Ludhiana, February 6
The death of a shopkeeper in the Janakpuri area, who died of a heart attack during the Municipal Corporation's anti encroachment drive recently, has been swept under the carpet with the family being pacified by a leader.

Sources said the MC employees who were booked by the police in a case of causing death due to negligence would not be named in the FIR as the family has been pacified by senior BJP leader and deputy speaker, Vidhan Sabha, who paid compensation to the family of the deceased shopkeeper.

Inderjeet Arora, shopkeeper, had suffered a heart attack on January 28, when a team of Tehbazaari department demolished a part of his shop that was an alleged encroachment. The shopkeeper fell unconscious in the middle of the road and was rushed to a local hospital. He was declared brought dead. The shopkeepers of the area had laid a siege on the road carrying his body.

They demanded a case against the employees of the MC who were carrying out the demolitions. To pacify the flared-up angers, the police had registered a case under Section 304 A of the IPC against the employees. The police asked the MC to identify the employees who were to be named in the FIR.

But no names were mentioned in the FIR as the sources in the MC said the senior functionaries felt that the employees were not at fault for the death. They added that the employees were just doing their duty when the shopkeeper could not bear the shock of his shop getting demolished.

They said the encroachers were already asked a number of times to remove their encroachments themselves but they did not pay any heed to the warnings. The MC had to take action against them.

Ludhiana, February 6
The Vishwakarma Chowk presented an unusual sight this morning when leading industrialists of the town carried a basket full of "papads" and went around selling them to passersby. Amid the traffic jam, that stayed for almost half-an-hour, these high-profile sellers found their customers in factory workers, office-goers and others on the road.

Their banners were named after the Union minister of steel. The sellers, who sold each papad for 50 paise, managed Rs 2,720 from the effort.

While onlookers gave bemused looks to the suited-booted "Ram Vilas Paswan" papad vendors, the activity was the result of the "acute frustration" of industrialists, who were protesting against the rising steel prices.

The enterprising sellers included K.K. Seth of Neelam Cycles, Narinder Bhamra, president of the Fasteners Manufacturers Association, Charanjit Singh Vishwakarma of Vishwakarma Industries and many others.

"We are very upset with the government which has done nothing to save industry from this situation. Our units are closed, there are no new orders. By selling papads we want the government to know the kind of frustration it is causing us by its inaction.

If it still fails to do anything to save industry we will have to look for other avenues like selling papads," an irked Varinder Kapoor from the United Cycle and Parts Manufacturers Association said.

The industrialists said an increase of Rs 7,000 per metric tonne within a short span by leading manufacturers was not such a small amount that skipped the government’s notice. Such stupendous hike is ruining the industry, they added.

Mincing no words in showing their resentment to All-India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Manish Tiwari, who visited the protesting entrepreneurs today, industrialists told Tiwari that despite all brouhaha during continually rising steel prices they were utterly disappointed with the government’s silence.

Tiwari assured the industry of taking up the matter with the Prime Minister.

The industry, however, remained undeterred on its stand to continue with the agitation till a concrete action was taken by the government.

Continuing with their relay fast to mark the protest, Anoop Saggar, V.S. Anand and Jagjit Singh from the Ludhiana Tractor Parts Manufacturers and Traders Association, Paramjit Singh and Mayor Singh from the Small Scale Industries Association, Daaba Road, Tajinder Singh, the Small Scale Auto Parts Manufacturers Association, industrialists Manoj Kumar Batta and Varinder Kapoor were among those who observed the fast today.

Ludhiana, February 6
In a typical case of government proposes and the Punjab Urban Development and Planning Authority (PUDA) disposes, the PUDA has levied sewage and water bills for the last 18 months on the residents, when the state government had waived these bills.

The water supply and sewerage charges were waived to the residents living in houses measuring less than and equal to 125 square yards in July 2006 during the former Congress-run government. The residents living in these houses had not received any bills during this period.

But now PUDA has sent them the bills and asked them to pay the bills of last 18 months also. The residents are not able to understand what went wrong.

‘‘We have not received any information on this account. Nor has there been any notification. Then how are they sending us the bills now? ’’ asked Ravinder Kumar, a resident of Sector 32 A.

He added that they should have paid the bills every month and it would have been easier for them to pay the lesser amount. Now they are forced to pay the 18 months bills that is multiplied.

‘‘It is surprising that if we pay it after the due date, the fine is 25 per cent. It is too much. We do not know under what rules the huge fine has been imposed,’’ he asked.

The billing period on the bills is from July 2006 to December 2007. The per month water charges at the rate of Rs 42 for 18 months come out to be Rs 756 and the sewage charges stand out to be Rs 360 for these houses.

Though there has been no notification, sources said the local bodies were asked by the central government not to give any subsidies if the cities wanted any funds under the Jawahar Lal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.

No decision was, however, taken on the direction as yet.

Ludhiana, February 6
Shri Amarnath Yatra Welfare Organisation has rued that despite the NGOs paying a whopping Rs 25,000 as fee during the last Amarnath Yatra, no facility was provided to them for smooth holding of langar and other facilities for the yatris.

In a letter to the chairman of the Amarnath Shrine Board, Jammu, the national president, Rajinder Sharma, said the board neither provided them any facility last year nor refunded to them till date security worth Rs 10,000.

Sharma said the central government was providing subsidy to Haj yatris whereas a huge amount was being levied as fee on the Amarnath yatris. He demanded that this should be waived immediately.

He said the period of yatra should be from Gurupoornima till Raksha bandhan because according to Hindu religion, this was the only right period to visit there. The extension of the time period would not only create difficulties for the NGOs for providing community services to the devotees but would also waste crores of rupees of the state government.

Sharma said at a meeting of the organisation held in New Delhi on Monday, it was demanded that the landing of the helicopter should be at a minimum distance of 2 km from the holy cave. It would save the ice lingam from melting before the conclusion of the yatra.

Following in the lines of Badri Nath and Kedar Nath Yatra, the door of Amar Nath Yatra should be opened on the Gurupoornima day by a religious guru and closed after the conclusion of the yatra.

The fee charged last year from the devotees for taking off slippers and chappals should be scrapped, said the organisation.

Ludhiana, February 6
Fiftyone volunteers came forward to donate blood at the first blood donation camp, organised here today by Salaam Zindagi, an NGO working for the welfare of thallassemic children in the city. S.M. Sharma, principal, Arya College for Boys, inaugurated the camp while B.S. Bath, chief engineer, Ludhiana Central Zone, Punjab State Electricity Board, was the chief guest.

A team of doctors and supporting staff from the department of transfusion medicine at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital coordinated the activities at the camp and apprised those present with the significance of voluntary blood donation.

According to Manjit Saini, president, and Anurag Khallan, general secretary of the NGO, a blood donation camp will be organised on a regular basis on the 10th of every month and the blood collected at these camps will be donated for the thallassemic children and those suffering from other blood diseases, who frequently required blood transfusion.

Ludhiana, February 6
Umesh Thakur and Meena Devi, a migrant couple living in the city, are in a desperate situation and good samaritans of the region are their only hope. Their 12-year-old son Santosh is suffering from severe rheumatic heart disease with involvement of three heart valves.

The boy has been treated to some extent by compassionate medical care at Ludhiana Mediciti Hospital here under Dr Harinder Singh Bedi, chairman cardiac sciences.

According to Dr Bedi, Santosh’s heart is not coping with the disease and is failing fast. The patient, a bright boy, was studying in class V when failing health due to heart problem disrupted his normal life. His mother is a domestic servant in Aggar Nagar and father is a barber. The condition of the patient calls for major open heart surgery for replacement with imported heart valves, that too without much delay.

Dr Bedi said even though his staff and the hospital had agreed not to charge any operative fee, still the cost of surgery was high as all consumables were imported. Without surgery the chances of survival of the boy were slim. However, if operation for valve replacement was carried out soon, Santosh could lead a normal life and reach his full potential.

All those who wish to extend financial help to the patient, can make their donations in the name of his mother Meena Devi (account no. 198010100084826, Axis Bank, Ferozepur Road, Ludhiana) or else send the same to Ludhiana Mediciti Hospital, Ferozepur Road, Near Octroi Post, Ludhiana.

Ludhiana, February 6
Pawan Kumar is searching for his 12-year-old son Gaurav, who went missing on the morning of November 28. He has had little help from the police in his endeavour.

Kumar complains that the police has not initiated any action in tracing his mentally challenged son. Pawan Kumar is not alone in this predicament. Families of as many as 103 people who have gone missing have little hope of seeing their dear ones return home. Most of the missing(80 per cent) are young women or children.

According to the official website of the Punjab Police, at least 103 persons from the city went missing in 2007.

A very worried Pawan Kumar, a resident of Purana Bazar, filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, seeking information on the missing and kidnapped children in Ludhiana.

The city has seen several cases of sexual assault on children near Old Jail area in the recent past, the memory of which continues to haut its residents.

“I have been searching for my son Gaurav for over three months. He was last seen playing with toys out- side his home,“ he recalled, his voice choking.

“Gaurav’s two sisters are in a state of shock ever since he disappeared.”

SSP R.K. Jaiswal said: “We are making every possible effort to trace the missing persons.”

Ludhiana, February 6
A meeting of the Government College Teacher Union (GCW unit) was held here today under the presidentship of president Paramjit Kaur and secretary Dr Rakesh Kumar. The members condemned the "anti-teacher" policies made by the previous government, which were being implemented by the Badal regime.

The members alleged that the Akali-BJP government like the Congress government had no concern for the teaching of poor students in government colleges. "At our college, state government has issued orders to abolish the posts of chemistry (3), physics (3), English, economics and maths (each 1). This means we have to admit less students next year. This is pro-rich and anti-poor policy", alleged Dr Rakesh.

The members asked the government to withdraw this decision. Prof Kuldeep Singh, zonal secretary of GCTA, said the government wanted to privatise education, which will not be tolerated at any cost.

Ludhiana, February 6
An inter-college on the spot painting competition “Expression-2008” was organised in the department of fine arts at the Government College for Women here today. The function was presided over by R.K. Aulakh,principal. Gurwinder Kaur,head of the fine arts department, welcomed the chief guest. She praised both undergraduate and postgraduate students for organising such a function.

Teams from 15 colleges from Amritsar, Mohali, Phagwara, Kharar, Koltaan and Hoshiarpur and 219 students took part in the competition. There were five categories in the postgraduate level and six categories in the graduate level. Results are as follow: Pot painting-Anchal Ist, BBKDAV College, Amritsar; poster making-Deepjot Kaur Ist, GNK College for Women; Still life-Rajvir Kaur Ist, GCW Hoshiarpur; Poster making- Deepjot Kaur Ist, GNKC for Women, landscape painting-Satwinder Kaur Ist, Bhutta College of Education; life drawing- Gurparneet Kaur Ist, GNGC.

Doraha, February 6
An extension lecture on “political ideas of Herbert Marcuse” was organised by the postgraduate department of political science, G.N.N.College, Doraha, today.

Bhupinder Singh Brar, Panjab University, Chandigarh, was the resource person. According to Marcuse, the means of exploitation by capitalist have changed in the modern times, he added. Nowadays, the process of exploiting through maximum work at minimum wages has changed. According to him presently, advanced capitalism is exploiting the consumers by increasing their purchasing power. Along with it, it exploits the consumers by controlling their thoughts also by inciting the consumer through various means to purchase a particular product.

Dr Brar further said the only method to escape from this advanced capitalism suggested by Herbert Marcuse was that the consumer should not only understand the means of exploitation of these advanced capitalists but should also oppose it. In his view, Marcuse gave another surprising fact that as exploitation is being done by advanced capitalism, in the same way the desired objective could not attained even in the socialists countries like Soviet Russia. Because there also like Advanced Capitalism, the thinking of the people was narrowed down by providing basic amenities to them.

According the Marcuse, there is not much difference between Capitalism of 19th and 20th century because in both men is one-dimensional. To be multi-dimensional man should broaden his outlook i.e. to accept as it is whatever is happening to him, he should adopt those things only after analyzing them keeping in mind there weaknesses. He also emphasized on the need of radical thinking, which is possible only by the students as they are revolutionary intellectuals.

Dr Brar concluded the lecture by saying that according to Marcuse in order to lead to a successful life man should create balance among freedom, reason and joy.

Dr Narinder Singh Sidhu, principal and retired professor from Panjab University, Chandigarh, especially attended the extension lecture. Gursharan Kaur, head of the department, Dr Kuldeep Singh, Upasana Kaushal, Hardeep Singh, Priya Sharma and Gursharanjit Singh were those present on the occasion

Ludhiana, February 6
A 12-day beekeeping course for farmers and farm women of Punjab has been organised at Punjab Agricultural University, under ICAR’s all-India coordinated project, on honey bee research and training from February 4 to 15.

Dr Nachhattar Singh Butter, head, department of entomology, PAU, is a pioneer in the country in the successful introduction, establishment, multiplication and dissemination of Italian honey bees. This species of honey bee has brought about the commercialisation of beekeeping in the country in general and Punjab in particular and has enabled the country to export quality honey. Efforts by the university have made Punjab lead in apiary honey production. The state now produces about 26 per cent honey of the country.

Dr Butter said, “Trainees from few districts of the state are participating,” adding that in this training course, trainees will be imparted both theoretical and practical training on various aspects of beekeeping. Besides, the trainees will also be taken on a tour to progressive beekeepers and to hives and apicultural equipment manufacturing industry and to honey trading and exporting entrepreneurs. Dr Pardeep Kumar Chhuneja is the technical coordinator of the training programme. 

Ludhiana, February 6
Anshul and Palak were adjudged Mr and Miss KVM during the farewell function organized by the KVM School, Civil Line, here today. KVM bid farewell to another Class XII batch. It was followed by havan.Principal S.C. Saxena also took part in it. Results: Mr KVM - Anshul, Miss KVM- Palak Goyal, Mr Scholar- Abhishek Garg, Miss Scholar- Navroop Kaur, Mr Elegant - Harmeet Singh, Miss Elegant- Aditi Jain, Mr Well-dressed- Sahil Kapoor, Ist runners up- Harmandeep Singh, Miss Well-dressed-Manima Khanna, 1st runners up- Manisha Vinayak, Mr Versatile- Ayush Sharma, Miss Versatile- Mehak Wadhera.

Paining contest: Inter-section painting competition was organised for Class V of Guru Nanak Public School here yesterday. The competition was organised for developing technical and cognitive skills of children. Ninety students were selected during preliminary. But, only 16 contestants were selected for the finals.

Each contestant deserved praise. Headmistress Pamela Lotey and in charge of the nursery wing Jagdev Kaur congratulated students. Amanpreet Kaur, Abhineet Kaur and Jaskaran Singh were the winners. The consolation prize went to Gursimranjit Singh.

Sweaters distributed: Members of the “muskan welfare club” distributed 200 school uniforms, sweaters and shoes among the needy children at Shaheed-e-Ajam Sukhdev Thapar Government Girls School. Sukhpal Chawla, Viney Sharma, Rajesh Ghandi, Pardeep Sharma, Pushpinder Singh and principal Kamaljeet Kaur, Shashi Kiran, Swarnkaur, Surat Bala, Somishta Boha and Aradhna Nanda were present on the occasion.

Khamano February 6
A free eye-operation camp was organised at Bilaspur village, near here, by Pendu Vikas Club, Bilaspur, with the help of villagers in the memory of Shaheed Dasondha Singh's 150th martyrdom day. The camp was inaugurated by MLA, Samrala, Jagjivan Singh Khirnian.

Khirnian, while paying tributes to Shaheed Dasondha Singh, said martyrs had made great sacrifices for the country and they should be remembered in every possible way. Members of the martyr's family were honoured on this occasion.

Eye specialist Dr Naresh Chauhan examined the eyes of 70 patients and medicines were given to them free of cost. The medicines were provided by the club.

During the check-up nine patients were diagnosed for eye operation and lenses were planted without a stitch. Club president Dilbag Singh and sarpanch Darshan Singh were among those present at the camp.

Ludhiana, February 6
The committee of administration of the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil), set up by the union ministry of commerce and industry, has constituted a panel of "Herbal Ayurvedic Sidha Unani" for overall propagation of Indian systems of medicine and to meet the export targets of pharmaceutical sector assigned in the 11th Five Year Plan.

In the wake of the phenomenal growth of the herbal, ayurvedic, sidha and unani sector in the recent past and to explore the potential in this sector, the Pharmexcil has set up an 11-member panel under the chairmanship of Ranjit Puranik of Shri Dhootpapeshwar with several other representatives of export-oriented units of this sector as members.

Along with others, Ayurvedacharya Dr Pradeep Nagrath, CEO of India’s first certified Ayurvedic GMP Unit, Pentavox Herbals of Ludhiana, has been included in the panel. Other members of the panel included Shashank Sandu of Sandu Brothers, Sanjay Srivastava of Maharishi Ayurveda, Anurag Agarwal of Natural Remedies, Dr V.S. Chauhan of Nicholas Piramal, Nidhi Mehta of Alchem International, Dr Deepika Gunawant of Dabur, Asad Mueed of Hamdard, Sanjeev Pendharkar of Vicco Labs and M.J. Saxena of Ayurvet.

According to Dr Nagrath, the exports of this sector currently stood at Rs 25,000 crore in which the herbal, ayurvedic, sidha and unani sector of Indian medicine made a sizeable contribution. These sectors along with pharma exports were growing at a rate of 20 per cent and were estimated to cross Rs 90,000 crores in the 11th plan period.

Doraha, February 6
The 19th annual athletic meet of Guru Hargobind Sahib Senior Secondary School, Kottan, was organised on the school premises here yesterday.

Avtar Singh Sekhon, president of the school, inaugurated the meet by unfurling a flag. The march past was performed by the athletes and other participants from the school.

Games like back, cycle and balloon races and musical chair were special attractions of the meet. A cultural programme was organised towards the close of the meet.

Sunil Kumar and Supreet Kaur were declared the best athletes among the senior group and Parmvir Singh and Sumanpreet Kaur were the best among the junior group. Jujhar house won the trophy for the best houses in the march past while the overall best trophy was awarded to Fateh house.

Avtar Singh Sekhon, chief guest, distributed the prizes to all winners. Principal Neena Sharma extended the vote of thanks. Shamsher Singh, Sukhdev Singh Mangat, Nachatar Singh, Kesar Singh and Harbans Singh were also present there.

Ludhiana, February 6
Special tests were conducted on aspirants, attending the trials for the selecting players for being admitted to the Sports Authority of India (SAI) training centre being run here at the multi-purpose sports complex, opposite Guru Nanak Stadium, here today.

Players will be selected for the residential and non-residential schemes in disciplines like athletics, handball, judo, volleyball and weightlifting in the residential and non-residential categories for boys and in judo and volleyball for girls.

SAI training centre, Ludhiana in charge and the state coordinator, Harbans Singh, said two-member team of Dr Ritesh Chhabra and Dr Mohit would conduct tests like eye sight, blood pressure, respiratory system besides postures while in action, per the guidelines of the SAI.

Ludhiana,February 6
Guru Nanak Senior Secondary School and Government Multipurpose Senior Secondary School registered win in their respective matches in the junior boy’s section on the third day of the 58th Ludhiana District Basketball Chamapionship for men and women being played at Guru Nanak Stadium, here today.

Guru Nanak Senior Secondary School beat BCM Senior Secondary School 29-15 while Government Multipurpose Senior Secondary School quelled a strong resistance from Green Land Senior Secondary School before romping home winners 25-21.

In the senior men’s section, Punjab Agricultural University fought a spirited battle against the Gymkhana Club but eventually went down 53-73.

In the Punjab State Senior Basketball Championship which also got off at Guru Nanak Stadium today, Ludhiana Academy proved too good for Sangrur district in the men's section as they came out winners without facing much resistance 53-20.

In other matches, Ludhiana district overwhelmed Ferozepur district 71-35 and Muktsar district outnumbered Moga district 54-21.

In the last match of the day, Lodhiana Academy overpowered Ropar district 102-59. In the first quarter, Ropar players gave stiff challenge to their opponents and the score board read 21-all.

In the second quarter, international Dilwar Singh of Lodhiana Academy gave good account of himself, came to his shooting class and scored number of three-point shots which gave his team 23 points lead (43-21).

Thereafter, the match turned out to be a one-sided affair with Ropar side looked on helplessly as academy cagers went on to increase the lead and finally wrapped up the issue quite comfortably (102-59).