Ludhiana, November 29
Does the city really have an operational airport? The track record indicates otherwise. No flight has taken off from the Ludhiana (Sahnewal) airport after November 17. This despite the fact that the timings of the lone Air India flight operating from Ludhiana airport have changed from evening to afternoon. However, it has hardly helped as the flights failed to take off ever since the timings changed from November 23.

After the change in flight timings, the flights were cancelled on Wednesday, Friday and Monday. The airport authorities say that the reason behind the cancellation of the flights is because the airport was not upgraded before the flights started last year. “Both the SAD as well as the Congress wanted to take credit for the flights operating from Ludhiana. In this mad race, leaders of both political parties forgot to upgrade the airport, resulting in problems for us,” an airport official stated.

Actor-comedian Jaswinder Bhalla, who is a resident of the Model Town Extension area, says that since there is no surety of a flight taking off from the city, he does not fly from the airport. “It’s easier to book a Shatabdi train ticket than an air ticket,” he says.

The other reason given by residents for travelling in Shatabdi is that it takes around an hour to reach Sahnewal. “Before boarding a flight, we have to reach the airport at least two hours before the departure time, which means three hours are gone. Then the flight is for over an hour, which means to reach Delhi, one has to spend around four hours. Shatabdi takes almost the same time. I prefer Shatabdi because it is mostly on time while the flights from Sahnewal get delayed often. If I have to fly to Mumbai, I take a flight from Chandigarh as it is more convenient. The airport should be upgraded so that residents can avail of the facility,” said Tej Partap Singh Sandhu, a photo artist.

Ludhiana, November 29
Four city doctors have been booked in connection with the illegal abortion of a five-month-old foetus at a local hospital late last night.

It is ironic that the incident took place right under the nose of the district health authorities and that also in the hometown of Health Minister Satpal Gosain.

A case has been registered against Dr Manjit Singh, his wife Dr Gagandeep Kaur, both working at a nursing home in Abdullapur Basti, Dr Inderjit Singh, an anaesthesiologist, and Dr RS Maheshwari, working at a hospital on the Gill Road here.

The Civil Surgeon, Dr Subhash Batta, said at around 10.30 pm last night, he had received a tip-off from someone that an illegal abortion was going to be performed at the nursing home.

“A team was immediately set up and dispatched to conduct a raid on the nursing home. The raid was conducted at around 12.30 am and by that time, the foetus had already been aborted. An attendant at the nursing home handed over a five-month-old foetus to the health department team. Later, we checked the records of the hospital and found that the case had been referred to the nursing home from the hospital on Gill Road,” the Civil Surgeon stated.

The Civil Surgeon also said that as per rules, the nursing home was not authorised to conduct any procedure regarding the medical termination of pregnancy (MTP). “Today, a raid was also conducted on the premises of the hospital on Gill Road, but by that time, the doctor had already fled and the room was locked. We have sealed the premises of the hospital,” the Civil Surgeon stated.

Inspector Navreet Virk, Station House Officer of the Model Town police station, said that following a complaint by Dr Sanjeev Hans, District Family and Welfare Officer, a case under Sections 315 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Sections 4 and 5 of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, and Section 29 of the PCPNDT Act, 1994, was registered against the four doctors at the Model Town police station today.

“Now that the case has been registered, the doctors would be behind bars soon,” the police said.

Satnam Singh Dhaliwal, president of the Universal Human Rights Organisation, said that the woman, a resident of Shastri Nagar, who had got the foetus aborted had a six-year-old son and a daughter who was over four years old.

“The woman was accompanied by her husband when she went to the nursing home,” Dhaliwal stated.

Ludhiana, November 29
The state education department has given a nod to start pre-primary classes in government schools from the next academic session. Now every child above three years of age can seek admission in government schools. Earlier, a child less than five years old was ineligible for admission in these schools.

The proposal was recommended by the core committee of the Punjab Education Advisory Board in a recent meeting with the education minister, Director-General School Education and other officials.

Educationists were worried about government school students because they were not able to compete with private school students in the same class due to late start. On the other hand, the department was facing the problem of low enrolment in primary classes because parents preferred private schools.

The core committee suggested formal education in pre-primary classes for children over two years old.

Dr SP Singh, convener of the Punjab Education Advisory Board, said: “Education is divided into two parts.

The rich make their children study from the age of three years in private schools, but the poor have no choice but to begin the school education of their children from the age of five years in government schools. We are working for structural changes in the education system. The education department has given assent to our recommendation, but these changes require development in the administrative system also.”

However, a child psychologist said five years was the appropriate age to enrol children in schools.

Ludhiana, November 29
The infighting within the BJP seems to be getting murkier. During the General House meeting of the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation (MC), two senior BJP leaders openly opposed each other when a proposal related to increasing the MC limits was put up by Dakha MLA Darshan Singh Shivalik here yesterday.

Both the Health Minister Satpal Gosain and Senior Deputy Mayor Parveen Bansal, who are political opponents, were at loggerheads over the issue. It seemed as if Bansal was leading a group of Congress councillors who were opposing the proposal while Gosain was leading Akali councillors who were in its favour.

Most of the BJP councillors sat there like mute spectators while the two groups -- one of Congress councillors and Parveen Bansal and another of Akali councillors and Satpal Gosain -- were having heated arguments.

Mayor Hakam Singh Giaspura, who is from the SAD, looked helpless and was seen urging both the groups to at least listen to Gosain, who was the seniormost leader in the House. “At least listen to him,” Giaspura was seen urging Congress councillors and Bansal with folded hands. But to no avail as tempers ran high.

When contacted, Parveen Bansal said he did not want to comment on the issue. “I represent city residents and will fight for their rights 

even if I have to go against my real brother. For me, my residents come first,” he said.

A councillor, who was present in the meeting, quipped that when Bansal and Gosain were opposing each other, it looked as if it was BJP vs BJP. “But we enjoyed every bit of it,” he remarked.

This is not the first time that the two BJP leaders have opposed each other. When the cost of the Rs 19.75-crore project to cover Ganda Nullah (a project in which Gosain was interested) was increased to Rs 22 crore, Bansal had opposed it in the finance and contract committee meeting.

Last year, supporters of Gosain had allegedly pasted posters against Bansal in his Ward Number 41. Bansal had said a senior BJP leader was behind it.

When the project of constructing wells in connection with a storm sewer project were planned at Kidwai Nagar (area represented by Bansal), Gosain’s supporters had opposed the move. Now, the wells are being constructed at Mini Rose Garden, a project close to Gosain’s heart.

Ludhiana, November 29
Students of government schools are compelled to study on their own as teachers are busy attending seminars under various schemes of the Sarva Sikshya Abhiyaan (SSA), Rastriya Madvik Sikshya Abhiyaan and computer education. Teachers alleged that the seminars were a mere formality in the name of training and were being conducted only to utilise Central government grants. These were causing a loss of academic days and the studies of students were getting affected. A teacher has to attend three seminars under these schemes for 15 to 20 days in a year.

Often, the department conducts the seminars continually, making it impossible for teachers to take classes. Moreover, high school teachers get the same training in two different sessions. The RMSA and SSA have the same training pattern.

Earlier, the department used to conduct seminars at the government in-service teacher training centre, but now it conducts seminars in government schools. This leads to indiscipline in school, where 40 or 60 teachers go for the seminar in a single batch.

Resource persons also admit to lack of proper planning. “The DGSE give the instructions to us to wind up the training in one-and-a-half months. In teachers’ training session, we always are in a hurry to conclude the session. November and December are teaching months. The department should change the schedule of the training,” said a resource person.

Jagraon, November 29
Dumping of garbage by the local municipal council employees on the Disposal Road here has irked residents of different localities situated near the location where the garbage is being dumped. The foul smell emanating from the garbage has made the lives of nearby residents miserable.

Urging MC officials to stop the dumping of garbage near the above mentioned site, the area residents rued that the area on the Disposal Road was susceptible to diseases. Besides, the residents also feared that it could also lead to outbreak of epidemics.

The worst hit are the residents of Shastri Nagar, Bajwa Colony, Geeta Colony and New Gaushala Road as the foul smell emanating from the garbage has made it difficult to live there.

“We are facing problems because of the dumping of the garbage on the Disposal Road. The foul smell from the heaps of garbage has worsened the situation further. We are forced to live in dirty and stinking surroundings where one can not even spend a few minutes without covering his mouth” lamented Arun Gupta, a resident of the Shastri Nagar locality.

Though the local municipal council has a particular place for dumping of garbage near Mangal Giri Dera on Dalla Road but still most of the employees of the municipal council continue to dump the garbage on the Disposal Road.

“I fail to understand as to why the MC employees dump the garbage here when there is already a location available with the municipal council for dumping the` garbage. I along with some other area residents had even asked the MC employees not dump garbage here but they continue to do so for their own convenience”, said another resident, Inderpal Chawla.

According to area residents, they have raised this issue with the MC officials as well as senior authorities of the Local Bodies Department a number of times in the past but to no avail. “We have taken up the issue with MC president Baldev Krishan Dhir and some other senior officials of the municipal council. Though we were assured that the issue would be resolved at the earliest but nothing concrete has been done so far and the practice of dumping garbage there continues”, complained Jatinder Kumar, who resides in Bajwa Colony.

The residents have threatened to protest against the officials concerned if they did not stop dumping of garbage there.

Meanwhile, MC president Baldev Krishan Dhir said he would instruct the MC employees to not dump the garbage on the Disposal Road. He admitted that some of the MC employees continued to dump garbage there for their own convenience as the dumping ground of the municipal council a bit far away. Dhir said if any MC employee was found dumping the garbage here he would be dealt with strictly.

Doraha, November 29
The studies of students of approximately 175 private-affiliated colleges of Punjab and Chandigarh are sure to be affected, as the joint action committee of the Non-Government Colleges’ Management Federation, Punjab and Chandigarh; Federation of Association of College Principals, Punjab and Chandigarh; Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers’ Union and Non-Teaching Employees’ Union of Punjab, has decided to observe a college bandh tomorrow.

Strikes, rallies and protests by teachers and subsequent closure of colleges at this stage are giving a real tough time to the students.

The students rue, “Earlier even if regular staff of the colleges had been on strike off and on, ad hoc teachers continue to take classes and hence we were kept in touch with studies, but now with the closing of the colleges and that, too, at the peak time, our studies are sure to be affected. The December examinations, whether terminal or semester, are just at a stone’s throw and in such a condition, closing of colleges is giving us the real shock. Our syllabus is yet midway and if the colleges remain closed this way, we shall not be able to fair well in our exams.” “Everyday we find our teachers sitting on dharnas, participating in strikes and rallies. I simply don’t understand why can’t the government look into their demands seriously and sought them out permanently rather than putting us in a tight spot? We are really fed up of all these things. The moment we make our minds to attend classes seriously, the non-academic atmosphere of the college disrupts it,” complained Rashmi, a student of a private-aided college.

Joint action committee president SC Sanwalka, on the other hand, said, “We are aware of the studies of the students being affected, but we have been forced to resort to such a move, as the government is not giving a serious thought to our problems. The protest is being conducted in order to entreat upon the government to immediately implement the pension gratuity scheme approved by the Akali-BJP government on December 12, 2001.”

He added, “Further, the ban on recruitment imposed in July 2005 should be lifted, non-teaching employees shall be granted pay scale and allowances in parity with their counterparts in the government colleges with effect from January 1, 2006 and other genuine grievances of the staff should be addressed.”

Ludhiana, November 29
The MTSM College for Women, Ludhiana, organised an industrial visit for students of MBA in commerce and information technology. Around 65 students visited the Ludhiana Stock Exchange (LSE) along with Priya Ahuja, Minakshi T Bajaj, assistant professors. The purpose of the visit was to make students aware of the working of stock exchange. Sadhu Ram from the department of training and education interacted with the students.

Prof PP Kansal, chairman LSE, and Puja M Kohli, executive director, officiating, answered the queries of students and enriched their knowledge regarding share trading.

Ludhiana, November 29
The convocation and prize distribution function of the College of Home Science was held at Punjab Agricultural University on Tuesday. A total of 148 degrees and diplomas were awarded.

Besides, three gold medals and 12 certificates of merit were also awarded. Dr Gurbachan Singh, chairman Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board, said home scientists could play a key role by providing skill-based vocational training for income generation. He also said women could play a crucial role in agriculture and rural development, as they constituted about 60 per cent of the total agricultural labour. A majority of activities related to post harvest and livestock management are in the hands of women.

Ludhiana, November 29
Earlier there used to be course books for students, but now there are teachers’ manuals that work in sync with these books. These manuals have additional techniques and exercises for each topic that featured in the students’ course books. There are CD ROM’s for teachers and online support is alsi available.

Education is transforming and with the change, the ways of teaching are also witnessing a change. The “ruler-carrying” disciplinarians and hard taskmasters as teachers of yesteryears are no more tto be seen these days. The profession is changing, as education today focuses more on the all-round development of a child. The role of a teacher is expanding with these changing times as a mentor, a witness and a moulder of all actions of a child and delivering information and changing in the digital world.

With the advent of complete comprehensive evaluation (CCE), a teacher has to be a keen observer keeping tabs on all activities and behaviour of the students.

Smart classes in the schools were one of the first initiatives that brought in the winds of technological change in the city schools. Now many players are arriving in the market that are all set to revolutionise the teaching mechanism. Books by Oxford University Press have CD-ROM’s with all their books and along with teachers’ manuals. Harneet Singh from Sat Paul Mittal School says, “There is no place for stagnation in the profession, as they have to remain up-to-date with the latest happenings along with the ways of teaching.”

Ludhiana, November 29
Students, teachers and parents can now have a better connection online as they can now share a portal where all of them can access the progress children are making online. An online portal by all of them can make learning more interesting and interactive for children.

As part of the new technology, a CTS class transformation system has also been launched that will provide a new paradigm in digital learning.

Ludhiana, November 29
Police Division Number 1 arrested two persons with 432 bottles of liquor here last evening. Three persons were carrying 36 cases of liquor in a Santro car, when the police chased them. Two persons were arrested on the spot while the third accused fled from the scene.

Giving details about the incident, the SHO, Amandeep Singh Brar, Division Number 1, said that the three persons, namely Satish Kumar alias Sunny, a resident of Salemtabri, Amit Kumar, a resident of Basti Jodhewal, and Sarjeevan, a resident of Ghati Mohalla near Daresi, were carrying 36 cases of liquor (432 bottles) along with them in a grey coloured Santro car (number- PB 10 BC 5812). On a tip off ,Satish Kumar and Amit Kumar were arrested from near the Mata Rani Chowk last evening while Sarjeevan managed to escape. The accused were coming via Jalandhar bypass, said Brar.

He further added that 34 cases out of the total 36 cases were of Punjab make, including brands like First Choice (30 cases), Officer Choice (2 cases), McDowell (2 cases) and Royal Arms Haryana make (2 cases).

"The price of one case is about Rs 700-800 but here in Ludhiana it is sold for about Rs 3,000 (per case) to migrant labourers. Since these are the lower brands, a majority of migrants and people from lower-income group purchase the bottles from them. The accused must have got the cases from the areas where the sales are low", said Brar.

A case under Section 61,1 and 14 of the Excise Act has been registered against the accused. The SHO further added that the car number was also fake. "Another case will be registered against the accused for using a fake number on the vehicle", said Brar.

Ludhiana, November 29
Fiftytwo-year-old Makhan Singh, a resident of Street Number 18, New Shimlapuri, was crushed to death by a speeding truck near Mangli village here today.

A case under Section  304, IPC, has been registered against the driver Mani Lal who has been arrested.

The in charge of the Sherpur police post, Dalip Singh, said the victim was working at an industry in Phase 7, Mangli village.

“This morning when he was coming from Sahnewal to Ludhiana on his bicycle at around 7.40 am, a truck hit him from behind.

He was rushed to the Civil Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries,” he said.

The truck driver, a resident of Himachal Pradesh, was arrested on the spot. The victim was the only breadwinner in his family. He is survived by his wife and two sons.

Phillaur, November 29
Three persons were killed in different mishaps. In the first incident, an unidentified middle-aged man was run over by a train near the railway station here. He was crossing the track at the time of the incident, the railway police said.

In the second incident, Jasbir Singh of Bilga village in Phillaur Subdivision consumed acid by mistake in place of wine in his house last night. He was admitted to a hospital in Ludhiana where he died.

In the third mishap, Harneik Singh of Rehala village was run over by a train near the Chiherru railway station last night.