Ludhiana, May 6
Wax worth thousands was reduced to ashes when a candle manufacturing company near GMT School on the Jalandhar bypass caught fire this morning.

The fire was so massive that it took seven fire engines to control it from spreading further.

A team of fire fighters led by fire officer Krishan Lal Kakkar took two hours to douse the blaze. Kakkar said melting wax flowed onto the streets from the factory, making the task even harder for the firemen.

“We had to use a lot of water to stop the wax from melting further. We were finally able to stop the fire from spreading in other areas,” said Kakkar, adding that the factory owners had made good fire-fighting arrangements like arranging water tankers and hoses, which helped fighters control the fire.

He said the cause of the fire could not be ascertained yet. However, he did not rule out the possibility of a short-circuit leading to the fire.

The fire officer said the factory was found using domestic LPG cylinders instead of commercial ones. “We have reported the matter to the authorities concerned.”

Six more incidents of fire had been reported from different parts of the city since last night due to windy conditions accompanied by rain.

The weather caused sparks in overhead electricity cables that caused minor fires in different parts. These were checked well in time and no loss to life or property was reported.

Ludhiana, May 6
Students pursuing MBA, MCA, BBA and BCA courses at Punjab Technical University (PTU) are in a predicament as the PTU has failed to declare reappear and re-evaluation results of last semester.

Interestingly, the PTU has scheduled the semester examination from May 23.

The exam for the last semester was conducted in January, but the results are still not out.

A BBA student from a local college said, “This is not new as the PTU is always late in declaring results. This time, however, it is confusing those who had taken reappear exam and had applied for re-evaluation as they can't fill forms, let alone prepare for the exam.”

A senior teacher, on the condition of anonymity, said the exam was scheduled for May 12, but was rescheduled for May 23 without realising the problems of teachers who had to go for poll duty on May 26. “Apparently, the authorities concerned at the PTU would make changes in the date sheet for the third time, inconveniencing students and faculty,” he said.

The dean, examination, Dr N.P. Singh, said, “This time the results are on time and we have declared a majority of reappear results. There is a stipulated time for applying for re-evaluation that rules out the possibility in the delay of declaration of results.” 

Ludhiana, May 6
The police has busted a gang of five for allegedly shooting an industrialist on April 26. Other than sharp-edged weapons, the police has recovered a 12 bore rifle, a 32 bore gun and 21 cartridges.

The accused have been identified as Dhaminder of Barewal and Amritpal, Sandeep Kumar, Shiv Kumar and Amandeep Singh, all residents of Nandpur village.

They were nabbed from various places following a tip-off.

Police sources said, Dharminder, the mastermind, was arrested late last night from Jawahar Nagar. He was stated to be a sharpshooter of the Rajan gang and was also a proclaimed offender.The accused were on the run since April 26.

The SSP, R.K Jaiswal, said the gang entered the house of Barewal resident Gurcharan Singh with the intention of robbing him. When the victim resisted, the accused shot him and fled from the scene. The victim sustained serious injuries and is admitted to the DMC.

Ludhiana, May 6
Owing to the ongoing labour shortage, industrial units are tapping the relatively unexplored segment of women workers.

As labour shortage this harvesting season has been more than last time, factory owners are encouraging the existing work force to bring women to work in factories.

This has also resulted in a significant rise in the proportion of women labourers in industrial units, most of whom are engaged in works like assembling of parts and packaging.

For factories, engaging women work force brings in dual benefit -- dealing with existing shortage and saving on costs as the remuneration paid to inexperienced workers is lower.

The number of women working this time is almost double in units. “We are facing almost 30-35 per cent shortage. To deal with it, we have started employing women for various tasks and the number of women workers in our factory this time is double than routine,” said Charanjit Singh Vishwakarma, an industrialist.

The shortage has also resulted in a rise in wages of unskilled workers. Many industrial enterprises in the city have put boards outside their premises, stating the requirement of worker along with an attractive remuneration.

While most factories deploy unskilled labourers for around Rs 1,400-Rs 1,600, the amount this season has increased to Rs 2,500 on an average. Industrial units are forced to pay higher wages as labour shortage would mean decline in production.

Entrepreneurs fear that poor power situation may worsen the scenario and they do not want to compromise on production at this time of the year.

“The shortage this time is acute. Workers who went home for Holi never returned and some were deployed by farmers for harvesting. As we cannot afford to work below our capacity, we are paying almost Rs 1,000 higher than what they are paid normally,” said Raj Arora, another industrialist.

Ludhiana, May 6
The court of the additional sessions judge, Sanjeev Berry, has sentenced Neela Singh of Jarda village, Raikot, to rigorous imprisonment for 20 years on the charges of possessing narcotics. He was also ordered to pay a fine of Rs 2 lakh.

His accomplice Kuldeep Singh of Rasulpur village, Jagraon, was also sentenced to 10-year imprisonment and fined Rs 1 lakh.

An FIR was lodged against both accused on October 5, 2001, under Section 15 of the NDPS Act.

According to the prosecution, a police party was going towards Manuke village when it spotted a truck and a car. The drivers were asked to stop their vehicles. When the truck was searched, 15 bags of poppy husk were seized.

During police remand, Neela told the police that he along with another accused had concealed huge quantity of poppy husk in the area of the Raikot police station.

The police party took the accused to the place and recovered 29 bags of poppy husk.

Ludhiana, May 6
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has expressed its concern at repeated bomb scares in city hospitals in the recent past. Hoax bomb calls were made to two nursing homes on two consecutive days a few days ago.

The association has asked the medical fraternity to remain vigilant and thwart the designs of mischievous and unscrupulous elements.

In a statement here today, IMA district president Dr Arun Mitra said even though the “bombs” had turned out to be “toys”, the incidents had caused a lot of stress and agony to concerned persons and also those living in the vicinity of the targeted areas.

“There is an increased feeling of insecurity among medical professionals of the town and possibility of sabotage and violence in future cannot be ruled out.”

The IMA has appealed to the administration to arrest the culprits. The tendency of violence especially against medicos in the recent past was a matter of serious concern for which society as a whole should come forward, he said.

Law and order had to be maintained and the guilty brought to book, Dr Mitra added.

Ludhiana, May 6
The elections to the state unit of the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers’ Union (PCCTU) have been preponed to May 8 from May 11 as announced earlier.

General secretary of the union Dr Kuldip Singh said an emergency meeting of the executive members was held today at Layalpur Khalsa College, Jalandhar. "Keeping in mind the election duties for the Panchayat elections, we have decided to pre-pone the union elections. As per the constitution, the annual elections and session must get completed before May 15," said Dr Kuldip adding that elections would be held at R.K. Arya College, Nawanshahr. Seventeen members attended the meeting today.

Ludhiana, May 6
Apprehending that the downward trend in steel prices is a short-term phenomenon, the local industry feels that the government needs to take stringent measures to deal with the issue.

It has also demanded that the government should ensure at least six months of stability in prices for the industry to emerge from the losses it has suffered during the phase when steel prices rose.

A ban of futures trading in steel, on export of iron ore, semi-finished material and finished material, cut in excise duty to eight per cent and stopping export incentives to private players are some of the measures local industrialists say are needed to prevent the upward movement again.

Unless a trigger mechanism is evolved by the government, it would not be possible to ensure reasonable rates, said industrialists.

Representatives of the industry say they have learned that the government is contemplating a 10 per cent export duty on all grades of finished steel, including TMT bars, semi-finished and HR coils.

While this move, if implemented, can help deal with steel rate crisis, more measures are needed.

“Private producers and even secondary manufacturers here are exploiting the situation. Most of those engaged in commodity trading have nothing to do with the actual business, while industry has to suffer as a result,” says Joginder Kumar, an industrialist.

Industrialists add that duty on secondary material and defective material should be brought to zero.

Owners of micro and small enterprises say the government must ensure that a representative from micro and small industry be nominated in the price monitoring committee on iron and steel prices.

Also, iron and steel items should be brought under Essential Commodities Act, they add.

Ludhiana, May 6
Students of GMT Senior Secondary School, Jalandhar bypass chowk, won laurels for their school in the 6th All-India Ashihara Karate Championship organised by the Punjab Ashihara Karate Federation here, recently.

A press note issued here today said Jatin Sharma bagged top honours in the 18-20 kg category, while Anmol Mehan, Tanish Bhasin, Aryan Singh, Sachin Talwar, Himanshu, Mohit Kumar, Gurleen Singh, Shivani Kaur, Rajveer Singh, Jatin Chopra, Urvashi, Gundeep Singh, Manoj Kumar, Divik Mehta, Sachin Gandhi, Komal Pandey, Nitin Sharma, Karamjeet Kaur, Rohan Sharma, Krishank Rai and Kawaljot Singh clinched medals in different weight categories to stamp their superiority. The winners were honoured at a function organised on the school premises today. School directors Kashmir Singh Thind and Jasbir Singh Thind along with principal Amarjeet Dhaliwal appreciated the position holders and coach Pankaj Sahni for bringing laurels to the school.