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Menace of intoxicants
Pollution board closes 45 city units
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Zenith sights national hockey camp
Greats relive glorious moments
Young World
Market Buzz
‘Don’t desert the dry land’
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Menace of intoxicants
The Government of India may be trying new ways and means to discourage the young and old from using tobacco products and other intoxicants, but the situation in the city is to the contrary.
The young generation here, including students, are getting exposed to tobacco, liquor and other intoxicants, with vends selling these products mushrooming adjacent to schools and colleges. Neither the district administration nor the excise department seem to have paid heed or keep a tab on the growing menace and check violations of the State Excise Policy. Influential people have always flouted rules with impunity in our land. For the past few years a liquor vend, allotted to Ponty Chadha group, has been allowed to function from the building of the Cantonment Board Elementary School, Rama Mandi Chowk, on the National Highway No 1. Besides, there is another liquor vend just 200 metres from the school across the Rama Mandi Chowk. Similarly, a small drinking pub (ahata) is situated about 100 metres from the Lovely Institutes, on the same road. Turning a blind eye to the State Excise Policy of 2004-2005, which clearly stipulates that the liquor vends should be located at reasonable distances from educational institutions and religious places, these vends share a common boundary wall with the campuses. Many cigarette and tobacco rehri-owners, liquor vendors and lottery sellers do brisk business outside school and college premises, as the district administration looks the other way. Parents are concerned over this alarming issue while school and college authorities seem unperturbed over the growing number of such vends. Apart from a vend about 10 metres away from one of the gates of the Cantonment Board Elementary School, vendors displaying sachets of gutkha, paan, cigarettes and other tobacco products stand close to the other gate. Autorickshaw drivers and rickshaw-pullers, who come to pick schoolchildren, buy liquor and tobacco products from the stalls outside the school gates. A vendor displaying his ware along the walls of the gate told The Tribune that a few of his regular customers were he even had a few school children who were probably hooked to while majority of his customers were labourers or bus passengers. Mr Sukhbir Singh, concerned grandfather of a primary student of a school here, said all temporary establishments must be removed from the vicinity of the school. He fears that innocent students could be easily misled by their friends, rickshawpullers and other employees, who were already addicted to intoxicating products. Mr Ashok Mittal, President of the Lovely Institutes, said the drinking place had been there for the past many years. He said, “We certainly are in favour of its shifting elsewhere, as easy accessibility of liquor to the students could make them prone to get addicted such intoxicants and would adversely affect their character. It also dents the reputation of the institution as sometimes people in inebriated state have been seen roaming around the campus gates.” Mr Malkiat Singh, headmaster of the school, could not be contacted owing to the summer break. When asked about the presence of such vends, the Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner (AETC), Ms Neelam Chaudhary, feigned ignorance about the matter. She said these vends would be removed in case these are found to be set up against the State Excise Policy.
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Pollution board closes 45 city units
Taking a major action against the violation of the norms, the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) ordered the closure of 35 electroplating units and 10 tanneries in Jalandhar on Tuesday.
The orders in this regard have been issued by the Chairman of the board, Mr Tripat Inder Singh Bajwa. Confirming this to The Tribune, Mr Hardeep Singh, Environment Engineer, PPCB, Jalandhar, said that the units had been running illegally without the mandatory permission from the board. None of the units had installed any treatment plants and were discharging the effluents directly into the sewers. The Environment Engineer said that the effluents discharged into the sewer made way into the Kali Bein from where it flowed into Sutlej river, Harike Wetland and finally, Sirhind feeder canal that supplied drinking water to Mansa, Bathinda and Faridkot. Mr Hardeep Singh said that most of the tanneries and electroplaters doing nickel-chrome plating were based in Basti areas and near the Sodal Road. He added that the units had earlier been issued a show cause notice under Sections 25 and 26 of the Water Act, 1974, and on Tuesday, were called for a hearing by the Chairman under Section 33 A of the Water Act. He said that even as the unit owners were well aware of the requisite norms, they did not intentionally adhere to these and were finally asked to close on Tuesday. He informed that orders had been passed against as many as 179 industrial units, the rest of them being in Ludhiana. He said that the units had been releasing as much as 2,100 litre of discharge per day partly into the Kali Bein and the rest into Budha Nullah.
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Zenith sights national hockey camp
After having done well at the district and state levels, 15-year-old Zenith Lehal has set sights on joining the national hockey camp in the sub-junior category. The girl from the city has, time and again, impressed national selectors with her amazing footwork and strength of her reverse hits. She has surely caught the selectors’ eye, with one of them strongly hinting that her name would surely figure in the next list to be announced for the forthcoming national camp.
Fresh from her experience at the Sub-Junior National Hockey Championship at Bangalore last month, the teenager feels that she could improve much more with such exposure. The selectors were forthcoming and encouraged Zenith no end even at the Bangalore championship, says her coach at the Sports Authority of India Nehru Garden centre, Baljit Kaur. Hockey is not the only game this youngster excels in. Before moving on to hockey, which she loves watching on the television, Zenith was into athletics. A keen athlete, she has combined the two to form a healthy and complimentary balance. A keen 200 metres and 400 metres runner, she loves the relays, besides also being good at shot put. The athletics training gives her the requisite stamina and physical endurance on the field, besides the agility so necessary in a forward. With three years experience under her belt, Zenith feels the need to practice more on the Astroturf to take her game to the next level. A centre forward since she started playing, Zenith is now concentrating and working on attacking tactics, particularly in the D area. Her career in hockey took off when her father recognised the potential in the young girl, and took her to Nehru Garden to give her better atmosphere to develop and play the game. Coach Baljit Kaur paid extra attention to the young attacking player, which eventually helped increase her confidence. Now, a class X student, Zenith has finally chosen hockey as her future. Zenith may be young in age but she has impressed with her performance in the under-17 and under-19 categories. Playing with senior players has helped her greatly, she says. Playing on natural grass is not going to develop her game now. The need of the hour is practicing on synthetic grass. “Playing on the Astroturf in Jalandhar has made me feel that I could get a grip on the game. Though, I practice for three days at the Surjit hockey ground, which has an Astroturf, more practice definitely would be a bonus.” Of course, the grouse stays that women’s hockey is not high enough on the priority list of telecasters and not enough matches are televised. More media coverage to the women’s hockey would inspire young players to join the game. There are hardly any professional women’s teams and the tournaments are also few and far between, she feels. Talking about her prospects of joining the India camp, Zenith says it would be a tremendous learning experience, practicing along with the seniors. The youngsters wants more educational scholarships and sports kits to be provided to make it the game more attractive to budding players. Of course, there is also a need for more women coaches. The girl who loves an attacking game says in any team forwards must be skillful and the defence strong to make a mark. |
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Greats relive glorious moments
The retirement party of hockey Olympian Varinder Singh was an occasion for him to go down the memory lane with his other Olympian friends. The Olympians gathered together to relive the glorious moments. Varinder Singh was the livewire of the best half line India had during the mid 70s. The celebrations were complete for Varinder Singh who retired from the Railways as Divisional Commercial Manager. His friends, Surinder Sodhi, Aslam Sher Khan and Baldev Singh, congratulated him on touching the landmark in his life and wished him the best for the future.
The hockey greats who helped India perform and win at the world-level remembered the time when the adulations were at their peak after each win. Teasing Aslam Sher Khan for coming all the way from Bhopal, the Olympians thanked him for the last-minute goal he scored when called into the field to play in the semi-final of the 1975 World Cup and taking the team to a win. Aslam Sher Khan was told that his last-minute goal in hockey and Javed Miandad’s last minute sixer in cricket were incomparable till date. His senior Olympians credited Surinder Sodhi for scoring the highest goals in the Moscow Olympics showing the country’s strength once again. The night went on with enchanting music, delightful drinks and food for the friends busy reviving memories.
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Young World
Banur-based Swami Vivekanand Group of Institutes on Monday announced the opening of a private IT park adjacent to its campus. Addressing a press conference, Mr Ashwini Kumar, chairman, said the group had tied up with Dr IT Planet for setting up the park.
He said that to begin with 200 students from the campus could be placed in the park that would include centres for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) and Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO). He said the IT park would be expanded soon by acquiring more land so as to include 1,000 students. Campus recruitment During a joint campus recruitment programme held at the Lovely Institutes by the Hewitt Associates recently, as many as 105 students were hired by the multinational software company. As many as 3,000 students, from parts of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and Delhi participated in the programme. Nearly 500 students were short listed for the final interview after which 105 students were finally selected. Five students of the Lovely Institutes made it to the initial list of 24. Education Canada Canadian Institute for International Studies, Mohali, announced the opening of a new course in graphic designing in collaboration with Universal College of Learning, a New Zealand-based college, on Friday. Mr Anirbon Das, programme coordinator, said the students would be completing some part of the course in India and could later move abroad. He said that during the time of preparation in India, the students would be trained in making 20 items depicting their skill in graphic designing which would be assessed before being sent abroad. Mr Steve Robinson, international director of Georgian College, Canada, said CIIS was providing a three-year course for computer programming analyst, business administration, automotive marketing and mechanical engineering technology in collaboration with the Canadian college. Toppers Students of the Apeejay College of Fine Arts bagged top ranks in the Bachelor of Design, fifth semester course, in Guru Nanak Dev University examination held in December 2005. Jasleen Kaur has stood first with 917 marks out of 1000. Amishi Khosla and Manminder Kaur have stood second with 912 marks. Suman Sharma is third with 909 marks and Ankita Lakhanpal is fourth with 907 marks. In B.Sc. first year examination conducted by the university, Ravneet Kaur of the Kanya Mahavidyalaya was third with 623 marks out of 800. Mankiran Kaur of Lyallpur Khalsa College is sixth with 605 marks. Excellence test Aryabhatta Educational Society conducted an Aryabhatta Excellence Test in the CT Public School campus in which Hardeep Kaur of Class VIII and Gurneet Singh of VI topped in their classes. Ms Lakhwnder Kaur, Principal, congratulated the winners. A motivation session was also conducted for the office-bearers of the school this week. Environment Day A seminar to mark the ‘World Environment Day’ was organised at the Government Model Senior Secondary School, Ladowali Road, here on Tuesday. On the occasion, environmentalists discussed issues related to degradation of the ecosystem. Mr Vijay Kumar Sharma, an environmentalist, spoke on solid waste management and its utilisation. He talked about the use of organic waste for producing manure. Mr Kashmir Singh Hayre, a resource person, spoke on underground water depletion. Another speaker, Mr Harish Sethi, discussed problems cropping up due to diminishing forests. Mr Sanjeevan Singh Dadhwal, district coordinator of National Environment Awareness Campaign, spoke on the causes of global warming. He urged the students to plant more trees, minimise the use of automobiles, use public transport as an alternative if possible and practice rainwater harvesting and bio-diversity conservation. Mr H.S. Bawa, a councillor, inaugurated the vermi-compositing unit in the school under the scheme of Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. Grooming classes In consonance with the concept of imparting holistic education, Police DAV Public School, PAP campus, is organising a 10-day personality grooming and career counselling session for students of Classes VIII and IX. The event would conclude on June 10. During the sessions, the participants would have an interface with educationists and erudite scholars for an hour everyday during which they discuss vital issues of life with the students to make them capable of changing challenges into opportunities. Dr Rashmi Vij, principal, spoke on Emotional Intelligence while Mr H.S. Dhillon, IG, Jalandhar zone, spoke on two topics—“Motivation and elevation” and “Reading maketh a complete man”. Mr Manoj, Head of the Department of Electronics and Communication, DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology spoke on “Engineer your career”. Summer camp Forty students from different schools are taking part in a month-long summer camp at Kidzee, a playway school, from June 1. The activities will range from yoga, dance, singing, art and craft for the children between age groups three to 12. Gift wrapping, best out of waste, soft toy making, collage making, rakhi making, decorative candle making and puppet making would also be taught. Children above five would be introduced to computers. The camp includes innovative celebrations in the form of dance party, rain party, community celebration, variety show and watermelon party. Major attractions would be personal grooming and cooking without fire to make the children self-reliant, Ms Samriti Bhardwaj, the coordinator, said.
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Market Buzz
To provide better services to its customers, Indian Oil Corporation Limited launched an SMS refill booking system for Indane distributors in Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur. Mr P.S. Bhatti, Deputy Manager, LPG Sales, said the customers would have to send a message to a specified mobile number which would be different for different distributors.
He said the customers would in return receive a message with the booking number and the date within minutes. Mr Bhatti said free hot plate service camps, free medical check up camps and safety clinics had been organised and more were in the offing. He added that all such programmes were being held as part of the Customer Service Excellence Year celebrations. New drink Arjun International, known for its wines, chocolates and juices, has started a new venture by introducing lassi and buttermilk under the brand name ‘Krishnaa’. Available in hygienic and tamper proof tetra packs of 200 ml, the lassi is priced at Rs 12 and buttermilk for Rs 10, Mr Rajbir Singh, managing director of the company, said. “We are trying to create a separate line of indigenous products under ‘Krishnaa’ brand name. We had earlier been importing most of the products but now we would be selling homegrown products. He said the new products were being introduced in all institutions, canteens, retail outlets, corporate sector, schools and colleges. Road show UAE Exchange, a money transfer and money exchange firm, is organising a road show across Punjab till June 9. The road show was flagged-off took place in front of the company’s office in Jalandhar by Mr Gurpreet Singh Bedi, the regional manager. Mr Bedi said the employees would make the customers aware of the products and services of the company for remittances, money changing, travel and tours, insurance, stock broking and mutual funds. He said the company had already started a lucky draw scheme from May 18 to August 18 during which customers who were walking in were winning an opportunity to get an apartment worth Rs 15 lakh and a 5 gm gold coin.
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‘Don’t desert the dry land’
“Don’t desert the dry land” is latest slogan of the Punjab government to create environmental awareness. The function was organised by the Phagwara Environment Association and the Madan Lal Nayar Memorial Trust. He said the state government had set up Forests Protection Committees and Rural Development Committees to involve villagers in projects for environmental protection. The DC stressed on saving water to check the depleting water level. He added that crop diversification was the need of the hour. The Phagwara SDM, Mr Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal, the ASP, Dr Sukhchain Singh Gill, and the Nagar Council President, Mr Malkiat Singh
Ragbotra, also participated in the function.
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Youthspeak
On her standing first in university in Bachelor of Design fifth semester in Guru Nanak Dev University
I had always aimed for that and I’m happy that I have achieved it. I stood 10th in the university in my third semester and I’m satisfied that I have improved my position. I owe my success to my teachers in Apeejay College of Fine Arts and my parents who are based in Ludhiana. About participation in college contests and areas of interest I have been regularly participating in collage making contests held during youth festivals and won prizes. I keep on participating in fashion designing and furniture designing exhibitions held in the college. I also surfed the Internet regularly and went through magazines so as to get newer ideas and concepts. As a school student, I had taken part in various creative activities like making pencil boxes, pen stands and pencil holders. Now I’m more fond of interior designing and that is what I aim at. On her future plans I aim to pursue my studies further by opting for a course in ceramics and glassware designing. The course in available either in colleges of Ahmedabad or Kolkata, but I have not decided on any specific college. I’m also interested in learning about uses of terracotta and porcelain for interior designing, not only in houses but also in shops, malls and offices.
— D.K. |
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