J A L A N D H A R Every Friday

Dogs Day Out
Dog-race at Palahi has 56 grey hounds straining not at the leash, but at the finish-line
CLOUDS playing peekaboo and ground still wet with rain. It was not the best of the days for a dog-race. Yet at Palahi, near Phagwara, the rush of adrenaline was all too palpable. With 56 dogs in the fray, it was a rather tense time for dog owners.

Students interact with science and technology experts
ENDEAVOURING to bring students face to face with scientists, researchers and experts from different fields, various colleges of the city organised workshops and seminars this week.

Montgomery Guru Nanak College of Education

Making a difference in teachers’ training ABOUT 50 years ago, a group of three educationists decided to build a new educational institute to promote teachers' training in this part of the region. They wanted the college to be a place where students could learn the significance of education and serve the nation with their unique teaching abilities. Students at the spacious campus of MGN College of Education

From the Schools
STUDENTS and staff of Apeejay School, Rama Mandi, celebrated the Republic Day on Tuesday. Mr R.K. Walia, Principal, unfurled the National Flag, which was followed by a parade by schoolchildren. A cultural extravaganza, which included patriotic poems, songs, dances and skits, followed it.

Kapurthala hosts ‘natak mela’ after 30 years
A FTER a gap of almost 30 years, residents of Kapurthala got an opportunity to attend a natak mela in their city.

Market Buzz
Wipro holds seminar
WIPRO Infotech, in collaboration with Punjab Technical University and Lovely Institutes, organised a state-level seminar on "Technology Education - Look beyond" at Lovely Institutes' auditorium on Wednesday.

Dogs’ day out
Dog-race at Palahi has 56 grey hounds straining not at the leash, but at the finish-line
Minna Zutshi
Tribune News Service

CLOUDS playing peekaboo and ground still wet with rain. It was not the best of the days for a dog-race. Yet at Palahi, near Phagwara, the rush of adrenaline was all too palpable. With 56 dogs in the fray, it was a rather tense time for dog owners. Most of these owners were milling around edgily; their dogs following them with a faithful wag-of-tail.

The race started well past high noon. Pedigreed hounds, bearing names like Black Prince, Ben Johnson, added a touch of the exotic to the show. As the race began, there was a clamour among the owners to get their pets all-ready and geared up. Most of the dogs were well-quilted to brave the chill.

A dummy-hare, pulled with a pulley, was the object of chase. Dogs, sinewy and strong, strained each muscle to pursue the hare. Sometimes, the trail became so engrossing that the dogs switched tracks and lost the race. But for those who won, it was all “cuddling and patting” from proud owners.

With supporters cheering their favourite hounds lustily, owners waiting anxiously for their pets’ win. In fact, dogs giving a hot chase to dummy-hare and spectators giving their own ‘verdicts’ on nail-biting finishes gave the race all the ingredients of an exciting match.

There was also a distinct bias in favour of pedigreed dogs (grey hounds), who had an impressive lineage to flaunt. Mongrels, for all their fabled street-smartness and survival instincts, were given short shrift. “I bought ‘Black Prince’ from Canada,” said Mr Gurdip Singh, a resident of Paddi Jagir village.

Mr Surjit Singh Baath, President of the Janta Track Racing Club, chipped in that he had bought his pet ‘Jabaar’ from the United States of America.

Some NRIs said they found the event ‘hard to miss’. Mr Buddh Singh, who is settled in the United States of America, makes it a point to attend the dog-race every year. “My pets Michael and Ben Johnson are good racing dogs. I can’t think of missing the race,” he sallied.

Yet another ‘foreign’ factor was perceptible during the event. The dog-race was not just a “self-boosting” programme to shore up a few “doggie points”. It was also a forum for old-timers to unwind themselves and get updated on their sons and daughters settled abroad.

“Octogenarians like us find it difficult to adjust abroad. The NRI status of our children does not hold any attraction for us. It’s so lonely there. At least, here we can discuss our joys and sorrows with one another,” said Mr Santokh Singh, adding that he and his friends found the event a nice opportunity to remain in touch with one another.

Interestingly, most of those who came with their dogs to the race found dog-pampering rather preposterous. “Shampoos and soaps for dogs — it sounds rather funny. Our dogs are not play mutts to be pampered with fragrant sniffs and soaps. They are a sturdy lot,” said Mr Santokh Singh, whose three-and-a-half-year-old Tango has his priorities all clearly etched out.

Tango likes to have his diet of milk and meat without any fuss or frills and he’s very competitive on the field.

Well, every year at Palahi, each dog has his day! The Janta Track Racing Club organises the event every year at Palahi and also at other villages in Punjab. “The event may seem rather novel to those not from rural background, but it’s very much a part of our rural psyche,” said Mr Parminder Singh, state general secretary of the club.

Macho sport Though the race, per se, was not restricted to male dogs, the event was by all means a macho sport. All dog owners and their supporters were men, who viewed dog-race as a kind of a remnant of the “hunting times”. “In the less-enlightened times of the past, dogs used to be trained to chase hares in fields. But these days, we train dogs to trail dummies,” said Mr Kuldip Singh Kang, senior vice-president of the Janta Track Racing Club. In the olden days, too, it used to be out-and-out a man’s sport. And this tradition has been carried forth. Unlike most dog-shows where women, saddled with poodles and pugs, proudly display their pets, hardly any woman comes to the dog-race organised here.

Local sports industry all set to diversify
J.S. Malhotra

IT may sound amazing, but the total share of Indian sports goods manufacturing units, known for their expertise in manufacturing world-class hockey sticks, cricket bats and footballs, in global trade is only 0.1 per cent (Rs 10,000 crore per annum).

After reeling under a spell of problems, and sticking to the manufacture of traditional sports goods items during the past over two decades, the sports goods export units, primarily based at Jalandhar, have finally decided to diversify.

With globalisation and liberalisation of Indian economy, the sports goods manufacturing units faced stiff competition from China and slowly started losing their supremacy in the manufacture of traditional sports items.

Now, out of sheer compulsion, these units have started manufacturing rugby balls, baseball bats, Australian football, lawn tennis rackets and football accessories. The global business of these items is estimated to be about Rs 1 million crore. While Pakistan has made a mark for itself in football accessories industry, India is yet to begin its journey on this path. The football accessories include gloves, socks, shoes, T-shirts and shorts.

“We started manufacturing Australian footballs, baseball bats and rugby balls during the first phase of diversification recently. The demand for baseball bats is high in the United States and Canada. However, the market is yet to be tapped by the Indian sports goods exporters. Even as there is no support on research and development (R&D) front from the state or the Central government, we have conceived new techniques to manufacture these items to stay in competition,” reveals Mr Ramesh Kohli, owner of Beat All Sports (BAS), which gave the “magic bat” to Sachin Tendulkar to become the highest run scorer in the world.

“The Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, during a recent meeting, assured us of extending the state government’s support in providing R&D facilities for manufacture of new items. But one thing is for sure — each entrepreneur would have to survive on his own, instead of waiting for the government help,” he adds.

“After facing acute shortage of mulberry and American willow, we recently diversified to manufacture rugby balls and baseball bats. I visited the US to study the market there. We need to tap the potential market in the USA,” Mr Sunil Malhotra, another exporter, tells us.

The experts are of the opinion that another area where Indian sports industry can make a place for itself is gymnasium equipments and machines. “In fact, most of the gym equipments, being used by health-conscious people throughout the country, are imported.

The sports units here (read cottage industry) should develop state-of-the-art facilities to cater to huge domestic and export markets. The state as well as Central government should set up R&D facilities in this part of the region to give an extra impetus to the sagging industry,” maintains an expert, adding that there is only one firm in Chandigarh that has recently started manufacturing gym equipments.

The manufacturer-exporters in the city have also started manufacturing lawn tennis rackets, which are in great demand in North America and the European Union countries. “We cannot invest our hard-earned money to manufacture new items. In case, the experiment fails to click, we would be in trouble.

The government should extend credit facilities along with subsidies to promote diversification in sports industry,” says Mr Ravinder Dhir, President of Sports Forum.

Most of the exporters termed the “apathy” of the state government towards the problems of sports industry as the main reason for the failure to develop new sports items.

Though some sports goods exporters have diversified, yet they are keeping their fingers crossed, as they are not sure what economic returns diversification would bring.

Pushpa Gujral Science City, Kapurthala, makes science ‘spectacular’
Deepkamal Kaur
Tribune News Service

AWAY from text books and blackboards, the Pushpa Gujral Science City offers a blend of education, curiosity and fun to ensure longer and repeated visits. The place has much in store for everyone, regardless of age, education, profession or social strata, as it has been designed in such a way that it makes science accessible to even those who are not formally educated.

With an aim to inculcate scientific temper among masses and to popularise science through "edutainment", the science city houses marvels of science and technology for public appreciation and understanding on its sprawling land, spread over 72 acres of area.

Currently awaiting the formal inauguration by Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, President of India, on March 19, the science city is all set to create public interest in science and technology. Dr R.S. Khandpur, Director General of the science city, told this to media persons.

Set up with a total investment of Rs 65 crore, it is a joint project of the Government of India and the Government of Punjab. While the state government has provided nearly Rs 18 crore in terms of land and other infrastructural facilities, the Central Government has put in the major share of Rs 47 crore.

An 18-foot-high eye-catching model of dinosaur, a GSLV missile and a globe made out of tiny 26 lakh colourful tiles present an awesome view from outside. A huge science hall equipped with a 328-seater, large format film projection system, 3-D cinema, mind-boggling laser shows, 60 interactive exhibits, a space centre, a mini planetarium, and a 30-seater flight stimulator with multi-axes freedom are getting the last touches to take a visitor to a virtual voyage in space.

The film projection system is housed in a 23 m dia-tilted dome. However, the simulator is bound to be the main attraction for most of the visitors, as it gives a 'real aircraft' experience.

It acts like a theatre style ride-simulator, where one sits on a chair in the capsule to watch the computer-generated ride film screen for a dynamic, fast-moving total environment and immersing experience.

The simulator, with its 3-D movement controlled by computer, rocks back and forth giving a fantastic experience as if zooming through stars into the universe or moving upside down as in a roller coaster ride.

Based on parallax, the 3-D stereo animated cinema provides the necessary depth and distance producing protruding images. The viewers would be provided glasses with different polarisation to enable the viewing of two different images.

The laser shows combine the innovative computer technology and the precision optical engineering to accurately trace images on screen. The images are projected on a motorised thin nylon net screen using argon and krypton lasers producing single and multiple colours simultaneously or separately.

The science hall also has nearly 60 exhibits aimed at imparting practical knowledge to students about the various scientific principles. The exhibits include gizmos like energy ball, anti-gravity cone, mirror room, kaleidoscopes, organ pipes, and power bicycles and those explaining hyperbolic activities and magnetic movements.

A kids' park equipped with swings, bouncers and other rides is for the kids to enjoy, while helping them to learn various principles pertaining to physics.

A health gallery has also been set up in which various exhibits pertaining to biological concepts have been put on display.

These include pulse monitors, ECG monitors and stereo zoom microscopes, besides still models of human body with separable organs, internal structure of eye, brain and heart.

An artificial lake running throughout the science city has been created to give the visitors the pleasure of pedal boating while enjoying the beauty of various marvels of science. A computer centre has also been set up inside the city with the basic aim of imparting awareness.

Students interact with science and technology experts
Deepkamal Kaur
Tribune News Service

ENDEAVOURING to bring students face to face with scientists, researchers and experts from different fields, various colleges of the city organised workshops and seminars this week.

The Postgraduate Department of Computer Science and IT of Doaba College organised a five-day workshop on "Telecommunication network design using econets" from Monday. During the workshop, networking professional and illustrious alumnus, Prof Roshan L. Sharma, interacted with students.

Professor Sharma was the member of the Rockwell International team that discovered the first commercial modem and digital switch. He also designed software called "Econets", which is a revolutionary and flexible tool for modelling and analysing any kind of network. He told the students that he had not found a single network till date that could not be modelled by his software.

Prof Roshan explained the working of the tool to the students first in the theoretical session. Later, students got hands-on experience in computer laboratories of the department.

A two-day UGC sponsored seminar on embedded systems was organised by the Postgraduate Department of Computer Science and Applications, Kanya Maha Vidyalaya, on Monday and Tuesday.

The seminar was inaugurated by Dr G.D. Sharma, Director of Consortium of Computers, University Grants Commission. Mr N.S. Kalsi, Director and Secretary of the Department of Information Technology, Punjab, was the guest of honour.

In his inaugural address, Mr Kalsi gave a presentation on "Emerging trends in technology and education". He said that the embedded system had enabled the new generation with a wide variety of applications.

He said that the use of an electronic eye for the visually impaired was one of the best uses of the technology.

Dr Kanwaljit Singh, Reader and Head of the Department of Computer Science and Technology, Guru Nanak Dev University Regional Centre, gave a talk on "Embedded systems — An augmentation to contemporary computer application courses".

Mr Sanjay Sharma from the Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, gave a presentation on the topic "Emergence of multiple standards for wireless systems".

Prof Shakti Kumar, Additional Director, Haryana Engineering College, Jagadhri, presented his paper on "Automated design of fuzzy logic-based embedded systems". Mr Lalit Sen Sharma from University of Jammu, talked about "Issues and challenges in embedded systems development" faced by the designer and developer of such systems.

The Department of Commerce of Trinity College, in collaboration with the ICSSR, organised a seminar on "Recent advances in human resource development" on Saturday.

Prof S.C. Vaidya, Dean, Commerce and Management, Panjab University, gave a lecture on "Global competitiveness".

Prof Jitendra Mohan, President of Indian Academy of Applied Psychology and honorary Director of UNSESCO Centre at PU, spoke on stress.

Principal, Dr Kurian Mattam, said that as many as 150 academicians, professionals and students attended the seminar.

Montgomery Guru Nanak College of Education
Making a difference in teachers’ training
J.S. Malhotra

ABOUT 50 years ago, a group of three educationists decided to build a new educational institute to promote teachers' training in this part of the region.

They wanted the college to be a place where students could learn the significance of education and serve the nation with their unique teaching abilities.

With this dream in their minds, Bhai Gobind Singh Pasricha, Sardar Hukam Singh, former speaker of the Lok Sabha, and Sardar Gian Singh Rai got together in the year 1955 to set up Basic Training College here. With the changes in the teaching concepts, the college has been re-christened as the Montgomery Guru Nanak (MGN) College of Education. The college has made a mark for itself in the field of teachers' training in the entire Northern region during the span of 50 years, claim college authorities.

The college is equipped with three ultra-modern labs — technology, psychology and Science — to impart practical training to the budding teachers. The college offers Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) and Masters of Education (M.Ed).

Besides, under the new concept of dual degree programme, it is mandatory for the students of B.Ed to undertake one-year certificate course in information technology.

The college authorities maintain that they have a sustained good record in academics. "In our college, 117 students bagged first division out of a total of 129, who took the B.Ed examination during the recent university examination.

In M.Ed, 11 students got first division. Besides, Rekha, a student of M.Ed, stood second in the university," reveals Mr D.S. Mangat, Principal of the college.

With an aim of bringing the students closer to their teachers, each student, at the time of admission, is allotted a tutorial group and a house. The college is divided into five houses — Plato, Socrates, Rousseau, Dewey and Sartre. The objective is to train the students to think for themselves.

The college authorities say that to inculcate the habit of self-study, they have a well-equipped library with more than 18000 books. Apart from textbooks, there are encyclopedias, research journals, monographs, dissertations, magazines and newspapers.

"Keeping abreast of the changing trends, we have started imparting quality training by using LCD, overhead projectors and laptops. Besides, we record in camera the teaching lectures of students to make them aware about their mistakes during the lecture," says Mr Mangat.

He claims, "We also help students from poor families. They are given monetary help, and books are loaned to them."

Holding workshops and seminars, and organising teachers' training interactions with experts are regular features in the college.

The college alumni association was formed in May 2003. The association, along with the college authorities, is now working towards the betterment of the college.

From the Schools
Deepkamal Kaur
Tribune News Service

STUDENTS and staff of Apeejay School, Rama Mandi, celebrated the Republic Day on Tuesday.

Mr R.K. Walia, Principal, unfurled the National Flag, which was followed by a parade by schoolchildren. A cultural extravaganza, which included patriotic poems, songs, dances and skits, followed it. The highlight of the function was an English play, in which the students came dressed as freedom fighters. The students enacted the role of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Sardar Patel and Mahatma Gandhi.

The Principal stressed on the importance of the Fundamental Rights and Duties. On the occasion, the school also sent money, clothes and other relief material to tsunami-affected areas.

Tricolour hoisted

Students and staff of Eklavya School, Model Town, celebrated the Republic Day on Wednesday.

The National Flag was unfurled by Mr Gaurav Gulati, Principal of Kids Dot Com School. The school was decorated beautifully with flags made by students.

The students of classes I and II — Fiona, Manisha, Roopleen, Ratik, Ashmeet, Muskaan and Arav — presented a patriotic song Ae vatan ae vatan humko teri kasam. The students of nursery — Avi, Kashish, Mannan, Naman, Ojaswit, Ridhima, Rithik, Sidhant and Vartika - danced on the song Re mama re. The students of UKG and class I — Miral, Sidhant, Ashmeet, Fiona, Muskaan, Ratik, Roopleen and Manraj — danced on the song Dhol vajda tumbi vajdi. Ratik of class I played the National Anthem on harmonium and the programme ended with the Eklavya song.

Ms Seema Handa, Director, and Ms Sapna Bakshi, Principal, were also present on the occasion.

R-Day celebrated

The Republic Day was celebrated at Police DAV Public School, Jalandhar Cantonment, on Wednesday.

The flag hoisting ceremony was performed by Dr Rashmi Vij, Principal of the school. She urged students to work hard and excel in various fields.

She told them to work for the development of their own nation. Patriotic songs were sung by a group of students led by Somali. Later, sweets were distributed.

Meanwhile, speeches, patriotic songs and dances marked the Republic Day celebrations held at Lawrence International School on Tuesday.

Mr Jodh Raj Gupta, Chairman, and Mr Pankaj Gupta, Vice-Chairman, were present on the occasion.

The chairman hoisted the Tricolour, and students sang the National Anthem. Mr G.S. Bajwa, Principal, told the students about the importance of the National Flag and the significance of the Republic Day.

Harneet recited the poem Naye Bharat ka erada. A dance item Yeh mera India was presented beautifully by the students.

The students sang in chorus Bharat mata ki jai. The function ended up with the distribution of sweets among the students.

School inaugurated

Eminent personalities from the field of education formally inaugurated Mayor World School here on Monday.

On the occasion, Mr Pramod Sharma, Principal, Mayor College for Boys, Ajmer, said that the school had collaborated with the Mayo College General Council to provide quality education.

He also said that the school had entered into collaboration with Warrick Finishing School to take up the task of ensuring proper personality development of its students.

Mr Rohit Sharma, CEO of the school said that Dr Ian Barker, a top UK educationist with 28 years of experience, would head the school.

Workshop for parents

Parents and educators from different schools attended a workshop held at Eklavya School, Nakodar Road, on Thursday.

Dr Sudeep Bhangoo, child counsellor, gave a presentation on the topic "When your child does not listen". She talked about various kinds of tantrums thrown by children and suggested ways to tackle the problem. She urged the parents and educators to understand the psyche of the kids.

She said it was important for parents to narrate to their children stories from real life.

Kapurthala hosts ‘natak mela’ after 30 years
Deepkamal Kaur
Tribune News Service

AFTER a gap of almost 30 years, residents of Kapurthala got an opportunity to attend a natak mela in their city.

An effort in this regard was made by the newly-constituted body called Lok Natak Manch that organised Ek subah natak de naam — a series of four plays — in the auditorium of the Virsa Vihar Centre this Sunday.

The mela was formally inaugurated by Ms Ashu Verma, Chairperson of the District Red Cross Society.

The first two plays that were staged on the occasion were presented by Safdar Hashmi's Jan Natak group. The first play was Aakhri jaloos, in which the artistes enacted the scenes to depict the rich and the mighty people in the society overpowering the weak and the underprivileged.

The artistes won the hearts of the viewers by presenting emotional scenes that were inspiring, too. The play was directed by Sudama Deshpande.

The second play presented by the same group was Woh boli uchi, in which the unfulfilled desires of the children from poor families and the plight of women in male-dominated society were depicted.

The third play Manu samriti was dramatised by students from the Apeejay College of Fine Arts. It was presented under the guidance of Prof Shabnamjit Singh Hundal.

The young artistes won much applause. The college students had brought laurels for the institution by getting the first prize at the national level.

The fourth play of the day titled Adhor was presented by students of St Soldier College, Jalandhar. The students depicted the rites and rituals followed by sadhus. The play was directed by Mr Amit Sharma and Navdeep Singh, while Gurvinder provided the background music.

Market Buzz
Wipro holds seminar
Tribune News Service

WIPRO Infotech, in collaboration with Punjab Technical University and Lovely Institutes, organised a state-level seminar on "Technology Education - Look beyond" at Lovely Institutes' auditorium on Wednesday.

Dr Sanjay Modi, Director of the Lovely Institute of Management, gave a warm welcome to all dignitaries and resource persons. In his keynote address, Mr N.S. Kalsi, Director and Secretary of Punjab Infotech and Communication Technology Corporation, Punjab Government, talked about various developments in the field of technology in the state.

Mr K.S. Vishwanathan, Vice-President, Wipro Infotech, gave a lecture on "Insights about the IT industry".

The Computer Associates gave a lecture on "Security management". A talk on "Latest computing trends" was delivered by Intel Inc. Mr Sandeep Gupt, Area Business Head, gave a vote of thanks.

Bank employees' meeting

Protesting against the decision of the government to merge the banks, the Punjab Bank Employees' Federation held a meeting on Friday.

The members expressed serious concern at the proposed move of the government to merge various public sector banks. They said that any step taken in that direction would be resisted.

Mr N.K. Gaur, Secretary, All-India Bank Employees' Association, said that the public sector banks had played a great role in the development of rural areas, and if the merger would be allowed to happen, the rural development would be neglected.

The secretary regretted that the government was intending to bring down the government holdings in public sector banks to 51 per cent and increase the private holdings up to 49 per cent, allowing FDI up to 74 per cent of the capital in public sector banks.

The members decided that if the government took any step towards the merger, they would hold a march to the Parliament in the budget session and also give a call for strike.

Nokia told to repair mobile set

In a recent judgment, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed the Nokia India, a mobile set company, to repair the handset free of cost, as it was damaged within the period of warranty.

In his complaint, Col H.K. Singh, a resident of Jalandhar Cantonment, had stated that he had bought the Nokia GSM mobile hand set. But within two days of the purchase, the call-ring became non-functional though the buzzer continued to work. He alleged that he had immediately gone to the service centre of the company for the rectification of the defect, but he was asked to pay Rs 450 for the replacement of a part that had got damaged due to moisture that had come inside the set due to the 'negligence' of the complainant. The complainant, however, demanded free service, since the set had got damaged within the warranty period. The court gave judgment in favour of the complainant and directed the company to repair the set free of cost.

IBM tie-up with college

IBM and the DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology (DAVIET) entered into an alliance under the University Relations Programme on Tuesday.

As per the tie up, IBM has established a University Relations Laboratory where it would provide free software Websphere Studio Application Developer, Websphere Application Server and IBM Universal database to the DAVIET, apart from providing free training and course material to students and faculty. The students would also get an opportunity to work on live projects assigned to them by IBM.

Giving this information, Mr Manoj Kumar, Head of the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, said that the DAVIET and IBM would work closely to provide in-depth product knowledge, design and develop proof of concepts and architect solutions to make students competent to meet industry's immediate and strategic business needs using IBM products.

Unscrupulous travel agents make hay as youths languish in foreign jails
J.S. Malhotra

THE unending lust of Punjabi youths to settle abroad, mostly through illegal channels, has proved to be a saga of harassment and nightmare for these youths as well as their families.

Over one lakh such illegal immigrants have finally been caught by the foreign police authorities and most of them have landed behind bars on foreign lands.

Youths from Doaba region of Punjab, known as the NRI-belt, according to immigration experts, usually fall pray to unscrupulous travel agents, who charge whopping sums for making 'necessary arrangements' to sneak into the Western countries.

According to statistics sourced from the Ministry of External Affairs, over one lakh residents of six districts of Punjab, mostly from Doaba region, faced deportation from different countries for not travelling on valid travel documents and visas during the past five years.

The immigration experts revealed that in most cases, the unscrupulous travel agents arranged visas for the countries that had come into existence after the breakup of the erstwhile USSR.

The strategic geographical proximity of these countries with the European Union (EU) countries was a significant factor. After 'safe-landing' of the gullible Punjabi youths on the land of these countries, they were pushed to the nearest EU country, using land route during night.

Here, was the start of the problems for them, as foreign police often caught hold of them and put them behind bars.

Mr Amarjit Singh, Regional Passport Officer, here reveals, "Whenever someone is caught by the foreign police on the charge of travelling without valid documents, the latter refer their names to the Indian Embassies and missions concerned for the verification of their antecedents and nationality.

The Indian embassies and missions abroad, in turn, write to us for confirmation of identities of illegal immigrants, who have been issued passport by Jalandhar office."

According to information available here, the Regional Passport Office (RPO), had received 15785 inquiries in the year 2000, while the figure touched new heights in the year 2001 with 21571 inquiries.

In the year 2002, 24398 inquiries were received. Similarly, the RPO authorities received as many as 21156 such cases in the year 2003, while 19101 cases were received the last year.

"Ninety per cent of the inquiries pertain to illegal immigrants, who usually 'destroy' their travel documents when caught by the foreign police to avoid immediate deportation.

The actual figure of such illegal immigrants is on the higher side, as the authorities concerned first try to get information through inter-office computerised network to facilitate the deportation process," he says, adding that most of such cases have been referred to by the Indian embassies at Germany, Italy, United Arab Emirates (UAE), USA and UK.

The family members of such illegal immigrants have to deposit the requisite travel expenses for facilitating the deportation of their wards with the RPO here, which caters to six districts of the state, including Jalandhar, Nawan Shehr, Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala.

"We send back relevant information about the antecedents of these illegally-immigrated persons to the authorities concerned to accelerate the process of deportation," says Mr Amarjit Singh, adding that during the past four years, as many as 895 such persons have been repatriated to their homeland. The Indian Government had to bear their travelling expenses.

With regard to hundreds of youths languishing in Pakistani and Iranian jails, an immigration expert reveals, "Since the deportation of even a single person is very cumbersome, sometimes the foreign authorities push such immigrants into the territories of other countries like Iran, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Pakistan during the night."