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Jagannath
Yatra On call of faith
Ludhiana, December 16 The "foolproof plan" of the police went haywire after the yatra reached near Ghumar Mandi. Tents pitched on the road to distribute eatables among devotees added to the snarl-up. Exasperated by the chaos, several motorists were seen indulging in heated arguments with the police to remove the barricades. Residents of the Civil Lines were at the receiving end, as all major roads were closed due to the yatra. “Yesterday, the road was closed due to VVIPs' visit for the Kabaddi World Cup finals and today the road is closed due to the rath yatra. Fortunately, the yatra was organised during the weekend otherwise it would have led to a major traffic chaos,” said Gaurav Gupta, a resident of the Civil Lines. Those arriving from other cities were caught unawares and got stuck in serpentine queues. Long queues of vehicles were witnessed on the entire stretch, beginning from the Jagraon bridge. Some motorists violated traffic diversions and entered the route of the yatra, which led to more chaos. The problem was further aggravated when a large number of women parked their cars in the middle of the road to take part in the yatra. “What can we do? Here everyone thinks he or she is a VIP. We had installed barricades and had told people not to enter the yatra route, but they simply did not comply with the directions,”, said a police officer. Heated arguments Exasperated by the chaos, several motorists were seen indulging in heated arguments with the police to remove the barricades. Residents of the Civil Lines were at the receiving end, as all major roads were closed due to the yatra
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Religious fervour marks rath yatra
Ludhiana, December 16 Devotees were seen scrambling for a glimpse of the decorative rath, in which idols of Lord Jagannath were kept. After starting from the Durga Mata temple, the rath yatra passed through Club Road, Fountain Chowk, Rani Jhansi Road, Ghumar Mandi, Aarti Cinema and Ferozpur Road, and culminated at the Durga Mata temple, Sarabha Nagar. Roads were decorated with flowers and lights. These roads were closed for traffic for the rath yatra. Devotees sang and danced to the tunes of Krishna bhajans. Stalls of eatables were set up by devotees on both sides of roads through which the rath yatra passed. Devotees, including senior citizens and children, jostled with one another to get a glimpse of the rath. Commuters faced problems due to the closure of roads for the rath
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Pindi Street fast becoming hub of illegal sale of drugs
Ludhiana, December 16 The state government, despite having admitted that drug addiction has reached alarming proportions in Punjab, seems to have done little to stop such illegal activities. There are about 450 medical shops/stores in Pindi Street which have a licence. There are about 1,200 godowns of medicines in the congested Pindi Street. A medical store owner said on condition of anonymity that at least 10 per cent of the godowns were illegal. "The licence of many medical stores have been cancelled. Despite this, they continue to operate from here and sell habit-forming drugs illegally as the authorities look the other way," said the medical store owner, adding that law-enforcing agencies knew that owners of some medical stores were well-connected and it was difficult to act against them. Thousands of commission agents operate from here. These agents, who work for a 2 per cent commission, get orders from various districts, including Nawanshahr, Barnala and Phagwara. They get habit-forming drugs such as cough syrups, injections, capsules and tablets from wholesalers in Pindi Street and supply these further. "It is convenient for them. They come and pack drugs in bags and conveniently supply these to various districts with impunity," said an agent in the market. The police has no legal authority to raid the stores and check the illegal sale of habit-forming drugs to various districts on "fake" bills. Even if the police wants to conduct a raid, the drug inspector has to accompany it. In charge of the narcotics wing here Harbans Singh said the police could not conduct a raid on medical stores on its own as a drug inspector had to accompany it. "By the time we take health officials into confidence, information regarding raids gets leaked out and the offenders take advantage. A separate drug inspector should be deputed with the police to check this meace," said Harbans Singh. Habit-forming drugs
The licence of many medical stores have been cancelled. Despite this, they continue to operate from here and sell habit-forming drugs illegally as the authorities look the other
way — A medical store owner
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Move to link minimum wages with inflation worries industry
Ludhiana, December 16 Regarding the Employees Provident Fund, the government proposes to include all allowances in the salary 24 per cent (12 per cent each by the employee and the employer) of which has to be saved in the provident fund. The government is also effecting changes in the labour contract laws. “The industry has been crying for softening of labour laws so as to make it globally competitive. Labour laws were made stringent during the Emergency by inserting restrictive Chapter V (B) in the Industrial Disputes Act. This made it
almost impossible for an industrial enterprise with more than 300 employees to either retrench its workforce or even close down without government permission. This position was further made harsher by lowering the threshold limit to 100 in 1982,” said PD Sharma, president of the Apex Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Now, the change in the provident fund is downright retrograde, especially in the economic reforms regime. The take-home salary of employees would be drastically reduced. Employees would not be able to save in the manner of their choice and earn more on this saving, said Sharma. Labour comes under the concurrent list. It is not mandatory for the states to implement the National Floor-Level Minimum Wages (NFLMW) decided by the Centre. At present, against the NFLMW of Rs 115 per day, the industry was already paying higher, said Gurpargat Singh Kahlon, president of the Auto Parts Manufacturers Association. Even the RBI has said there is no unrest among the labour due to high inflation as rural wages have been rising quickly annually for the past five years. So is the case with the urban labour. “The government is urged not to tinker with the already tightened labour laws. Many Asian countries have taken advantage of this and their economies have flourished due to labour-intensive industries at the cost of our country,” said Sharma. |
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No power cuts to be imposed next summer: PSPCL chief
Ludhiana, December 16 Talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of a blood donation camp, organised at Focal Point division of the PSPCL here yesterday, he admitted that the power situation was not comfortable during the paddy season earlier this year due to deficit rainfall. "We are fully prepared to meet the increased demand for electricity during the next summer season," he said. Elaborating on the steps being taken towards this end, Choudhry said power was being supplied at present to Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh under the power banking system, which these states would return during the next summer. Moreover, the under-construction Talwandi Sabo thermal power plant was also expected to start generation by March next year, adding some 3,980 MW of additional power to the kitty of the state, which would improve the power situation. The CMD of the power
utility dispelled all apprehensions on account of shortage of coal at thermal power stations. "At present, we have coal stocks for 12 days at all thermal projects and following improvement in arrivals, soon the stocks will swell to a healthy 22 days," he said. On shortage of energy meters, Choudhry said the PSPCL had received a supply of one lakh meters, which had been distributed among various zones to facilitate the release of new connections. Another consignment of eight lakh energy meters was expected by March next year, when the PSPCL would be in a position to release new power connections on demand. Chief Engineer of the central zone of the PSPCL KL Sharma, who was also present on the occasion, said various projects for upgrade of infrastructure had been undertaken in the central zone to strengthen the power supply and distribution network. |
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35-year-old man stabbed to death
Ludhiana, December 16 The victim was stabbed many times in the abdomen. He succumbed to his injuries while being taken to a hospital. The robbers snatched cash and belongings of the victim, before fleeing the spot. According to the police, another man was accompanying the victim. The police is looking for him to get details about the accused. The police suspects that a gang on drug addicts could be behind the murder.
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Rajnikanth's new
space- CBSE textbooks
Ludhiana, December 16 "It is good that the CBSE is adding chapters on a real life hero that children can relate to," said Amandeep, a parent. "Although chapters on people who contributed to society are important but children will get more motivated to relate to the achievements of the people who are living legends," he said. "This is a good addition to the course. It is good that the CBSE keeps revamping the syllabus to make it more contemporary. The board must keep revising the content, that not only help in improving the knowledge of students, but also motivate and inspire them to become achievers themselves," said Vikrant Aggarwal, another parent. Teachers agree that revised and contemporary content make teaching and learning more productive. "When the course content is interesting, teaching it becomes more fun as students also take interest in learning," said Anjali, a school teacher. "Even the title of the chapter 'from bus conductor to superstar' will be inspirational for children," she said. "I think more such chapters should be included in the course content that celebrate the life of people and youngsters who are doing well in society and have made a name for themselves," said Deepak, a student.
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Making kids write at early age not right: Expert
Ludhiana, December 16 She said, "If you look at it, writing is a very complicated process. One has to hold an instrument, look at the image, and write in a line. But this should only be started after a child
is psychologically ready for it." "Rather than making children write particular forms of alphabet, they should be left alone with books, notebooks and crayons, and should be allowed to put pen to paper on their own and make random lines. Children would express desire to write alphabet on their own, when they are
psychologically ready," she said. "Making them write, learn rhymes, being compared to other children puts undue competitive pressure on them, which can cause harm and create hatred for studies altogether," she says. "Not liking to write may also instill hatred and fear for writing amongst children as they are forced to write early on," she said. "No guidelines should be fixed for children and they should not be compared with other children. They should be stimulated to learn and provided the stimulating environment, rather than forcing them to learn. Learning and expressing is the natural need of mind and child does it automatically,"
she said. "Parents are also unaware about the whether it is right or not. They just send children to playways, and feel satisfied that the children
are getting ready for school through learning rhymes and writing. But this discipline for learning at an early age may
rather be a very limited learning process," she said.
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Peanuts no longer poor man’s almonds as prices go up
Doraha, December 16 I would relish them sitting in a quilt. But, this year it has seldom happened as he says times have changed now. I yearn for these nuts like anything. One day I insisted that he gave me money to buy peanuts and he put a 10 rupee note on my palm. My joy knew no bounds and I went to a peanut seller. The nuts I got for Rs 10 were simply nothing. I fought with him for having cheated a child but when I returned home my father explained to me that this was the reason why he no longer brought peanuts for me,” said Geetu, whose father is a factory worker. “While people who can afford can relish other nuts but we have to be content with peanuts and were happy as they were more than sufficient for us to beat cold and satiate our taste buds. But this time, winter is really dry for us. Passing a peanut seller is difficult but we have no other choice,” said a mechanic. A clerk, who works in a private establishment, said: “It is said that peanuts are rich in proteins, fats and energy and minerals and dieticians, too, suggest that they should be consumed. Doctors say they are good for health and even elders believe that a fist full of almonds help you fight cold and guard you against winter ailments. “But, it is really sad that even a middle class person like me has to think twice before stopping at a peanut seller for the
quantity matches poorly with the money paid. If we think ourselves to be in a tight corner, what about the have-nots, for whom peanuts are the only almonds. This winter,
may be, they have to go without them.” One of the peanut sellers complained: “There are fewer buyers this time. Though people want to have them like anything, their pocket does not allow them to do so. Many a time people come to a shop, ask the price, show interest in buying them but return disheartened”.
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Ludhiana, December 16
The supply of vegetables from the neighbouring states has been affected due to the rain and vegetables from the hill states have also stopped, leading to a nominal increase in the prices.
“It is due to the bad weather that prices have seen an upward trend. Supply from the neighbouring states has been disrupted due to the weather, which has led to an increase. We are hopeful that the prices will become normal in the days to come,” said Mianji, owner of a vegetable and fruit shop at Aggar
Nagar.
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Small units told to print ‘EM-II’ on sale orders, invoices
Ludhiana, December 16 It has been done to safeguard the interest of the SME sector. The buyers will now have to add the interest amount along with the principal amount to their balance sheets. For all the buyers now it is mandatory to calculate and show the pending amounts along with interest in the annual balance sheets. It is mandatory for the auditors of such companies, department officials to strictly follow this rule and the payment has to be made within 45 days. That means if any buyer purchases material from any micro or small unit, he has to either pay the amount within 45 days or he will have to show the actual amount in his books along with interest. But, the buyers generally do not follow this rule and take undue advantage of non-verification of the status of seller, whether he belongs to micro-small or medium or large enterprises. So they do not add interest to the principal amount on their balance sheets. “It is a good move by the ministry as this will bring strictness in payments by buyers to micro and small manufacturers and in any case if there is a delay, then buyers will have to pay the penal interests on the pending amounts to the micro and small units,” said Badish Jindal, president of the Federation of Punjab Small Industries Association.
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Congress gears up for Dec 20 protest
Ludhiana, December 16 A meeting of the Congress leaders was held at Sarabha Nagar today where all the block presidents, Leader of Opposition, Senior Deputy Leader of Opposition and former minister Malkit Singh Dakha were present. They appealed to the general public to take part in the protest so that the practices of the BJP-Akali could be highlighted. Dewan said the issue of TS 1 certificate was affecting the general public. Tax Superintendent registration number 1 (TS 1) has been made compulsory by the commissioner of the MC on November 22 wherein he had ordered that all the residents were required to clear all the dues before the issuance of the TS 1 certificate. The Congress has decided to oppose the move as it was against the residents of the city, he added.
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REPORTERS’
DIARY
Some people are so obsessed with the diet food that they make it a point to buy everything with a tag of “diet” or “low calorie”. Recently at a store while I was buying grocery, a girl was also buying the stuff. Time and again she was asking the salesman to give her either a sugar-free product or low-calorie food. This is what she bought - diet namkeen, sugar-free rusk, slimmer-choice yogurt, diet coke, slimz cheese slices, low-calorie cookies and sugar-free ice-cream. I was wondering why this girl is so obsessed with the diet food. People today blindly follow the trend and consider it a status symbol to eat diet food. If one looks at the things she bought, they all are unhealthy but with a word “Diet”. People consider it safe to splurge on diet food but on the contrary one should eat healthy to stay healthy and avoid fast and junk food to maintain weight. Madness on city roads
Showing utter disregard to harassment faced by commuters due to the blocking of roads and making traffic diversions for various reasons, the district authorities and police held a sizeable population of the mega city to ransom in their over-enthusiastic bid to make foolproof security arrangements for the Kabaddi World Cup at Guru Nanak Stadium. All the roads leading to the stadium were closed to vehicular traffic. Residents in many localities around the stadium were barred from venturing out even on foot, and devotees intending to visit the Durga Mata temple were stopped on the way. After a maddening Saturday, religious fanatics added to people’s woes on Sunday by taking out a "rath yatra" in the same area. Many roads around the Fountain Chowk, and later at Ghumar Mandi and Sarabha Nagar remained out of bounds for people. Vehicles were caught in traffic jams. Can the traffic police and urban planner come out with a way to keep such frequent irritants away from the roads to keep the traffic moving. Publicity conscious
People have become publicity conscious these days. This year December 12 was an unusual date (12.12.12), as this date would be repeated after 100 years. During peak hours, when I was busy in filing my stories, I received a call from a person who said, "Are you covering 12.12.12 special events. If so, then please do give coverage to me too. I was to get my treatment from my doctor on December 14. But today as it is 12.2.12, I decided to get that treatment done today itself. You come and take my photographs and flash the news in the newspaper." Listening to all this, I preferred to keep quite and replied, "OK I will call you after finishing my work." All this left me wondered that to get cheap publicity, people leave no stone unturned. Few know full form of PAU
A foreign student at Punjab Agricultural University had a hard time finding the location of university when he came to the city for the first time. He kept on asking the location of Punjab Agricultural University from people in general. "But not a single person could tell where the university was," he said. Finally, roaming through the city, he reached the university when he saw one of the signages, he said. "It's funny that the people more or less know the university as PAU only, and don't know the full name," said the
student. Contributed by Manav Mander, Kuldip Bhatia, Anupam Bhagria, Gurvinder Singh
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Google selects 20 engg students for interview
As many as 20 students of Bhutta College of Engineering were short-listed for were selected for final round of interview in the Google during the campus placement drive organised by the company at the college campus today. Mandeep Bhullar, convener of event, said: “The management of the College had organised a one-day placement drive at the college campus in which senior officials of the Google interacted with students desirous of seeking career in the field of computer science engineering and information technology.” A national conference on physical education and sports will be organised at the Akal College of Physical Education from December 20-21.Principal of the college Dr Gobind Singh said its main subject is Health, physical activity and sports. “In this conference not only Indians but foreign delegates are also participating who shall deliberate on different themes like sports-physiotherapy, sports and society , yoga and meditation, kin anthropometry, environmental hazard, sports engineering, sports psychology, health fitness and nutrition, marketing and sports media, sports sciences, doping practices and physical activity and wellness.” Dr SK Mahajan has taken over as the officiating Principal of the DRV DAV Centenary College, Phillaur. Dr Mahajan started his teaching career from DAV College, Jalandhar, in 1983 and has been serving DRV DAV Centenary College, Phillaur, since its inception in 1985. He carried his research programme in ‘tourism in the economy of Uttrakhand’ and was awarded PhD in the same subject. NSS camp from Dec 20
The NSS department of Panjab University, Chandigarh, permitted NSS units of Doraha College of Education, Doraha, to organise a 7-day NSS camp during the winter break form December 20 to December 26. The NSS units of DCE have opted for ‘education and literacy - including legal awareness’ as the main theme of the camp at Deep Nagar Basti near Daburaji bridge, Doraha. Seminar held at GGNIMT
A seminar was organised for the BBA and MBA students at Gujranwala Guru Nanak Institute of Management and Technology (GGNIMT), Civil Lines. Professor Parvinder Singh, HoD, Business Management Department, initiated the seminar by elaborating the theme. He shared various facts concerning the growth of MSME's in India. Major challenges in the development of MSME lies in areas of finance, marketing, infrastructure, technology and environment were also elaborated during the seminar Faculty development programme concludes
A 7-day faculty development programme on ‘strategic management in contemporary global environment’ concluded at RIMT-Management Campus. The programme was sponsored by PTU and was attended by 40 faculty members of affiliated colleges of the university. The programme was conducted by eminent personalities in the field of research and academics .The issues deliberated in the programme ranged from changing global business environment to corporate governance. Dr DP Goyal, professor, MDI, Gurgaon, discussed the impact of strategic management process components on organisational performance and emphasised upon the benefits of strategic thinking and strategic integration of processes.
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Cultural extravaganza
A cultural extravaganza titled 'the magical world of gratitude' was organised at Nehru Siddhant Kender by Sat Paul Mittal School. The students of the school presented an act 'It's a beautiful life', dance performance 'hum rahen ya na rahen kal', lazy song bhangra and hip-hop during the event. Annual function
Doraha Public School (DOPS) organised it's their annual prize distribution and cultural programme. The function started with recitation of 'Gurbani shabad'. The students presented 'jai ho', a poem 'naya aagaz', 'Punjabi boli da geet', an English play 'Julius Caesar' and a Punjabi play 'saada dyaalu badshah'. The other play 'woodcutter and the tree' was also presented by the children. Sacred Heart Convent School
Sacred Heart Convent School, Sahnewal, organised its two-day annual cultural and prize distribution function. A song, patriotic song, English and Punjabi play, Gujrati dance, break dance, Marathi dance, Rajasthani dance, Bhanga, Giddha and Biblical play also formed a part of the cultural celebrations were presented by students. Greenland Convent School
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PAU to hold annual convocation
To commemorate its golden jubilee year, the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) will hold its annual convocation on December 17 at Pal Auditorium. Professor Abhijit Sen, Member of Planning Commission, Government of India, will grace the occasion as the chief guest. During the annual convocation, 392 degrees and 15 gold medals will be awarded to the students. Besides, certificates of appreciation will be bestowed upon the former vice-chancellors of the PAU. In addition, seven members of the faculty of the PAU will be conferred with different awards. Medical camp held
The Voice of Youth Foundation, NGO, in collaboration wih Dr Kulwant, Heart Centre, Kitchlu Nagar, jointly organised a cardiac and diabetic medical check-up at Pindi Dyal, Dharmshala. The camp was organised with the support of Ashok Marwah, Anil Parti and Balram Mehta. Dr Sunil Pandey screened and checked the patients and provided free consultation ECG, free glucose, check-up, free consultation and medicine were given to all 100 patients in the camp. Prem grover, president, Voice of Youth foundation, made them aware about the risk of diabetes and various treatment options available. Bariatric surgeon elected to national body
An eminent bariatric surgeon of the region Dr KS Kular has been elected to the executive council of the Obesity Surgery Society of India along with 10 other professionals in the same field from different parts of the country. A pioneer of 'mini-gastric bypass' weight loss surgery in India, Dr Kular started this procedure for the very first time in India at Bija near Khanna town in this district. He said the laparoscopic procedure for min-gastric bypass surgery entails a hospital stay of just two days for the patient. He said many associated diseases like diabetes, breathlessness, sleep apnoea, and cholesterol were also controlled post this procedure which is beneficial for the diabetic patients who take insulin or oral medicines. Pensioners' day
The Northern Railway Pensioners Welfare Asociation will observe 'Pensioners' Day' on December 17 at Northern Railwaymens' Union Complex near Jagraon Bridge here. According to Sher Singh, chairman of the body, besides railway pensioners, the retired Central and state government employees will also attend the meet which would also discuss the formation of the United Council for Rights of Senior Citizens. Eye camp held
The Aagaz Charitable Foundation, an NGO, organised free eye camp in collaboration with Sankara Eye Hospital at Blossom Convent School, Leelan Megh Singh, Jagraon. As many as 200 village residents availed the benefit, out of which 50 people were identified for free cataract operations. New team of IMA Ludhiana elected
A new team of IMA Ludhiana for year 2013 got elected unopposed and has been declared by Election Commissioner Dr GS Grewal. New team includes Dr Gaurav Sachdeva as senior vice-president; Dr Narjit Kaur as vice-president; Dr Subash Singla as honorary secretary; Dr SS Bedi as finance secretary, Dr Shiv Gupta as Joint secretary and Dr RK Sharma as president election 2014. The members of election commission Dr Bharti Uppal and Dr Jasbir Singh Chugh announced the news. Dr DP Singh Arora, Dr Manoj Kumar Sobti, Dr Arun Mitra, Dr Kulwant Singh and Dr PS Jassal congratulated the new team.
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Mid-day meal workers demand life insurance cover
Ludhiana, December 16 So, the cooks gathered together demanding
roll back of the decision for handing out cooking on contractual basis. They demanded life insurance of at least Rs 2 lakh for the mid-day meal cooks.
— TNS
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Ludhiana bodybuilding competition on Dec 23
Ludhiana, December 16 Ravi Prashar, general secretary, LBLA, said: “The competition in the weight groups of below 55 kg, 60 kg, 65 kg, 70 kg, 75 kg, 80 kg and above 80 kg will be held in this championship. All the participants in each weight category will be given participation certificates.”
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Satguru Jagjit Singh’s ashes immersed
Bhaini Saheb (Khanna), December 16 PPP president Manpreet Singh Badal expressed grief on the demise of Satguru. Badal called him a real lover of mankind.
— OC
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4 of family hurt in clash over property
Jagraon, December 16 The youth, who allegedly attacked his own family, has been identified as Omkar Singh. His father, mother, younger brother and sister, who suffered injuries in the attack, were admitted to the Civil Hospital, Jagraon. According to Omkar's father Jagroop Singh, his elder son Omkar was married some time ago. "We called a gathering of the members of the family to sort out the property dispute. All the members except Omkar were present during the gathering. When we were discussing about how to sort out the property dispute, Omkar arrived there along with some other persons, who were carrying swords and sharp weapons, and attacked us," added Jagroop Singh.
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hockey tourney
Ludhiana, December 16 According to Anil Mehta, director of the school, besides, boys’ also secured second runners-up position in the U-19 category.Surjeet Singh, a student of this school, was declared the best goal keeper and another student, Dharminder Yadav, was adjudged the player of the tournament in the U-14 category.In the U-19 category, Angrej Singh of this school was named the best goal keeper. The boys were accorded a warm reception on their arrival at Doraha railway station, yesterday. BEST PLAYERS
Surjeet Singh, a student of the school, was declared the best goal keeper and another student, Dharminder Yadav, was adjudged the player of the tournament in the U-14 category. In the U-19 category, Angrej Singh of this school was named the best goal keeper.
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The students of Green Land Convent School, Sector 32, gave a scintillating performance during the annual prize distribution function held in the school auditorium. The students presented choreography 'maa ka dil', a sufi rendition 'khawaja mere khawaja', Haryanvi dance 'Ghumar and Bhangra on the occasion.