Ludhiana, September 5
The Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA) today sold land measuring 3.60 acre (17,425 square yards) of Old District Courts complex, for Rs 228.26 crore through an open auction at PUDA House here.

The chunk of land, put under the hammer, is a part of 9 acres prime land in Civil Lnes which was handed over to PUDA by the state government for commercial exploration under the "optimum use of government vacant land" policy after the sessions and subordinate courts had shifted to the new judicial complex adjoining Mini Secretariat.

S.R. Kler, additional chief administrator of PUDA, conducted the auction proceedings in the presence of deputy commissioner Sumer Singh Gurjar, additional deputy commissioner Priyank Bharti and other senior officers of PUDA.

The highest bid for the land offered by Life Insurance Corporation of India was Rs 1.31 lakh per square yard as against the reserve price of Rs 1 lakh. Other five participants in the auction included reputed builders and real estate developers like Tata Realty and Infrastructure, Best City Realtech, AERENR Enterprises, Malhotra Land Developers and Inderpreet Singh Chadha.

According to Kler, the PUDA authorities had already auctioned 11,000 square yards land of the Sessions Court complex, located just opposite to Old District Courts earlier this year at Rs 1.46 lakh per square yard.

For the chunk of land sold today, the construction of basement will be permitted, floor area ratio will be 1:3 with maximum ground coverage of 40 per cent and unrestricted height, which, however, will be subject to clearance from the Air Force authorities. The builder will be free to make use of the building for commercial or residential purpose.

All bidders, who took part in the auction, had to deposit Rs 1.75 crore as eligibility fee which was refunded to unsuccessful bidders.

Ludhiana, September 5
In two separate cases, the enforcement wing and operational staff of the PSEB have caught two industrial units here for stealing power and a penalty of Rs 49 lakh has been imposed on the defaulting consumers.

S.S. Kohli, director of the enforcement wing, PSEB, told The Tribune that a raid, carried out on a cardboard factory in Hira Nagar under the CMC division, led to the discovery of power theft by tampering with the seals of meter.

The team of PSEB officials had a tough time to find proof of power theft at a factory since the owner had locked the room where energy meter was installed. He claimed that the key was untraceable. Ultimately, the lock had to be broken and the meter removed for testing in the ME laboratory.

The unit was also found to be consuming power load of 68 KW against the sanctioned load of 40 KW and stolen power was also being diverted to some of the tenants of the factory owner.

According to H.S. Randhawa, deputy chief engineer, City East Circle, a penalty of Rs 34 lakh has been imposed on the cardboard factory for power theft and using power beyond the sanctioned load.

Randhawa further said the operational field staff had found out another case of power theft. In a textile mill in Moti Nagar, the seals of meter were found tampered with, which indicated that it did not record the actual consumption of energy. In this case, a penalty of Rs 15 lakh had been imposed on the unit.

In the course of stepped-up drive against power theft, the enforcement wing of the PSEB had checked 2,200 connections out of which more than 700 cases were made out for stealing power during August, added Kohli. 

Ludhiana, September 5
Following two days of protest by the family of Sanjana, who died on September 4, the district administration has approached the civil surgeon to constitute an inquiry committee to investigate the matter.

Sanjana (26), a resident of Salem Tabri, was admitted to Inderjit Nursing Home where Dr D.P. Arora conducted a caesarean on her on August 25. The woman gave birth to a girl and was discharged on September 1, but was brought to Dr Arora on September 2 again when she complained of severe pain in abdomen.

The family alleged that Dr Arora had left a pair of scissors in her stomach. The doctor denied the charges and took her to the CMCH stating that she had developed infection where she breathed her last.

The family, along with their supporters, had staged a protest against Dr Arora for two consecutive days demanding his arrest and closure of the hospital. However, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) intervened giving reference to the Supreme Court ruling that no case should be registered against doctors prior to the expert committee report.

Civil surgeon Dr S.P. Sharma said he had been asked to constitute a committee of medical experts to conduct an inquiry into the matter. "I would do the needful as soon as I get a written notification from the administration," the civil surgeon said. 

Ludhiana, September 5
Five flyovers across Sidhwan canal will be part of various projects worth Rs 2,000 crore, exclusively for Ludhiana, which will be completed within three years.

This was said by Sukhbir Badal, president of the Shiromani Akali Dal, while addressing industrialists at a special conference organised by the Industry Cell of SAD here on Thursday.

A US-based company has been handed over the project. The overall project expenditure has laid special emphasis on adequate sewerage, water supply and road system in the city, he said.

Sahnewal Airport in the district is being upgraded to start domestic flights from January. The government has earmarked the amount for upgradation of the existing facilities at the airport, particularly landing facilities and the traffic monitoring equipment.

Sukhbir asked the industrialists to make further expansion in the state. He said the chairmen of industrial boards have been told to meet industrialists at the district level and prioritise the needs and problems of the industrialists within one month.

The SAD president honoured 20 industrialists, including S P Oswal, Gursharan Singh, Onkar Singh Pahwa, Deepak Dumra, Kesho Ram Vij, Neeraj Dhanda, Jagdish Singal, Inderjit Singh Pardhan and A S Sachdeva, for their excellent performance towards the industry of the state.

Ludhiana, September 5
With no action by the Municipal Corporation against blocking roads and streets in the city for personal, political or religious functions, it causes harassment to the public.

With the poor traffic management in the city where vehicle population is bursting at its seams, the situation becomes horrendous when the entire portion of a busy road or an intersection is either blocked by putting up "pandals" for a religious function or roads are dug up for welcome gates and arches for a "shobha yatra".

One side of the busy road from Old DMC Hospital to Dandi Swami Chowk in Civil Lines remained blocked for the whole day today for a religious function by a temple which will continue for three days. Traffic movement on the other side of the road during peak hours had come to a standstill and the vehicles remained caught in the traffic jam for a long time.

According to affected area residents and shopkeepers, the road has vital link between Ludhiana and Humbran. It also leads parts of the city to Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, one of the leading city hospitals. With traffic cops also missing from the site, for most of the day, it remained free for all.

Such brazen encroachments on roads and streets continue for days together with least concern for inconvenience caused to the residents in the affected areas or shopkeepers, who have to lose out on business because access to their shops or showrooms becomes difficult due to the road being completely or partially blocked.

Not that the city residents have not raised their voice against this evil practice, but the fact remains that no one listens to such people and the violators get away either under the patronage of political leaders or religious activism.

Some of the residents and shopkeepers of the affected locality complained that the civic officials had pleaded helplessness in taking action against blocking the road on the ground that they might have to face the ire of the organisers of the functions. 

Sidhu’s film scores high with pind youths
Anshu Seth
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, September 5
The premiere of Punjabi film “Mera Pind - My Home” was held at PVR Cinema last evening. For once, rural youths present at the show was receptive to the underlying message in every dialogue. A college boy appreciated the director and the star cast for working on the subject.

Unlike previous releases that highlighted the “NRI” subject, the movie adopted the right approach to prevent the youth from abandoning Punjab.

The movie revolves around the magnanimity of an NRI who comes back to his native village to mould the youth emphasising on the work culture in the West.

Vishesh, a movie buff, said," Giving up inhibitions to work in the right direction are the fundamentals that the writer-director has portrayed with utmost precision without hampering the progression of the movie."

Looking at the initiative taken by the film fraternity to declare the decade as “renaissance” of Punjabi cinema, business giants have extended support by investing in the projects.

First-time ever, Castrol tied up with Punjabi film “Mera Pind my hom” which promotes self-empowerment and entrepreneurship. Interestingly, the title of the movie promotes the corporate philosophy of Castrol that “Progress of individuals leads to the progress of the country”.

Ludhiana, September 5
The police has solved a six-year-old murder case in Lalton village with the arrest of a man, Harriya. Ram Dev, a migrant, had been murdered and buried near a water tank in the village.

Interestingly, Harriya was living with Tijjia, wife of the Ram Dev. Harriya murdered him because he had borrowed some money from Ram Dev and had been unable to return it to him.

The police has recovered the skeletal remains of the victim. In order to consolidate the case, the skeletal remains of the victim were sent for a post-mortem at a special lab at Patiala.

The post-mortem report ascertained that the victim Ram Dev was axed to death.

The deceased had gone missing since 2002 and the police was clueless about his whereabouts since then. The deceased’s wife had even reported to the police about the mysterious disappearance of her husband.

Jangjeet Singh, SHO, Sadar police station, said, during investigations, it was found that the relation of Harriya, who was now living with Tijjia after the disappearance of her husband, were suspicious. On probing the matter, the accused told the police that he had murdered Ram Dev.

Khanna, September 5
A resident of Ludhiana was booked by the police for attempting suicide by jumping in a river at Khanna. The accused has been identified as Balwinder Kumar, a resident of Sanjay Gandhi Colony, Ludhiana.

He had been upset for the past few months over some domestic problem. He came to Khanna late last night and jumped in the river.

The splashes created by the jump in the river alerted a cop at around 11.45 pm last night and the accused was pulled out with the help of a diver, Rulda Singh. Constable Sikandar Singh took the accused in a nearby hospital from where he was brought to the police station and a case in this connection was registered against him.

Ludhiana, September 5
Announcement by a leading airline to slash air fares to London has come as a relief for the industrialists having ties with the UK, particularly at a time when prices of fuel are on the rise and the industry passing through a tough phase of hike steel prices.

Industrialists feel the move could trigger competition and other airlines may follow suit. As of now, the passengers benefit by around Rs 7,000 per trip.

“At a time when prices of nearly everything, from input material to power, are on the rise, we had not expected that air fares could come down. Though British Airways has a practice of lowering rates for a few months every year, we were a little apprehensive they may not do so on account of rise in jet fuel. The move would help the industry a lot,” said an exporter, S.C. Ralhan, of Sri Tool Industries.

Several industrialists said they had been waiting for the fares to come down so that they could plan a visit to the UK.

"It would be beneficial to those travelling in large numbers. We too have planned a visit in October,” they said.

Apart from the exporters, those attempting to explore business opportunities in the UK, too, feel it as an appropriate time to visit the country.

"Even in case a single a person, it has a psychological impact and one feels he is saving money," said Rajiv Syal of Syal Impex.

Ludhiana, September 5
Teachers’ Day was celebrated with great enthusiasm in different schools and colleges of the city here today. Teachers received beautiful presents and sweet messages from their students on the occasion. The teachers were honoured for their work at a number of institutions.

A special programme was organised at GMT College of Education to commemorate the birthday of late S.Radhakrishnan. Thoughts and ideas of Radhakrishnan were presented by the students in form of plays and poems.

H.S.Sidhu, principal, addressed the prospective teachers and exhorted them to work according to their conscience.

The NSS unit of Khalsa College for Women decorated the entire campus with bright and colourful posters marking the importance of the day.

More than 100 charts prepared by the students of different classes were displayed on the occasion. As a part of the NSS activity, more than 20 students went to different classes and spoke on the contribution of the teachers towards the student growth.

Principal of Kamla Lotia Sanatan Dharam College M.M.Gupta appreciated the efforts of the teachers and called upon them to work towards new goals in education hand-in-hand with the students.

Alumni’s of Gujranwala Guru Nanak Institute of Management and Technology honoured the leading teachers from different parts of the city.

Those honoured on the occasion included principal S.R.Chantal, Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School, Sarabha Nagar, principal M.S.Gill, Guru Nanak Public School, principal R.S.Patial, DAV School, principal Paramjit Kaur, BCM Arya Model Senior Secondary School, principal Sunil Arora, BVM Senior Secondary School, principal Karnail Singh, GGN Public School, principal M.R.Mehta, BCM Senior Secondary School, Focal Pint, principal Santosh Mehra, BVM Senior Secondary School, Kitchlu Nagar and principal B Gulati, Guru Nanak International Public School.

The students of senior classes acted as mock teachers at Sanatan Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, Civil Lines. They handled all activity on the campus during the day. Functions were also held at BCM Arya Model Senior Secondary School, Kundan Vidya Mandir, Civil Lines, BCM Senior Secondary School, New GMT Public School, Gujranwala Guru Nanak Public School, Kiddies Paradise School, GMT Senior Secondary School, New Senior Secondary School, Everest Public Senior Secondary School, Sat Paul Mittal School, Green Land Convent School, Everest Model High School and SCD Grammar School.

Black Day observed
Charu Chhibber
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, September 5
While teachers in other states celebrated Teachers' Day with a great fervour, 10,000-odd computer teachers of Punjab, who were not paid salaries for the past three months, today observed "Black Day", protesting against the indifferent attitude of the state government towards their long-pending demands, including regularisation, and pay hike.

However, taking a cue from Munna Bhai-fame "Gandhigiri", the computer teachers across Punjab did their work like routine days but came dressed in black.

"Before the elections, the SAD had promised us that if it voted to power, we will be regularised and will also get the pay hike. However, despite a number of reminders and meetings with different ministers and officials of the state government have proved futile," rued Rachna, a computer teacher at Government Model School, PAU, Ludhiana.

Numerous memorandums to the Akali government, rallies, dharnas and even boycott of elections during the Congress regime have failed to bore fruit," complaint the teachers at Government Model School, PAU, Ludhiana.

"At the time when the Centre Government has hiked the remuneration package of its employees, we are being denied our basic rights," complained a teacher on condition of anonymity.

Later in the day, members of the Computer Teachers' Union (contractual), Ludhiana, staged a protest march to the District Education Office (DEO) followed by a dharna to press for their demands.

The teachers said they would continue to observe the Teachers' Day as the Black Day every year till their demands were not fulfilled and also threatened to boycott the elections.

Tribute to a dedicated teacher
Our Correspondent

Doraha, September 5
An innumerable number of students of literature today offered their sincere tribute to the late professor I.S.Chadha, who was a teacher in the true sense of the term.

He was a teacher whose life was an example of thorough commitment and true workmanship. Life's hurdles could not deter him from performing his role of a master teacher. The keenness and perseverance with which he dedicated his whole life to the cause of education is praiseworthy. The vacillation and the lack of commitment generally witnessed in the teaching community these days, was never his way.

Strained personal relationships and social repulsions could not deter his endeavour of becoming a literary figure and a renowned graphologist. Literature was his first love. After brief stints as a lecturer in English at GGN Khalsa College and Guru Nanak Girls College, Chadha plunged headlong into teaching literature to postgraduate students in Ludhiana. Teaching and learning of English were an obsession with him.

He wrote two books on literature, which are being highly sought after by the students of literature today. His plan to release the books entitled “History of Literary Criticism” and “Post-Colonial Literature” could not be fulfilled. He died just before the release of his much-awaited book on literary terms. Apart from being a literary man, he was a noted graphologist, who said a person's handwriting not only provided clues to his personality but also helped in reading his mind. He also dealt in graph therapy and used it to improve the memory of his students and their functional intelligence. 

Ludhiana, September 5
Twenty years of sheer hard work and dedication paid off for Paramjit Kaur, principal of B.C.M. Arya Model Senior Secondary School, Shastri Nagar, Ludhiana, when she was conferred the prestigious CBSE Award-2007 by the ministry of human resource development recently.

The award was presented to her by Mohd Ali Ashraf Fatmi, union minister of state, HRD, at New Delhi.

Paramjit is among 14 senior teachers from India to be honoured for her contribution in the field of education.

Besides this, she has also been a recipient of several honours from various forums and institutions. She has also collaborated many regional, national and international events and functions of academic and non-academic nature.

Starting her career in 1986, Paramjit Kaur joined B.C.M. Arya Model Senior Secondary School as PGT (chemistry) in 1989 and went on to become the school principal in 2000.

The school has witnessed all-round development during her tenure as principal so much so that today it is one of the top most educational institutions of the city and has grown from 3,500 to 5,500 students since she has taken over.

The school been the venue for several activities and initiatives of the CBSE. Besides, various initiatives by the school like "Overview of Drinking Water in Rural Punjab" have won acclaim from all quarters. The school also boasts of being the first in the North to introduce the concept of smart classes.

Citing former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Azad as her inspiration, Paramjit believes to "live life one day at a time", which is also her success mantra.

Attributing her success to her supportive family, school management, staff and students' parents, Paramjit said, "It is team work and nothing would have been possible if people around had not cooperated."

On her future plans, the woman who starts her day with meticulous planning for the day ahead said, "Work hard today, tomorrow will take care of itself." 

Mandi Ahmedgarh, September 5
Students of private schools, who were eager to pay greetings to their teachers on the eve of the Teachers’ Day, were disappointed when none of them was available to acknowledge their gesture.

The teachers had proceeded on mass leave as a protest against the alleged indifferent attitude of the government towards their long-pending demands.

"I spent three hours to prepare a card for my favourite teacher last night, but was shocked to learn on coming to school today that he (the teacher) had left for Chandigarh to participate in a state-wide protest rally at Chandigarh today," said Ramesh Kumar of the local MGMN Senior Secondary School.

Lovish, a class X student of the same school, was upset that his teachers were forced to observe the annual day as 'black day'. He, like his other mates, expected the management committee of the institute to organise a function to pay a tribute to teachers.

Contrary to their expectations, the campus bore a deserted look on this special day.

Ruchika of another private school regretted that the indifference shown by successive governments towards the demands of the teachers had generated an atmosphere which was not affable for studies.

Though a majority of the teachers were well qualified and equipped with teaching methodology, their mind was preoccupied with problems faced by their fraternity. This, besides affecting studies, adversely strained relations of students with their 
teachers.

"We come to school to learn ideal ways of living a dignified life, besides gaining formal education. We also try to search our role model among our teachers. When we find that, in order to make two ends meet, our teachers have to protest against the administration frequently, we shun the idea of adopting teaching as a profession in future," said Ruchika, alleging that quality of education had deteriorated due to frequent meetings of the protesting teachers. 

Doraha, September 5
Doraha College of Education celebrated “Teachers’ Day” with a great fervour in the college seminar hall and offered a tribute to S. Radhakrishnan. B.Ed students decorated the hall and made rangoli to decorate the campus.

The students performed cultural activities on the occasion. Suhkjeet criticised the evil of copying through her “Geeton Bhari Kahani”. Jasmeel Kaur, Rajwinder Kaur, Jasdeep Kaur and Harjeet Kaur sang songs concerned with the theme of the celebration. Gurpreet Kaur, Kanchan, Mamta presented a parody on the Teachers’ Day. Sukhpal Singh, chairman of the college, while addressing would-be teachers asked them to be true to their profession.

Amrit Kaur Gurm, director of the college, emphasised on the quality of the teachers and appealed the budding teachers to realise the real ethics of their profession. She also congratulated the faculty for its glorious achievements in the session 2007-08.

Ludhiana, September 5
Hosts Ludhiana were well placed against Minor Districts XI (Ropar Zone) on the first day of the second match of the Punjab State Inter District Cricket Tournament for the Katoch Shield being organised by the Punjab Cricket Association being played at the Punjab Agricultural University ground here today.

At draw of stumps, in reply to Ludhiana's first innings total of 214 all out in 87 overs, the visitors were struggling at 36 for 4 after 13 overs.

Ludhiana captain Ankur Kakkar won the toss and chose to bat first. There were two useful partnerships which enabled them to cross the two hundred mark.

First, Varun Chitkara and Rahul Arora added 54 runs for the fourth wicket and then Tarun Passi and Ashish Sehgal figured in a 51-run partnership for the ninth wicket as Ludhiana's innings folded at 214 runs with main contributions coming through, Tarun Passi (40 n.o), Ankur Kakkar (32), Rahul Arora (32), Varun Chitkara (30), Gaurav Marwaha (28) and Ashish Sehgal (25).

For Minor Districts XI, Arjun Kumar took three wickets for 44 runs, while Jatidner Singh grabbed two for 10 runs.

In reply, Minor Districts XI were tottering at 36 for 4 after 13 overs. Amrinder Brar was unbeaten at 11 runs, while for Ludhiana Ankur Kakkar scalped one wicket for 4 runs and Gaurav Marwaha took one wicket and conceded no run.