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Lightning puts off lights in Haibowal
Surrounding areas go without power for 24 hrs

Ludhiana, May 29 Persons who live in Haibowal and its surrounding areas had a sleepless night yesterday after the Jamalpur-Moga high-power transmission line got snapped. Men of the Electricity Department worked since early today to get the power supply restored and accomplished the task by 3.30 pm.

LIVING ON THE EDGE: Employees of the Electricity Department of Moga repair high-tension power cables, 105 feet up, that got snapped in a storm in Ludhiana on Tuesday. — A Tribune photograph

WAR CLOUDS OVER INDIA? Lightning creates an ominous shape over Ludhiana on Tuesday to give advance warning of an impending thunder. — Photo Pradeep Tewari

Industrialists donate mobikes to cops

Ludhiana, May 29 The financial position of the Punjab police has deteriorated to such an extent that the Police Department has to rope in industrialists or private organisations to update their infrastructure required for policing. An example to this effect was evident here last evening when the Director-General of Police, Punjab, Mr M.S. Bhullar, flagged off 20 motor cycles that have been added to the existing fleet of 55 such bikes of the special police control room. A fleet of 20 motor cycles donated to the Ludhiana police by  industrialists, which was flagged off by the DGP, Punjab, Mr M.S. Bhullar, in Ludhiana on Tuesday. — A Tribune photograph

Private bus transporters facing fiscal crisis
Ludhiana, May 29
Hit by an overall economic slump, the services in the passenger transport sector in Punjab are on the verge of collapse. Faced with hostile government policies, increasing fuel prices and other input costs, besides high rate of special road tax, most of the passenger transport companies are running into huge losses.

Sukhdev’s nephew living in penury

Ludhiana, May 29 The Centre and state governments may have compensated and rehabilitated thousands of the kin of freedom fighters and martyrs who laid down their lives for the freedom of the country, the surviving members of the family of martyr Sukhdev continue to live in penury.  Bharat Bhushan Thapar, nephew and the only surviving member of martyr Sukhdev’s family, sells lotteries to make a living at Kailash Chowk in Ludhiana. — Photo Inderjeet Verma

COMMUNITY

Childhood sacrificed to human scavenging

Ludhiana, May 29 Government’s tall claims on free education for all seem hollow when one sees ragpickers as young as seven early everyday here, doing what the Municipal Corporation should be doing — picking non-biodegradable material from the rubbish. Reduced to human scavengers, they sell the collected material at Rs 3 a kg or so to earn. Ragpickers, rather “human scavengers” as they are called, about 2 lakh in number, lead a life devoid of childhood joys. RAGS TO RUBBISH: Ragpickers on their way after a hard day’s grind. — A Tribune photograph

A month since they last saw water

Ludhiana, May 29 At least 50 families of Naya Mohalla here are having a harrowing time, thanks to the scarcity of potable water for the past one month. As mercury soars, it spells trouble for these persons every year, as they have to run around all day to collect drinking water.  ENDLESS WAIT HAS TURNED THEIR LEGS TO WATER: Womenfolk of Naya Mohalla, Ludhiana, wait for a water tanker to arrive in the area. A Tribune photograph

C-grade movies a blot on the city
Ludhiana, May 29
It is a voyeur’s delight and a moralist’s pain going by the screening of the movies in the cinemas of the city. About half a dozen city cinemas in the city have earned the notoriety of screening only obscene movies one after the other.

Man missing for 18 months
Ludhiana, May 29
It has been a long and unending wait for 35-year-old Nisha and her two young daughters, Deepika and Tania, as her husband, Vipan Kumar, remains missing for the past 18 months.

Endless wait for buses, revenue

Samrala, May 29 Mr Prem Singh Chopra, a contractor at the Samrala Bus Stand, who had paid Rs 36,000 as an advance of the contract amount of Rs 1.08 lakh from May 1 this year to the Nagar Council Samrala, said despite paying such huge amount, no roadways bus stopped at this bus stand which is a tehsil headquarter. A contractor and his employees wait for buses at the Samrala Bus Stand where no bus turns up. — Photo P.S. Batra

CRIME

Man crushed to death
Doraha, May 29
A man was crushed to death by a speeding truck, near here, on Tuesday. The deceased has been identified as Bittu Singh, son of Harphool Singh of Payal. Bittu Singh was on his way to Payal when a truck (No. PB-10-AD-9514) driven by Lovepreet Singh of Majathi (Kharar) allegdely crushed him to death.

AGRICULTURE

‘Adopt hybrids for higher yield’
Ludhiana, May 29
A two-day workshop for animal husbandry officers organised by the Department of Veterinary Extension was inaugurated at the Punjab Agricultural University here today. 

EDUCATION

Terminated professor raps PAU
Ludhiana, May 29
The issue of the termination of the services of a PAU Professor has been taken up by the Punjab Services Anti-Corruption Council, an SAS Nagar-based organisation fighting against corruption at workplaces. 

Students celebrate annual day
Ludhiana, May 29
Students from Shanti Niketan Adarsh Vidyalaya celebrated the 53rd annual day of the school here yesterday. The students presented a variety of cultural items, including action songs, dance items, skits and film songs.

CMC Dy Director refutes claim
Ludhiana, May 29
The Deputy Director of Christian Medical College Ludhiana, Dr T.M. Jaison, has claimed that only a few professors have left the institution, from among its huge faculty, further denying that there was any exodus from the institute.

CULTURE

Jaswant Zafar: a ‘technocrat’ poet, cartoonist
Ludhiana, May 29
‘‘Kaun bachya hai, secular aaj kal yaar? Akhbar?Sarkar? Parchar? Ke Hatiyar? Secular te lagde ne sirf rukh, sukh, bukh, te jan kukh’’ wrote Jaswant Singh Zafar during his student days at local Guru Nanak College of Engineering. During that time terrorism was at its peak and the year was 1985. 

HEALTH

‘Step up offensive against female foeticide’
Ludhiana, May 29
“Out of all abortions, 99 per cent are illegal and 80 per cent of these are conducted by quacks in villages,” said Mr Anurag Aggarwal, Deputy Commissioner of Ludhiana, at a seminar on ‘Female Foeticide’ in Guru Nanak Bhavan here today.

IMA reacts to false cases against doctors
Ludhiana, May 29
The state president of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Dr R.C. Garg, has strongly condemned the false cases being registered against ultrasound centres by authorities under the PNDT Act.

Chemists not to sell intoxicants
Khanna, May 29
Chemists of Khanna have decided not to sale drugs used as intoxicants by drug addicts. A decision in this regard was taken at a meeting of chemists that was held at the Golden Grain Club on Monday.