Ludhiana, June 25
The rail-roko agitation by Sikh organisations against firing on Sikh protesters by a security guard of Baba Ram Rahim Singh in Mumbai threw the train traffic on Ludhiana-Amritsar and Ludhiana-Delhi sections in disarray here today.

With no train arriving from Amritsar, Jammu and Delhi side all through the day, thousands of rail passengers faced problems and uncertainty prevailed on the railway station.

According to information at the Ludhiana railway station, several trains like Amritsar-New Delhi Shatabdi Express, Amritsar-Bandra Pashchim Express, Jan Shatabdi, Amritsar-Darbhanga Express, Jammu-Mumbai Superfast Express and Jammu-Indore Malwa Express were detained by protesting Sikhs at Amritsar and Jalandhar.

Similarly, most of the Amritsar and Jammu-bound UP trains were held up midway at Ambala and Sirhind while some trains were terminated at Delhi itself to save the passengers from inconvenience.

The routine hustle and bustle, witnessed at the railway station from where some 36 trains passed out during the day, was missing and the platforms, as also the booking windows, wore a deserted look. The disruption of train movement during the period of protest (from 9 am to 7 pm) also affected the vendors and stalls of eatables who had to miss out on their sale of snacks and beverages.

Intending rail passengers, who had booked their journey tickets in advance for today, remained a confused lot as no information about running of trains in the evening or late night was made available to them at the railway enquiry or reservation counters.

According to station superintendent Ashok Salaria, 3005 UP Howrah-Amritsar Mail and 1057 Dadar-Amrtisar Express trains, which had arrived at the Ludhiana railway station, were terminated here and full refund of fare for the journey from Ludhiana to Amrtisar, was given to passengers.

The Howrah-Amrtisar Mail will commence its return journey to Howrah from Ludhiana this evening on the scheduled time while the other train might resume its journey to Amritsar late in the evening.

Players of four teams of different states, participating in the national 20-20 tournament here were stranded as they postponed their train journey and got their reservation cancelled due to uncertainty of rail traffic and fearing eruption of violence during the protest.

A large number of volunteers of Sikh bodies had blocked railway tracks on the Ludhiana-Ferozepur section near Mullanpur in this district for several hours and disrupted the rail traffic.

A group of Sikh Students Federation (Grewal) workers burnt an effigy of Baba Ram Rahim Singh on Gill Road while activists of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amrtisar) blocked vehicular traffic at Jamalpur on Ludhiana-Chandigarh Road for over two hours.

Meanwhile, the United Church of Northern India, at its meeting, condemned the firing in Mumbai and demanded immediate arrest of the self-styled baba. The meeting also demanded adequate compensation to the kin of the dead and those injured in the firing.

Ludhiana, June 25
The International Human Rights Organisation (IHRO), while criticising the Central and state governments, including Punjab, for their inaction against Sirsa dera head Baba Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh, has asked the Maharashtra government to book the "baba" in the Mumbai Sikh murder case under Section 120-B of the IPC along with others.

The murder of Balkar Singh by his private body guards at Mumbai is the result of clandestine encouragement rendered by the UPA government at the Centre and the Congress government in Haryana. It has caused panic and provoked the Sikh community against the alleged murderer and the baba, who too is facing criminal charges for injuring religious feelings of the Sikhs in Punjab at Bathinda.

IHRO chairperson D.S. Gill, general secretary, M.S.Grewal and its coordinator for Sikh Affairs, Gurcharanjit Singh Lama, in a statement here, said, "If the baba is not bridled forthwith and put behind the bars, there may be the repeat of Nirankaris episode that had ultimately lead to incidents of 1984 in Punjab and elsewhere in India."

It is unfortunate that many politicians in Punjab and Haryana are protecting the baba just for votes and notes, considering him as their vote mine, said the human rights defenders, adding that the Badals, who matter in Punjab politics, are no exception and they were very well competing with the Congress leaders in this regard.

It was anybody's guess that Sukhbir Badal was keen in contesting from Bathinda's parliamentary constituency, said the IHRO statement.

It was because of these reasons, the IHRO said, that no criminal chargesheet against the baba had so far been filed.

The IHRO, therefore, called upon the people, who had respect for the rule of law and human rights, to pressure the Maharashtra government to book the baba along with other guilty persons for the murder so that the Sikhs could get justice.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, June 25
SAD captured all offices in block samitis falling under the jurisdiction of Ludhiana district. However, election to the block samiti office Malerkotla II was staggered.

Sukhminder Kaur Gopalpur and Raksha Devi Butahri were elected chairperson and vice-chairperson of Dehlon block samiti unanimously today.

According to Neeru Katyal, SDM, Payal, all 21 members resolved unanimously to elect office-bearers during a meeting held at the block development office at Dehlon.

A similar meeting was held at Doraha where Harinder Pal Singh Honey of Ghudani village was elected chairman. Gurmit Kaur was elected vice-chairperson.

Inderjit Singh of Goindwal and Gurmel Singh of Jhordan were elected chairman and vice-chairman of Raekot block samiti. Mukand Singh Sandhu, SDM, Raekot, presided over the meeting. Baljinder Kaur and Mehar Singh were elected chairperson and vice-chairman of Sudhar block.

Block samiti members of Pakhowal block elected Gurmukh Singh Latala as chairman and Amandeep Ruby as vice-chairman.

Appreciating the role played by social leaders of the area, Mann Singh Garcha hoped that harmony among constituents of block samitis would help the administration implement development projects expeditiously.

"We are happy that block samiti members backed by other political parties extended support to SAD nominees. This will help the authorities execute developmental works efficiently," said Garcha.

Khanna, June 25
The local police has booked six persons, who were trying to encroach upon a plot in Salondhi village.

In his complaint to the police, Sukhjeet Singh, a resident of Salondhi village, alleged that Jaswinder Singh, Harjinder Singh, Amarjeet and three other unidentified persons tried to encroach upon his plot in the village. They stole 2,000 bricks from the plot and damaged the boundary wall, he complained. The police has registered a case under Sections 447,511,427 and 380 of the IPC. Further investigations are on.

Meanwhile, the police has booked three persons for intimidating and beating up a resident of Samrala Road.

In his complaint to the police, Raj Kumar said that Yog Dhyan, Manjit and Nand, all residents of Vinod Nagar, forcibly entered his house and started beating him up and also intimidated him.

A case under Sections 452, 323 and 34 of the IPC has been registered in this connection. The police is investigating the matter.

In a separate incident, a migrant committed suicide today by hanging himself with a tree outside his house in Rahon village.

The victim has been identified as Surinder, who had been living with his parents and brother for the past few years. Police officials said family members of Surinder were doing menial jobs in the village. The reason behind the suicide could not be ascertained. The police has initiated proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPc. 

Ludhiana, June 25
The Association of the Punjab State Technical Private Institutions might have agreed with the state government’s proposal to reserve 10 per cent seats in their respective institutions free of cost exclusively for rural students, still many managements feel that the reservation was not the only solution, the government must try to restore the dilapidated infrastructure in schools first.

As per latest directive, 10 per cent seats will be reserved for the rural youths scoring first division or above, in the technical private institutions from the academic session 2008-09. The students falling in this category will be imparted free education along with facilities like free boarding, lodging and transportation.

President of the managing committee of Gujranwala Guru Nanak Khalsa College Prithipal Singh Kapoor said the institutions had to adhere to government’s decisions. It became mandatory for private technical institutes to follow government’s directives.

“In the past two decades, the education in villages had been ruined (due to terrorism). Since 1992 none of the state governments tried to upgrade the educational system in the villages”, Prithipal Singh said adding that before this reservation move, government should try to focus on schools’ upgradation. “Reserving 10 per cent seats will not serve any purpose if students will not get even the desired pass-marks”, he added.

Another member of technical education institute here said providing free education to deprived students with rural background was a good initiative. “But, imposing such directives is not welcome. The government should leave it to the managements, which volunteer for this noble cause. All institutions will have to adhere to it as grants are to be released by the government”, he added.

Principal Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College M.S.Saini said the quota was already fixed for rural students at GNDEC. “We have not received the notification of providing free education (10 per cent) to deserving rural students. Our institution falls under the directorate of technical education and we will adhere to what government decides”, he added. 

Yahoo, an internet services company has recently come out with the ymail.com <http://ymail.com/>on the lines of the successful gmail.com <http://gmail.com/>, hotmail.com <http://hotmail.com/>, aol.com <http://aol.com/>etc. to feed the increasing demand of email service seekers in the world. But the romance with emails has its pitfalls too.

Richard Philips, a London lawyer was having lunch with Jenny Amner, a secretary at his firm. He accidentally spilled ketchup on his pants. After the incident, Phillips felt compelled to send an email to Amner: "Hi Jenny, I went to a drycleaners at lunch and they said it would cost £4 to remove the ketchup stains. If you cd (could) let me have the cash today, that wd (would) be much appreciated. Thanks Richard."

When he didn't receive a prompt response, he continued to pursue the case, including having a colleague leave a post- it note on Amner's desk reminding her of the debt. Then Amner responded by email, and Cc's hundreds of people in her firm:

Subject: Re: Ketchup trousers.

With reference to the email below, I must apologize for not getting back to you straight away but due to my mother's sudden illness, death and funeral I have had more pressing issues than your £ 4. I apologize again for accidentally getting a few splashes of ketchup on your trousers. Obviously your financial need as a senior associate is greater than mine as a mere secretary. Having already spoken to and shown your email and Anne-Marie's note to various partners, lawyers and trainees in ECC&T and IP/IT, they kindly offered to do a collection to raise the £ 4. I however declined their kind offer but should you feel the urgent need for the £ 4, it will be on my desk this afternoon, Jenny. If this hadn't been on email, it wouldn't have found its way into British newspapers - and into this column.

Well , here's what Eliot Spitzer (who had to resign as New York's governor in an unsavoury situation) had to say on the subject when he was the state attorney general: "Never talk when you can nod. And never write when you can talk. My only addendum is never put it in email."

However, in this age of web, it is not possible to avoid email communication. Emails have become an integral part of our daily life, whether we like it or not. Is it not better to understand the niceties of this boon of technology?

Never forget that a Cc (copy to) has the power to publicly shame someone, whether that's your intention or not. Here's a cautionary tale concerning a president of the China division of EMC - a $10 billion-a-year multinational. One evening in May 2006, the executive found his office locked, which prompted him to send the following email to his secretary:

"You locked me out of my office this evening because you assume I have my office key on my person. With immediate effect, you do not leave the office until you have checked with all the managers you support." At some point between composition and hitting the Send key he felt compelled to Cc others in the company.

His secretary replied: "I locked the door because the office has been burgled in the past. Even though I'm your subordinate, please pay attention to politeness when you speak. This is the most basic human courtesy. You have your own keys. You forgot to bring them, but you still want to say it's someone else's fault."

She in return Cc'd EMC's entire staff in China. The email exchange quickly found its way into China's press and became a source of national debate because the boss was from Singapore - and his behavior stirred up local fears of cultural imperialism. It also managed to touch upon perennially sensitive issues, from gender politics to office hierarchy - whose job is it really to lock the doors? Eventually, the boss felt compelled to resign.

David Shipley, Op-Ed page editor of The New York Times and Will Schwalbe, a former journalist in their book "SEND: The Essential Guide to Email for Office and Home" explains the ABC's of Cc's and Bcc's ( and forwarding):

Cc : I want you to know and I want the others to know that I want you to know.

Bcc : I want you to know and I DON'T want the others to know that I want you to know.

Forward : I want you to know and I may want to add something to the original message and I may or may not want the others to know that I want you to know, but if it so happens that I don't want them to know I want you to know I want to take no chances that they might accidentally find out due to a Reply All slip of the finger.

anilM is an editor with Instablogs.com: <mailto:anilM@instablogs.com> <mailto:anilM@instablogs.com>anilM@instablogs.com

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.

Ludhiana, June 25
The hosiery industry's initiative to bring buyers and manufacturers from across the country under one roof is expected to translate into business worth over Rs 700 crore.

Big brands turned up to make purchases and the industry is now planning a 35-40 per cent increase in production this year.

Bookings having been done, manufacturing is likely to reach its peak at least 15 days prior to the schedule. This will help producers emerge as stronger players in global markets too.

Facing stiff competition, the industry, for the first time, made a move to hold a meeting in which more than 700 buyers, including large retailing brands, participated. "Bookings have been much higher than our expectations. We had expected these to reach around Rs 500 crore but the actual amount has already surpassed the target. Most bookings are likely to translate into orders," said Sudarshan Jain, convener, Knitwear and Apparel Manufacturers Association of Ludhiana, which conducted the meeting.

While manufacturers were able to contact large number of buyers and also save on time and costs, involved in hiring agents to show their samples to their customers, for the clients a wide variety to choose from was the key advantage.

"Contacting buyers and getting orders took a lot of time earlier but this year work will begin much earlier. Within the coming two years, we will be able to prolong our production cycle and time our manufacturing according to global industry," added Jain.

Prolonging the manufacturing cycle will enable enterprises to meet global competition and focus on quality and designs, which they were unable to do so far on account of the long time taken in procuring orders, leaving barely three-four months for peak production.

Industrialists are now aiming at 35-40 per cent increase in production this year. "We are facing a lot of problems, including labour shortage, poor power supply and increase in raw material costs. Most unit owners are going in for automation to deal with labour shortage and we hope that the overall scenario will not worsen. Production is set to increase," said Vinod K. Thapar, president of Knitwear Club.

Small and medium manufactures said they got high demand for jackets that were in vogue last year too.

Bookings from large brands constitute around 20 per cent of the total business. As manufacturers will start production soon, they are expecting a significant jump in orders from other segments as well.

Ludhiana, June 25
A training programme on cultivation of vegetables particularly tomato, chilli, cauliflower, cabbage, brinjal for officials of Tata Chemicals, working in the vegetable growing areas of Malerkotla and procuring the produce directly from farmers, concluded at PAU today.

The officials were provided tips on scientific vegetable growing along with strategies for the management of insect pest and diseases affecting vegetables. N.S.Malhi, director of extension education, in his remarks highlighted the importance of vegetables in the nutritional security of people. He stressed that pesticides should be used as per advice of expert at recommended doses and at proper time as these were poisonous chemicals. Harvesting of the produce after appropriate time following sprays was important in view of the residue of pesticides, he added. T.S.Dhillon provided information on the net-house cultivation of capsicum, tomato and brinjal adding that this technology was useful in producing vegetables free from pesticides. 

Ludhiana, June 25
Thirteen-year-old Yuvraj Sehdev, who has brought laurels to the city by earning himself a co-pilot’s license from Airtime Canada, will be honoured by deputy commissioner Sumer Singh Gurjar on Independence Day. After achieving the feat, the life of this Class VIII student of Ryan International School, who also happens to be the youngest among the 11-member to earn the co-pilot’s license, has changed ever since he landed the city on June 9. Despite, earning the co-pilot’s license, he has something else to flaunt.

Sehdev has become one of the few Indians to receive a medallion batch of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, which will be hosted at Vancouver and Whistler in Canada.

“The Canadian government officials told us that we are among the few Indian to wear this medallion batch. It is a part of goodwill gesture by the Canadian government,” added Sehdev.

This budding footballer further added that receiving something and that too concerning Olympics was like a dream come true. He said, “I have been wearing this batch on my shirt ever since I returned from Canada.”

He was a part of an aviation and leadership camp for 12 to 15-year-old Ryan students that was organised in Canada. The main objective was to orient students with a hands-on experience of being a pilot and thus opening an avenue to consider aviation as a possible career option and to enhance their self-confidence and boost their leadership skills.

Founder chairman of the Ryan International Group of Institutions A.F. Pinto said it was the responsibility of every educational institution to cater to the needs of quality and developmental skills in India.

Ludhiana, June 25
Students of the Khalsa Institute of Management and Technology for Women, Civil Lines, have bagged top ranks in the Punjab Technical University December 2007 examination.

Shivangi Sachdev bagged the sixth position in MBA Ist semester by scoring 90 per cent marks. Pallavi Rai stood first by scoring 90.08 per cent marks while Sarika Goyal stood fifth with 87.28 per cent in MCA third semester exam.

In undergraduates’ category Ena Verma obtained second rank by scoring 525 marks while Ketiki Dhawan was placed 10th in the merit list of BBA IIIrd semester. Kirandeep Kaur of BCA Vth semester is ranked third in the university.

“All students have passed in the first division with majority of them having obtained distinctions in their area of specialisation” said Dr Vijay Asdhir, director of the institute. President Pritpal Singh Grewal and members of the Khalsa Dewan joined Dr Asdhir in congratulating the students, parents and the teachers for making a concerted effort for this excellent performance.

Mandi Ahmedgarh: Simranjit Kaur, Ravinder Singh and Gurjit Singh of Shanti Tara College, Akbarpur, were felicitated for obtaining first three positions in the institute in BA III examination conducted by Punjabi University, Patiala. 

Doraha, June 25
A weeklong art workshop was organised at Green Grove Public School. The students of classes IV to VIII took part in it. The workshop familiarised students with the new skills in painting, colouring techniques and use of crayons or poster colours. Students were also taught about others skills like fabric, glass and the canvas paintings, 3-D work, crackle and etching paste painting. Principal Suzie George said the main aim was to tap the budding creativity in students and bring it to the forefront by providing adequate platform.

After the workshop, all creations of the children were exhibited on the school premises. The talent among the students was appreciated by one and all.

Doraha, June 25
More than 300 B.Tech students have registered themselves for the one-month training workshop being organised by the consultancy, training and placement cell of the Ludhiana College of Engineering and Technology (LCET) in collaboration with its constituent departments.

Consultancy, training and placement cell’s dean S.P. Sharma said the main objective of this training was to expose the students to inter-disciplinary engineering environment and to update them with the use of technologies of other branches in their own field of study.

He further elaborated that the students would be imparted training in the communication skills, personality development and use of computers. Besides this, they would also be told about different modules of training in their respective field of specialisations.

Ludhiana, June 25
The department of surgery at Christian Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) here has started specialised breast and endocrine surgical services.

Giving this information, Dr Sunil Singh said all kinds of surgical problems, including cancers related with the breast, thyroid, parathyroid and other endocrine organs, would be dealt within the service. The hospital would offer a multi-disciplinary approach to the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer and there would be a very close working relationship with other specialists in medical oncology, diagnostic imaging and radiation therapy to provide the most effective care to the patients.

Treatment options would also be available for benign or cosmetic breast conditions in association with the plastic surgery department, he added.

According to Dr Rajiv Kapoor, head of the department of surgery at CMCH, various other specialities, including upper GI and hepatobiliary surgery, laparoscopic surgery, colorectal surgery for intestinal and rectal cancers as well as surgical expertise for patients with ulcerative colitis would be available at the hospital.

A dedicated liver surgery unit has been started recently to deal with all kinds of liver cancer and other diseases. 

Ludhiana, June 25
Under directives from the Union Government, the state AYUSH (ayurveda, unani, sidha and homeopathy) department has geared up to ensure GMP (good manufacturing processes) compliance by the ayurvedic drug industry in the state.

With the objective of bringing qualitative improvement in the ayurvedic formulations being manufactured in Punjab, KBS Sidhu, licensing authority and commissioner, AYUSH, Punjab, has issued a letter to ayurvedic drug manufacturers along with a 19-page check-list of more than 325 points, concerning various GMP-compliance related issues. The drug manufacturers have been directed to submit their own internal assessment pertaining to these issues.

The action comes after the Punjab AYUSH department had conducted two exclusive workshops on GMP compliance on January 27, 2008, at Jalandhar and on May 28, 2008, at Ludhiana.

The letter states that the central AYUSH department had sought GMP-compliance report from the respective drug inspectors after conducting proper inspection as per the new check-list, yet the department has taken this initiative to provide an opportunity for self-appraisal to the industry in their respective units. The drug manufacturers have been asked to submit the self-appraisal report within seven days of the receipt of these letters.

"On receipt of the desired information on all short-comings through the internal review document, the department will stipulate a proper time period to the units to take corrective measures. Non-submission of the self-review statement within the stipulated period by the industry members will lead to initiation of legal proceedings," said an official of the AYUSH department.

Welcoming the move of the AYUSH department, Dr Pradeep Nagrath, CEO of Pentavox Herbals and member of the national managing committee of ADMA (Ayurvedic Drug Manufacturers Association), said providing an opportunity for introspection was a unique industry-friendly step. He said this would certainly lead towards uplift and upgradation of micro and small sector of ayurvedic drug industry in the state. It would also help the industry to be more competitive qualitatively in the domestic and global market.

Dr Nagrath, however, stressed the need for more educative quality management workshops for the benefit of the industry, under the expertise of hi-tech professionals. 

Ludhiana, June 25
The mockery of cricket continued even on the final day of the first Senior National 20 Cricket Tournament being played at Government Model Senior Secondary School in Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) here today.

Quite similar to the pervious day the match were further curtailed from 10 to just six overs much to the agony the players belonging to various states across the country.

Instead of scheduled 20 over cricket match, the tournament officials organised semifinals just of six overs.

This decision disappointed the players, who were complaining of mismanagement by the organisers.

"We thought we will exhibit our skills in the tournament but the organisers have disappointed us by squeezing the overs. We were told that it is a 20 over cricket tournament but the orgnisers have organised matches of just six overs to complete the tournament in a hurry," said players from Uttrakhand.

On curtailing the tournament to such an extent, the officials accompanying various teams have raised serious doubts about organising a tournament of the national level in such an indifferent way.

One of the official alleged that the tournament authorities had not even verified the credentials of the players.

He said a few players who did not get a chance to play for their respective team or they their sides made an early exit from the tournament during the league phase, they were allowed to represent other states.

One of the tournament official said, "The over were squeezed as it rained heavily in the morning as today was the last day of the tournament and no other option was left other than curtailing the overs."

However, denying all these allegations, Jasbir Singh, general secretary, Punjab State 20-Cricket Association said, "No player represented any other team other than the team he belongs to. The tournament officials kept a close watch on them to discourage any such activity which could harm the very spirit of the game."

Ludhiana, June 25
Trials were conducted for selecting the Ludhiana boy's hockey team (u-16) at the Prithipal Singh Memorial AstroTurf Stadium of Punjab Agricultural University here today.At least 35 aspirants turned up, according to honorary secretary, district hockey association, Ludhiana, Ajay Pal Singh.

Former captain of the Indian hockey team and deputy director, sports, Punjab Agricultural University, Ramandeep Singh Grewal, Harinder Singh Bhullar, Ajay Pal Singh, Harpal Singh and Sukhwinder Singh supervised the boys during the trials.

Fifteen players were shortlisted.They have been asked to attend a coaching camp starting from July 3 at PAU.

Ajay Pal Singh informed that they had expected more boys to attend the trials today but due to summer vacations in schools, players had gone out of station and could not make it to the trials."The turnout was not so encouraging and we had decided to give one more chance to the boys for appearing for the trials which would be held on July 3 at 4 p.m. at the same venue," he added

Boys selected on July 3 would join the players, picked up today at the preparation camp prior to their participation in the Sub-Junior Punjab State Inter-District Hockey Tournament slated to be held from July 10 to 13 at Batala, Ajay added.