Ludhiana, October 25
The Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, today inaugurated the much-awaited elevated road between the Jagraon bridge and Chand Cinema.

The road will provide relief from routine traffic jams in front of the railway station and around Clock Tower. The road has been constructed at a cost of Rs 51 crore.

Addressing a rally, the Chief Minister said developing the infrastructure in the state was the top priority of his government. He said for encouraging investment, good infrastructure was needed.

The government had so far managed an investment worth Rs 86,000 crore and Punjab would emerge as the most preferred investment destination due to the investor- friendly climate and excellent infrastructure, he said, adding that efforts were being made to strengthen the infrastructure.

He said the municipal corporation had allotted land for a graveyard for Muslims and had directed the Mayor to allot land for cemetery for the Christian community.

He said a flyover would be constructed over the Bhai Bala and Bharat Nagar chowks at a cost of Rs 20 crore and a railway overbridge across the Lakar bridge at a cost of Rs 47.7 crore.

Addressing a press conference, he said he and PPCC President Shamsher Singh Dullo had chalked out a programme with regard to block-level rallies from October 31 to November 7. The road show would begin from November 8. He said he had already covered 47 blocks by organising public rallies.

Referring to the delay in the establishment of special economic zones in the state, he said the government had no role in the setting up of SEZs because the land for these projects had to be purchased individually at the prevalent market rates and the government was merely a facilitator.

He said the delay was mainly due to the non-availability of land over which the SEZs were to be developed. He clarified that the delay in the implementation of mega projects approved by the government was due to the normal gestation period of three to four years in the case of housing and township projects and a minimum of one to two years for industrial projects.

Referring to the visit of the Prime Minister, he said Dr Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi would visit Punjab and address election rallies. The Prime Minister was likely to lay the foundation stone of the Halwara airport and inaugurate Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission Programme in Ludhiana and Amritsar.

He said the Prime Minister was not expected to announce a project for Punjab every time he visited the state. He said no Prime Minister had sanctioned development projects worth Rs 10,000 crore for Punjab. Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee merely sanctioned Rs 50 crore for the Khalsa Heritage Project.

On the empowerment of panchayati raj institutions, he said the government had transferred seven departments to these institutions in the first phase and was considering to transfer more departments gradually. There were some teething problems in the implementation of the scheme.

He said the case of Madhya Pradesh where 31 departments had been transferred to these institutions was different as Mr Digvijay Singh, the then Chief Minister, had implemented the scheme when Punjab was passing through the dark days of terrorism.

Prominent among those present included Local Government Minister Jagjit Singh, Mayor Nahar Singh Gill, Cooperation Minister Amarjit Singh Samra, Water Supply and Sanitation Minister Harnam Das Johar, Science Technology and Horticulture Minister Rakesh Pandey, MLAs Malkiat Singh Dakha and Tej Parkash Singh and Chairman of the PPCC minority department Atiq-ur-Rehman Ludhianavi.

Ludhiana, October 25
Ludhiana Rural MLA and former Chief Parliamentary Secretary (CPS) Milkiat Singh Birmi may be reinducted into the government following the reinstatement of suspended Congress leaders loyal to Mr Jagmeet Singh Brar.

Party sources said the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, had made it clear that he was not interested in removing Mr Birmi from the post of CPS but he had to do so at the instructions of the party high command.

Mr Birmi had been removed from the post of the CPS following his outburst against PPCC President Shamsher Singh Dullo after the latter openly supported Mr Nahar Singh Gill, Mr Birmi’s rival.

Mr Dullo had lobbied with the party high command for Mr Birmi’s removal. He had reportedly even suggested his suspension from the party. However, the idea was abandoned after the CM’s intervention.

The reinstatement of the loyalists of Mr Brar, who had criticised the Chief Minister on the issue of the allotment of land to Reliance Industries, seems to have changed political equations within the PCC. However, it is learnt that Mr Dullo reportedly took the CM into confidence before reinstating them.

The CM is likely to press for the reinstatement of Mr Birmi on the same grounds as it is being argued that the suspended leaders had to be inducted to ensure unity in the party in view of the elections.

Mr Birmi has been maintaining a low profile after he was dropped. His detractors had started saying that he was thinking of joining the SAD.

The new development would once again expose the rivalry between Mr Birmi and Mayor Nahar Singh Gill who is also eyeing the Ludhiana Rural Assembly segment for the party nomination this time. Mr Gill organised a good show at Sherpur today which was addressed by the CM.

Doraha, October 25
Panic has gripped the town and the surrounding areas in the wake of the incidents of murder, snatching and kidnapping during the past one and a half months.

The recent murder of Mandeep Singh, a 28-year-old youth Congress leader of Kaddon village, at Begowal on Sunday night has further created fear among residents who were yet to recover from the shock of the two brutal murders in the adjoining Rampur village and the recent kidnapping of Amandeep Singh, a six-year-old son of a timber merchant. Police officials are working on the theory that as Mandeep Singh was a drug-addict, his murder was most likely committed by his associates.

In another incident an old woman, Naseeb Kaur of Rampur village was stabbed to death on Friday night but a headway is yet to be made by the police. The assailants had decamped with cash and jewellery after breaking the locks of the house. The murder came to light when Palwinder Singh, son of the woman, staying on the other side of the village broke the locked gate only to find Naseeb Kaur’s lying in the pool of blood.

In yet another incident that occurred almost one and a half months back in which an old man, Sham Singh, of the same village was stabbed in a similar manner.

The poeple of Rampur have arranged for thekri pehras but complained that the police seldom visited the village at night.

Commenting over the growing incidents of crime in the area, Mr Sanjay Kumar, chowki in charge, Doraha, said they had nabbed certain persons in this context. “As far as the security measures are concerned, we have divided the villages into sectors and each sector is being guarded by an ASI and a head-constable. Further, security is being tightened at the entry and exit points. 

Mandi Ahmedgarh, October 25
Terming the charges levelled by Gurdip Singh and Rajbir Singh, a driver and conductor of a PRTC bus (PB 11 F 9777), who had been beaten up by some persons at the local Pohir road on Monday, against a lecturer of Shanti Tara College, Akbarpur Chhanna, as false and frivolous, the management of the institute has urged the police authorities to exclude the name of the teacher from the case.

Mr Charan Preet Dua, the lecturer who along with seven other persons was booked by the police for allegedly obstructing the complainants from performing their official duty and threatening to kill them after beating them mercilessly at Pohir road here on Monday, has denied charges levelled against him and the students of the college.

Demanding exclusion of his name from the case, he claimed that he was attending classes at the time when the incident was reported to have occurred.

“I fail to understand how I could be held responsible for an incident that happened 4 km away from the college where I was taking classes at that time,” questioned Mr Dua, alleging that the police had acted under pressure of the driver and conductor who had been beaten up by some unknown persons.

Gurdip Singh and Rajbir Singh had earlier accused the lecturer and some unidentified students of Shanti Tara College of assaulting them near Octroi Naka at Pohir road here on Monday. Some tickets and cash were also reported lost in the incident.

The police had registered an FIR under relevant sections of IPC against the lecturer and at least seven other students of the college. Though police was yet to initiate further action in the case, the college authorities have disassociated themselves from the incident.

In the 1940s, Sahir Ludhianvi left Government College, Ludhiana, and joined Dyal Singh College, Lahore. His poetry depicted the changing social and political life around him. He reacted against the atrocities of foreign rulers. He exclaimed: “Yeh unche unche makanon ki dyorion ke talay, har ikk gaam pa bhuke bhikarion ki sada har ikk ghar mein yeh aflass aur bhuk ka shor, har ikk samt yeh insaniat ki aah-o-buka.” (In the courtyards of the high buildings resound the wailings of the hungry beggars; in the homes can be heard the mumbling of hunger and poverty. The common people are crying hoarse at every nook and corner).

He has written songs in the praise of his beloved. His feelings have been recorded in his verses. The idea that he would one day make public his emotions never crossed his mind but need compels him to sell his poems. This is a painful decision—Jo tery zaat se mansub thhe unn geeton ko, muflasi jins banane pai utar aaee hai, bhuk, tere rukh-e-rangeen ke fasanon ke ivaz, chand ashyaye zaroorat ke tamannaye hai. Meaning, poverty is hell-bent on converting into commodity the songs which have been associated with you. Hunger seeks the things of necessity in exchange for the fables concerning your lovely face.

Sahir felt relieved when World War II ended. The lurking shadows of doubts and fears, however, hovered. He composed a long poem Parchhaiyan, wherein he says: Chalo ke chal ke syasi maqamaron se kahen, ke hum ko jung-o-jadal ke chalan se nafrat hai, jise lahu ke siwa koi rung raas na aaye, hamen hayat ke uss pairhan se nafrat hai. (Let us go and tell the demagogues that we detest hostilities and warfare. We hate that garb of life which is imbued in blood-red colour).

When the war between India and Pakistan took place in 1965, he received a jolt. Victory and defeat were the two sides of the same coin for people of these two countries. He wrote: Tank aage barhen ke peechhe haten, kokh dharti ki baanjh hoti hai, fatah ka jashn ho ke haar ka sog, zindigi mayyaton pe rotee hai. (The womb of the earth is rendered barren when tanks move forward or draw back. Life weeps bitterly at the sight of dead bodies even when victory is celebrated or defeat is mourned).

Sahir was undoubtedly a poet of his age. His contemporaries and the succeeding generations identified themselves with his longings, aspirations and frustrations.

He denigrated Shah Jahan in his poem Taj Mahal. The couplet—Murda shahon ke maqabar se behalne wali, apne taareek makanon ko to dekha hota—is unsurpassed in pithiness of expression and irony.

With regard to persons at the helm of the affairs of the country during his time, he says they pretend to celebrate the centenary of Mirza Ghalib while they have disregarded the importance of his language. “Ghalib jise kehta hain, Urdu hee ka shayar thha, Urdu pe sitam dha kar, Ghalib pe karam kyon ho.” (Ghalib was a poet of Urdu. How is it that Urdu has been condemned but Ghalib is being eulogised?)

He died in Mumbai in 1980 but the impact of his poetry is still discernible on the minds of the present generation. Ludhiana remembers this son of the soil on his birthday on March 8 in the form of a mushaira organised by the Adeeb International.

— N.S. Tasneem

Ludhiana, October 25
The Shabad Surat Sangam Ashram, Malke, will organise a free camp on a special practice named ‘Siddhamri Surya Kriyayog (SSKY)’ from October 27 to October 29. The camp will be held at the PUDA ground, Dugri.

Brahmchari Shiv Chaitanya from the Shabad Surat Sangam Ashram said in a press conference today that SSKY was an age-old practice which was much popular in Vedic era as ‘Trikal Sandhya’.

The basic principle of the practice is to keep the eyes closed facing the sun. When sunrays enter the brain through closed eyes, they stimulate the brain and sensitise glands. As a result of which some juices are secreted which in turn regulate all hormones and strengthen the body.

Since its inception, the SSKY claims to have treated more than 25,000 people suffering from various ailments.

The ashram has already cured various chronic diseases through camps in UP, MP, HP, Delhi, Punjab, Gujarat and Rajasthan etc. Mr Suryendu Puri, one of the disciples of Swami Budhpuri, said in present times, a few thoughtful brains had started realising the importance and effect of the sun. Lot many doctors and scientists are trying to prove the sun as ‘Medicine of the Future,’ ‘Food of the future’.

He further added that the power of this practice was so immense that diseases ranging from fever, sinusitis, headache, migraine, stomach troubles, weak eyesight, menstrual problems, heart problem, allergies, skin problems and even cancer could be healed and cured.

The city residents will get training from Swami Budh Puri, Swami Suryendu Puri and Sadhwi Yoganjali.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, October 25
Expressing gratitude to the Chief Minister, Punjab, for extending the Ashirbad Scheme for daughters of the economically weaker section of Muslims and announcement to set up a medical college, Ms Razia Sultana, MLA, of the constituency and Parliamentary Secretary, claimed that the present government had sanctioned more than Rs 100 crore for the development of the area which had been ignored by successive governments.

Ms Sultana was talking to the Ludhiana Tribune after paying a grant of Rs 2.5 lakh for the construction of Ravidas Dharamshala at Jandali road here on Wednesday.

“Captain Amarinder Singh is the first Chief Minister of the state who has understood the need to help the economically poor Muslims by educating them and by setting up educational institutes in our constituency, the Chief Minister has consented to extend the Ashirwad Scheme,” said Ms Sultana and added that more than 10,000 Muslim families of Malerkotla and surrounding villages would benefit from the scheme.

However, she called upon social leaders to make people aware about the extension of the scheme. “We should ensure that only deserving and needy families make claims so that the scheme continues for ever and larger numbers of families reap the benefit,” argued Ms Sultana.

Ms Sultana claimed that the Chief Minister had sanctioned more than Rs 100 crore for the development of the area falling in her constituency and that no other government had done this before.

Management committees members of the Bhagat Ravidass Dharamsala at Jandali road and Guru Nanak Pura respectively, were present. Mr Jatinder Bhola president, Municipal Council, and Mr Ravinder Kumar, president, City Congress were also present on the occasion.

Samrala, October 25
A retired assistant bank manager of the State Bank of Patiala was found hanging from a fan in his house at the local Kamal Colony on Tuesday.

Balwinder Singh Sidhu (60) had returned from Canada two months back and was living here alone. When he was not seen for two days, the neighbours brought the matter to the notice of the police. A case has been registered. The body has been sent to the local civil hospital for a post mortem.

Ludhiana, October 25
Oswal Retail is planning to open 160 outlets of Straps, its intimate women’s wear business, shortly. Mr Adish Oswal, MD, Oswal Retail, said the company would invest Rs 60 crore by 2009 and would focus on the location of the stores.

“A comfortable shopping environment has become a critical factor in retail business, which is why we want to make sure that these outlets are located either in malls or other high-street locations,” he said.

Oswal Retail opened its outlet, Straps, here today and is planning six stores in the state by the end of the next financial year. Plans are afoot to launch stores in Chandigarh, Mohali, Jalandhar and Amritsar soon, he added.

He said the outlet would cater to varied income segments and from teenagers to working women. It would offer more than 20 domestic and international brands.