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TOP STORIES

PWD gets show-cause notice from MC
Ludhiana, March 1
In the wake of the construction of a flyover to replace the Lakkar Pul hanging fire for almost a year now, the Municipal Corporation has served yet another show cause notice on the Public Works Department, demanding an explanation for the delay.

Mixed response to Budget
Ludhiana, March 1
The Union Budget for 2003-04 by the Union Finance Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, has evoked mixed response in this part of the region. On the one hand people have welcomed the budget by saying that it has not created any new problem, on the other some have strongly criticized it.

Rain breaks 50-year record
Ludhiana, March 1
Heavy rain that lashed the region last night has broken a 50-year-old record of the highest intensity of rain. As per the PAU Met Department, a record of 150 mm of rainfall was experienced last month.

Shiv devotees throng temples Ludhiana, March 1 A large number of Shiv devotees were seen visiting temples in the wee hours to offer prayers. They bathed the Shivling with milk and offered “bel patra”. The air was rent with “Om Nama Shivaye”. Thousands thronged the century-old Sangla Wala Shivala temple and other temples. Devotees pray on the occasion of Shivratri in Ludhiana on Saturday. — IV

Reopening of case against Mann evokes protest
Ludhiana, March 1
The Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) today said it would stage a demonstration outside Parliament on March 25 in protest against the reopening of TADA case against Mr Simranjit Singh Mann and the death sentence to Devender Pal Singh Bhullar.

COMMUNITY

Big match draws big crowds
Ludhiana, March 1
Enthusiastic fans today made a beeline for all such arenas that showed the much-awaited cricket match between India and Pakistan live on big screens. Though almost all matches of the World Cup are being shown at cinema hall, bars, restaurants, hotels, clubs, etc. the response to today’s match was overwhelming.

Congress failed on all fronts, says BJP
Ludhiana, March 1
The Bharatiya Janata Party has contested the claim of the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, of the Congress having successfully completed one year of rule in the state. Terming it a bundle of lies, the party said the government had no achievement worth the name.

MLA inaugurates  sewerage project
Ludhiana, March 1
Congress MLA Surinder Dawar reiterated the commitment of the Congress government to step up the pace of development in the state while the civic body would continue its efforts to provide better quality civic services to city residents.

Aggarwals seek better treatment Ludhiana, March 1 Even as the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Anurag Aggarwal, focussed on the rich contribution made by the Aggarwal community in various fields across the country, local leaders of the community were critical of the discriminatory treatment meted out to them by successive governments.
Functionaries of the Punjab Aggarwal Sammelan led by the state president of the body, Mr Amrit Lal Aggarwal, at the arrival of the Aggar Chetna and Sadbhavna Rath Yatra in Ludhiana. — IV

41 nominations finalised
Ludhiana, March 1
Nominations of 41 candidates for election to 15 seats of the local Municipal Council have been finalised after withdrawals by 31 candidates. Two Congress candidates have been declared elected, while the party ticket for one ward was transferred at the last moment.

Cong councillor elected unopposed
Amloh, March 1
A hundred candidates are in the fray for the civic poll in 19 wards of Mandi Gobindgarh after the withdrawal of nomination papers today. Out of 173 candidates, the papers of Ms Darshna Devi from Ward No. 17 were rejected during scrutiny yesterday for want of a caste certificate while 72 candidates, most of them covering candidates, withdrew their nominations today.

Sale rush attracts shoplifters
Ludhiana, March 1
“We try to take precautions, yet clothes and watches keep disappearing from our shop regularly”, a shopkeeper of Ghumar Mandi said. Shoplifting is a problem faced by shopkeepers in different areas.

Sumo pushes car into ditch
Ludhiana, March 1
Four persons travelling in a car had a miraculous escape after the vehicle fell into a 15-foot-deep ditch near Barewal on the Ludhiana-Jagraon road after colliding with a Tata Sumo early today.

CRIME

200 kg of poppy husk seized
Ludhiana, March 1
The Jagraon police today claimed to have recovered 200 kg of poppy husk from three different places in the police district. In the first case, the Raikot police acting on a tip off intercepted a gang of poppy husk smugglers near Lohatbaddi village and arrested Sukhdev Singh of Bhundri village Lohatbaddi and recovered 140kg of poppy husk.

BUSINESS

Delhi firm to develop apparel park
Ludhiana, March 1
The Federation of Knitwear, Textile and Allied Industries Associations has entered into an agreement with a Delhi-based company for the establishment of Rs 85 crore apparel park for the promotion of knitwear and textile garments and their export.

AGRICULTURE

Better farm marketing options on anvil
Ludhiana, March 1
The Horticulture Department has chalked out a programme to provide better marketing facilities to develop horticulture as a profitable alternative to the wheat-paddy crop pattern under the diversification programme of the Punjab Government.

EDUCATION

Cultural show at college reunion
Ludhiana, March 1
Ramgarhia Girls College organised an old students’ meet here yesterday, when the Asian Club held Thakur Balwant Singh Yaadgari Kala Sanskriti Sahitya Utsav’ in the college. The festival with the shabad ‘Deh Shiva Var Mohe’ sung by students of the Department of Music of the college.

• Nostalgic moment for old students

Teachers resent poll duty
Ludhiana, March 1
The Democratic Teachers Front has resented the move of the government to put schoolteachers on poll duty, on the plea that the absence of teachers from schools will make students suffer. The front has also sought that these duties be cancelled.

Poster-making competition
Ludhiana, March 1
As part of the World’s AIDS Day campaign, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India, had selected Master Tara Singh Memorial College for Women, Ludhiana, as venue for holding the poster-making competition with the theme ‘Live and let live’ at the local level.

• Prizes given

CULTURE

Varied styles come alive on canvas Ludhiana, March 1 “India has strong and ancient traditions in painting. The evidence lies in the frescoes of Ajanta and Ellora, the Buddhist palm-leaf manuscripts and the Jain texts. Religion had a great influence on early Indian painting. Paintings by Kanika Dhanda on display in the Satluj Club, Ludhiana, on Saturday. — IV

Awards and honours for poets
Ludhiana, March 1
Mr Rakesh Pandey, Minister of State for Printing and Stationery, inaugurated a tri-language ‘Kavi Darbar’ in Punjabi Bhavan here yesterday. It was organised by the Language Department of Punjab. Mr Pandey said languages brought out our pain to solve problems.

HEALTH

‘Xive’ a boon for dentists, patients
Ludhiana, March 1
“Xive”, a new implant system to be introduced in the country for the first time, will bring immediate and safe implantation”, said Dr Jan Keilhorn, Oral Surgeon, Reg. Board Specialist of Implantology, Oppenheim, Germany. Dr Keilhorn is on a four-day visit to the city to introduce the technique to the dental surgeons here.

Education camp on TB
Ludhiana, March 1
A health education camp was held at Dr B.R.Ambedkar Nagar, a slum area adjoining Model Town, under the Revised National TB Control Programme today. Dr Anil Verma, District TB Officer, while addressing the participants said patients who had been suffering from cough for more than three weeks should undergo test for sputum so that the disease could be detected and the patient was given treatment at the earliest.

SPORTS

Rs 30,000 aid for college development

Ludhiana, March 1 The eighth annual athletics meet of Shanti Tara College was organised yesterday at Ahmedgarh. The meet was declared open by the general secretary of the college, Mr Arvind Malhotra. Mr Tej Prakash Singh, Transport Minister, Punjab, was the chief guest. Victorious students of Shanti Tara College, Ahmedgarh, on their sports day. — A Tribune photograph