Ludhiana, December 21
The winter special Shatabdi train between Ludhiana and New Delhi introduced from December 3, 2008, on experimental basis for a month, has failed to evoke good response and if the same trend continues, the train might be withdrawn on the expiry of trial period.

Talking to The Tribune on telephone today, senior divisional commercial manager, Northern Railways, Dharmendra Kumar said that the train was introduced exclusively for the people travelling from the industrial hub of the state to the national capital with the specific aim that those making up-down trip could get a whole working day in Delhi and return back home late in the evening.

"Initially, the response was very poor, but we were hoping that with time the number of passengers will rise, but this is not happening. The average occupancy is still hovering around 20 to 25 per cent which is not commercially viable for such a train on the trunk route.”

He said the daily passenger traffic on the special Shatabdi was being monitored and reports were being sent to railway headquarters on regular basis. The final decision on whether to continue the train or not after the expiry of trial period of one month will be taken by the headquarters. But in the wake of poor response, the chances of continuation of special train are very remote, he added.

On the other hand, both the morning and evening Shatabdi between Amritsar and New Delhi, which take bulk of the traffic from this city, were doing quite good in terms of occupancy and most of the times, current booking was not available of any of these trains, railway sources maintained.

"On any given day, current ticket is not available on any of these two trains and many people get their bookings from Amritsar or Jalandhar by paying extra fare while boarding the train from Ludhiana,” revealed an employee of a railway reservation agency.

Ludhiana, December 21
Setting an example on energy conservation, the residents of Mehmudpura village in this district have switched to energy efficient compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) which has helped them reduce their electricity bills.

The CFLs, which consume low power, are a hit with the residents of this village who have bid adieu to the good old incandescent bulbs. Over 500 ordinary lamps used for lighting by the villagers were replaced with CFLs during an awareness and conservation drive launched by the officials of Model Town division of Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) today.

Harjit Singh Gill, senior executive engineer and assistant executive engineer Gurmail Singh, who provided extensive tips on energy conservation to the rural people in Mehmudpura and Manakwal villages, said that the switch over to CFL would lead to saving in electricity and also cutting energy bills.

Gill said a comprehensive campaign to educate people on energy conservation was underway on the directions of the senior officials of City West circle in central zone, Ludhiana, and the initiative had received tremendous response from the consumers, especially in the rural areas.

Sarpanch of the village Charanjit Kaur, along with other prominent residents, including Darshan Singh, Gurnam Singh, Rai Singh, Karnail Singh, Balwinder Singh and Jit Singh, were instrumental in motivating the rural population to adopt CFLs in a big way and contributing towards the drive of the PSEB for power conservation in the wake of acute shortage of power being faced by the people in Punjab.

Ludhiana, December 21
Even as his six pack abs in “Ghajini” got hordes of cinegoers across the city hooked to perfectionist Aamir Khan's new “action hero” avatar, the male staff at the cinema of a multiplex has followed the trendy bald stripped hairdo sported by him in the film.

The youths across the city too are making a beeline for hair saloons to sport the trendy hairstyle of Aamir's character in ‘Ghajini’. Ever since it was unveiled a couple of months back, Aamir's trendy hairstyle, a shaved head with a stripe in between, has become quite a fashion statement among the youths.

As many as 12 employees at the cinema hall have donned a new look. Everybody feels proud to be called as “Second Aamir”. "I was floored when one of the viewers told me that the cut actually suits me a lot and I should stick to it," said Mukesh Kumar, cinema hall manager.

Another staff member Sandeep Bhardwaj added that he is happy to get a new hairstyle. "Though I am apprehensive to change my hairstyle often, but when I came to know about the plan that the entire crew is getting the hairstyle done, I agreed to it readily and today, I look smarter in this new hairstyle," he added with a smile.

"It is a good idea to adopt the same hairstyle as Aamir in the movie. It appears as if many Aamir Khan's are roaming around in the cinema. The idea has clicked with the viewers and has been thoroughly appreciated by everyone coming for the movie," added Mansha, a viewer.

Ludhiana, December 21
The controversial allotment of cracker sites by the district administration was in the knowledge of government functionaries from the very start of the process, reveal sources in the district administration.

They said the supporters of some of the local leaders were allotted the sites following political pressure. While no official was ready to come on record, it came to light that most of the sites were allotted to the supporters of SAD and the senior leadership had the knowledge of the entire process.

Deputy Speaker, Vidhan Sabha, Satpal Gosain had levelled allegations of corruption against deputy commissioner Sumer Singh Gurjar in allotment of cracker sites during Diwali. He has been raking up the issue since Diwali but to no avail. The probe, however, began this week.

Sources said if Gosain was gunning for the DC, there were many leaders who were supporting him. Many had even conveyed their support for him already. The action to be taken by the Chief Minister after the inquiry will also depend on these equations.

They said Gosain's displeasure at inquiry yesterday too was an outcome of this scenario. He had thrown yet another gauntlet at the DC yesterday that the inquiry officer and divisional commissioner, Patiala division, J.S. Bir had shown him the affidavits submitted by the complainants.

Raking up of this issue too is not going to help Gosain as the inquiry ordered was a “‘quasi-judicial”’ in nature and the accused was needed to be told about the allegations against him, said sources.

Divisional commissioner J.S. Bir, who was asked by the Chief Minister to inquire into the allegations against the DC, was tightlipped on the issue. He said he would submit his report to the CM. “The CM will bring it to the public. I will maintain the secrecy,” he added.

Ludhiana, December 21
Nearly 284,000 out of 5,68,000 children between 0 and 5 years were administered polio drops during the three-day pulse polio campaign launched here today.

Civil surgeon S.P. Sharma launched the polio drive from the civil hospital by administering the vaccine to the children. Harwinder Singh, senior medical officer, was also present on the occasion.

According to Sharma, the exact figures of the children immunised against polio at 2,100 polio booths set up in the city and rural areas were still pouring in.

"The volunteers and field staff of the health department will visit each and every house of the city and villages tomorrow and day after to ensure that children were immunised,” he added.

Ludhiana, December 21
The year 2008 for Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) was full of challenges and tough times. On one side, farm varsity became talk of the town due to certain "uncalled for" incidents, while on the other, several MoUs were signed with foreign universities.

Leading professors/farm scientists visited the varsity for updating knowledge of their fellow-beings, faculty and students and getting the direct feedback.

The issue of pension of about 2,700 pensioners of the PAU remained unsolved this year too. The pension had to be disbursed in installments without paying the arrears by the varsity. Though the government tried to pressurise the authorities for generating their own resources by selling or giving out at lease, the prime lands of farm varsity, but the idea did not go well with those attached with the varsity. The employees, faculty and pensioners outrightly objected to such ideas meted out by the state government to create funds.

The "sexual harassment" incident involving a DSW and a female complainant brought much disrepute to the farm varsity. It took three months to solve the case, which saw several twists and turns.

Students’ signature campaign against the DSW, resignation by one of the members of standing committee probing the case, intervention by the state finance department, DSW's non-appearance in case hearings, demand of a third party intervention, PAUTA and Non-Teaching Employees' stand for the DSW, case filed by complainant against three PAUTA members for allegedly maligning her reputation, mass resignation by wardens and assistant wardens etc made the case more complicated.

The strikes by students, PAUTA members and the Non-Teaching Employees Union against the authorities were also witnessed in 2008.

Forgetting the past, the varsity authorities are trying hard to streamline the working with more efficacy and hard work. A road map has been prepared by them for the research, teaching and extension purposes. Thrust areas have been identified by the authorities where more work needs to be done.

The university is making all efforts to make their research based on national food security. Problems at regional levels are expected to be dealt with more seriously by university scientists.

The faculty under the guidance of vice-chancellor M.S.Kang is trying to prepare students to face global challenges ahead. Programmes have been prepared by officials by signing agreements with foreign universities, which will give a boost to both the varsity as well as state agriculture.

Those attached with the farm varsity for decades feel that in 2009, varsity should make itself able to solve pension crises for which state government needs to play an important role.

They feel that those responsible for bringing the Green Revolution in the country must be given their dues timely.

Secondly, the differences among PAUTA members and between employees and the authorities must be resolved for the betterment and progress of this institute.

Ludhiana, December 21
”Girls in Punjab face a dilemma, though less number of them are born, more of them die or are killed. Altogether, more than one lakh girls might have gone “missing” in Punjab during the past decade due to the sex selective abortions leading to fall in sex ratio.

At least half of this number might have gone “missing” on account of higher female mortality rates in the younger generation. Regardless of the class, caste, religion, region or the income status, women in this state are increasingly going in for sex determination tests and getting the foetuses aborted. However, Sikhs, non-Scheduled Castes, literates or educated and rich are doing so at a much higher level than others. This observation has been made by Inderjit Singh, an IAS officer of Kerala cadre, in a study “who kill their daughter’s more-Insights from Census data of Punjab,” presented at the international conference on the “sustainable development, challenges before Asian society,” held at Punjabi University.

The study observed that a significant number of Punjabis prefer male over females. As per 2001 Census, out of 24.36 million people in the state, 12.99 millions were males and 11.37 millions females, resulting in an overall sex ratio of 876 which is significantly lower than the national average of 933. Although, the sex ratio decreased by six points only between 1991 and 2001, the sex ratio in the age group 0-6 showed a decline of 77 points. Decline in the child sex ratio in Punjab has been a cause of great concern. It is believed that sex determination tests leading to increased trend in sex selective abortions or female foeticide are responsible for this state of affair. In the past two decades, child sex ratio has declined by 110 points. In Punjab, sex ratio at birth has declined by 98 points during the past two decades. The study points out that there is a lack of evidence on sex selective abortions because most of the abortions are illegal and not reported. Sex selective abortions manifest itself, however, in an altered sex ratio at birth, which in the absence of sex selection are about 950 (105 males per 100 females). According to United Nations, normal sex ratio at birth are found to lie between 103 and 106 male per 100 females for most society. Sex related birth above 106 (below 943 females per 1000 males) suggest that pre-birth interventions are further reducing the likelihood of a female birth. The declining trend in sex related birth in Punjab in the past two decades as per various data source like the National Family Health Survey, Sample Registration System, civil registration system, special fertility and mortality survey, census and many micro studies clearly point out that the altered sex related birth is the result of human interventions to prevent the birth of unwanted girl child by using the modern technology of sex selection,

pre-birth sex determination and then aborting the foetus if it happens to be a female. The extremely low level of sex related birth of 833 in Punjab for the period 1984-98 as per NFHS-2 or 778 in 2000-2002 as per SRS or 769 in 2001-03 as CRS of 787 in 2000-01 as per Census 2001 clearly show that Punjab’s sex related birth is the lowest not only in the country, but possibly in the entire world.

Not only the sex related birth is the lowest in Punjab, sex differentials in mortality are also highest in the state.

The study laments,” Even with the rise in the educational standards, the SR of CBLOY does not show much improvement. Hence, it appears that in Punjab literates/educated class are resorting to SSAs more than illiterates, the increase in literacy levels or even that of female literacy levels had no positive impact on CSR”.

Casting aspersions on the medical profession, the study points out, “Greed has driven the doctors and others in the medical profession to become active partners in committing the heinous crime of female foeticide. They may belong to a noble profession, but having originated from the same societal setup, do not see sex detection as unethical use of technology but as merely facilitating a social need. Some people argue in favour of sex determination tests on grounds of people right to decide their desired family size. Others say that the demand supply law would ensure that the shortage of girls lead to their enhanced value in the society. The material prosperity of the state appears have created more adverse conditions for females on account of the abuse of modern science and technology.

The study warns that urgent state and societal interventions are required to stop this menace. Otherwise it would be too late. Financial incentives based schemes may not bring any concrete results.

The study points out that even the religious advocacy has not worked as the “hukamnamaa” issued by the Akal Takht immediately after 2001 census hardly had any impact on the Sikh masses. "We need to kill the circumstances that force the mothers to kill the unborn girl child under family pressure. The big problems require big solutions," concludes the study.

Ludhiana, December 21
Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court Tirath Singh Thakur inspected the working of mega lok adalat here today. On the second day, around 24,000 cases involving amount of Rs 16.52 crore were settled.

With this, the total number of cases disposed of in the mega lok adalat reached 68,417 involving an amount of around Rs 54.23 lakh.

Earlier, the Chief Justice was accorded a warm welcome on his arrival at district courts. A contingent of cops gave him a guard of honour.

The sessions judge, G K Rai, District Bar Association president Parupkar Singh Ghumman, chairman of Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana Balwinder Goel, chief parliamentary secretary Harish Rai Dhanda presented bouquets to the Chief Justice on his first visit to the district courts.

Later, talking to the media, the Chief Justice said the lok adalats provides a cheaper and permanent remedy to the litigants, as these decisions could not be challenged in the higher courts.

Ludhiana, December 21
Shopkeepers on the Ferozepore Road on whom show cause notices were served by the town planning department of the corporation in the past three days have now approached MLA Harish Rai Dhanda.

According to information, shopkeepers today met Dhanda and sought his help. Talking to The Tribune, Pawan Kumar Puri said: "The corporation issued notices to us on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court asking us to abide by the PUDA Act. Most of the commercial establishments on the road were constructed before the PUDA Act came into being, than how could they ask us to comply by it."

He revealed that MLA Dhanda had sought a day's time and asked them that he would look into the matter.

When town planner Hemant Batra was contacted, he said, "The notices were issued because of directions and those who have constructed buildings before PUDA Act 1995 would be exempted." He added that the shopkeepers just need to reply and prove that their buildings were constructed before the specific time.

The town planning department had started issuing these show cause notices following the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in a PIL filed in 2007 on encroachments on schedule and byepass roads. The PUDA Act 1995 states that nothing should be constructed up to 100 m on both sides of the bypass roads and 5 m on the scheduled roads.

The municipal corporation has given three days to the shopkeepers to file there replies after which violators would be targeted.

Jagraon, December 21
A policeman was severely beaten up for arresting a proclaimed offender. Jugraj Singh, son of Bachiter Singh, who was appointed in the proclaimed offender cell, had arrested Malkait Singh, a proclaimed offender wanted in a shoot out that took place nine years ago. Malkit Singh escaped to Canada after committing the crime. Nowadays, he was in India.

On Friday morning when Jugraj was strolling near his house in Gulabi Bagh, Darshan Singh, son of Malkit Singh, along with Mohan Singh of Lakha came on his car and started beating up Jugraj severely. He is being treated at the civil hospital. A case under Sections 307, 323, 324 and 34 of the IPC has been registered against the accused.

SPORTS

Canada-America Kabaddi Cup concludes
Tight security at tournament; Captivating show by Gurdas Mann
Mohit Khanna
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, December 21
Security matters prevailed over enthusiasm for kabbadi as was evident from the mood at the Canada-America Kabaddi Cup, which concluded with a magnetic performance of Gurdas Mann at Guru Nanak Stadium here today.

The city police deployed 300 police personnel to man the stadium despite equal number of private security guards at the venue.

Sources in the police revealed that SSP R.K. Jaiswal raised strong objection to the organisation of such a mega event in the prevailing situation, but the kabaddi cup organisers managed to “manipulate a permission”.

Police sources also revealed that intelligence also expressed fear about security at the event venue. With kabaddi enthusiasts pouring in from all sides of the state, particularly from Malwa, it made the job of the security men a lot tougher.

From metal detectors to dog squad, the city police almost pumped the entire infrastructure to ensure a smooth event.

Punjabi folk singer Gurdas Mann emerged as a major crowd puller and even left the cricketers behind as far as the fan following is concerned.

The stadium was packed to capacity and the number was almost 10 times compared to the crowd in Mohali for the second cricket Test match between India and England.

According to kabaddi cup officials, more than 60,000 people gathered to watch the kabaddi final and live concert of Gurdas Mann. Despite all effort, boozers managed to sneak in Patiala pegs, which resulted in ruckus and mild cane charge by the police.

But the whole event caused a great deal of damage to the ground, side railing was also broken in various parts of the stadium.

Yesterday, a motorcyclist entered the stadium and took two rounds on the costly synthetic track, leaving the athletes and coaches fuming. Today a large number of sportsmen observed complete boycott of the event.

Ludhiana, November 21
Grewal Hockey Academy, Kila Raipur lads defeated Sangrur 2-0 in the u-14 years section and went down fighting 2-3 against Kurali in the u-16 years section in the ongoing Punjab State Inter- District Weekend Hockey League for Boys being organised by the Punjab Sports Department at the Prithipal Singh Memorial AstroTurf Stadium, Punjab Agricultural University, here today.

In a group C encounter (u-14), Grewal Hockey Academy prevailed over Sangrur by two goals to nil.

Navpreet Singh put his side ahead in the 6th minute through a field goal while Hardeep Singh converted a penalty corner in the 32nd minute to guide Kila Raipur to a 2-0 victory.

However, in the u-16 years (group B match) Grewal Hockey Academy, Kila Raipur, went down 2-3 against Kurali. For the winners, Harsimran Singh scored a hat trick to emerge victors.

Kurali surged ahead in the 16th minute through a penalty corner conversion by Harsimran. He increased the lead in the 22nd minute (2-0).

Trailing by two goals, Kila Raipur went all out and managed to reduce the margin in the 40th minute when Jaspreet Singh found the target. He again struck in the 45th minute to level the score at 2-all.

Undeterred at this, Kurali lads continued to swarm the rival’s territory time and again and eventually they managed to score the decider as Harsimran converted another penalty corner to complete his hat-trick also helped his team to wrap up the cliff-hanger 3-2.

In another match in the u-16 years section of group C, Pattran XI held Khaira XI to a 3-3 draw.

Khaira XI gained lead in the 21st minute through Manpreet and three minutes later Jatinder Singh enhanced it 2-0. Amandeep of Pattran scored a field goal in the 27th minute to read it 2-1.

Khaira XI consolidated the lead through Jatinder Singh in the 37th minute. Pattran XI again reduced the margin (2-3) in the 44th minute when Amandeep Singh scored a field goal and two minutes later the equaliser came off Jashandeep Singh stick (3-3).

The fourth match was played between Mohali and Kurali in the u-14 years category in-group B in which the former romped home victorious 4-1.

Mohali went into the lead in the 8th minute through a field goal scored by Sahil Dabas. Kurali restored parity in the 15th minute through Sharanpreet Singh.

Mohali secured lead again in the 35th minute when Simranjit Singh sounded the board and five minutes later Sahil Dabas found the target to make it 3-1. Harjot Singh struck in the 46th minute to complete the tally 4-1.

In the last match of the day, Moga B blanked Kurali 5-0 in-group B in the u-14 years section.

Bhavanpreet opened the account in the 13th minute and Satwant made it 2-0 in the 17th minute. Sukhdeep Singh struck in the 20th minute while Satwant added two more goals (24th and 43rd minutes) to complete the rout.

Ludhiana, December 21
Ropar eves dominated the proceedings by wrapping up two titles on the second day of the 49th Punjab State Inter District and Open Table Tennis Championship being organised by the Ludhiana District Table Tennis Association (LDTTA) at the Indoor Hall of Punjab Agricultural University campus here today.

Proving their superiority over others, the Ropar players bagged top honours in the sub-junior and junior categories in the girls’ section.

In the league matches (sub-junior), Ropar district emerged champions, while Amritsar and Khanna secured second and third positions, respectively.

Similarly, in the junior girls’ section, Ropar players proved their mettle to romp home as champions. The second and third positions were bagged by hosts Ludhiana and Amirtsar, respectively.

In the junior girls’ super league phase, Ropar defeated Ludhiana 3-1, while Ludhiana registered win over Amritsar in an identical fashion (3-1).

In the boy's section (sub junior), Amritsar came out triumphant while Ropar finished runners-up and Ludhiana had to content with third spot.

N.S. Kalsi, joint secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, and president of the Punjab Table Tennis Association gave away prizes to the position holders.

S.S.Mand, SSP, Vigilance, Jalandhar, and chairman of the tournament organising committee along with Feng Jenn Chiu, honorary secretary, Ludhiana District Table Tennis Association and its other office-bearers were also present at the prize distribution function.