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Flesh trade racket busted
Ludhiana, December 16 ACP (North) Swapan Sharma said Deepak had been running the racket in the city for the past three-four years and supplied girls, a majority of them from Nepal, to customers within a 100-km radius. The racket was well established and he had about 70-80 girls working for him. “As per our information, Deepak, alias Nepali, basically hails from Nepal and a majority of the women are from Nepal itself. Deepak has got two-three cars in which he supplies the girls to customers and has some helpers who assist him. We received information today that he along with a woman were sitting in a car under the flyover near Bhadaur House and waiting for a customer. When the police raided the spot, Deepak fled in the car while the woman was arrested. On the basis of information provided by her, the police conducted another raid and the others were arrested from a house,” said the ACP. Rohit Kumar from Uttaranchal and Surinder Kumar from Bihar
were arrested along with two women.
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In it for easy money
Ludhiana, December 16 Asked how they landed in Ludhiana, one of them said she came here with an acquaintance a few weeks ago. She had two children and was divorced. “I had asked a friend to take me to India as my sister runs a beauty parlour in Bangalore. He was supposed to take me there, but got me here instead. I was told that I will work as a maid in an industrial hub, but was forced into prostitution. I don’t drink liquor, but I do smoke,” she said. Asked why she did not contact her sister, she smiled and kept quiet. Another woman, a mother of four children, said her husband had divorced her and she did not have a mother. “I did not know that I could land in such trouble. I am into the trade due to easy money and we were told that customers pay well here,” she said. When they were asked whether they had been given money by their “employer”, one of them said: “We have not been paid anything so far. The man who brought us here was supposed to provide us money, but that did not happen,” she said, adding that she was sent to small and medium hotels in the city for “business”. A police official claimed that the women were even supplied to sons of rich and influential persons in Ludhiana.
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Strike by roadways staff hits commuters
Ludhiana, December 16 Although some private buses were plying on routes within the state, there was no bus service for those going to other states. The fleet of 160 buses of Punjab Roadways did not ply and the bus terminus wore a deserted look. Vimla Devi and her son-in-law Mohan Lal said: “We reached the terminus at 9 am to board a bus for Hoshiarpur, but were told that the buses will not ply today. We have no choice but to wait for a private bus and later take a bus from Phagwara for Hoshiarpur.” Ravinder Dhawan, working in a private company, said: “I had to reach Hisar by this afternoon. But since there was no bus service, I had to cancel a crucial tour.” Entry gates blocked The staff of Punjab Roadways blocked the bus stand entry gates by parking the buses there. Private buses that operate from the bus stand could not enter the premises. As a result, private buses remained stuck at the bus stand and Bharat Nagar
Chowk. Throughout the day, passengers were harried and had a tough time finding out the routes of private
buses. Pvt bus operators benefit State general secretary of Punjab Mini Bus Operators Association Jaswinder Singh Grewal said they earned more than 20 per cent on almost all routes in the state today. “The strike by the roadways staff left passengers in the lurch, but we provided them services and also earned good profit,” he said. Passing the buck Station superintendent of bus stand Navraj Baatish passed the buck, saying that they had informed the police about it. “It is the duty of the police to take control of the situation.” he said. But Assistant Commissioner of Police Gurpreet Kaur Purewal said: “We are here to maintain law and order. It is the responsibility of the roadways department. We cannot interfere in it.”
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A slew of projects remain incomplete
The Deputy CM would inaugurate two lanes of the four-laned expressway project along the Sidhwan Canal (from Ferozepur Road to Doraha), and the city bus service project, besides laying the foundation stone of the excise and taxation building at the mini secretariat here. With an eye on the forthcoming Assembly elections, Sukhbir Singh Badal has inaugurated several development projects in the city over the last few months. The model code of conduct would be imposed soon and the government wants to take credit for all development projects, including incomplete ones, which were started during the tenure of this government. There are several projects, the foundation stones of which were laid many years ago, and are still incomplete. Lakkar Bridge When the project was initiated in 1997, its estimated cost was Rs 13 crore, which has now skyrocketed to around Rs 58 crore. Even though the up-ramps have been constructed, the railways department is yet to complete its part of the project. Owing to technical glitches in planning, the project remained stalled for over a decade and work restarted in 2009. The deadline for the completion of work was June, which has now been extended to February.
The project began in 2004 and cost Rs 16 crore. The construction was stalled in 2007 and resumed in May this year. The cost has now risen to an estimated Rs 25.89 crore. Though the contractor had claimed that he would finish the construction by November, the project remains incomplete. Six-laning of NH-I The Rs 2,750-crore project was launched in 2008 and was to be completed in November this year. But the company has fixed a new deadline for March. Company officials blame the municipal corporation and Punjab State Power Corporation Limited for the delay. From Sahnewal till the Sutlej bridge, nine flyovers, six under-paths, seven foot bridges and other construction activity is yet to be carried out. Expressway along canal
The foundation stone was laid in 2009. The Rs 416-crore project included the construction of a stretch of 26.9 km and a four-laned road along with a carriage way on either side from Doraha to the Ludhiana-Ferozepur Road, besides a bypass to Ferozepur. On July 18, Sukhbir had announced that the project would be completed by October 1, but a lot of work remains incomplete. He had visited the site and pulled up the public works department for the delay. |
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Flight cancelled due to poor visibility
After November 17, the last flight that landed at the Ludhiana (Sahnewal) airport was on December 7 while on December 9, the Delhi-Ludhiana flight had to land at Chandigarh Airport because of poor visibility at the Ludhiana airport. Amrik Singh, manager of Air India at the local airport, said the flight did not take off from Delhi due to the fog. The airport authorities have been urging the government to upgrade the airport. Airport officials said until a DVOR was installed to improve visibility, flights would keep getting cancelled.
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Mercury dips
Ludhiana, December 16 Dr KK Gill, assistant agrometrologist at Punjab Agriculture University, said: “Although December is warmer compared to last year, there is decrease in the minimum temperature. For the past few days, it has been hovering around 3.5 degrees Celsius. But the normal minimum temperature for these days is 5 to 6 degrees Celsius. There is also a little fall in the maximum temperature. Till yesterday, it was 20 degrees Celsius while today it was 19.5 degrees. The maximum temperature of these days remains between 21 and 22 degrees.” “By tomorrow afternoon or evening, there will be cloudiness and will remain so till Sunday. With this the minimum temperature will increase, and the maximum temperature will decrease. So the days will be colder and nights will be warm,” he added. There were bleak chances of rain over the next two days.
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Flash cards to make maths interesting for students
Ludhiana, December 16 The seminar was on flash cards of mathematics classes IX and X in which each topic was covered in a simple way to make teaching effective among students. These flash cards have been made to make mathematics more interesting and to have visual effect on the minds of students. The flash cards will not only clear the concept but also work as catalyst to improve the quality of subject. "There were 48 seminarians from various schools who participated in it. All participants praised appreciated the concept and made flash cards on different topics", said resource persons Jaspal Singh. Gurbeer Singh Alamgeer, a math teacher, said, "These seminars are very helpful for the teachers. We appreciate the decision of the department. Now the flash cards will make things easy and help in explaining the mathematic formulas to students". On the last day of seminar, exhibition of flash cards was held in which school principal -cum-coordinator Harjeet Ram inspected the exhibition. He applauded the efforts made by the department to improve the quality of mathematics.
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Integrated fish-cum-duck farming unit developed at GADVASU
Ludhiana, December 16 Dr Asha Dhawan, dean,College of Fisheries, said the parent stock of ducklings of Khaki Campbell (exotic variety of ducks) was procured from the Central Poultry Development Organisation (CPDO), Hessarghatta, Bangalore, in November, 2010 and was successfully reared under local climatic conditions. The ducks started laying eggs after attaining the age of six months. Trials for hatching of duck eggs were carried out at the poultry hatchery of the Department of Genetics and Animal Breeding, GADVASU, and success was achieved in the hatching of duck eggs, for the first time in Punjab. Abhishek Srivastava, in-charge of fish-cum-duck farming unit, said that integrated fish-cum-duck farming was a sustainable farming technique based on recycling of livestock waste, which saved total input cost of feed and fertilisers for fish farming. In this system, both fish and ducks were benefited. Duck droppings fall directly into the pond and it act as manure and helps in boosting production of natural food (plankton), which further increases the productivity of the pond. Ducks also keep the pond clean by eating on the insects, tadpoles, larvae and vegetation present in and around the pond.
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Cinema halls unfit to counter fire incidents
Ludhiana, December 16 In the name of fire-fighting equipment, only fire extinguisher can be seen hanging on the walls of the cinema halls. Most of them have not been refilled. Water hydrants are also there but without valves. Most of the cinema authorities claim that they have kept hose pipes in store room because they fear these pipes will be stolen. Only at Aarti Cinema, the firebox is near the hydrants. The condition of hose reels and hose pipes are worse and they cannot be used in an emergency. Not a single fire alarm seen in any of the cinema halls. Deepak Cinema near the railway station is in a deplorable condition, with not much equipment installed there. The fire equipment at Manju Cinema near Dholewal Chowk can be rated as junk. The fire buckets are being used as spittoons by the migrants after chewing tobacco and betel leaf. Govinder Singh, in-charge of Aarti cnema said, "We get NOC every year form the fire brigade department and get the fire extinguisher refilled on time. We bought new buckets and hose pipe to instal in the hall. We'll soon change all the old material in some days". Keshav, manager of Preet palace, said, "We keep hosepipe in the office because people often damage the pipes. The fire equipment is expensive because it is made from brass so it gets stolen if no care is taken". According to the fire brigade department, cinema halls require carbon dioxide gas in projector room, chemical foam must be kept near the generator room while fire extinguisher and fire buckets in and outside the hall, hydrants and hosepipe outside the hall are required in a cinema hall as per norms. Kartar Singh, Assistant Divisonal Officer, said ,"Our department has checked Shingaar and Aarti cinemas a week ago, both have all fire equipment. We often check the cinema halls before giving them NOC. A number of cinema halls in the city have been closed down in the last few years. A few of them are on the verge of shutting down so we did not receive NOC applications forms from them".
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Inauguration of under-pass put off
Ludhiana, December 16 MC Commissioner AK Sinha said that it would take another week for the project to get complete. “Almost 90 per cent of the work is complete. Even the shops constructed for this project are complete and have been whitewashed. Work of the stairs is going on and by next week we will complete the project,” said Sinha. The foundation stone of PUP was laid by Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal in November last year and MC officials were expecting to complete it by November 30. But due to incessant rains in August, the work on the project remained stalled for few weeks, resulting in the delay. Perturbed over the delay, Sinha had also taken away charge from the executive engineer (Bridges and Roads), H C Salaria, who was supervising the project. The road on top of PUP was thrown open to public in October and ever since, the work on the project was going on in full swing so that this project could be opened for public before the model code of conduct came into force.
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Public places don’t have fire-fighting equipment at Jagraon
Jagraon, December 16 A large number of public places, including private hospitals, marriage palaces and other commercial places in Jagraon and the surrounding areas lack fire-fighting equipment. According to norms, though the presence of proper fire-fighting equipment is mandatory at such public places, there was no fire-fighting equipment found at majority of the public places. During a visit to various private hospitals, marriage palaces and commercial buildings of the city and surrounding areas, it was found that there was no fire-fighting equipment present at these places. Some of the public places where the fire extinguishers were existing, they were found to be out of order in most of the buildings. However, there were only few public places where fire-fighting equipment were found functioning properly. But at most of the places, the fire fighting equipments were apparently installed just for formality as a majority of these equipment were either outdated or out of order. The condition is worst at marriage places where there are maximum chances of fire breaking out. According to sources, the fire extinguishers have not been updated at most of these marriage places since a long time. Though fire extinguishers can be seen hanging in some of the marriage palaces, the fire extinguishers have not been functioning. Moreover, the number of fire extinguishers installed is less in number as compared to the requirement. The local administration too seems to be insensitive on such a serious issue as no raid has ever been conducted in such places to check the presence of fire-fighting measures. Though at such public places regular monitoring by the authorities is a must, the local administration has failed to do this and no inspection has been done in such places by the officials concerned. In such a situation, there might be a huge loss of property as well as human lives if fire breaks out at any of these places in future. Despite of the fact that there is no fire brigade station present in Jagraon. Every time when a fire breaks out in the city, the fire brigade is called from either Ludhiana or Moga, which takes at least one hour to reach the spot. Isha Kalia, SDM, Jagraon, was not available for comments despite repeated attempts to contact her on her mobile.
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1,600-litre kerosene seized, man held
Ludhiana, December 16 Swapan Sharma, ACP (North) said that the accused used to get kerosene at subsidised rates from certain depots in Focal Point and Sherpur and sold it to the migrants in the Shivpuri Area. "Huge quantity of subsidised kerosene has been recovered from Sunny. Without the connivance of depot holders, it is not possible to get the product. The deserving poor and needy are not being given their share by the depots and it is being sold in the black market openly", said Sharma. He further added that around three months back, he had written about the pilferage to the food and supplies department but there was no follow up by the department to any of the complaints. "That time too, we had recovered about 6,000 liters of kerosene oil. It is basically blue oil in which copper sulphate is mixed. He has been doing this for the past four years. The area is densely populated with migrants, who buy kerosene from him. We have recovered eight drums from his place", said the ACP.
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Three senior MC officials transferred
Ludhiana, December 16 BK Gupta, who was recently promoted as the Additional Commissioner, has been transferred to Jalandhar and SDM Ajay Sood has been given the additional charge of the MC Additional Commissioner. MTP Hemant Batra has been transferred to Patiala and Raj Kumar, who was MTP, Patiala, has been posted at Ludhiana. Dr Charanjit Uppal, who was the health officer with MC, has been transferred to Jalandhar.
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Loads of emotive appeal marks Izzat Sambhal
Khanna, December 16 The People's Party of Punjab (PPP) president Manpreet Singh Badal's appeal to emotions pitched well with the PPP vice-president Bhagwant Mann's appeal to humour. Badal invoked history to get his point across to the gathering. Quoting liberally from the poetry of Iqbal, he interspersed his poetic outpourings with some political observations. "My voice may be weak and solitary, but I have to speak up," he said, hoping to strike an emotional chord with the audience. Then it was back to politics: "If Punjab starts off by paying the debt today, it would take it 12-15 years to get debt free." "I don't want to criticize any party or level allegations against any leader, but the fact is that both SAD (B) and the Congress have no agenda. In fact, they work hand-in-glove with each other," he alleged. Again, it was back to the emotional appeal wherein Badal invoked God to emphasize that Punjab is not a poor state if its leaders were honest. Mann kept the audience in splits with his poker-faced humour. Taking a dig at Parkash Singh Badal and Sukhbir Singh Badal, he said, "The Badals never miss an opportunity to get themselves clicked. Photo-op is a compulsory subject for them." Justifying his entry into politics, he said, "I tried giving vent to my frustrations through my satire, but I realized it would not work." It was humour again when he said that people have become so power-hungry that they would not mind if they head a crematorium committee!
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from schools & colleges
Ludhiana: A seven-day NSS camp was organised at Gobindgarh Public College, Khanna, in which more than 100 volunteers participated. Principal Neena Seth Pajni addressed the volunteers and motivated them to participate in the activities meant for the welfare of society. A social awareness rally was organised by the volunteers with the students of Government Senior School of Manak Majra. The purpose of the campaign was to make the villages aware about the problems like feamle foeticide, drug addction, AIDS, illiteracy. Annual athletics meet
The 67th Annual Athletics Meet, a three-day sporting event, started on Friday at Kundan Viday Mandir, Civil Lines. Navita Puri, principal, said that sports ideally taught discipline and commitment and helped in building one’s character. Chief Guest, Manish Gupta, Additional Commissioner, Income Tax, took the salute from the athletes. Children of the KG section presented a beautiful welcome dance. "We have come to greet you." They also had a race 'Get Ready for School' for the tiny tots.Students of the primary section presented a magnificent PT show. The chief guest said that the favourite part of the gamewas the opportunity to play. —
TNS Faculty development course concludes
The Two-week Faculty Development Programme for the university and college teachers, organised by the department of business administration, Guru Nanak Dev Engineer College, concluded here on Friday. Prof. PP Kansal, chairman and Pooja Kohli, executive director, Ludhiana Stock Exchange, was the guest of honour. They dwelt at length on the pitfalls in the Indian system which fails to rein in the malpractices indulged by the unscrupulous operators. Dr Sukhdev Singh, co-ordinator and head, department of business administration, GNDEC, highlighted various facets of capital market and emerging challenges which the modern managers had to address to minimise the onslaught of macro-economic environment. As many as 65 delegates from various parts of Punjab and neighbouring states, participated in the programme which was addressed by eminent scholars and professionals drawn from industry and academia. NSS Unit
A seven-day NS Camp has commenced at Guru Nanak Khalsa College for Women, Gujarkhan Campus, Model Town. The camp was then inaugurated by principal Dr. Karmjit Kaur Virdi. As many as 85 volunteers have been enrolled. There was a tree plantation drive by e volunteers on the college campus itself. Then the volunteers visited Gurudwara Sahib Shaheedan for cleanliness work there. A lecture was delivered by Jatinder Singh Manchanda There were lectures on balanced diet and steps to modify eating habits, by Simran Kaur. The second day was bright and started with a prayer. The officials of Patanjali Yogpeth Society delivered a lecture on importance of yoga in routine life, followed by a practical session of yoga sadhna. A slogan and poster-making activity was held on the theme of NSS camp by the volunteersA technical session was held by Jagmail Singh from the Traffic Department on the topic “Traffic Rules”. Folk dance contest
DRV DAV Centenary College, Phillaur, on Friday held an inter-state, inter-school folk dance competition for the running Des Raj Memorial Trophy in NAVRANG-2011. Fourteen teams from various schools of Punjab and Himanchal Pardesh participated in the competition DRV, DAV Senior Secondary School, Chamba (HP); Sahibzada Ajit Singh Ji Public School, Sarhali; Nirmal Sagar Public School, Lassara,; MRS Police Public School, Phillaur; Government Girls’ Senior Secondary School of Phillaur, and Muthaada Kalan, National Girls High School, Goraya . SK. Malhotra, chairman, Local Advisory Committee, presided over the function as the chief guest. Many esteemed personalities were present to grace the occasion. Principal Dr. Karan Sharma congratulated all participants and honoured the wining teams. Results :First Prize: DAV Public School,
Chamba, (HP);
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ludhiana scan Punjab National Bank (PNB) is observing customer contact week from December 12 to 17. During this period, the senior executives of the bank will visit various branches to assess the level of customer service and seek their valuable suggestions for further improving the quality of service. The bank officials will also contact cutomers either over a telephone call, at cutomers’ meetings or through a personal visit to give them a feeling of being cared. The inoperative account holders will also be contacted to activate the old relationship, said an official of the bank. — OC
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Ludhiana eves emerge champions in handball
Jarkhar (Ludhiana), December 16 The second day's proceedings saw some keen tussles in all the disciplines and a large number of spectators present there witnessed superb action. In handball (girls), Ludhiana scripted a convincing 24-15 victory over Ropar in their last league fixture to romp home as champions. Ropar had to content with the second spot while Amritsar eves, who recorded a 16-11 win against Tarn Taran, secured the third position. In the boy's section (handball), Ludhiana, besides Sangrur, Patiala, Muktsar and Mohali got the better of their opponents to secure berths in the last eight stage. Ludhiana lads defeated SAS Nagar 21-8; Sangrur outplayed Gurdaspur 16-4; Patiala overpowered Jalandhar 30-26; Muktsar beat Moga 30-23 and Mohali edged out Amritsar 22-17. In basketball, Ludhiana district cagers had a fine day as they registered victories in the boys as well as girls sections to stamp their superiority. In the girl's section, Ludhiana beat Sangrur 51-32 while Sangrur outclassed Patiala 41-31 whereas in the boy's section, Ludhiana hoopsters outnumbered Sangrur 53-24 and Ludhiana Basketball Academy trounced Sangrur 55-22. In volleyball (smashing), Kuruksheta University faced a strong challenge from Dera Baba Nanak Club, Gurdaspur, but eventually managed to romp home victorious 25-17, 25-18 and 25-20. In the second round matches in kabaddi (72 kg), Bath bt Bhulatha 12-2; Rakba defeated Sudgar 11-8; Sasaal outplayed Dalher 10-5; Nathi Edi beat Sarngian 11-1 and Ghaloti defeated Natt 10-7. In six-a-side hockey matches (boys u-17), Grewal Academy, Kila Raipur, routed Ghawadi 12-1; Sudhar Academy trounced Kuthala 12-2 and Jarkhar Academy beat Dharang XI 6-2. In the girl's section, Haryana XI pipped Kairo Wing 3-2 while Shaheed Sukhdev Thapar Memorial Government Senior Secondary School, Bharat Nagar, Ludhiana, outclassed Khalsa College, Ludhiana 5-2. In the senior men's group, Kila Raipur, blanked Northern Railways 3-0; Jarkhar drew 4-4 with PSEB, Patiala; EME, Jalandhar defeated Friends Club, Roomi 5-1 and BSF, Jalandhar defeated ITBP 2-0.
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Ludhiana, December 16
Indoor stadium 
Ludhiana, December 16
