Jalandhar, July 29
Several oil tankers parked on the busy road near Madan Flour Mill Chowk, falling under Ward 30, not only pose a fire threat, but create traffic hazard and nuisance.

The residents of nearby localities have brought the matter to the notice of the councillor concerned Rajendra Beri several times.

Beri, in turn, has made a number of formal complaints with the municipal corporation commissioner C.S. Talwar but to no avail.

Beri told The Tribune he had submitted written complaints to the commissioner thrice in this regard, but nothing concrete has been done so far except the visit of the area by some tehbazari personnel.

Fed up with the lackadaisical attitude of the corporation towards the problem of the residents of his ward, Beri said now he had decided to raise the issue of parking of oil tankers in the MC house in its next meeting, scheduled to be held on August 25.

Beri said several oil tankers and trucks were being parked right opposite the Center Green Marriage Palace by some nearby petroleum product dealers for the last several months. Any mishap may result in casualties at any time, he said.

Further, these oil tankers and trucks are parked on the turn towards the Gobindgarh locality and the railway station, which create a major problem for the persons coming from the Pratap Bagh side, he said.

He added that the students of a girls’ college located nearby were also facing inconvenience due to wrongly parked vehicles.

Interestingly, the road had been widened a few years back for ensuring the smooth flow of traffic after narrowing Chaudhury Harbans Lal Park located beside the road, despite opposition by environment lovers, said Rajat Mohindru, a resident of nearby Kishan Garh locality and also co-convener of the BJP media cell, Punjab.

Mohindru said if the oil tankers and trucks were removed once and for all from the chowk, it would be a big relief not only for the residents of nearby localities but also for the passersby.

While the MC commissioner could not be contacted as he was in USA, joint commissioner Rahul Gupta said the matter was already under his notice and proper action would be taken soon after visiting the site.

Similarly, SP (traffic) Rakesh Kaushal said steps would be taken to remove the oil tankers and trucks from the wrongly parked place beside the road at the earliest.

Jalandhar, July 29
Sixty-year-old Sangeeta Deol was stricken by polio when she was a child, but her determination and strong will did not let it affect her desire to succeed. Today her success in diversified farming is an example for others to follow.

She is a first generation farmer who has set up and run an enterprise that deals in bee-keeping and dairy farming and deals with some scientific agricultural processes.

“Women farmers should make efforts to start their own venture. Initially, they might find some opposition, but once they start generating profits their living standard would improve which, in turn, will remove all the obstacles. I think women farmers should fight for their rights. They should have the confidence that they can do everything,” she said.

Her introduction of the honey-extraction machine has helped sort out problems of small beekeepers in the area.

She helps in extraction of honey and supplies it to manufacturers of natural honey and herbal products.

Sangeeta also runs a farm-field school to teach farmers about vermin-compost, mushroom farming, beekeeping and dairy farming.

Though, Sangeeta has been using diversified farming methods for better yields, she is looking at new techniques and policies for further growth.

“I have established a market for myself. The government speaks of diversification in farming, though there are no markets for diversified farming. To encourage women farmers, the government should train them in food processing and provide them small machinery. Women farmers should be kept free from the burden of interest for the first five to six years on their loan amount,” she said.

Sangeeta is a recipient of the “Farmer of the Year” award in 1999. The Punjab Kisan Club also honoured her for contribution in the promotion of alternative farming.

Encouraging women's participation in farming has been taken up by several non-government organisations with promotional schemes being introduced in several cities of the state. — ANI

Jalandhar, July 29
Following the serial bomb blasts in Ahmedabad and recovery of live bombs in Surat, the Jalandhar police has sounded high alert in the district and a large posse of police deployed at sensitive places in and around the city.

“We have issued instructions to each police stations to be alert and put special barriers to check every suspicious vehicle. Surprise checking was being conducted in all hotels and lodges. They were being instructed to inform the police in case they found anything suspicious about any guest,” senior superintendent of police Pawan Kumar Rai said.

Asked whether the district police was having an adequate bomb disposal squad in case of emergency, he said the Police Armed Academy (PAP) had sufficient number of squads and, moreover, squads could be summoned from the Army also.

He said that all cyber cafes had been instructed to note down name and address of every customer after checking the identity proof and even keep vigil on the usage of computers. — PTI

Jalandhar, July 29
In a bid to improve the crumbling primary education in the state, a delegation from UK- based charitable society CHYDO has adopted Government Primary School, Sainiwal near Nakodar.

A team of the society paid visit to the school recently. The delegation comprises three teachers, Liza, Beth and Emily, who taught English to the students. The members also reviewed organisational plan and work in the school.

The chairman of CHYDO said they have decided to sponsor the higher studies of brilliant students in the school. The society also laid the foundation stone of the new building.

Project coordinator Harpreet Singh Bal said the online education of the students would begin in December this year. The delegation also met the villagers.

The students expressed keen interest in understanding the English language and learnt the basics from the British teachers.

Jalandhar, July 29
To give a boost to taekwondo in India, international instructor Miroslav Brezan from Croatia visited Jalandhar for a 12-day training camp at Freedom Taekwondo Club which concluded yesterday.

Talking to The Tribune about his maiden visit, Brezan said India had enough infrastructure but lack of spirit was a reason why the country had been lagging in the sport at the international scene.

Brezan, who has worked at various positions, including sports director, class-I technical judge, international refree and class-I international instructor in many national and international events, was sad about the response to the game.

He joined karate in 1967 when he was 16 and later switched over to taekwondo. Interestingly, he was the first player in Europe to start a taekwondo club and has won various titles related to the sport.

He said the game had a united federation in Europe, Pan America, Africa, Asia and Australia. Besides, it was included in Olympics too.

When asked about which country had a fair representation in the sport, he said only Korea topped among the Asian nations.

Jalandhar, July 29
It was feast and festivity at the local Apeejay School today as its 12-member team won the international space settlement design competition at NASA’s Johnsons Space Center in Texas.

The team, which included students from classes X to XII, designed a space settlement on the moon’s surface which would support population of more than 10,000 people.

The students were assisted by their teachers Emmanuel Ratnaraj and computer teacher Yogesh Gupta in the project.

Giving details, school principal Ranjana Sud said, “We received the great news at 3.30 am today and it was the second time that we lifted the title.”

Attributing success to hard work of students and teachers, Sud said the team would return on August 8 and parents along with teachers were eagerly waiting for them.

She said the international participation had brought radical and dynamic change in the students approach. “I am happy that they have earned a name for themselves,” Sud added.

Parents of the winners reached school early morning to exchange wishes and congratulatory notes.

Talking to The Tribune, Rajan Thukral, father of the team captain Mohit, said, “We had been eagerly waiting for the final result and could not sleep. The moment we received a call that they have won, it was a proud moment for us and we started congratulating each other on phones.”

Similarly, another parent Gurcharan Singh Channi said, “I admitted my son Prabal Partap Singh in Apeejay School because of its scientific approach and up-to-date knowledge of science and technology.”

The Apeejayites had combined with two US teams from Durango High School, Colorado, and Richard Montgomery High School, Maryland, to form a company called Vulture Aviation that won the title.

The contest witnessed participation of 12 teams - six Americans, two Australian and one each from Romania, Uruguay, Pakistan and India.

In the final round three teams were joined together to form a company that presented a project jointly.

Jalandhar, July 29
The Lovely Professional University (LPU) here has started two new programs, focusing on the need to produce
global management professionals from India, from this academic session.

In this context, MBA international and MBA (Hons) international programs have been designed to provide students with international industry exposure through a one-month visit to the USA or a few selected European countries.

Chancellor Ashok Mittal said during their foreign visit, the students will be visiting various multinational companies and would be studying in foreign varsities.

He said valuable inputs are invited from the visiting officials of the companies, which are channelised for the development of curriculum employed for various courses in the university.

After consultations with them, changes have been enforced in the curriculum of the management stream and we are further restructuring the syllabus to suit the needs of the industry.

Meanwhile, students desirous of seeking coaching for the civil services and other competitive examinations can now take lessons at Lovely Professional University as it has started its Centre for Competitive Examination.

Chancellor Ashok Mittal said there had been a demand for such a centre and now students can get quality coaching in Doaba region too.

“We presently have 40 students in the centre who are preparing for the civil and provincial services,” he said.

Food market in Punjab is gaining momentum by leaps and bounds as Punjabis are fond of experimenting with different kinds of cuisines.

A great rush can be seen everywhere in restaurants, dhabas, sweet shops, fast food corners, etc.

Renowned fast food corners do provide good hygienic condition for their workers as they have to cope up with the huge international market but the same is not the case with the dhabas and the sweet shops which are mushrooming along roadside.

A scrutinised vision into the working condition of such dhabas provides a deplorable sight of child labour working incessantly to provide first-class service to customers.

Recently a raid conducted by labour department officials exposed the hollowness of the system when they rescued three minor boys from a sweet meat shop and a dhaba. One of the boys, Raju, was unable to reveal even his native place.

The number of such poor “Rajus” cannot be estimated. Such children are usually employed in violation of the Child Labour Prevention and Regulation Act, 1986.

This is not for the first time that the violation has been done. The recurrence of such cases is a clear indication of the fact that the sanctity of the Act demands real implementation and not a mere eyewash.

The solution does not lie in raiding and rescuing a few numbers. NGOs and local volunteers can come forward to help the depressed ones.

At the same time we need to stir our dormant attitude regarding the plight of these child labourers.

Can one imagine one’s own tender children doing all such shabby work under such appalling condition?

Mere performing the rescue operations once or twice a month will not make much difference but the rehabilitation of the oppressed ones will enable them to reshape their life.

This tender age is not meant for toil and moil but for learning and experiencing new-fangled facts of life.

Our society needs to reorient her vision towards some major drastic change as far as the future of these minor labour children is concerned.

Society should offer love, affection, care and tenderness rather than a useless humbug of words.

Great real-reformer Swami Vivekananda had uttered, “The power of suffering is infinitely greater than the power of doing; the power of love is infinitely of greater potency than the power of hatred.”

The solution of the problem lies in the selfless form of love which can only be exhibited by an equally compassionate heart.

Let us try to balm the unnoticed wounds of this child labour to give the society its best future.

Kapurthala, July 29
Rail Coach Factory here has acquired 5-S certification for the entire unit, which includes workshop, administrative offices, hospital and even Kendriya Vidyalaya.

According to an official press note issued here today, this certification has been obtained in three phases.

In the first phase, paint and sheet metal shop was certified, whereas in the
second phase, accounts, personnel, purchase office, store depot and metallurgical lab were certified.

In the third phase the entire RCF was covered. With this the RCF has become the first organisation of the Indian Railways to get this certification.

5-S is a Japanese concept of workplace management. The first S (seiri) stands for organisation, second (seiton) for neatness, third (seiso) for cleanliness, fourth (seiketsu) for standardisation and the fifth S (shitsuke) for discipline.

The objective of this certification was to enhance the efficiency by better house-keeping and easier traceability of items, the press note said. It improves safety standards also.

The RCF is already ISO 9001-2000 certified and it was the first organisation in the country to obtain the ISO-14001 certification for both workshop and township.

The RCF has also been recently selected as winner of the Golden Peacock Environment Management Award-2008.

S.K.P. Aggarwal, chief auditor, Quality Circle Forum of India (QCFI), Hyderabad, conducted an extensive audit of all the departments before recommending the RCF for the 5-S certification.