L U D H I A N A

Gloom descends on Gurcharan’s village
ROREWAL (Ludhiana), Sept 28 — Gloom descended on this small hamlet as the news reached here that the local lad Gurcharan had lost under the most unfortunate and unprecedented circumstances. Most people in the village had gone to nearby Machhiwara town about 7 km from here as the people were not sure about the light. But they returned quite disappointed.

Gurcharan’s uncle Amarjeet Singh weeps as the young champion failed to qualify the quarterfinals of the boxing competition at the Olympics; (right) Gurcharan’s grandparents Kesar Singh and Bhan Kaur.

'Produce according to market demand'
LUDHIANA, Sept 28 — ''Punjab have to move from protective to competitive environments in order to compete in the world market'', says Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal, former union minister.

Shobha yatra marks Navratras’ beginning
LUDHIANA, Sept 28 — The first Navratra marked the return of festive life in megacity, which had otherwise came to a standstill during the last fortnight of shradhs. As the days are supposed to be auspicious, other activities have also returned to the routine.

Gujral should pay house rent: Oberoi
LUDHIANA, Sept 28 — The father-in-law of the UT Home Secretary Mr R.S. Gujral, Mr Surjit Singh Oberoi, has written a letter to his son-in-law to pay the rent of a house occupied by Manpreet before marriage and retained after the wedding at the insistence of the Home Secretary.

COMMUNITY

Festive days are here
LUDHIANA, Sept 28 — The city is agog with excitement. The Navratras have arrived and Daresi ground in the walled city is the hub of excitement and hectic activity. The mela there is now full with exciting rides like a Merry-go-round, a giant wheel, rotating chairs and swings of different shapes and sizes. Five thousand to 7,000 persons have been visiting this mela every day and from today the crowds are expected to reach the figure of 10,000.

Move in circles as you eat
LUDHIANA, Sept 28 — It is not exactly the first, but the first one in Ludhiana. It is a four-storey revolving restaurant. After some initial problems with the municipal corporation, and the people of the locality, it has finally become functional.

Docs seek action against ex-MP
LUDHIANA, Sept 28 — The district unit of the PCMS Association has condemned the threats by the former MP Mr Kamal Chaudhry to the Civil Surgeon, Hoshiarpur and alleged trespassing his home at night.

PAU employee placed under suspension
LUDHIANA, Sept 28 — A senior assistant, K.L Babbar, working in the office of the Director of Research in Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) here has been placed under suspension on charges of misbehaviour, indiscipline and insubordination.

Raj Babbar launches punjabisingers.com
LUDHIANA, Sept 28 — To meet the growing demand of Punjabi singers and Punjabi music worldwide, a site which can promote and simplify this business was launched yesterday. Punjabisinger.com, an e-directory of Punjabi singers, lyricists, music directors and recording studios designed by Artcave web designing company, was formally launched by Raj Babbar, noted film actor and member parliament, at Guru Nanak Dev Bhavan yesterday.

All set for Gurmat Samagam
RATWARA SAHIB, Sept 28 — Preparations for the 10th annual Gurmat Samagam at Ratwara Sahib being organised by the Vishwa Gurmat Ruhani Mission Charitable Trust, Ratwara Sahib, are in full swing. The four-day congregation will start tomorrow.

Turban tying competition
LUDHIANA, Sept 28 — To discourage the practice of hair-cutting amongst the Sikhs, a turban tying competition was held at Gurudwara Shahidan Pheruman, Dholewal Chowk here today. Over 100 boys from various schools participated in the competition.

ASI denies eve-teasing allegation
LUDHIANA, Sept 28 — The Assistant Sub-Inspector, who was formerly in the security of former Union Minister, Sukhbir Singh Badal has claimed that he was innocent and was instead caught in the crossfire between his friend and the latter’s foe. ASI Birbal, who has recently been transferred to Ludhiana, clarified that the allegation about his being caught eve-teasing and subsequently being thrashed by an irate cloud was baseless.

CRIME

Couple crushed under bus
LUDHIANA, Sept 28 — An elderly couple was crushed to death by a bus near Hotel Gulmohar on Ferozepore Road here last night.

Octroi post looted
LUDHIANA, Sept 28 — Three unknown, armed persons are alleged to have looted a Municipal Corporation octroi post on the Lohara-Daba road, past midnight on the intervening night of September 26-27.

EDUCATION

Scheme to educate kids under 14 
LUDHIANA, Sept 28 — Waking up to the dire need to bring complete literacy in Punjab, the government has decided to launch a new project under which children in the age group six to 14 years will be targeted.

Experts’ warning on American bollworm
LUDHIANA, Sept 28 — Surveillance reports of cotton teams constituted by Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana for monitoring pest and disease incidence in Moga, Faridkot, Muktsar and Ferozepore districts of the state have indicated profuse egg laying by American bollworm. High build-up of whitefly has been recorded in Muktsar, Goniana, Tarkhanwala and in the Khoonan Kalan field areas. 

GNEC to have another girls’ hostel
LUDHIANA, Sept 28 — Guru Nanak Engineering College will soon have another girls hostel. This was announced by Bibi Jagir Kaur, president, Shromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee, while presiding over a meeting of the college management at the college here today.

Encourage innovative ideas: Khush
LUDHIANA, Sept 28 — Dr Gurdev Singh Khush, eminent farm scientist and Principal,, International Rice Research Institute, Philippines, today visited the farm of Mr Daler Singh, an agricultural technocrat, at Laddowal village, about 20 km from here.

Basic Sciences College steals show
LUDHIANA, Sept 28 — A Quiz competition and poetry recitation followed by a poetic symposium, was organised at the 12th S. N. Kakkar Memorial Youth Festival today. College of Basic Sciences won with a margin of 67.5 marks, scoring a total of 117.5 marks. The team from the college included Mr Kavish Dhanda, Amit Sharma and Vibhour Bhatia.

PAU wears deserted look; strike continues
LUDHIANA, Sept 28 — The campus of Punjab Agricultural University wears a deserted look as the students’ of most of the colleges are on strike. Even the postgraduate students are not attending the classes.

HEALTH

How a father copes with a rare disease
LUDHIANA, Sept 28 — It was a sheer tragedy of fate for Pawan Kumar Gadi and his wife to learn that their two-and-half-year-old son Pranav, nicknamed Vicky, was suffering from primary immunodeficiency.

When you see food, think of colours
RITU participated in the festivities at a friend’s place. Next morning she woke up with a bad throat and difficulty in breathing. What she didn’t realise was that her respiratory system had developed an allergic reaction to the colours in food she had taken the night before.

‘Make women aware about menopause’ 
LUDHIANA, Sept 28 — About 50 per cent of the menopausal women usually suffer from urogenital problems with a high recurrence rate

ADMINISTRATION

Work on lawyers’ chambers to start soon
LUDHIANA, Sept 28 — The work for the construction of lawyers’ chambers in the new judicial complex here will commence in next 15 days and 542 chambers will be constructed at a cost of Rs 8 crore so that the entire lower courts, functioning in the old courts complex, could be shifted to the new complex.