Garbage dumps dot Phagwara
Anil Jerath
Tribune News Service

After the Phagwara Nagar Council failed to prevent gastroenteritis and jaundice outbreak, the health authorities in Phagwara have hastened to make contingency arrangements in case of an epidemic.

A random survey of the city’s slum dwellings, including the sub-town of Satnampura, Tibbi, Guru Tegh Bahadur Nagar, Rattanpura Mohalla and Onkar Nagar, indicates how miserably the Nagar Council authorities have failed to keep the areas clean.

“Cholera outbreak is just waiting to happen here. The conditions are just ripe for an epidemic,” says Shanti Devi, a resident of Professors Colony, pointing to a huge garbage heap that has accumulated outside her house.

Waste dumps, which have not been cleared for weeks together, dot narrow lanes in all five localities. In Onkar Nagar, conditions are particularly bad. The narrow paths leading to houses have been turned into permanent dumping sites.

“The Nagar Council tractor never reaches here to pick up the waste. Hardly any sweeper comes to clear the garbage. So how do you get rid of it?” asks Manav, a shopkeeper who even wrote to the authorities demanding a sanitation drive.

Making a bad situation worse, the waste dumps exist right beside the water taps put up by the Nagar Council authorities.

With leaking water pipes, contamination of water resources is a matter of time, say residents. Compounding the problem is the fact that chlorination levels are negligible in large number of pumps and even taps in the area.

Contrary to the claims of the Nagar Council and health authorities that residents are being given chlorine tablets, which is likely to check contamination, these slum dwellers claim that hardly anyone is consuming them.

SMO, Dr Yash Mitra, told Jalandhar Plus, “We are launching a massive garbage clearing drive in these colonies. We will aim at generating awareness among people to not accumulate garbage inside and outside their houses.”

Young World
Hindi Divas celebrated in city colleges
Deepkamal Kaur and Anil Jerath
Tribune News Service

As part of the Hindi Divas celebrations on Thursday, students from the Cambridge International School for Girls pledged not to let the language lose its value and respect in the fast changing times. Mr Suresh Seth, eminent educationist and writer, was the chief guest. He urged the students not to let the pride of being Indian go out of their mind, and promote the language as much as possible. Students of Class IV presented a skit on language family. Students of Classes I to III recited poems of popular Hindi poets. Students of Class VII presented a dance drama, while those from Class VIII presented a Hasya Kavi Sammelan.

The Hindi Divas was also celebrated at Lyallpur Khalsa College where “paheli” contest was organised. Dr Sarabjot Kaur Rai, Head of the Hindi Department, stressed on the importance of the day. The day was also celebrated at KMV where contests for testing proficiency in the language were conducted.

At the Apeejay College of Fine Arts, too, the Hindi Divas was celebrated with élan.

UGC postal service

The Aryans Educational and Charitable Trust has announced the opening of a free postal service for UGC-NET aspirants from now till December 2006. Stating this during his visit at CT Group of Institutes, Prof D.C. Kataria, Director of the trust, said that free of cost information on date of examination, syllabus and pattern would be available to those appearing in the examination at their doorsteps. He said that more than 8700 students from northern India had already availed of the service through the trust. He added that for other information, including application form and result gazette, the students would have to send their self-addressed stamped envelopes.

Best cadet

Priya Mahajan, a student of Prem Chand Markanda SD College for Women, was declared the best all round lady cadet during a three-month All-India pre-commission course for associate NCC officers organised by NCC Officer Training Academy, Gwalior. She received director general’s plaque of honour and certificates for being the best in theoretical ability. Ms Kiran Arora, Principal, congratulated her.

Freshers’ party

The CT Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology organised a freshers’ party, “fun fiesta” at a hotel here. Harjot and his group from first semester enthralled the audience with a bhangra performance. A skit on drug addiction was presented by Shallu and group, while Saurabh and his team presented a play on dowry menace. A modelling session was held in which Saurabh was chosen as Mr Fresher and Ramandeep was taken as Ms Fresher. Anoop became Ms Handsome, while Jaspreet Kaur was chosen for the title Ms Charming. Lecturers from the department presented an item, “Climax-2006”. Principal Deepak Paul wished the students good luck at the start of the session.

Grandparents’ Day

Kids from MGN Public School, Adarsh Nagar, celebrated the Grandparents’ Day in the school. Senior citizens from Gulab Devi Senior Citizen Home were present as special invitees. The function started with a devotional song and a cultural programme by the KG students. A quiz contest was also held for them. Honorary secretary of the school, Mr Jarnail Singh Pasricha, presented shawls and gifts to the senior citizens.

Placements

An Indian Army team visited the campuses of the Lovely Institutes DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology to recruit candidates as engineers under the university entrance scheme. At Lovely Institutes, the officials interacted with the students, shortlisted some of them and conducted interviews. The screened candidates would now be eligible to appear before SSB in December, Mr Subhash Kannaw, deputy director (placement cell), Lovely Institutes, said.

At DAVIET, 100 B.Tech students from the host institute, NIT Jalandhar, Chandigarh College of Engineering Landran, and CT Institute of Engineering participated. Prof Sanjeev Bhalla, training and placement officer of DAVIET, said that officers from Indian Navy would also visit for campus interview in November.

Sankalp Divas

Student council and discipline committee of Hans Raj Mahila Maha Vidyalaya organised Sankalp Divas. The function began with speeches of students conveying thoughts on “Work is worship”, patience and perseverance. Ms P.P. Sharma, Principal, appointed Rohini Khanna as head girl.

Green Day

Pre-primary section kids of Lawrence International School organised Green -Colour Day on Tuesday. Environment-related education was given to the children who were taught to make salad. They were also told about vegetables, their importance and role in our diet. A Hindi poem recitation contest was also organised in which Navroop, Harmanpreet and Sukhpreet won prizes.

Blood donation

Students of DRV DAV Centenary College, Phillaur, organised a blood donation camp to commemorate the death anniversary of their founder, Lala Desh Raj Vadera. Students donated 70 units of blood that was collected by doctors from Civil Hospital, Phillaur.

Cycling team

A student of Hans Raj Mahila Maha Vidyalaya, Maninder Kaur, was a member of the Indian cycling team that participated in the recently-concluded 10th South Asian Games. She was the only student of Guru Nanak Dev University chosen as a member of the team. She got 13th rank in 20-km individual team trial and 10th rank in 60-km road mass start. The team also won silver prize in 30-km team trial.

Sahodaya tournament

Over 30 teams from CBSE-affiliated schools of Jalandhar and Amritsar will participate in Sahodaya Inter-School Basketball Tournament to be held on Friday and Saturday at basketball ground of Frontier Headquarters BSF Punjab. Mr Arvind Ranjan, IG, BSF, will declare the tournament open. Mr Mohinder Lal Wasan, DIG, will be the chief guest for closing ceremony on Friday evening, said Principal S.S. Khokhar of BSF Senior Secondary School, Jalandhar Cantonment.

Sports meet

The regional basketball meet for girls of Jammu region was held at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Suranussi. The host team bagged the first prize, followed by KV No-1 Amritsar and KV No-4 Jalandhar Cantonment. As many as 142 players participated in the meet, and 12 best players were picked up for a regional basketball team to represent Jammu region. The team will participate at national sports meet to be held in Mumbai in October.

Aryan tournament

The All India Mahatama Hans Raj Aryan Tournament (Punjab zone) was held at DAV School Amritsar in which all DAV schools of the state participated. As many as 160 children from Police DAV Public School participated in the events. The team won 18 gold,12 silver and 14 bronze medals. Under-14 boys won the overall championship. Santosh Kumar and Jyotveer Kaur were declared the best athletes in under-14 age group. The school also won gold medals in kho-kho (boys and girls), handball (boys), hockey (boys), kabaddi (boys) and gymnastic (girls).

Quiz contest

Students of Department of English, Kamla Nehru College for Women, Phagwara, organised a quiz contest on the college premises on Tuesday. Five teams (comprising four members each from the college) named as “Inspiration, Imagination, Ambition, Aspiration and Innovation” participated in the contest.

The “Inspiration” team got the top spot, while “Innovation” was declared second in the quiz contest. There were five rounds on the questions that included tongue-twisters and audio-visual clues. College students enjoyed the brainstorming rounds of the quiz and they were equally involved in answering the questions.

College Principal, Ms Kusum Verma, who was the chief guest on the occasion, gave away the prizes to the winners, while Ms Gurjeet Kaur, Head of the English Department of the college, thanked the chief guest and the audience.

Teachers honoured

The General Category Welfare Federation, Kapurthala unit, organised the Teachers’ Day at a resort in Phagwara. Gurmit Singh, Jagjit Singh, Ms Vijay Sharma, Block Primary District Officer, Joginder Singh and Gurdip Kumar Jassi were honoured for their contribution in the field of education by the federation. Principal Piara Singh Virdi, an educationist and national award winner, was the chief guest on the occasion.

Uniforms distributed

The Scooter Repair Association in its new project “social service” distributed free school uniforms to the needy students of Ramgarhia Girls Senior Secondary School, Phagwara. Mr Om Parkash Ahuja, a social worker, was the chief guest, while City police station SHO Gurwinder Singh was the guest of honour.

Addressing the students of the school, Mr Ahuja highlighted various aspects and challenges coming their way in the time to come. SHO Gurwinder Singh deliberated on the important issues of gender sensitisation, decline in sex ratio, social and economic implications and challenges and strategies to be adopted.

Saplings planted

In its move to keep the environment pollution-free, the Phagwara SDM, Mr Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal, staff and students of the Shri Mahavir Jain Model School, planted 200 saplings on the school premises on this occasion. Addressing the students of the school, Mr Dhaliwal exhorted the students to adopt the slogan of “Go green, save environment” in a practical way.

Phagwara Nagar Council president Malkiat Singh Ragbotra, Mr Kimti Lal, president of the school, and Principal V.P.Bansal were also present on the occasion.

Shabd singing

JCI, Phagwara, organised an inter-school shabd singing competition at the local Ramdass Hall Gurdwara here on Wednesday. As many as 10 teams from the city participated in the competition.

Swami Sant Dass Public School bagged the first position. Excelsior Convent School, Goraya, and Sahibzada Ajit Singh Public School, Sarhali, stood second and third, respectively.

Declamation contest

Jaycees Club, Jalandhar, organised a declamation contest at a hotel on Tuesday in which students from different colleges took part. The Kamla Nehru College for Women, Phagwara, was declared a runner-up. Miss Venus of the college bagged the first individual prize.

Installation ceremony

The Rotract Club of the Kamla Nehru College for Women, Phagwara, installed its new members here on Wednesday. A team led by Rotractor Venus took the charge of the new team.

D.R.R. Mr Rahul Satyawan of the Rotract District 3070 was the chief guest. Mr Harivansh Mehta, secretary, College Managing Committee, Principal Ms Kusum Verma, District Secretary, Administration, Mr Vinay Joshi, Past Assistant, Rotary Governor, Mr IP Khurana, and Ms Jyoti Ghai were also present on the occasion.

In-charge of the club, Ms Neelam Sethi thanked the people present on the occasion.