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Fog derails travel plans
Ludhiana, December 17 In particular, Amritsar and Jammu bound trains coming from New Delhi, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh were delayed by three to six hours. "Some of the corresponding trains which make a return trip also failed to stick to schedule," said senior railway officials. Elite trains, including 12029 New Delhi-Amritsar Shatabdi and 12037 New Delhi-Ludhiana Shatabdi, arrived in the city 1.45 hours and 1.05 hours behind their scheduled arrival time, respectively, while 12497 New Delhi-Amritsar Shane-Punjab was late by 1.5 hours. Among the long route trains delayed by three hours or more were 18101 Tatanagar-Jammu Muri Express (4.45 hours), 14153 Kanpur-Amrtisar Weekly Express (3.40 hours), 13049 Howrah-Amritsar Express (4 hours), 12716 Amritsar-Nanded Sachkhand Express (5hours), 15707 Katihar-Amritsar Amrapali Express (5.25 hours), 12471 Mumbai-Jammu Swaraj Express (5 hours), 12919 Indore-Jammy Malwa Express (6 hours), 11057 Mumbai-Amritsar Dadar Express (4.50 hours) and 14673 Jaynagar-Amritsar Shaheed Express (4 hours). Many other mail, express, superfast and passenger trains, including 19613 Ajmer-Amritsar Express, 15210 Amritsar-Saharasa Jansewa Express, 12925 Bandra Terminus (Mumbai)-Amritsar Pashchim Express, 12715 Sachkhand Express, 14037 Delhi-Pathankot Express and 12203 Saharsa-Amritsar Garib Rath were also running late by more than an hour or two. The passengers, including women and children waiting for hours together at the railway platforms for their trains, were at the receiving end. They said the waiting area on platform number one was almost open which exposed them to chill while provisions for seating at other platforms were inadequate. "Not only this, railway vendors tended to exploit the situation by overcharging for food and other eatables," complained Ram Narain, a passenger. Railway officials said the train schedule often went haywire during such weather conditions and nothing could be done about it. "Certain safety precautions and speed limit have to be observed by drivers due to poor visibility, especially during early morning and late evening hours,"
they added.
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Mist to stay, predict weathermen
Dr SS Kukal, director, School of Climate Change, PAU, stated: "There will be no variation in the minimum temperature while the maximum temperature will witness a dip." The sun showed up for three hours in the afternoon. Poor visibility hit the travel plans of residents. The residents faced inconvenience while commuting on vehicles. "The fog has crippled our life. I could not go for a morning walk today," said Karan, a resident of New Tagore Nagar. Kewal Singh, a security guard, said, "It becomes difficult for me to reach my workplace on time as I go by a bicycle. Dense fog reduces visibility in the morning. I cannot afford to lose my job," he lamented. The residents may not have liked the change in weather, but farmers are all smiles. "The weather is favourable for sowing wheat," said Sukraj Singh, a farmer from Raikot. As per weathermen, cold and dry conditions, with a possibility of fog, would prevail in the next 24 hours. Sale of caps, mufflers picks up
The sale of caps, mufflers and socks has picked up in the city. “Although outstation consignments have already been dispatched, we are waiting for the local demand to escalate,” said hosiery manufacturer Harminder Singh. Ghansham, who sells caps, mufflers and gloves at a make-shift shop at Ghumar Mandi, said he sold 10 to 12 caps on Tuesday. Rita Jain, a city resident, said, “It is time to pull out gloves and caps from the closet.” Another hosiery manufacturer said since morning he had received nearly six to seven dealers. “I am hopeful of making a healthy profit this season,” he said. |
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Have your wishlist ready
People have started decorating their homes. The excitement has set the festive mood in motion. Geoffrey Paul, a professional working in the city, said, "It is that time of the year when nobody minds splurging on decorative stuff. Since Christmas is the only festival that we celebrate, we use our themed ideas to make the day even more special. When two weeks are left for the festival, we start decorating the tree and keep adding decorative items to it." Marie D'souza will be baking a cake for her family and relatives. "Cake mixing has already been done and everybody wants to relish the cake. We will be hosting a lunch and the menu will be extensive," said Marie D'souza. "We take pictures of children and families with Santa. It is the most amazing thing to do. We then decorate the pictures or make a calendar. Children love it. It is such a good feeling," said Manoka Molise, a resident. "We celebrate the hard work and efforts that we put in throughout the year. Nothing can beat the Christmas eve vigil at churches. The bushels of fun that we have cannot be expressed in words. The night is celebrated with carols that praise the birth of Jesus Christ," said Neha Naomi, another city
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Veteran Cong leader falls down stairs, dies
Ludhiana, December 17 He was rushed to Dayanand Medical College and Hospital. It is learnt that Gagat had fractured his ribs and suffered cardiac arrests. His blood pressure also dropped and his condition deteriorated which led to his death. "He had not been keeping well for the past few months and had undergone a heart surgery recently," said Rajiv. Congress leader Amarjit Tikka said he was one of the few leaders who vigorously fought for the rights of the Dalit community. "It is an irreparable loss not only for the party but also for the community. Hans Raj had played a pivotal role in the regularisation of the services of sweepers in the civic body. He kept fighting for the rights of the downtrodden till his last breath," said Amarjit Tikka. District Congress Committee (DCC-Urban) president Pawan Dewan presented the party flag during the cremation. |
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Man rapes daughter
Khanna, December 17 The victim told the police that she was sleeping when her mother left for work. Her father woke her up and started forcing himself upon her. He raped her and fled the place. When her mother returned, she told her about her father's act. The two then went to the police station and got a case registered against the man. The victim's mother died seven years ago. The accused has two children from his second wife. The victim's brother does not stay with them. The accused sells toys and is a chronic alcoholic. Khanna SHO Harjinder Singh said they were on the lookout for the accused. He said the medical examination of the girl had confirmed rape. He said some other tests were also conducted and the report would be out in a day or two. "A probe has been started," he said. A case under Sections 76-I, 506 of the IPC has been registered against the accused at the Khanna police station. Heinous act
The victim was sleeping when her father forced himself upon her. |
Year ender 2013 Manav Mander Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, December 17 A void was created in the cycle industry with the death of Mohinder Singh Bhogal, chairman of the Bhogal Group of Industries and founder president of the United Cycle and Parts Manufacturers Association. Bhogal was the first industrialist in India who had made a machine to make bicycle components at the age of 16 when the British Government had banned making of any component inside the country. The industry experienced another setback recently when Inderjit Singh Pardhan, president of the Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertaking and who had also been the chairman of the Small Industries Development Board passed away. He ran his own unit that manufactures bicycle components. Pradhan and his family had migrated from Pakistan in 1947 after the Partition and started work from scratch. The year 2013 was full of ups and down. A fruitful year
UCPMA elections Charanjit Singh Vishivkarma was elected the president of one of the most coveted association of the cycle and cycle parts industry. Two industrialists were the main contenders for the post of president, one was Gurmeet Singh Kular, the outgoing president and the other was Charanjit Singh Vishivkarma. Chinese delegation’s visit A delegation of the China Bicycle Association (CBA) visited the city. Members said to promote the cycle industry both the associations should put up a joint stall to provide better services. The hiccups
Vegetable prices escalate Onion and tomato prices brought tears in the eyes of the common man. Both the commodities were sold for Rs 100 per kg and went out of common man’s reach. The prices came down after a couple of months. Fall in gold prices Fall in gold prices gave tough time to the industry and jewellers. Prices came down to nearly Rs 25,000 per 10 gram and prices rose during the marriage season. It was good news for consumers but it gave tough time to the jewellers. Depreciation in rupee Panic gripped the trade and industry of Ludhiana over the continuous slipping of the Indian rupee as compared to the dollar. While the buyers kept
asking for discounts from the exporters, the furnace units had halted the import of scrap due to depreciation in value of rupee. The bane
Bogus billing by firms Three city based firms, Yourk International, Jaldhara Exports and Trimurti Hosiery were found indulging in bogus billing. All three firms had obtained VAT refunds worth crores by submitting bogus bills with the department. In reality, the goods were neither sold nor sent outside the state.
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Political leaders justify their move
Mayor says politicians should not indulge in petty politics Puneet Pal Singh Gill Tribune News Service
A BJP leader stopped the MC officials from demolishing an illegal building on Hambran Road. After the incident, Mayor Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria has urged all politicians to restrict themselves and not indulge in petty politics. He asked them to let the MC officials perform their duties. However, the politicians justified their move. While speaking to The Tribune, Ashu claimed that the buildings that were to be demolished at the Jawahar Nagar camp were not new ones. These buildings had come up several months ago and now that they had been completed, the MC building branch officials suddenly wanted to demolish them. He further said People invested their hard earned money in such projects and if they were demolished, the residents would have suffered losses. Moreover, the MC was acting on the complaint of a single individual and their only purpose was to harass residents, claimed Ashu. On the other hand, Congress councillor Balkar Singh Sandhu, who along with Congress councillor Gurpreet Singh Gogi, Maharaj Singh Raji and Narinder Sharma, stopped the drive in Ghumar Mandi, claimed that the MC officials had sanctioned the building plan of this particular building. The owner was constructing the building as per the building plan and the MC building branch officials were simply harassing him, he claimed. Whereas Gohalwaria said that politicians should not indulge in such politics. Such activities only bring short-term gains and lead to harassment of residents. If a building is constructed without a building plan being sanctioned, it would lead to loss of revenue for the MC, he claimed.
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Cycle industry hit by imports from China, say traders
Jagatvir Singh, vice-president and Rajeev Jain, general-secretary (United Cycle and parts Manufacturers Association) along with Gurmeet Singh Kular, president of Federation of Industrial and Commercial Organisation were present for discussion. Ludhiana is the base of bicycle industry which requires government's attention. "The Industry gives employment to half-a-million people and also earns foreign exchange for the country being the second largest manufacturer of bicycle and parts in the world. Imports from China and other countries are hitting the industry hard and many small manufacturing units have closed down due to import of finished goods from China. Though there is 30 per cent duty on a bicycle and 20 per cent on bicycle parts, still a large quantity of goods come in to India directly from China or via SAARC countries at low /under invoicing. "We will request the government to increase the import duty on the bicycle as well as its parts to 50 per cent. Further, the entry of original bill should be done while calculating the customs duty as it is done online in African countries (COMESA), so that government does not lose revenue due to under invoicing. The floor price on bicycle parts (imported) should be fixed to least 100 kg," said Jagatvir Singh. “Small and micro-sector cannot afford the costly imported machine but will have to up-grade the technology. The industry wants the government to allow subsidy on used machines imported by small and micro units. This will help us to increase production, and quality will improve many folds which will also reduce the price of the products," added Kular.
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Customised fast-track loans for SMEs
Ludhiana, December 17 The bank is now reaching out to its customers in the region through its four dedicated SME centres located at Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Hissar and Jalandhar
and three dedicated SME relationship managers at Amritsar, Bhatinda and Panipat. Addressing a press conference in the city today, Kalyan Basu, senior vice president, North and Business Head SME Department, Axis Bank said, "SME Banking, with over 17,500 customers, has been a major focus area for Axis Bank contributing 15 per cent to its total lending portfolio. SME Banking includes lending to small and medium enterprises with an added focus on supply chain finance as well.” The bank has grown its MSME portfolio to INR 2000 crores, in the region. The customer base belongs to all segments including manufacturing, trade as well as services. In an attempt to reach out to more SME enterprises and to increase their accessibility to funding, Axis Bank has partnered with the engineering expos, as the presenting partner for Engineering Expos 2013 and to showcase its expertise by being a part of these expos which aim to bring together the industry on a trade-bolstering platform.Traders can make full use of this facility.
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Punjab takes lead in implementing RUSA
Ludhiana, December 17 As per RUSA, the state governments will have to keep 2 per cent budget of the gross domestic product (GDP) on higher education. Education Minister Sikandar Singh Maluka said Punjab was the first state to urge Centre to implement RUSA and all formalities had already been completed. A report had been sent to the Centre. Besides, a committee had been formed under RUSA in Punjab. Maluka said that the government would urge the High Court to lift ban on recruitments for improving higher education. "Many new colleges will come up in the state. The Centre will provide funds to the new as well as existing colleges," said Maluka, adding that by the time the ban on recruitments was not lifted, the government would hire the the services of temporary teachers in colleges. The aim of RUSA is to enrol more and more youngsters (between 18-23 years) in colleges as presently just about 20 per cent of the population (college going age-group) was getting higher education in the country. Dharmender Singh Ubba, one of the seven-members of the committee of State Higher Education Council (under RUSA) said the foremost condition of RUSA was that posts were going to be filled in colleges. "If we have to bring reforms, we need to make efforts. Punjab government is committed to lift the ban on recruitment process and for this, it can always request to the High Court. Earlier, we used to get grants from UGC but now most of the grants will come under RUSA", said Ubba. Secretary, Higher Education, RS Sankaria, however, said RUSA's aim was to enrol more and more students in colleges. "Access of higher education (rural pockets), equity, economic status, quality, relevance and excellence were the main aims to be achieved under RUSA," said
Sankaria.
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PAU alumni meet from Dec 23
Ludhiana, December 17 Deputy Director General of Doordarshan Kendra, Jalandhar, Om Gauri Dutt Sharma and Vice-Chancellor, Central University, will deliver lectures on the occasion. PAU Vice-Chancellor Dr Baldev Singh Dhillon urged the alumni to participate in the meet. President of Alumni Association of the College of Agriculture and convener of alumni meet of PAU Dr HS Dhaliwal, dean, College of Agriculture, said the meet would see the
participation of the alumni from across the country and globe. He said a nine-member delegation from Pakistan would also participate in the meet, the registration for which would be
held on December 23 at 9 am. Besides technical sessions, a visit to constituent colleges of the PAU, sports events and cultural programme by the students will be organised during the meet. The alumni will also be honoured on the
occasion.
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PUDA staff start chain hunger strike
Ludhiana, December 17 Convenor of the coordination committee Rajinder Pal Singh Baba along with Jai Bhagwan started hunger strike in the
first batch. Addressing a gate rally at the PUDA office, the trade union leaders said the stir would continue till there demands were not fulfilled. The demands include introduction of the family pension scheme, raising retirement age from 58 to 60 years, restoration of ex gratia (bonus) of class A and B officials, allotment of residential plots to employees, regularisation of daily wage and contractual employees who had completed three years of service and grant of due promotion to all categories of field employees.
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4-yr-old’s rape triggers protest
Ludhiana, December 17 Long queues of vehicles were seen on both sides of the road, putting commuters to inconvenience. Some commuters were seen urging the protesters to clear the road, but to no avail. The incident took place last night when four-year-old girl was raped by a youth. The victim was living in a rented accommodation along with her parents. The accused, Naresh Kumar, is son of the owner of the house. The victim was rushed to the Civil Hospital and was discharged today following medical tests. The police reached the spot and persuaded the protesters to lift the dharna claiming that they had arrested the accused.
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Term of Mandi Gobindgarh Municipal Council ends
Mandi Gobindgarh, December 17 The elections were held on June 30, 2008. The High Court appointed Dharam Pal Rao as the president and Congress councillor Harmeet Kaur Bhambhri as vice-president of the council. Last year, councillors passed a resolution against president Dharm Pal Rao and Harpal Singh Nasrali was elected as the president. Engineering Expo
The fourth edition of Engineering Expo and concurrent Punjab Machine Tools Show PUMTOS 2013 is set to create a benchmark for the exhibitors in the manufacturing in Ludhiana from December 20 to 23. This show helps exhibitors market their products and services in specific regions depending on individual business requirements in various sectors viz, machine tools and accessories, automation, hydraulics and pneumatics, process plant machinery and equipment instrumentation, material handling, electrical and electronics apart from other key sectors.
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BJP workers gear up for Fateh rally at Jagraon
Ludhiana , December 17 He said this while addressing a BJYM workers meeting at Sector 39-A, near Jamalpur, Ludhiana. He said that the people of Punjab were eagerly waiting to witness this historic event as well as teach the inefficient and corrupt UPA government a befitting lesson in the 2014 parliamentary elections. He said Modi was the only alternative.
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IMA, Punjab, demands action against I-T officials
Ludhiana, December 17 The IMA demanded that stringent action be taken against the officials who misbehaved or else the IMA, Punjab, would be compelled to resort to agitation.He alleged that the officials did not show their identity proof, used rough language against the doctors.
— TNS
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Cultural fiesta
‘Sankalp’ — an enlightening and mesmerising cultural-cum-prize distribution function of Bharatiya Vidya Mandir was celebrated with a message of peace, goodwill, emancipation of women, non-violence, national integration and benevolence. The chief guest, RJ Khanderao, regional officer, CBSE, Panchkula, and guest of honour, BVM alumnus, Dr Vivek Kumar Aggarwal, were offered floral welcome by the secretary of the BVM Trust KC Maini. The item "Hum se hai dum" highlighted importance of sports. Soul-touching Bhajan 'Sab mein Om samaya' took the audience on a devotional voyage. The meritorious students and their parents were honoured with trophies. Prizes distributed
Students of GMT Public School who secured A1 grades in academics were given trophies on the school campus. Directors Kashmir Singh Thind and Jasbir Singh Thind along with principal Amarjit Dhaliwal awarded the meritorious students who bagged top three positions along with the full attendance for the session. All the winners received certificates of merit along with award of excellence. The students who received the momentos for attending the school regularly throughout the academic session were role models for fellow students. Fancy dress competition
GRD Academy organised fancy dress competition for the kindergarten section on Tuesday. The theme of the competstion was cartoons, animals, culture and heritage and on environment. Headmistress Abhilasha Singh gave away prizes to the winners. Principal VK Chandel lauded the efforts put in by tiny tots. Science quiz
A science quiz was organised at Ram Lal Bhasin Public School. Three teams comprising four students from classes VI, VI and IX participated in the event. The event had four rounds —question round, full form round, buzzer round and identification round. Team A comprising of Yashna, Jasmine, Onidh and Gurkamal were declared the winners. The competition was conducted by Rupinder Kaur and Harjeet Kaur under the guidance of activity in charge Aditi J Kapil and school coordinator Rupa Gupta. President of the school Balraj Bhasin congratulated the winners and encouraged them to participate in such activities. Sports meet
Sacred Soul Convent Senior Secondary School celebrated the annual sports meet on the school premises. The chief guest was Ranveer Singh Bindra, sarpanch of the Tera Nagar. The meet was declared open by the chief guest and the members of the management committee hoisted the flag. The events included balloon race, sack race, matka race, three-legged race and tug-of-war. The meet culminated with the award ceremony where students were give trophies and medals by the chief guest. The chief guest was honoured by principal Monica, secretary Sukhdeep Gill, president GS Gill. Fashion show
Ryan International School, Dugri, organised a fashion show for the playway school on the school premises. The theme of the show was Punjab. Children were dressed in colourful attire depicting the rich cultural heritage of Punjab. Headmistress of the school Ritu Syal was present on the occasion. She congratulated all the students and honoured the winners. Students feted Spring Dale Senior Secondary Public School was abuzz with activity at the 31st annual prize distribution function. Avinash Kaur Walia, managing director, was present. The chief guest, Maheshinder Singh Grewal, adviser to the Punjab Chief Minister, Satpal Gosain, former cabinet minister, and Hakam Singh Giaspura, former Mayor, were welcomed by the authorities. The programme started with Ganesh vandana and shabad gayan. Sufi, classical, garba, giddha, sammi, jindua, bhangra and English play Julius Caesar were the main attractions of the function. Special items on save the girl child and Punjabi play Mera vasda rahe Punjab were also staged. School magazine Vaani was also released on this occasion. Cycles distributed
Bicycles were distributed among 56 girl students of Government Senior School, Hassanpur, in Ludhiana under the Mai Bhago Scheme. Manpreet Singh Ayali, MLA, Dakha, distributed the cycles. Principal S Jaspreetmohan Singh read out the achievements of the school. Helpers’ Day
Apple Tree Preschool, BRS Nagar, celebrated the Community Helpers’ Day. Children came dressed as helpers like doctor, policeman, barber, gardener, tailor, postman, teacher, painter, milkman and baker. Principal Komal Sareen said such plays were regularly organised in the school for the
overall development of children. — TNS
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Ban orders
Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal has ordered a ban on the sale of Chinese strings under Section 144 of the CrPC till February 14, 2014. Aggarwal said Chinese strings, made of plastic and glass, were being sold in the market which are hazardous Pensioners’ Day
Northern Railway Pensioners' Welfare Association observed the pensioners day by focusing on the poor facilities at the railway hospital and indifferent attitude of the government towards the serving railway employees and pensioners. Sher Singh, chairman, SM Sharma, president, and BR Dhawan criticised the injustice being meted out to pensioners with regard to full parity after revision of pay scales, merger of 50 per cent dearness allowance and allotment of an office room at the railway station for the association. CPI-M protest Activists of the CPI-M from the city and city east segments on Tuesday held a protest demonstration at Mini-Secretariat demanding the withdrawal of property tax and forcible recovery for regularisation of colonies. The party workers, led by Jatinder Pal Singh, state committee member, and Amarjit Mattu, district secretary, also condemned the government for its failure to check inflation, continuing ban on fresh recruitment in government and semi-government departments and forcible acquisition of agricultural land.
— TNS
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Youth held with 50 gm of smack
Samrala, December 17 He was, however, intercepted by the police. During search, the police recovered the contraband from his possession. The accused has been identified as 25-year-old Beant Singh, a resident of Mata Rani Park, Doraha. He was presented before a court and was remanded to police custody till December 18.
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ASIAN YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP Anil Datt
Ludhiana, December 17 Hailing from Amritsar, Sanam Singh secured seventh position in the below 66kg category in the boys U-17 group and on the basis of his performance in China, he was selected for the Youth Olympics scheduled to be held in September next year in China. A trainee under senior judo coach, Rakesh Singh, Sanam Singh was selected during the trials held at Bhopal on November 14 and 15 to represent India in the Asian Youth and Junior Judo Championship. This was Sanam’s maiden participation in an international meet. Prior to this, Sanam hogged limelight finishing third in the Junior National Judo Tournament at Pune, last year. Rakesh Singh said he had a bright future. Sanam is a talented judoka who has achieved a lot at the national as well as international level competitions, said the coach. SS Pannu, in-charge of SAI Centre, congratulated the promising judoka on his arrival here today. DS Walia, parveen Thakur, president and general secretary, respectively of the Ludhiana District Judo Association and SAI coach Sonia also appreciated Sanam Singh’s performance in China.
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Ludhiana, December 17
Ludhiana, December 17
Ludhiana, December 17
Ludhiana, December 17
