Ludhiana, February 7
She trusted her neighbour and addressed him as “uncle” only to be meted out with a beastly treatment by him. This innocent eight-year-old girl was allegedly raped and murdered by the 25-year-old neighbour, Asif Khan, here this afternoon.

Daughter of a migrant labourer and a resident of Mohalla Singhpura, the victim was found in an unconscious and semi-naked state on a cot at Asif’s house. The accused was seated next to her. She was bleeding.

She was spotted by her mother, who went around looking for her. On seeing her daughter, her mother asked Asif about the matter.

Seeing the woman, Asif lifted the girl and took off, stating that she had fallen sick and he was taking her to the Civil Hospital.

Her mother, however, followed him and cried for help. Panicked, Asif left her on the road and fled. He was later overpowered by some passersby and handed over to the police. He was in an inebriated state.

The victim had gone missing in the afternoon. She slipped away while her three siblings were playing outside their house. After she failed to return for half an hour, her mother panicked and started looking around for her.

The family informed the police about the incident. Her body was sent for a postmortem examination. The police said the exact cause of the death would be ascertained only after the post-mortem, adding that she could have died of rape or asphyxia. The crime left the area residents in shock. Her neighbours said the accused and the victim’s family were quite close. Asif often used to visit them and play with the children.

Raikot, February 7
Having lost faith in the system of justice, a youth of Jhordan village, near here, murdered his cousin and nephew in cold blood to avenge the killing of his father, who he suspected was killed by his uncle and his son, a few days after the Supreme Court acquitted the latter.

The accused, Jagdish Singh Deesha, shot dead Darshan Singh (55) and Jagdev Singh (23), son and grandson, respectively, of his paternal uncle Bakhtawar Singh, who he had named along with Darshan Singh as accused in his father’s murder case.

The accused killed both at different places within half an hour. While Darshan Singh was killed near a religious place located on the outskirts of the village, Jagdev Singh was shot dead when he was going to search for his father near the bus stop of the locality.

The police said suspect’s father Gurcharan Singh was killed on July 15, 1991. A murder case was registered against the suspects then and the court had awarded life imprisonment to them.

However, the defendants filed an appeal in the apex court but Bakhtawar Singh died during this period.

The case was decided in favour of the defendants recently and Deesha got irritated over the exoneration of the alleged assassins of his father.

“As the main accused had died before the latest verdict, Deesha decided to avenge his father’s killing by eliminating the surviving members of his family and arranged a country-made pistol and cartridges.

As the victims had a licensed weapon at their home, Deesha decided to kill them when they were outside of the house.

He first targeted Darshan Singh when he was returning after offering food at a religious place located on the outskirts of the village.

He then waited for Jagdev Singh to go out in search of his father and shot him near the village bus stop at around 8.30 pm.

Sources said the accused had informed friends of the victims’ family shortly after committing the crime. Both victims were shot five times each. The victims were shifted to a hospital, where the doctors declared them brought dead.

Raikot SP Prthipal Singh said a special investigating team led by SHO Waryam Singh had been constituted to investigate the killings.

The accused first targeted Darshan Singh when he was returning home after offering food at a religious place located on the outskirts of the village. He then waited for Jagdev Singh to go in search of his father and shot him near the village bus stop around 8.30 pm. Both victims were shot five times each. 

Ludhiana, February 7
A youth was injured after he was allegedly shot at by certain villagers at Bhaini Sahib here today. Finding some difficulties in the investigation of the case, the police has sought the help of a team of forensic experts.

According to sources, Amritpal Singh, son of Dr Sukhdev Singh, was shot at by some villagers, having an old enmity with the family, at his house in the wee hours of today. The youth suffered injuries on the shoulder.

The youth was taken to the local CMC Hospital where he was undergoing treatment.

The police recorded the statement of the youth and booked four persons — Sarabjeet Singh, Balwinder Singh, Harjinder Singh and Goldy — along with their four unidentified accomplices under Sections 307, 148 and 149 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under Section 27 of the Arms Act.However, the sources saidas the police faced certain difficulties in recording the evidence pertaining to the case, it decided to seek the help of a team of forensic experts from Chandigarh.

The sources added that the team was expected to visit the crime scene tomorrow to record the evidence.

Bhaini Sahib SHO Gurtej Singh said as it was a case of an old enmity, they were investigating the matter before making an arrest.

He added that the father of the injured youth was already behind bars under Section 326 of the IPC.

Ludhiana, February 7
Trouble seems to be brewing for the municipal corporation officials as a team of the audit branch of the finance department is looking into the records of the civic body to trace those cases where officers have caused losses to its exchequer by lowering the rate of savings contrary to the one passed by the Finance and Contracts Committee (F&CC).

One such case had come to the fore after a former MC Commissioner, GS Ghuman, had in a letter to the Director, Local Bodies Department, around two years ago, apprised him of a forgery committed by certain officers of the engineering branch in connivance with a contractor.

Ghuman had asserted that the work for the laying of the PCC on the streets of the Mushtaq Ganj locality was allotted to a contractor at an overall saving of 37 per cent after getting the approval of the F&CC.

However, the officers of the engineering branch duped the civic body by making another agreement on the same date (vide No. 959) with the overall saving of 14.37 per cent.

He had said that the officers had committed forgery by prefixing 37 with 14 and putting a decimal after it to benefit the contractor.

After conducting an inquiry into the matter, the state government had issued directions to its audit branch to look into the records of civic body to find out the irregularities committed in the past two years.

Subsequently, a two-member team of the audit branch had reached the MC office a fortnight ago to check the records.

Sensing trouble, the MC staff showed reluctance in sharing the files pertaining to the records with the team, after which the team took up the matter with MC Additional Commissioner Kanwalpreet Kaur Brar.

Brar then went to the A-zone office of the audit branch on Monday and asked the officials to present the records being sought by the team. The staff presented the records to team after which an inquiry into the matter began.

Sources in the civic body said any such irregularity in the files could spell trouble for certain MC officials.

Brar, however, asserted there was no such irregularity in the civic body as their staff would have found it if there was any. She added that they had provided the records to the team, which give its report to the state government after verification.

Kila Raipur, February 7
Family of Kuldeep Singh Keepa, who had been incapacitated due to fracture of spinal cord during a kabaddi match being played here three years ago, followed by apathy shown by the sports welfare authority, has seen a ray of hope coming from the Mediciti Hospital management of Ludhiana. The hospital management has offered to undertake the advanced treatment of the victim.

The hospital came forward to save the life of Keepa after the Tribune published a story on administration’s apathy towards the welfare of sportspersons. Having failed to draw the attention of authorities in the sports department of the state, Keepa’s family who hail from Dhatta village in Ludhiana district had sought the help of philanthropists to save Keepa’s life. The spinal cord of Keepa had ruptured when he had slipped while stopping a raider from the opposite team while playing in the Rural Sports Fair in February, 2008.

Though the organisers had shifted him to a multi-speciality hospital in Ludhiana, nobody bothered to enquire about his fate after the doctors declared that a huge amount of money would be needed for the surgery and postoperative treatment.

The family was shocked when doctors told them that he would not be able to move either of his limbs if the surgery was not conducted immediately. It was not possible for the family to arrange Rs 6 lakh for the surgery and further treatment.

Even leaders of political parties who visited the family during the past Lok Sabha elections and promised financial help for undertaking treatment never turned up after the polls. Kuldeep’s friends, including some kabaddi players, were providing financial help to the family till some social organisations come to his rescue.

Moved by the story of the player, Dr AP Singh, general manager of the Mediciti Hospital has announced to undertake further treatment of the victim at their hospital. “Though we can not say anything about the prognosis of the condition, we will proceed further after examining the patient,” said Singh.

Ludhiana, February 7
The Ludhiana Municipal Corporation (MC) will spend Rs 7 lakh on the beautification and maintenance of the prestigious landmark of city - the Clock Tower.

The MC has earmarked a budget of Rs 7 lakh to be spent on restoring the historical monument. The top brass of the MC, including Commissioner AK Sinha, Additional Commissioner MS Jaggi and a battery of other officials visited the Clock Tower to inspect the work to be done for its restoration. The interiors and exteriors of the Clock Tower would be whitewashed. Similarly, the building and roads (B&R) branch would install fancy grills to give it an aesthetic look.

The lights branch of the civic body would install fancy lights outside the Clock Tower. The horticulture branch would give a green look to the structure by placing flowerpots along with the periphery of the building. Both the Commissioner and the Additional Commissioner directed the officials to ensure that the work was completed within the timeframe so that the historical building could be preserved.

Confirming this, MS Jaggi said though the Tourism Ministry had sanctioned funds for the development of the historical structure, but the funds were yet to be released. “So, the MC has decided provide funds to give it a facelift,” said Jaggi

Though the area councillor, Parminder Mehta, welcomed the MC’s decision, he said the authorities should first focus on removing the temporary and permanent encroachments along the Clock Tower. 

Ludhiana, February 7
Following the constant failure of the authorities concerned in the implementation of the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act across schools in Punjab despite excessive pressure from all quarters, several local social and parents’ bodies are now involving the masses in their crusade.

The CBSE Parents’ Association for Educational Reforms and Council of RTI Activists are garnering mass support for building public pressure on the authorities concerned.

The Council of RTI Activists has distributed over two lakh pamphlets across the city to spread awareness among masses about the RTE and its provisions.

The pamphlets, distributed through mass media, post and hand are aimed at garnering support from parents and social organisations.

Talking to Ludhiana Tribune, Rohit Sabharwal, president, Council of RTI Activists, said, “We have distributed two lakh pamphlets in the city, including all major government departments, Deputy Commissioner’s and Police Commissioner’s offices, civil surgeon’s office, education department and police and control board.”

Sabharwal said schools and educational institutions were next on agenda. “We will soon distribute these pamphlets outside schools so that maximum number of parents and students can benefit from the information given therein.”

The CBSE Parents’ Association for Educational Reforms is also working on similar lines by providing personal and individual assistance to parents and students seeking admission to schools under the RTE and also by taking up each case of the Act’s defiance individually.

RTE activist and vice-president of the association Rakesh Jain, said, “The state government, district administration and local bodies have failed miserably in ensuring proper implementation of the Act.”

“It is now up to the public in general and parents in particular to get the sleeping authorities swing in action and get the Act implemented,” Jain remarked.

Both the Council of RTI Activists and CBSE Parents’ Association for Educational Reforms have written several letters to the authorities, including National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Punjab education department, state government, municipal corporations, local bodies, Deputy Commissioners, in this regard.

Interestingly, all organisations working for the common cause are also considering joining hands for concreted efforts.

Ludhiana, February 7
In a move to strengthen their ongoing movement regarding implementation of the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act in the state and to press the concerned authorities to swing into action, the CBSE Parents’ Association for Educational Reforms has demanded an immediate cancellation of all admissions to pre-school and pre-primary classes held out of the purview of the Act.

The parents’ body has also sought action against the schools which have conducted admissions for the forthcoming academic session without reserving 25 per cent seats for the students belonging to economically weaker section.

Talking to Ludhiana Tribune, Parveen Dang and Rakesh Jain, president and vice-president of the association, respectively said, all admissions held in schools where the provisions of the RTE Act had not been followed were illegal.

“These admissions should be immediately cancelled and strict action should be taken against the institutions,” Jain demanded.

The association has also demanded fresh admissions. “But as per provisions of the RTE Act, these fresh admissions have to be made under the guidance of the district administration, local bodies and education department,” Jain said.

The CBSE Parents’ Association for Educational Reforms has also demanded that action be taken against all schools in the state which were not following the RTE Act.

The association has also written a letter to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, All-India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal, local MP Manish Tewari, seeking implementation of the RTE Act in Punjab. 

Ludhiana: Basant Panchmi was celebrated by students of Everest Public Senior Secondary School, Moti Nagar, with great fervour on Monday. Rajinder Sharma, president, Association of the PSEB Affiliated Schools, Punjab, was the chief guest on the occasion. A fancy-dress competition was also organised as part of the celebrations. Tiny tots came attired in beautiful yellow dresses. They presented a colourful cultural programme replete with songs and dances.

Sharma acquainted students with the importance of the festival. Asha Sharma, coordinator, IGNOU, NIOS and POS, distributed prizes and sweets among tiny tots.

Ludhiana, February 7
The last minute cancellation of an important meeting called by the Municipal Corporation (MC) to review the encroachments in the city has irked the committee members who have accused that the civic body officials had postponed the meeting as they had failed to check encroachments in the city.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had directed the civic body to constitute a monitoring committee to review the illegal encroachment drive that was being conducted in the city. A meeting of the committee after interval of more then a month was called by the civic body officials on Monday at 11.30 am for which the members were informed last week. However, about an hour before the crucial meeting, the officials of the building branch informed some members on the telephone and others through SMS that as the MC Commissioner was not in the city, the meeting had been postponed.

But the last-minute cancellation of meeting irked the members of the committee who alleged that the MC was trying to hide its failure.

Colonel Jagdish Singh Brar, a member of the committee, who had got the information of cancellation of the meeting through SMS said that basic reason behind the cancellation of meeting was that the civic body officials had failed to check encroachments in the city. He alleged that rather then taking action against encroachers the civic body officials were hand in glove with encroachers and that is why the meeting had been postponed in such a manner. "There is no valid point in the cancellation of meeting due to absence of the Commissioner as the last meeting was also chaired by the Senior Town Planner (STP) in absence of the Commissioner" he added.

Similarly, Rohit Sabharwal another member of committee who got a phone call regarding cancellation of meeting at 11 am said that building branch of the civic body had become a den of corruption due to which no action was being taken against the encroachers. He alleged that as the MC had failed on all fronts so they were evading the queries of committee by cancelling the meeting. "The MC officials are misleading the people and even the courts", he added.

Doraha, February 7
The staff posted at the post office at Doraha failed to report on duty on time today.

The fact came to light when this correspondent reached the office at 9.25 am and found that no employee was present but for a class IV employee and a postman.

The other day too, a government employee, who had to reached his office at 10am had an important registry to be sent for which he had reached the post office at 9am but to his dismay he found no member of the post office department present at the time. He waited there for 20 to 25 minutes still no employee turned up. At last he had to return disheartened as he was himself getting late for his duty. This is no one incident. There have been a number of verbal complaints in which either the staff does not report oin time or the staff handles the work half-heartedly.

“The delay in regular posts has become common”, complained customers. They alleged that the normal post seldom reaches them on time. The electricity bills, telephone bills etc too are delayed.

A customer alleged that one day he was standing along with two other customers in the post office and he tried to enquire about the actual interest amount on his National Saving Scheme but was ‘misinformed’ about it by the woman employee dealing at that time. On his insistence to recheck the amount, it was recalculated ‘correctly’ this time. In another case, the woman employee was so busy talking to another employee, that she forgot that the customer had paid her Rs 100 for the opening of the account and she demanded the sum again. As the customer resisted, she recalled that the amount had already been paid.

The customers allege that the attitude of the employees is casual and at the same time non-cooperative as well. “Many a times I have to raise my voice to get my work done” said one such customer.

The working time of the post office is from 9am to 5pm .The time of registries is between 9 in the morning to 3 in the afternoon but it has been generally seen that the employees are not ready to take a registry after 1.30 pm. “Such is the attitude of the employees that one gets confused as soon as one enters the post office for no one is willing to guide the customers who are left bewildered by the dealing of the staff” said another complainant.

Dilbag Singh Suri, Superintendent, Post Office, said that the complaint was made just today and the matter would be investigated at the earliest and action would be taken accordingly.

Ludhiana, February 8
The city witnessed a dark afternoon today when thick black clouds covered the region around 3 pm. The weather turned pleasant with gentle rain showers, spread over small spells, bringing cheers to city residents.

Windy conditions prevailed throughout the day that lowered the temperatures, which were said to be higher than normal for this time of the year. With the rain showers, the weather condition has improved as over the past one week, days were warmers than usual, hinting at a shorter winter this year.

"Over the past 10 days, temperatures had started to rise and it seemed as though winter was coming to an abrupt end. But today's showers have given us hope that the winter this year will be normal," smiled confectionery store owner Rakesh Mahajan.

Another city resident Danish Rudra, too, agreed with Mahajan. "The rain showers brought some respite from the rising temperatures and dry weather which were unusual for the first week of February. Moreover, the idea of a dry, warm Valentine's Day was not too pleasing," remarked Rudra, grinning.

Hail stones strewn on the road in Khamano. Photo: Gurminder Singh Grewal

He added that he and his friends were hoping that this V-Day, too, would be cold like previous years. Meanwhile, experts predicted some more showers over the next couple of days and a further dip in temperatures.

Khamano: here too, a heavy spell of rain and hail storm lashed the area in the evening and the life came to stand still for some time. Hail stones were seen scattered on all sides after rain stopped after half an hour. Vehicles going on the Ludhiana Chandigarh road were stopped for some time as the commuters began to panic. After the rain came to stand still the shopkeepers were seen playing with the hail stones. Several shopkeepers had to clear the hail stones from front of their shop. The heavy spell of hail stones damaged the crops to some extent in some areas. A low density of hail stones was also reported from Khanna, Samrala and Machiwara area also with heavy rains.

Ludhiana, February 7
The Christian Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) today organised a workshop, on “International Master Class on Venous Disease - 2011”.

Dr Harinder Singh Bedi, head, cardio-vascular and thoracic surgery department, CMCH, said, “In view of the extensive work on vascular disease being done in CMCH, the international panel had decided to hold the workshop in the hospital. "This is the first time that such a workshop has been organised in North India.

Bedi had also delivered a guest lecture on redo-surgery at the last international workshop. Bedi is credited with being a world leader and a pioneer in beating heart surgery and in the world’s first use of the radial artery in treatment of vascular disease of the leg.

Renowned surgeons, including Prof Jean-Francois Uhl (France), Dr Ted King (USA), Dr Mark Malouf (Australia) and Dr Rene Milleret (France) assisted the team of surgeons at CMCH.

According to Bedi, chronic venous disease is quite common in India as most of our population works in a standing position, leading to pressure on the veins, which dilate. It is estimated that over a lakh die due to venous disease (DVT and PE) each year. The other members of the faculty present on the occasion included Dr A Joseph, Dr A Gupta, Dr V Abraham, Dr V Bhasker, Dr A Bhardwaj, Dr P Gupta and Dr K Gupta. Dr Abraham G Thomas, the director of CMCH reiterated that CMC was committed to bringing the latest technology to the people of the region. 

Ludhiana, February 7
Industry’s demand to get direct electricity connection was accepted today during a meeting of representatives from the industry, pollution department, municipal corporation and PSPCL with Deputy Commissioner Rahul Tiwari.

It was decided that since the master plan had been implemented in 2008, there was no need to give the land use certificate to get a power connection.

“All one needs to submit is a self-declaration form stating that their unit is according to the master plan,” said the Tiwari.

Ludhiana, February 7
In a move to avoid any unpleasant repercussions that might arise due to the delay in providing information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the municipal corporation has directed its staff to provide details sought by applicants in the prescribed time period.

In a circular sent to heads of all branches of the civic body the MC enforcement superintendent has asked them to provide timely information sought by any applicant under the act.

Citing an example of a case where the MC had to pay a compensation of Rs 2,000 due to delay in information sought by an applicant, the superintendent said such incidents in which the civic body incurred a monetary loss should be avoided.

In his circular the superintendent mentioned a local “RTI activist”, Rohit Sabharwal, had sought information on the civic body’s income from advertisements on May 13, 2008. However the information to the applicant was provided after a big delay on March 17, 2009.

Irked over the delay the applicant had approached the state information commission seeking imposition of a penalty on the MC officials concerned.

The state information commissioner had directed the MC commissioner to pay a Rs 2,000 compensation to the applicant for delay in providing the information. Subsequently MC officials paid the compensation to the applicant on September 6, 2009.

Referring to the case the superintendent said had the MC provided the required information on time it would have avoided being penalized.

The superintendent also directed the heads of all MC branches to pay special attention towards providing the information to all the applicants of RTI act in time.

Welcoming the civic body’s move, Sabharwal said: “I hope MC officials will now bother to implement the provisions of the RTI Act in a proper manner. The MC has a poor track record of providing information to applicants in time due to which they have to face a lot of problems”.

Ludhiana, February 7
In the wake of mounting political pressure due to the upcoming state Assembly elections, the municipal corporation authorities have asked officials of the Building and Roads (B&R) branch to expedite the ongoing development work.

A meeting for reviewing the ongoing development work in the city was chaired by MC Additional Commissioner MS Jaggi at his office which was attended by Superintendent Engineers (SE) and Executive Engineers of the Building and Roads (B&R) branch.

At the meeting, Jaggi gave stern directions to the officials to ensure that all ongoing projects in the city were completed in the prescribed time limit.

He went through the history registers of all officials to ensure that the progress of ongoing projects was in accordance with the directions.

Jaggi told the officials that the civic body was not reeling under financial crunch, but asked the latter to use the funds optimally. He also warned the officials that they would not tolerate any sort of discrepancy in the working of the branch and stern action would be taken against those violating the norms.

In a bid to cash in on the development work, political leaders of the ruling alliance are already pressuring the MC officials to finish the ongoing projects in time. On the other hand due to some technical problems the work on some projects has either stopped or failed to kick off.

However, when asked to comment on the matter, Jaggi termed the meeting a routine affair aimed at expediting the ongoing development work in the city. 

Ludhiana, February 7
In a unique development aimed at ensuring a proper record of every penny spent on the construction of roads in the city, the municipal corporation authorities are set to complete the process of compiling ward-wise road registers.

According to sources, a committee of the state Assembly comprising MLAs had, during their visit to the city a few months ago, rapped the MC officials for their failure to maintain a proper record of the construction/repair of roads in the city.

The committee had said that due to the anomaly, the civic body was unable to keep track of the total amount spent on the road work. This had sometimes led to “repair of recently recarpeted roads over and over again”. On the other hand, some roads that really needed work remained untouched.

Subsequently, the MC officials had decided to maintain a proper record of all roads in the city for which officials of the building and roads (B&R) branch were asked to log the data of all roads falling in their jurisdiction.

MC Additional Commissioner MS Jaggi had also directed them to maintain the record of the past three years in a “road register” so that the status of the roads could be accessed.

The sources added that as per the directions of the MC officials, the staff had completed the work on the completion of the “road register”.

Jaggi said the record of all roads falling in the 75 wards of city had been compiled. With this, the civic body would be able to track the repair status of any road and the amount spent on it, he added.

“These registers will help us ensure optimum utilisation of the public money by preventing repetition of repairs on them,” he added.

Mandi Ahmedgarh,February 7
Punjab State Power Commission (Powercom) Engineer-in-Chief PS Gill has directed the authorities at the divisional office to rectify all worn-out and loose conductors and update transformers according to the revised load. He announced to install an automated bill collecting machine at a convenient place in the town.

Gill heard the problems of consumers during his first-ever sangat darshan in the town recently. He directed the officials concerned to rectify the faults without a further delay.

Arguing that the major reason behind the problems being faced by the consumers was overloading of transformers and conductors due to the unauthorised installation of high-power electric motors, Gill informed that at least 181 transformers had been running under excessive load.

Maintaining that 81 out of these transformers had already been updated, Gill assured that the load on the rest would be decreased soon.

Similarly, transmission conductors supplying power to Bauarhai, Brahampura, and Ber Kalan feeders had been updated.

Stating that the Malerkotla power grid would be updated according to the latest load soon, Gill said uninterrupted supply would be assured during the coming months.

Coming to the rescue of the department, the civic body at Jandali Kalan village announced to provide land measuring one acre for the installation of a new power grid.

SGPC member Raghbir Singh Saharanmajra, Market Committee chairman Amrik Singh Jandali, Block Congress Committee president Harjinder Singh Nathumajra, zila parishad member Isher Singh Dhulkot and former MC president Gurjit Singh Lehra aired the problems faced by residents of their respective areas during the programme. — OC

Ludhiana, February 7
Cricket World Cup 2011 will have a Ludhiana connection as cricket fans from all over the world will don Indian team’s outfit.

A local garment manufacturing unit has received an order for 50,000 T-shirts to be distributed among cricket fans by Pantaloon Company during the course of the forthcoming World Cup to be hosted jointly by three countries of the sub-continent namely India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The mega event is slated to start on February 19.

Ankita Impex, owned by former World veteran badminton champion, Arun Dhand, is busy making T-shirts and other accessories for the forthcoming World Cup.

The opportunity has brought cheer to workers of the manufacturing unit, who are extremely excited to be a part of the cricket's greatest event.

"I am very excited and overwhelmed as I have got a rare chance to prepare jersey number 10, which is worn by legendery cricketer Sachin Tendulkar. I feel as an important part of the World Cup," said Arjun, a fcatory worker.

Another worker Suresh said the World Cup 2011 would remain in his memory forever. "Because this time, I am contributing to it," he grins. The fans' gear will be available outside all venues of the World Cup matches.

Ludhiana, February 7
Led by president of the District Youth Congress (DYC) Dimple Rana, activists of the party today organised a noisy protest at the Mini Secretariat.

The protesters said it was a wake up call for the government which was in a deep slumber. They alleged that the SAD-BJP government had turned a blind eye to the plight of people.

Rana said the government had been making a fool of the people of Punjab for the past four years. As the government continued to make tall claims and false promises, corruption had crossed all limits in the state, law and order situation had turned from bad to worse and no development work was taking place, Rana added.

The DYC chief alleged that even as the government was flashing its “achievements” through huge advertisements, the fact remained that of the seven projects for which foundation stones were laid by Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal more than six months ago in the city, work had been commenced on just one of those so far. “All efforts made by the DYC, including courting arrest under the leadership of state chief Ravneet Singh Bittu, have failed to fructify.”

Charging senior government functionaries with being hand in glove with mafia groups, Rana said close aides of the ruling alliance had gained control over lucrative businesses of transport, sand mining, liquor and cable network. He stated that the ruling coalition stood thoroughly exposed before the people who were waiting for the opportunity to give it a boot in the next elections.

Making it clear that the campaign against the misgovernance and poor performance of the SAD-BJP government will continue relentlessly, the DYC president said, “The party ranks will resort to gherao the ministers and greet them with black flags all over the state.”

Ludhiana, February 7
Letters written on the canvas by calligraphy artiste Kamaljeet Kaur are like pearls. Apart from painting beautifully she skillfully writes words on the canvas. Ek Omkar and lines from hymns are an integral part of her pieces. Her calligraphy exhibition Aneeq started today at Gallery Artmosphere.

"Alphabets are my best friends and I love the way they cling to each other," she said. Born and brought up in Meerut she was fascinated by Punjabi, learnt it and wanted to promote it.

Drafting the English and Hindi version of Guru Granth Sahib is want she wants to do in future. I always want to do something different, something, which has not been tried by anyone else in the past. "This is the reason I decided to do calligraphy," she adds. Exhibition is on at Gallery Artmosphere from February 7 to 13. 

Ludhiana, February 7“Without changing the stricture of traditional art, yet experimenting with choreographies revolving around the contemporary issues, is a challenge in itself,” says Kapila Venu, the young exponent of “Kutiyattam dance”.

Referred to as a role model for young enthusiasts of Indian classical dances, Kapila Venu accompanied by her co-artistes Kalamandlam Rajiv, Kalamandlam Hahariharan and Kalanilyam Unnikrishnan gave a scintillating performance at DCM Presidency School, Ludhiana, under the aegis of Society for Promotion of Indian Classical Music And Culture Amongst Youth (SPIC MACAY).

The artistes depicted the battle between good and evil through the choreography “Putna Moksham” wherein Lord Krishna kills the demon named Putna thereby setting her free from her evil deeds.

The daughter of Mohiniyattam danseuse Nirmala Paniker and Kutiyattam exponent Gopalan Nair Venu, Kapila is the disciple of legendary Kutiyattam maestro Guru Ammannur Madhava Chakyar.

Sharing her experiences, Kapila Venu said she loved performing in rural parts of India and African countries.

“My sole performance in Nagaland was a soul stirring event but people who were active supporters of insurgency could not hold back their animosity towards me,” revealed the artiste.

“However, it is a pleasure to visit Japan every year as people there are intense and reciprocate with warmth,” shared the danseuse.

Known for her acumen, the young artiste while speaking in context of the future of Indian classical dances in coming 10 years opined that "optimism" of the exponents, the government's support to the "art and artistes" combined with the efforts of the NGOs like SPIC MACAY could change the uncertainty into hope.

Emphasising upon the global aspect of performing arts that connected people of different communities and soils, Kapila Venu said performing with Japanese artiste Min Tankha in a Swedish theatre company had given her an insight into their native cultures and their connotations as depicted in their dance dramas.

In her message to the young aficionados of Indian classical dances, Kapila said, “It is not necessary to practise the dance forms as professional dancers, but each one of us can contribute towards the sustainability through encouragement to performers and learning it as a hobby.”