Ludhiana-Chandigarh rail link nears completion

LUDHIANA: Nearly a decade after work began on the 110-km rail link between the industrial hub of Ludhiana and capital city Chandigarh, the project is near completion and officials are hopeful that trains would start running on the track by June. Happy with the authorities’ assurance, residents say they’re keeping their fingers crossed.

‘‘If all goes as planned, then the Chandigarh-Ludhiana railway link will become operational by June. Seeing the passenger and goods traffic on this track, the route is likely to prove very important for the railways,’’ said divisional railway manager of Ferozepur Bishwesh Chaubey.

‘‘We started work in 1999-2000 and by the end of 2006, 45-km stretch till Morinda was ready. However, many problems surfaced regarding land acquisition and other operational hiccups, delaying the project,’’ he added. The officer expressed hope that the much-hyped train service would begin soon.

The 110-km project is divided into three phases — Chandigarh-Morinda link, Morinda-Sahnewal stretch and Sahnewal-Ludhiana portion. ‘‘Work on a part of the third phase is left and we hope to finish it by May,’’ Chaubey told TOI. Applauding the move, Manasi Kashyap, a resident of Chandigarh who works in the city, said, ‘‘Though the journey to Chandigarh should only take two hours, we usually get stuck for at least one hour at Samrala itself. This delays everything due to which the bus takes nearly three hours to reach home. Train service will definitely be very popular among commuters.’’

Jagan Pratap Singh, another commuter, said, ‘‘Moreover, it will be economical. The railways must also schedule trains before and after office hours.’’ 

    Best Property exhibition for TRICITY properties organised by MyFM 94.3

    CHANDIGARH: Over 100 beautiful faces from the city of Chandigarh came together for the city finale of ‘Fem De Sohney Sohney Mukhde Of Punjab’ beauty pageant, a unique consumer & beauty initiative from Fem Care, India’s leading and number one trusted fairness bleach brand. This also marked the last semi-final audition of this mega state-wide beauty contest.

After three intense rounds, an independent panel of judges shortlisted three promising faces from Chandigarh to represent the city in the Grand Finale to be held in Chandigarh on March 6th, 2010. This completes the list of 15 mega finalists from 5 different cities from Punjab, who will vie for the coveted crown in the Grand Finale. Prior to this, city finals were held in Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Patiala.

In the previous city finale held at Patiala, Ms Navneet Kaur, Ms Divya Sharma and Ms Nazma were selected to represent the city in the grand finale. Amritsar will be represented by Ms Sabeena Bumra, Ms Naseema Dar and Ms Deepika Sharma, while Ludhiana will be represented by Ms Navjyot Kaur, Ms Rubeena Pannu and Ms Jugneet Kaur. Ms Romila Sarangal, Ms Kanika Sharma and Ms Damanpreet were selected from Jalandhar earlier to participate in the grand finale.  The winner of the contest will be crowned ‘Fem De Sohne Sohne Mukhde of Punjab’ and will get a chance to appear on mainstream television.

The Chandigarh city finale was organized at Lions Club Auditorium, Chandigarh. Over 100 contestants went through various intense rounds of auditions – introduction round, the ramp walk round and a question-answer session with the judge, Renowned Punjabi Singer Jeet Jagjit. The finalists from each city will undergo a two-day rigorous grooming session with beauty experts before they vie with each other for the coveted title of ‘Fem de Sohney Sohney Mukhde of Punjab’.

"This is an innovative and one of its kind consumer initiatives in the world of beauty contests. Through this initiative, we intend to find the face that embodies the true values of Fem – fair and flawless skin. As a pioneer in the bleach category, we are now taking our association with beauty a step further with this beauty pageant in Punjab. Given the response that we have received from the state, we are now planning to extend this initiative to Maharashtra soon,” said Ms. Medha Mohan, Brand Head-Fem.

Decks cleared for Mohali international airport

New Delhi, March 3
Decks were cleared yesterday for the execution of international airport at Mohali with the signing of an agreement for the formation of a joint venture company “Chandigarh International Airport Pvt Ltd.” for undertaking the project.
The agreement was signed between the Airports Authority of India (AAI), the Punjab government through the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) and the Haryana government through HUDA at Ministry of Civil Aviation headquaters here. AAI chairman VP Agrawal, GMADA’s chief administrator VP Singh and HUDA chief administrator TC Gupta signed the agreement.
The project is to be developed over an area of over 300 acre of land at Jheourheri village in Mohali.
An MoU was signed between the Centre and the states on January 4 for the development of international airport, Mohali, with 51 per cent of equity share of Government of India and 24.5 per cent each of Punjab and Haryana governments.
A non-official resolution was also passed by the Punjab Vidhan Sabha for naming the airport as Shaheed-E-Azam Sardar Bhagat Singh International Airport, which was forwarded to the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal took up the matter with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, an official spokesman said.