Ludhiana, December 22
The decision of the Punjab Government to reduce pay of the teachers who have enhanced their qualifications during the service and have got higher pay according to the Punjab Government’s letter dated 23-7-1957 according to the decision of the Supreme Court of India has created a great resentment amongst them, the decision of Punjab government has affected nearly 25000.

The President of Government Primary Teachers Association, Mr Piara Singh Dhillon, General Secretary, Mr Baldev Krishan Moudgil, Cashier, Mr Karam Singh Sohava in a press note has condemned the decision to recover the enhanced pay . This will be very taxing as teacher will have to pay a big amount and recovery will be made from the pension of those teachers who have retired from the service during this period. The teacher leaders have decided to start agitation if the government started the recoveries from their pensions.

A meeting of the office-bearers of the association and the affected teachers has been summoned on December 25 at 11.30 AM in the Atam Park Ludhiana. A committee will also be formed to discuss the legal position with a advocate of the high court. They requested the Governor of Punjab not to give approval to the Bill which is against the teachers.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, December, 22
The inclement weather disrupted chores of people of all walks of life and farmers were worst hit. Schools wore deserted looks farmers had to wipe water layer from crops to protect them from damage.

Attendance was thin in most of the government and private schools of the area. Thick fog covered roads and streets and due to poor visibility some of the school buses could not ferry students from nearby villages. Most of the local schools had to stagger schedules and cancel the morning assemblies.

Traffic on link roads remained suspended during early hours and the drivers who dared run to vehicles on the roads did so at snail’s speed only. No untoward incident was reported due to poor visibility.

Farmers were the worst hit with the fog. Besides suspending routine chores the farmers had to put extra labor to wipe film of ice-cold water on leaves and flowers of the growing crops. Mr Tara Singh a farmer of Ghungrana village said the growing crops of wheat; mustard and barsin (a fodder) were required to be saved from the effect of fog. Besides retarding the growth of the plants it block the stomata of the leaves, he stated.

Various business organisations could transact business for only a few hours in the day as the weather became bad in the evening also.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, December 22
Recipient of the 2004 Harbhajan Singh Halwarvi award, Mr Hussan Lal and Deputy Commissioner was sour at declining standard of education in the schools of the state.

Talking to The Tribune after his felicitation by the Public Welfare Society at a function at Government Senior Secondary School Sandaur yesterday, Mr Lal maintained that the education imparted in most of the government schools was not of desired standard.

“There are number of reasons for the reported decline in the standard of the education in the government run schools and lack of commitment among teachers was one of them,” said Mr Lal. He warned that the future of the state run schools was not good due to lack of interest and equal treatment of unequal by the superiors in the department. He pointed out that the less paid teachers at public schools showed better results than those being paid higher salaries by the government. OC

Ludhiana, December 22
The new Sessions Judge of Ludhiana, Mr Harbans Lal, today said that he would not tolerate corruption of any sort by anyone. He warned of strict action against such persons.

While addressing lawyers he said, “Persons in responsible seats are not supposed to indulge in any malpractice, they should impart justice to all on equal footing, irrespective of their status. A single person can not do much. The Bench and the Bar will have to work together to eradicate the evil of corruption”.

Admitting that there was a heavy pendency of cases and delay in imparting justice, he said that the pendency could be reduced by organising Lok Adalats. Society was looking towards the Bench and Bar for speedy justice. We should unite and also curb the tendency of litigation, only for the sake of litigation, added Mr Lal.

Mr Harbans Lal had joined here today. Earlier, he was posted at Hoshiarpur as District and Sessions Judge. Hailing from Sultanpur Lodhi, Mr Lal is well known for his integrity , honesty and strictness. He had joined judiciary in 1977 as Sub-Judge.

He was given a warm welcome by the District Bar Association president, Mr Balwinder Goel, the Additional Sessions Judges, Mr D.R. Arora and Mr Inderjit Kaushik and the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr S.S. Dhaliwal, on his arrival at the Circuit House today morning.

Ludhiana, December 22
A three-day winter Convention of SPIC MACAY started yesterday evening at Delhi Public School. The convention was dedicated to Bharat Ratna Ms Subbulakshmi, doyen of music as a tribute to her contribution to development of Carnatic music. The convention is also supported by the Ludhiana Sanskritik Samagam, a cultural organisation promoting performing arts in the city.

Students from rural schools as well as many other schools had arrived to witness India’s best known Odissi dancer, Kiran Segel. Kiran with her disciples presented Pallavvi and Dashtar dances as homage to Gods. These dances are performed in temples. Like other dances of India Odissi dance has its roots in devotion to temple deities.

Rafaquat Ali Khan from Pakistan said that he hoped that these cultural exchanges would cement Indo-Pak relations. He told the students that he was feeling thrilled to perform in Ludhiana as his mother was born in Ludhiana so he feels special bond for the city.

He further said that his roots are in India and now they have spread out to Pakistan too sangs ‘sufi songs’ like Dama dam Mast kalandar, Apne man ki main janoo. His gazal ‘ranjish hi sahi, dil ko dukhane ke liye’ evoked a good response. Kehta Khan a member of Mangniyar Tribe of Rajasthan too entertained the audience with their folk songs.