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Bus rams into scooter, killing two 
Close shave for passengers

Dehlon, February 23 Two scooterists were killed and a cyclist injured when the driver of a Ludhiana-bound PRTC bus, in a bid to save the cyclist, lost control and hit the scooterists on the Dehlon bridge this afternoon. The passengers of the bus, however, escaped unhurt as the bus stopped right at the guardrail of the Kaind bridge, preventing it from falling into the canal.

A PRTC bus positioned precariously on the Kaind Bridge in Dehlon on Monday. — A Tribune photograph

Diesel Scam
MC clerk’s house search yields Rs 7.88 lakh
Ludhiana, February 23
The Ludhiana Vigilance Bureau today conducted search operations on the house of a Municipal Corporation clerk who has additional charge as diesel petrol attendant. He is the main accused in the diesel scandal.

Breeders to resume chick production today
Ludhiana, February 23
Chick breeders of the northern region have decided to resume production tomorrow. The production of chicks had been stopped in the past 12 days in view of the fall in demand of poultry products due to the bird flu scare. A-day-old chick would be available in the market from tomorrow.

4 hurt as jeep rams into trees
Ludhiana, February 23
Four persons, including two children, were critically injured when a jeep, in which they were travelling, rammed into trees on the Jalandhar-Ludhiana road near Amaltas Resorts here today.

A honey bee sucks nectar from a flower in a garden in Ludhiana.  — Tribune photo by Pradeep Tewari

COMMUNITY

PSEB workers to stay away from strike
Ludhiana, February 23
The Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) Workers Federation, affiliated to Intuc, has decided to not participate in the proposed strike on February 24. This decision was taken at a meeting held under the presidentship of Mr Swaran Singh, state president of the body here yesterday.

A young girl admires flowers at a flower show in PAU, Ludhiana. — Photo by Pradeep Tewari

PSEB customers left in the lurch
Ludhiana, February 23
Thousands of customers of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) have been left in the lurch, thanks to a faulty delivery system of the bills. Although the PSEB officials tried to issue duplicate bills today, however there were so many who could not get these despite the fact that today was the last day for depositing the bills by cheque.

Bar association gets Rs 50 lakh grant
Ludhiana, February 23
The president of the District Bar Association, Mr B.K.Goel, today claimed at a press conference that the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, had acceded to almost all demands of the association. A delegation of 21 lawyers met the Chief Minister and Mr H.S.Hanspal, president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, at Chandigarh yesterday.

Ruhani satsang held
Ludhiana, February 23
“There is no need to abandon caste, creed or religion. Man becomes human when he adopts love”. Spiritual head of Ruhani Satsang Prem Samaj Maharaj Kamal Bir ji said this during a two-day spiritual congregation held in the memory of Maharaj Bir ji, founder of Ruhani Satsang Prem Samaj, at Ladowal, near Ludhiana, yesterday.

CRIME

Robbers’ gang busted
Mandi Ahmedgarh, February 23
The Sangrur police has busted a gang of robbers reportedly been involved in several robberies that occurred in this area in the past two years. Six members of the gang were nabbed by a joint police party of the local police and the CIA, Sangrur, near Kanganwal village on Saturday night when they were conspiring to strike at a petrol station.

Fiancee booked for rape
Ludhiana, February 23
A man, who refused to marry his fiancee, was booked for rape under Section 376 of the IPC by the division No. 2 police yesterday. The woman in question, Anita Devi, a migrant woman from Bihar living at Mushtaqganj Mohalla, had complained to the police that Jai Parkash Gupta, also a migrant from Uttar Pradesh, who worked with her in a mill, had promised to marry her after an engagement ceremony.

Man held with firearms
Khanna, February 23
The Khanna police last night arrested a man, Mukhtiar Singh, for carrying two pistols and eight live cartridges. Mukhtiar Singh had planned to rob some traders of Mandi Gobindgarh.

BUSINESS

Price hike threatens sheet metal industry
Khanna, February 23
An unexpected hike in the prices of all kinds of steel sheets like black pane (BP) sheets, galvanised plain (GP) sheets and hot rolled (HR) sheets has put the sheet metal industry in a spot, especially the small rural units. The prices of the sheets had been hiked by more than 100 per cent during the past one year.

Jaitley assures relief to steel consumers
Ludhiana, February 23
The Union Minister for Commerce and Law, Mr Arun Jaitely, today assured steel consumers of Punjab that he would take up the issue of rising steel prices and the cut in import duty on steel with the Union Finance Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh. According to Mr PD Sharma, president, Apex Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a delegation met Mr Jaitley at Phagwara today, where he was briefed about the problems of the industry in Ludhiana, particularly the small-scale sector like the cycle and autoparts, the machine tools and sewing machines.

Sewing machine industry observes strike
Ludhiana, February 23
Over 500 sewing machine manufacturing units, dealers and traders today observed strike to protest against the rising input costs. The call was given by the Sewing Machine Dealers and Assemblers Association, Ludhiana.

Ramgarhia College wins music trophy
Ludhiana, February 23
Students from more than eight local colleges participated in inter-college music competition at the local DD Jain Memorial College for Women. The programme was a joint venture of the Departments of Vocal and Instrumental Music. Mr Rakesh Pandey, Minister for Printing and Stationery, was the chief guest.

SDP college holds extension lecture
Ludhiana, February 23
The Postgraduate Department of Hindi, SDP College for Women, Ludhiana, organised an extension lecture today at the seminar hall of the college. It was part of the series being organised by various departments of college.

Inter-college fest on Feb 27
Ludhiana, February 23
Ehsaas-2004, an inter-college cultural festival, will be held at Punjab College of Technical Education on February 27. Forty teams from colleges of Punjab, Haryana and New Delhi will compete for 15 events. A Pakistan delegation from Islamabad and Lahore, comprising 20 students and five faculty members, will also participate in the competition. Mr Bir Devinder Singh, Deputy Speaker, Punjab Vidhan Sabha, will inaugurate the function.

Writing contest winners
Ludhiana, February 23
The results of Reflections 2003-04, a regional contest on article and feature writing organised by the Guru Nanak Institute of Management and Technology (GNIMT) at Model Town recently, were declared here today.

GMT students honoured
Ludhiana, February 23
The management, staff and students of GMT Senior Secondary School organised their annual prize distribution function here last evening. Mr Harnam Dass Johar, Minister for Higher Education, Punjab, was the chief guest. Dr T.P. Singh, Dean, Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, was the guest of honour.

Farewell function
Ludhiana, February 23
Class IX students of Jain Public Senior Secondary School, Benjamin Road, organised a farewell function for Class X students here yesterday. A cultural programme was organised comprising modern, traditional and Punjabi dances, songs and poems.

Counselling can help fight social evils
Ludhiana, February 23
The Department of Sociology, Khalsa College for Women, Ludhiana, organised an extension lecture on social evils here this afternoon. Dr B.K. Aggarwal, Professor and Head, Department of Human Development of Sociology, PAU, was the resource person.

Laproscopy too dear for the poor, feels expert
Ludhiana, February 23
Dr Sanjay Kulkarni, Professor of Urology at BJ Medical College and a renowned reconstructive urologist at Pune, feels that all technically advanced treatments are required more by the poor who cannot afford long recovery periods associated with major surgeries.

Free eye check-up camp

SPORTS

Sports meet at BVM Shishu Vatika

Ludhiana, February 23 More than 350 students took part in a one-day annual athletics meet of Bhartiya Vidya Mandir Shishu Vatika, Cemetary Road, at its Kitchlu Nagar branch ground here today. Students of KG take part in a sack race during the 3rd annual sports day of BVM Shishu Vatika, Cemetery Road, Ludhiana, on Monday. — Photo by Inderjit Verma

Rajbir adjudged best athlete
Ludhiana, February 23
Rajbir Singh ruled the track events, winning four titles, in the two-day 57th annual athletics meet of Arya College for Boys, which concluded yesterday. He was declared best athlete of the meet. Rajbir Singh came out triumphant in 100m, 200m, 400m and long jump events.