L U D H I A N A

When fundamental rights were suspended
LUDHIANA, June 24 —On June 25, this year will be the silver jubilee of the Emergency. I was appearing in the fourth year of professional examination at Patiala, but on that day I was in Ludhiana for a short break.

Proposal to open research institutes at Fort
LUDHIANA, June 24 — No vacant piece of land can remain free for long in this densely populated city of Punjab. Even if it is of some heritage value.

Gosain lashes out at police
LUDHIANA, June 24 — Firebrand BJP MLA Satpal Gosain today lashed out at the local police for allegedly playing partisan role in favour of members of a minority caste, said to be responsible for the deteriorating law and order situation in Chowni Mohalla and gave an ultimatum of 10 days to arrest the miscreants responsible for violence in the area.

COMMUNITY

80,000 sign pledges
LUDHIANA, June 24 — In collaboration with the United Nations, Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya is in the process of signing pledges from people to mark the celebrations of the present year as ‘International Year for the Culture of Peace.

Little known facts about well-known Ludhianavis
LUDHIANA, June 24 — Former Chief of Army Staff, General T.N. Raina, was educated at Ludhiana not by his choice but because his father Pandit B.N. Raina was posted here as Head Postmaster located next to Bhadaur House. Similarly, the world-famous space scientist, Dr Satish Dhawan, who glorifies India, studied here because his father was posted here as a Sessions Judge.

Martyr remembered
LUDHIANA, June 24 — A large number of people from all walks of life, including friends, villagers, defence personnel, politicians and officers from the district administration, paid tributes to Naik Bhagwant Singh of the 12 Sikh Regiment at a shardhanjali function held at Bhaiani Roran village, 25 km from here, today.

Ludhiana: a city that does country proud
MAYA Dass, a dhobi from the Gonda district of Uttar Pradesh, often says that if the cities of Chandigarh and Ludhiana were not there, thousands of bhaiyas from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh would have died of starvation. Ram Kishore, another dhobi, endorses what Maya Dass says.

New seed drill developed
LUDHIANA, June 24 — Paddy is one of the major crops of Punjab. But its cultivation has caused severe problems like lowering of the water-table. Efforts are being made to shift some of the area under paddy cultivation to some other crops like maize, soyabean and pulses. But the planting of these crops has been a problem with the farmers. The existing seed drills are very popular for sowing wheat but are unable to plant the crops where plant spacing has to be maintained.

NCP criticises Tohra, AISSF
LUDHIANA, June 24 — The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has taken strong exception to the remarks of the Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal (SHSAD) president, Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, and the all-India Sikh students federation, Mr Harminder Singh Gill, describing migrant workers as ''second-class citizens'' and trying to create hatred among the local people against migrant population.

Truck carrying coal overturns
LUDHIANA, June 24 — Traffic was disrupted on the Ferozepore road here today as a truck loaded with coal hit bifurcators and over turned, blocking three of the four lanes of the busy road.

Light drizzle
LUDHIANA, June 24 — The city had another fine day today following a light drizzle in the morning lasting 

Jagrata organisers disrupt traffic
LUDHIANA, June 24 — Traffic on one of the two lanes of the G.T. Road, opposite Chand Cinema, remains blocked since last morning because of a jagrata organised by a private outfit comprising residents of Chhawni Mohalla.

CRIME

Murder case registered
Ludhiana, June, 24 — The police has registered a case of murder against some unknown persons for strangulating a 28-year-old businessman, Tirath Ram, to death. A case under Section 302 of the IPC has been registered in this regard.

BUSINESS

Disparity in sales tax hits tea trade
LUDHIANA, June 24 — The tea trade in Punjab has been hit by the disparity in application of uniform central sales tax by the neighbouring states, particularly Delhi. In Punjab, after the adoption of a uniform CST policy, the sales tax on tea was fixed at 8.8 per cent. However, in Delhi it continues to be 4 per cent only, hitting trade in Punjab.

Cooperatives to sell agro-chemical
LUDHIANA, June 24 — The state government has recently introduced a new policy for procurement and distribution of agro-chemicals through cooperatives in order to capture the benefit of liberalised open market in agro-chemicals for the farmers in the state. It will be done with the association of the Apex Cooperative Marketing Federation and through the active involvement of primary and central cooperative societies.

PSEB goes in for Socomec meters
LUDHIANA, June 24 — The Punjab State Electricity Board is going in for electronic tamper-proof meters in order to minimise power theft in the state.

Week ends on bullish note
The week ending 23.6.2000 closed with a bullish mood in the market. It opened bearish with LSE index opening at 144.37 against Saturday’s closing index of 141.75. Overall during the week, dullness prevailed in the market along with downward closing direction at the end of each trading session and ultimately closed on Friday, the last day of settlement, at 142.24.

Pact on power tariff hike disowned
 LUDHIANA, June 24 — The Industry and Trade Forum, Punjab, has disowned the agreement reportedly reached between the PSEB and the state government one the an hand and the representatives of the trade and industry on the other for a hike in the power tariff in the state and has warned of a statewide agitation.

EDUCATION

‘Need to revise home science curriculum’
LUDHIANA, June 24 — Higher education in several disciplines is facing challenges with the advent of new and promising areas attractive to students. Home science is going through a critical phase in several universities. PAU is no exception. There is a decreasing trend in the number of students seeking admission to this course. The phenomenon surprises everyone with two questions: has it become non-utilitarian? and does it lack the strength to turn out professionals?

PU sub-office demand in city
LUDHIANA, June 24 — In view of the inconvenience being caused to students, teachers, parents and the general public in regard to results declared by Panjab University, submission of forms and fees and other official activities relating to Panjab University, the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union (PCCTU) has demanded setting up of a PU sub-office at Ludhiana.

CULTURE

Dance competition
LUDHIANA, June 24 — A dance competition organised at Guru Nanak Public International School, here concluded today. The coordinator were Mrs Aruna Verma and her daughter, Jyotika Verma. Fifty students participated in the dance competition.

HEALTH

Tandon visits hospital
LUDHIANA, June 24 — The Punjab Minister for Local Bodies, Mr Balramji Das Tandon, today lauded the role played by traditional systems of medicine in providing health facilities to the people, particularly those who could not afford the expensive treatment in hospital and nursing homes.

ADMINISTRATION

400 cadets attend NCC camps
LUDHIANA, June 24 — More than 400 cadets have reported for the NCC camps being conducted at the Government College for Boys, Punjab Agriculture University and at other places in the city.

First passport lok adalat clears 700 applications
LUDHIANA, June 24 — More than 700 pending applications of passports of the district and surrounding areas were cleared in the first-ever passport lok adalat held at Mini Secretariat here today.

Use chemical fertilisers judiciously: CAO
LUDHIANA, June 24 — The Chief Agricultural Officer, Ludhiana, Dr Gurcharan Singh Rajajung, has emphasised the need for the judicious use of fertilisers and insecticides.

Development works to commence soon
 LUDHIANA, June 24 — The Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA) has taken up various development works of the urban estate locality in the city. The additional chief administrator (ACA) of PUDA, Mrs Jaspreet Talwar, told a joint delegation of the Urban Estates Welfare Association, the Urban Estates Residents Welfare Societies of phases I and II that construction of a cremation ground in phase II would commence soon and the site being used for this purpose in phase I would be transferred to the municipal corporation.

DC inspects flood protection works
LUDHIANA, June 24 — The Deputy Commissioner, Mr S.K.Sandhu, today directed officers of the drainage department to carry out the ongoing flood protection works on the Dhussi bundh of the Sutlej on war footing so that these were completed before the onset of rains. He also issued instructions for proper utilisation of funds and to ensure quality of work.