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Does anyone care? Bumper-to-bumper traffic is a common sight at Phagwara where traffic rules are flouted with impunity.
— Photo by Pawan Sharma |
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Candidates blame Guru Nanak
Dev Varsity for PMET fiasco The fate of candidates trying for admission in medical colleges of the state hangs in balance once again. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ordered the re-evaluation of the result of the Punjab Medical Entrance Test re-conducted by Guru Nanak Dev University this year.
Achievers
Willow
woes GT Road signboards teem Septuagenarian artist with a flair for learning
From Schools and Colleges
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Does anyone care?
Traffic snarls, choked sewers, garbage dumps, potholed roads, rising pollution levels, depleting green cover — Phagwara city seems to be going to the dogs. Anil Jerath reports on the sorry state of affairs in the city.
Phagwara, once a town with ample green cover, and fairly effective civic amenities, has now become a city choking with problems. Residents say that these problems become all the more troublesome during monsoons when rainwater accumulates on potholed roads. During this season, garbage mixes with stagnant water making a stinking concoction of fetid waste that provides a ‘nice’ breeding ground for mosquitoes. Many a time, the water seeps into houses making residents scurry for dry, not-smelly places. The problem of illegal colonies makes the situation even worse. Jalandhar Plus team found that residents of about nine colonies situated on the Banga Road, the Hargobind Nagar Road and the adjoining National Highway here are being forced to live in miserable conditions, thanks to the indifference of the Nagar Council authorities. Dusty, bumpy and potholed roads cut through these colonies. The situation worsens during rainy season when residents have to wade through knee-deep water. There is hardly any drainage system for the disposal of rainwater. The lanes and the main road get converted into a temporary pond during monsoons. “The bad roads pose a serious health risk to us. Our vehicles are also affected badly,” says a resident of Prempura. The residents allege that the authorities concerned have failed to make arrangements for proper storage and lifting of garbage from these colonies. Foul smell keeps emanating from piles of garbage. These garbage heaps are also a breeding place for various types of insects and diseases. During a visit to the affected colonies by the Jalandhar Plus team, it was found that scores of residential colonies had developed in an unauthorised manner. These colonies have been sans the basic civic amenities for the past several years. These colonies include Bhagatpura, Upkar Nagar, Shiv Puri, Prempura, Labour Colony, Patel Nagar, Guru Tegh Bahadur Nagar, Tibbi and Subhash Nagar. “I have been living here for the past five years. This colony does not have even the basic civic amenities. A new road was laid about three years back. But it got damaged within a period of just nine months,” said Mr Gurmukh Singh from Guru Tegh Bahadur Nagar. Heaps of garbage lie strewn about in these colonies, but little has been done to improve the sanitation. Water contamination, garbage accumulation, waterlogging, overflowing gutters — there are problems galore. According to a resident of Industrial Area, Mr Om Pal, the problem of contaminated water has been there in the colony for the past six months and they have to consume unsafe drinking water. The condition is worse in Shivpuri where garbage is scattered on roadsides and it has led to diseases like cholera, typhoid and gastroenteritis. “The condition of civic amenities is deteriorating, and if steps are not taken, it might lead to serious consequences,” said Mr Ramesh Yadav, another resident. It is learnt that health authorities have declared water of many of these colonies unsafe for drinking. “Though we submitted several memorandums to the Nagar Council authorities in the past, every time it was told to us that funds for civic amenities could not be allocated since some colonies were carved out of agricultural land in an unauthorised way. Shouldn’t the Nagar Council be accountable in some manner for this?” Mr Bhagat Ram from Dharamkot locality on the Hoshiarpur Road said. “Why cannot we be provided with basic civic amenities? We are not asking for some luxury,” said Ms Balwant Kaur from Subhash Nagar.
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Candidates blame Guru Nanak Dev Varsity The fate of candidates trying for admission in medical colleges of the state hangs in balance once again. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ordered the re-evaluation of the result of the Punjab Medical Entrance Test (PMET) re-conducted by Guru Nanak Dev University this year. Parents of many candidates hailing from Jalandhar, Kapurthala and Phagwara said that the examination had been “jinxed” right from the start. “First, it was the paper leak. Then re-examination and later the stay on counselling and now re-evaluation of the result. Students are feeling harried,” said one of the parents. Most parents said that while the students in other states had long been attending classes, for the PMET aspirants the wait had become a prolonged one. The parents said that their wards were being subjected to undue harassment by the state universities that were not able to maintain secrecy or prepare result properly. They said that after taking the examination twice, their wards would find it very tough to withstand the “psychological trauma of re-evaluation”. The students said that after their results of re-conducted examination were declared by Guru Nanak Dev University on July 2, they had even held celebrations and missed the counselling of the CBSE and the AFMC entrance tests, as they preferred a seat in a good medical college of Punjab. Shefali Mahendru, a candidate from Phagwara, said she had obtained 68 rank in the PMET and 1153 rank in the CBSE. She said she had been getting a seat in a reputed medical college of Ahmedabad, but she had left it as she preferred a seat in Patiala or Ludhiana, and she was confident of getting it. “I am now repenting,” she rued. Saurav Chawla, another student, said he got 14 position in the PMET and 1603 rank in the CBSE. He said he had even qualified among the top 900 students in the AFMC. But, he said, he had not gone for any other counselling for he was very confident of getting a seat through the PMET. Similar has been the case of Khushman (31 rank in the PMET). He, too, did not appear for counselling in the AFMC and Manipal University, despite having qualified for both. Siddhartha Gupta, another student with 101 rank in the PMET, said he had deposited a sum of Rs 3 lakh at Manipal University and was just planning to surrender his seat and ask for a refund when he read that some candidates had challenged the Guru Nanak Dev University result. He said he was unable to decide about the future course of action. “I am worried about my parents’ money which may be blocked if the decision on the PMET counselling is delayed further,” he said.
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City kids Beybladed! Go to any toyshop in the city or peep into the toy room of a child. Beyblade seems to have become the latest craze among kiddies. The popularity that this cartoon-based game is gaining can actually match any international sports event, says a parent. Kids watch Beyblade, play Beyblade and even discuss Beyblade in their schools. The craze began after Indian cartoon TV channels started broadcasting Beyblade shows. The toy companies took the idea and started manufacturing toys based on this cartoon. High-speed spinning, fighting tops are identified with the cartoon character whose objective is to knock out the opponent’s blade. The kids find the “battles of Beyblade” intense, long and incredibly challenging. “All depends on the strength with which one pulls the ripcord — a long, plastic teethed string that makes the tops spin. Breaking someone else’s top is not the only way to win a match in Beyblade. A player can be a winner even if the opponent’s top stops spinning before his own,” explains Jayish, a Class I student, who has recently bought the toy. The craze for the toy is spreading by word of mouth. “Since Beyblades are tops with ‘spiritual creatures’ embedded in them that ‘invoke their special powers’ to destroy opposing blades, many models come with illumination and music to fascinate the little ones,” said Mr Gurbaksh, owner of a shop in Rainak Bazaar. All major toyshops in Rainak Bazaar, Atari Bazaar and Model Town have displayed the Beyblades very prominently. Almost all of them have high-priced games manufactured by leading companies. But the markets have also been invaded by varied models from China. It is not just boys who have been “Beybladed”; even girls find it very amusing. Divyaleen, a student of St Joseph Convent School, says, “Beyblade shows are somewhat similar to Pokemon. The story of this cartoon is the story of an aggressive Tyson, a quick-thinking Max, a balanced Ray, and an experienced Kai. These four boys somehow come together and they eventually form a team called the Bladebreakers.”
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Achievers Students from various colleges of the city have bagged top positions in various examinations conducted by Guru Nanak Dev University.
As many as 39 students from Banarasi Dass Arya Girls’ College, Jalandhar Cantonment, have got their names listed in the varsity’s merit list for various graduate and undergraduate courses. These include 19 students of BA, one of BSc, two MA students, one MSc student, five students of PGDCA and 11 students of diploma courses.
Among the top few, Navdeep Kaur of MA (I) has been declared second in the university with 309 marks out of the total of 400. Meanwhile, Mohit Sharma from Mohan Lal Uppal DAV College, Phagwara, has bagged the fourth rank in MSc (Computer Science) examination conducted by Guru Nanak Dev University this year. Divya Anand, a student of Hans Raj Mahila Maha Vidyalaya, has topped in BA-I examination conducted by Guru Nanak Dev University this year. She has obtained 664 marks out of a total 800. Most of the toppers said that the secret of their success was hard work combined with systematic study. They said that there was no shortcut to success. Only hard work with proper planning could bring success, they added.
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Willow
woes The
decision of the Jammu and Kashmir Government to impose a complete ban on
the movement of Kashmir willow to other states has started affecting the
cricket bat manufacturing and export units of the city, which are now
finding it difficult to meet their export obligations on time. The J&K Government, in its bid to boost the cricket bat industry in the state, recently stopped the movement of Kashmir willow (a major raw material) outside the state. This, in effect, has put in jeopardy the city’s cricket bat industry, which gave magic bat to the master blaster Sachin Tendulkar and other renowned players from test-playing nations like Australia, England, Sri Lanka and West Indies. Though the supply of Kashmir willow had been stopped by the J&K Government about six years back, keeping in view the demand for this major raw material it was decided to release two lakh Kashmir willow clefts in a year under the export quota system. “Now, the Mufti Government in J&K has imposed a ban on movement of this wood for exporters also. We totally oppose the decision of the government, which is otherwise also in contravention of Indian Constitution, which stipulates free movement of raw material from one state to the other,” maintains Mr Sanjay Kohli, president of the Sports Forum, an NGO working for sports goods manufacturing units here. Market observers feel the decision will encourage the smuggling of Kashmir willow cleft through Jammu-Punjab border. “The sale of Kashmir willow cleft in black market ranges from Rs 125 to Rs 150 as against the earlier availability of the same cleft for Rs 80 to Rs 100 under the export quota. This will also result in revenue loss to the J&K Government. The exporters here have no choice but to use smuggled wood to meet their export obligations to remain in the international market,” sources said, adding that some of the exporters had even started importing English willow, which was six times dearer than the Kashmir willow. Mr Ramesh Kohli, another exporter, said that it was strange that though one could import the wood, one could not purchase the same from within the country. “We have met the Chairman of the Sports Goods Export Promotion Council and urged him to take up the matter with the J&K Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Syed,” he said, adding that the industry was hopeful about the early lifting of the ban in national interest. Kashmir willow and Mulberry wood have been the backbone of the sports industry here since 1948 when the industry was shifted from Sialkot (now in Pakistan) to Jalandhar after Partition. “Everything went on well and the industry flourished till 1988 when the J&K Government imposed a ban on the movement of the Kashmir willow for the first time, thus adversely affecting the domestic as well as the export markets,” sources revealed, adding that 90 per cent of the cricket equipments used all over the world were being manufactured in India, and that Jalandhar alone contributed nearly 30 to 35 per cent. In the absence of any government effort to save this industry on the brink of collapse, the situation has come to such a pass that about 50 per cent of the manufacturing units have either shut down or have shifted their base to Kashmir during the past over one decade. Seems that the once-flourishing bat industry is being forced to sing its own requiem, thanks to the lopsided policies of the government.
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GT Road signboards teem with howlers What is in a name? With due apology to the Bard of Avon, the National Highway Authority of India
(NHAI) appears to be following this “name — no consequence” dictum religiously. The ‘élan’ with which NHAI has misspelled the names of villages located along the National Highway Number 1 (GT Road) is the proof. A drive on the 16 km stretch of the GT Road that passes through Phagwara Block, starting from a little ahead of Victoria International Public School towards Ludhiana, reveals that NHAI needs a lesson or two in rural nomenclature. There is a gaffe galore. If the village’s name is correct in English, it is incorrect in Gurmukhi and Devnagri scripts written on the big, beautiful boards put up on both sides of the GT Road. With green-coloured background, the names are written in white colour on these boards. The name of Chak Hakim village is incorrectly written
“Chachakim”, Kanshi Nagar is “Kansi” Nagar, Khajurla is misspelled in Punjabi on one side of the road, while its spellings are correct on the other side. Interestingly, Chak Hakim has a great historical significance. It has historical temple of Guru Ravi
Dasji. Devotees, especially dalits, throng it and an annual mela is held there. The worst mix-up has been created with the names of two villages Chaheru and
Maheru. Maheru is written as “Mehru” in all three languages! If Chaheru is spelt correctly in English, it is invariably misspelled as “Chehru” in Punjabi and Hindi. Driving from Jalandhar side to Phagwara, one comes across a signboard bearing the names of both Maheru and Chaheru villages. It is the messiest case of incorrect spellings! Maheru is “Mehru” in English, Punjabi and Hindi, while Chaheru is “Chehru” in our mother tongue and the national language! The name of Chaheru railway station is correct on one signboard and incorrect on the other. Chaheru is a village that has already come up on international map. Mr Herb Dhaliwal (Harbans Singh Dhaliwal), the former Federal Minister of Canadian Republic, belongs to it. And the Lovely Institutes Group is all set to have the first private professional university of Punjab at
Chaheru. The names of Ardaspur and Mehtan, too, had been written incorrectly earlier. While the former was written earlier as Hardaspur in all three languages, Mehtan was written as Mehta, which is a sub-caste of a community. Previously, a signboard on left side of the GT Road near the local PSB branch showed the distance between Phagwara and Nawanshahr as 35 km, while another board on the opposite side showed it as 40 km! And the distance between the two signboards is just over one hundred metre. Now, the left side signboard has been corrected; it reads 40 km. Since the digit “zero” is smaller in size, the digit “5” that has been erased is still visible from under the paint from a close range. Incidentally, a signboard (installed by local people) near it still mentions the distance between Nawanshahr and Phagwara as 36 km!
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Septuagenarian
artist with a flair for learning Age is not a bar for those who are creative. This has been proved in the case of Raghbir Singh Chawla, an artist from
Kapurthala. Though into his seventies, he still thinks that his learning is not complete. Born in Lyallpur in 1932, Chawla, after passing the matriculation exam in 1948 with drawing as an elective subject, started learning art from
S.G. Thakur Singh, a famous artist from Amritsar.
In 1950s, Chawla’s painting “Starvation in Bumper Food Production” depicting the condition of a farmer in spite of availability of food in the world received rave reviews. While doing FA in Khalsa College, Amritsar, he started writing dramas in Urdu that were published by an Urdu magazine
Mussavvar. At that time, he started learning music also. He took lessons in violin from Shri
Prabhdyal. After learning violin, he got a chance to play it with Ragi jathas at Harmandar Sahib, Amritsar, sometime in 1955-56. By that time he had got a job in the audit department of the Postage and Telegraph Office, Kapurthala. After the duty hours, he used his evenings to nurture his hobbies. Meanwhile, he got acquainted with Mr Lalit Behal (now a producer of telefilms for Doordarshan). “I motivated Lalit Behal to pursue his career in theatre, as I found his voice theatrical. I wrote a drama ‘Aur Aaina Toot Gaya’ for Lalit,” said Chawla, rewinding his memories. “Lalit got the first prize in acting when he enacted this drama in the All India Drama Competition, Chandigarh.” After retirement in 1990, Chawla has taken to teaching drawing, painting and music to children. More than 25 paintings of this veteran painter can be seen at Bebe Nanaki Gurdwara, Sultanpur Lodhi, where these have been put up permanently. Out of his two paintings pertaining to Guru Nanak Dev’s travelogue “4-Udasis” from 1501-1522, one has been showcased at Dera Pucho Kalan Gurdwara, Bathinda. “It is my dream to make a telefilm on Indo-Pak poets. I would also like to make a telefilm on Sikh warriors like Banda Bahadur,” he said, adding that he wanted to keep learning new skills. “I learnt to play guitar at the age of 65. You cannot use age as an excuse for being indolent.”
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From Schools and Colleges To promote cultural ties between the students of India and the UK, students of CT Public School participated in a youth exchange programme held at Derby.
The students took part in a seminar on “Our rights and responsibilities as global citizens”. The students attended workshops on “Steps to be taken to eradicate poverty and unemployment”. The students got a chance to visit Parliament House, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, London Eye and Ukraine Centre. The students were also impressed to see the palace of former Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon. The students said that 12 students from Derby would visit Punjab in October. Exhibition: MGN Public School, Urban Estate, Phase II, organised an exhibition of charts, projects and models explaining various concepts from science, social studies, mathematics, English, Hindi and Punjabi. Students explained the working of their models to visitors. Ms Jaspal Gill, Principal, exhorted the students to work hard. She said that such exhibitions encouraged students to think creatively. Story-telling: To whet up the imagination of students, a story-telling competition was organised in pre-primary section of Seth Hukum Chand Public Senior Secondary School, Kapurthala Road. Bhav Puri and Sanigdh of nursery, Vishaljeet and Tanya of LKG and Bhavya Budhia and Jasleen Kaur of UKG bagged the first positions in the story-telling competition. The Principal of the school, Ms Manju Arora, gave away prizes to the winners. Educational trip:
Students of Class I, Saffron Public School, Phagwara, were taken for an educational trip to a city’s supermarket.
The students were told about various day-to-day transactions of consumer goods and also given instructions regarding the precautions that must be taken before buying a product. In yet another trip, the students were taken to an infocom outlet where they were made aware of the recent revolutions in the field of IT and telecommunications. Tree plantation: Mohan Lal Uppal DAV College, Phagwara, organised a tree plantation drive on Friday. Deputy Commissioner, Kapurthala, Mr Sameer Kumar, was invited as the chief guest. Mr Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal, SDM, Dr R.K. Mahajan, Principal, and Ms Promila Uppal, Chairperson, were also present on the occasion. Workshop: The Department of Design of the Apeejay College of Fine Arts organised an art and craft workshop in the college. The workshop concluded on Friday. In the workshop, students were trained in fabric painting, silk painting, glass painting, mural and other forms of craft. Dr Sucharita, Principal, lauded the faculty members for organising the workshop.
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