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ISBT named after martyr, opened
Ludhiana, January 11 He said the government, official machinery and public were the three integral organs of the state administration. "Any government could not function efficiently unless there is complete harmony and cohesiveness among these organs," he remarked, while asking the officers to pay due respect and regard to the party workers of the SAD-BJP and said the government would suitably reward such deserving officers who comply with these instructions in true spirit. Badal lauded the transport minister Master Mohan Lal for naming this ultra-modern ISBT after great martyr Amar Shaheed Sukhdev. He said it was a right step to perpetuate the memory of national heroes and to infuse the spirit of patriotism amongst the youth. The contract of construction was given to a Baroda-based construction company, MSK Projects India Limited, at the cost of Rs 21 crore. The company had accepted the proposal on build, operate and transfer, (BOT), basis for 10 years and three months. It would be transferred back to the transport department on May 17, 2016. The Punjab Infrastructure Development Board, (PIDB) was the assisting authority to develop the bus stand and the city now has a state-of-the-art structure after waiting for the last many years. The bus terminal has been made physically challenged friendly. Lifts have been provided for these people alongwith the steps. Separate toilets are made available to the physically challenged with side rails and user-friendly western style seats. The doors are especially suited for use by such passengers. Wheel chairs have been provided. Learning from the past when not many toilets were there in the bus stand, the new one had 43 seats for men and 43 for women. Many value-added services, including digital display clocks, public address system, directional boards, neon signs boards have been provided. There had been several protests by the residents also as the bus stand of the richest city of Punjab was lacking in various basic facilities.
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Rollback of power tariff hike only on paper
Ludhiana, January 11 However, till today, the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) continues to send bills to all categories of consumers on the enhanced rates. And if senior PSEB officials were to be believed, except for the public announcement, the government had done nothing else to ensure that its decision was implemented. A senior PSEB official at Patiala told Ludhiana Tribune today that the board had received no further directions from the state government which had made a commitment to make up the loss suffered due to roll back of tariff. "In such circumstances, we have to go by the tariff that was increased in September, 2007, and accordingly the consumers are being billed." Sources in the PSEB confirmed that consumers in the bi-monthly billing cycles had, till now, paid three bills (in Sept, Nov 2007 and Jan 2008) whereas those in the monthly billing cycle had received five bills on the basis of revised tariff. In case the government decided to implement the decision to revert back to the previous power rates, the PSEB might find it difficult to refund the excess amount collected from the consumers which would run into several crores by the time a mechanism to switch back to old power tariff was evolved. The power tariff for all categories of consumers were jacked up by 8.4 per cent on the recommendations of the Punjab State Power Regulatory Authority amid vociferous protests by trade and industrial organisations, and the urban population, the mainstay of the BJP. And it took several rounds of meetings between SAD and BJP leaders of Punjab, as also the intervention by national level BJP leaders before the Chief Minister agreed to withdraw the hike and make good the financial loss of some Rs 298 crore suffered by PSEB on this account. Several prominent representatives of trade and industrial organisations have criticised the government for inordinate delay in giving practical shape to its decision which was aimed
at providing relief to the masses. “When power tariff goes up or rates of any other utility service are increased, the revised rates are charged with immediate effect. But now that the tariff hike is to be withdrawn, the government is dragging its feet,” they remarked.
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Travel agent booked for duping man of Rs 10 lakh
Khanna, January 11 According to the police, Devinder Singh of Machhiwara has lodged a complaint with the police that Mohanjit Singh of Phillaur had promised to help him migrate to the USA. The complainant stated that in June, 2003, the accused took Rs 10 lakh from him claiming that the money was to be spent on expenditures to be incurred on preparing of the documents for visa. He said the accused had also promised to help him get a job on the foreign land. Mohanjit Singh said though the agent had promised that he would be sent abroad in a couple of months but even after months of receiving the money, the travel agent did nothing to help him settle abroad. He said when he started calling the agent to know about the status of his case, he stropped taking his calls and even changed his mobile number. Following this, he got suspicious and filed a complaint with the police. After receiving the complaint, the police initiated a preliminary investigation and recorded the statements of a number of persons. Following this the police registered a case under the relevant section of the law. It stated that the matter was being further investigated to find out whether the accused had duped other persons also.
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City girl flies high
Ludhiana, January 11 The 20-year-old city girl, after completing her one-year training in Hyderabad, will be joining duty in Guwhati. "I am proud of my daughter. Her hard work has finally paid off. She has not only realised her own dream, but also come up much above our expectations." A former student of Government College for Women, Sonia, who was then pursuing MBA, got selected in her second attempt. And while the going was not all that easy, Rekhi is on cloud nine and is looking forward to flying an aircraft soon. Talking about her ambition, she said, "I was determined to be a part of the Indian Air Force (IAF) as my father always talked about it. Even as none in the family entered this field, my parents' confidence in me motivated me." Apart from self-study, Sonia also underwent coaching. Reading being her hobby, it helped a lot, she said. During the training, she got to meet people from varied cultural backgrounds, which was quite an experience. "Now I have friends in almost all the states. It was during the training that I realised how beautiful it is being here." "She was the only one from the state to get selected despite stiff competition. She has made me believe that if one wants to achieve something in life, nothing can deter a person," said her father, Ramesh Kumar.
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Widow complains against 3 cops
Ludhiana, January 11 SSP R.K. Jaiswal asked SP Sukhchain Singh to inquire into the matter after the woman assisted by a policewoman lodged a complaint with him. Nirmal Singh, in charge, Police Lines, said the complaint against his three employees was “false and motivated.” The woman has named chief drill inspector-cum-ASI Mangal Singh, constable Parminder Singh, who looks after the gas godown at the Police Lines, and wireless operator Kuldip
Singh. The woman is a widow and a mother of three. Talking to The Tribune, she said she collected garbage from the Police
Lines. "This Monday Parminder Singh made advances at me. When I resisted, he abused me and threatened to book me in a false case.” She alleged that when she reported the matter to Mangal Singh, he accused her of lying. She claimed on Tuesday Mangal Singh and the two other accused present at the gas godown threatened her with dire consequences if she did not meet their demand. She alleged she was thrashed in presence of residents of the Police Lines but none came to her rescue.
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Decision on Khangura's bail today
Ludhiana, January 11 She had moved the bail yesterday. The Vigilance Bureau had accused her of taking bribe of Rs 15 lakh from officials of Today Homes Company. She was challaned by the Vigilance Bureau in this case. Though she was never arrested in the case. Khangura's counsel argued that she was not named in the FIR. She was challaned by the VB just to harass her. Meanwhile, the same court also reserved the orders on the bail pleas of S A H Naqvi, Sanjeev Kumar Gupta and Sourav Gupta, employees of Today Homes Company for tomorrow.
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Nine awarded gold medals at Lohri Mela
Ludhiana, January 11 At the outset, nine eminent personalities, excelling in their respective fields, were felicitated by the organisers. A senior IAS officer, Ajit Singh Pannu, received Dr M.S. Randhawa memorial award for civil services, Rupa Saini, a prominent hockey player, was given the Dhyan Chand Olympian memorial award for sports, Inderjeet Hassanpuri was presented with Dr V.N. Tiwari memorial award for Punjabi culture and literature while Dr H.M. Khosla was honoured with Dr Santokh Singh Anand memorial award for medicine. Among other recipients of gold medals were Sukhwinder Sukhi (Lal Chand Yamla Jat memorial award for Punjabi folk singing), Sukhpal Singh Bhullar (P.N. Thapar Memorial award for agriculture), the comedy artistes duo of Jaswinder Bhalla and Bal Mukan Sharma (I.S. Johar memorial award for satire and films) and Labh Janjua (Mohammad Rafi memorial award for music and singing). Jabbir Singh Khangoora, Congress legislator from Kila Raipur, lauded the initiative of the manch in celebrating the festival of Lohri for the girl children with the objective of mobilising the people against the social evil of female foeticide. Khangoora was felicitated by Krishan Kumar Bawa, Pawan Diwan, Jagdev Singh Jassowal and former minister Malkiat Singh Dakha on behalf of the organisers. Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, MP, and Akali Dal leader Manpreet Singh Ayali, who presided over the evening session of the mela, crowned the winners of "Ghabroo Punjab and Mutiar Punjab" contest, held as part of the celebrations. Renowned Punjab singers Labh Janjua, Pammi Bai, Sarabjit Cheema, Angrez Ali, Rommi Gill, Sukhwinder Sukhi, Rajinder Malhar and Chamkaur Khatra enthralled the audience with their popular Punjabi and folk songs while the duo of Jaswinder Bhalla and Bal Mukan Sharma created a riot of laughter with their satirical presentation. A bhangra dance on the beat of drums by children and participation of large number of NRIs from the US, Canada and UK were the other main features of the celebrations.
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MC to foot proportionate amount of bills
Ludhiana, January 11 Talking to The Tribune, he said, "The MC should either vacate the rooms which they have been occupying for many years or they should foot the pending electricity bills." He sees an indefinite cut and no chances of it being restored, at least in the near future, because of technical difficulties in fixing the responsibility on any particular authority. He stressed upon the fact that the government audit branch will object if the sports department foots the bill that is in the name of MC. However, moving away from its earlier stance the MC has agreed to pay a proportional amount of the bills now. MC commissioner Vikas Partap said, "We agree to pay a proportional amount of the bills as the MC has housed some of it's offices in the stadium." He added that the sports department is the sole owner of the stadium; hence the MC is not supposed to foot the entire amount. “It is unjust on the part of sports department to say that MC should pay the entire amount for occupying only two rooms," said Partap.
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Sangat darshan on
January 15
Ludhiana , January 11 Gurjar said in view of convenience of the public, the district administration has started organising weekly sangat darshan programmes at the subdivisional level so that the people may not have to cover long distances to get their problems redressed. The deputy commissioner said that he himself or the additional deputy commissioner would preside over the subdivisional-level sangat darshan programmes and all officers of different departments would remain present in sangat darshan.
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Sewerage arrears
As far as the arrears of water and sewerage connections are concerned, residents of MIG colony, Phase II, Urban Estate Dugri, will have to bear the burnt in 2008 as the local municipal corporation is planning to take action against those who have not paid their dues till date. Though the residents have been paying their bills regularly, still the corporation is planning to withdraw the facilities after servicing a notice in this regard. The residents have stopped paying the bills after the Amarinder government exempted those staying in 125 sq yards houses from paying the bills. The flats have been built on 162 sq yds and accordingly each flat is covered in less than 81 sq yds. The residents have been having been trying their best to convince the corporation for the past two years with sufficient proofs and arguments in this regard. But, corporation officials have failed to give satisfactory response till date. Kuldeep Singh Kreer, Ludhiana Readers are invited to mail letters (not more than 200 words) at "ludhiana@tribunemail.com" or post the same to The Tribune, 1, 2 Improvement Trust Building, Badaur House, Clock Tower, Ludhiana.
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Biz Word
Ludhiana, January 11 The vehicle was unveiled in the presence of customers and staff members. Over 1,50,000 Swift cars were sold within a span of two years, the company said. — TNS
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Take up pension issue with government: PAU panel
Ludhiana, January 11 The members said the state government was spending crores of rupees on developmental projects and on disbursing salary and pension among government employees. Similarly, it could release requisite grant so that the university could give pensions to its employees. The association also recalled the golden days when the government used to generously release grants for establishing it during initial years. Meanwhile, the staff of Punjab Agricultural University, including teachers and non-teachers, will observe the black day on January 14 in protest against the indifferent attitude of the state government towards the institute. The Punjab Agricultural University Teachers Association (PAUTA), PAU Employees Union, PAU IVth Class Workers Union, in a joint statement issued here today expressed concern that the employees had not been paid pension for the past two months. “It is the responsibility of the government for bearing the liabilities, which was created primarily for meeting its obligation of increasing the agricultural productivity”, they added. There is a feeling of mistrust against the government. The crises have deliberately been created by the government for destabilizing and weaken the university and force it to part with the land. It is ironical that GADVASU, created out of PAU, is being provided full budgetary support by the government for paying pension to its retirees.
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Inter-school contest: Aayush best speaker
Ludhiana, January 11 Debate: Best speaker:-Aayush (DAV School, BRS Nagar); first runners-up-Jappan (BCM Arya Model School, Ludhiana); second runners-up- Manreet Kaur (BCM School). Collage making:- Most innovative collage- Nharika, Nikita ( KVM, Civil Lines, Ludhiana); best collage-Gurpreet Kaur, Harpriya (GNI Ludhiana); first runners- up-Archi, Sakshi- (BCM, Basant Avenue, Dugri); second runners-up-Himanshu, Shivangi ( BCM, Chandigarh road).Power point presentation: Best presentation;- Diksha Sood, Monika Hira( BCMS,Shastri Nagar); first runners-up- Jaspreet Singh, Ritika Singla (BCM School, Chandigarh -Ludhiana road), second runners-up-Harpreet Kaur, Tarun Preet (GNIS). Graffiti competition: - best graffiti-BCM (Shastri Nagar, Ludhiana), first runners-up (BCM, Chandigarh-Ludhiana road).
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Guru Nanak college students celebrate Lohri
Ludhiana, January 11 Meanwhile, tiny tots of Kiddies Paradise School, Kochar Market celebrated Lohri with excitement, joy and fervour. Students wore colourful dresses to mark the occasion. The festival started with traditional Lohri song- “Sunder Mundriye Ho, Tera Kaun Bechara.” Children sat around the fire, listened to the traditional songs and danced. School’s director Randhir Singh while highlighting the importance of the festival encouraged students to celebrate it in traditional manner. Principal Radhike Mahajan wished all a happy Lohri. She also briefed the story of Dulla Bhatti to the students. Mandi Gobindgarh Preference of a male child over the girl has resulted in imbalance in society. This might lead to numerous social evils in days to come. Daughters are more faithful towards their parents then the boys. This was stated by BJP ( SC and BC ) Morcha chief Dharam Pal during a Lohri function jointly organised by CDPO, Amloh and Khamano, Fatehgarh Neungan village, near here yesterday. Under the Kanya Jagriti Scheme three girl Childs were given certificates for scholarships to be given when their schooling starts. Suits were also distributed among 15 mothers of infant girls. BJP district secretary Tonny Gautam lauded the department’s effort in organising such functions.
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Faculty development
programme at GNIMT
Ludhiana, January 11 Banerjee put the faculty into a few management games related to synergy and team building. The opening module of the programme focused on the importance of knowing and appreciating people within the organisation. With the help of an activity, he let the faculty explore the concept of mind mapping or programming of the mind which simply meant that the way everyone behaved in society largely depended on conditioning of the mind. Through a questionnaire on social styling, he identified four personality types relative to social behaviour and discussed the positive and negative aspects of the personality development and elaborated on how one could understand people and create better networking. On the second day of the programme, he used a management game to bring to the forefront the need of synchronizing personal goals with organizational ones that were imperative for the long-term success of any organisation. The most exhilarating part of the programme was the psychometric profiling of the faculty. He used four-grade psychometric tool to let the faculty members individually analyze their psychology so that they could better understand and realize the need for change wherever required.
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Lecture on ill-effects of over population
Doraha, January11 He concluded his lecture by saying that, India has an advantage of human resources but illiteracy, poor governance and lack of infrastructure are the roadblocks. B.S.Pangli, general secretary of the college management committee, presented a vote of thanks. The lecture was followed by question-answer session by students and faculty members. Ranjit Kaur, Jagroop Singh, Balpreet Kaur, Amandeep Kaur, Rajesh Kumar and Shweta were among those who attended the lecture.
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Workshop on emotional
intelligence
Khanna, January 11 The interactive programme on the subject of the “emotional intelligence” was conducted by Dr S.P Singh, a former chairman and professor, University Business School. Dr Zora Singh, chairman, Desh Bhagat Group, while delivering a lecture said the emotional intelligence of the teachers play vital role in grooming budding professionals.
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Inter-school talent hunt competition
Ludhiana, January 11 Students mesmerised the audience with their performance. Principal Amarjit Dhaliwal applauded the participants and thanked teachers and students for taking part in it. She stressed on cultivating good habits and moral values so that the students should become good citizens. Principals of the participating schools were honoured.
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North Zone sports meet concludes
Ludhiana, January 11 Employees from ministry of finance, income tax department, excise and taxation department, customs and narcotics control board, drawn from Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Western Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, besides hosts Punjab participated in the meet. In the men's doubles category, Ajay Thukral paired with Rama Kant to outplay Ajay Kumar and Jasbir Singh of central excise
departmenty, New Delhi. In the singles final (men 40 plus), Subhash Batra of central excise department, Ludhiana, proved too good for M.P. Damley of customs and central excise, New Delhi, to clinch the title while in the double's section, M.P. Damley in association with Ajay Kumar proved their mettle against Subhash Batra of Ludhiana and Quamruddin of central excise department, Lucknow. In the men's doubles (50 plus), S.K. Handa and
B.P. Kohli of income tax department, New Delhi, defeated S.D. Kashikar and S.C. Pandey of central excise department, Bhopal. In billiards, Jasbir Singh of central excise department, Jaipur, emerged winner while in kabaddi, income tax department, New Delhi, came out triumphant. In carrom (men's singles), Umesh Verma of income tax department, Lucknow, beat Sunil Karmele of income tax department, Bhopal, to annex the title while in the doubles, Arvind Yadav of central excise department, Lucknow, and S S Ginnare of income tax department, Bhopal, outclassed Sunil Karmele and Umesh Verma. In the women's singles category, Kusum of income tax department, Chandigarh, won top
honours. In the bridge final, central excise department, Bhopal, pipped income tax department, New Delhi, to bag the title while in the pair section, P.K. Gupta and Shailender Handa of income tax department, New Delhi, beat Milap Jain and P
Tripuri, also from income tax department, New Delhi.
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Khalsa College eves are champions
Ludhiana, January 11 Twelve teams competed in this championship and Guru Nanak Khalsa College, Ludhiana, came out triumphant 3-2 in the final against GGS College for Women, Chandigarh, to clinch the title. Guru Nanak Girls College, Ludhiana, defeated MCM DAV College, Chandigarh, to secure third position. On their way to the title clash match, Guru Nanak Khalsa College, Ludhiana, got the better of Government College for Girls, Chandigarh, Ramgarhia Girls College, Ludhiana, Guru Nanak Girls College, Model Town, Ludhiana, MCM DAV College, Chandigarh, to set up the title clash with GGS College for Women, Chandigarh, whom they overcome in a nail biting finish. Dr Manju Chawla, principal of the college, congratulated the girls, Jaswinder Kaur Ahluwalia, head of the physical education department, Asha Rani, lecturer, physical education, coaches Sukhdev Singh and Harbir Singh for this achievement.
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