The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Deaths not related to paddy issue: Admn
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, Oct 16 — While reports of mysterious deaths of farmers due to poor paddy procurement continue to pour in from different parts of the state in general and the district in particular, the administration here contradicted the reports, claiming that the deaths were not at all related to poor paddy procurement.

Officers of the administration, led by Deputy Commissioner — S. K. Sandhu spent full Sunday collecting recorded statements from relatives of the deceased that the deaths were natural and not related to the delayed paddy procurement process.

The Deputy Commissioner, while contradicting the media reports regarding the death of five persons in the district due to delay in the sale of paddy, said the reports were “completely untrue and contrary to actual facts”. Mr Sandhu claimed that after investigation, it was found that all these persons died natural death and there was no evidence of any kind relating these deaths with the paddy procurement process.

Giving details, the Deputy Commissioner said that the report regarding the death of Labh Singh of Landa village due to delay in the sale of paddy was not correct. He said the old man of about 75 years was suffering from hypertension and heart disease and had been getting treatment at a clinic in Doraha for the past two years, which could be clearly established from the certificate issued by the doctor. Mr Labh Singh was a childless person and living with his nephew Mr Jagtar Singh, who was looking after his agriculture and even Mr Labh Singh was not present in the mandi. He died a natural death, which can- not be related to the delay in the sale of paddy, the DC claimed.

The second case, Mr Sandhu said that of Mr Tara Singh of Bharthala Randhawa village at Rouni Mandi, was also not a suicide. He claimed his relatives had given it in writing. He was living with his nephew Narinder Singh and sister-in-law Surjit Kaur. As per record, he was also a patient of heart disease and was under treatment with another nursing home at Doraha. The slips of the nursing home confirmed his treatment. As per record of an arhtia M\s Kour Chand and Sons of Rouni Mandi, 85 qtls of paddy of his nephew Mr Narinder Singh was purchased on September 26 and 30 qtls on the next day, whereas the only trolley of his paddy lying in the mandi was brought on October 8. He died on October 9, only a day after. This, the DC claimed, “can never be ascribed to the delay in the sale of paddy as there was no delay”.

Referring to the death of Mr Teja Singh, a rich farmer of Hoal village at Khanna, which has also been attributed to delay in paddy sale, Mr Sandhu said that he had brought his paddy to Khanna Mandi on September 27, while he died on September 28 at 2 a.m. The DC claimed that nobody can get depressed in a single day, when so many farmers had been camping in the mandi for several days together. He said that Teja Singh kept his paddy with arhtia Harchand Singh. He developed pain in his arm at midnight. He was immediately taken to a heart specialist at Khanna by his nephew, where while undergoing ECG he expired. His wife, Amarjit Kaur, village sarpanch, Jagtar Singh, and other prominent persons of the village, in a written statement, described his death as natural and not related to paddy sale, Mr Sandhu claimed.

Regarding the death of Mr Surjit Singh (65) a resident of Kotli village, the Deputy Commissioner said he brought his paddy to the mandi on October 12 and died the next day, which shows that there was no delay in the purchase of his paddy and his death cannot be attributed to slow paddy procurement. He was also reported to be an asthma patient.

The Deputy Commissioner commenting on the reported death of Mr Harbans Singh of Jogimajra village said that he brought his first trolley of paddy in Ramgarh Sardaran Mandi on October 11 and died the same day at 4.30 p.m. at his tubewell. His brother, Paramjit Singh and sarpanch of the village, Mrs Gulab Kaur, in writing informed that there was no link of sale of paddy with his death and he died a natural death.

Mr Sandhu claimed that the procurement of paddy in Ludhiana district was going “almost smooth” and he himself, ADC and all SDMs were daily supervising the procurement work. He said that till October 15, 9.93 lakh tonnes of paddy had been procured in all mandis of the district and out of this 84 per cent had been purchased by government agencies, whereas only 16 per cent of the paddy was purchased by the private traders.

Cong rejects paddy package
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, Oct 16 — The General Secretary of the All-India Congress Committee and controller of the party affairs in Punjab, Mr Moti Lal Vora, today, rejected the Rs 350 crore central package for Punjab for the purchase of paddy. He said the amount was too meagre to help farmers. He was in the city to attend a function organised to mark the birth anniversary of Banda Bahadur.

Mr Vora said the package was to mislead farmers of the state. He demanded a package of at least Rs 1,500 crore for the state. He said farmers of the state had produced a bumper crop, but nobody was prepared to purchase their paddy.

He said the NDA government at the Centre had not come to the rescue of its alliance partner in Punjab, the Shiomani Akali Dal. He also opposed the revision of the minimum support price (MSP). He said this might lead to confusion and corruption by officials of the procurement agencies and private commission agents.

Mr Vora said the Punjab Government had not been caught unawares by the massive arrival of paddy in markets, rather it was a case of “deliberate ignorance” on its part. He said the government had not taken any advance measure to save farmers from suffering. Mr Vora said his party would organise a rally tomorrow in Chandigarh and would also picket the residence of the Chief Minister of Punjab.

Later, Mr Vora was honoured at Sherpur Kalan village by the Pradesh Congress Committee General Secretary, Mr Nahar Singh Gill. Hundreds of party workers attended the function. Mr Gill said the party in the state was united and strong enough to meet any challenge.

The others who attended the function included a former Chief Minister of the state, Ms Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, the Congress Legislative Party leader, Mr Jagjit Singh, the local MP, Mr Gurcharan Singh, and the district Congress chief, Mr Surinder Dawar.

KHANNA

The purchase agencies have resumed purchase of paddy, which had been held up earlier. This followed a meeting of Mr S.K. Sandhu, Deputy Commissioner of Ludhiana, with officials of the purchase agencies, sheller owners and commission agents. At the meeting, the confusion over the storage of paddy in shellers and the procurement rate was cleared.

Mr Sandhu monitored the purchase while camping the whole day at Khanna mandi. He directed the officials of all the procurement agencies to start purchase and submit an hourly report to him. He asked the FCI to purchase the paddy which was falling within the earlier specification — discoloured grain up to 3 per cent at the rate of Rs 540 per quintal and from 3 per cent to 7 per cent discoloured grain at the rate of Rs 515 in all the mandis of the district.

He also informed the millers that the government was likely to announce the levy policy within a day or two. On the assurance of the Deputy Commissioner, the millers allowed the storage of the paddy of government agencies in their shellers. Mr Sandhu also directed the DFSC to take strict action against the erring sheller owners.

The sheller owners complained that the FCI was not ready to accept spotted rice from Khanna, whereas in other mandis of the state such rice was being accepted. The Deputy Commissioner spoke to the SRM (FCI), Mr D.P. Reddy, on the telephone. Mr Reddy agreed to send a team of officers to Khanna.

The Deputy Commissioner also held separate meetings with representatives of the arhtias and farmers to listen to their complaints. He told them to inform him immediately of any kind of irregularity by the purchasing staff.

Mr Sandhu, while reacting to the complaint of Bharatiya Kisan Union leaders against the discontinuation of the paddy purchase by the government agencies said that the purchase that had resumed yesterday would continue till the clearance of the whole paddy from mandis. He also informed that the agencies had agreed to clear the Khanna mandi within a period of three days.

Mr Sandhu claimed that 84 per cent of the total 6.84 lakh tonnes of paddy had been purchased by the government agencies and only 16 per cent of the paddy was purchased by the private traders and millers in the district.

He also claimed that in Ludhiana district the purchase of the paddy was almost smooth.

Siti Cable stealing Star TV signals
From Kuldip Bhatia

LUDHIANA, Oct 16 — While watching the Star Plus show Kaun Banega Crorepati the other day, viewers of the city saw a message “Siti Cable saada signal chori kar riha hai” flash on their TV screens repeatedly.

As a result of a standoff between Star TV and Siti Cable, a Zee Telefilms company, the local Siti Cable network had stopped beaming signals of Star TV sometime ago. Viewers in many parts of the city had to miss watching popular Star TV shows, including KBC.

However, for the past three days, Siti Cable has been broadcasting, albeit with interruptions, some shows of Star TV in afternoons and late evenings. Reportedly, it is doing so by diverting the signals of City Home, another local cable network. It has sparked off a row between many cable operators of the city and Siti Cable.

The President of the Punjab Cable Operators Welfare Council, Mr Sarbjit Singh, and General Secretary of the body, Mr Amarpal Singh Pali, alleged that Siti Cable was stealing the signals of City Home Communications.

Siti Cable had announced that it had decided not to beam all Star TV channels because the channel was demanding an unfair price. However, cable operators said the Chandigarh office of Star TV had called these allegations baseless. They said the channel had expressed its willingness to cooperate with Siti Cable, provided the network paid its arrears immediately.

Reportedly, Star TV is keen to sort out the matter quickly because many of its viewers are being deprived of watching its shows and it is losing viewership because of this.

Senior officials of Siti Cable could not be contacted for their comments on the issue. As things stand now, viewers of the city will either have to go without watching programmes of Star TV or watch “stolen” signals till the dispute is resolved.

Four killed in road accident
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, Oct 16 — Four persons were killed and six injured in a head-on collision between the Canter and a truck on the GT Road near the Jagraon Sugar Mill this morning. Two cattle were also injured in this accident.

It is learnt that while Raj Singh, the driver of the truck (PB-07-9065) died on the spot, the other three persons, Gurdev Singh of Dudi village in Faridkot, Mela Singh of Jandwala village in Ferozepore and Harpreet Singh of Faridkot, succumbed to their injuries on the way to hospital.

According to information available, the Canter (PB-04-9870) was going towards Ferozepore side and the truck was coming from Moga to Ludhiana. The six occupants of the Canter, who also suffered major injuries, three have been sent to hospital at Faridkot and three to hospital at Ludhiana.

Woman, child kidnapped
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, Oct 16 — A woman and her eight-month-old child are alleged to have been kidnapped by some unidentified persons on the evening of October 14.

According to information available, Anju, a 25-year-old woman, and her son, Pawan were kidnapped by some persons in a white Maruti van at about 6.45 pm. The incident occurred at the Sahnewal chowk, while she was on her way home.

The police has registerated a case of kidnapping under Sections 365, 342 and 34 of the IPC.

Police sources informed that the victim was married to Rakesh Kumar, a resident of Ghumar Mandi in Ludhiana, but for the past six months she was having strained relations with her husband. However, there was talk of rapproachment between the two sides for some time and her husband had promised to come and take her along with him on October 15. The police is also examining the possibility of the role of the husband in this case.

A "prayas" in the right direction
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, Oct 16 — Ek Prayas a school for mentally-challenged students, grooms the personality of such children in the best possible manner. The students are made to feel that they are part of society and the society in turn, has great expectations from them, and that they are not the left-out ones.

With Divali round the corner the creative work of these students is being displayed in special exhibitions. The exhibition of various articles made by these children includes divas candles, shagun envelopes, pots and hatris. The school is almost two years old. It is being nurtured with great care. Almost 20 students have been preparing for the festival for the past three months. They have been given thorough training by volunteers like Harsh, Meenu, Payal and Gopi Arora. Ms Radhika Jaitwani, secretary of Ek Prayas, informed, “We are bringing them up in a loving, caring and affectionate way. We try not to put any extra pressure on them. They should learn their work in an easy way.”

The children had made these things using a variety of colours, paints and glitters. The children between the age group of 16 - 23, made beautiful pots and divas decorated with accessories like ribbons, ghungroos, mirrors, beads, gotas of golden and silver colours and plastic flowers. Samira, president of the school, said that an 18-year-old girl, Parul, who is on wheelchair, has made a beautiful embossed painting, which has been appreciated by a lot by people. “The money which will be collected through these exhibitions will go to the funds and something out of it is given to the children who make these articles. They feel encouraged”, stated Radhika.

She further said, “We are really grateful to the parents of these children. They do the wrapping of the products and stand with ‘them’ at the stalls, so that their children could be comfortable and deal with the public. Aman, (23), Surbhi, a girl of 16, Gagan and Pankaj have really done well for the exhibition.

Not only Ek Prayas but students of Nirdosh also have made similar things for ‘Divali’.

Mrs Rekha Munjal, former president of Inner-Wheel informed,” The school is a project of Inner-Wheel itself and the club members and management give full support to develop the personalities of these children. We had also put up a stall at the Karva mela at Sutlej club and the people encouraged them by buying many beautiful things made by the students”.

COMMUNITY

Tributes paid to Banda Bahadur
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, Oct 16 — Rich tributes were paid to Banda Bahadur on his 330th birth anniversary at a function organised by the Bairagi Maha Mandal (BMM) in Guru Nanak Bhavan here today. The General Secretary of the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) and a member of the Congress Working Committee, Mr Moti Lal Vora, was the chief guest on the occasion. He described Banda Bahadur as a saint warrior who had liberated farmers from the shackles of landlords and had fought a relentless battle against tyrant rulers.

“Farmers are once again a harassed lot and are being exploited by the government,” he said. He said paddy growers of Punjab who had made the country self-sufficient in food grain production, were dejected.

The BMM presented the Swami Ram Tirath Award to Mr Vora, the Baba Banda Singh Bahadur Award to Baba Bhagat Singh Bilga, the Mahant Lachman Das Award to Mahant Uttam Das Hathan and the Baba Chain Singh Award to Mr Varinder Singh Bawa, a journalist. Each award included a gold medal, a citation and a sword.

Mr Bal Kavi Bairagi, a member of the Rajya Sabha and a patron of the mandal, said he would take up the demands of the Bairagi sect with the government.

Mr Gurcharan Singh Ghalib, an MP; Mr Jagjit Singh, leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly; Mr Devinder Singh Babbu, President of the Punjab Youth Congress; Mr Surinder Dawar, President of the District Congress Committee (urban); Mr Harmohinder Singh, President of the District Congress Committee (rural); a former Punjab minister, Mr Malkiat Singh Dakha; Mr Tej Parkash Singh; Mr Pawan Diwan, Chairman of the urban development cell of the Indian Youth Congress, and the PPCC Secretary, Mr Nahar Singh Gill, were also present at the function. Mr Vora also released a souvenir, brought out by the BMM to mark the occasion.

The state chief of the BMM, Mr K.K. Bawa, said the body was committed to strengthening secularism and creating a casteless society.

Members of the sect demanded inheritance rights for mahants in the deras, a postage stamp in the memory of Baba Bahadur and the establishment of a chair in his name in Guru Nanak Dev University.

Designer gardens: a respite from industrial ennui
By Minna Zutshi

LUDHIANA, Oct 16 — Cascading waterfalls, gushing fountains, pebble-strewn streams-the ambience is perfectly suited to luxuriate in the lap of nature. What makes it even more alluring is the fact that this tete-a-tete with nature can be done on the premises of one’s home itself, thanks to the ‘designer gardens’.

Designer gardens are the latest craze among Ludhianvis. “Visit any posh locality and you would find it chock-a-block with designer gardens of myriad shapes and sizes,” said Ms Mahli, a headmistress. Though the winding, twisting alleys of the old localities do not offer any scope for these gardens, newer localities like Sarabha Nagar, Tagore Nagar, Kitchulu Nagar, Agar Nagar and Rajguru Nagar are the places where designer gardens can be seen in abundance.

In a typical designer garden, there are semi-circular waterfalls, cascades and pools. Water is circulated with the help of a pump. To give a rough and uncultivated look, layered slates and roughly hewn stones are used. Cane furniture, that is usually kept at vantage points, adds to the natural ambience. Sometimes, plastic moulded furniture is also used. However, wrought iron furniture continues to be preferred as it is immune to the vagaries of weather. Sometimes, Rajasthani pottery is also used to give a rustic touch.

The essential elements in all the designer garden may be the same , yet no designer garden may resemble the other. In fact, premium is placed on exclusivity. “I had got a rare plant from Chandigarh. One of my friends wanted its cutting for her own garden. I had a tough time telling her off. After all, I don’t want my plants to become common,” said a resident of Sarabha Nagar.

Most of the garden owners consider their gardens to be extensions of their own selves. “A designer garden is like a looking glass reflecting the hopes and aspirations of the owner. Money, too, plays an important part. Sometimes, mammon overrides the concerns of aesthetics,” explained Mr Magar Lal Gujarati, who runs a nursery shop at Pakhowal road. Then, are the designer gardens all about money only? “No,” protested a businessman whose garden showcases the rugged beauty of the mountains. He added, “Mountains and meadows have always fascinated human beings. Sadly, our city offers us no such respite. When my hectic schedule gets too much with me, I just slip into my garden and enjoy my communion with nature.”

Ludhiana owes it to Kashmiris
By Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, Oct 16 — Ludhiana is popularly known as ‘Manchester of India’. But few persons know how huge concentration of industry took place here. The city owes its present-day prosperity to Kashmiris. It were the skilled weavers and craftsmen from the ‘paradise on earth’ who migrated to this place in 1830s and helped in making Ludhiana world famous in hosiery industry.

Only a handful of Kashmiris landed here in the early 19th century due to a severe famine that ravaged the mountainous region. Though several Kashmiri families left their homes in distress and in search of a proper place to live, a small number made up their mind to stay near the Sutlej river, where they hoped at least famine will not strike again.

Proficient in weaving, the Kashmiris began knitting wollen clothes and weaving chadars and shawls to earn their livelihood. With annexation of Punjab in 1849 AD by the British, the Kashmiris got a ready market, as the military was stationed here. Their trade received a much-needed impetus and since then, minor setbacks notwithstanding, the industry grew rapidly.

From providing bread and butter to a handful of persons more than 150 years ago, the profession is today providing livelihood to countless people not only in the city but in the whole country and even in foreign countries.

Before the advent of Kashmirs, Ludhiana could not boast of any other industry. In medieval period, Ludhiana was not even a seat of provincial government. It did not even serve as the Distinct Head Quarter. Places like Sirhind, Raikot and Kila Raipur were more inhabited.

The Kashmiris changed the scenario. Due to their superior product, traders began coming to Ludhiana instead of Sirhind, Raikot etc. As the trade flourished further, the products, specially the Pashmina shawls, were exported outside the district and even to foreign countries like France.

Catering to local needs, they also started manufacturing lungis and patkas. It was in 1894 that the hosiery-knitting done by the Kashmiri womenfolk was given up and machine-knitting wasintroduced. This helped in the growth of more hosiery industries and facilitated the localisation of the trade in the city.

During the World War I, the industry received a boom. The manufacturers who had confined their work to manufacturing mainly footwear for military persons extended their activity to producing woolen pullovers. Machines imported from Germany helped in cheaper production on a mass-scale.

The depression after the World War I caused crisis for the hosiery industry also, while the prices and demand fell by 30 per cent, the industry also faced a stiff challenge from Japan. The manufacturers refused to surrender. They reduced the margin of profit, increased their efficiency and improved the quality of product. The then government also helped in their survival through the Tarrif Amendment Act 1934 against the Japanese dumping of their hosiery products.

During the Second World War, the industry had an unprecedented expansion. The demand grew tremendously, but the trade was hit by shortage of yarns and scarcity of needles.

It was during this time that ancillary industries of hosiery mushroomed. In spite if setbacks like Partition of the country, India’s conflict with Pakistan and China, political and other agitations, the industry made rapid progress.

Today there would be hardly a street that does not have an industrial unit of this kind. It would not be wrong to claim that more than half of the city’s population is dependent on this industry.

Sheetal is Karva Queen
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, Oct 16 — The Geetanjali Ladies Club today celebrated Karva Chauth by choosing Karva Queen and presented gifts to the club members.

The competition was divided in three categories. There were 16 participants in the below 40 age group, eight in the above 40 category and four participants in the above 50 age group. Games were held for the club members and guests. Various stalls of bed-covers, artificial flowers, electronic items, candles and diyas were put up on the club premises.

Mrs Asha Miglani, President, welcomed Mrs Nisha from the VLCC and Dr Wander — the two judges on the occasion. The participants were made to walk on the stage.

Mrs Adarsh Kundra and Mrs Madhu Nanda were declared first and second, respectively, in the above 50 years age group. Mrs Puja Khanna and Mrs Suneeta Verma were judged first and second in the above 40 years age group.

In the third category of the below 40 years age group Mrs Sheetal Nayyar got the first prize by wining Karva Queen award and Nitika Sood got the second prize. Consolation prizes were given to Neena Mehta, Kiran Soi and Ghauri Khanna.

BUSINESS

‘Textile industry has bright future’
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, Oct 16 — There have been some apprehensions among local garment manufacturers in recent times about the entry of China into the WTO, and about the threat from new competitors like Korea, Taiwan, Bangladesh and Indonesia. However, there are persons in the industry who are brimming with confidence. They are confident that with their innovations, improvements in quality, design, product range and decrease in costs they will be able to beat their competitors in the national as well as international market. Mr S.K. Gupta is one of those who has accepted the challenge.

Born and brought up in Delhi, Mr Gupta is a management graduate from FMS, Delhi. He has worked for 10 years with the Reliance group, for 15 years with Grasim group and recently joined the Bhilwara group as a president of ISO 9002 certified Rajasthan Spinning and Weaving Mills Limited.

He says the Indian textile industry has some inherent positive points, like dyed yarn is mostly produced in India. Our production costs are relatively lower than others. No doubt, the labour costs of Indonesia or Pakistan are be lower than ours. But our designs, technology and government policies are better. Our producers do not hesitate to execute small orders at lower margins.

Commenting on the changing trends in suitings, he says because of global warming, the period of winter is declining every year. People are consequently shifting from costly woollen garments to cotton and polyester viscose. With the opening of imports, we also get raw material at international costs and can make any type of garments on demand.

He is in city to participate in a “dealers and retailers meet”, organised by the company to create awareness among the retailers about the new range of suitings like tensil, polycotton, 100 per cent cotton, polynasic and poly viscose.

Mr Gupta feels that the paddy crisis may have a negative impact on textile sector also. But he feels that the introduction of new range and aggressive marketing strategies will help them increase their sales from Rs 8 crore in the previous year to Rs 15 crore this year.

Words can’t make products good

Advertising is the fine art of exaggeration. At times, it can be most misleading. Advertisements have a great impact on people, so, advertisers should project in the advertisement what is true and not vulgar.

These days, advertisements are so ridiculous that one wonders how the copywriter comes up with such nonsensical ideas. One such advertisement is the one in which a boy is playing football and a girl who is wearing a frock comes there and says, “Legs dekhta hai, ab yeh dekh.” She plays football like a professional and the boy says, “Yeh to Mardona ki bhi maa nikli.” The advertisement ends with the line “Close Up vishwas”. If the toothpaste was so potent, why didn’t anyone tell Maradona to use it rather than wasting so many years in practicing skills or taking drugs. Advertisers look silly when they release such advertisements.

These days, during live telecasts of matches, we see an advertisement that says, “Match khatam, par Pepsodent Germi Check chalta rahe.” Advertisers make their brands such powerful symbols that one loses faith in these soon.

In another advertisement featuring Rani Mukherjee, she is shown walking towards a handsome boy. One expects her to say to the boy, “You are my hero.” Rather, she walks up to a Hero cycle and says, “Yeh hai mera hero.” Had it been real life, the boy would have dumped her for saying this.

In another advertisement, Ajit asks Michael and Robert, “Who is the father of the child?” and one of the two says, “Fifty fifty.” One finds it difficult to bear such nonsense.

Whirlpool is just like any other washing machine, but the “Whirlpool — Mera magic” line suggests that it uses magic to wash clothes. “Bunte bunte kismat khul jaye” — so ladies and gentleman, as Vardhman offers you fantastic prizes, drop everything and start knitting. If you are not getting anything out of life, “Eat Bar One” and get more our of life. You do not need to work hard or be sincere. The list is endless and the wording is bizarre.

Many a children have lost their lives trying to copy the stunts of the heroes of certain advertisements. Advertisers should relate their advertisements to products and make these appealing without the use of vulgarity. — AA

Ludhianabiz.com launched
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, Oct 16 — To give a boost to business in Ludhiana, ludhianabiz.com, a web portal, was launched by Web Creations Internet Services here yesterday.

The site gives a complete web directory of various types of business activities of the city, including cinema, sports, education, computers, clubs, hotels and medicines. Some of these business activities are further divided into sub-categories. Sports is segregated into sports clubs and sport material shops. Computers is divided into software companies, hardware companies, internet service providers and website designers.

A click on the name of a company under a particular category gives picture of that company, pictures, of its products, background of the company, address of the company, name of the contact person, his telephone number and even e-mail address and website address, if any.

In addition, there is a section on jobs. The employers can give their requirements and the job-seekers can post their resume and look for the kind of jobs available. There is also one section on matrimonials in which the particulars of boys and girls have been posted.

A classified section for buying and selling of various products and services is also there on the site. To-let services are also posted on the net. Free e-mail service is one attraction for the Ludhianvis.

The news section gives news about the business activities of the city and also about the Ludhiana Stock Exchange. Railway timings can also be checked at the site.