Jalandhar, October 19
It was a day with a difference for inmates of the local Pingla Ghar (the home for homeless) as they participated in the Divali festivities organised by the management of the institution on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday.

The institute, situated on the local Gulab Devi Hospital road, and established by Bawa Sarup Singh, an ardent disciple and descendent of Guru Amardas, has been providing shelter, food, clothes, protection and medical treatment to needy people since 1951. Presently, the institution has nearly 400 inmates — mostly disabled, mentally retarded people, orphans and senior citizens.

Its management has been doing a yeoman’s service by providing ration and blankets to nearly 250 families from outside.

To celebrate this year’s Divali, the staff and the inmates presented bhangra and participated in the fireworks’ display (aatishbaazi) specially organised for them.

A number of eminent persons, including Mr Kuldip Sidana, Mr Atamjit Bawa, president and secretary of the Pingla Ghar, respectively, Mr Balbir Singh Multani, Ms Manjit Bawa and Mr Bhawdeep Sidana were present on the occasion.

“We have performed marriages of about 25 couples after their recovery from illness, and the inmates are regularly taken out for activities like picnics to enable them to immerse themselves in an atmosphere of work. Some inmates are even allowed to make envelopes and candles,” said Mr Atamjit Bawa.

Nawanshahr: The strict orders of the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Krishan Kumar, prohibiting the sale of firecrackers in bazaars of the district seem to be having their much-needed effect here.

The DC had convened a meeting of cracker sellers to tell them that the sale of crackers would be permitted only in the open spaces.

He had issued an order whereby as many as 36 spots had been earmarked in both urban and rural areas of the district where the sale of crackers was permitted.

In the city, the sale of crackers has been permitted at  the Dasehra Ground, the parking spot near the City Police Station, the Doaba Arya Senior Secondary School Grounds, the open space near the Railway Road, Hanuman Mandir, the Garhshankar Road and the ITI Grounds.

Wholesale dealers of firecrackers, while talking to The Tribune, rued that the sale of crackers had registered a downward slide.

A number of major counters in the city had cancelled their orders and decided not to deal in crackers this season, it was learnt.

The number of retail sellers dealing in crackers had also fallen this time, said observers. A random survey revealed that only a few retail shopkeepers had put up cracker stalls in the inner markets of the city.

The retailers’ grouse was that it was quite inconvenient for them to set up counters in the open spaces. Interestingly, they claimed that safety could not be ensured in the open spaces earmarked by the Deputy Commissioner.

They added that the fee for obtaining permission had been increased and the procedure had become complicated.

Earlier, about 200-250 retail counters for the sale of crackers had been set up in the city, but this time only 50-60 retail counters were expected, they said.

It would be interesting to see how far the prohibitory orders of the Deputy Commissioner would be implemented by the firecracker sellers as well as the people on the eve of Divali and on Divali itself.

Jalandhar, October 19
Eightyseven per cent NRIs belong to rural areas of Punjab and they are yearning to contribute to the beautification of their villages.

This was stated by Mr Resham Singh Hayre, president of the NRI Sabha, Punjab, while addressing a press conference here today.

Mr Hayre, who has returned from his foreign trip, said that though the NRIs were striving to make their villages the model villages, the existing system hindered their dreams. “When the NRIs come to villages with their eyes loaded with dreams, they are mostly shocked by a hard reality that their houses have been usurped illegally by their relatives or other people. In such circumstances, they have no choice but to return to foreign lands. So, they need special laws to protect their interests,” said Mr Hayre.

He suggested that the old laws could also be amended so that the NRIs could be encouraged to come to Punjab and contribute to the development of the state.

Nawanshahr, October 19
Commander Bachan Singh Thandi(92), a close associate of Netaji Subhash Chander Bose and General Mohan Singh, was cremated at his native village, Daulatpur, about 12 km from here, today.

The cremation was attended by a large number of people.

Those present during the cremation included many senior officials and political, social and religious leaders, including Mr Som Parkash, secretary, Local Bodies Department, Mr Krishan Kumar, DC, Mr Sukhdev Singh Bhaur, general secretary, SGPC, Mr Mohinder Singh Husainpur, District SAD president, Mr Kartar Singh Sekhon, a veteran Congress leader.

Hoshiarpur, October 19
A motorcycle-borne youth snatched a gold chain from Veena Jain, wife of Mukesh Jain, a resident of Guru Nanak Avenue, here this afternoon while she was going in a rickshaw to bazaar. The youth escaped on his motorcycle.

Meanwhile, on a complaint from Baldev Singh from Bhungrni, the Mehtiana police has registered an abduction case under Section 363 of the IPC.