Ludhiana, February 14
The Ludhiana Municipal Corporation will not compromise on the quality of work being executed in the city.

During an inspection of sewerage and road projects today, Zone B Commissioner Kamlesh Bansal told the construction agencies and the supervisory field staff that any shortcoming in the workmanship or poor quality of construction material will not be tolerated.

“The contractors, the SDOs and JEs concerned should be prepared to face the music for shoddy work,” added Bansal.

The Zonal Commissioner was accompanied by Ranjit Singh, Executive Engineer of the Building and Roads branch, and Rajinder Singh, Executive Engineer of the Operations and Maintenance branch.

Bansal and MC officials inspected the under construction disposal plant on Tibba Road and sewerage projects being undertaken at Karamsar Colony (Ward Number 9) and in Focal Point, Phase II, (near beer factory). He said the material being used by the contractors was found up to the mark. The construction agency was also told to pay attention to the shuttering work for laying slabs.

The team also inspected other projects, including laying of reinforced mixed concrete, in Focal Point, Phase IV, near Kangaroo Factory, Prem Colony in Dhandari Kalan, Gujjar Colony, Ward Number 5, Jai Singh Nagar and Golden Colony. The MC officials also inspected the work for the development of two parks in Focal Point, Phase I.

Bansal told The Tribune that development works worth Rs 4 crore were inspected and the overall quality of the material being used and construction works was found to be as per specifications. Wherever some shortcomings were found in workmanship, necessary instructions were issued to the contractor and the supervisory staff of MC.

He said the road building work in Dhandari Kalan was stopped following objection by the railway authorities as the road was being constructed along the railway track. “We will take up the matter with the Northern Railway divisional Headquarters at Ferozepur and see that the work is resumed soon so as it can be completed as per schedule,” he added.

Macchhiwara, February 14
A newlywed woman died after allegedly being set on fire at Kumbh village.

The police have booked her husband Gurpreet Singh and mother-in-law Kulwant Kaur. The deceased has been identified as 19-year-old Babaljit Kaur. In his statement to the police, Babaljit’s grandfather said she married Gurpreet Singh of Panjeta village two months ago. Her husband and mother-in-law used to harass her for dowry.

He said the accused poured kerosene on her today set her afire. She was rushed to the CMCH in a critical condition where she was declared brought dead.

The accused are yet to be arrested. Assistant Sub-Inspector Jasvir Singh of the Koom Kalan police station said the body was handed over to the family after post-mortem. Hunt is on the arrest the accused, he said.

Ludhiana, February 14
In the alleged nexus between the sand mafia and politicians, sand-laden tractor-trailers impounded by the Tehbazaari wing of the Municipal Corporation were released.

Seventeen trailers were impounded last evening. Superintendent of the Tehbazaari wing JS Sekhon himself drove a tractor-trailer from Humbran Road to the MC’s Zone D office after the driver gave the MC team the slip.

MC sources said politicians, including councillors, approached Mayor Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria last night and pressured him to release the trailers.

“Politicians wanted the trailers released with a warning for temporary encroachment along roads as it was beyond the power of the MC to take cognizance of the legality of sand mining,” said an official.

It was officially stated that of the 17 impounded trailers, 16 were released against a penalty of Rs 2,000 each for temporary encroachment on public roads. One sand-laden trailer was still in the custody of the MC as the owner had failed to deposit the penalty.

Requesting anonymity, a senior MC official said the lucrative business of illegal sand mining and its open sale on the black market was not possible without political patronage.

“That the political leaders, irrespective of their party affiliation, are riding the gravy train. This has been proved by the way they rushed to the support of shady operators of sand business in the city,” the official quipped.

Ludhiana, February 14
The Central Government has sanctioned Rs 100 crore solid waste management project to the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation.

The Centre has already sanctioned Rs 116 crore to the MC for a water and sewerage project.

The MC was pressing to get these projects cleared for the past three years.

The decision was taken at a meeting attended by MC Commissioner Rahul Tiwari and Additional Commissioner Sumit Jarangal in Delhi.

Tiwari said: “50 per cent of the amount will be contributed by the Centre and the remaning 50 per cent of the cost will be borne by the A to Z company. The grant will be released before the election code of conduct comes into force.”

The sewerage and waste management plants will be set up at Jainpur and Jamalpur.

The MC is unable to manage the more than 1,000 tonnes of waste generated in the city every day. The waste can be used to produce electricity and manure.

Ludhiana, February 14
The police have transferred Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Mullanpur Dakha, Navreet Singh. Sources say the action came after the police failed to make headway in the the Rs 15.9 lakh robbery case.

Area resident say robbery at gunpoint in Mullanpur was unheard of. Even the victim, Deepak Kumar, who suffered a bullet injury on his leg, said that he used to carry cash back home for the past many years, but he never encountered such a situation.

"There has been no development in the case so far. I do not know whether I would get back my money," said Deepak.

However, police officers say that Navreet's transfer has nothing to do with the robbery incident. He has been shifted in the wake of Lok Sabha elections.

The police have prepared sketches of robbers, which will be released tomorrow.

The police have also questioned area residents and shopkeepers.

Ludhiana, February 14
The PRTC Workers’ Action Committee organised a rally in front of the Ludhiana Depot today.

Members of the committee, while addressing the rally, said the PRTC management was not serious about the demands of the workers. They said a memorandum comprising of 42 demands by the association had been submitted to the PRTC management and the Punjab Government.

They said the demands included regularisation of workers job, implementation of formula of equal pay for equal work and ensured payment of salaries and pensions on the first of every month. Apart from other demands, they also demanded that an aid of Rs 200 crore should be given to the PRTC and an annual grant of Rs 100 crore. The ‘anti-government transport policy’ should be abolished.

The members said if their demands were not accepted, a complete strike would be observed by the staff on February 25.

Khanna, February 14
Two NRI’s Kamaljit Singh Aujla and his uncle Nahar Singh Aujla, both residents of Nasrali village, today met SSP Khanna and demanded the arrest of the third accused wanted in the killing of Karnail Singh.

As per Kamaljit Singh, SSP Khanna assured them about the arrest of the remaining accused soon.

On December 14, 2013, miscreants had attacked Karnail Singh’s house, situated on the outskirts of Nasrali village, and hacked him to death. However, Beant Kaur, wife of Kamaljit Singh, had raised an alarm with bravery and one of the attackers was arrested on the spot by the villagers and was handed over to the police. On the very next day, the police had arrested the second alleged accused also but the third one is still at large.

As per Kamaljit they are still forced to stay in fear of the third accused as he is yet to be arrested. He demanded from SSP that the real story behind the attack should be brought out.

Ludhiana, February 14
Naujwan Sabha Jhamat celebrated the birth anniversary of Guru Ravidas at Jhamat village here today.

The preachers and poets made the people aware of the teachings of Guru Granth Sahib. Janakpreet Singh, president of Naujwan Sabha, said Guru Ravidas was a revolutionary saint who taught us the lesson of equality. He said, “All human beings are equal and we have to oppose such elements in the society who still
discriminate on the basis of caste.”

A Nagar Kirtan was also organised on the occasion. Sarpanch Bhupinder Singh, Giani Sarlocahn Singh and others served the devotees with langar.

It was also celebrated at Abdullapur Basti. Akhand Path was solemnised with full religious rituals. Devotees were advocated to follow the path shown by Guru Ravidas ji. Meanwhile, the occasion was also celebrated by Ambedkar Jain Kalyan Morcha, Shree Guru Ravidas Naujawan Sabha and Vishwa Guru Ravidas Mission.

Ludhiana, February 14
The executive committee of the Medical Council of India (MCI) has recently decided that doctors should write prescriptions in capital letters only.

This has been done to avoid the difficulty faced by the patients and chemists while reading the doctor’s prescription.

If the prescription also includes other remarks such as dietary advice or recommended tests, then at least the drug names and dosages should be written clearly in capitals, the committee has ruled. According to the sources the letter to this effect will soon be sent to all medical colleges.

“Drug names and dosages are at times not clearly written in prescriptions causing a lot of confusion. Writing the prescription in capital letters is a welcome step as sometimes it is only the chemist located near the doctor’s clinic who understands what is written in it,” said Amrik Singh, a city resident from Pakhowal Road.

Sources further added that committee members had made a strong pitch for all-caps prescriptions on the ground that misreading even a single letter can alter the name of a drug dramatically and could lead to disastrous consequences for the patient.

“This is a good move. Often because of illegible handwriting, the patient does not know what has been prescribed,” said Dr Manoj Sobti, president of Punjab chapter of Indian Medical Association.

Dr Sobti said apart from writing prescription in capital letters, people working at chemist shops should also be educated in the field.

“Sometimes they are not educated enough and give wrong medicines to the patients. Appointing persons having knowledge of medicines at the chemist shops should also be made mandatory,” added Dr Sobti.

Sources said the decision on how to enforce the order was yet to be taken. Also, the penalty to be borne by the violator is yet to be decided.

Ludhiana, February 14
The most romantic day of the year got even more special for the couples who tied the knot on this special day.

Rawinder Singh and Sandeep Kaur got married at Sarabha Nagar Gurdwara today. “It was my dream to get married on the Valentine’s Day,” said the bride soon after tying the knot.

Another couple, Mehr and Harman, who were dating for four years but have known each other for more than a decade, also got married today.

“We knew we are soul mates. I feel that Mehr is the person that I should always be with. No other day could have been as appropriate as this day to take a step further. So here we are, as man and wife,” says Harman.

“It's the perfect day for us,” says Mehr.

“We officially became a couple on Valentine's Day last year, so we felt it was the perfect day to hold the wedding ceremony as well,” added another couple Mahi and Vinay who got married today.

Meanwhile, with the craze for getting married on Valentine’s Day gaining ground among young couples, all guest houses, DJs and priests in the city were booked in advance. All those associated with the marriage business managed to make some extra bucks today.

This year, it was ‘shubh lagna’ (auspicious time) for marriage on Valentine’s Day, which is also one of the reasons that most of the couples decided to get married, said Pundit Sukant Mishra, who has already solemnized five weddings today.

“We have eight band parties and all are booked. We generally keep a party free in case of any special request. But for the 14th we have expressed our sincere apologies to everyone,” said an employee of Raja Band at Bhadaur House.

Ludhiana, February 14
The Ludhiana zone of Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle celebrated Valentine's Day with children of Bal Bhawan today.

More than 100 students gathered on the premises and exchanged gifts with the underprivileged children of the organisation. They sang songs and danced with the children on the occasion.

Members of Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle said festivals should be celebrated by helping others. President of the organisation Hardip Singh highlighted the importance of hobbies, creativity, social service and career building and said the organisation is committed to propagate these among the youth. “The day is generally marked with anti-social activities in the name of love, but by celebrating the day with underprivileged and bringing them joy was satisfying. Everyone should come forward to bring smiles to the underprivileged,” said a member of the organisation.

Ludhiana, February 14
Members of the PAU Young Writers Association marked the Valentine’s Day by celebrating the ‘special’ connection among humans, animals and nature.

They dedicated the day to parental love.

Punjabi Haiku writer Gurmeet Sandhu was invited as the chief guest on the occasion. Gurbhajan Singh Gill, president of the Punjabi Sahit Academy, and a former professor of PAU was also present.

Various competitions such as quiz, poetry recitation, photography and haiku were organised. Workshop on haiku was also organised on the occasion.

Sketches were displayed by Kirandeep Kaur Gill. Interactive riddle session by Preet Sagar Singh and Ishani Nagpal were the main attractions of the event.

Some of the students wrote poetry on balloons and made art work on them before releasing them in the air.

Gurbhajan Singh Gill also appreciated the efforts of students for celebrating Valentine's Day in a different way.

Ludhiana, February 14
Police and rain played a spoil sport for the youngsters this Valentine’s Day.

Heavy police was deployed outside all the girls’ colleges and market places today, while in public parks the cops were roaming in muftis and were hunting for young couples.

Some college and school students got specially dressed for the day and even bunked their respective institutes, while there were some girls who preferred to stay indoors in order to avoid any unpleasant experience.

There were reports of police chasing away young boys at PAU, Rakh Bagh, outside the Khalsa College for Girls, Model Town Market and other parts of the city.

Heavy police was deployed at Sarabha Nagar market to keep the mischievous at bay.

“Our purpose was to provide the couples and especially the girls a safe environment. Some people use this day to harass girls,” said SHO Bitten Kumar.

Unlike previous years, the Hindu radical groups failed to play their role.

Interestingly at some places even women cops were being given a cover by male cops, sensing that boys could hurl comments at the newly-recruited woman cops.

However, even rain marred the V-Day celebrations by afternoon.

The flower sellers said the business had gained momentum during the morning but in afternoon it started raining.

SHO (Traffic) Vinod Kumar said youngsters violating law were strictly dealt with. Some youngsters were sent home following a warning, said the SHO.

As it kept raining, a huge section of youngsters headed to the shopping mall and multiplexes to avoid landing into any trouble.

Ludhiana, February 14
Students of Dr Sangeeta Fine Art Academy expressed their love for the art on the occasion of the Valentine’s Day today. More than 300 paintings by students of kindergarten to post graduate scholars of art displayed their work at Sutlej Club.

The exhibitors made paintings on different themes. From birds, ducks, huts drawn by the little ones, there were also sophisticated paintings made by the grown-up students of the academy.

Manpreet, a young fine arts teacher at a school, showcased three different paintings, a portrait of a Rajasthani boy in oil paint, a work of modern art in acrylics and other abstract artworks. Charan, another young artiste, unleashed her imagination of the game of cards, and highlighted the importance of water in other paintings. “It was great looking at the creativity of youngsters. It is a great encouragement to young students who see their works displayed along with other multifaceted paintings,” said a visitor.

The exhibition was inaugurated by Ranjodh Singh, president of the Punjab Lalit Kala Academy and Ramgarhia Educational Council. Dr Sangeeta said she has been teaching children for over a decade now.

Ludhiana, February 14
'Spring - A Festival of Ghazals’ was organised at Punjabi Bhawan yesterday.

The event, in remembrance of Jagjit Singh, ghazal writer Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Mirza Ghalib, was organised by literary organisation ‘Dhvani’.

Dimple Chopra from the organisation said February holds a special place in the heart of the ghazal lovers as birth anniversary of Jagjit Singh falls on February 8, Faiz was born on February 13 and Ghalib's death anniversary falls on Feb 15.

On the occasion, ghazal maestro Khushbir Singh Shaad of Lucknow, John Ditta and Daniel Ditta from Norway regaled the audience with their ghazals. Ditta paid tributes to Faiz Ahmed Faiz by singing his famous ghazals. Randhir Kanwal paid tribute to Jagjit Singh and sang his popular ghazal, 'Chithi na koi sandes'.

Ludhiana, February 14
Christian Medical College (CMC) is hosting a two-day symposium on ‘Applications of Radioisotopes and Radiation Technology in modern medicine: diagnosis, therapy and research’, from today.

The symposium is being jointly organised by the Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology (BRIT), Mumbai, National Association for Applications of Radioisotopes and Radiation in Industry (NAARI) Mumbai), and Christian Medical College (CMC), Ludhiana.

The latest developments in the use of radioisotopes in diagnosis and therapy of a number of diseases, particularly cancer, would be discussed during the two day conference.

The two-day symposium n applications of radioisotopes and radiation technology in modern medicine is planned to create awareness about the new technologies and would provide a platform for fruitful interactions between potential users with scientists and technology providers.

Key note address was today delivered by Dr. Arun Malhotra.

About 300 eminent faculties from India are expected to attend the programme.

A new blood irradiator developed by Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC), first of its kind in India, was also inaugurated today.

Although widely practiced world over in hospitals and blood banks, the technology is new to India.

The irradiator has been procured by a grant from the Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology (BRIT) and has greatly helped CMC hospital in its successful bone-marrow transplant programme.

Ludhiana, February 14
Various Chinese items displayed in the Indo-Pak International Expo succeeded to mark an impression on visitors at Gulmohar Hotel in the city.

A number of stalls have been set up in the expo displaying the Chinese goods such as washing equipments, cooking utensils, home appliances and small-scale goods made in China and Thailand. There are no restrictions on the sale of items from other nations in the expo.

“Chinese goods usually dominate Indian and Pakistani markets so it is not surprising to see Chinese products in the expo. Businessmen, who set up their stalls in the expo, are concerned with earning profit,” said HS Chawla, a visitor.

Due to state holiday, the event also witnessed a good turnout today.

According to the office-bearers of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stalls from both the nations earned a good profit today. The organisers are expecting more visitors on weekend.

Today, some Pakistani traders set up few more stalls displaying the goods.

Some of the traders, however, did not get custom clearance on Indo-Pak Border in Amritsar.

Ludhiana, February 14
Visitors were more interested in sharing pre-partition tales of their elders with the Pakistani vendors at the Indo-Pak expo today.

People hailing from Gujranwala, Shekhupura, Rawalpindi and Lahore met the Pakistani vendors with a hope that they might have a clue to their ancestral places. Some of the Pakistani vendors whose grandparents moved from various cities of Punjab were also equally interested in getting details about their ancestral places.

Malik Fashil, a Pakistani vendor, said “My grandfather moved from Ram Bagh, Amritsar, during partition. He told me a number of tales about Amritsar. Last year, when I came to Punjab for the first time, I visited the place he used to tell me about.” Asif, another vendor said, “However busy I maybe in my business, but when someone asks me about any city or village of Pakistan, I make sure that I tell best as per my knowledge. A number of people whose parents were from Shekhupura and Gujrawala visited my stall and asked about my native place.” Mohammad Jamja, a cook from Food Street Lahore, said, “People love to have Pakistani food and they often ask me about the recipes of Lahori Food. It is a matter of pride that people like Lahori food.”

Ludhiana, February 14
Bharat Rawal, who has been teaching 3D murals, a hybrid of decorative wall art and painting, in different parts of the country is in the city for a week-long free-of-cost workshop in the art.

A graduate of JJ School of Art, Mumbai, Rawal is also a sculptor and an architect.

Rawal has been introducing this art in different parts of the country for over 30 years now. He has also organised workshops in as many as 90 cities across the country.

“I want to spread this art form across India. I have trained more than 9,000 people till now,” claimed the 52-year-old artiste.

Created on any surface, be it canvass, glass, wood, metal, stone, these can be made with the help of any media such as oil colours, acrylics and resin clay, said Rawal.

“These are glazed with resins and lacquer and this makes the paintings highly enduring. They can be used indoors as well as outdoors,” said the 52-year-old.

He said he is teaching this art form for free, because it is not being taught in art schools and colleges.

The workshop will be organised from February 17 to 25 at TAC Art Gallery in Rajguru Nagar.

Ludhiana, February 14
The 53rd Annual Athletics Meet of Khalsa College for Women, Civil lines, Ludhiana concluded in true sports spirit on Thursday.

Epitome of sincerity and dedication, administrator Nirmal Singh Dhillon (Police Commissioner, Ludhiana) presided over the function.

He was accorded a warm welcome by the college managing committee along with principal Dr Varinder Kaur Thind, college staff and students.

The students put up a great aerobics show and mesmerised the audience.

The guest of honour took the salute of the March Past performed by the students pursuing various graduate and post-graduate courses.

The events included obstacle race, chatti race, 400 m relay race, 200 m race and sack race. The event filled up the hearts of everyone with the spirit of sportsmanship and unity.

Proclaiming the achievements of the students in the sports sector, principal Dr Varinder Kaur Thind while reading the annual report of the college highlighted the names of the KCW stars who bagged 57 gold medals, 21 silver and 24 bronze medals this year in various sports competitions.