In Brief

Residents protest opening of liquor vend
The residents of Ambedkar Nagar on Saturday protested against the opening of a liquor vend in the area. The residents said the liquor vend was only 30 square yards away from the temple and 25 square yards away from school. After the protest,the agitated residents took out a rally which concluded at Model Town Extension.

Strike by printers’ body
On the call of the Offset Printers’ Association (OPA),the printing industry of Ludhiana went on one-day strike to protest against the continuous rise in the prices of paper and cardboard by the paper mills. On an average,100 tonnes of cardboard is consumed by the printing industry every day.

Vipin Gupta,from JB traders,said,“Printers did not purchase goods today. With this token strike,they want to tell the consumer of the impending hike in the price of the packaging material.”

OPA secretary Sanjay Gandhi,however,said,”Paper mills are doing arbitrary hike which is not justified. The government needs to intervene in this matter.”

Meanwhile,the hosiery industry which normally does packaging of garments on Saturday faced difficulties. Only a few got the packaging material in advance while the others had to delay the packaging till Sunday.

OPA members warned that if paper mills continue with the hike,they will go on an indefinite strike.

Annual day celebrated at Nirdosh School
Nirdosh School for mentally Challenged children,managed by the Inner Wheel Club,Ludhiana,held its annual function at Rotary Bhawan on Saturday. Dr Daljeet Singh,principal,Dayanand Medical College and Hospital,was the chief guest. The children presented a colorful cultural programme depicting all the festivals of India.

400 students conferred degrees at PCTE
The Punjab College of Technical Education organized its annual convocation here today in which around 400 students from different courses were awarded degrees. Dr Rajneesh Arora,Vice-Chancellor,Punjab Technical University,presided over the function. Dr Devi Singh,Director IIM,Lucknow,was the chief guest.

Test flight to Delhi from April 13
The test flight between Ludhiana and New Delhi will start on April 13. This was stated by MP Manish Tewari here on Saturday. Tewari said the Director General of the Civil Aviation will start regular commercial flights from the city in May.

International conference held
In economic turbulent period,when most of the corporate concerns either faced difficulties to sustain their business or see their profitability receding,in such a scenario the companies need holistic approach and a comprehensive effort. It was stated by Dr M A Zaheer,who was the keynote speaker at an International Conference on Industrial Competitiveness organized at Gulzar Group of institutes,Libra,Ludhiana.

Chief guest Dr Rajneesh Arora,Vice Chancellor,Punjab Technical University,released a souvenir and an e-book on Industrial competitiveness.

City resident becomes Catholic Church priest
For the first time,city resident Anthony Joseph has been conferred with the honour of a Catholic Church priest. A priest-ordination ceremony was organised at Holy Cross Church in Sarabha Nagar under the guidance of Bishop of Jalandhar Diocese Anil Joseph Thomas Kuttu. Joseph has attained spiritual education for 12 years at Trinity College,Jalandhar. Albert Dua,President of Holy Cross Church and Christian United Federation,said,“Father Anthony Joseph will address his first mass tomorrow at Holy Cross Church.”