The courts remained open, but the advocates did not visit the courts.

CULTURE

Kahani paricharcha, mushaira organised
Ludhiana, May 21
The Preet Sahitya Sadan organised a kahani paricharcha and a mushaira at Punjabi Bhavan yesterday. It was a well-attended function. In the kahani paricharcha a compilation of short stories of Darshan Mitwa titled ‘Sidarth Ki Maut’ was discussed. A critical appraisal of the short stories was done by writer Dr Balwant Singh of Chandigarh. Talking about the book he said, “The stories are well written and reveal harsh realities of the modern age and truth of our society. His characters are lifelike and one can easily identify oneself with them.”

SPORTS

Gurvinder, Kuldeep put Fatehgarh Sahib on top
Ludhiana, May 21
In the first match of Inter-District Summer Under-16 Cricket Tournament, Fatehgarh Sahib scored 423 runs in 71 overs and lost all wickets in the first innings against Moga.