Ludhiana, September 30
In a broad daylight shooting incident, two youngsters were shot at by armed assailants opposite the Ram Sharnam building, near Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), at Tagore Nagar here today.

The injured, identified as Gurjant Singh (25) from Doraha and Vikram Sharma (22) from the Meharban area, were admitted to the DMCH. Both have sustained bullet injuries on their legs and stated to be out of danger.

The shots are suspected to have been fired from a .12 rifle. Rivalry over the student union elections was suspected to be the reason behind the firing incident.

The incident took place in the afternoon when Gurjant and Vikram Sharma were travelling in a sports utility vehicle (SUV) along with their friends, who were in another SUV.

According to an eyewitness, around 10 youngsters, who were travelling in two Ford Endeavours, intercepted their vehicles.

The assailants, led by Gurjot Singh and Pindri, were carrying weapons. On seeing Gurjot, Vikram and Gurjant alighted from the vehicle.

Heated words were exchanged between Gurjant and Gurjot. An enraged Gurjot fire at Gurjant and Vikram.

The youngsters accompanying Vikram and Gurjant ran for cover.

Sources said nearly eight rounds were fired. After firing shots, the accused drove towards the SCD Government College for Boys.

Soon police officials, including ACP (West) Gurpreet Kaur Purewal, arrived at the scene.

"Prima facie it appearers that the clash was the outcome of student politics. We are taking statements of both the injured persons. A case will be registered and the accused put behind bars," said Purewal.

Though student elections are banned, both Gurjot and Gurjant have fielded their respective candidates and propagating them as presidents of the student union.

It is not the first incident of clash over student politics. Earlier in August, a self-proclaimed student leader, Amanpreet Singh Khungra, was assaulted by his rivals.

The police has registered a case under sections 307, 336, 148 and 149 of the IPC and 25, 54, 59 of the Arms Act against Gurjot, Pinder, Pinderi, Manjeet Singh and others. 

Ludhiana, September 30
Six children were injured, two critically, following a clash between the organisers of a dance show and parents of the contestants over mismanagement at the Sutlej Club here today.

In the melee, a glass partition broke and came crashing of the children, said the investigating officer. The injured have been identified as Nisha, Amar, Harminder, Nitin, Muskan and Taniya.

The incident took place this afternoon when the hall in the Sutlej Club got overcrowded with contestants during a dance competition.

Gurpal Singh Bhamra, whose daughter Tanya, a student of class VI of BCM School, Chandigarh road, got injured, said the programme was poorly managed, which led to chaos at the venue.

The repeated complaints of children had fallen on deaf ears, stated Gurpal.

Sources said someone among the crowd allegedly threw a chair at the organisers and soon it was free for all.

In the melee someone smashed the glass partition and the six children, who were hiding themselves behind it, got injured.

A majority of the children sustained head injuries. Sub-Inspector Charanjit Singh said he had received a complaint from Gurpal Bhamra and started investigation. 

Ludhiana, September 30
The slapgate incident at the Municipal Corporation took yet another turn today as the functionaries of the Rehri-Farhi Union, along with the activists of the Municipal Karamchari Dal (MKD), submitted a memorandum to the MC chief, levelling serious charges of corruption against the victim, Rajiv Bhardwaj, a superintendent.

Bhardwaj was slapped in his office by a safai worker during a verbal dispute involving the removal of hoardings of the forthcoming shobha yatra of Maharishi Valmiki. The incident had led to a protest by the MC staff. Even after the matter was said to have been amicably resolved later in the evening the same day, both the groups, the MC ministerial staff and the activists of the MKD, had been involved in a battle of oneupmanship in the last few days.

The MKD, a representative body of the civic employees, had suffered a setback on Friday when a sizable section of the MC employees broke away from the association and announced the formation of the MC Ministerial Staff Union with Rajiv Bhardwaj as its founder president. According to sources, the new outfit had more than 200 MC employees as its members who had expressed distrust in the MKD leadership, comprising Lakshman Dravid and Vijay Danav, close allies of the ruling SAD.

Interestingly, both Dravid and Danav today accompanied the functionaries of the Rehri-Farhi Union when they met the MC Commissioner Rahul Tiwari.

The Rehri-Farhi Union has alleged that the staff of the MC tehbazari wing, including its superintendent Rajiv Bhardwaj, indulge in corruption. "The MC employees are amassing personal fortune by making daily collections from rehri and farhi owners," the memorandum said.

Sources in the MC asserted that the said memorandum was an act of frustration and desperation on the part of the MKD leadership, who had lost face in the slapping incident.

Ludhiana, September 30
In the wake of poor recovery of mounting arrears of user charges relating to water supply and sewerage, the Municipal Corporation has decided to adopt tough postures against the defaulters. At a meeting of the field staff and officials of operation and maintenance (O&M) wing convened by Additional Commissioner Isha Kalia here today, the MC decided to constitute 40 teams of officials and field staff for the recovery of arrears.

MC Zonal Commissioner (Zone A) Kamlesh Bansal, who is also the nodal officer for water supply and sewerage, said from October 1, 2013, the teams of field staff would visit their respective areas for the recovery of water and sewerage dues. "Those who fail to make payment of the arrears forthwith will face disconnection of water and sewerage connections."

Bansal said the teams, headed by SDOs and superintendents, would submit their daily progress report on the prescribed pro forma to him through the assistant commissioners (O&M) concerned, who will also be responsible to review the performance of the teams on a regular basis. The MC had deployed 12 teams for 15 blocks that fall in zone A, nine teams in zone B for five blocks, seven in zone C for six blocks and 12 in zone D for 11 blocks.

The MC will offer a reward to the top three teams who excel in the recovery of arrears.

Ludhiana, September 30
Rising prices of essential commodities, be it vegetables, grocery, milk or fuel, are giving a nightmarish experience to the common man. From housewives to businessmen to students, none has escaped the cascading effects of price rise.

The home-makers, it appeared, are the worst hit, as they are finding it difficult to manage the household budget. They have been forced to exclude many vegetables from their shopping lists. Vegetable vendors, too, feel the surge in prices has affected their sales and there has been a substantial decline in the number of regular customers. Even restaurant owners have stopped providing onion in the complementary salad and are instead opting for cauliflower and cucumber.

This reporter talked to three house-makers belonging to different strata of society to know how the rising prices of essential goods have affected their kitchen plans.

Ludhiana, September 30
Keeping in view a huge rush of income tax assessees for the filing of audit reports manually, the offices of the department had remained open till 8 pm today, the last date for filing income tax audited returns.

Although e-filing of returns and audit reports are mandatory, since the department's website developed a glitch, assessees were seen rushing to the department in the last hour to file their audit report manually, failing which a penalty of Rs 1.5 lakh is supposed to be slapped.

Unable to solve software glitches in its e-filing system, the Central Board of Direct Taxes has earlier asked assessees to manually file their tax audit reports by September 30. The new requirement for the manual filing of tax audit reports came through a CBDT notification of September 26.

"Online filing of audit returns is mandatory. Since morning, I have been trying hard to upload my returns, but to no avail. I was left with no other option but to manually submit the audit reports with the department to avoid penalty. Now, I have manually submitted the reports and will upload the returns later on. There was total chaos at the department as everybody had rushed in to submit their reports," said general secretary of the Taxation Bar Association Jatinder Khurana.

Chartered accountants, who do bulk filing on behalf of their clients, were seen running from pillar to post. The scope of e-filing was expanded this year (assessment year 2013-14) with the law mandating that all tax audit reports be filed electronically.

"Assessees are facing difficulties in uploading their returns due to the frequent changes in the e-filing utility. In September alone, the utility was changed on three occasions. The CA fraternity is anguished as most of the tax audit work in the country is done by them whether it is for corporates, individuals other non-corporate categories. Frequent changes and glitches in the website make things difficult for them," said Tarun Verma, a chartered accountant.

Ludhiana, September 30
implementation of their long-pending demands, the members of B.Ed Teachers Front, Punjab, staged a dharna outside the DC office here today. Harwinder Singh Bilga, district president, said if the government did not withdraw the clubbing of schools, which is being done in illegal manner, then all unions will get together under one platform to oppose government's move. Ajitpal Singh Jassowal, vice- president of the front said those teachers who were confirmed on April 1, 2011, must be regularised by the government. Besides, the installments of DA must be released to all the employees.

Teachers said government was not in any mood to listen to their grievances. The agitating B.Ed teachers said the promotions should be given as per seniority. 

Jagraon, September 30
Residents of Jagraon Patti Malak village, located on the outskirts of Jagraon, have opposed the proposal of installation of a water treatment plant in their village. Apart from this, the villagers have also raised objections over the idea of drainage of sewerage via a drain passing through the village.

The villagers, including a large number of farmers, said that the state government should shift the water treatment plant proposed to be installed in their village to some other place. The villagers, especially the farmers, fear that the state government would acquire their agricultural land to set up the proposed water treatment plant.

"Most of the farmers of our village own 2-3 acres of agricultural land and families of such farmers survive on the produce of the crops only. Such families would starve in case the government decides to acquire their land for setting up the proposed water treatment plant,” said Daljit Singh, a farmer of Jagraon Patti Malak village.

Besides this, the villagers have strongly objected to the idea of drainage of the sewerage of Jagraon town via a drain passing through the village

"The government must drop the idea of sewerage drainage via a drain passing through our village. At no cost we will accept this proposal as it will pollute our village’s environment,” said another villager Kulwant Singh Rai.

The villagers have threatened to launch a stir against the government if it goes ahead with the proposal of installing water treatment Plant and drainage of sewerage via a drain passing through the village.

The decision to install a water treatment plant at Jagraon Patti Malak village was taken during a meeting of Jagraon MLA SR Kaler with the officials of various departments. Initially, the villagers accepted the proposal but when the villagers learnt that the land of some villagers would be acquired for setting up the plant, the villagers started opposing the proposal.

MLA SR Kaler said the water treatment plant would be installed only after taking the villagers into confidence. "We will take up the issue with the villagers and try to sort it out. We will go ahead with the proposal only if the farmers agree with us,” said Kaler. 

Ludhiana, September 30
A function was organised at the Durga Mata Mandir, Civil Lines, by the Pandit Shardha Ram Phillauri Memorial Society to celebrate the birth anniversary of Pandit Shardha Ram Phillauri.

Pandit Phillari is remembered for the aarti “Om Jai Jagdish” and contribution to Punjabi prose. He also wrote a book titled “Sikh Raj Di Vithyai”. Through his books, he documented Punjabi culture and language.

A book titled “Punjabi Baat Cheet” was written by him and was transliterated from Gurmukhi to Roman. He also wrote a novel in Hindi titled Bhagyawati, which is said to be the first Hindi novel.

Ashok Makkar, who organised the programme at the Durga Mata mandir, said a state holiday must be declared by the state government to commemorate the birth anniversary of Pandit Phillauri.

The function was attended by District Yojana Board Chairman and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Heera Singh Gabria, apart from MLA Ranjit Singh Dhillon. 

Phillaur, September 30
The Pandit Shardha Ram Phillauri Charitable Trust, Phillaur, celebrated the 176th birth anniversary of Pandit Shardha Ram Phillauri today.

Former minister Ch Santokh Singh and Punjab Youth Congress leader Vikramjit Singh Chaudhary garlanded the statue of Phillauri near the local bus stand today.

Punjab Cabinet Minister Sarwan Singh Phillaur, Punjab BJP President Kamal Sharma and BJP Rajya Sabha member Avinash Rai Khanna besides several religious dignitaries, including Swami Krishana Nand Binewal, Swami Suryapal Machhiwadda, and Swami Shambhu Nath of Kapurthala paid tributes to Pandit Shardha Ram Phillauri. —OC

Jagraon, September 30
A four-day-long Panjab University Zonal Youth and Heritage Festival of Moga-Ferozpur Zone (B) concluded at the Khalsa College for Women Sidhwan Khurd near Jagraon today.

Hundreds of students from 10 colleges across the region exhibited their talent in various activities. The concluding day of the festival saw an array of cultural activities, including traditional song, vaar singing, kali singing, kavishri and folk dance. The participating students also showcased their talent in arts and craft contests mainly comprising of rangoli, phulkari embroidering, dasuti (cross-stitching), mehndi designing, pakhi making and knitting.

Swami Ganga Giri Janta Girls College, Raikot, clinched the overall trophy by scoring maximum 106 points while the host college, Khalsa College for Women, Sidhwan Khurd, finished second with 102 points.

The Khalsa College for Women, Sidhwan Khurd, clinched first position in vaar singing while SDS College, Lopon, and Swami Ganga Giri Janta Girls College, Raikot, bagged second and third positions, respectively. The host college clinched first position in drama while Guru Gobind Singh Khalsa College, Kamalpura, and Swami Ganga Giri Janta Girls College, Raikot, bagged second and third positions, respectively. In histrionics, the first position went to the host college whereas DAV College for Women, Ferozepur, and SD College, Moga, secured second and third positions, respectively.

In traditional song contest, Sant Baba Bhag Singh Memorial Girls College, Sukhanand, bagged first position while Swami Ganga Giri Janta Girls College, Raikot, and Khalsa College for Women, Sidhwan Khurd, stood second and third, respectively. Sonam Thakur of DAV College for Women, Ferozepur, stood first in rangoli competition. She was followed by Harpreet Kaur of Sant Baba Bhag Singh Memorial Girls College, Sukhanand, and Vandna Kaur of the Khalsa College for Women, Sidhwan Khurd, on second and third positions, respectively. Yash Sharma of Swami Ganga Giri Janta Girls College, Raikot, emerged victorious in mehndi while Pawandeep Kaur of the Khalsa College for Women, Sidhwan Khurd, and Jagdeep Kaur of the Jagat Sewak College for Women, Mehna, bagged second and third positions, respectively.

Earlier, during the second and third day of the festival, events such as orchestra, instrumental music, folk instrument, classical dance, group dance, debate, elocution, poetical recitation, drama, mimicry, mime, skit, essay writing, poem writing and story writing were conducted.

Gidha performed by the teams of different colleges was the main attraction during the second day of the festival whereas choreographies presented on different themes left the audience spellbound during the third day.

Jagraon MLA SR Kaler was the chief guest on the concluding day and distributed prizes among the winners. 

Ludhiana, September 30
The remedial coaching classes for science and maths held for the students of class IX in all the government schools in Punjab, seems to have become a "headache" for the teachers. Teachers are being asked by the department to take extra coaching classes of weak students of both these subjects, before or after the school timings. But the condition seems to be "unacceptable" to the teachers, who feel that department should give prerogative to school authorities to hire teachers from outside.

One of the Science teachers at a Government School near Jagraon, wishing not to be quoted said it was very difficult to take extra classes before or after the school hours. "I start at around 7:30 am and it takes me at least 40 minutes to reach the school. How can I leave an hour early to take extra classes, especially when winters are approaching? It is not even viable to stay back after school hours as the buses/vans move as per set timings. The evening time does not suit me, too. But I have been asked to take the classes of weak students of class IX, which is unjustified," rued the female teacher.

The teachers maintained that the programme was conducted earlier too but not such strict conditions were put by the department. If the subject teachers were not willing to take extra classes, other teachers could be hired to do the job as the payments were to be made by the Central Government at the rate of Rs 500 per student. "Suppose there are 10 weak students in the class, the hired teacher will get Rs 5000 a month. In case there is a girls' school and the male teacher teaches either Maths or Science. And once the school gets over, who will take the responsibility of these girl students. If given a choice, school authorities can easily hire a female teacher from outside," said another teacher.

Meanwhile, Maths Teachers Association, Punjab, has already written to the authorities not to force such conditions on the teachers and let the school authorities decide if services of teachers from outside could be hired. 

Ludhiana, September 30
Showing resentment against the State government for issuing notification of new Rent Act, the lawyers across the state observed strike and demanded withdrawal of notification.

As per the new act, the rent cases, instead of judiciary, will be tried by the respective SDM's of the districts. The appellate authority will be set up at Bathinda, Amritsar and Mohali.

Parupkar Singh Ghumman said setting up of appellate tribunals only at three places would cause a lot of harassment, mental tension & agony to the aggrieved litigants. 

Ludhiana, September 30
As many as 11 new cases of dengue have been confirmed today, out of which 5 cases are from Ludhiana district while six cases are from Jammu and Kashmir.

The case from Ludhiana included one each from Bharat Nagar Chowk, Vishal Nagar, Mundian, Guru Nanak Pura and Kartar Nagar. All these patients underwent treatment at the CMC, Ludhiana. The other six cases are from Jammu and Kashmir. 

Doraha, September 30
"Being neglected at the dawn of your life makes you completely disillusioned. It is good to wait for death rather than be surrounded by impassive people," said an elderly person with wet eyes.

"I have only one son and you can very well imagine what a single child means to his parents. He was our whole world. We showered all our love, affection and care on him without expecting anything in return. As the time changed, his family increased and we were pushed into oblivion, so much so that our ailment and suffering too kept our child unmoved. Now, we pray for death but even that seems to have deserted us," shared another disillusioned couple.

Similarly, time had stopped ticking for Satish Kaul, a superstar of Punjabi films, at the moment when his only America-based son 'questioned' about his father's wish of staying permanently with him and his newly formed relationships. "Do not discard your parents like any worn-out material as your children may be thinking the same about you in few years from now," was the message given by the famous actor on the International Day of Older Persons

"The Deputy Commissioner of Ludhiana has done a commendable job by issuing instructions to the Circle Revenue Officers to ensure that Section 23 of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act is included so that senior citizens are not neglected by their children at the twilight of their lives and can live with dignity. This step will at least ensure financial security, if not emotional," said SP Karkara, president, Federation of Senior Citizens' Associations of Punjab (FEDSEN-Punjab).

"The situation had never taken such a catastrophic turn. It is the parents themselves who are the real culprits. The allurement of a nuclear independent life style has made people crazy. It is said that children learn what they see happening in front of their eyes. If the parents have reared up their children in isolation, the same they can expect for themselves in future," said Director Jaswant Singh Gill.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, Sept 30
Comprehending problems being faced by foreign students and youths visiting this region known as the industrial and the educational hub of north India, office-bearers and activists of the AIESEC, a global organisation of students and the youth, has urged the Union Government to establish an international airport near Ludhiana.

Members of the organisation led by Manpreet Singh Arora lamented that students coming from Egypt, Morocco, Columbia, Brazil, China and United Kingdom had to face problems in reaching their educational institutes situated in Ludhiana and surrounding areas.

"Unfortunately none of the agencies has ever bothered to arrange easy and safe travelling for foreign students studying at professional institutes of the region under various exchange programs including Global Internship Program and Global Community Development Program of world's one of the largest organisation of international students," said Arora.

Referring to information received from his fellow members from other states Arora claimed that foreign students studying in other states felt more comfortable and safer than their counterparts pursuing courses here. 

Ludhiana, September 30
Experts from the Punjab State Institute of Public Administration today apprised the Municipal Corporation field staff of the provisions of ordinance issued for the imposition of property tax in the state. Besides the field staff of the MC, officials and staff of other urban local bodies in Ludhiana district as well as those from Fatehgarh Sahib and Ropar districts also attended the training programme.

According to PS Ghumman, Nodal Officer of the MC for property tax, the civic body is all set to launch the self-assessment and e-filing of the new tax in the city from October 2, 2013 when the Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation and the Deputy Commissioner will file returns of property tax for their respective official buildings in a function to be organised at Guru Nanak Bhawan here.

Ghumman said the MC had constituted 80 teams of field staff in all for the 40 blocks in the city.

“Two teams each of the field staff will move from door-to-door in their respective wards from October 3 to facilitate self-assessment of property tax, filing returns electronically or manually with the option of making on-the-spot payment against manual receipts. In addition, a mobile van will also be pressed into service to assist the teams of field staff for assessment and collection of the new tax," Ghumman said.

Ghumman said the Punjab Government had also extended the last date for the payment of property tax with a rebate of 10 per cent from September 30 to November 30, 2013. While the residents will have the option of making payment without any rebate till December 31, 2013, all payments made thereafter will entail penalty up to 50 per cent of the amount of tax.

The imposition of property tax has come as a huge relief for the MC that in the wake of persistent financial crunch is in the process of mortgaging its properties and raising bank loans to stay afloat.

MC officials expect to collect an upward of Rs 150 crore from the new tax, which will come handy for stalled development works and meeting other expenses.

Ludhiana, September 30
Three minor girls have been kidnapped after being coaxed by their paramours into marrying. The police has registered a kidnapping case and has started investigations.

In the first incident, the police has booked Surinder Kumar of Haryana for kidnapping a 16-year-old girl from Nanaksar Mohalla in Daba area yesterday.

The girl’s father said Surinder Kumar coaxed his daughter into marrying and kidnapped her yesterday. The police had registered a kidnapping case and started investigations.

In the second incident, a youth from Raikot was booked for kidnapping a 13-year-old girl on the pretext of marriage. The youth took her along on September 8. Initially, her parents kept looking for her. Finally, they informed the police about the incident yesterday as they failed to find their daughter.

The girl's parents, who are the residents of Hargobind Nagar near Samrala Chowk, said Balwinder Singh kidnapped their daughter from the city enclave area.

In the third incident, two persons from Bihar were booked in a kidnapping case. The accused, identified as Rakesh Kumar, and his accomplice, Dalip Kumar, from Baksar Bihar forcibly took away the girl from her house in Bichatter Nagar. Rakesh had earlier promised to marry her.

The Sadar police has registered a case under Section 363, 366-A and 120-B of the IPC and launched a manhunt to nab the accused. 

Manav Bal

Ludhiana, September 30
Manav Bal, a budding swimmer from the city, brought laurels in the CBSC North Zone Swimming Championship by winning four gold medals. He participated in five events in this championship, which was held from September 25 to September 28 in Jalandhar. Manav clinched gold medals in the 50m freestyle event, 100m freestyle event, 50m butterfly and 200m individual event. He also got a silver medal in the 200m freestyle event of swimming.

Manav, a student of class XI, has been practicing for swimming from class I.

“Swimming is my first love and I enjoy practicing and participating in various events," said Manav.

However, this is not the first achievement for Manav. He won a bronze medal in the 56th National School Games held in Pune last year. In 2011, he won a bronze medal in the 55th National School Games. He had also won several state-level competitions in the past five years.

Manav said he was very hopeful of doing well at the National School Games scheduled to be held in December.

“This time I will defiantly win the gold medal in the national games,” said Manav.

Visakha Singh, the coach of Manav, said: “We are happy on his achievement as he won four gold medals. His timing was also good in the CBSE North Zone Swimming Championship. He is a committed player and we have huge hopes from him”.

Ludhiana, September 30
Nav Bharti Public School, Ludhiana, recorded easy wins over GMT Public School and Arya Club to begin the title hunt on a positive note in the boys’ U-19 group on the third day of the Ludhiana District Basketball Tournament being held at Guru Nanak Stadium here today.

In their first match, Nav Bharti School routed GMT School 48-13 in which Ajit Singh with 18 points played the pivot role and in the second match, they trounced Arya Club 67-9 with Abhishek Rathee and Ravi contributing 15 points and 14 points, respectively.

In the girls’ (U-19) section, Government Model Senior Secondary School, PAU, Ludhiana, registered a comfortable victory 26-15 against Guru Hargobind Academy, Jagraon. Meenu dropped 10 baskets that proved decisive for the winners.

In another match (girls’ U-14), PS Khalsa School had mixed fortunes. They won against MGM School 26-7 in which Pinky accounted for 8 points. However, they surrendered meekly (10-43) against Khalsa Senior Secondary School. Krishma and Sakshi chipped in with 12 points and 10 points, respectively, to help their side to come out triumphant without being challenged.

In the boys’ (U-14), Government Model Senior Secondary School, PAU, Ludhiana, thrashed Sujapur 40-8. The main contributors for the winners were Harvinder Singh and Jaspreet Singh who scored 9 points and 8 points, respectively.

Guru Nanak International Public School, Model Town, managed to squeeze past Government Model Senior Secondary School, PAU, 30-28 in the boys’ U-19 category. Kamaljeet Singh (8 points) was the main architect of GNIPS's hard fought victory.

In other matches, Nav Bharti Public School (B) scored a comprehensive (40-21) win over Doraha Public School, while Delhi Public School outnumbered CFC School 35-11.

Ludhiana, September 30
Dr Joy Joshi has been awarded with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award - 2012 by the Indian Society of Pedodontia and Preventive Medicine at the annual conference held in Jaipur recently. This award is in the recognition of the long and dedicated service Dr Joshi has rendered to the people.

After doing BSc and BDS from Lucknow in the sixties, he joined Clara Swain Hospital, Bareilly, in 1966. He joined Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, in 1970. He did his oral surgery training from Georgia, USA, and his post graduation form the PGI, Chandigarh.

From a two room setup of the Dental Department at the Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, he managed to create the First Christian Dental College in Asia in 1992. In 2002, postgraduate course in pedodontia was started in the college. The founder principal of the CDC, Ludhiana, he retired from the Christian Dental College in 2007. Right now, he is working at his private clinic in Ludhiana, enjoying his profession to the fullest.

Throughout the 47 years’ of his career, he has worked with people from all walks of life, young and old, taught a number of dental students, dental assistants, dental technicians, interns and postgraduates from all over the country.

This award is a great honour for him. Dr Joshi said he was indebted to his colleagues, students and well-wishers for making his profession a gratifying, rewarding and satisfying one.