Jalandhar, April 24
In a surprise raid conducted by the Judicial Officer-cum-Civil Judge, Senior Division, at Gandhi Vanita Ashram late this evening, discrepancies of a serious nature came to light. The Judicial Officer, who is also Secretary, District Legal Services Authority, was accompanied by two advocates.

Interestingly, what surprised the officer was the installation of CCTV cameras in the living rooms of the girls. She immediately ordered the removal of cameras. The moment the Judicial Officer entered the ashram, the girls living in the ashram cornered the officer and started apprising her of their problems. The girls alleged that their was no privacy, as CCTV cameras were installed by the ashram management. “We are not being given adequate diet in ashram. We are made to live in a shabby state as washrooms and living rooms are filled with dirt and filth. There is no proper arrangement of cleanliness”. The girls told the Judicial Officer that they were also not allowed to make phone calls to their parents.

The Ashram has 96 girls and 24 out of them are in custody due to police cases. Sources said three girls were also pregnant. Girls further alleged that the ashram was also not conducting any regular medical check-up and due to shabby state of the ashram, they were prone to diseases. “We are forced to live in dingy and small rooms. In one room, about 15 to 20 girls are forcibly bundled,” girls told the Judicial Officer. Many girls alleged that the ashram had no recreational facilities and they were forced to live a boring life.

While the Judicial Officer was conducting checking, a 10-year-old girl arrived and alleged, that her ear was aching, as she was beaten up by a teacher at Gandhi Vanita Senior Secondary School.

The Judicial Officer raided the ashram at 6.30 pm and left at 8 pm. The officer also confiscated the CCTV cameras footage and ordered the ashram management to remove cameras from rooms. “It is a routine check. I have noticed several discrepancies and after preparing a report, I will write to the department concerned for further action,” the Judicial Officer told reporters.

Jalandhar, April 24
As the city is bracing for the Lok Sabha elections, the Nehru jacket is in the fashion again. The demand for the mandarin collar jacket, named after the country's first PM Jawahar Lal Nehru, has increased in the past few weeks.

“The demand for the jacket has increased manifold. Not only from India, we are also getting orders from abroad,” said Ibrahim Qamar, the veteran celebrity tailor of former presidents Giani Zail Singh and KR Narayanan. He said, nowadays, people are going for bright colours with a little deviation from the original design.

“It all depends on the age and build of a person. The aged prefer to wear it without collar and youngsters like to wear it with a broad collar,” said Qamar. He said the people were losing interest in khadi and prefer linen clothes.

“These jackets are very comfortable and give an elegant look. I can wear them in my college as well as at a formal family function,” said Jasdeep Sodhi, a student.

However, looking at the response, the veteran tailor has now started taking online orders. “We are taking online orders, but for that the client will have to to send us his photograph as we stitch the jacket after looking at the build and appearance of a person,” said Qamar.

Link with the West

The Nehru jacket was made popular in the West during the late 1960s and the early 1970s by the Beatles. Sean Connery wore it in the role of James Bond and Louis Jourdan, who played the role of a villain the film, "Octopussy", wore it in the movie.

Nehru jacket

The Nehru jacket is quite popular in Southeast Asia, especially in India and its neighbouring countries. The feature that distinguishes this from a normal jacket is its mandarin collar, which was originally a part of the court dress in northern India. The collar of the jacket is short, which cannot be folded and does not have a lapel. It is named after the mandarins in the imperial China but at the same time it has features of the traditional Indian menswear. 

Jalandhar, April 24
Disillusioned by the lack of interest shown by the Congress in passing a strong Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, the disability sector in the district has decided to side with the SAD-BJP government this election.

With a series of meetings with the Jalandhar SAD-BJP candidate Pawan Kumar Tinu, the scales of the disability sector - as it claims - has turned towards the SAD-BJP. While there is still a list of odd dissenters who question what the state’s ruling combine has done in the past 10 years, the inability of the Congress to provide a strong Disability Rights Bill and apprehensions of an NDA government at the Centre, has proved to be a more serious influence than the former.

State disability rights activist Amarjit Singh Anand said, “We are disillusioned with both the governments. I submitted RTI applications one after the other asking the SAD-BJP to what extent the budget for the disability sector had been implemented for various ministries. The answers were always dismal and demotivating. So far, the state government has not provided us the 3 per cent mandatory budget allocations in various ministries. Nor have we been getting constant allocations for various disability sector institutions.”

“But then, the point is if the Congress government had passed a strong disability Bill at the Centre, we would not be struggling today. The disability sector has held several meetings with the AICC chairperson Sonia Gandhi. But the government ditched a much stronger Bill (which was earlier put on the website of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment) and chose a much weaker, watered down Bill to be tabled,” he added.

“As far as our support to Tinu is concerned, it was due to the fact that a couple of meetings have been arranged with him, during which he said he would strongly support the issue and also take it up with the state administration,” he said.

As of now, Anand has been joined by over 200 parents from the Chanan Association for MR Children and many members of the Spinal Cord Association which has 100 members.

Arvinder Singh, parent of a special child, says, “Önly the parent of a special child knows the problems that is encountered. For governments, this is an issue to be ignored. It is true that none of the governments gave a serious thought to it. Through meetings with the SAD nominee and his representatives, however, we are hoping that the representatives are at least reminded of treating the issue with importance. He showed willingness to take up the matter, so we are rooting for him for now.”

Parvinder Singh, president of the Spinal Cord Association, said, “The Congress government has shown total lack of initiative in this sector and the Akalis have also not shown any great support for us. But since some initiative was shown by Tinu, he seemed like the right choice. He has promised us dividends. It is very important for our voice to be heard. That is why we are banking on him this time.”

Prof Lakhbir Singh who heads the NGO Pahal, that has been a strong voice backing this sector, said, “Though I am undecided on who I am going to support, it is undoubtedly very important for the coming government to be true to this sector. Since no surveys are carried out and their situation is not reviewed, the actual number of members of the disabled groups is unknown. The last I heard was 9 per cent. It is a very substantial number for a vote bank and it is time the government starts paying serious attention to it. A serious commitment by the government would be a gesture which will pay.” 

Jalandhar, April 24
Seems like the fee hike controversies in the district are refusing to die down. Now, the parents of students studying at the CT Public School have objected to the school charging building fee and annual charges worth Rs 7,000 from them. Over 100 parents today met the school administration to seek a fee waiver.

While the parents had earlier also objected to high fees, in a meeting with the school administration today, a truce was finally called in which the school authorities agreed to grant concessions to children studying at the school for building fund - in case of siblings.

However, parents insist that they need details of why a building fund is being charged if the school is already seeking annual charges worth Rs 7,000 (nursery to V) to 8,000 (VI to XII) - this is excluding the admission charges and tuition fee.

Sachin Kumar Wadhwa, parent of a student studying in class IV, said, “The school is charging Rs 2,000 as building fund, Rs 1,000 as ID card and printing material fee and Rs 7,000 as annual charges. We have asked them for the details of annual charges (as in what are these charges for) but haven’t been provided any. While the school authorities have assured us that concessions will be granted by 50 per cent for every consecutive child in building fee, we need to know why the annual charges are not being waived. Parents plan to hold a press meet and subsequently might also approach the DC with their demands, if a proper break-up and reason for the charges is not provided.”

School principal Ranjana Rajput said, “We agreed to this demand of the parents after they brought the issue to our notice. Although with a raise of just Rs 150 per month, the fees after the hike isn’t exactly high. However, seeing the need for a waiver among the parents, we have decided to grant concessions for 50 per cent in building charges for every consecutive child (in case they are siblings). Similar concessions (Rs 500 each for annual and admission fee and Rs 600 for quarterly tuition fee for every consecutive child) are already in place for admission fees and annual charges.”

“The annual charges include charges for labs, sports, science and computer infrastructure,” she clarified

“We haven’t raised our fees in three years and raised only Rs 150 per month this year. There are many families with three to four kids studying at the school. They are being given concessions. The building fee has only been started this year. But we can’t provide refunds for the fees charged on April 15 (the last date for payment of fee) although the building fee concessions will be started in the next quarter. On May 1, the school will send an SMS to all parents and they can collect their the fee books of heir wards on which concessions will be enforced. Concessions being sought for the April 15 fee will also be enforced from then,” she added.

The principal also added that the school was already giving a major fee concession to about 200 students from a poor background and the school doesn’t afford anymore waiver.

Jalandhar, April 24
The Ministry of Tourism’s (MOT) free training scheme 'Hunar Se Rozgar Tak' (HSRT) concluded at the LPU School of Hotel Management and Tourism. The Hunar Se Rozgar Tak programme was designed by the MoT to provide skill-based training to people who did not attain traditional education. Most candidates were from nearby villages and required the candidate to be class VIII qualified.

In the first phase, 120 candidates were awarded Punjab Tourism and LPU certificates and cheques worth Rs 2 lakh. Punjab Government had entrusted this scheme to the LPU for creation of employable skills among the youth belonging to economically weaker strata of society. The LPU school executed the project successfully and provided free courses in food production (bakery and patisseries) of 8-weeks and housekeeping utility (food and beverage services) of six weeks.

In 2013-14, a total of 240 students completed the course and many of them got employment with reputed establishments, or became young entrepreneurs. A candidate, Jyoti Jhalley, has been employed at Hotel Hyatt in Dubai as a trainee, while another candidate Shivam has opened three kiosks in Phagwara.

Jalandhar: To sensitise the students on the issues of global warming and environment protection, a team of McDonald's visited the premises of CT Public School. The students met Ronald McDonald. A song by the students made the environment livelier and the students shared their experience. Ranjana Rajput, principal, CT Public School, said, “It was great to see the excitement among the students on meeting the brand ambassador of McDonald”s.” S. Charanjit Singh Channi, chairman of CT Group of Institutions, appreciated the initiative taken by Ronald McDonald and his team in creating awareness about environmental conversation among the students. Channi said such efforts should be encouraged as it is the right time to save the Earth from global warming, ozone layer depletion and other environmental factors.

DAVIETians bag lucrative package

Students of DAVIET created a benchmark by getting placed in the Bangalore-based company Citrix Systems Ltd. and bagging a lucrative pay package of Rs. 5.5 lakh per annum. Ishnimrat Kaur, Daaman Rajput and Purnima Sharma from the department of electronics and communication engineering thanked the principal of the college Prof AL Sangal for providing them with opportunities to hone their skills. They also thanked the placement officer Sushil Prashar for making constant efforts. Speaking on the occasion, the principal congratulated the students.

Eye check-up camp

Bowry Memorial Educational and Medical Trust conducted an eye check-up camp with the co-operation of Thind Eye Hospital, under the aegis of Dr Yashwant Singh, Dr Tejinder Singh, Dr Anil Srivastav and Dr Hasan Ahmed. Staff members Kumari Rinku and Namreshwar Jha checked the eyes of the students from classes nursery to class IX. The cards were made for each student. Students with any typical problem can visit the doctor every Friday. Bowry Memorial Trust keeps holding such camps from time to time. A similar eye camp will be held in Green Model Town next week.

Voters’ awareness at KMV

A series of events was organised by the NSS units of KMV to motivate the youth to take part in the Lok Sabha elections under “Sveep Programe”. NSS volunteers in groups of 10 went class-wise to see that every eligible young girl had a voter I-card. These groups also spread awareness regarding voters’ rights. The students were addressed by the principal Atima Sharma and head of the department of political science Ashima Sahni who highlighted the importance of every single vote in a democractic set-up. Dr Sonik Bhatia, NSS Officer, sensitised the young girls regarding their political and voting rights. On the college campus, interesting competitions like poster-making, slogan writing, essay writing, debate and declamation on the voters’ rights generated interest among the youth in the process of voting. A live demo on the use of voting machines was also made. A young girl volunteer from the KMV was chosen as the poll ambassador. She helped create awareness about NOTA. NSS volunteers under the guidance of Anupam Malhotra, NSS officer, were engaged in collecting data to maintain and update news bulletin on a daily basis regarding the elections. 

The officials have also been conducting checks at marriage palaces and NRI buildings after inputs that these were the most common places for hoarding liquor for distribution. 

Jalandhar, April 24
With the arrest of three men, the city police today claimed to have busted a gang of looters and thieves.

Jalandhar rural police officials show the weapons recovered from the accused in Jalandhar on Thursday. Photo: Sarabjit Singh

The accused were identified as Varun, alias Jazzy, of Shiv Nagar, Radhey Sham, alias Motu, of Aman Nagar and Sunny of Aman Nagar. The police also recovered a pistol, two magazines, two live cartridges, one .32 bore revolver with one live cartridge, two sharp-edged weapons, 300 gram intoxicant powder, a Pulsar bike, a television, two gas cylinders, utensils, a weighing machine and some tools used for opening transformers.

DCP Tulsi Ram said the accused had confessed to committing as many as 75 incidents of loot, theft and snatching.

The police had got a tip-off that five persons, armed with weapons, were standing near Kalia Colony and were planning theft at an NRI’s house.

On seeing police arrive at the spot, all accused attempted to flee, but three of them were nabbed by the police. Two accused, Ranjit Kumar and Munna Kabaria, managed to flee from the spot.

The accused admitted that they had committed several looting incidents at gun-point. They had also stolen copper and brass from 65 power transformers in the past several months, the DCP said, adding that the accused had stolen a gas cylinder, utensils and other valuables from government schools at Kartarpur, Akhara village and Bada Pind etc.

The DCP said two members of this gang, including Deepak and Ameer, had also been arrested by the police in the past.