Jalandhar, September 27
Many city residents, including politicians cutting across the party lines, have welcomed the Supreme Court's direction to the Election Commission to provide the option of 'None Of the Above' (NOTA) on the electronic voting machines and ballot papers, which can be used by voters to reject all candidates contesting the polls.

BJP national executive member Manoranjan Kalia said the option of NOTA on EVMs would help in cleansing the Indian politics. It would further strengthen the democracy in our country and candidates with clean image would be elected.

The chances to stall the SC direction by the government were remote as there was lot of public pressure in this regard, Manoranjan Kalia added.

Punjab Congress spokesperson Sukhpal Singh Khaira termed the SC direction as one more step towards strengthening the democracy as it would provide a good option to voters to reject the corrupt candidates. Sukhpal Khaira said Rahul Gandhi's statement against the ordinance regarding the convicted legislatures was bold.

Akali leader Gurcharan Singh Channi said it would also put pressure on the political parties to nominate only those candidates who had a clean image.

Former chairman of Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Council Navtej Singh Toor said, "While under rule 49-O of the Conduct of Election Rules 1961 (1) of India, the voter can already reject all the candidates in poll fray, but most of the times poll staff do not provide the required Form 17-A to the voter. The NOTA option on EVMs will not only simplify the process of rejecting the candidates but it will also keep secrecy of voters intact."

Educationist Prof Somdutt Sharma and president of the non-government organisation (NGO) Vision Punjab Sanjeev Sharma termed the Supreme Court direction a first step in the right direction.

"Even as it will not have immediate benefits, it will help gradually in wiping out criminals and unwanted persons from politics as there will greater awareness among the masses," Sharma said.

Jalandhar, September 27
The Jalandhar police today handed the 44 child labourers rescued during raids last night back to the embroidery units in the Gandhi Camp and Ram Nagar areas where they worked at.

It usually takes months for the Labour Department to free children in such a big number. The move has raised a question mark over the police’s attempt at curbing child labour in the district.

In a formal statement, the police told the activists and petitioners accompanying the rescue team that the children had been handed over to their “guardians”. The activists said the children should have been handed over to the District Child Welfare Committee for rehabilitation (at childcare home). Since all the children are from other states, their so-called "guardians" here are either those who brought them here (traffickers) or the ones who employed them, the activists alleged.

Shashi Sharma, a petitioner in the case, said, “Our hard work has been reduced to a naught. We moved the High Court since the administration was not responsive and now the children are back to their employers.”

“I was accompanying the police team and we have recorded statements of the children. Most of them are all from other states like UP, Bihar while a couple of them hail from Rajasthan. They work for over 18 hours a day and are not being fed properly. They had not even received their salaries for many months. They are not allowed to go to their villages either,” Sharma said.

“The rescued children said they had been drugged by their employers to facilitate working for long hours. They are paid merely Rs 1,000-Rs 2000 a month. Some children aged between 12 and 14 have been working for the past six years. We will move the court again,” he added.

Embroidery is a hazardous occupation and since all children were below 14 years of age, immediate FIRs should also have been registered against the employers.

On the other hand, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP) Naresh Dogra said, “Our task during the raids was just to accompany the officials. The decision to free the children was taken by the warrant officers. Our next move will depend on what the court order says. If we are asked to lodge an FIR, we will do that.”

“The children have been handed over to their relatives, uncles etc and not the employers. It is true that all the children belong to other states,” Dogra added.

Warrant officer (appointed by the HC) Naresh Chand said they asked the police to hand over the children to their “relatives”.

“We asked that the children be handed over to their relatives. They will be rescued based on the future court proceedings. We were there to just assess the situation. Most of the children said they were not working at the units under any pressure. Majority of them are less than 14 years. It is true that the environment they are kept in is not conducive for children and the future course of action will depend on what the court says,” the warrant officer said.

Nimisha Mehta, spokesperson of Punjab Congress, said the pathetic attitude of the state government in curbing the menace of child labour could be gauged from the fact that the Punjab and Haryana High Court had to intervene and force the authorities to conduct the raids.

“The writ was filed in the HC by activist Shashi Sharma after his requests to the Labour Department and other government agencies for conducting raids at these embroidery units went unheard. Was the Labour Department sleeping when Sharma first approached them?" she added.

“The Labour Officer concerned should be suspended immediately and an inquiry initiated against him. FIRs should be lodged against the perpetrators and the role of the police should also be probed.”

Jalandhar, September 27
The local police has come under question for not lodging an FIR in a case wherein a 15-year-old girl had alleged that she was married to a 32-year-old man from Amritsar who also raped her. The police has now referred the case to the Amritsar police citing jurisdiction issues.

The police had said earlier that it would question the parents of the accused when they would visit the city. But the police did not question them when they came here a few days ago to strike a compromise on the issue.

Manmohan Singh, SHO police station number 2, said, “Both the parties said they had reached a compromise on the case. The girl's in-laws have agreed for a divorce as per her wishes. Hence the case was not pursued any further.”

As what action the police was taking in the light of the rape allegations and the fact that the victim was still a minor at the time of the marriage, the SHO said, “Since the girl was married in Amritsar and both her in-laws and relatives also reside there, the case does not fall in our jurisdiction. The alleged crime also did not take place in Jalandhar. Therefore, the case is being shifted to the Amritsar police. We have written to the Commissioner of Police, Amritsar, to take up the case from there and take requisite action against the erring party.”

Jalandhar, September 27
The Punjab Government Pensioners Joint Forum today staged a demonstration in protest against the non-acceptance of their demands here. The forum members from various parts of the state sat on a dharna outside the district administration complex for about four hours.

Addressing the protesters, forum convener Mahinder Pal Parwana said the state government had not implemented the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission as a whole.

“We strongly demand that the dearness allowance (DA) of 8 per cent and 10 per cent from January 1, 2013 and July 1, 2013 should be released without delay,” he said.

Forum joint convener Kewal Singh said the state government was not serious about the demands of the pensioners and they had been compelled to resort to agitation. “We demand the pension revision on and after January 1, 2006 on the national pattern,” he said.

Prem Sagar Sharma and Om Parkash Gaba also addrressed the gathering. The forum leaders said now they would intensify their protest and would hold four rallies in various districts of the state. 

Jalandhar, September 27
Women are six times more prone to death due to coronary heart diseases than breast cancer. Heart attack is more dangerous in women than men, says a city based senior cardiologist Dr Nipun Mahajan.

Dr Mahajan conducted a study at the Tagore Hospital and Heart Care Centre, Jalandhar, on 100 (50 male and 50 female) patients suffering from heart attack. Diabetes mellitus and hypertension were found much more frequent in females suffering heart attacks as compared to men.

“Also, death rate in women is much higher if they are suffering from diabetes mellitus. Hence, control of diabetes mellitus and high blood pressure is very important preventive measure,” he said.

Dr Mahajan said women usually get a heart attack about 8 to 10 years later than men, most commonly after menopause.

Despite this delay in onset, death rate from heart attack is increasing more rapidly among women than men. A greater proportion of women than men die with heart attack suddenly, he said.

The study showed that the heart disease is the most frequent reason of death of women in India, but unfortunately women don’t perceive heart disease as the greatest threat to their health. All women still feel more threatened by cancers, especially breast cancer, than they do by heart disease.

It was also found that heart attack in women is also more likely to be misdiagnosed. Men with heart attack mostly present with classical chest pain. The symptoms in women are usually not that classical. Heart attack in them mostly comes as shoulder or neck pain.

Indigestion, nausea, fatigue, depression or breathlessness is most likely to be diagnosed as muscle pain or indigestion. This result of late diagnosis of heart attack in women results in late arrival in the hospital causing more deaths of women with a heart attack, said Dr Mahajan.

The Tagore Hospital has undertaken an awareness campaign in collaboration with Biocon Pharmaceuticals, Bangalore, and the Union Ministry of Health and Family Planning to make women section of the society aware of various aspects of this disease so as to prevent it.

The awareness programme has been named as “Queen of the Heart Programme”. The first step in the direction is to create awareness regarding the disease among women through mass media. The next step being the screening of women through medical camps, etc of women who are at high risk of getting heart attack, said Dr Mahajan.

Jalandhar, September 27
Lovely Professional University’s School of Hotel Management and Tourism organised ‘World Tourism Day’ today on the university campus. On the eve of World Tourism Day-2013, an awareness walk on the global theme of the year -“Tourism and water: Protecting our common future” was organised by the university students. The theme is in support of the United Nations’ International Year of Water Cooperation. The walk also included “Nukkad Natak” (street plays) performances upholding the theme.

Students from 26 countries and 28 states of the country observed the day in true spirit and exhibited cultures of their areas. Informative presentations, folk dances, poetry-recitation, regional songs and tourism related quiz were held. LPU Chancellor Ashok Mittal said, “Such, special day celebrations make us committed to the cause and purpose of the day.”

Jalandhar, September 27
Twenty seven theme-based projects prepared by 330 students participating in the International Design Week 2 being organised by the Apeejay College of Fine Arts, Jalandhar, in collaboration with the Willem de Kooning Academy for Fine Arts and Design (WdKA), Rotterdam, Netherlands, was put up before a panel of jury comprising four Dutch resource persons namely Professor Maarten Regouin, Professor Bas Kortmann, Professor Paul Pos and Professor Renate Boere.

The students impressed the judges with their presentations on the themes of hygienics, safety of women, communication, old age, public space, transport, etc. They displayed originality and creativity in coming up with solutions to tackle the problems of keeping Jalandhar clean and free from the menace of eve-teasing, to recycle for reducing wastage, diabetes and other health related problems.

The Dutch mentors expressing their appreciation said the Indian students had the potential to become successful designers at the global level provided they were encouraged to think ‘out of the box’. — TNS

Jalandhar, September 27
The BSF Inter-Frontier Competitions of boxing, gymnastics, judo, wrestling and weightlifting-2013 concluded today.

Udham Singh and Ajitpal Singh excelled in hockey, whereas Parveen Kumar displayed his mettle in athletics. Mahinder Lal and Surinder Marwah performed brilliantly in shooting, Jorwar Singh in basketball, Mahavir Singh and Subash Verma in wrestling, Nirpjit Singh and Balwinder Singh in volleyball and Rajeev Nagpal in swimming.

During the conduct of these competitions, talented players of various disciplines were selected. These selected players will be put through intensive coaching at respective places of concentration under seasoned coaches.

The competitions concluded with an impressive and colourful ceremony held at Ashwini stadium, BSF campus, Jalandhar Cantonment, which was presided over by Lieutenant General A K Bakshi, GOC Vajra Corps.

During the closing ceremony spectacular march past by BSF Sports personnel, Tent Pegging Show, gatka and dance performance by the BSF personnel and students were also presented which were highly appreciated by the spectators.

Jalandhar, September 27
Tenth Air Force Inter-Command Civilian Carrom Tournament concluded at the Air Force Station in Adampur today. Headquarters Training Command clinched the Inter-Command Civilian Carrom Championship 2013-14.

The final was played between the teams of Training Command and South Western Command in which Headquarters Training Command emerged as the champion of the tournament by defeating South Western Air Command.

During the closing ceremony, Group Captain Rahul Bhasin, Station Commander Air Force Station, Adampur, congratulated the winning team. He appreciated the players for exhibiting sportsmanship and camaraderie throughout the tournament.

Station commander awarded the trophy to the winning team and certificate to all the participants.