Ludhiana, March 4
The ongoing row between the 1984-riot victims association and the deputy commissioner over the rejection of compensation claim and non-issuance of red cards to 400 applicants has taken a new turn with the district administration claiming most of the rejected lot were fake claimants.

Official sources disclosed to Ludhiana Tribune that only the cases were rejected due to lack of documentary evidence with them or a technical hitch. "But a majority were wrong or completely fake claims," the officer revealed.

Of the 450 applicants, only 39 cases were approved. The remaining were returned. This led to a showdown between the Danga Peerat Welfare Association head Surjit Singh and the DC Sumer Singh Gurjar.

After a heated exchange over the issue last week, Surjit Singh, who is member of a district-level committee formed to assess the applications, announced to boycott the future proceedings, if all applications were not approved.He said all cases were true but the deputy commissioner arbitrarily rejected the applicants and no regard was given to the opinion of the committee members. DC Gurjar said the cases were decided by a committee headed by the SDM and he had nothing to do with it. Moreover, he said any government officer would not clear fake claims , if it came to his notice.

The matter has already reached the Chief Minister Office. Chief secretary Ramesh Inder Singh has called a meeting of the committee members and district administration officials to discuss the matter.

Surjit Singh said, "The SAD-BJP government had promised that all applicants will get compensation. Besides a representative of the riot victims, I am also a working committee member of the SAD-Badal. It is my duty to fight for the cause of the riot victims."

Ludhiana, April 4
There seems to be no end to problems of Guru Nanak Stadium, which is facing acute power crisis and encroachment by the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation (MC). The sanitation material worth lakhs of rupees has been stolen from the stadium. There are no toilet seats and taps in 20 bathrooms and lavatory of the stadium. Left with no options, the stadium authorities make alternative arrangements to solve the purpose.

During any big event, the sports department take use of plastic taps to solve the purpose as the aluminum taps and bronze taps are usually get stolen.

As many as Rs 70,000 were spent to restore the sanitation system in the stadium during the Prime Minister's visit in 2006 but soon after the visit all tap and toilets seats were stolen from the stadium.

The District Sports Department requested the Punjab Sports Department to recruit a full time watchman but the offer was declined and now the stadium is considered to be the “thieves” paradise.

Gaurav Khurana, a badminton player, said, "So many times I have seen people indulged in suspicious activities in the stadium during late night."

The players of Baba Lodhiana Basketball Academy are the worst hit as they are the soft targets of thieves as no security has been provided to them.

Ludhiana, April 4
The agitating employees of building branch and drawing branch today got a shot in the arm when employees of all other branches of the municipal corporation boycotted work for three hours to protest against the arrest of three employees by the Vigilance Bureau.

A protest rally was held outside the Zone A office of the MC, which was attended by employees and addressed by several officials and presidents of MC unions.

No public work was taken up for three hours as residents waited to get their work done. They urged upon the senior officials to help resolve the issue as soon as possible so that they did not have to suffer.

Pritam Singh, a resident, said he had come to get his house tax bill rectified but there was nobody to attend to him. The corridors of the MC wore a deserted look. The drawing branch was even locked.

Meanwhile, the rally was addressed by STP Balkar Singh Brar, joint commissioner, Ashok Bajaj and MC employees union president Vijay Danav.

Bajaj told the protesters that the MC was taking up the matter at a higher level. He said they were expecting a communication in this regard from the state government before Monday.

Danav criticised the Vigilance Bureau for its action against Amritsar MTP, S.S. Bhatia, and two local draftsmen, Mohinder Pal and Nirmal Singh. He demanded a techincal expert to inquire into the matter of Gulchaman Gali and then take action.

He also demanded that the VB should concentrate on catching people red-handed and not interfere in the working of any branch of the MC. The local bodies department had its own Vigilance cell, which was taking action against employees off and on but nobody objected.

The agitators raised slogans against the VB and stated that they would continue their protest on Monday also. 

Ludhiana, April 3
A letter by the Municipal Corporation to the Chief Town Planner on changing the land use of several areas thereby regularising all industrial units in residential area has not gone down well with the residents, who in order to stall the move, have shot off a letter to CTP.

The commissioner, MC, has written to the CTP to change in master plan the land use of several residential areas that had many industrial units. This was done before the last date of filing the objections in the proposed master plan.

This was done following protests by several owners of industrial units, especially in Janta Nagar and Gill Road. The move was the result of pressure tactics by certain councillors and political leaders.

The residents of Malerkotla House in Civil Lines here sent a letter to the CTP stating that such a regularisation of industrial units in town planning schemes would foil the overall intent of town planning in the first place and making Punjab government’s commitment of planned development a myth.

‘‘It will be a health hazard and a nuisance for the residents. We fear that an amendment to a town planning scheme will enable polluting industrial units to set their shops in a purely residential area causing health and traffic hazards to the residents. We object strongly to any such amendment in schemes, ’’ said Hitesh Nayyar, a resident.

Referring to an order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court that ‘‘the state government was not entitled to regularise unauthorised encroachments and illegal construction made in the areas of any MCs. Further it is ordered that any notification already issued for regularisation of unauthorised encroachments or constructions was not to be implemented and was not to be given effect to.’’

Ludhiana, April 4
The forthcoming annual general body meeting of the Northern Railway Pensioners Welfare Association here on April 6 has been put in jeopardy and the issue of inviting the additional divisional railway manager (ADRM) as the chief guest has led to fierce infighting and a vertical split in the association.

Even as the issue of the AGM hangs in balance and a majority of the pensioners are waiting for the outcome of the factionalism with their fingers crossed, the president of the association, K.L. Chitkara, has claimed that the AGM stood cancelled and the chairman of the body, Sher Singh, has been removed from his post.

On the other hand, Sher Singh maintained that the meeting would be held on April 6 as scheduled and the reigning executive committee of the association had been dissolved to pave the way for fresh elections in the general body meeting.

In a statement, chairman of the association Sher Singh claimed that in the monthly meeting, held on March 9, some members had objected to inviting the ADRM in the AGM. Subsequently, a motion was put to vote and approved with majority. In view of the frayed tempers and undesirable behaviour of the group in minority at the meeting, the executive committee was dissolved and a seven member committee constituted to convene the AGM in a smooth manner.

Sher Singh maintained that the AGM will be held as per original schedule in the Northern Railway Mazdoor Union complex and urged railway pensioners not to be misled by false propaganda by the disgruntled group.

However, Chitkara, president of the body, said that an emergent meeting held at the railway station today had unanimously carried a resolution to the effect that AGM called by Sher Singh on April 6 stood cancelled. The meeting also ratified the removal of Singh from the post of chairman. He said the monthly meeting of the body would be convened on April 13 at Pensioners Bhawan to discuss the problems of railway pensioners .

Mandi Ahmedgarh, April 4
The SAD, a party that prides itself on its history of sacrifices and morchas for the masses, today failed to observe the 25th anniversary of 12 persons, Muslims and Hindus, killed in police firing here on the eve of the Dharam Yudh Morcha on April 4, 1983.

Twentytwo persons were killed and 65 injured seriously in the state during the rasta roko stir.

No leader of the party, not even the local ones, organised a function or contacted the kin of the deceased. The anguished families today offered prayers in their village gurdwaras and lamented the indifference of the leadership towards those who sacrificed their lives for the Panth. 

Ludhiana, April 4
Three days after a 12-year-old girl alleged molestation by a local doctor, the local police is yet to complete its inquiry into the case and decide whether it wanted to book the doctor or not.

The family of the alleged victim has decided to move court if the police failed to register a case.

The minor girl had on Tuesday night alleged that a doctor of the ESI hospital had molested her when she got herself examined from him.

The matter went to the SSP, R.K. Jaiswal, who marked an inquiry to ASP, Dhanpreet Kaur, into the case. Jaiswal said he was awaiting the report and would act accordingly.

Dhanpreet said she had taken the statement of both the parties. She was yet to take the statements of two more persons, who were important for the case.

Meanwhile, an uncle of the girl, Sunil Kumar, said that they had started getting feelers from the hospital authorities. He said they had got a call from the hospital to meet them but they would not go there.

He said they had contacted a lawyer and they were going to take the case directly to the court. 

Ludhiana, April 4
Personal training is the mantra to get the desired fitness, says Amit Verma, a dance therapist turned personal trainer, who has recently returned from UK. He feels that exercising in a gymnasium should not be associated with weight loss. The person should enjoy exercise rather than taking it as a burden. Claiming himself to be the first to start a dance gymnasium in the city around 10 years ago, Amit is back with whole new experience from UK.

“I worked as a personal trainer at Gold Gym in UK and taught many people the Indian style of dance, Bhangra, which is quite popular amongst Indians”, said Verma.

Amit Verma, who is a member of World Dance Aliens (WDA) and currently working for UNESCO, said during his stay in UK, he learnt many dancing exercises, which were based on holistic fitness. Bolly Wood Industry, UK, signed him for two years as a trainer. His work was highly appreciated as a choreographer.

“My work got recognition as a dance troop consisting of 12 people trained by me stood third in the Europe dance competition “Is it only dance” held at Greece. Popularly known as a footloose man, Amit Verma said there were many therapies following which the weight can be reduced, provided the person should be guided in a proper manner. Everyone has a different body type and same weight training and dieting regime is not applicable to everyone. Every person needs special kind of training”, he added.

He has got sound credentials to support his thought. Verma has done a diploma in dance therapy from Natural health Institute (INS) of Canada. He is a member of the International Dance Council.

He has done a research on 20 students, which proved that dance is not only helpful in loosing weight but it is also a potent stress buster.

“Dance is in my blood. I was in school when I decided to be a choreographer. I had a trashing from my parents for neglecting studies and opting for dance,” said Amit.

“Fortunately, I got further encouragement when I was asked by an official of Jalandhar Doordarshan to perform on TV. For five years my programmes were telecast on Jalandhar Doordarshan. Till then, I had no formal training. Then I felt, I should learn dance formally. I begged dancers teaching modern dances to accept me as their disciple, but for some reasons no one accepted me. Later, I devised my own steps”, Amit said.

As the marriage season is round the corner, Amit is all set to make the Ludhianavies dance to his tunes. 

Ludhiana, April 4
The court of judicial magistrate, first class, Ludhiana, K K Bansal, has convicted Sarbjit Singh of Tangian Wali gali, Basti Gobindgarh, Moga, in a theft case of a motorcylce.

The convict was ordered to undergo one-year imprisonment besides incurring a fine of Rs 500.

However, the court acquitted Harminder Singh, giving him the benefit of doubt.

An FIR under Sections 379, 411 of the IPC was registered at the Shimla Puri police station against unknown persons, following the complaint of Subeg Singh. He had lodged the complaint that some unknown persons had stolen his motorcyle. Later on, the stolen motorcycle was recovered by the police from the accused, according to the prosecution. 

Ludhiana, April 4
Woman 08, a three-day exhibition of jewellery, fashion accessories and apparel kicked off here today. The exhibition has participants like Hina Creation and Attire Collection from Pakistan, designers Simple Kaur, Neenu Sekhon and Mamta Puri, among others. 

The designers displayed ethnic Indian wear, traditional suits and sarees.

Romi Fabrics, Rosybee and Sia Ram Art are offering bed linens, curtains and other home accessories.

Ludhiana, April 4
Common man is unlikely to see a reduction in the rates of steel products even as large steel producers like SAIL and Tata Steel have agreed to slash rates by Rs 2,000 per metric tonne.

Manufacturers of items like bicycles said the increase in the prices of finished products had been much lower than the hike in steel prices in the last couple of months. Against a hike of roughly Rs 12,000 to Rs 15,000 per metric tonne in steel, manufacturers said the proportion of increase in the product prices was minor.

Items like steel utensils, hand tools and bicycles have recorded an increase in prices in the last few months and the impact of the steel rate hike has been so hard that the manufacturers are hesitant to react on the basis of a minor reduction, said industrialists.

"Bicycle rates, for instance, have increased by only Rs 165 whereas to match the hike a minimum increase of Rs 210 per bicycle was required. A reduction of Rs 2,000 per tonne would not be able to create any major effect on rates. Rather, product prices may witness a further upward movement," said Charanjit Singh Vishwakarma of Vishwakarma Industries, who is also the president of the United Cycle and Parts Manufacturers Association.

The steel market was relatively stable in the last week and news of a possible reduction led to sale at slashed prices. Sources in the industry said in anticipation of further increase, a few traders had been resorting to hoarding steel. However, in the last few days, when they feared a cut in prices, they sold off their stocks, which had stabilised the market.

Small steel producers here and in Mandi Gobindgarh also slashed prices by Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 per metric tonne. Scrap rates also reduced from Rs 31 to Rs 28 per kilogramme. However, they said, it was unlikely that a downward movement in steel prices would start.

"Ingot rates, which had rose to Rs 40,000, have come down to around Rs 35,000 to Rs 36,000. But with international rates continuing to move up, we do not think that the prices would come down. Unless the government bans export of iron ore and shortage is taken care of, steel producers cannot hope for better days," said K.K. Garg, president of North India Induction Furnace Association.

Industrialists said the government would have to resort to stern measures like including steel under essential commodities and curbing hoarding. "Unless concrete measures are taken, manufacturers will not be able to lower rates," said S.C. Ralhan, regional chairman of the Engineering Export Promotion Council.

Ludhiana, April 4
A multi-disciplinary team of six agriculture research scientists is attending the ongoing 19-day Field Experience Training (FET) at Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU), which concludes tomorrow, an official press release said here today.

This training was a part of the 82nd Foundation Course for Agricultural Research Service Programme (FUCARS) of the National Academy of Agricultural Research Management, Hyderabad. The trainees visited the adopted village of GADVASU, Gureh, for 11 days and found out various strengths and weaknesses of the rural folk and prepared recommendations.

The trainees also had a four-day industrial training at Verka Milk Plant. The head, department of veterinary and animal husbandry extension, Dr R.S. Sahota, gave the trainees insight of GADVASU.

Dr J.S. Bhatti and Dr Navdeep Singh acted as the local coordinators for the trainees and helped in creating liaison between the trainees and the village people.

The trainees found that people were shifting to commercial dairy farming and were leaving the allied dairy farming. They also found a need for commercialisation and popularisation of local variety of ber.

They held a seminar at village level to apprise the village people of these findings and also held a seminar at GADVASU to share findings with faculty and students. 

Ludhiana, April 4
A graduation ceremony was organised at BCM Arya Model Senior Secondary School, Swami Dayanand Hall, here today. The function started with a lamp lighting ceremony. Students wearing caps and capes were full of excitement. The children were in jubilant mood and were ready to step on the ladder of progress, successfully in future. 

Chief Guest Vinod Bembi also showered his blessings on students and exhorted them to work hard and wished them more success in future.

Welcome session: A welcome session for the students of Class I and II was organised in Kundan Vidya Mandir School auditorium here today.

The session was organised to make them comfortable in the changed environment.

The function started with the welcome address by Annu Sehra, in charge, primary section. She encouraged them to show their best in the coming session and also to enjoy their studies in true spirit.

The cultural programme comprising of dance, songs etc were also presented.

The movie ‘Nanhe Natkhat Ka Dhamaal’ was also screened. Principal S.C. Saxena appreciated the gesture shown by the little ones and wished them luck.

Ludhiana, April 4
On the second day of the annual meet of alumni association of College of Agriculture, a business meeting was held, wherein the activities carried out by the association were shared with the audience.

Dr M.S. Aulakh, dean, College of Agriculture and president of the association, welcomed the audience. The annual report was presented by Dr Chander Mohan, the joint secretary, on behalf of the executive committee of the alumni association of College of Agriculture.

Dr S.S.Kang, treasurer, presented the statement about financial position of the association.

Elections by voice voting were held to elect members of the new executive committee of the alumni association.

Dr Daljit Singh Dhillon was elected as secretary, Dr S.S. Kang as joint secretary, Dr B.S. Sidhu as executive secretary and Dr Allah Rang as treasurer.

The other members of the executive were Dr G.S. Behl, Dr Gurnam Singh Sekhon, Dr R.P.S. Aulakh, Dr Ramesh Kumar Sadavarti, Dr Ravinder Kaur Dhaliwal, Dr Ajit Kumar Rahelia (Solan), Dr B.S.Butari, Dr S.S. Kukal, Dr P.K.Chahal, Dr S.P. Batta and Dr P.K. Mehta (Palampur).

The new executive members also include Dr V.K. Dilawari (ex-officio), chief agriculture officer, Ludhiana, and deputy director (horticulture), Ludhiana.

Dean, College of Agriculture, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad (Pakistan) is also on the list. Earlier, events like tug of war between students and faculty members, musical chair race, obstacle race, poetic symposium and cultural programme were organised in the second half of the first day.

Students won tug of war. Dr Tarsem Singh Dhillon of vegetables department won musical chair race. In the cultural programme, events like creative dances, gidda, bhangra, mono acting etc were held. Sukhwinder Sukhi and Maqbool, both alumni of the College of Agriculture, enthralled the audience with their songs. 

Ludhiana, April 4
Bipolar affective disorder (BPD) is a condition in which a person has extreme changes of mood, periods of being unusually "high" or manic, and periods of being unusually "low" or depressed.

Previously referred to as manic depression, bipolar disorder is a serious and often debilitating mental illness.

Dr Paramjeet Singh Khurana, consultant neuro-psychiatrist at Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, said yesterday there were two types of bipolar disorder - I and II. The type I disorder featured periods of euphoria (elation) and mania (overexcitement) that alternate with periods of depression. In total contrast, BPD type II featured alternating periods of depression and hypomania (a milder form of mania). 

Doraha, April 4
Sports meet was organised at Doraha Institute of Management & Technology, Doraha, today. The chairman of DIMT, Sukhpal Singh, inaugurated the meet. Umal Kaur, director of SGHPS, Jaspreet Kaur (DCE), Japvir Singh and Supreet Kaur, coordinators of DIMT, Amarjit Singh and Tapvir Singh (DCE) were present.

Dr R.K. Lekhi, director of DIMT, appreciated the efforts made by the sports cell of the institute.

Various indoor sports like carrom board, table tennis and chess were also organised. Similarly, outdoors games like chati race, lemon spoon race, three-leg race, slow cycling, needle thread, musical chair, volleyball and kho-kho were organised.

The students of BBA, BCA and MBA participated in the meet. At the end, V.J. Rai presented vote of thanks.

Results:

Volleyball (boys) Ist- BCA IV semester (Harinder Singh, Sukhdeep Singh, Rajvir Singh, Kulbir Singh, Kulwant Singh, Harmanpreet Singh and Narinder Singh).

IInd: BCA IV semester (Jaspreet Singh, Manpreet Singh, Dalvir Singh, Pritpal Singh, Harpreet Singh, Harpreet Kumar and Sukhdeep Singh).

Carrom board (girls) Ist: Gagandeep Kaur (BCA-IV), IInd: Monia (BCA-IV); carrom board (boys) Ist: Suresh Dutta, Khurshid Ahmad Wani (MBA-II), IInd: Chand Babu, Aabid Hussain Bhat (MBA-II).

Table tennis (boys) Ist: Amit Sharma (MBA-II), IInd: Pritpal Singh (BCA-IV).

Chess (boys) Ist: Aabid Hussain Bhat (MBA-II), IInd: Ankit Kumar (MBA-IV).

Chatti race Ist: Baljeet Kaur (BBA-IV), IInd: Neeru (MBA-II).

Lemon spoon Ist: Neeru (MBA-II), IInd: Gagandeep Kaur (BCA-II), IIIrd: Jasvir Kaur (BCA-II).

Three-leg race (girls) Ist: Richa (MBA-II), Sharanjeet Kaur (MBA-II) and Kuljinder Kaur (BBA-IV), Sandeep Kaur (BBA-IV), second: Reetika, Neeru (MBA-II).

Three-leg race (boys) Ist: Vippy Singh, Yogesh (MBA-II), second: Vipin, Ravinder (MBA-II).

Slow cycling Ist: Pardeep Singh (BCA-IV), IInd: Vipin (MBA-II), IIIrd: Charanpreet Singh (MBA-II).

Needle and thread Ist: Mandeep Kaur (BCA-II), IInd: Akbir Kaur (BBA-IV), IIIrd: Sukhdeep Kaur (BCA-II).

Musical chair (girls) Ist: Pawanjot Kaur (BBA-IV), IInd: Neeru (MBA-II).

Musical chair (boys) Ist: Nirmal Singh (MBA-II), Iind: Gurjeet Singh (BBA-IV).

Ludhiana, April 4
More than 500 boys and girls from different schools from across the state turned up to appear for trials conducted by the Punjab Education Department here today.

These trials were held in the u-14, u-17 and u-19 years categories to select players for the sports wings being set up in schools.

Aspirants attended trials (athletics) at the local Guru Nanak Stadium while selection trials for the hockey and handball disciplines were held here at the Shaheed Sukhdev Thapar Government Senior Secondary School, Bharat Nagar branch.

Deputy director (sports), Punjab School Education Board, Kulraj Kaur Randhawa, was present there to supervise the trials.

Giving details about the schools' sports wings, she said following the orders by the Punjab education minister Upinderjit Kaur, it had been decided to set up the wings to promote sports at school levels and prepare sports persons which could perform at the state and national level tournaments.

State organiser (sports), education department, Punjab, Kuldeep Singh, Rupinder Singh Ravi, assistant education officer (sports), Ludhiana along with Manjit Singh, Gagandeep Singh, Ajitpal Singh, Gurwinder Singh Jarkhar, Karamjit Singh, Paramjeet Kaur, Baljeet Singh, Satinder Singh Satti, Sita Kapila were among other sports teachers, who were present there.