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Phagwara lacks green cover
Thanks to pathetic attitude of the Phagwara Nagar Council, the city has nominal green cover compared to its population. Consequently, the residents are prone to health ailments and are complaining of number of health hazards.
Phagwara, which hosts more than 3 lakh people, has reportedly less than 3 per cent of its nagar council area under plantation. In addition to this, the city lacks trees at a stretch to form a green belt, considered a vital part of healthy environment. Roadsides, public places and parks are the main areas where plantations can take place, yet these areas are largely neglected by the civic authorities; trees are sparsely found at a number of such sites. “The nagar council has never taken the issue seriously. No doubt the city lacks a green belt, but the authorities can arrange land for such purposes. Still, a lot of area is there around the roads, parks and public places which can be utilised for plantation,” says Varinder Aulakh, a resident of Model Town. Saplings planted every year but fail to survive due to lack of after care. “The issue of plantation has always been kept on the back-burner. Trees play a significant role in checking the water table, a major problem being faced by the city. Our Rotary Club is doing its level best to make the city greener by planting saplings wherever it finds suitable place,” says R.K. Mittal. “Wherever there is greenery in localities, it is the result of ardent efforts of number of residents’ welfare societies formed in the city. The NC does not bother about this, otherwise the city would not have had this problem,” says Madan Mohan Khattar of Swachchta Abhiyan Manch. Dr S.K. Sharma, an eye specialist and lover of nature, says plants play a pivotal role in maintaining the required moisture level in the atmosphere. “Diminished level of moisture in the atmosphere is considered a root cause for various direct and indirect eye ailments,” he said. “Ninety per cent of the patients who visit my clinic suffer from diseases which show that the city’s atmosphere is deficient in moisture. Undoubtedly, the problem can be sorted out by adequate plantation in and around the city,” he said. Dr Sharma also suggested that the nagar council authorities should make it mandatory for all residents of new localities to be set up to earmark a place for green plantation in houses. Mr Malkiat Singh Ragbotra, President, Phagwara Nagar Council, and secretary, Phagwara Environment Society, who also deals with the plantation work in the city, claimed that more than 4 per cent of the nagar council area was under green cover. “We are doing our level best to make the city green. But to have optimum results, we need cooperation from the public, which is lacking too an extent, he complained. When asked why some of the major locations in the city were partially green, Mr Ragbotra said they would be made green as early as possible. But the present situation suggests that such areas had lacked vegetation from a long period and the nagar council had turned a blind eye to it.
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Tilak, Chittaranjan House win overall titles
Tilak House finished first in the seniors section while Chittaranjan House took the honours in the juniors section at the 45th annual athletic meet of Sainik School, Kapurthala which concluded on October 8. Azad House was second, Bhagat House third while Patel House finished fourth in the seniors section.
In the juniors section Sarojini House and Motialal House were joint second while Tagore House finished fourth. Major-General Gurdeep Singh, MG Admn, HQ Western Command, and a former student of the school, was the chief guest. He had joined the school in 1962 with school No 380 and joined the NDA in 1968, where he was a topper. The principal, Col (Dr) AK Taygi, welcomed the chief guest. The meet began with a karate and gymnastic display. The school band, which has the honour of being the only band in the region to have participated in the Republic Day parade for three consecutive years, gave a good display. The Major-General became nostalgic and shared his memories of his school days. He applauded the facilities provided in the school. He also inspired the cadets to join the Armed Forces. The chief guest gave away the prizes to the winners of various events including the school basketball team which was the winner of the North Zone. Also present on the occasion were many distinguished former students, including Major Jagmohan Nagpal and Rajpal Sandhu, SP, Punjab Police. The results: Seniors: 100 m: Baljinder1, Taranbir 2, Arvinder 3. 400 m : Sandeep 1, Baljinder 2, Rajiv 3. 3000 m: Manjinder 1, Tanvir 2, Amit 3. Triple jump: Rajnish 1, Ravi Singh 2, Amardeep 3. Juniors: 200 m: Ashutosh 1, Ravi Prakash 2, Ravi Ranjan 3. 1500 m: Shahbaz 1, Ravinder 2, Harsh 3. Discuss throw: Mandeep1, Aman 2, Bhuvan 3. High jump: Rahul 1, Manmohan 2, Kawnal Nain 3.
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Young World Tribune News Service Pledging not to buy crackers on the occasion of Divali, students of CT Public School have said that they would instead spend money on the education of the children who cannot afford education. A seminar on the topic “Save Mother Earth and say no to crackers” was organised in the campus during which the students were motivated to save environment by avoiding lighting crackers that give enjoyment for few minutes but cause pollution leading to health hazards. Ms Lakhwinder Kaur, Principal, said crores of rupees were being spent by Indians every Divali for buying fireworks and students could play a very important role in stopping the practice and bringing a change. She encouraged the students to work for providing education to the needy instead of wasting money on crackers. Toppers
Students of MCA eighth semester of Guru Nanak Dev University College, Basti Nau, have topped the GND University examination held this year. Saranjit Singh secured first position in the university with 84.54 per cent marks. Rajni Bhalla and Mandeep Singh got fourth rank by securing 84.54 per cent marks. Yoga camp
A 12-day yoga camp was organised in MGN College of Education. Yoga expert Sohmanand Paramhans had been invited to conduct the camp. The Principal, Dr Amit
Kaur, inaugurated the camp as he said yoga could help them in keeping physically fit and improving concentration, memory and overall performance. The camp which is being attended by 150 students of B.Ed and M.Ed will continue up to October 20. Lecture held
Hans Raj Mahila Vidyala organised a lecture on ‘Status of women in south Asia’. Key speaker on the occasion was Ms Kishwar Nareed, a nominee for Nobel Peace Prize 2005. A poet, writer, civil servant and social activist, she shared her views on the status of women in the society. She gave a relevant data on literacy rate of Pakistani Punjab. She said 34 per cent females and 48 per cent males were literate there while the rate of literacy in Baluchistan was just 0.3 per cent. Quiz contest
A quiz contest of six Army Schools falling under Headquarters 11 Corps was held at Army Public School Beas on Monday. The quiz master, Mr Rupinder Singh Nijjar, judged the teams by putting before them a variety of questions pertaining to general round, picture round, mixed faces round, audio round, freedom fighter round and rapid fire round. Army School Tibri Cantonment grabbed the first rank, followed by the host team and Army Public School, Amritsar. Mr Subhash Joshi, Principal, congratulated the team. Lyallpur college win
Three students from Lyallpur Khalsa College were adjudged as the winners of a Sarvotam contest held at Nawab Jassa Singh Ahluwalia Government College, Kapurthala. The college students on the first prize in quiz contest as they later also won an overall trophy.
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From Schools and Colleges
‘NAVRANG 2006’ — Freshers’ Party was organised at the Ramgarhia Institute of Engineering and Technology on Friday in Phagwara. The Principal of the institute, Mr R.K. Dhawan, welcomed the chief guest Mr Bharpur Singh Bhogal, President and Chairman of REC, Phagwara. Mrs Manpreet Bhogal, Director, RIET, and Miss Vyoma Bhogal were the guests of honour. On the special occasion, students of the institute presented different cultural shows like giddha, bhangra, skit, folk song and modeling. Jassica Parmar and Gurinder Singh were declared Miss and Mr Fresher. The chief guest, Mr Bharpur Singh Bhogal, and the Principal blessed the freshers and motivated them to work hard and bring glory to the institute in the forthcoming university exams. Other distinguished personalities of REC, Mr Amrik Singh, Mr Gurminder Singh Bahra, Mr Piara Singh Virdi, Principal Veer Singh, Prempal Pabbi, and Principal K.K. Sharma were also present. Prof Varinder Kumar conducted the stage. Free mehndi camp Rotary Club Mid Town, Phagwara, in collaboration with the Punjab Kesari group, organised two free mehndi camps in Guru Tegh Bahadur Nagar and Model Town on the occasion of Karva Chauth. More than 560 women got their palms decorated with different designs. Mrs Sarita Saxena, wife of Mr Sunil Saxena, Deputy Commissioner, Income Tax Department, inaugurated the camps. Mr Ramesh Mittal, Deputy Governor, Rotary Club 3070, Inderjit Duggal, Gurdev Singh Advocate and Madhu Kanda were present on the occasion. Shobha yatra Bhagwan Balmiki Sabha, Subhash Nagar, Phagwara, organized ‘shobha yatra’ in different parts of the city on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Lord Balmiki on Friday. Impressive processions were organised by the sabha and ‘prasad’ was also distributed on the occasion. Office-bearers A meeting of the JCI Club, Phagwara City, was held under the leadership of JC Loveneesh Verma at Poonam Hotel here on Friday. Mr Piyush Bansal, chartered accountant and Mr Hardeep Singh, were unanimously elected president and secretary of the club for the year 2006-2007. Former national president Mukhinder Singh, former zonal president Vivek Mahajan, president, Phagwara Nagar Council Malkiat Singh Ragbotra and zonal officer Jagmohan verma were present on the occasion. Pollution
check-up camp The Science Teachers Association, Phagwara unit, organised a pollution check-up camp for vehicles to bring about awareness of pollution hazards among the public in Hargobind Nagar here on Tuesday. Dr Jagjit Singh of Scanning Centre, Phagwara, who was the chief guest on the occasion, inaugurated the camp. Narinder Sharma, chief organiser of the association, president Naresh Kohli, senior vice-president Kumari Harinder Sethi, general secretary Satish Kumar and finance secretary Harjinder Gogna welcomed the chief guest. On this occasion, 235 vehicles were checked up of its pollution. The Press secretary informed that the association would hold such camps in future also to keep the city pollution free. Rajesh Attri, VK Malhotra, Kulwinder Singh, Nirmal Singh, Principal Sarwan Singh and Nisha Sharma, active members of the association, were also present.
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Don’t shun drug addicts, help them, say experts
A seminar on ‘Drug Addiction and Youth in Punjab’ was organised by Guru Nanak Dev University in which experts and social scientists presented a unanimous view that the evil of drugs could only be eradicated with the active participation of the public.
They further opined that drug addiction was a disease and drug addicts should not be considered as social outcasts. Proper counselling and rehabilitation of addicts by experts was the need of the hour, they said. Dr (Mrs) S. Sanan, Project Coordinator of the Drug-Addiction Centre of Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, said corruption was primarily the privilege of the older generation and much disliked. It was resented by the young and addiction was affecting the youth of the country. She said students and youth in academic institutions were like uncut and unpolished diamonds and required special care. Earlier, in his inaugural address, Vice-Chancellor, Dr Jai Rup Singh, termed drug addiction as the biggest enemy of youth. He announced that the report submitted by this university on drug addiction to the Punjab Governor would be published in a book and distributed to all educational and public institutions of the state. Mr. S.S. Shrivastva, Senior Superintendent of Police, said drug addiction could only be rooted out with the effective cooperation of the society, NGOs and government organisations. He said police alone could not fight against it. He suggested that the students come forward to identify the addicts and convince them to get rid of the habit, instead of shunning them. Mr Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh, DIG, Prisons, Central Jail, cautioned youth against the use of drugs and getting involved in criminal activities.
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Baba Bhag Singh institute win
football title
An Inter-College Cross country race was held at Bhutta College of Engineering and Technology, Ludhiana. Over 150 students from 50 colleges participated in the event. The race for girls was of 4.5 km and for boys it was of 12.5 km. Rajni of CT Institute of Engineering Management and Technology,. Jalandhar, bagged the first position among the girls. The overall trophy for the girls also went to CT Institutions. The girls winning team includes: Rajni Rangra 1, Anu Bala 4, Prabhdeep Kaur 6, Poonampreet Kaur 9, Irvendeep Kaur and Geetanjali Sharma Three girls from CT Institutions, Jalandhar, were selected in the PTU team for the next month inter-university event to be held in Andhra Pradesh.
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Pesticides affecting reproductive health of Punjabis
Dr S. G. Kabra, from the Institute of Health Management Research (IHMR), Jaipur, said Punjab needed to reorient its agriculture based on chemical fertilizers and other hazardous pesticides to avoid a catastrophic health scenario.
Punjab is going through an unprecedented environmental health crisis and according to a survey excessive use of pesticides was affecting the reproductive health of females in the state. Addressing a seminar at the Pingalwara here recently to create awareness in the public on health issues, Dr Kabra said Punjab had the highest probability of pesticides exposures on a large percentage of its population. He said it was a well-established fact that growth of cancer was also linked to pesticides, besides other factors. A recent survey had pointed out high exposure to chemical poisons had a direct impact on the reproductive system of women. High foetal loss in Punjab was mainly due to spontaneous abortions, miscarriage and stillbirths. Giving new dimensions to the research, he said high ratio of females babies died during premature births. This study has alarmed the medical fraternity.
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Dullo flags off campaign against drugs
“I want to see the Punjab youth as ‘gabroo jawan’, and not as lying in the drain after consuming drugs,” said Mr Shamsher Singh Dullo, President, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC), while addressing a rally organised at Amritsar to create awareness against the menace of drugs.
He then flagged off a bus and a van with a medical team and pamphlets containing information about drugs and de-addiction. Even while Mr Dullo was addressing the rally against drug abuse, some persons sitting in those buses and vans were consuming liquor. Mr Dullo said Punjab was famous for its youth who have now finished themselves with drug abuse. “Not long ago people would offer milk and curd to their guests but now they offer liquor and drugs.” He requested all the parties to unite together and fight against the drug abuse. He said the administration and politicians and the system was all equally responsible for the drug abuse and it was the moral responsibility of all politicians to help the youth to come out of the drug addiction. He also donated cheques worth Rs 5 lakh to Ms Bans Kaur and Mai Namo, who suffered on account of drug abuse.
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Oriental Bank to focus on rural areas
The Oriental Bank of Commerce has decided to increase its annual funding by more than 30 per cent to boost sagging agriculture in the country.
The Executive Director, Mr Allen C. A. Pereira, said the bank had given agriculture advances of Rs 4,800 crore and expected to increase its lending considerably in next few months. The bank has over 568 rural branches in the country and more would be added to give thrust to the rural economy. Earlier, inaugurating three fully-computerised branches in the border belt of the state, Mr Pereira said the bank would give priority loans to small and medium enterprises. The bank business would achieve a target of Rs 100,000 crore by the end of current financial year. He inaugurated a special rural credit camp in Gurdaspur district, where 80 beneficiaries, majority of them from the poor sections of the society, were given loans under Oriental Bank Gramin Project. |
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For perfect Mrs India
It was a family affair of a different kind as hordes of beautiful women from the city putting their best foot forward at the selection rounds for Bombay Dyeing Gladrags Mrs India contest 2007, held at Hotel Mountview on Saturday. Cheered on by their families the contestants were under the watchful eyes of President Gladrags Beauty pageant, Ms Maureen Wadia. In her words it is a “contest for celebrating the married Indian women who their families are proud of.”
The contest has been won by model Aditi Govitrikar, Jasmine Dsouza, Tania Soni, Naina Dhaliwal, Shilpa Reddy, and Shilpa A Singh. This year’s winner will represent the country at the Mrs Globe International pageant at Las Vegas. Making their claim at the title were city women and ladies from all over the country from cities like Chenai, Ahmedabad, Allahabad, vying to participate in the prestigious final contest. The auditions will also be held soon at Bangalore and Mumbai. The selected beauties will represent their state at the all India finals of Mrs India contest to be held in Mumbai in early December, 2006. Wishing the best for our city women lets keep our fingers crossed! |
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Hosts Sant Baba Bhag Singh Institute of Engineering and Technology, Padhiana, retained the title at the PTU Football Tournament held from October 7-9.They defeated Bhuuta College of Engineering, Ludhiana. More then 48 teams of different colleges and institutes affiliated to the Punjab
Technical University participated in the tournament.