Ludhiana, December 13
Cracks appear to have developed between the SAD and the BJP, alliance partners in the civic body here, over the adoption and implementation of the amended outdoor media policy.

While city Mayor Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria announced that the policy had been adopted along with other agenda items in the last general house meeting held on December 6, the BJP has expressed staunch opposition to the manner in which the new policy was sought to be thrust upon the people.

The party also apprehends massive financial loss to the municipal corporation by way of lower recovery from advertisement tax if the rights were awarded to a single company for a period of 15 to 20 years as per the provisions of the amended policy.

BJP councillors, along with those from the Congress and opposition parties, had raised a strong voice of protest when the agenda items, including the adoption of the outdoor media policy, were said to have been approved without any discussion on the floor of the House.

Both the BJP and the Congress councillors were not in favour of giving a nod to the new media policy without discussing it in detail. However, the Mayor had stood his ground and maintained that the policy had been approved and would be adopted.

Several BJP councillors feel that most of the provisions of the amended media policy were loaded in favour of the advertising agency which will practically gain monopoly rights for outdoor advertising, that too for a very long period.

Senior MC functionaries and top brass of the MC, however, contend that the master plan of the outdoor media policy, formulated by the consultants appointed for this purpose, lays down that the concessionaire will have to make heavy capital investment by way of providing street furniture all across the city which may involve an expenditure of Rs 40 to Rs 50 crore.

"Ïf the outdoor agency obtaining rights for outdoor publicity makes such a huge investment, it also needs a sufficient period of time to recover its initial investment, earn profits and also make payment to the MC against the publicity rights," said a senior MC official.

Apparently turning down the plea made by the Mayor and other senior SAD leaders in the civic body to avoid confrontation on this issue, a few BJP councillors are understood to have approached Punjab Local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi to cancel the entire agenda which, they assert, had been "hastily" approved without any discussion in the general house meeting on December 6.

Ludhiana, December 13
The winter uniform for students of classes I to VIII in government schools, for which the grant is provided by both the Central and the state governments, is yet to reach the students. Thanks to a recent "tussle" between the state government and the non-teaching employees working under the SSA/RMSA, students are being made to suffer.

Though the strike by the non-teaching employees was called off following a warning issued by Education Minister Sikandar Singh Maluka about a week ago, the work of making lists of schools, their requirements, fund disbursement to blocks and quotations for the uniform by the school managements are yet to be completed.

The uniform has not reached a majority of the schools. In some schools, the authorities have collected funds for the purpose. At Government Primary School (I-A), the authorities bought 53 pairs of shoes for students. An official, Amrit Kaur, said, "We waited for long to get the uniform, but when we didn't get it, we chipped in as it had become a necessity since many students were still coming in slippers. We collected Rs 5,000 and bought shoes. A few students have still been left out and we are arranging funds to buy them shoes. The uniform should have been provided on time."

The managements of Government High School, Brahmpuri, Government Elementary School, Kailash Nagar, Government Senior Secondary School, Sekhewal, and Government Elementary School, Khud Mohalla, said the funds had not reached the schools.

Ludhiana, December 13
The municipal corporation here is often found wanting in providing basic amenities like good roads, clean drinking water, a proper drainage system and smooth traffic, but that is not the case when it comes to "causing harassment" to the people.

A team of the Tehbazaari wing of the MC, led by the Additional Commissioner, reportedly removed two-wheelers and other vehicles from public parking areas along Ferozepur Road between the Sidhwan Canal and the octori post and repeated a similar exercise on Pakhowal Road here today.

Several shopkeepers and employees in commercial complexes, banks and other establishments located on this stretch of the road alleged that the MC team impounded vehicles in an indiscriminate manner without assigning any reason even when these vehicles were parked in vacant spaces without causing any obstruction in the service lanes or vehicular flow on the main Ferozepur Road.

MS Sekhon, an employee in a commercial complex, said pleas made by the owners of impounded vehicles that the MC had not provided any paid parking facility along this stretch of the road (between the Sidhwan Canal and the octori post) and nor were any signboards put up against parking of vehicles went unheeded. "Many vehicle owners had to pay penalty and suffer harassment without having committed any offence," he said.

There were reports that later in the day, the MC team, in the course of clearing temporary encroachments on Pakhowal Road, had gone beyond the MC limits, which again was an unlawful act.

MC Additional Commissioner Devinder Singh, however, defended the action of the MC Tehbazaari team, saying that the civic body was following the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court which had ruled that all commercial complexes along Ferozepur Road would have their own designated parking area and public parking sites would not be used by these or those visiting these establishments.

He also denied that the MC team had gone beyond the city limits on Pakhowal Road during the anti-encroachment drive.

Ludhiana, December 13
His beard might have turned grey with age but the passion for kabaddi in him remains as alive as it was decades ago, when he used to play the game as well as train players. A veteran of kabaddi, Sarwan Singh Bal, was on a personal visit to the city today.

At 77, he is happy that he brought the game to a level that now world cups of the game are being organised, but at the same time his is a bit disappointed for he has not even been invited to the finals of Kabaddi World Cup and was not consulted for the mega event.

Bal is known as the “Columbus of Kabaddi” who took the game to the foreign shores and introduced circle-style kabaddi to the Punjabi communities settled abroad. The celebrated kabaddi player, who had played the game for a decade, was hired as a coach by the Sports Department of the state in 1968 and he coached several champion teams, but in Punjab style and national-style games.

He went to England to prepare a team in circle-style kabaddi, as it was on a decline during the seventies. He had coached the team in England for three months. He later pushed for such teams among the Punjabi communities based in Singapore, Canada and the US. In 1989, his team also visited Pakistan and won the tournament there. The teams coached by him in Singapore, Canada and England participated along with a team from Pakistan in Canada Kabaddi Cup-1990. The Canada Kabaddi Cup is organised with the same fervour even now, says the veteran coach.

Rising popularity of the game abroad has led to the formation of private kabaddi clubs who would invite players from Punjab. These players would return to their villages and organise tournaments there. Thus with the efforts of Bal, a kabaddi movement commenced and it let the seeds of the game germinate in the state and abroad.

The good thing about the world cup is the dope test run on players, as drugs and steroids are claiming lives of young players from villages, he says.

He says there is a need for providing training to foreign teams for the level of the competition to rise rather than it just being reduced to a show-off. They have the energy and power, but they lack the technique, he adds.

Foreign teams, particularly womens, need to be trained. "They talk of taking the game to the Olympics but it is not even recognised elsewhere in India. This is only possible if the level of all the participating teams is raised. Teams to train foreign players should be sent from here and even players from other states should be trained to participate in the circle style of kabaddi," he says. 

Ludhiana, December 13
Punjab Agricultural University is all set to welcome Shahbaz Sharif, Chief Minister of Pakistan Punjab, and the members of a delegation from Pakistan. Sharif will also visit Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU). Iqrar A Khan, Vice-Chancellor, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad (Pakistan), will also be the part of the 30-member delegation from Pakistan.

An exhibition, featuring various projects running at the PAU and achievements in the field of research in the last 50 years, will be held outside the Thapar Hall.

The PAU authorities will serve carrot lassi, "khoye de pere", fish nuggets and fish cutlet prepared by at GADVASU to the visitors from across the border.

Meanwhile, Punjab Agricultural Universityhave cancelled some of the examinations in view of Shahbaz Sharif's visit.

Gifts for Shahbaz Sharif

Chief Minister of Punjab Parkash Singh Badal will gift a combine harvester to Shahbaz Sharif. The PAU authorities will gift him a Maize Dehusker Machine. Dr Ravinder Kaur Dhaliwal, Additional Director (Communication), said the area under maize in Pakistan Punjab is quite good.

PAU VC and visiting Pak CM are neighbours

The Vice-Chancellor of Punjab Agricultural University, Dr Baldev Singh Dhillon, hails for Doburji village in Tarn Taran district, which is only 12 km from the native village of Shahbaz Sharif, Jaati Umra. "I am delighted over Shahbaz Sharif's visit to the PAU. I have passed his native village so many times. I always pray to the Almighty for peace and love between both the nations. It is in the favour of both the countries," said the Vice-Chancellor.

Ludhiana, December 13
The Health Department has deputed four medical teams for the the final of the World Kabaddi Cup scheduled to take place at Guru Nanak Stadium tomorrow. Assistant Civil Surgeon Kaushal Saini said: "Each team has six or seven members, including an orthopaedician, medical specialist and a pharmacist.''

He said three medical teams had exclusively been deputed for the VVIPs, includiing Chief Minister of Punjab Prakash Singh Badal, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and Pakistani Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

For collecting samples of eatables to be served to the VVIPs , there will be eight teams. Civil Surgeon of Ludhiana Subhash Batta said: "We have constituted eight teams of food safety officers, including officials from Moga, Sangrur, Jalandhar, Fatehgarh Sahib and Sangrur districts."

Meanwhile, three ambulances have also been arranged by the health department. Dr Batta said: "Medical specialists will be available at the Lord Mahavira Civil Hospital, Ludhiana, till the matches get over. All the major hospitals of the city have been put on standby." — TNS

Ludhiana, December 13
Come what may. The authorities will leave no stone unturned to make the World Kabaddi Cup, the "brainchild" of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, successful, even if they have to put others in trouble. In order to create enough parking space, the wall of the playground of the Government College for Girls was again demolished by the authorities today.

Though a few policemen approached the college authorities last evening to take "permission" for getting the wall demolished just for the event, they said they were no ones to object to the demolition of the wall and a decision to this effect was to be taken from higher-ups in Chandigarh.

"But that was just a formality. We all knew that they will demolish the wall to create enough parking space," said one of the senior teachers at the college, adding that every year, they have to demolish the wall and then again construct it. "It is better that they make some permanent arrangement as the event is going to be held every year.

Jashanjot Kaur, a student of GCG, said neither the students nor the authorities had any problem with the demolition of the wall but who should be held responsible if there was some security lapse since it was a girls' college?

Meanwhile Anil Garg, District Transport Officer, said he was not aware of the development. "It must have been done due to some security reasons and the Police Department could have taken the decision," he said. 

Ludhiana, December 13
A meeting of the United Cycle Parts Manufacturing Association (UCPMA) was held under the chairmanship of Charanjit Singh Vishivkarma with a delegation of the China Bicycle Association (CBA) today. Problems being faced by the industry were discussed during the meeting.

The UCPMA suggested that as and when any firm of China engaged in the manufacturing of cycle parts desired to collaborate with an Indian company, it should go through the UCPMA and the China Bicycle Association (CBA) as it will be beneficial for the companies of both the countries. He said whenever an exhibition was held in China, the charges for setting up stalls should be concessional and the CBA should help in this respect so that more and more industrial units from India came forward for participation. The members of both sides suggested in order to promote the cycle industry, the associations should put up a joint stall.

From the UCPMA, SC Ralhan and the leader of the Chinese Bicycle Association shed light on the problems facing the industry and made some suggestions.

Secretary Pradeep Wadhawan welcomed the delegation.

Chinese delegation visits Avon cycles

Meanwhile, the delegation visited the unit of Avon Cycles on Thursday. The delegation was headed by MA Zhongchao, chairman of the China Bicycle Association (CBA), and comprised of other officials, including Huo Xiaoyun, vice-chairman; Wang Zhaoyang, president of PHOENIX Group, Wu Zhongjiang, exhibition commissioner of the CBA; Chen Xiaoping, general manager (assistant) of Shanghai XieSheng Exhibition Co. Ltd., CBA; Shen Mengjin, project assistant of Shanghai XieSheng Exhibition Co. Ltd, CBA. 

Doraha, December 13
As per the call given by the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers' Union (PCCTU), teachers of all private-aided colleges of Punjab and Chandigarh proceeded on mass casual leave in order to attend a rally in front of DPI Colleges in Mohali today. Studies of students of approximately 175 private-affiliated colleges of Punjab and Chandigarh suffered as the December examination are just at a stone’s throw.

“On the one hand, imparting education is the government’s priority, while on the other, those doing the job are forced to live in miserable conditions. They have observed black festivities on account of non-payment of their salaries. The government forces us to resort to such extreme measures. Around 2,000 teachers are waiting for their salaries for the past nine months. The release of grant is nowhere in sight even as the financial year will end in February. It is really a sorry state of affairs,” said Dr PS Gill, president of the PCCTU.

Dr Kuldip Singh, General Secretary, PCCTU, said: “The API should be scraped and the state should form its own promotion policy. Hundreds of teachers, whose promotional scales are due, have been badly caught up in the mire of new API score, which has been ‘unthinkably’ framed by the UGC,” he said.

“The other pending demands include child care leave for women teachers, pension in tune with government employees, amendment in the Service Security Act of 1974, creation of posts of professors in aided colleges in tune with government colleges, arrears of pay revision of teachers working against unaided posts, relaxation of refresher courses and orientation courses at par with Government colleges, speeding up the case of arrears of DPEs/ librarians lying pending from 1/1/96, similarities in granting PhD increments with the counterpart government colleges, etc,” he said.

“We will be forced to intensify our struggle in the coming days if the government still remains a silent spectator and refuses to think about our genuine demands,” he said.

Ludhiana, December 13
With only a few days to go before Christmas, celebrations of the festival have already begun. Christmas carnival was celebrated at Sacred Heart Convent School. A carol-singing competition was also organised for all classes in the school. Students also made cribs and mangers, depicting the scene of the birth of Jesus. Students from Class VI onwards sang carols with their own music bands. Some of the classes had life-sized mangers. About 30 judges from outside had come to judge the performance of all sections of different classes in the school. Santa Claus, Christmas trees carols and decorations were organised across the school.

The festival was also celebrated at the College of Nursing at the Christian Medical College and Hospital. Students of the college decorated the college premises. A crib was in place and decorative lighting, along with candles and decorative pieces prepared by the students, were placed in the corridors at the college. A play titled “The Wonderful Star” was also staged at the college enacting the happenings during the birth of Jesus.

“We had a great time decorating the college premises for the festival. We intently wait for the festival and this is the time to deck up the campus with Santa images, decorative pieces and Christmas trees,” said Ashwin, a student of the college.

Markets outside the hospital and vendors had placed paper stars and other decorative pieces related with Christmas on the Brown Road.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, December 13
The local unit of the Rotary Club has launched a movement to motivate students of the area to take part in competitive exams. Besides holding motivational lectures and workshops, the organisation has started organising free coaching for those appearing in competitive exams.

Appreciating the gesture, candidates preparing for examination for the selection of inspectors in the Department of Food Supply said tips given by a team of experts led by SP Sofat and Pardeep Sharda had boosted their morale, besides enriching their knowledge about various subjects.

Pardeep Sethi, president of the club, said the team of experts led by SP Sofat and Pardeep Sharda had been organising special classes to give tips to candidates appearing for preliminary examination for the selection of inspectors in the Department of Food Supply and other competitive examinations. Motivational lectures were also given at various educational institutes.

The project will continue in future, too, wherein free training would be imparted to desirous candidates, besides providing preparatory materials.

The organisation has also coordinated with the IAS and Allied Services Training Centre of Punjabi University, Patiala, for updating teachers of various schools of the region. Special classes being organised at Victoria Public Senior Secondary School and MGMN Senior Secondary School received warm response from candidates coming from the rural background. Earlier, they had to travel to distant places for this purpose.

Ludhiana, December 13
A focus group discussion on “Sheet Metal in Auto Applications” was held here by the Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings (CICU), Ludhiana.

The meet was coordinated and hosted by Tata Steel, along with its channel partner Sangeeta Steel Corporation.

Harshender Garg, senior manager, Sales (retail), Tata Steel, in his welcome speech, gave a brief introduction on Tata Steel and its products, including the new capacities coming up.

Vivek Vardhan, manager-PAG, Tata Steel, representing the Product Application Group of Tata Steel, gave a detailed presentation on the manufacturing process of the cold rolled steel at the company’s steel plant in Jamshedpur as well as different applications.

Various queries were answered during the interactive open house session with respect to the problems and development of end application products by customers.

Ludhiana, December 13
The police have nabbed a person and recovered 80gm heroin from his possession here today. The accused has been identified as Surinder Singh of Tajpur .

Gurbans Singh Bains, ACP (Crime), stated that the police were on patrolling duty in Sector 32 on the Chandigarh road. They found his activities suspicious while he was heading towards the Tajpur road. The police nabbed him when he tried to flee from the spot and recovered 80 gm heroin from his possession.

A case has been registered against the accused. The official said the market price of the seized heroin was around 40 lakh.

Khanna, December 13
An accused, who was arrested about 18 years ago in connection with some militant cases, was presented before a court here. The court fixed the next hearing in the case for December 28, which will be held through video-conferencing from Tihar Jail.

The accused, Daya Singh Lahoria, was also involved in a case of bank robbery at Khanna in 1987. The robbers looted Rs 8 lakh in the heist.

He was brought here by a team of the Delhi Police in a high security bus from Tihar Jail. A large number of police personnel were deployed in the court complex.

Lahoria's wife Kamaljit Kaur and his sister Sukhwant Kaur were present in the court complex and they got some time to meet Lahoria. They have demanded that Lahoria should be granted parole as he had been in the jail for the last 18 years.

Lahoria had fled the country in 1992 after his name figured in some cases of violence, including the Delhi bomb blasts, Jaipur kidnapping. He was extradited to India from the US in 1995.