More gangs likely

The accused told the police that Mirajo was operating similar gangs and they were just "pawns" in the huge chain of robbers. The police has not ruled out the possibility that some other gangs are still operating in the city.

Money trap

The trio said they were working as farm labourers and were earning Rs 100 every day. Mirajo offered them Rs 500 to accompany her. "Mirajo wears expensive clothes and appears to be from a rich family. She told us that we have to operate as a shield while she would lure women to sit inside the car and rob them. She was also stealing purses of commuters while travelling in a bus and were using us as a cover," they claimed.

Timeline

July 15: The gang flees with gold ornaments worth lakhs of rupees by robbing 60-year-old Manju Jain, a resident of Mall Road. The gang snatched her two bangles and chain by offering her a ride.

July 19: The gang snatched a gold chain and earrings of Surjit Kaur of Himmat Singh Nagar in Sadar area. Gang members offered her a ride and once she sat in the car, they snatched her gold chain and earrings. The gang members snatched earrings of an elderly woman near the DMCH. The gang struck again on the same day and fled with gold bangles of a woman from Bharat Nagar Chowk. 

Ludhiana, July 22
We have come across employees of Ambulance 108 ferrying patients in and around the city, but today they helped critical-ill patients by donating blood in a blood-donation camp organised at Lord Mahavir Civil Hospital.

Jatin Malhotra, Cluster Head of Ludhiana-11for Ambulance 108, said, “We ferry lots of patients and accident victims daily. We realised that a large number of patients need blood in case of emergency. Thus, we decided to hold this camp under the guidance of Dr AK Handa, Deputy Medical Commissioner, Ludhiana, and in charge of Blood Bank, Lord Mahavir Civil Hospital, Ludhiana, Dr Arun Mitra. At least 25 members of our crew donated blood on the occasion.” Jagdip Singh, Cluster Head of Ludhiana-1 for Ambulance 108 said, “We are feeling good after donating blood for the sick.”

An emergency medical technician said, “I am happy as I have done something good today.” 

Ludhiana, July 22
Stay-at-home husbands are driving their wives to the world of crime. The women who fell in the police net were sent here to make quick money to bail out the family from financial crises.

"Mere Rs 100 daily were not enough, especially when my husband does not do anything. And even if he works, he spends the entire money on drugs and liquor," said Bhajno.

Police officials said their drug addict husbands and extreme poverty forced these women to crime. The accuse said Mirajo's husband knew about the activities of his wife.

SHO Harinder Singh said: "The kingpin might be belonging to the nomadic tribe, where the husbands sit idle at home while the women run the show. Husbands rear the children from the money they get by selling stolen gold items."

Wearing good clothes helps these women lure the elderly to accept the free ride offer.

According to police sources, Channa village in Sangrur was notorious for such all-women gangs, but off late, women from Sintawala village in Nabha had also begun to take to crime.

Ludhiana, July 22
The salaried class can heave a sigh of relief as the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has exempted those earning up to Rs 5 lakh from filing returns unless they have other sources of income. This move will benefit a large number of salaried people falling under this income bracket.

“The board has exempted salaried employees from filing the returns for the assessment year 2012-2013 if their income from the salary does not exceed Rs 5 lakh and the income from savings bank account and the annual interest earned from the savings bank account is less than Rs 10,000,” reads the CBDT notification.

“Only those employees will be exempted from filing returns who have reported to the employer their permanent account number (PAN) and income, if any, from interest on savings bank account and received Form 16 from the employer,” said a senior IT official.

In cases where a salary earner has income from other sources like dividend and interest and does not want to file returns, he will have to disclose such income to his employer for tax deduction. The notification further mentions that the individuals availing this exemption should have received Form 16 from his employer, should not have any refund claims and his total tax liability should have been paid off by the employer by way of TDS, reads the notification.

Doraha,July 22
Nowadays, various schools and colleges are appointing teachers for different subjects and classes, but as per information, a majority of them are proving to be utter misfits.

A total of 13 candidates appeared in the written test recently conducted for the posts of the nursery teacher at a local school.

General questions comprising the name of the Governor of Punjab, HRD Minister of India, full form of UNESCO, names of four-legged animals, aquatic animals, capital of Haryana and names of English newspapers were asked.

The candidates, who applied for the post had either done MA, BEd or BA, BEd. Astonishingly, not even a single candidate knew the name of the Governor of Punjab, HRD Minister of India, the full form of UNESCO or for that matter the headquarters of United Nations. Only two of them could attempt correctly the names of four English newspapers, three could tell the full form of UKG and six knew the capital of Himachal Pradesh.

One of the candidates wrote the plural of people as 'peoples', three of them wrote Shimla to be the capital of Uttaranchal, Haryana and Nenital (Nainital), another wrote China to be the largest state of India, still another answered the capital of Haryana to be Manali, four of them included cow, bitch, cat, buffalo, tiger, lion, elephant and bear in the category of aquatic animals.

A candidate spelt horse as hores, buffalo as beflow, donkey as Donky, Madhya Pradesh as Madhapardesh, Tribune as Trbun, Punjab as Punjabe and Rajasthan as Rajastan.

Director and former principal Jaswant Singh Gill opined- “This is a sorry state of affairs. If a candidate, who is applying for the post of a nursery teacher, does not know the full form of UKG, what else can be expected. It has been generally observed that the candidates, who apply to various posts these days, are not even aware of the basics of their subject, what to talk about extra knowledge.

Principal Dr Sandeep Shawney expressed that the problem had arisen as the basics were not clear to the students. “Another cause is dummy admission," he added.

“There is a severe decline of interest in extra reading among youngsters these days. Internet has provided them with every short cut but has failed to enable them to understand the concepts with depth and understanding.

Library visitors are a few these days, inquisitive learners are all the more less,” opined principal Dr Narinder Singh Sidhu.

The teaching community, too, is responsible for such ignoble scenario. Waning interest of teachers in classrooms, ill-preparedness on the part of teachers, an easy go lucky attitude towards teaching and at the same time undue accommodation of divisions and marks of pupils is really hurting the educative and reformative aspect of the learners,” said Tarsem Bahia, chairman, Punjab Educationists Forum.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, July 22
Misleading interpretation of directions to get bank accounts of government school students opened has resulted in chaos.

Though heads of respective schools have been directed to get online saving bank accounts of students opened, without mentioning the name of any specific bank, they have compounded problems of managements of certain banks.

Even those students who already have accounts in other banks have been asked to open another account at a branch specified by teachers.

Saving extra labour to enter particulars of different branches of separate banks was cited to be another reason behind insistence of teachers for a particular organisation.

Branches of certain banks were flooded with students of state-run elementary schools and their parents as they had been asked by their teachers to open saving bank accounts at those branches only.

Situation at branches situated in villages is worse as a majority of parents are illiterate. All works related to preparation of required documents according to "Know Your Customer" and filling of account opening forms are invariably being done by the bank staff.

This not only affects the routine work of the branches, but also irritates students and parents as they have to wait for long for obvious reason of unmanageable rush at banks.

Maintaining that his staff had been working overtime for meeting social commitment of his bank, a manager of a village branch of a nationalised bank regretted that officials in the education department had failed to rationalise the task of opening of account.

A few teachers insisted on opening of accounts at a particular bank as it would be easy for them to prepare lists of particulars of banks accounts.

Balwinder Singh, principal of Government Senior Secondary School, Dehlon, said he had coordinated with managers of different branches to get accounts of students opened.

"Realising that it will be difficult for staff of one branch of a bank to open so many accounts, we asked in-charges of different classes to get the accounts opened at different branches," said Singh.

The nation was yet to come to terms with Dara Singh’s death when the passing away of Rajesh Khanna added to the anguish. In a span of just a week, Hindi cinema lost two of its celebrated faces, who were institutions in themselves. It seems God was also crying on the cremation of super star Rajesh Khanna as it was raining heavily. The king of romance though is no more will always remain present in our hearts and his films like Aaradhana, Amar Prem, Anand will forever be special for the fans of “babu moshai”.

Celebrating the new way

A non-government organisation - Ann Jal Sewa Trust, which was serving free food to needy patients at Lord Mahavira Civil Hospital, Ludhiana, on Sunday celebrated their one year their existence in an unique way. Shivram Saroy Founder of the NGO, said, "We organised satsang in the morning and celebrated our one year by serving desi ghee ka halwa and food to the patients and needy here. We have decided to continue it for next two days too." Commenting about it attendant of a patient said, "The gesture reminds up of good days of “sawan” when people used to hold langars in villages. I wish that the NGO always serves us food here."

‘Sawan’ a hot favourite among women

The month of “sawan” has always been a much awaited month for the women of the city. They get an opportunity to celebrate teej in a traditional manner. These festivals, which otherwise have lost their charm in the present scenario due to the Western influence, are celebrated by the clubs in the cities. No wonder, the celebrations depict a perfect blend of traditional and contemporary style. Mehandi artists are invited to put henna on the palms of married women and girls and sumptuous delicacies, including kheer, malpura are served to celebrate the days. "We used to celebrate teej in our college days in a traditional way, but here in clubs, it is celebrated in a much different way. But I like the celebrations, at least we get attached to our traditions", said a septaugenarian member of a women’s club.

Why should boys have all the fun?

It is always said that the boys have more fun than the girls, but it is not really true, feel many. Punar, studying in class VI, while holidaying with family spotted girls hanging out of the car windows in a moving car. They were doing so in zest and fun. The girls were not only breaking the traffic rules, but were also putting their lives in danger. Girls seemed to be turning "rebellious" and saying, "why should boys have all the fun?" he said.

Contributed by Manav Mander, Anupam Bhagria, Shivani Bhakoo and Gurvinder Singh

Ludhiana, July 22
The Punjab BJP general secretary, Kamal Sharma, who's also a political advisor to the Punjab Chief Minister, today claimed that the proposed taxes were a necessity for the state in order to avail the financial assistance from the Centre for various schemes.

Interacting with mediapersons here, he claimed that the Municipal Corporation Act did not impose any bar on the holding of the Municipal Corporation (MC) polls prior to the completion of full-term of the previous House. However, the new House would start functioning after the completion of the full-term of the previous House, he added. Sharma's statement was in response to MP Manish Tewari's announcement that the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) would take a legal recourse to challenge the constitutional validity of the MC polls conducted in Ludhiana, Patiala, Jalandhar and Amritsar.

Denying that there was any rift between the Akalis and the BJP, he said both the parties were working in tandem. The district coordination committees, which had their members from both parties, were facilitating the smooth functioning, he added.

About the recent hike in power tariff, he claimed that it was unavoidable as the power requirements of the state had to be met with. He claimed that the state would be power surplus in one-and-a-half year.

Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena activists, who were protesting against the BJP's stand on the issue of the Operation Bluestar memorial, presented a memorandum to Sharma.

Ludhiana, July 22
The Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings conducted training programme on quality assurance today.

Avtar Singh, general secretary, CICU, in his inaugural speech emphasised that the Indian industry would have to face a challenging time ahead, which could only sustain and grow by working hard.

MSMEs have to cope up with the changing times by adopting quality assurance and statistical process control techniques, which will make a difference in achieving assigned goals. It is imperative to adopt these measures, so as to enhance customer satisfaction, he added.

Upkar Singh, joint secretary, CICU, welcomed the participants and said the term quality assurance (QA) referred to the planned and systematic activities implemented in a quality system so that quality requirements for a product/service conferred error prevention.

Faculty Deo Kant Pandey who has over two decades of experience in training and development conducted the training programme. More than 50 participants comprising proprietors, partners, directors, general managers, plant heads and senior-level mangers representing various industries attended this programme. Significant strategies for developing techniques, efficiency and strengthening execution capabilities in organisations were discussed.

Upkar Singh in his concluding remarks said the training would enable participants to introduce the latest techniques to promote a new, more creative and effective approach for enhancing efficiency and achieving higher-level of customer satisfaction. He appreciated the participants for lively and interactive discussion.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, July 22
Pilgrims from the border state to Hemkunt Sahib in Chamoli district in Uttarakhand will be getting better facilities during journey and stay.

Assurance to this effect was given by the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Vijay Bahuguna, in response to an appeal made by speaker of Vidhan Sabha Charanjit Singh Atwal during in a meeting held at Dehradun recently.

Referring to the outcome of the meeting held with Bahuguna recently, Atwal claimed that the Chief Minister had assured to construct a metal road on a 20-km stretch leading to Gurdwara Hemkunt Sahib, besides improving other facilities.

Apart from directing the authorities to ensure that pilgrims were not harassed by the police and other staff posted at various check posts and barriers, Bahuguna assured that the administrations would take appropriate steps to ensure that owners of shops did not exploit travellers.

Acknowledging the need and relevance of community kitchen (langar) at certain gurdwaras situated on way to the pilgrimage, the Chief Minister allowed the management of the Nirmal Dera Ber Kalan and Shree Damdama Sahib Nargoos to pump out water from nearby river for consumption at the religious places. Earlier, water was supplied to these places through 9-10 km pipes and miscreants used to damage these pipes frequently.

Atwal said he would monitor the progress of various projects drafted for the welfare of Sikh pilgrims visiting Hemkunt Sahib.

Ludhiana, July 22
A plantation drive and a blood donation camp marked the 40th anniversary of the Milk Union, Ludhiana.

Talking about the start of Milkfed in Punjab, an official said the Milk Union of Ludhiana had come a long way from the days when it started about 40 years ago.

Milk Plant, Ludhiana, was transferred to Milkfed, Punjab, and then to Milk Union, Ludhiana, in 1988 and the brand name of the milk and milk products was adopted by Milkfed as Verka. In 1992, the capacity of the milk plant was increased to 4 lakh litres per day. The plant now produces table butter, ghee, paneer, milk cake, dahi, plain lassi and kheer.

Officials said there were about 800 Milk production Cooperative Societies. Although the production in Punjab had been commendable, being the second largest milk producing state at 8 million tonnes annually, there was still a long way to go to completely adopt the Anand Pattern, the model on which the Milkfed Punjab started functioning, the system by the farmers, of the farmers and for the farmers.

Challenges

"There are challenges for the growth of the federation. One of the reasons for the slow growth of the organisation is the lack of awareness among people about milk. Many people in the state still prefer to buy milk from a private vendor, who may be selling bad-quality milk. In Gujarat, the milk production cooperative societies are a lot more proactive and milk produced is channelised in an organised manner. 

Ludhiana, July 22
As Parents’ Day is being celebrated across the world, those children are fortunate who have the blessings and guidance of parents and are able to live with their families.

Although the present generation generally shows less respect to the elderly, there are some families where the elderly do command respect because of their experience.

Param Saini, a psychotherapist, says that she is lucky to have her father along with her. Her father, Hazara Singh, a noted writer and a nonagenarian, vouches for the support his daughter provides him at this age. "She is an exceptional child. She was well settled in the US for about two decades. But when my wife passed away, Param gave it all up and came to be with me here. Very few people are able to make such sacrifices for parents," he says.

He says that that she also helps him with technology. Param says that her father is fond of writing and as his typewriter has become obsolete, she helps him with computer work and email.

Children of Juginder Singh (80) also feel that parents are always great guides. "They make several sacrifices to bring up their children and in their old age it is the children’s chance to pay back their parents," said his son. 

Ludhiana: An English declamation contest was held at GMT International Public School, Kakowal road, here. Students of classes VII and VIII participated in the contest. They spoke on different topics.

Teej celebrated

Vajra Army School celebrated Teej with fervour. Charkha, pakhi and chajj were put on display. Swings were put up. Staff and students were all dressed in traditional attire and danced to the tune of popular Punjabi numbers. The students relished kheer and malpuas.

Festival of swings

Teej was celebrated with gusto at DAV Public School, BRS Nagar. The school wore a festive look as it was bedecked with flowers. Children trooped into the school wearing traditional dresses. They danced to the tune of traditional songs that added to the gaiety. The typical 'Sawan' fare kheer and malpuas were enjoyed by children. A Teej queen competition was held.

School introduces smartclass

Guru Nanak International Public School, Model Town, has introduced Educomp Smartclass CTS (class transformation system) from classes I to XII. An inauguration ceremony of high-tech smartclass was held in the school. Maheshinder Singh Grewal, Chief Adviser to the Chief Minister of Punjab was the chief guest. Members of the management, director and principal extended a floral welcome to the chief guest.

Pool party

Students of kindergarten section, GMT Public School, enjoyed a pool party. They danced to the tune of rocking numbers. Children felt relaxed amidst hot and sultry weather. Teachers also enjoyed the rainy day along with students. Principal Amarjit Dhaliwal and coordinator Sunita Pawar also visited the kindergarten section to have a glimpse of students' fun and frolic. — TNS 

Ludhiana, July 22
Members of Sukrit Trust, a non-government organisation(NGO) today shared sufferings of patients admitted to different hospitals of the city by distributing copies of the book, "Dukh Bhanjan Tera Naam ji".

Dr Mandeep Kaur, chief coordinator, Sukrit Trust, Ludhiana, said, "Tomorrow is the Parkash Gurpurab of eighth Guru, Sri Guru Harkrishan Sahib. He usually served the patients suffering from smallpox. We should seek inspiration form him, we distributed 1,400 copies to the patients. Thee books have inspirational sayings and shabads from Shri Guru Granth Sahib. We distributed them with the faith that patients would get better at the earliest by reading and reciting these."

Today, 10 teams distributed the books to patients at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Mohan Dai Oswal Cancer Hospital, Guru Teg Bahadur Charitable Hospital, Civil Hospital and a number of private nursing homes.

Mandeep said, "The youngsters distributed the copies. The primary aim was to inculcate the feeling of serving the bedridden people and sense the discomfort they are passing through among youngsters. This would help in developing love for the mankind."

She further said, "The members of the organisation in Patiala, visited Rajendra Hospital for the purpose. Similarly, youths from the border district of Ferozepur covered various hospitals and nursing homes in Moga and the adjoining areas."

Ludhiana, July 22
A function “Desi Rockstars” was organised at a resort on Saturday evening for the promotion of the movie "Carry on Jatta".

Stars of the movie Gippy Grewal and Mahie Gill performed on the songs of the movie to the applause of fans gathered at the event. About 300 people had gathered to watch the show. Fans of the singing star, many of them boys, gathered in front of the stage during the performance of Grewal and cheered his dance performance.

Many young fans said that they loved the raw energy and singing of the star. "He was not only a singer and an actor for us, but a fashion and style icon for us," Taranjit said.

"He brought the attention of the youngsters to Punjabi music. This is an awesome thing," said another youngster. He invited the audience to watch the movie releasing on the coming Friday. Jatt and Juliette star Diljit Dosanjh also performed before them for the promotion of the movie.

"It is great to see the camaraderie of Punjabi movie stars promoting movies of one another," said Balpreet, another youngster. "It seems to be a watershed time for Punjabi movies, as they are breaking records and changing the image of the Punjabi cinema as they have good content," he said. 

Ludhiana, July 22
“Zindagi Live”, a non-government organization, today organised seventh voluntary blood donation camp here today at a hotel where 300 units of blood was donated for the support of poor thalassaemic kids. The blood was donated to the teams from DMC&H headed by Dr Manavi Gupta, the CMC&H and the Red Cross.

So far, 1,106 units have already been collected by the NGO. Parveen Soni Bakshi, president of the foundation, said that regular camps would continue to be organised for thalassaemic patients. Recently, the NGO adopted 18 children for transfusion, medicines, filters and identity cards were given to them for free treatment at the DMC&H and CMC&H.

Ludhiana, July 22
Residents along with students of the nearby school continued to stage dharna against the opening of the liquor vend in Street no 3 of Janakpuri yesterday.

It’s widely rumored that the liquor contractor would take the help of the police for getting the vend opened. The residents seemed prepared for tackling such a situation, but no one turned up till the evening. People residing in the locality are up in arms against the contractor after receiving support of the school administration, gurdwara management committee and women.

Inder, a resident of Janakpuri, said, “A large number of vends are located on the roadsides. Why the government wants to open the liquor vend in residential area,” he enquired?

“We can’t afford to allow opening of a liquor vend in our area as it would restrict the movement of women. Moreover, our children might get distracted,” Ravi, another resident, added.

Ludhiana, July 22
The district unit of the CPI organised a seminar on “food security for all” today and called for universal public distribution system to meet the basic needs of a nutritious food for every Indian citizen.

Amarjeet Kaur, member, CPI Central Secretariat, while addressing the seminar said, “Despite the Central government’s claim, 380 million people are suffering from hunger and malnutrition.

With the rice in the prices of essential commodities, 150 million more are expected to meet the same fate. Women and children are the worst affected. At least 60 million children are malnourished. India has over 160 million hectares of fertile land, which is more than China. But as per the government’s report, 250,000 farmers have committed suicide between 1995 and 2010.”

She further said the CPI along with other Left parties had launched a nationwide campaign on the issue of food security. Activists would stage a dharna at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, from July 30th to August 3rd. 

Jagraon, July 22
A middle aged man was killed in a road accident took place near Nanaksar, about 5 kilometers from Jagraon on the Ludhiana-Moga highway today afternoon. The deceased has been identified as Mohan Ram, a resident of Talwandi Mehma in Himachal Pradesh.

Mohan, a truck driver by profession, had parked his vehicle in a rice mill for unloading rice bags.

While the labourers were busy unloading rice bags from the truck, Mohan Ram and truck cleaner Vijay Kumar left the rice mill to have lunch at a nearby dhaba.

Vijay Kumar said a speeding car hit Mohan from behind while they were returning to the rice mill after having the lunch. Mohan sustained serious injuries on his head, arms and legs. Soon after this, Vijay with the help of some other persons rushed Mohan to the local Civil Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

The unidentified car driver fled from the spot immediately after the accident.

Meanwhile, the police has registered a case against the car driver on the statement of Vijay Kumar and started investigation. The police has also impounded the car involved in the accident.

ASI Baldev Singh said a case had been registered at Jagraon Bus Stand Police post in this regard and the efforts to trace the car owner are on.

The police has also informed the family members of the deceased about the accident and the body would be handed over to them after conducting a post-mortem examination, added Baldev Singh. 

Phillaur, July 22
In a daring incident, a few unidentified car-borne robbers succeeded in dodging Chandigarh, Mohali, Nawanshahar, Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur police and escape after hitting and damaging more than 12 vehicles, including nine motorcycles yesterday night.

The robbers snatched a black-coloured Ford Fiesta car from a person and sped towards Mohali-Nawanshahar. Though Chandigarh and Mohali police alerted their counterparts in neighboring districts, but the robbers kept on driving towards Nawanshahar-Phillaur- Lassarra-Apra-Behram-Kot-Fatuhi and Mahilpur side at very high speed.

The police kept on chasing the robbers, but were unable to nab them.— OC

Phillaur, July 22
In an unfortunate incident, a teenager identified as Manish (12) reportedly committed suicide by hanging himself from the ceiling of his room at Kot Fatuhi village last evening. Manish was studying in seventh standard. He returned home after watching a rural mela. The cause of suicide has not been ascertained as yet.

In another incident, a middle aged man identified as Jai Ram reportedly committed suicide by hanging himself from a rope in his house at Atta village last night. He used to work as a painter and was in stress, the police added.

Meanwhile, a girl reportedly committed suicide by jumping from the roof of her house at Kandolan Kalan village last night. She reportedly committed suicide due to stress, the police added. The bodies were handed over to the families after conducting post-mortem examinations. — OC

Jagraon, July 22
The Raikot police has arrested two drug peddlers and seized 13 gram of smack from them during two operations. The accused have been identified as Harpreet Singh and Lakhvir Singh, both residents of Bhaini Tareran village near Raikot. Raikot DSP Kehar Singh Khaira said the first drug peddler was arrested by a team lead by in charge of the Lohatbadi police post Nishan Singh from near Tungheri village last evening.

“The accused Harpreet Singh was coming from Tungheri village. He saw the police team and tried to escape, but was nabbed. The police recovered 7 grams of smack from his possession,” Khaira added.

The police has registered a case against Harpreet Singh under the NDPC Act at the Raikot police station and started investigation. In another incident, a police team lead by Sub Inspector Mohammad Jamil of the Raikot police station arrested a youth from near Gaushala located on the Barundi road and recovered 6 grams smack from his possession.

SHO of the Raikot police station Dilbagh Singh said the accused had been identified as Lakhvir Singh, a resident of Bhaini Tareran village. The police has registered a case against Lakhvir Singh under the NDPS Act at the Raikot police station and the investigation is on, stated Lakhvir Singh.

According to DSP Khaira, both accused confessed their crime during preliminary investigation. Both arrested youths are drug addicts themselves, he added. The Ludhiana (rural) police has undertaken a drive against the drug peddlers to eradicate the menace of drug addiction from the area. A few persons have been arrested in this regard.