The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Candidate ‘deprived of’ chance to appear in NTSE Dharmendra Joshi/TNS Jalandhar, July 10 Several “eligible” students from Punjab were deprived of the chance to appear in the main National Talent Search Examination (NTSE) organised by the NCERT on May 8 this year. Thanks to the wrong computerised checking of four questions in the Punjab-level screening test for the main NTSE held under the aegis of the state Education Department on November 21 last year. The incident of wrong checking of the four questions (33, 64, 65 and 75) came to the fore when an NTSE candidate Vansh Murad Kalia and his father, an ADCP with Jalandhar city police, saw his answer sheet under the RTI Act. Vansh and his father were surprised to see that the correct answers of the four questions were marked as incorrect. They asked the authorities concerned to show them the key for computerised checking to mark these questions as correct. On seeing the key, they came to know that the wrong answers of these questions were marked as correct. Vansh and his father informed the authorities about the actual answers in their point of view and they also replied in affirmation. At this they asked them to file a complaint in this regard. Vansh and his father formally lodged a complaint with the state Education Department, but to no avail. They also sent a complaint in this regard to the NCERT Director, but still waiting for the reply. Actually Vansh got 128 marks, whereas the cut-off marks for qualifying the national-level NTSE were 129. Had his four questions been rightly marked as correct, he would have easily qualified for the national-level test, they said, adding that similar might be the case with many other students. The Deputy Director of the Sarv Sikhya Abhiyan, Avtar Kaur, could not be contacted.
	Scholarships for visually impaired Kusum Arora/TNS Jalandhar, July 10 City-based NGO Netarheen Vikas Manch today awarded scholarships to 18 visually impaired students from across the state. This was the second scholarship-distribution function of the NGO. The students were given Rs 1,000 each as scholarship during a small function held at the Government Polytechnic for Women, Ladowali Road. This included five students from the National School for the Blind, Jalandhar, three students from the Home for the Blind and Disabled, Malerkotla, two students from Amritsar, one each from Ferozepur and Ludhiana, two from the local Hans Raj Mahila Maha Vidyalaya and three from Patiala. The NGO also unveiled its plan to soon start a special state-of-the-art computer learning centre for the visually impaired students in the city, which would help them enhance their skills. Chief Parliamentary Secretary KD Bhandari, chief guest on the occasion, announced a grant of Rs 51,000 and gave a patient hearing to the visually impaired students. Bhandari assured to arrange a tutor for the visually impaired students for running the computer centre. Talking to The Tribune, general secretary of the NGO Avtar Singh said,”The scholarship amount is minimal but this is a small initiative and we hope to make it big some day. The visually impaired people are subject to a lot of problems so much so that in many cases even the families find it difficult to support them. We have made a humble beginning and through our NGO we wish to work for the welfare of the visually impaired in the state,” he added. While talking about various problems faced by them, the students said the successive governments virtually failed to work for the welfare of the visually impaired . “Even the so-called job quotas in various state and Centre departments for the visually impaired remain on papers only. And usually a majority of us just end up finding jobs as music teachers only. The government should start some special skill-based programmes so that we can become economically sound and lead a normal life,” the visually impaired students maintained. It needs mention here that Avtar Singh, a retired teacher from Lyallpur Khalsa Senior Secondary School, along with one of his visually impaired friend Subhash Gupta started this NGO around two years back. Subhash is also the president of the NGO. “It was Subhash who prompted me to start an NGO through which we could work for their welfare. It is a hard fact that a visually impaired person requires a helper to lead life as a result of which his overall development witnesses a major loss. Even the education expenses of such students are high as compared to a normal child. Hence we decided to start an NGO where we could raise some funds for the development of the visually impaired,” he quipped.
	X-ray centre asked to shift from residential area PK Jaiswar/TNS Amritsar, July 10 Following the directions of the Punjab State Human Rights Commission, the Municipal Corporation (MC) has asked the owner of a X-ray centre running in the residential area of Sant Avenue near Radhaswami Satsang Bhawan to shift it away from the residential area. The MC authorities gave a hearing to at least six X-ray centres running in the area and ordered one Raj X-ray Centre to shift from the area within a month. D.P.S. Kharbanda, Commissioner, MC, said the remaining X-ray centres did not fall in the residential locality and were adhering to the norms laid by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB). He said after this month, the corporation would seal the complex if not shifted from the current place. The Commissioner ordered the Municipal Town Planning Department to conduct a survey and identify centres in the city which are not complying with the AERB rules and running in residential localities. It is evident to mention here that residents of the area near Radhaswami Satsang Bhawan had filed a petition before the commission in February, 2008, that several people had installed X-ray machines in the residential area without taking adequate safety measures as per the guidelines of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), Government of India. While pronouncing the judgement, the PSHRC directed the Commissioner to get the machines shifted in accordance with the law. The copies of the orders were also sent to the Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, Punjab; Director, Health and Family Welfare, Punjab; Deputy Commissioner and Civil Surgeon.
	Driver robbed of Rs 52,000 Our Correspondents Nakodar, July 10 Three youths robbed a driver of Rs 52,000 on the Moga road in Shahkot today. The victim, Jagjit Singh, resident of Mithapur in Jalandhar, told the police that he used to deliver furniture of a shop of Jalandhar to customers and today when he was returning from Moga to Jalandhar after delivering furniture, three youths in an Indica car followed him. When he crossed the Sutlej at Shahkot, they parked their car in front of his vehicle and asked him to hand them over cash and other valuables. He said he resisted but they snatched Rs 50,000, the amount of sold furniture, and Rs 2,000 from his pocket and fled. The police said a case was registered under Section 382 of the IPC. Servants steal tractor Nakodar: Two servants of a landlord stole his tractor from Talwandi Sabo village in Shahkot and fled away on Sunday. The victim told the police that he employed Inderjit of Sultanpur Lodhi and Shanker, resident of Gwalior, as servants two days back. A case has been registered. Purse snatched from woman Tarn Taran: Two miscreants snatched a purse of a woman in Chabal township, 18 km from here, on Friday evening. The woman, Parshin Kaur, resident of Mannan village, in her statement to the police alleged that the miscreants snatched her purse, containing Rs 3,000 and some documents, when she was on her way to a hospital in the township on a rickshaw. A case under Section 379 of the IPC was registered. Snatching case registered Hoshiarpur: The police on Wednesday registered a case under Sections 382 and 34 of the IPC for snatching a bag containing Rs 1,26,640 from Rakesh Kumar, son of Harbans Lal of Mohalla Pur Hiran, after 78 days of the occurrence of the crime. According to police sources, the case was registered on the recommendation of the inquiry officer. Three unidentified motorcycle-borne youths snatched the bag containing Rs 1,26,640 from Rakesh Kumar, while he was going to deposit it in the local branch of ICICI Bank on April 19, 2011.
	Three commit suicide Our Correspondents Phagwara, July 10 Two persons committed suicides in two separate incidents here last night. Swaran Singh of Bhabhian Kalan in Jalandhar district committed suicide by jumping before the 4708 Amritsar-Katihar Express near Chiherru in the subdivision. The General Railway Police (GRP) has registered a case and sent the body to the Civil Hospital for postmortem. The deceased was employed in Powercom as driver and was mentally disturbed due to love affairs of his son with a girl, the police said. In the second mishap, a migrant, Amar Singh of Mathura (UP), presently residing in nearby Chachoki village, committed suicide by jumping before a running train near Chachoki last night. The deceased was under depression after the death of his wife a few months back, the police said. Batala: A labourer committed suicide by jumping before a running train here on Friday. The deceased, Satnam Singh, resident of Shankarpura village, was working as a labourer in a factory here. At about 8 am, the deceased jumped before the train near Allowal village on the Batala-Amritsar section resulting in his instantaneous death. The cause of the suicide is not known. The GRP reached the spot and after conducting proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPC sent the body for postmortem. The body was handed over to the relatives on Saturday.
	4 booked for dowry Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, July 10 Four members of a family have been booked under Sections 498A and 406 of the IPC by the Khemkaran police for harassing a woman for dowry. According to information here today, the accused have been identified as Sahib Singh, Fateh Singh, Sawinder Kaur and Sukh, the husband, father-in-law, mother-in-law and sister-in-law, respectively, of the victim, Rajwinder Kaur. Rajwinder, daughter of Pargat Singh, resident of Sakhian village, 35 km from here, in her complaint to the police alleged that the accused had been allegedly harassing her for dowry since her marriage. She was married to Sahib Singh about seven years back and she had a son and a daughter. The case was registered after an inquiry by a DSP-rank police officer.