Ludhiana, December 4
The industry is set to create an example with the inclusion of engineering industries also in the initiative to adopt green technologies.

The units that would earn revenues for reducing the carbon emissions with support coming from the World Bank, would be over 600.

As a result, the revenue share of Ludhiana’s industry is expected to be more than 10 per cent of the total revenues earned by industrial units in the country.

The World Bank has given a nod for the inclusion of industries in the engineering sector among the ones that would be entitled to earn revenue through carbon emission reduction (CER).

Earlier, only units in the steel cluster were part of the initiative.

The Ludhiana Handtools and Forging Envirocare Private Limited, an SPV floated by SMEs in the steel cluster here, had forged a liaison with the SIDBI to take up energy saving initiatives, thereby making them eligible for earning revenues through the CER.

The number of units that would be part of the initiative have gone up from 300 to over 600. The first-ever initiative in the region, it is likely to generate a revenue of $12 million for units in Ludhiana alone in a span of 10 years.

The money that would flow from the World Bank would come to the SPV, which would give it to the units concerned.

The SPV has already started working and energy audit of 50 units would be completed within two weeks, said S.C. Ralhan, president of the SPV.

The SPV has planned to get energy audit of units done in lots, each comprising 50 enterprises. Soon after the audit, the report would be sent to the UN for approval.

“The process would be completed by March 31, after which the UN would conduct its investigations and the units would begin earning revenues,” he said.

Earlier, steel forging enterprises were mainly part of the process. Now, induction furnace units and rolling mills would also be included.

The World Bank has given its backing to this initiative by agreeing to purchase 99,000 CER units from the SPV.

Ludhiana, December 4
A large number of anganwari workers, along with trade union workers and farmers of the district today protested against the alleged callous attitude of the government towards them.

They raised slogans against the government outside the deputy commissioner’s office. Employees representing various government departments like education, LIC, health, BSNL and PSEB blocked traffic for hours at Bharat Nagar Chowk.

They even volunteered to court arrest.

Surjit Kaur, secretary of the Anganwari Workers Union, Punjab, alleged that the state government was exploiting the poor section of society.

She said they were being paid Rs 1,463 per month and their helper got just Rs 700 per month. She said their requests had not yielded anything and they were forced to agitate.

“We work more like daily wage earners. We are asked to undertake door-to-door survey. Still we are paid peanuts. They are not even confirming our services,” Navjit Kaur, another anganwari worker, said.

Ludhiana, December 4
Tribune correspondent P.S. Batra, who was killed in a road accident last night, was cremated in his hometown Samrala this afternoon.

People from all walks of life attended the funeral. Batra was knocked down by a speeding Zen car while he was coming on to the main road after a visit to the residence of his younger brother.

He died on the spot.

He is survived by his wife, three daughters and son. G.S.Sidhu Damdami, Editor of the Punjabi Tribune, Surinder Singh Tej, News Editor, former Editor Shingara Singh Bhullar, Balbir Singh Rajewal, president of the state BKU and Jagjeevan Singh Kheernian, MLA(Samrala), were among those who attended the funeral.

The Bar Association, Samrala, and the Deed Writers Association today did not work as a mark of respect to the departed soul.

Batra was associated with the Tribune for the past nearly three decades.

Ironically, the lead of the December 4 edition of Ludhiana Tribune titled “Four members of music troupe die in accident”, was filed by Pritam Singh Batra.

Life has played a prank on the forever young 62-year-old who would always say he was “extra fine” and was “just 26”. No matter if it was morning, noon or night, he would always say good morning.

A day before the accident, I had the longest conversation with him throughout the day during my three-month stint as the chief reporter in Ludhiana. I was getting details about the road accident involving the music troupe since morning. He said “don’t bother” and the reply was the same when he was called an hour later.

He never filed a copy more than three paragraphs no matter how serious the issue was. He had to be goaded into making it a little lengthy and the reply would be “no problem”. I told him that his copy was interesting in the part where it read “the vehicle hit the tree which was standing by the roadside”.

He was associated with the Tribune for the past nearly three decades. He was a typist at the tehsil courts of Samrala. Whenever told that he was being careless and missing certain important spots in his area, he would, in a fine display of play with words, manage to meander the talk to his favourite question -- “When are you coming to meet me? We will sit together and have light-hearted talk”.

He had a great sense of humour and thought nothing in life was serious enough to skip his drinks. “Leave the tension for others. Let us sit, drink and talk about the mirth in life,” the modern day Omar Khhayam would say.

He even set up a laughter club in his town and was eagerly awaited at its annual performance.

Last month, he missed a spot about a road accident and I did not call him. Three days later he sat opposite me and after the pleasantries, he talked about the miss, repeating “it was a great mistake”.

I tried to lighten the atmosphere and asked him to relax. “Let us concentrate on the future,” I said. He cut me short, saying “Then come over to the Neelon bridge in the evening after the office. It is a beautiful spot. Let us sit and talk”.

Ludhiana, December 4
Inaugurating a two-day Chrysanthemum Show at PAU, Dr Manjit Singh Kang, PAU vice-chancellor, said nature was an open book holding a magnificent diversity of colours and other treasure. Those who love flowers can never go violent as nature means tranquility and harmonious thriving at perfect harmony, he added.

Dr Kang was shown around a beautiful array of chrysanthemum pots of as many as 275 varieties.

An exhibition on the literature, published by the university, on floriculture and landscaping and the chrysanthemum hybrids was also organised. Dr Kang interacted with the flower-breeders and discussed various approaches for chrysanthemum improvement. He appreciated the efforts put in by the organisers for taking people closer to nature. Flowers spread happiness and relieved tension, said Dr Kang.

The PAU director of extension education Dr N.S.Malhi said the available diversity of chrysanthemum should be involved in breeding programmes. He said such shows should be held to create interest among farmers, farm women and general public. Flowers have a great potential in view of the growing marriage palace culture. Moreover, flowers find lucrative income from their marketing as these are of daily use in religious places, remarked Dr Malhi.

Dr Ramesh Kumar Sadawarti, head of department of floriculture and landscaping, discussed about the ongoing chrysanthemum programme at PAU saying that some magnificent hybrids are in the pipeline of release.

He said PAU has the richest collection of chrysanthemum and other flowers in the country and that the chrysanthemum show has become a regular annual feature dedicated to the memory of the legendary Punjabi poet Bhai Veer Singh, who was a great lover of flowers, chrysanthemum in particular.

Sardar Panchhi, famous Urdu poet’s poem was read out by Dr Jagtar Singh Dhiman, additional director of communication.

The deans, directors, officers, faculty and students were among those who visited the chrysanthemum show. Retired faculty members, including Dr J.S.Arora, Dr Zora Singh Brar, Dr Lal Singh Brar, Dr K.S.Sodhi and the famous landscape expert, S.P.S. Dosanjh, also visited the show. The show will continue today and the potted plants will be put on sale in the afternoon. 

Ludhiana, December 4
Punjab Agricultural University in collaboration with the state department of agriculture organised a one-day symposium on “Pesticides and Environment” here recently. The aim was to bring awareness among stakeholders associated with the implementation of integrated pest management. The pesticides were basically biological poisons. Therefore the use of such chemicals posed serious health problems.

Dr N.S. Butter said the pesticides were bound to stay as one of the components of integrated pest management. More than 300 people, hailing from different walks of life such as scientists, extension functionaries, farmers, NGO’s, industry, state department of agriculture, medical fraternity and many other organisations, participated in the seminar, added Dr Butter.

N.S. Malhi, director of research, inaugurated the symposium. Dr G.S. Chahal, dean, college of agriculture, stressed on the need to follow university recommendations to get rid of ill effects of pesticides. Dr S.K.Handa, consultant of WHO, ministry of health and family welfare, discussed food safety aspects along with the recommendations of joint parliamentary committee on pesticide residues. He laid emphasis on the adoption of waiting periods and implementation of maximum residue limits in various commodities.

Dr Sandhya Kulshreshta, secretary, Central Insecticides Board, shared various provisions of the Insecticide Act 1968, so as to avoid the misuse of pesticides and ensure safety to the environment.

The experts stressed that strict enforcement of the Insecticide Act should be ensured by the government. The pesticide industry should also monitor the quality of pesticides available in the market. It was resolved that attempt should be made to encourage the use of non-chemical options of pest management.

Ludhiana, December 4
The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Institute (MSMEDI), in association with the Knitwear Club, today started a 10-day entrepreneurship development training programme in hosiery industry here.

Inaugurating the programme, MSMEDI director R.C. Chopra said there was a need to set up new ventures by entrepreneurs as apart from providing employment they contributed towards strengthening the economy.

The programme would equip participants with entrepreneurship qualities apart from providing them with knowledge about domestic international marketing, government policies, bank schemes and ISO 9000.

Knitwear Club president Vinod Thapar said the programme would help existing entrepreneurs in the hosiery and textile industry.

Club general secretary Narinder Miglani, MSMEDI assistant director (hosiery) B.S. Nagi and MSMEDI assistant directory S.S. Bedi were also present.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, December 4
Quiz masters of the department of commerce and the department of biotechnology were declared winners and runners-up, respectively, in the interdepartmental quiz contest of the GHG Khalsa College, Gurusar Sadhar, organised at Nihang Shamsher Singh Hall of the institute yesterday. The team of the arts department was declared third.

The function was presided over by principal Swaranjeet Singh Deol. Director M.S. Khatra was the chief guest.

According to event convener Gurdev Singh, over 50 students from various departments of the college took part in the annual exercise organised to augment general knowledge of students. The winning team was awarded “Touchstone”, the running trophy, and participants were given individual prizes.

Ludhiana, December 4
World renowned urologist and laparoscopic surgeon Dr Inderbir S.Gill, a professor and head in the laparoscopic and robotic surgery at Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, USA, will deliver Dr D.S. Gill Memorial lecture at the Darbar Hall, Hotel Park Plaza, today.

Dr Gill, an alumnus of Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), will visit his alma mater on December 6. During his visit to the institution, he will inaugurate a state-of-the-art “URO-Dynamic” machine in the urology department and will also visit surgery OT complex.

In the course of his visit to DMCH, Dr Gill will deliver a lecture on “Laparoscopic Surgery for Kidney Cancer” in the afternoon at Dumra Auditorium in the hospital complex.

Ludhiana, December 4
Sixteen team from across the state will take part in the third Ram Lal Mangal Das Ram Lal Ji Memorial Open Twenty20 Cricket Tournament will start from December 8. The tournament is being organised by the Shivam Cricket Academy.

Organising committee chairman G.S. Bajwa told mediapersons that the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB), Patiala, Professional Cricket Club, Chandigarh, and Young Friends Club were some of the prominent teams taking part in the tournament.

Besides, the academy will organise an under-19 cricket tournament from tomorrow in which four team from various districts of Punjab will participate.

Ludhiana, December 4
The day belonged to Punjab as they won five league matches in the North Zone Handball Championship played at Punjab Agriculture University here today.

In the men’s section, Punjab defeated Chandigarh, Delhi and Haryana, respectively. In the women’s section too, Punjab eves defeated Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh.

Results: Men: Punjab b Chandigarh (26-23); Chandigarh d Himachal Pradesh (25-25), Punjab b Delhi (46-31), Punjab b Haryana (30-23), Delhi b Jammu and Kashmir (30-18).

Women: Himachal b Jammu and Kashmir (19-7), Punjab b Chandigarh (21- 4), Punjab b Himachal Pradesh (17- 16), Haryana b Jammu and Kashmir (13-5).