Pardis behind spate of robberies
Booty is usually sold off in MP
From Ruchika Mohindra
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, July 31 — The recent cases of armed robberies in Ludhiana and Jagraon being attributed to the kaale kachhewala gang could actually be a handiwork of the Pardi tribe from Madhya Pradesh.

According to highly placed sources in the Ludhiana police, they are now working on the theory of the Pardi tribe from Guna district being involved in all the armed attacks. It is learnt that members of this criminal tribe generally migrate to the states of Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and parts of Rajasthan during the summer months.

It is also learnt that these tribesman move around in groups of eight to 10 persons. They generally work as balloon sellers or tikkiwallahs, wherein their work requires them to roam about the town unsuspiciously and they can spot 'easy targets' in the process.

A senior police officer informed that after these people strike at a household, one of the tribesman is immediately sent back to Guna, with the booty. The booty is handed over to the head of the tribe, the kingpin of the gang, who then arranges for the disposal of the booty. At the end of the summer season, when the other tribesman return back to Guna, they collect their share from the head of the tribe.

The police officers here claim that they are unable to catch the accused or recover the booty, as it is generally sold off in Madhya Pradesh. It is also learnt that these people are short statured, dark complexioned with cropped hair and carry simple weapons like sharp stones and iron rods. They generally wear black underpants with deep pockets for hiding their weapons. Hence, it names kaale kachhewale.

Interestingly, it is also learnt that this year, after the first attack in Sarpanch Colony here a few weeks ago, the police here had swung into action and night domination had been stepped up. It was then that the tribe moved on to Jagraon and after two armed attacks there last month, again moved on to Ludhiana and struck at the house of Kamikkar Singh at Hamanyun Pura village, killing him and injuring his wife.

It is also learnt that while earlier all attacks by this gang were in between 12.00 midnight and 3.00 am, the gang then began striking after 3.00 am, after the night patrolling by the police had been called off. Since then the police, too, has extended its night patrolling in between 11.00 pm to 4.00 am.

Meanwhile, the police has also stepped up its night domination, especially in the peripheral areas of Salem Tabri, Basti Jodhewal, Sadar, Focal Point, Haibowal and Sarabha Nagar. "At least 13 police control room vans (PCR vans) have been stationed at different vantage points in the city and the police has laid ambushes at 10 points," informed the SP (Operations), Mr S.S. Sandhu.

He also informed that in almost all the 69 villages under the sadar police station, thikripehras were being organised and around three gazetted officers (one SP and two DSPs) are put on duty each night. "The entire Ludhiana police district has been divided into three sectors — the first is the city area, the second is the area on the left side of the Sahnewal-Ferozepore Road and the third is the right side localities along this road. The district has further been divided into beats with officers controlling each beat," informed Mr Sandhu.

A delightful blend of the tradition and the modern
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, July 31 — It was an evening full of glitz and glamour flavoured with music and dance that held the entire audience in awe for over two hours. The occasion was the ‘Annual Designers Contest’, organised by the National Institute of Fashion Design here on Sunday.

Top names in the modelling world from the country Bipasha Basu, Sheetal Mallar, Helen Brodie, Neena Manuel and several others sashayed down the ramp, presenting various creations by the students of the NIFD, Ludhiana.

The function started with the lighting of the traditional lamp by Mr S.K.Sandhu, Deputy Commissioner, Ludhiana.

The show begin with the display of lehnga cholis, having bright colours like orange, golden, maroon and brown. The models were dressed in Indian formals with gold jewellery.

The NIFD best designer students of the year were chosen by a panel of judges, which included Mrs H. Dhillon, M. Sodia and Sarbarinder Kaur Grewal.

The lehanga-choli round was followed by the divinity collection, which was the fusion of traditional and modern dresses. All models were dressed in orange and white with the bandni dupattas all around.

There was also display of the traditional Indian instruments like shankh and tumbi. In between the rounds, famous dance troupe Zenith performed rhythmically to fast tunes. The divinity collection was followed by ethnic salwar and churidaars. The models were dressed in pale and pastel shades like purple, sea-green, white and peach with shingar pattis and tikkas on their foreheads.

For the next round ‘Enigma’, the beauties were together with all time favourites, the party and cocktail dresses in the black and white shades.

The saree round with the painted palloos was displayed in an elegant manner. The round was named Sensuality Personified.

According to Mr Arvind Gupta, the centre director of NIFD Ludhiana, “The objective of the show was to exhibit the garments designed by the students of fashion and textile department of the institute”. The show continued with skirts and trousers in the persona grata collection.

The innovative round of Egyptian dresses was followed by the bridal gowns. All the models were dressed in dazzling satin gowns in various glittering shades. They walked on the ramp introducing Priyanka Singh, the choreographer of the show.

Honey Sharma was declared the best designer in the lehanga-choli collection while Ravinder Kaur in hipsters, Ishtdeep in suits, Ratwinder Kaur in skirt top, Sonia Maan in sarees, Kamaldeep Jassal in the executive wear, Jasminum in Egyptian dresses and Rupinder Kaur in the gowns collection.

The show was flavoured with hilarious and melodius numbers by Devang Patel and Gursewak Maan. Patel’s comic numbers were appreciated and applauded much by the audience.

There was slight disappointment for the audience with Gursewak Maan not at his usual best. His repeated calls to the audience to sing with him failed to move anyone.

PUDA colonies lack basic amenities
Residents’ have a long list of complaints
From Kuldip Bhatia

LUDHIANA, July 31 — The residential colonies developed and maintained by the Punjab Urban Planning and Development authority (PUDA) in the city leave much to be desired, with the residents of Urban Estate in Dugri and the LIG and MIG flats on the Chandigarh road crying hoarse over lack of basic amenities, poor maintenance of roads and parks, inadequate drainage system, stagnating water in vacant plots and proliferating encroachments. There seems to be nobody to listen to them.

Almost without exception, the green belts and parks earmarked in the Puda colonies wear a pathetic look due to prolonged neglect. Absence of adequate personnel to tend to the plants, watering facility, unmowed grass, lack of benches for the visitors to sit on and unchecked growth of weeds and congress grass are permanent features of the parks in Sector 32 and around the LIG flats, says Mr Gurmeet Singh, vice-president of the LIG Flat Owners’ Welfare Association.

The vegetable market, the residents complain, has become a permanent source of nuisance and a threat to hygienic conditions in the colony. “A vacant plot near the market has been turned into a pond of stagnating water and a fertile breeding ground for mosquitoes but despite repeated pleas, the authorities have failed to take corrective steps,” rue the residents. A new vegetable market had already been set up to replace the old one, but for unknown reasons, the vegetable sellers were not shifting to the new site and continued to obstruct the smooth flow of traffic by haphazard parking of hand carts on the road-side and setting up make-shift structures.

The main road to the LIG flats is poorly maintained and full of pot-holes, which at times, lead to many a road accidents, the residents lamented. Similarly, the drains constructed for rain water drainage in the colony had failed to serve the purpose, basically due to faulty design and remain choked with mud and sand. The streetlight in the colonies were almost non-existent.

Meanwhile, a deputation of the MIG Flat Owners Welfare Society, Urban Estate, Dugri (Phase II), led by its president Sarbjit Singh met Additional Chief Administrator of Puda Ramesh Kumar and apprised him of the problems being faced by the residents. According to Mr Kuldip Singh Kreer, general secretary of the society, it was impressed upon the Puda authorities that the amnesty scheme which was in operation during Jan-Feb 2000 should be extended for at least two more months, with some more relaxations in mode of payment, so that more defaulters could avail of the scheme.

The deputation asked the authorities to simplify the procedure of registration of title deeds, to close unauthorised entry points to the Puda colonies, to properly maintain parks and streetlights, to improve the level of sanitation and to take effective measures to clear the streets, footpaths and roads of encroachments.

Mahabharata narrated mathematically in 42 poems
From Surbhi Bhalla

LUDHIANA, July 31 — And now read the Mahabharata mathematically. Sounds incredible. However, Mr Rajeev Bedi (30), a local resident, has put in all his efforts to narrate the entire epic in 42 poems mathematically.

It is amazing that he has used mathematics, known to be the language of physical sciences only, as the language in literature. In his book, Ganit ne kahe Mahabharata, he has tried to link the basic concepts of mathematics and episodes from the great epic.

He has revived the lost art of stating mathematical problems in verse. According to Mr Bedi, such work has been done, after a time gap of 1200 years when Leelawati, an acknowledged treatise on mathematics, was written. It was difficult for him to combine maths, the Mahabharata and poetry. It took him one year to compile the book.

It is perhaps for the first time that a person has used mathematical ideas of sets, geometrical progression, permutation, combination and others to express scenes of daily life in the Mahabharata.

His poems express different mathematical expressions for different poems. Algebraic problem is expressed in Tokua, volume of a problem is expressed in Aahat Duryodhan, probability in Dhut Kreeda, infinite GP series in Cheer Haran, combination in Geeta Saar, and what not? Interesting part is that he has put a question in every poem for his students to answer. Being a maths teacher, he makes his students understand the basic facts of maths through his poems. As every poem carries a mathematical problem, the book carries solutions in the end.

This innovative young mathematician has put all the questions in a very interesting way. The problem of Cheer Haran, for example is solved by infinite GP series:

Dushyasan khecha nari ke sari

Pehla ghante ek tihai uttari

Vidvano ki the sabha wo nayari

Shayam sharan mein aabla bechari

Utrae har ghante pichle ke aadhi sari

Ho sakega kya duswapan pura

100 Kaurav lage chahe bari bari.

(Draupadi was being disrobed by Dushyasan. One-thirds of her saree was removed in the first hour. In the succeeding hours he could remove only the half of the length he had removed in the previous hour. Will he be successful? If not why?, asks Mr Bedi.)

Solving the problem mathematically, Mr Bedi, says if length of the saree is X. So the saree removed in first hour will be X/3.Because ratio = 1/2, (infinity) S = x/3 divided by 1-2/2 that equals to 2x/3 which will always be less than x. Hence it would not be possible to remove the whole saree.

In another example where Krishna demands moon as a toy, his mother shows its reflection in a pot containing water. But Krishna was very intelligent to understand that volume of moon, 1740 km is not the same as that shown to him in the pot whose radius is just 100 cm and height is just 20 cm. He asks his students to calculate the volume.

Many interesting examples of aankh micholi, yudh varnan, chandra khilona, Krishna yudh in Jigyasa and others can be read in the book.This is really one of the most interesting way of learning maths.

Tributes paid to Master Tara Singh
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, July 31— The Sarb Hind Bir Khalsa Dal has organised a function to mark the 116th birthday of veteran Akali leader Master Tara Singh at Gurdwara Singh Sabha, Purani Sabzi Mandi, here.

Presiding over the function, the Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal chief, Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, paid glowing tributes to Master Tara Singh for his selfless and valuable services to the Sikh panth. Describing the founding father of the Akali Dal as a 'true Sikh', he said upholding the grand traditions of the Sikh panth and regaining the old glory of the community, would be a real tribute to Master Tara Singh.

Mr Tohra lamented that the modern youth were going away from the panthic traditions and there was pressing need to bring them back in the fold of religious mainstream.

On his arrival, Mr Tohra was accorded a rousing reception by volunteers of the dal and was presented the award of Sarb Hind Bir Khalsa Dal, besides a siropa and a memento. Mr Tohra also released a souvenir on the life and activities of Master Tara Singh.

Mr Swarn Singh, general secretary of the Bir Khalsa Dal, speaking at the function, said it was most unfortunate that the traditional Akali leadership had persistently neglected the dal. He stressed the need for putting an end to factionalism and infighting in the Akali groups.

Among others, SAD (B) legislators, Mr Hira Singh Gabria, Mr Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal and Mr Bikram Jit Singh Khalsa attended the function. Ragi jathas of Bhai Guriqbal Singh of Amritsar, Bibi Varinder Kaur Khalsa and students of Master Tara Singh College for Women enthralled the people present on the occasion. 

Mera yaar charha hai ghori

The wedding season is on once again. Marriage palaces of Ludhiana are aglitter every night, with baratis performing bhangra in front of the groom astride a ghori clogging the main roads of the city.

Aur phool khile hain dil ke trumpets the brass band accompanying the baratis. But there will be neither phool nor a fluttering heart at the wedding if there is no ghori.

Imagine the scene. All the guests have arrived for sehrabandi. The dulha is all decked up and has worn the sehra. The bandwalas have started playing the tune of Mera yaar bana hai dulha. Suddenly, the band stops. The parents of the groom and other guests are baffled by the sudden quietness. What is the matter? Eyebrows are raised. Frantic inquiries are made.

Then it suddenly dawns on everyone that the ghori has not arrived. The dulha and his sarbala are upset. So are other guests. People are dispatched to the house or the booking centre of the ghoriwala. Many people rush at the same time. All of them come back with bad news. Silence descends once again. In the babble of talks, nothing can be made out.

After a while, the people come to know that the ghoriwala has gone somewhere else, to some other barat. But why, wail the baratis. Why has he done this to us? What to do? The fuming groom tells his parents, "What is all this tamasha going on? I think I will drive the car and go and get my dulhania by myself."

All the baratis try to calm the groom. It is finally discovered that the person who had gone to book the ghoriwala had not paid him the advance. Under the circumstances, that ghoriwala can hardly be blamed if he goes for a wedding where advance is offered. This is not fiction, but happens many a times, when the ghoriwalas ditch their earlier clients for the latter ones because they have offered more money or are paid in advance.

While talking to the ghoriwalas, this correspondent came across many hilarious incidents. Mostly, the ghoriwalas say they use the mares for pulling tongas during the off-season. One says, "Once a tongawala bought a ghori and was going with his sawaris to Jagraon Bridge. After covering a short distance, the ghori would stop. The passengers were angry and asked the tongawala, "Why do you perform bhangra before the ghori every time it stops?" The tongawala replied, "Sir, this ghori is used to bhangra of baratis. Since they stop after every few steps, she too stops and moves only after I perform a few bhangra steps."

Do you think ghoris come cheap? Not at all! A "good" ghori costs anything from Rs 50,000 to 1 lakh. The lack of business in the off-season is compensated by the income during the wedding season, specially when it is heavy saha.

Bhola, a ghoriwala, says they take between Rs 500 and Rs 1000 for the mare for marriage. The rate varies according to the need and the occasion. That is not all. After the sisters have given chane ki dal to the ghori, the ghoriwala gets a sagan of Rs 501.

A ghori consumes three kg of gram dal, eight kg of chokar and two kg of turi. The ghoriwalas use the ghori to pull the tonga during off-season. They find it difficult to feed mares during these days for tongas are not a very popular mode of transport.

"Patience is virtue" is true in their case. During the wedding season, they are busy day and night. Sometimes, the demand is so much that they even send a horse and even a pony disguised as a mare to the wedding. The so-called ghori is decked up so much that you cannot make out the difference.

Vinay says the decoration material for the ghori costs Rs 2000 or more. The umbrella over the groom comes for Rs 1500. There is a necklace around the mare's neck and something over the face. There is a big ornamental and embroidered cloth thrown over the saddle. Since it is embellished with such fancy clothes that one can see little flash of the horse and mistake can occur as to whether it is a ghori or a khachar or a ghora.

Rama says, "Sometimes, we mix up the dates and reach the groom's place one day early. Parents of the bridegroom tell us to give a trial ride to the bridegroom."

Another ghoriwala, Vinay says, "The ghori sometimes hurts its leg while running. It is in pain and the moment the bridegroom sits on it, the mare cannot bear the pain and stands on its hind legs, off-balancing the groom."

Sometimes, the groom is thrown off the ghori and lands on the ground. He tries again. The same thing is repeated. If the groom is lucky, he survives the fall and has no choice but to go by car to the bride's house.

During one of the weddings, the guests were unnerved when the ghori, along with the rider, galloped away, with the ghoriwala running behind them. They were soon out of sight. "We looked funny walking, all dressed up like Christmas trees, the band playing ahead of us, minus the groom and the ghori."

— Asha Ahuja

Superstitions still prevail

July 31 — Superstitions! What are they? They are beliefs that certain events cannot be explained by reason or science. Superstition, people feel, bring good or bad luck; fear of what is unknown or mysterious.

In the earlier ages, people indulged in Pagan worship. They were afraid of elements like sun, fire, water and earthquakes. They worshipped these in order to escape their wrath. At that time, Christ had not been born, so they did not believe in Christianity.

But we have travelled a long way from iron age and bronze age and have just entered into the 21st century. Now the million-dollar question is: “Are we free of superstitions?” The answer is an emphatic ‘No’! Whether we like it or not, confess it or not, agree to it or not, the fact remains that all of us are superstitious in one way or the other. There is no area of life which is untouched by superstitions.

Many people are found saying crossly, “I do not know whose face I saw in the morning. My whole day has been a disaster”, Whereas one sees one’s own face in the mirror when one goes to the washroom.

It is a common superstition that when one is leaving the house, if someone calls the person back, or sneezes at that moment, it is considered inauspicious. The person gets angry and says, “You have ruined my day. Now my job will not be done successfully.”

Before leaving the house, if one eats curd, it is considered auspicious. For this reason, mothers ask their children to eat a spoonful of curd before going to ‘examination halls. If one chances to see a sweeper at the onset of a journey, it is considered good , but if a cat crosses the way, people will take a detour, while some may turn back too.

The other common superstition is to tie a knot on one’s handkerchief or the edge of sari pallu or dupatta if one is called to office by the superior. This is done in the belief that tying of knots will ward off harsh words or scolding from the boss.

Whenever most of us say something nice about someone, or appreciate their good luck, the prompt exclamation is, ‘Touch wood!’ This is done inadvertently, without any conscious effort.

Jesus Christ was crucified on the 13th, the guests at the dinner table were 13, and the day was Friday. So if 13th of any month falls on Friday, people keep their fingers crossed for the whole day. This crossing of fingers, they believe, will spare them from ill-luck. Have you noticed that there is never a 13th floor in any hotel. Why? Thirteen is supposed to be auspicious for us. We celebrate Baisakhi on 13th of April. We presume 13 will bring good luck, yet we avoid the 13th floor like plague.

Pandits and astrologers also add to the superstitious beliefs of people. Many of them say, “Do not wear black clothes. They bring ill-luck. Wear yellow clothes on Thursday and offer dals or fruits of yellow colour, or pumpkins in the temples”. People believe in whatever they are told, for who wants to invite bad luck.

Red colour is considered to be auspicious. Almost all the brides wear different hues and shades of red colour, starting from pale pink to rani pink, blood red, crimson red to magenta colour, whereas Christians believe white to be more auspicious. Hence, Christian brides wear white gowns and white veils. They add colour to their bridal dress by carrying a colourful bouquet of flowers.

A lot of superstitions revolve round marriages. There are nine planets and these have cosmic and powerful effect on our nine important grehs like mangal, shani, shukar. So if some one’s mangal is strong, the person is called manglik. Now, at the time of marriage, when horoscopes are matched, a big problem arises if the boy or a girl turns out to be a manglik. A manglik is supposed to be married to a manglik, or bad luck is going to befall on the spouse who is non-manglik.

The auspicious date has to be found out and since almost all of our venerable pandits find out one particular date to be auspicious, all the marriage palaces, all the hotels, all the band people, all the halwais are busy. Then it is called heavy saya. Have you heard of trees being married with great pomp and show to please Lord Indra, the god of rain?

Some tantriks mislead the people and make the people to believe to beat the bhoots and prets out of a person, who in reality may be slightly imbalanced. Sometimes those people are beaten so badly that they land in hospitals. In the 21st century, it is shocking to know that child sacrifice is common by barren women and their family members. Some tantriks have made them believe in this horrific practice. Many women have done such horrendous deeds and later have been imprisoned. In most of the cases, the tantriks have absconded.

The list is endless. In the villages, people are much more superstitious. For chicken pox, too, they would not take any medicine as it is considered to be mata ka prakop.

Many lives are lost due to superstitious beliefs. We have to get rid of these and develop a scientific approach to life, if we want to reach excellence in any field. Did I hear you say, ‘Amen!’ — A.A. 

Rotary installation ceremony
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, July 31 — Real service towards fellow brethren, which is the main objective of the Rotary Club, is best done in smaller places which have limited resources.

This was stated by past District Governor, Rotary, Rtn. Justice Mr N.K. Sud, while presiding over the installation ceremony of the Rotary Club, Doraha Circle, here last night. He exhorted the members of the club to take up those projects that would help the people of the area in the long run.

Earlier, the new team of office-bearers, led by the president, Dr (Mrs) Gursharan Sidhu and secretary, Mr Dharamjit Singh Jaggi took the oath for 2000-2001. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Gursharan Sidhu said that her team had already decided to adopt a project of immunising the entire population of Doraha town against hepatitis-B.

Later, the chief guest honoured a few meritorious students of Doraha and the in charge of a police post near Doraha, ASI Harbans Singh, for his work in helping road accident victims around Doraha.

Among others present on the occasion were the outgoing President, Cdr Makhan Singh, Rtn Mr Mohan Singh Sachdeva, Dr Ishwar Singh and Rtn Mr Rajpal Singh.

‘Stop cruelty to cows’
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, July 31 — Two local organisations, the Shri Ram Lila Committee and the Shri Jain Muni Shyam Vihar Charitable Trust, have taken up the case of cruelty to cows at Kila Raipur reported recently in these columns.

The memoranda also demanded setting up of more Gaushalas in the district for sick cows and announcement of punishment to the people for not taking care of sick animals.

Rally by auto-rickshaw drivers
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, July 31 — A rally of auto-rickshaw drivers was held at the children traffic park recently to discuss the problems which they face, one of them being the number of children to be carried in auto-rickshaws.

The rally was held to settle the terms between drivers and the district administration.

Mr Kuldip Singh Khalsa of the District Auto Rickshaw Association, pointed out it is the duty of each driver to protect the passenger. He also explained that the drivers should take care of school children while ferrying than.

According to information, the union would also extend full support to the administration authorities to trace out fake registration numbers.

Then the administration will organise two camps on August. 2 to 8 for issuing rickshaw drivers with the help of the State Transport Advisory Committee.

However, the demand for a separate stand for auto-rickshaws was accepted.

It was also mentioned that the pollution level of auto-rickshaws will be checked and certificates issued.

The traffic police has issued strict instructions to auto drivers. Mr Avtar Singh Makkar, District Akali Dal acting president, said he would meet the Chief Minister regarding their demands.

Beware of parshad
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, July 31 — Beware of parshad that is offered to you by a stranger for it could be laced with a poisonous substance.

It happened with a young photographer, Mr Mandeep, who was discharged from DMC today after being admitted there on Friday night.

According to sources, Mandeep was sitting in his studio in Salem Tabri when an unknown woman carrying a child approached him with laced parshad which she offered to him and also asked him to take a picture. The unsuspecting young man took the parshad that consisted of sweet rice and a batasha. Since his camera was loaded with a black and white film, he went into the darkroom to change the film. When he came out, the woman had vanished. Soon after, Mandeep began to feel giddy. He was rushed to Kapur Hospital from where he was taken to DMC. He was released today after being treated for suspected poisoning.

A little bit of parshad had cost his parents nearly Rs 5000 that were spent on the treatment. But thank God that their son came through alright.

CRIME

No headway in speed post smuggling case
Tribune News Service

While the DRI is in the process of unraveling the mystery behind the packets, the district postal authorities have shot off letters to its state head office in Chandigarh and also to Postal Head Office, Assam, about the seriousness of the issue as it can affect the image of the speed post service. Sources said the letter to the Assam officials also urged them to carry on investigation on their own and try to nail down the sender of the packets. However, no success has been achieved so far.

BUSINESS

Companies to gain from ERP software
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, July 31 — Now you can manage finance, sales, purchase, production, human resource, maintenance, administration and costing of your organisation in a more efficient manner. A simple click of the mouse can help you procure the updated information you need.

This facility has come with all-in-one Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, which can be installed in computers of any company. It integrates all the processes of the organisation. It ensures a smoother flow of information among all the departments of the organisation.

ERP can be installed in various branches of the organisation. This can help in getting all sorts of information of any of the branches from the main office. When these branches are scattered at far-off places, dish antennae and V-Sat connection may be used. These connections can also help in operating the whole organisation from home.

This software, when imported, required a lot of investment. Now it is being made by a local company, Cypher Infotech, with a brand name ‘Screw ERP’. Says the company director, Mr Rajesh Gupta, “Since requirements of one company vary from another, ERP has to be customised. While implementation, the working of the company is studied, required entries are made and the staff has to be trained. Depending upon the required level of customisation, cost of Screw ERP varies from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 8 lakh.”

“Screw is the result of efforts made by our dedicated team of software professionals, production managers, chartered accountants, industrial engineers and MBAs. Screw ERP can help increase efficiency of all production plants, hotels, hospitals, banks, hotels and insurance companies. We are getting good response from cycle parts and auto parts companies, hosiery, textiles, chemicals companies,” says Mr Lalit Singla, managing director, Cypher Infotech.

Screw ERP is web-enabled and allows the user to send any report or any document via e-mail. When bills are to be sent, one can click on the names of these customers whose payments are due and the software will automatically pick the amount of bills of the customers. By pressing ‘send’ button, all these bills will get e-mailed in one shot. So one is saved from the hassles of checking the dues, typing separate bills, putting them inside envelopes, pasting stamps and mailing these. Not to forget the speed at which these reach the respective customers.

Screw ERP has been classified into nine modules, viz., sales, purchase, finance, material resource planning control (MRPC), human resource development (HRD) and pay roll, administration, production planning control (PPC), maintenance and costing.

Sales module can handle both domestic and export sales. Up-to-date information about all domestic and overseas customers can be maintained, along with payment conditions and delivery schedule. Various charts help the management to monitor monthly sales and find the variance in sales. When an order is received, sales module notifies the production module as to what quantity of products are to be manufactured.

For purchase, quotation requests are made to various suppliers. Purchase module evaluates these quotes on basis of various criteria. This module keeps record of inventory of items to be purchased, their suppliers and also item prices.

Finance module keeps track of fixed assets of an organisation and determines the current value of these assets. Analysis can be done by using tables, bar graphs, line charts, pie charts and other 2D and 3D diagrams.

MRPC module helps in optimising the re-order level. It helps the organisation to manage the materials in stores and track all the transactions related to it. Vital, essential and desirable (VED) items are listed so as to know the priorities for purchase. Picture of items appear when an item name is selected, so as to make the selection easier and accurate.

In production module, process sheet can be prepared, which contains all the information about the processes involved in production cycles of the product, with the time taken for each process on the product.

On the basis of monthly sales, monthly production schedule and material requirement plan is generated by ERP. A chart can be culled, which clearly indicates the allocated hours for the working of the machines.

In addition, production module keeps a track of machine specifications like machine capacity and machine efficiency. Working schedule of all the machines can be recorded. For every machine, the information about actual quantity of production against planned quantity can be entered.

ERP can automatically mark daily attendance of employees of an organisation. All employees are given special cards, which have to be inserted in a slot. A computerised machine attached to this slot notes down the exact time and it gets recorded in HRD module of ERP. Similarly, when the employees moves out of the organisation, they have to again insert the card in the same slot and again his time of leaving the office gets recorded.

Entries of all employees, along with their designation, salary, leave entitlement, loan/ advance details and photographs can be made. Deductions in the salary can be automatically calculated.

Administration module of ERP can limit access to different modules by different users in order to maintain security of confidential matters. There is one supervisor who is given access to all modules. He has the power to limit this access to other employees. He decides as to what kind of access is to be given to employees in various sections of the organisation.

There may be some reports in different modules which are for the management only. Besides, there are passwords for all users, which have to be entered before getting logged on. Thus, security is ensured for ERP users.

Maintenance module keeps a track of servicing schedules and service providers for every machine. Maintenance bills can also be recorded.