Ludhiana, September 16
The industrial city will witness hectic activity, with Gursharn Kaur, wife of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, arriving here tomorrow.

Family sources confirmed that Gursharn Kaur will visit the city to enquire about the health of her elder sister Thananter Kaur (84), who is suffering from hepatitis and stated to be serious.

SPG commandos have already laid siege to Thananter Kaur's residence in Sargodha Colony where Gursharan Kaur will arive.

Further, the police and intelligence agencies have been sent on a high alert in the wake of the visit.

Sources said the SPG teams also conducted a meeting with local police officials to chalk out a route plan for the visit.

Police officials remained tightlipped and refused to divulge any details about the arrival of the PM’s wife.

"Since it is a private visit, we have received strict orders not to share any details about the visit," said a high- rank police official.

Family sources said since Gursharan Kaur was on a private visit, she had refused to make use of the official chopper.

It is said that she might not visit the house of any other relative.

Special arrangement have been made to control traffic and it would be diverted during her visit.

Meanwhile, the relatives rued that earlier PM Manmohan Singh and his wife used to meet their relatives quite frequently, but ever since Dr Singh became PM, he could visit only once in the last seven years. Even Gursharan Kaur could visit only the relatives a few times.

Earlier they used to visit almost on every family function but after becoming PM, he could hardly attend any function, said a relative.

Ludhiana, September 16
Liquor vends in the city did brisk business on Thursday afternoon - an unusual occurrence - with customers coming in droves to stock up ahead of the “dry days” from Thursday evening till Sunday evening, which the administration has declared during the SGPC elections. People were seen carrying two, three or even more bottles before the vends shut down at 5 pm.

Chand, a liquor vendor, said was there was a big spurt in sales during the afternoon. “Liquor vends located in the Daresi and Tajpur Road areas had put up banners informing about the dry days a couple of days ago. There’s a huge rush at these vends”, he added.

Arun, another liquor vendor, said sales were brisk in the afternoon. "People bought more bottles today as they wanted to stock up for tonight and tomorrow, since the vends will reopen only on Sunday evening”, he added.

Sheetal Sharma, who works at a shop near the city’s train station, said liquor vends located near her home in Model Town were a big nuisance. "I’ll be very happy to see the shutters downed at liquor vends. The government must announce more dry-days and not allow liquor vends to open near residential areas”, she averred.

Bodh Raj, a bank employee who was carrying a couple of bottles in a black polythene bag from a liquor vend, said he could not live without downing a couple of pegs every night. "Spending three days without drinks would be very difficult” he slurred tone.

Another man said dry days made little difference. "People will buy what they have to buy, whether stocking in advance or otherwise. So what's the point of having a dry day?"

Ludhiana, September 16
With 74,114 votes, the Ludhiana (South) constituency is the biggest in terms of voters in the district and one of the biggest in state in the SGPC elections. This is a constituency, which would have one of the toughest contests of the district, as Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) candidate Balwinder Singh Bains would be contesting against Surinder Singh Ryait, an independent, who is having open support of Panthic Morcha. He is believed to have inside support of Cabinet Minister Hira Singh Gabria, a known opponent of Bains.

Both Gabria and Bains brothers, Youth Akali Dal district president Simarjit Singh Bains and his elder brother, SGPC member Balwinder Singh Bains, are known political opponents and have openly accused each other in the public.

During the rally in support of Balwinder Singh Bains, which was addressed by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Wednesday evening, Gabria did not go there. Even Mayor Hakam Singh Giaspura did not attend the function as Simarjit Singh Bains, who is a municipal councillor, opposed him publically.

Maximum voters of this constituency are Ramgarhia Sikhs, who have earlier showed their displeasure with Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal), because a person from their community was not given a ticket for SGPC elections from the city.

While Surinder Singh Ryait is a Ramgarhia Sikh, Balwinder Singh Bains is a Sikh. Ryait has been claiming that he is having support of the Ramgarhia community, while Bains claims that Sikhism does not divide anyone on the basis of being a Ramgarhia or a Sikh.

“In Sikhism, all people are same and raking up this issue is totally against the principles of Sikhism. We have support of all voters because our family has been serving the area for a long time, while Ryait has never visited these areas before. He (Ryait) is not an independent candidate as he has full support of Gabria, which could be known from the fact that Gabria’s personal assistants, OSD’s and several other associates have been campaigning for him,” Bains said.

Earlier Ryait had rubbished these allegations and had clarified that he was not supported by Gabria.

Ludhiana: After Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president Avtar Singh Makkar used derogatory language for members of the Brahmin community, hundreds of members of Bhagwan Parshuram Sewak Sangh today held a protest against Makkar outside the Police Commissioner’s office here.

Recently, a video had surfaced on the Internet, in which Makkar was seen using derogatory language for Brahmins, former Akal Takht Jathedar Bhai Ranjit Singh and Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee president Paramjit Singh Sarna.

This issue was taken up by members of the Bhagwan Parshuram Sewak Sangh, who submitted a memorandum to the police and demanded that an action should be taken against Makkar for hurting their religious sentiments.

“We demand that Makkar should pay obeisance to Shivala Shangla temple, perform seva and should feel sorry for his comments publicly and in writing. And if Makkar fails to do so, we would oppose him as well as Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) in the assembly election. We would also hold protests during the SGPC election,” said Rahul Sharma, one of the protestors.

Ludhiana: The district administration seems to have made all arrangements for the Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) elections, scheduled for September 18. Out of 924 booths in the district, 294 are sensitive, while 56 are highly sensitive. So, to avoid any untoward incident during the polling day, the district administration would deploy around 2,000 police officials.

“We have made all the arrangements for the elections and I can assure you that elections would be held in a peaceful manner,” claimed Deputy Commissioner Rahul Tewari.

The police personnel deployed for these election have been given letters to join the election duty from Saturday onwards, in their respective polling stations.

There are 13 constituencies in the district, namely Ludhiana South, Ludhiana West, Ludhiana North, Ludhiana Rural, Mullanpur Dakha (general), Mullanpur Dakha (SC), Jagraon (General), Jagraon (General), Jagraon (Women SC), Sidhwan Bet, Raikot, Pakhowal, Payal, Doraha (SC), Doraha (General), Khanna, Samrala (general) and Samrala (general women).

Candidates from Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal), Panthic Morcha as well as independents would be pitted against each other for a total number of 18 seats. Under the Ludhiana Police Commissionerate, there are seven constituencies.

Ludhiana, September 16
Rail traffic on the Panipat-Ludhiana section was thrown out of gear following a major snag in the overhead traction wires at the Gharaunda train station on Thursday morning, rendering one of the two tracks on the New Delhi-Ludhiana trunk route nonoperational for most part of the day.

As a result most of the ‘up’ trains (to Amritsar and Jammu from New Delhi) arrived in the city two to five hours behind schedule,

including the prestigious Shatabdi Express that was delayed by about four hours, causing a lot of inconvenience to travellers.

With trains on the Ludhiana-Amritsar and Ludhiana-Jammu sections running late by several hours, the passengers were at the receiving end, more so because most of them were unaware of the reason for the disruption in train schedules. Employees manning the inquiry counter at the city’s train station also had a tough time dealing with agitated passengers who were stranded at the train station for a considerable time.

As quite a few trains failed to arrive on the scheduled time, the waiting passengers were seen pushing and jostling to find room in the jampacked trains leading to scuffles and heated arguments.

The 12029 Shatabdi Express, which arrives in the city at 11:22 am, was late by over four hours while other trains including the 12497 Shan-e-Punjab, 12919 Malwa Express, 12471 Swaraj Express, 12925 Paschim Express and 14037 Delhi-Pathankot express were running late by one to five hours.

Like Sunil Malhotra, an executive in a multinational firm, many others traveling from New Delhi to the city in the Shatabdi either missed their important appointments and meetings or else their plans to travel back to New Delhi in the evening after finishing their business here had to be altered with no alternative options available at such a short notice.

Northern Railway officials claimed rail traffic on the ‘down’ line (Ludhiana to New Delhi) remained unaffected while saying the snag on the Panipat-Ludhiana section had been rectified and traffic restored by afternoon. However, they did not rule out the possibility of a cascading effect on the ‘down’ trains as well due to the corresponding train reaching its terminating point (the originating point on the return journey) many hours behind schedule.

"Trains on the Amritsar-New Delhi and Jammu-New Delhi sections may also be delayed, but so far there is no word about any train being cancelled," a senior railway official said.

Ludhiana, September 16
Watch out, the gang of thieves who sneak away with cash and valuables lying in cars is on the prowl in Sector 32, Chandigarh road, and surrounding areas. While the city police is groping in the dark and failed to find any clue in the Rs 20 lakh highway robbery case, the thieves struck again and fled with nearly Rs 9 lakh from the car of an iron trader here last night.

The incident took place at around 9 pm when Deepak Batra, a resident of Sector 32 area, was returning home after closing his shop located on the Gill road. While returning home, he carried nearly Rs 9 lakh in a bag and kept it on the back seat of the vehicle.

He said when he reached at a petrol pump located near the Verdhman Chowk, he was told by an employee there that the rear tyre on the left side of the car has deflated.

“So I drove the car to a mechanic located close to the petrol pump. After getting the tyre repaired, I sat in the car. When I was about to leave the place, I was shocked to notice that my bag containing cash was missing,” said Deepak.

He immediately informed the police about the incident. Batra told the police that he had no clue when and how his bag was stolen.

“I do not know when this happened. The bag was lying in the car when I got down of the vehicle to get the punctured tyre repaired,” said Batra.

While in another similar incident, thieves stole a bag containing cash worth Rs 50,000 lying in the car of Rajiv Mehan.

Narrating the incident, Mehan said he was visiting the registrar office located near the Samrala Chowk for the purpose of a land deal.

“As it was raining heavily, I left the cash inside the car. The private security guard was also standing there. When I returned, I was shocked to find that the bag containing cash was missing. I asked the security guard but he had no clue when the cash was stolen,” said Mehan.

The police has registered both cases and started investigations.

Ludhiana, September 16
Art and business may not mix well together. But dance expert Sangita B Kushwaha has found the best expression of her art through her dance school.

“To those uninitiated in the art of dance, it may seem that dance is all about aesthetic. But this is a facile view of the subject. Dance captures the essence of culture. Changing dance forms reflect changing social reality,” says Sangita, who has a doctorate in kathak.

She started “Sangita’s School of Performing Arts” in 2005 and since then it has been a journey uninterrupted.

Her unconventional approach to dance forms raised many eyebrows. For a city like Ludhiana that’s on the cusp of modernity, belly dance was not exactly an “appropriate” dance form.

“At my school, I invariably start with the cultural perspective of a dance form. I believe that theory aids practical. For instance, when I tell my students about the history of belly dance, they are able to appreciate it better,” she says.

Any art form loses its relevance if it’s stifled within the rigour of conformity, she adds. Perhaps, it was this “experimental approach” that acted as a catalyst in her dance school venture.

“Had I been a stickler for conformity in art, I would have been happy with my teaching job. I had a fairly cushy job of a dance teacher in a school,” she tells us.

But not all days are easy days when you have your own venture. Sometimes, her assistants, whom she trains meticulously, leave her school to pursue their own ventures. She takes it all as part of the professional hazards.

“I consider myself blessed to be able to earn from doing what I love to do. Not all are so lucky. I only hope that my dance school helps to clear misconceptions about dance as an art form,” she signs off.

Ludhiana, September 16
In a year, the prices of petrol have increased for the third time. It has almost stunned the common man in the city. Petrol prices were Rs 65.22 in January this year, which is now Rs 74.50.

In January this year, oil firms had increased the prices by around Rs 3 per litre. Another substantial rise came over with a steep upward revision of Rs 5 a litre in May. Petrol prices were hiked for the 10th time since June 2010.

“The government is punishing middle class. Look at the prices of fruits and vegetables. Prices of all things will shoot up again,” said, Joginder Singh, a shopkeeper near Bhadhaur House.

“The government is trying to loot us. This increase in prices is happening so often. It is really hard to survive for a common man,” said Sita Ram, a railway employee.

“We are not benefiting from hikes, as these are always a cause of loss for us. We have to invest more but our commission will remain the same. Our commission is on litres not on price,” said Rakesh Garg, a petrol pump owner.

Prices of diesel and cooking fuel that are still controlled by the government, unlike gasoline, were left untouched.

Ludhiana, September 16
Terming yet another increase in the price of petrol as a bolt from the blue for the common man, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) today held a protest at Clock Tower Chowk, while the Communist Party of India (CPI) also came down heavily upon the Congress-led UPA government for this step which was bound to further 
fuel inflation.

Led by district president of the party Rajiv Katna, the protesting BJP workers also burnt an effigy of the UPA government.

Speaking on the occasion, Punjab State Planning Board vice chairman Rajinder Bhandari said people were feeling frustrated over skyrocketing prices of essential 
items, with successive increase in the prices of petrol and diesel adding to their misery.

"Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi ought to quit if they are unable to curb the rising prices and leave it to the incoming government to provide some relief to the suffering masses."

The BJP district chief Katna said during the past four months, the prices of petrol had been jacked up by Rs 8.47 per litre, which was absolutely unjustified and an unbearable burden for the common man. Punjab Minister for Health and Family Welfare Sat Pal Gosain chided Dr Manmohan Singh, saying the economic policies of an economist Prime Minister had failed. "The present UPA government has been reduced to a bunch of blood suckers. The BJP will take the fight against inflation and injustice being inflicted upon the people to the streets,” he announced.

Meanwhile, the district unit of the Communist Party of India (CPI) has rapped the government on the knuckles for its failure to bring down inflation and second successive hike in petrol prices.

Party secretary Kartar Singh Bowani and assistant secretary Dr Arun Mitra said th another hike in the prices of petrol has come as a shock to the people, who were already reeling under the impact of steep rise in prices of essential items. They said the Left parties had already warned the government against deregulation of prices of petroleum products which would give a free hand to the oil companies to raise prices at will without bothering for the interests of the common people.

The party further criticised the proposal to limit the supply of subsidised LPG cylinders.

Jagraon, September 16
The Jagraon block unit of the Communist Party of India (CPI) has condemned rise in prices of petrol by the Union government. Terming hike in the prices of petrol by the government as a bolt from the blue for common man, CPI district secretary Sukhwinder Singh Sekhon said hike in the petrol prices by the government would make lives of common people more difficult.

Sekhon was speaking to mediapersons after a meeting of CPI workers called on the issue of hike in prices of petrol here today. “The new hike in the prices of petrol would make the lives of common people more difficult, as they have been already reeling under difficulties due to exorbitant increase in the prices of other essential items,” Sekhon added.

According to Sekhon, the CPI had warned in the beginning that deregulation of prices of oil in the country will give free hand to the oil companies to raise prices at will and it will hit the common man hard. But the government took no notice of the warning of the party as a result the common people are forced to bear the extra burden.

“During the first term of the UPA government led by the Congress, which was supported by the left parties, there was some check on this, but since the left parties have separated from the government during its second term, there is no check on the price rise as a result the prices of essential commodities are increasing every month,” he said.

The party also criticised the government’s proposal of limiting the supply of LPG cylinders on subsidised rates to people. “The Central government will have to pay a heavy price in the next Parliament elections due to absurd and anti-people policies perceived by the government,” he added further.

Phillaur, September 16
The Punjab Pardesh Congress Committee has urged the SAD-BJP-led state government to reduce VAT on petrol as done by the Delhi government to facilitate people.

Members of the committee, Parminder Mehta and Mastan Sigh, said VAT was being charged more in Punjab than other states, including Haryana. They said the UPA government was forced to increase these prices according to the international market, but the state government could provide relief to the people by reducing VAT. — OC

Ludhiana, September 16
There was a traffic jam near the Domoriya Pul at about 7 in the evening. Long rows of cars were seen stuck for about an hour. Auto-rickshaws, cars and two-wheelers were stranded on the road. The roads were all soggy because of intermittent rains throughout the day.

Ludhiana, September 16
Passengers, especially the seriously inclined, elderly those not in good health, travelling in the Shatabdi Express from the city to New Delhi and vice versa have been feeling harassed by the seemingly endless and irritating phone calls made by traders and industrialists in the train. The latter discuss business nonstop on their cellphones without any regard for their co-passengers, making their journey miserable.

A senior faculty member of Panjab Agricultural University said on condition of anonymity he travelled in the train from New Delhi on evening and the journey was a "nightmare". "A trader from Ludhiana boarded the train at New Delhi along with me. After settling down he began discussing the business deals on his mobile phone and that too in a loud voice. I along with other passengers thought the conversation would end soon but it continued nonstop till the train arrived in Karnal and we were relieved he hung up at last. But then again from Ambala to Ludhiana the trader indulged in lengthy phone calls during the four-hour journey and made our lives hell. Even though I gave him a ‘dirty’ look but he cared a damn. After entering my home the first thing I did was to take a tablet of Disprin (aspirin) and rest for a few minutes. It’s bad that even after spending so much money on a Shatabdi ticket the journey becomes intolerable".

Shalini Gambhir, another frequent traveller to Delhi in the Shatabdi Express, said passengers must show due regard to the interests of other co-passengers. "Most such long phone calls are made by businessmen and irk the elderly and the seriously inclined. For a few minutes, one can put up with loud calls in a train but discussing each and every detail on cellphones that are continuously ringing and playing games on them with loud music on definitely makes a journey miserable. After all we pay more to get comforts but such irritating co-passengers aren’t bothered about others", she added.

Ludhiana, September 16
The more elite a school is considered, the more it feels to promote the culture of speaking English. Most of such schools prohibit speaking in the vernacular language. The schools also levy a fine if the students speak any language other than English.

“We are not against speaking English, but why should our mother tongue die a slow demise at the cost of English,” said Varinder Singh, a resident of Sarabha Nagar, whose children study in an Englsih school. “I was really upset to hear when my son was punished just because he spoke in Punjabi. If the schools are particular about speaking in English, they should encourage speaking in Punjabi and Hindi too,” said Varinder.

Although the state government has been giving directions and many organisations keep raising voice against such rules by the schools, but it has hardly made any difference. “Government’s directions are not going to make any impact until people do something and become conscious of the fact that how important it is to save our mother tongue. Language is a cradle of culture. Saving the language is of utmost importance,” says Charanjeet Singh, a resident of Karnail Singh Nagar.

“Because of the market driven world and English being an international language, it is now imperative to be good at it. While stress is laid on being proficient, vernaculars are bound to be relegated,” says Rohit Singh Bedi, an English teacher at Delhi Public School.

Kushal Arora feels the pinch of studying in such a school that kept him away from the language. “Your mother tongue is truly your mother language. I realised it when I joined college and was exposed to rich punjabi literature in the college library. During the schools,” he said. He lamented he had started looking down upon speaking Punjabi or Hindi during school. “But thankfully I was able get in touch with literature, but the students these days remain oblivious of the beauty and richness of our mother tongue.”

Ludhiana, September 16
The world of numbers, capital markets, investment avenues, insurance, mutual funds may sound Greek to most of the people, but these youngsters in school have already experienced the thrills of online trading, have made business industry visits, given presentations, known about equity markets, acted like the board of directors, convinced the "prospective buyers about investing in their companies", made marketing strategies and rubbed shoulders with the brokering stalwarts and managed investment portfolios, demat accounts etc.

Financial market management is the hot new stream at secondary level in schools that is opening avenues to schoolchildren to the financial world like never before.

“Those who are aware of this stream is taking this up instead of opting commerce as comprises some of the subjects from the commerce stream but offers practical exposure to students about finance, equity, currency trading, planning about money," says Bhupinder Singh, head of department, financial market management (FMM).

The students can now take the broker exams, which were earlier the domain of the CAs and the MBAs. Capital market dealer and deriviative market dealer examination by the NSE is mandatory to clear. At the end of the course, students get joint certificate by National Stock Exchange and CBSE. "So you can easily work as a stock broker and manage financials," said Singh.

The NSE provides the licence to do mock-trading to each student and they send reports about the performance to the CBSE. "So the students know the ins and outs of the investments, equity markets, capital and derivative markets."

"The destination for the students taking up the course is MBA (finance), but here they understand the concepts and develop understanding of the financial world," he said.

"We've paid visits to Dell, Trident in Barnala. We're planning to go to Infosys office in Chandigarh. The students have met the management at Avon, Hero, Vardhaman. They learn about the life and play the role of CEO's, MD's in the assignments at the school and provide, study balance sheets and get practical exposure about corporate and financial world works," says Singh In an industrial training programme, an internship at Ludhiana Stock Exchange, about 62 students from MBA (Finance) and 8 students from the school attended the programme.

Ludhiana, September 16
In today’s times when youths obesessed with flaunting their superbikes and expensive cars, there are young men who are committed to commuting by bicycles. They do it not only for their fitness but also to reduce vehicular congestion and pollution. Around 350 boys from SCD Government College and 100 from Arya College are paddling every day to attend the college.

Most of them prefer cycles to buses and autos because public transport is very time consuming on Ludhiana roads.

Arun Kumar, a student of BSc I year, said, “I used to come by scooter from Sleam Tabri to Government College. But I found it quite costly because of recent petrol hikes. Auto-rickshaw was another option but it is very time consuming. So finally, I decided to buy a bicycle. Now it takes only 15 minutes to reach the college free of cost.

Sukhdev Singh, a BA II year student, says, “My father bought me a bike when I got admission in the college. Now he has some health problem so I chose bicycle and gave him the bike. I am young and fit for cycling.”

Professor Ashwani Bhalla said, “A healthy choice of such a culture is helpful to get rid of pollution and vehicular congestion. I appreciate the students who come on bicycles. I am thinking to form a cycle rider club in the college to motivate other students and teachers.”

Mullanpur Dakha, September 16
With an intent to enable the state government face the financial constraints, engineers from various government departments vowed to bestow their full potential for adopting innovative methods to undertake maximum development with optimum use of resources at their disposal.

Oath was taken in response to a call given by the ministers of Punjab government, namely Janmeja Singh Sekhon, Parminder Singh Dhindsa and Hira Singh Gabria, during the annual Engineers’ Day function organised here yesterday.

Paying tributes to the legendary engineer, Sir M Visvesvaraya, the speakers called upon the engineers to follow guidelines propounded by the Bharat Ratan awardee, who was internationally recognised for his genius in harnessing water resources.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, September 16
College principals hosting youth festivals being organised by Panjab University, Chandigarh, undertook an oath to do their best to enable the department of youth welfare of the university achieve its target of promoting and preserving cultural heritage of the state. The oath was taken during a meeting of heads of various institutes held at the Bhutta College of Education here today.

Dr SM Kant, director of the department of youth welfare, PU, said managements of all colleges represented by the their principals had vowed to maintain the sanctity and respectability of the institute of youth festivals, which had since emerged as the major mode to preserve and promote the rich cultural heritage of the state.

Ludhiana, September 16
The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) would be organising a public hearing regarding setting up of a solid waste management plant at two sites of the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation (MC) in Jamalpur and Jainpur villages on September 20.

In a press release issued this evening, MC Assistant Commissioner AS Sekhon informed that all city residents could take part in these hearings.

“If any person has any objections or want to give suggestions regarding the setting up of the solid waste management plant, they can come at the public hearing at Jainpur village, which would be held at 10.30 am or at the hearing at the sewerage treatment plant, Jamalpur, which would be held at 3.30 pm on September 20. Even if any person wants to see the draft environmental impact agreement study report, he can come and see it in my office on any working day,” said Sekhon.