Ludhiana, December 2
The newly formed Atma Devki Nikatan Parents’ Association has demanded action against principals of the school and college for allegedly hushing up the rape bid on a Class VII student. The accused, driver of a school bus, was arrested yesterday.

Backed by the Active Anti Corruption Wing, an NGO, a total of 88 parents whose children study in the school located in the premises of Devki Devi Jain College, filed 26 complaints against the school authorities. A social activist, Ramesh Bangar, appreciated the prompt action taken by police in the case. Bangar said action should be taken against both the principals as they were aware of the incident, still they tried to hush up the matter. He said in order to salvage the reputation of the institute, the authorities threatened the college students which further triggered protest.

The parents’ association also accused the school authorities of overcharging. The association demanded installation of CCTV cameras in classrooms and school buses. On November 29, around 100 students of DD Jain Girls College staged a protest in front of St Thomas School near CMC Hospital and blocked traffic for nearly two hours.

The students demanded action against the bus driver for attempting rape on a Class VII student.

The dharna was lifted after the case was registered against the driver.

Ludhiana, December 2
The new fleet of 25 buses of Ludhiana City Bus Service Limited is yet to run on city roads. Reason: The buses are yet to be registered as the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) has not cleared the file since November 23.

The new fleet was flagged off by Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on November 15.

Moreover, there is shortage of drivers as those deployed on contractual bases two years ago are demanding renewal of their contract. The contract expired on November 15. However, the authorities are in no mood to hire them directly and want to outsource their services through a private contractor.

Sources said the RTA had taken a plea that the Punjab and Haryana High Court had stayed the registration of diesel-run buses.

Baljit Singh, manager, Ludhiana City Bus Service Limited, claimed that the stay has been vacated. “I will approach the RTA tomorrow and expect that the buses will be cleared for registration. The stay orders have been vacated for the entire fleet of 200 buses under the city bus service project,” he said.

Once the paperwork related to 25 new buses is cleared, the authorities will start new routes — Pakhowal Road to bus stand and Octroi Post near Gill village to bus stand. These new buses include five low-floor AC buses procured from Tata, 10 non-AC low-floor buses from Ashok Leyland and 10 non-AC mini-buses from Isuzu.

Ludhiana, December 2
The right side of Sidhwan Canal Bridge on Ferozepur Road will be thrown open to traffic from Tuesday.

The stretch on the bridge was closed to vehicular traffic for the past few months due to the construction of an underpass for the Sidhwan Canal Expressway project.

The opening of the bridge will ease the traffic on Ferozepur Road, one of the busiest roads in the city.

Assistant general manager of Supreme Infrastructure India Ltd, the company undertaking the project, Pardeep Kumar said the right side of the bridge would be thrown open to vehicular traffic from tomorrow.

“We wanted to open the stretch before the deadline of December 3, but there was some problem with our hotmix plant. But now the plant is working and the road would be carpeted overnight," claimed Pardeep Kumar.

This bridge is a part of the Rs 328.16 crore, 26.9 kilometre Sidhwan Canal Expressway project with carriageway on each side from the medium of Doraha to Ludhiana-Ferozepur Road, providing a bypass for traffic going towards Ferozepur.

Ludhiana, December 2
The import tariff value on gold and silver has been slashed to USD 405 per 10 gram and USD 642 per kg, respectively, in line with global trends.

The notification in this regard has been issued by the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC).

The import tariff value is the base price at which the customs duty is determined to prevent under invoicing. The tariff value on imported gold stood at USD 414 per 10 grams, while on silver at USD 672 per kg earlier.

Besides precious metals, the tariff value on imported brass scrap has also been reduced to USD 3,906 per tonne from USD 3,995 per tonne. However, the import tariff value on areca nut and vegetables has been kept unchanged.

The import tariff value on gold has been changed due to volatility in precious metals in the global market.

However, in the domestic market, gold prices were ruling firm at Rs 31,320 per 10 gram due to high premium charges on the yellow metal in the wake of tight supply following the government's gold import curbs.

The government has taken several steps to reduce gold imports, including hike in custom duties.

Ludhiana, December 2
The Express Parcel Service was launched today at the Head Post Office located at Bharat Nagar Chowk.

The Express Parcel Service will be available to both retail as well as business (corporate) customers.

Informing about the features of the the express parcel, Swaraj Kaur, Senior Post Master, said it was an air express parcel product providing time-bound delivery of parcels. The parcels would be transported by air or any other fastest means available. Meanwhile, business parcel was a contractual service, designed to suit the requirement of business customers for an economical and reliable distribution solution.

In case of any loss or damage of the express parcels or contents, the compensation payable would be restricted to Rs 1,000 or the actual value of the parcel or the content lost, whichever was less, she said.

The redirection facility will not be available to customers of the express parcel; however, consignments can be returned to the sender in case wherever the same can not be delivered. The consignments will be returned to the sender through the same transportation channel through which it was received.

Ludhiana, December 2
Domestic gas consumers in the city, have been told by their respective gas agencies that from December onwards, they would be provided LPG cylinders on non-subsidised rates only if their Adhaar cards are linked to their bank account. The consumers feel that the gas agencies cannot take such "harsh" decisions on their own, as the Supreme Court in its recent interim order had directed the governments that Aadhar cards should not be made mandatory for getting benefits under various social welfare schemes.

The consumers have been raising hue and cry as a majority of them do not possess Aadhar cards.

Satwinderpal Singh, a bank employee at the Civil Lines, said that until everyone was issued the Aadhar card, the gas agencies, should not take such anti-consumer" decisions.

“The government itself is not clear over the matter till date. When the Supreme Court has said that such identity documents will create a problem for those who do not possess it then the government should adhere to the instructions and the procedure of distributing domestic gas cylinders should be continued as is being done", rued Singh.

The LPG consumers include thousands of migrant workers, who do not possess the unique identification cards(UID) and for them, purchasing a LPG cylinder on non-subsidised rates will be impossible.

Shri Ram, a native from Uttar Pradesh, working at a hosiery unit in Industrial Area, here, said that it was impossible for him to get an LPG cylinder for Rs 1,000. "My monthly salary is about Rs 7,500 and I have to send money to my family back home in UP. In such circumstances, how can I afford to get LPG cylinders on a non-subsidised rates?", asked the worker.

Ludhiana, December 2
Residents of Power Colony at Sarabha Nagar have expressed helplessness in vacating their houses before December 31.

As the downtown is to come up on 32 acres, the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA) had sent notices to Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) to vacate the land before December 31.

The state government wants to develop a theme park, shopping malls, multiplexes and luxury corporate apartments under the project. A private company will carry out the work and the land will be auctioned by the state government. It is learnt that 80 per cent of the profit will go to the kitty of the PSPCL while the remaining 20 per cent will be kept by GLADA.

The PSPCL offices, including the office of Chief Engineer (Central), Ludhiana, houses and an anti-power theft police station are situated on the land.

The land has been divided into two parts, 10.82 acres and 21.07 acres. There are PSPCL offices and 16 residences of Group A employees on 10.82 acres while on the second chunk of 21.07 acres, there are 600 houses of Groups B, C and D employees.

In these 600 houses, more than 150 families have been living for the past several decades while the remaining houses are lying vacant.

A PSPCL employee, who resides in the colony, lamented that they received orders to vacate the houses in mid November. "It is not easy to shift the base. How can the state government expect such a thing from us? There are several families whose children study and are to appear for board examinations early next year and if we shift now, their studies will be affected," he said.

Another employee said the top PSPCL management and officers are not supporting them. "We have been asked to vacate the houses where we have been living for decades. We will have to move the court," he stated.

Ludhiana (West) MLA Bharat Bhushan Ashu, under whose constituency the colony falls, stated that if the state government wanted to develop the project there, it should have at least given then six months' time to residents. It is impossible for the families to shift in such a short span of time. If the PSPCL employees want any help, they can contact me anytime and even the state government should rethink its decision," he stated.

Ludhiana, December 2
Visually impaired students of the Vocational Rehabilitation Training Centre (VRTC) performed well in the state-level competition organised by the Punjab state branch of the National Federation of the Blind at Hoshiarpur from November 30 to December 1, 2013. The students bagged six first prizes, four second prizes and five third prizes in various creative activities.

The first prize winners are Jaya (bhajan-junior), Sachin (writing-junior), Sabha (declamation-secondary), Surbhi (writing-secondary), Kiran's team, Dharminder and Babu Khan (quiz-secondary) and Arpit Sharma (reading-secondary).

Ludhiana, December 2
While the outstation consignments have been sent, the domestic demand is still to be picked up, as it has not turned that cold in the city yet.

Hosiery manufacturers say, “Our godowns are full to the capacity and we are just waiting for the demand to pick up. After rainfall, it seemed that it would turn very cold this winter but the situation is otherwise,” said Harsharan Mishra, a hosiery manufacturer.

Satish Aggarwal, another hosiery manufacturer, said “We just want the chill back in the air so that the demand for woollens goes up.”

“It is only during early morning and late evening that one feels the chill otherwise one cannot wear a sweater or jacket all through the day. We are expecting that December will be cold,” added Gurmeet Kaur, a city resident.

He said by adopting artificial insemination, there could be maximum utilisation of excellent germ plasm as well as fast multiplication of the same and additionally the spread of various diseases such as porcine respiratory and reproductive syndrome, pseudorabies, swine fever, foot and mouth could be checked. The boars are kept at the boar station and semen is collected by adopting hygienic measures. Polar genetics experts provided valuable information regarding transportation, biosecurity and swine health and highlighted the importance of washing and cleaning of trucks and trailers. The seminar was sponsored by Polar Genetics, Alberta (Canada). Hundred farmers from the Progressive Pig Farmers Association, Punjab, attended the meeting and interacted with experts. — TNS

Mandi Ahmedgarh, December 2
The speaker of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Charanjit Singh Atwal, gave an assurance to the office-bearers and activists of the Muslim organisations of paying heed to their pending demands at the earliest.

Atwal said the demands will be accepted by the government soon.

Responding to the appeal made by the Muslim leaders, led by former councillor Dilshad and president, Muslim Youth Front, Munir Mohammad, Atwal said the government had already initiated process for the allocation of extra land for a graveyard on Dehliz road here.

The demand raised by Muslims through Amargarh legislator Iqbal Singh Jhoondan has already been forwarded by the Punjab Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal, to the depart-ment concerned for the initiation of necessary action, informed Charanjit Singh Atwal.

Jagraon, December 2
BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Jagraon for the first time to address a rally being organised by the ruling SAD-BJP alliance on December 21 ahead of the forthcoming parliament elections. The rally being organised at the Sugar Mill, Jagraon, has been named as ‘Fateh Rally’.

However, the planned visit of Modi has given a new lifeline to the local leadership of BJP, who were feeling alienated after being ignored by the local leaders of alliance partner SAD on various recent occasions.

“The preparations for the rally are going at full swing and we will leave no stone unturned to make this rally a mega event,” said senior BJP leader Dr Rajinder Sharma.

BJP Mandal president Raj Kumar Verma said the party had already started mobilising the party workers throughout the area. “They have been asked to make sure that maximum number of people attends the rally,” said Verma.

Originally, the rally was planned to be held near Moga but the venue was changed a couple of days ago due to space issues. Apart from Narendra Modi, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, State BJP president Kamal Sharma, some cabinet ministers of Punjab and many stalwarts of NDA would also address the rally.

Jagraon, December 2
Some unidentified persons decamp with metal from five electricity transformers installed in the fields at Talwandi Kalan and Talwandi Khurd villages, near here, last night.

The theft has not only caused a huge loss and shock to the farmers but also to the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL). It has also raised a question over the efficiency of police because all the incidents took place within a span of few hours.

The incident came to light this morning when a farmer Harjit Singh of Talwandi Khurd village visited his fields. “I was stunned to see the transformer lying on the ground. It was not easy to remove the transformer because it was fitted firmly with the poles,” he said.

The police said the thieves executed similar kind of thefts in the fields of four other farmers, including Ajit Singh and Iqbal Singh of Talwandi Kalan village and Bhupinder Singh and Amarjit Singh of Talwandi Khurd village.

The farmers have demanded to intensify police patrolling in the rural areas at night. A case has been registered against the unidentified thieves at the Sidhwan Bet police station following the complaint lodged by the farmers.

Ludhiana, December 2
The kabaddi bug stung her during the world cup last year. And there was no looking back for 23-year-old Asthara from Nigeria.

Asthara, who works as a domestic help, has made it to the Kenyan women kabaddi team. The team is here to participate in the World Kabaddi Cup.

The coach for the team, Mathew, said: "Asthara works as a domestic help and has limited resources. But her will and hard work brought her here. Last year, she saw some of the kabaddi matches that were being telecast worldwide and she got connected to a page "sankabaddipage" on Facebook by chance."

"She approached the selection committee and got entry into the team. She took coaching for 11 months and is one of the most dedicated players. Despite being injured several times, she never stopped playing. She has got one dream that her team secures good position in the world cup," said Mathew.

Kenya will take on India in their opening match. The team was at Guru Nanak Stadium for the practice session. Though for security reasons, the team members have not been able to see much in Punjab, but they are impressed with the Punjabi hospitality.

Ludhiana, December 2
The host trounced Patiala Zone 2-0 in tug of war, while Bathinda Zone thrashed Patiala 37-18 in kabaddi during the opening day of the Punjab Sudhar Home Sports 2013 that kicked off at Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha Stadium in Central Jail today.

As many as 120 prisoners from 26 jails of the state are taking part in the games. Additional Director General of Police (prisons) Rajpal Meena inaugurated the games and the Superintendents and Deputy Superintendents of 26 jails of Punjab were present on the occasion.

He said the games would culminate on December 6. The teams have been divided in to four zones i.e. Ludhiana, Patiala, Bathinda, Amritsar.

Events like tug of war, volleyball, 100 -meter sprint will be organised. The jail was given a facelift in the view of the games.

Meena said, the main objective to organise the games was to divert the attention of inmates from drugs to sports. Meena claimed that more than 7,000 prisoners were being de-addicted at various prison de-addiction centres of the state.

Upbeat by the enthusiastic response, the ADGP further said the games would be an annual affair, now.

While complementing on the passion for sports among the inmates, Jail Superintendent SP Khanna said there was cut throat competition among prisoners.

Some of the inmates began practicing nearly three months before the games started.

Doraha, December 2
In order to promote rural sports and participation of village students in various sports events, the Punjab Youth Welfare Club and Gram Panchayat, Lopon, organized an inter-school athletics meet in which a total of 12 schools participated with enthusiasm.

Akal Academy, Dhindsa, Khalsa Senior Secondary School, Madpur, Government High School, Lalkalan, Baba Hast Lal Model High School, Madpur, Government High School, Begowal, Government High School, Jatana, Government High School, Ruplon, Green View Model High School, Begowal, Government High School, Ghulal, etc ensured their active participation in the competition.