Punjab News Dateline

Punjab invites applications for chairperson of child protection commission

2011-08-19T10:31:00.001-07:00

Chandigarh, Aug 18:

The Punjab government has invited applications from the persons of eminence who have done outstanding work for promoting the welfare of children, for the appointment of Chairperson for the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights.

It may be added that the state government has constituted the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights under sub section 1 of section 17 of the Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005 to stop violation of the child rights in the state of Punjab.

The spokesperson of the government said that the detailed information regarding selection and eligibility of chairperson is given in the national commission for protection of child rights act 2005 available at http://ncprc.gov.in. & www.wcd.nic.in.

He said that any person who is willing may apply with bio data to the Principal Secretary to the Government of Punjab, Department of Social Security and Women and Child Development, Room No.414, 4^th floor, Mini Secretariat, sector 9, Chandigarh in person or by post or by mail to sarangal185@gmail,com within a period of two weeks from hosting on the website or latest by 5^th September 2011 whichever is earlier.

Water level at pong dam rises to 1388.05 feet

2011-08-19T10:30:00.001-07:00

Chandigarh, Aug 18:

Due to continuous heavy rain fall in the state, the water level in Bhakra Dam has been increasing. The water level at Bhakra Dam today touched 1664.05 feet water mark whereas its capacity was 1680 feet. According to an official spokesman water level on this day during the previous year was recorded at 1664.50 feet.

According to data released by the Irrigation Department, the water level at Pong Dam has touched the level of 1388.05 feet whereas its capacity was 1390 feet. He said that to avoid any emergency, the BBMB has opened the flood gates of Pong Dam.

The water level at Ranjit Sagar Dam has touched 517.11 meter whereas its capacity was 527.91 meter.

Korean Ambassador offers tremendous investment opportunities in Punjab

2011-08-19T10:29:00.000-07:00

Chandigarh, Aug 18:

Korean Ambassador Mr. Joong Keun today called on Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal and evinced keen interest to set up automobile & electronics industry in Punjab.

Taking part in the deliberations during a meeting with Mr. Badal at Chief Minister’s residence this evening, Mr. Joong Keun apprised him that Korean Government had already signed an comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement with India which has resulted in huge volumes of trade to the tune of 17 Billion US dollars thereby registering an increase of 42% recently. He said that the bilateral relations between India and Korea were very cordial and there was further huge potential of trade and economic activity. He also urged the Chief Minister to establish joint ventures in food processing industry in view of Punjab’s agrarian background.

The visiting envoy also impressed upon Mr. Badal to tie up with world acclaimed Korean companies like Hyundai Motors, LG Electronics, Samsung besides Steel Giant Posco to set up their units in Punjab as these companies had already put up their several manufacturing units in different parts of the country. He said that the investment scenario in Punjab were very much conducive and extended all support and cooperation on behalf of Korean government.

Appreciating the congenial investment climate in the state, Mr. Keun asked the Chief Minister to immediately initiate efforts to bring Korean industry to the state as both Korea and Punjab would be mutually benefited.

Responding to the offer made by the visiting Korean envoy, Mr. Badal informed that a special team of senior officers led by his Principal Secretary Mr. DS Guru would immediately tie up with these companies so that these proposals could be formalized. The Chief Minister also sought technical know-how and expertise from the Korean food processing industry so that the income of the farmers could be increased manifold through value addition. He also commended the food marketing policy of the Korean government which was giving a slew of incentives to boost the agriculture production as well as to ensure better prices to the farmers for their produce in Korea. Mr. Badal assured the Korean envoy that Punjab government would extend fulsome support to the interested Korean companies for setting up their units in the state.

The visiting ambassador was accompanied by Ms Min Jeon, Mr. Sang-wook (both first Secretaries) Embassy of the Republic of Korea and Director Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency Mr. Joonhwa Bin. Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Mr. DS Guru and Special Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Mr. KJS Cheema were also present in the meeting.

Annual convocation of SCD Government College on Aug 26

2011-08-19T10:28:00.001-07:00

Ludhiana, Aug 19-
The Annual Convocation of SCD Government College Ludhiana for the
Session 2009-2010 will be held on 26th August 2011 in the Sahir
Auditorium of the College. The Post Graduate and Undergraduate students who pass their final year examination in April 2010 will be awarded
degrees. While giving the details about the convocation Mrs Jasbir
Kaur Makkar, Principal of the College said that Dr. Roshan Sunkaria,
IAS and Secretary Higher Education Government of Punjab will deliver
the convocation address. She said that students with remarkable
achievements in the field of sports, education and cultural affairs
will be awarded with role of honor and college colors. The Compulsory
rehearsal for the convocation will take place on 25th August, 2011 at
10.30 a.m in the Sahir auditorium and it will be compulsory for the
degree holders to attend the rehearsal otherwise they will not be
awarded degrees in the convocation. Today a meeting to review the
arrangements for the convocation was held under the guidance of the
principal in which all conveners of the committees were given
necessary instructions to hold the convocation of a leading college of
the North India with Eight Post Graduation programmes and several
under graduate and professional courses. Principal of the college also
express satisfaction over the achievements of the students during the
last examinations and congratulations were conveyed to respective
heads of the faculty members.

Airtel Grand Prix of India set to flag off India’s Formula 1 dreams

2011-08-18T10:27:00.000-07:00

· Leading global telecom brand Bharti Airtel vrooms in as ‘Title Partner’ for India’s F1 foray

· Official logo for Airtel Grand Prix of India is revealed, kicking off the countdown towards the country’s first ever F1 race on 30^th October 2011

Ludhiana, Aug 18: As millions of fans gear up to witness their Formula One dreams come alive in India, leading global telecommunications company Bharti Airtel today joined hands with Formula One Group Companies to announce Airtel Grand Prix of India, India’s eagerly awaited F1 foray. Announcing Airtel as ‘Title Sponsor’ for this sporting event, Sanjay Kapoor (CEO - India and South Asia, Bharti Airtel) and Bernie Ecclestone (Formula One Group CEO) together unveiled the official logo of Airtel Grand Prix of India. To be hosted at Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida (Uttar Pradesh, India) on October 30, 2011 – this first ever Airtel Grand Prix of India will put India on the prestigious list of countries on the global F1 map and give Indian fans their first ever chance to experience the adrenaline rush!

Announcing the association, Sanjay Kapoor, CEO - India and South Asia, Bharti Airtel said “A sports phenomenon that initially originated from Europe and went across the globe to become a rage - Formula One today enjoys the cult following of a whopping 500 million plus fans. Airtel - with its 200 million plus customers which significantly represent the young and vibrant population, is delighted to be affiliated with F1 to bring this international sports event to India for the time first time ever! Right through its growth path, Airtel has been associated with speed, performance, calculated risks and excitement, the very words that spring to mind when you think of Formula One. Hence, it is only natural that Airtel and Formula One together bring to life the dreams of millions of young and passionate sports enthusiasts in India, giving them an opportunity of a lifetime to watch the very first Airtel Grand Prix of India in person”.

Commenting on the announcement, Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One Group CEO said “I am very pleased with our association with Bharti Airtel which has demonstrated that they are the very forward thinking company that I believe and was the reason for seeking their help in promoting Formula One in India through their 200 million plus customers. We are very good partners as we both project the same forward thinking”.

As part of its association with Airtel Grand Prix of India, brand Airtel will leverage several exciting entitlements that other prominent global brands associated with Formula One have enjoyed thus far. Formula One enthusiasts can look forward to a host of innovative offerings and initiatives by Airtel, which will be rolled out and announced in weeks to come.

OPA celebrates I-Day

2011-08-17T10:46:00.001-07:00

Ludhiana, Aug 15: Offset printing association(OPA) celebrated 65th Independence day at their office located in South city.

Om Parkash Mahajan, Vice-President of Northern India printers association(NIPA) did the flag hoisting ceremony.

More than 50 printers from Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and even Rajasthan came to participate in this function.

The members recalled the sacrifices made by the martyrs and also explained the initiatives being taken by OPA for the printers.

Kamal Chopra, General Secretary of OPA said that NIPA is taking a tour of printers to Thailand from August 28-September 2 to

participate in the printing exhibition being organised by Thailand printing association.
He also told that OPA is going to conduct training sessions to groom the workers so that they stick to their jobs.

Executive members of OPA- Ramit Saxena, Gagandeep Singh, Neeraj Gupta and many others took part in celebrations.

Light refreshments were served after the function.

Only Capt Amarinder can bail out state: Dewan

2011-08-17T10:43:00.001-07:00

Ludhiana, Aug 17: District Congress Committee Ludhiana (Urban) president Pawan Dewan today said that only Capt Amarinder Singh can guide the state back to the path of progress and prosperity as the Akali-BJP alliance had pushed the state to brink of bankruptcy.

Addressing a public meeting in Dashmesh Nagar falling under Ward 67 organised by Vinod Bhatla, Dewan said, the state today needs a Congress government which would be guided by the vision of Capt Amarinder. He pointed out, during his last tenure Capt Amarinder had transformed the state economy and had finalised 399 development projects worth over Rs 1.07 lakh crores.

The DCC president said, the state needs to create an investment friendly environment where industry could be set up. “But instead under the Akali-BJP regime, the industry is forced to set up units in other states at the cost of Punjab’s interests”, he pointed out while lashing out at the lopsided and myopic policies of this government.

Among others present on the occasion included Palwinder Singh Taggar, Satwinder Singh Jawaddi, Rakesh Sharma, Baljinder Singh Bunty, Akshay Bhanot, Sushil Malhotra and others.

METRO Cash & Carry organizes First Trader Support and Partnership Programme

2011-08-17T10:39:00.000-07:00

• A unique support program that helps local kiranas grow their business and become more competitive

• Announces exclusive privileges and benefits for ‘METRO Bandhan’ members

Ludhiana, Aug 17: METRO Cash and Carry India, the global leader in self service business-to-business wholesale, today organized the first ‘METRO Bandhan Trader Support and Partnership program’ in Ludhiana. A key focus at METRO has been to help local businesses grow and remain competitive in the changing economic environment. METRO Trader Support program is custom designed to support local traders by understanding their business needs, identifying growth opportunities and offering customized solutions on product assortment, layout and display, stocking and promotion related solutions. Over 300 local traders from Ludhiana and across Punjab participated in this program today.

METRO Trader training program is aimed at helping local kiranas address issues of assortments and inventory management, enhanced ambience, greater visibility, improved hygiene in the handling and storage of goods, and better services to serve their customers better and grow their business. METRO does this through extensive research and offering customized solutions to local traders covering various aspects of their day to day business. METRO empowers the local traders to sell quality products and trains them to remain competitive in the changing economic scenario. METRO’s international products and processes help traders to handle competition better and meet customer requirements.

Talking about the program, Mr. Ajay Sheodaan, Customer Management Director, METRO Cash & Carry, India said, “At METRO, we constantly focus on serving our customers better through innovative customer service initiatives. This is our first Trader support program in Punjab through which we aim to reach out to local kiranas in and around Ludhiana with trainings to help them become more competitive in the market”.

“METRO has already conducted similar Trader Support and training programs in other cities across India which has helped the local kiranas grow their business in turn.” he added.

I-Day Rehearsals

2011-08-12T20:16:00.000-07:00

Ludhiana, Aug 12; Independence Day rehearsals are being held in Ludhiana on August 12.

Cold Forged Socket Manufacturing Plant commissioned

2011-08-12T20:09:00.000-07:00

Ludhiana, Aug 12: A State of the Art Manufacturing technology for making thin walled cold forged sockets was commissioned successfully at Ludhiana. The State Govt. of Punjab has played a vital role in funding a handsome amount of Rs. 10crores for this manufacturing plant with an active and a substantial contribution amounting to more than Rs. 1 crore by Ludhiana Hand Tools Association. Two number of Cold Forging Plants of Jern Yao Make Taiwan have been commissioned successfully at the Institute for Autoparts and Hand Tools Technology, Ludhiana.

Mr. S.C. Ralhan, President of the Ludhiana Hand Tools Association shared this information today at Ludhiana and is proud to be the President of a Progressive Industrial Association, which has come out first time in the Northern Part (may be any part) of the country with such a huge financial help and without any equity for participation for the successful implementation of this Project. The facility is going to be a boon for the Hand Tools Manufacturers of the Punjab State and the country, as the product quality of this manufacturing plant is of International Level and shall provide the much needed cutting edge for the exporters. The Representatives of M/s. Jern Yao informed that they have supplied this plant at a very special price to the Institute purely in pursuance of their policy, which states “Coming together is a Beginning, Working together is Progress and Staying together is a Success”. The right beginning is done and we are confident that Jern Yao shall stay together with the Institute and the Ludhiana Hand Tools Association towards a sure success in the field of Cold Forging in this part of India. Mr. S.C. Ralhan, who is also Chairman the Regional office of EEPC shared that besides meeting the imports substitution for cold forge sockets to the tune of Rs. 1,000 crores; its going to enhance the exports of hand tools from the present level of Rs. 850 crores to Rs. 3,000 crores in the coming 3-4 years.

The matching heat treatment facility of Continuous Bright Hardening and Tempering Plant is also expected to be commissioned next month in the same Institute. This heat treatment plant will help to achieve the required mechanical and surface qualities of the Cold Forge Sockets.This heat treatment plant is of San-Yung Make Taiwan, who are Well-known World Leaders in the field of Heat Treatment.

"We hope to start the commercial production in the month of November after the formal inauguration of the complete plants", said SC Ralhan.

Pawan Dewan felicitated; promises to take everybody along

2011-08-12T20:05:00.000-07:00

Ludhiana, Aug 11: Several senior Congress leaders today felicitated the District Congress Committee Ludhiana (urban) president Pawan Dewan. The leaders expressed their gratitude to the party high command for appointing Dewan as the president of the Ludhiana district.

Addressing the function former Chief Parliamentary Secretary Surinder Dawer expressed confidence that with Dewan having been appointed as the president, the party was certain to achieve great results. He said, Dewan had worked very hard for the party for last twenty years in different capacities.

Speaking on the occasion Dewan expressed his gratitude to the party leaders for honouring him and reposing so much faith and confidence in him. He promised that he will come up to the expectations of all the leaders and workers besides the high command. He said, he will take everybody along and all the leaders and workers will get due respect in the party.

Prominent among those present on the occasion included the District Youth Congress president Dimple Rana, District Mahila Congress president Leena Taparia, councillor Pritpal Singh Ghayal, Anil Malhotra, Raju Thapar, ex councillor Chanchal Singh, Surinder Shinda, Satwinder Jawaddi, Rajiv Raja and others.

Bharti Airtel launches ‘SMS Gyan’ for its mobile customers

2011-08-12T20:01:00.000-07:00

· Airtel mobile customers can do a quick search on any keyword – by simply sending it as an SMS to 55444

· Customers will instantly receive SMS responses to their search queries on topics ranging from general knowledge, song lyrics, word meanings, movie reviews, stock info, weather

Ludhaina, Aug 11: Bharti Airtel, a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 19 countries across Asia and Africa, today announced the launch of ‘SMS Gyan’ - an innovative service that allows customers to conduct a search on any topic of interest by sending a keyword as SMS to 55444. Upon sending an SMS query, Airtel mobile customers will instantaneously receive an SMS response with information on their topic of interest - which can vary to anything from general knowledge, lyrics of songs, meaning of a word, movie reviews, stock related info and weather. These SMS responses are automatically extracted from the relevant and credible online data sources.

This unique SMS based service is now available for customers across parts of India including Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

According to an Airtel spokesperson, Airtel mobile customers can leverage SMS Gyan by paying Re. 1 per query or opt for monthly subscription and send unlimited queries priced at Rs 30 for 30 days. Queries with no search results are not charged to customers.

BICYCLES TO HAVE RETRO REFLECTIVE TAPES SOON

2011-08-10T10:04:00.000-07:00

CRUCIAL HIGH LEVEL INDUSTRY MEET TO BE HELD AT LUDHIANA ON AUG 19

Ludhiana/Chandigarh August 10, 2011 It will be easier for bicycle riders to pedal around safer across the nation as a much awaited decision on proposal for mandatory installation of retro reflective tapes on bicycles is expected to be taken at a high level government and industry meeting to be held in Ludhiana on August 19, 2011.

“The crucial decision making it mandatory to use retro-reflective is taken during this meet, it will make bicycles a safer mode of transportation on various busy roads , particularly during late hours said Mr K.K.Kapila, Chairman, International Road Federation (IRF) International Road Federation (IRF) ,Geneva based non profitglobal forum advocating better and safer roads through optimum road design and construction in a press statement here today.

“The IRF, on the direction of the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP), ministry of commerce and industries, had sent the proposal to the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for technical evaluation in March this year. After technically evaluating the proposal for about two months, the BIS is now ready with its findings and on August 19 BIS will place its findings before the bicycle manufcaturers in Ludhiana,” Kapila Said.

㉮ the meeting, we will make a presentation on the need for using retro-reflective tapes in bicycles. We are hopeful that the proposal will be accepted and installation of such tapes in bicycles will become mandatory, said Kapila.

The government is keen to make the use of reflective tapes in cycles mandatory, said an official of DIPP.

The matter has already been discussed with cycle manufacturing majors and All India Cycle Manufacturers⠁association.

Nominations for SGPC polls

2011-08-10T09:49:00.001-07:00

Ludhiana, Aug 10-

Nomination Detail (LUDHIANA Distt.)
Sr No	Name of Constituency	Name of the person who field nomination papers	Father's / Husband's Name	Name of Proposer	Remarks
1	63- Khanna	Nil	Nil	Nil
2	64- Payal	1.Raghbir Singh 2.Mangat Rai Singh	1.Lal Singh 2.Kishan Chand	1.Malkit Singh 2.Balwant Singh
3	65- Doraha	1.Charan Singh 2.Baldev Singh 3.Gurmail Singh 4.Sachdev Singh 5.Satwinder Singh	1.Mohinder Singh 2.Swaran Singh 3.Surjeet Singh 4.Surjeet Singh 5.Jasbir Singh	1.Gurpal Singh 2.Smt Surinder Kaur 3.Kartar Singh 4.Sarabjit Singh 5 Dharminder Singh	1.(S.A.D) 2.Independent 3.Independent 4.Independent 5.Independent
	65- Doraha (sc)	1.Harpal Singh	1.Chanan Singh	1.Gurnam Singh	(S.A.D)
4	66-Pakhowal	1.Harpreet Singh 2.Harpreet Singh 3.Harpreet Singh 4.Jagdish Singh 5.Manjit Singh	1.Mann Singh 2.Mann Singh 3.Mann Singh 4.Kehar Singh 5.Gurnam Singh	1.Gurjit Singh 2.Harbans Singh 3.Harbans Singh 4.Jarnail Singh 5.Surinderpal Singh
5	67- Raikot	1.Rajwinder Singh 2.Ranjit Singh	1.Malkit Singh 2.Joginder Singh	1.Palwinder Singh 2.Parshotam Singh	1.Independent 2.Independent
6	68- Jagraon	1.Tarlok Singh 2.Gurdial Singh	1.Arjan Singh 2.Hajara Singh	1.Gurnam Singh 2.Ajmer Singh
	68- Jagraon (Women) (sc)	Nil	Nil	Nil
7	69- Sidhwan Bet	Harnek Singh	Sher Singh	Baldev Singh
8	70- Mullanpur Dakha	1.Jatinder Singh 2.Davinder Singh	1.Gurdev Suingh 2.Harbans Singh	1.Karanvir Singh 1.Davinder SIngh
	70- Mullanpur Dakha (sc)	Mohinder Pal Singh	Surjit Singh	Sukhwinder Singh
9	71-Ludhiana City (South)	Surinder Singh	Jagat Singh
10	72- Ludhiana City (West)	1.Mandeep Singh Dhaliwal 2.Parminder Singh 3.Mehar Singh 4.Gurdeep Singh	1.Isher Singh 2.Harcharan Singh 3.Bishan Singh 4.Harban Singh	1.Avtar Singh 2.Satnam Singh 3.Hardev Singh 4.Paramjit Singh	1.SC 2.General 3.General 4.General
	72- Ludhiana City (West) (women Genral)
11	73-Ludhiana City (North)	1.Kanwal Inder Singh 2.Avtar Singh 3.Charanjit Kaur 4.Swaran Singh 5.Jasdeep Singh Kaunke	1. Surjan Singh 2. Rattan Singh 3.Avtar Singh 4.Bela Singh 5.Gurcharan Singh	1.Mahinder Pal Singh 2.Harwinder Singh 3.Ravinder Kaur 4.Dharam Singh 5.Sarabjit Singh	1.General 2.General 3.General 4.General 5.General
12	74-Ludhiana (Rural)	1.Ranjit Singh 2.Ranjit Singh 3.Nirmal Singh 4.Gurmail Singh	1.Bahadhur Singh 2.Bahadhur Singh 3.Bachan Singh 4.Shankar Singh	1.Channan Singh 2.Harbans Singh 3.Gurdeep Singh 4.Santokh Singh
13	75- Samrala	Nil	Nil	Nil
	75- Samrala (women Genral)	Nil	Nil	Nil

DCC celebrates Quit India anniversary

2011-08-09T08:29:00.000-07:00

Ludhiana, Aug 9: The District Congress Committee Ludhiana today celebrated the 17th anniversary of the Quit India anniversary. The urban and rural units of the party held a function to mark the occasion and resolved to fulfill the dreams of the great leaders who laid down lot of sacrifices for the freedom of the country.

Addressing the function, the DCC (urban) president Pawan Dewan and the rural president Malkiat Singh Dakha asked the party workers to dedicate themselves for the nation. They regretted that the situation in Punjab was going from bad to worse and the state government had failed on all fronts.

Dewan pointed out, while rest of India was progressing, Punjab under the Akali-BJP rule was sliding down. He said, there was lot of corruption, unemployment and debts in the state and the Akali-BJP rulers were only concerned to fill their own coffers while pushing the state to bankruptcy.

Speaking on the occasion Dakha recalled the sacrifices of the leaders for the freedom of the country. He said, it was the Congress leaders who had laid down their lives both before and after the independence. He said, while the Akali leaders ran away during the dark days of terrorism, it was the Congress which fought for the peace to the state.

Prominent among those present on the occasion included Shyam Sunder Malhotra, Youth Congress Distt President Dimpal Rana, Mahila Congress Distt President Leena Taparia, Nirmal Kaira, Councillor Pritpal Singh Ghayal, Parminder Mehta, Raju Thapar, Palwinder Taggar, Satwinder Jawaddi, Rakesh Sharma, Jarnial Shimlapuri, Kanwardeep Pappi, Baljinder Sandhu, Manpreet Grewal, Vinod Bathla, Gurmukh Mithu, Meenu Malhotra, Sudhir Sayal, Sanny Kainth, Sushil Malhotra and Davinder Barewal etc.

Dewan addresses DCC (U) meeting

2011-08-07T08:22:00.000-07:00

Ludhiana, Aug 7: District Congress Committee Ludhiana (urban) president Pawan Dewan addressed a public meeting as part of the party’s mass mobilisation programme in Ward 50 falling under Jawahar Nagar area.

The meeting was organised by the block presidents Meenu Malhotra and Baljinder Singh Bunty.

Politicians are responsible for traffic mess

2011-08-07T08:09:00.000-07:00

Ludhiana, Aug 7: Solutions to traffic problems of Ludhiana were given by architects from “The Indian institute of architects – Ludhiana Centre (IIA-LC)” in a penal discussion held in Gulmohar Hotel.

The panel discussion was organized by Business India Exhibitors, organizers of Inside Outside Mega Show from Mumbai.

Ar. Ravinder Khosla, Chairman IIA-LC, welcomed everybody and explained about the ever increasing problem of traffic in Ludhiana with different existing examples.

Ar. Vikas Sharma in his presentation talked about traffic congestions in Ludhiana, rest of India and few other countries and explained his view point, how to overcome it.

Ar. Sanjay Goel, Secretary – Young Architects India as well as IIA-LC explained in detail about various problems and solutions of traffic. The observations of his panel discussion were as per following:

Location of Bus Stand/Local Bus Stand

Location of bus stand in the congested centre of the city is wrong now and Govt. is constructing many flyovers to solve it, whereas bus stand itself must be shifted outside at two to three places like Chandigarh (2)/ Panchkula / Mohali etc. to ease everybody. Movement of buses in and out of city bus stand is creating a lot of traffic problems, noise pollution, air pollution etc.

It takes more time for a bus to travel within city. Some times, than to go to the neighboring town or city.

Present bus stand can be converted into local bus stand for local buses, due to its centralized location.

Govt. is responsible for delay in local bus service, which can easily be started now within no time to solve traffic problems.

Completion of ring road, bye pass, flyovers etc.

So many unplanned projects going on at the same time without any fix completion time frame are causing maximum troubles to heavy, medium and light vehicles.

Govt. must complete all the ongoing road projects at the earliest for the conveyance of public and new projects of roads must be started in a planned and phased manner after consulting senior town planners, traffic experts, architects etc.

Trees, electrical and telephone poles in the middle of roads

Due to the lack of coordination among Ludhiana Municipal Corporation, Traffic Police, Forest Department, Electricity Board, BSNL, PWSSB, PWD (B&R), GLADA, LIT, PSIEC, NHAI, India Railways etc. and ever increasing interference of politicians, the city residents are facing maximum traffic problems and losing their precious life some times.

What to talk of removing traffic problems, govt. is unable to remove even trees, poles etc. from the middle of roads.

Existing roads can easily be widened at many places rather than constructing narrow elevated roads above wide roads.

Flyovers must be constructed immediately at railway crossings (Pakhowal Road, Shastri Nagar etc.) to save valuable time and traffic congestion whereas, Govt. is constructing un-necessarily elevated roads above roads at many places.

Metro Train

Metro Train project must be planned properly in advance at fast pace and after all clearances must be started at war footing to complete in record time to solve traffic problems.

Entry of heavy vehicles must be banned strictly in city, special during peak hours.

No open manholes and stray animals must be there in city.

Strength of traffic police must be increased, along with, there must be strict implementation of traffic rules like in Chandigarh, Delhi etc.

The panel discussion was attended by more than 200 people including architects, builders, interior designers, structural and civil engineers, representative from business India including Mrs. Mohini – Head, Mr. Anup Sachdeva – GM, Mr. Mahesh etc.

Ar. Rajan Sareen, Vice Chairman IIA-LC, presented the vote of thanks and mentioned special thanks for business India exhibitors for organizing 11^th consecutive Inside Outside Mega Show in City.

The results of panel discussion will be submitted and discussed with various department heads in coming days as explained by Ar. Viney Jain, Secy. – IIA-LC

All the participants enjoyed the panel discussion and gave their valuable suggestions as well.

Congress questions Akali-BJP govt’s double standards

2011-08-05T19:23:00.000-07:00

Ludhiana, Aug 5: The District Congress Committee Ludhiana (Urban) president Pawan Dewan today questioned the double standards of the Akali-BJP government in the state. He said, both the parties which claim themselves to be the guardians of the farmers’ and urban people’s interests respectively have miserably let down all sections of the society.

Addressing a public meeting in Ward 59 in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar area here today, he pointed out, while the Akali Dal was claiming itself to be the guardian and protector of the farmers’ interests it had only rained and lashed lathis on them in Mansa where the farmers were holding peaceful agitation for their genuine demands.

Similarly, Dewan added, the BJP had let down the urban areas. The only thing the urban areas had got in this government was additional taxes with no amenities. The water supply was poorest and the plight of roads was miserable, he pointed out, while adding, the alliance had totally been exposed.

Prominent among those present on the occasion include Satwinder Singh Jawaddi, Ramesh Sharma, Palwinder Singh Taggar, RS Gil, Sukhdev Singh Bhamra, Dr DP Singla and VP Singla etc.

Minimum wage disparity in Ludhiana finally removed

2011-08-05T19:19:00.000-07:00

Ludhiana, August 5: The disparity in the grant of minimum wages between four districts including Ludhiana and other districts in the state has finally been removed after the gazette notification of July 28, 2011.

This was revealed in an answer to Ludhiana MP and the National Spokesperson of the Indian National Congress Manish Tewari in reply to a question on the issue in the parliament by the Minister of State Rural Development today.

Later giving details, Tewari, in a statement from Delhi and released by his office here today said, four districts in Punjab, including Ludhiana were not notified for minimum wage of Rs 153 and here in these four districts the minimum wages were Rs 123 only thus putting the daily wage earners at a disadvantage.

He said, now the disparity stand removed and all the districts across the state will have uniform minimum wage of Rs 153. He said, the matter was taken up at the relevant quarters and the issue was settled for uniform minimum wages across the state.

Tewari said, while the minimum wages may vary from state to state but these cannot vary within the state in accordance to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

Capt Amarinder identifies education, health, agriculture industry as top priorities

2011-08-05T19:08:00.000-07:00

Jalandhar, Aug 5: Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee President Capt Amarinder Singh today identified education, healthcare, agriculture and industry as top priority agendas for the next Congress government in the state. Besides, he called for strong and powerful measures for revenue generation that will help the state to come out of the debt trap. He also expressed grave concern over the rising drug addiction in the state.
Speaking at the Meet the Press programme organised by the Punjab Press Club, Jallandhar, on the subject, ‘Punjab of my Dreams’, Capt Amarinder said, although it was too early for him to spell out his agenda at this stage, but he said, primary and secondary education and primary and secondary healthcare for the common people will be the top priority of the new government.
The PCC President said, the state of primary education was miserable. He said, there was no proper infrastructure and there were not many teachers available for the government schools. He asked, “when we cannot lay good foundations at the primary level how can we expect our youth to compete at the university level”. He pointed out, most of children, particularly in the rural areas were dependent on the government schools and for that the standard of education needed to be improved.
Similarly, he added, the state of healthcare was very bad. He emphasised the need for improving the government healthcare while maintaining that it was not possible for all the people to afford private medical care. “We have to improve infrastructure so that people who cannot afford private hospitals also get good medical facilities”, he said.
Punjab, the former Chief Minister said, needs to generate its own resources. “We cannot survive on debts for a long time”, he pointed out while revealing that the total debt of Punjab is likely to cross 1.7 lakh crores by the end of the term of this government. He flayed the Akali-BJP government for not taking any measures and instead taking more debts. He said, he had to write to the Reserve Bank of India and other banks not to provide anymore loan to Punjab as the state did not have the repaying capacity. “They are just borrowing as much as they can and put off liabilities for our government which we will not allow”, he asserted.
Capt Amarinder pointed out, Punjab’s economy was primarily agrarian and agriculture will continue to be its backbone. However, he added, the traditional agriculture was not going to sustain the economy. He called for introduction of high value cash crops which will enhance the income of the farmers. He said, the way he had introduced BT cotton in Punjab during his tenure, it had changed the economy of Southern Punjab as not only had the production increased from 7 lakh bales a year to 30 lakh bales but the number of pesticide sprays needed had come down from 20 to 2 or 3.
He said, industry was equally important for the progress of Punjab. He said, it serves double purpose as besides generating revenue by way of taxes, it also generates employment. However, he added, “for that we need to create an investment friendly atmosphere as also providing good infrastructure”.
Today, he said, industry was leaving Punjab as it was not getting the right kind of atmosphere and right kind of infrastructure. Particularly they were facing lot of power shortage. He said, against a demand of 9900 MWs of power Punjab has 6300 MWs only. He said, the ongoing power projects four of which had been conceived and approved during his government will take some time and by the time they become operational the demand may have further gone up.
Earlier welcoming Capt Amarinder, Satnam Manak on behalf of Press Club thanked him for providing the office and building to the Press Club and making it a reality. He said, it was a long pending demand of the journalists in the city.
The Press Club also honoured Mr BIS Chahal acknowledging his contribution in helping to set up the club in Jallandhar.
Prominent among those present on the occasion included PCC general secretary Arvind Khanna, vice president Chaudhary Jagjit former ministers Avtar Henry, Chaudhary Santokh, DCC president Arun Walia, Tejinder Bittu, Gautam Kapur and others.

OPA submits DSR to MSME

2011-08-04T11:48:00.000-07:00

Ludhiana, August 4: Offset Printers⠁Association, submitted the DSR for the printing & Packaging Cluster at Ludhiana to Mr. Vishwa Bandhu, General Manager, DIC Ludhiana for onward submission to the DC MSME, Govt. of India for approval. Giving brief information about the cluster, Mr. Kamal Chopra said, through the ages it is observed that a specific industry tends to grow and concentrate around a particular geographic area. It is due to the fact that during the course of time more external economies become available to that industry in the close vicinity of the area. Development of market, availability of raw material, skilled manpower, institutional support and many other factors contributes to such concentration of industry. In advanced countries phenomenal industrial growth has been achieved by developing similar clusters in a systematic way. History of printing at Ludhiana goes back to first decade of 19^th century, when a printing press was set up in the year 1809. Present cluster is more than 100 years old. Development of Ludhiana as a major industrial hub gave impetus to the expansion of this cluster. Mr. Chopra further said that the purpose of this DSR is to review the status of the industrial structure of printing and packaging cluster and to analyse it for identifying various technological, managerial and market related impediments.

The DSR says that raw material market is under developed, resulting in leaning of terms and conditions of trade in favour of supplier and high cost of raw materials. The greater part of the machinery is imported. It is expensive; therefore individual units find it difficult to adopt latest technology. The facility of a testing laboratory is also not available with the cluster. Therefore it is difficult to ensure the quality of raw material as well as finished and in process goods.

Parveen Aggarwal President of OPA said, Printing & packaging cluster at Ludhiana is unique in many ways it is the only city in India where more than 85% units in the cluster are engage in the manufacture of printed packaging material that is why Ludhiana is called as the packaging town of India. The cluster consists of more than 600 industrial units, out of which 450 are micro and rest are in small scale sector, with annual turnover of approx. Rs. 1000 crore and investment in plant and machinery of about Rs. 200 crore. The major problem being faced by the cluster is non availability of skilled manpower and repair and testing facilities, he said. Through this study we are requesting the Ministry of MSME, Government of India for setting up of a Training and Testing Lab for Printing and Packaging Industry. At present no such facility is available anywhere in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.

With the rapid growth in the technology more and more sophisticated and modern machinery are being used in the Printing industry and for the repair and maintenance of such machinery we have to look at Delhi or Mumbai, we have requested for setting up of an most modern workshop for the repair and maintenance of these machines.

Since the Cluster is dominated with Micro, or Small units, it is not possible for these units to purchase the high end machinery; it is proposed to set up a common facility centre (CFC) where such machinery will be installed for the common use of the entrepreneurs of the Printing and Packaging industry. We are not demanding any land, and wish to develop the units at their existing locations, because uprooting the units in the name of development, is unnecessary, Mr. Aggarwal added.

Speaking on the subject, Mr. Manoj Mehta, President of the All India Federation of Master Printers⠨AIFMP), said, It is a great concept, to enable the Micro and Small enterprises to do their production with good infrastructure and common resources. I feel, the cluster development assistance by the Government of India is a great help for our industry. The report will be the base for the development of the printing and packaging industry not only in Ludhiana but throughout India, he said.

Mr. N S Manku, President of the Indian Printing, Packaging & Allied Machinery Manufacturers⠁ Association (IPAMA) said, the DSR will prove and serve as a Blue Print towards future developments of the Printing and Packaging Industry of the region and also of the entire nation, besides as a major tool for the development and progress of Printing & Packaging Cluster at Ludhiana.

Appreciating the good work done by OPA, Mr. Vishwa Bandhu, GM DIC, said, it is complete and to the point report even the minute details have been take care of. This one of the best study I have came across, he said. Printing is the basic need of mankind, not only this it is the source of our thoughts and with the development of this Cluster, not only entrepreneurs will prosper, but the common man will also be benefitted, he said. I am glad that the DSR has been prepared by OPA after deep and through study of the fellow printers; presently the institutional support available to the cluster is insufficient. Due to obvious reasons the cluster is not able to reap the benefits of facilities available even within the existing institutions. So we are hopeful that after the formation of cluster and submission of this study Government will release adequate funds for the up gradation of this cluster.

Federation of Punjab Small Industries of Punjab writes to PM

2011-08-04T11:47:00.000-07:00

Ludhiana, Aug 4; The Federation of Punjab Small Industries of Punjab have written to the Prime Minister S. Manmohan Singh & Union Home Minister Mr. P Chandambram to order a CBI enquiry in Bogus Bill Scam of more then 20000 Crores. This roughly involves a revenue loss of more then 500 crores to the exchequer.

This scam was the plan & generation of the VAT officials as the companies involved in this scams were the newly registered companies and TIN number to these companies were allocated by the department after thorough verification and guarantees of two existing Vat registered dealers.

It was mandatory to file online return if the transaction of any company is more then 1 crore. And it is very easy to check the transaction figures and cross verification as all the data was online.

These newly formed companies were continue to file online returns of more then 100 crores each per month and the officials even didn’t felt the need to verify their trade and cross transactions of their returns.

Without the support of the department such huge returns were impossible to file and these companies continued their trading for more then a year but the department never visited their premises even after such huge turnovers of more then thousand crore each.

Even after the unearth of this scam the main accused were spared by the department and even after the orders of local deputy commissioner of Ludhiana in the meeting of PIFA their names were not disclosed by the department.

The department was forced to unearth this scam when the assesses start filing for refunds and the department was not in a position to repay them their refund.

Then to delay the refunds the department used this Bogus bill scam as good weapon and stopped all the refund with and excuse of involvement with the bogus bill transactions.

The number of primary Bogus Bill scammers were not more then 10 but more then 5000 assesses are suffering just due to the corruption and negligence of the department.

To recover the tax the department is making the innocent assesses their targets whereas the main accuseds are just spared by registering a case against them.

For this scam the weapon in one clause of the VAT act was used according to which “the BUYER is responsible if the SELLER don’t deposit his share of VAT to the department.

There is still a chance that many black sheep’s are still doing this scam with the support of the department and the innocent dealers could again be their target just due to the negligence of the department.

It is very difficult for a dealer to verify the status of the seller and when all these sellers were filing the returns to the department then the buyers were assured that there VAT was going to the department.

Bharti Airtel appoints Shishir Kumar as CEO Upper North

2011-08-04T11:42:00.000-07:00

· Aligns circle with new organization structure recently announced for its India & South Asia operations

· Reinforces companyⳠstrategic transformation towards a ᣵstomer⠦acing model

Ludhiana, , Aug 04: Bharti Airtel, a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 19 countries across Asia and Africa, today announced the appointment of Shishir Kumar as CEO of the companyⳠB2C operations in Upper North (Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh & J&K) circle. He will report to Ajai Puri, Operations Director, North, East & Bangladesh. This is in line with the new organization structure that Bharti Airtel recently announced for its India and South Asia operations.

Announcing the appointment, Ajai Puri, Operations Director North, East & Bangladesh, Bharti Airtel said, び we move into the next phase of our growth journey, I am delighted to welcome Shishir Kumar in his new role as CEO of Upper North for our B2C operations. With his rich experience and deep market understanding, we are confident that he will successfully lead our performance and growth in the Upper North market䮼/span>

Effective August 1, 2011 Bharti AirtelⳠnew structure is aimed at driving greater business and functional synergies, providing a common interface to customers, and creating a de-layered and more agile organization. In addition, the new structure will provide more meaningful, empowered roles and enhance employee engagement. Bharti AirtelⳠtransformed organisation structure has two distinct Customer Business Units (CBU) with clear focus on B2C (Business to Customer) and B2B (Business to Business) segments.

Ludhiana Philatelic Club greets Police Commissioner

2011-08-04T11:40:00.000-07:00

Ludhiana, Aug 4: Ludhiana Philatelic Club greeted the Police Commissioner Dr. Sharad Satya Chauhan at his office today, headed by the Club President Yashpal Bangia (State awardee) and the associates Dr. S.K. Sondhi, Dr. R.L. Bansal, Mukesh Molhotra, Vishal Bangia, Narinder Narang, and Lion Sanjay goyal. This is great honour to the Club that Mr. Chauhan is also a Philatelist and he promises to help and work for the promotion for the hobby. The Club is spreading awareness through this educative hobby of stamp collecting i.e. Road Safety, National Integration and Education to all. Ludhiana Philatelic Club is holding Stamp Exhibition, Stamp Bazaar and Children Bal Mela on November 13 and 14, 2011.

Capt Amarinder condemns SA-BJP silence over Mansa killing

2011-08-04T11:39:00.001-07:00

Ludhiana, Aug 4: Condemning the silence of the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his Deputy Chief Minister son Sukhbir Badal over the killing of a farmer in Mansa on Tuesday, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee President Capt Amarinder Singh wondered that they had not even a word of sympathy for the bereaved family. Capt Amarinder also lashed out at the BJP which has been crying hoarse over land acquisition elsewhere in the country but has maintained a criminal silence in Punjab.

Addressing a press conference after meeting the workers of three assembly segments of Jagaraon, Sahnewal and Khanna, Capt Amarinder said, he was surprised the way Mr Badal and Sukhbir had kept quiet when the state was burning. He pointed out, the farmers’ agitation is spreading like a wild fire in Mansa and the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister are maintaining a criminal silence. ㅩther they feel guilty about cheating the farmers and then beating them up so brutally or they are absolutely insensitive towards their plight, Capt Amarinder said, while adding, Mr Badal should at least have expressed sympathy with the bereaved family.

Replying to a question, the former Chief Minister said, he had never believed or practised the vendetta politics and nor will he ever do it in future. However, he added, that does not mean that the omissions and commissions of the people in this government will be overlooked when these come for scrutiny during the next Congress government. He pointed out, for example the Mansa issue where the Indiabulls has been favoured for the reasons best known to the Badals will need to be thoroughly probed and whosoever will be found guilty will have to face the music.

Referring to the Punjab Agricultural University Vice Chancellor appeal to his colleagues to contribute from their pockets to save the PAU, Capt Amarinder said, it only reflects the utter financial desperation on part of the PAU. He condemned the indifference of the state government towards the PAU which has been instrumental in bringing in the first Green Revolution. It is shameful that when we are looking forward towards a second Green Revolution, our premier research institution like PAU is begging for funds, he remarked, while pointing out the Congress led UPA government had provided special onetime grant of Rs 100 crore to the university to save it. Unfortunately the Akali-BJP government in the state did not follow up the financial reconstruction of the university, he said.

The PCC President reiterated his party’s stand that the Director General of Police PS Gill and the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister DS Guru must spell out their stand about elections. “the activities they have been doing it is obvious that they are going to fight elections, he said, while adding, ideally they should have resigned. He said, he had already brought the issue to the notice of the Election Commission as also the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister.

On the issue of SGPC elections, Capt Amarinder made it clear that Congress had nothing to do with it. He said, it was the individual choice and discretion of the Congress workers who are SGPC voters for whom they want to vote. However, he remarked, “am sure nobody is going to vote for Mr Badal and nor am I”.

Prominent among those present on the occasion included PCC vice president Mr Laal Singh, general secretary Arvind Khanna, coordinator Upinder Sharma, local MP, SS Libra, DCC urban and rural presidents Pawan Dewan, Milkiat Singh Dakha, MLAs Gurdeep Bhaini, Jassi Khangura, Milkait Singh Birmi, Isher Singh Meharban, Gurkirat Kotli, Hardev Rosha, Harbans Kaur Dullo, Dharampal Angrish, Amarjit Tikka, KK Bawa and others