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TOP STORIES

Computers that hate abort command
...join fight against female foeticide
Ludhiana, December 23
To curb female foeticide in the district, the District Health Department and the administration have adopted computerisation to keep track of all women between the age of 15 and 45 who have undergone an ultrasound test at any hospital or nursing home in the district.

Dark, fog... and poles in the middle
Ludhiana, December 23
The elaborate exercise of road widening taken up by the civic authorities in the city has proved to be self-defeating, as it has left numerous electricity poles in the middle of the widened roads.

LIFE-THREATENING: Electricity poles, that have not been shifted after the widening of the road, pose danger to commuters on the road from Chattar Singh Park to Tikona Park, Ludhiana. — Photo Pradeep Tewari

Bhateja pleads innocence, joins issue with DC
All for Rs 17 lakh ‘DC’s kin wants’
Ludhiana, December 23
A local industrialist, Mr Pradeep Bhateja, who has been in the eye of a storm, for earning the wrath of the district administration and charged with committing a fraud of over Rs 1 crore with the Punjab Financial Corporation (PFC), today contested the allegations levelled by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Anurag Aggarwal, in a news conference.

Shopkeepers burn PUDA effigy

Ludhiana, December 23 The controversy over prime commercial land, auctioned by the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA) almost three years ago on Old G.T. Road near Lakshmi Cinema, took a new turn as almost 50 affected shopkeepers staged a demonstration and burnt an effigy of PUDA administration here on Sunday. Shopkeepers of Lakshmi Market hold demonstration, carrying an effigy of the PUDA administration in Ludhiana. — IV

COMMUNITY

City to have 20 more public toilet blocks
Ludhiana, December 23
To meet the growing need for better public facilities in different localities, the Municipal Corporation has decided to provide 20 more toilet blocks in the city.

Electroplaters decry notices 
Ludhiana, December 23
Members of the Ludhiana Electroplaters' Association are up in arms over the closure notices issued to 726 units by the Punjab Pollution Control Board(PPCB). They have demanded a high-level enquiry into the denotification of the land, earmarked for them by the government in 1993.

‘Exempt Sikh women from wearing helmets’

Ludhiana, December 23 Claiming that the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, making wearing of helmets mandatory for women driving and riding pillion two-wheelers have caused widespread resentment among the Sikh community, the Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle has urged the Punjab Government to make a proper representation to the high court so that the Sikh women are not forced to wear helmets and their religious traditions are maintained.

Akali activists hold a dharna at the DC office, Ludhiana, in protest against the Punjab and Haryana High-Court decision of making the wearing of helmets mandatory for women driving and riding pillion two-wheelers. A Tribune photograph

Dhaliwal Award for Gill
Ludhiana, December 23
The Punjabi Sahit Kala Sangam, New Delhi, has selected the Editor (Punjabi) of Communi-cation Centre, PAU, Ludhiana. Mr Gurbhajan Singh Gill, for Dhaliwal Award in recognition of his contribution to the field of literature, art, culture and journalism, according to a letter received from Mr Harbhajan Singh Rattan, president of the Punjabi Sahit Kala Sangam.

CRIME

Abduction bid foiled, two held
Ludhiana, December 23
An attempt on the Tibba Road to kidnap an eight-year-old girl by four youths was foiled last evening after they were spotted by some kite-flying youths in the vicinity. According to information, Durga, daughter of Mr Deepak Kumar, a vegetable seller in New Shakti Nagar, had gone to call her younger brother who was flying a kite in the fields near the road.

Engineers ‘rule’ Ludhiana
Ludhiana, December 23
Top administrative posts in Ludhiana are occupied by engineering graduates. It is also for the first time in the history of the city that couples are occupying coveted posts in the administration.

‘Mehak Punjab Di’ organised
Amloh, December 23
The twelfth annual cultural mela “Mehak Punjab Di” was organised at the ground of Government Senior Secondary School here by the local Punjab Sabhyacharak Club yesterday.

Prize distribution function
Ludhiana, December 23
The annual prize distribution function was celebrated at Daffodils Public School this morning. A grand cultural programme was presented by students. The students started the programme with rendering of a shabad.

Christmas celebrations, prayers in schools
Ludhiana, December 23
Christmas was celebrated in Lily Buds Pre-Nursery and Nursery School, Sham Nagar, Ludhiana. A fancy dress competition was organised. The function was presided over by Mr Arun Arti, president, People for Common Cause. Manpreet dressed as Kashmiri girl won the first prize, Prachi dressed as Punjabi Girl won the second and Kajal dressed as a fairy won the third prize.

COURTS

Schedule for court vacation
Ludhiana, December 23
The District Courts will remain closed from December 25 to January 1, 2003. Mr Baldev Singh, District and Sessions Judge, has made arrangements for dealing with urgent matters during the period.

Arrest warrants stayed
Ludhiana, December 23
Six members of a Ludhiana family, accused of a fraud by a Ropar town resident, have got a reprieve with the High Court transferring the case from Ropar to Ludhiana and staying the proceedings till mid-January.

SPORTS

Daljeet Singh is ‘Mr Ludhiana-2002’

Ludhiana, December 23 In a stiff competition, Daljeet Singh of Punjab Armed Police came out triumphant and was adjudged “Mr Ludhiana-2002”, in the Ludhiana Body Building Championship organised by the Ludhiana Amateur Body Building Association (LABBA) at Savitri Complex, Dholewal, here on Sunday. This contest was organised in association with Bajaj Auto Ltd. and Dada Motors, Ludhiana.

• Ludhiana Chess

MC suspends JE for negligence
Ludhiana, December 23
The civic administration has sought the approval of the Punjab Government for suspension of Mr Rattan Chand, a junior engineer in the Operations and Maintenance Wing, on the charges of negligence and undue delay in the disposal of a complaint about water supply and sewerage services.

DC prohibits sale of 106 drugs
Ludhiana, December 23
In a bid to check the menace of drug addiction, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Anurag Aggarwal, has banned the open sale of 106 medicines which were allegedly being sold by the chemists to the drug addicts in the district.

Bogus votes: 4 suspended
Mandi Gobindgarh, December 23
Taking a serious view of complaints about the registration of fake votes, Mr Chaman Lal Bains, Election Commissioner, Punjab, recommended the suspension of Darshan Modi, Assistant Food and Civil Supplies Officer, Amloh, Subash Chander, Superintendent, Municipal Council Mandi Gobindgarh, Karan Sial, supervisor, and Pritpaul Singh, teachers.