The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

RUDSET: Destination finale for rural youth
Deepkamal Kaur
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, December 20
With the motto of helping others, a group of social workers, under the banner of Rural Development Self-Employment and Training (RUDSET) Institute, at Atwal Colony, is helping rural youth become self-reliant.

They have so far helped nearly 2,700 rural youth in honing their skills through free short-term training courses and are supporting them in setting up their own businesses.

Members here are training young boys and girls belonging to Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Nawanshahr, Kapurthala, Amritsar and Gurdaspur, who have passed VIII to XII standards, train in an array of courses. The institute also provides free lodging and food to the trainees throughout the duration of their courses.

Though the institute gets a good response for certain high-tech, in demand courses, like mobile phone repair, photography, videography and computer hardware, some conventional courses, including those in plumbing, making leather items, football making, repair of refrigerators and air-conditioners and repair of scooter and motorcycles are also finding many takers.

Girls get training as beautician, stitching, dress designing, embroidery and patchwork, making soft toys to help become financially independent. While some of the courses such as those in bee-keeping and mushroom farming are only of a week’s duration, there are others that last over a month, including those in mobile phone repair, motor winding and electricity fitting, repair of scooters and motorcycles, embroidery and training to be beauticians. The institute offers computer hardware course for 45 days.

Director Amarjit Singh Chhina and joint director P.K. Gulati said the financial support for running the institute came from Canara Bank, Syndicate Bank and Karnataka-based Shri Dham Sthal Manjunath Eshwar (SDME) Trust, managed by Dr Virendra, a dharma adhikari of a Shiv Temple, there. Chhina said, “A part of the temple offerings were being used for a noble cause of bettering the lives of rural youth by way of enhancing their skills. The trust manages 21 more such institutes across the country. In Punjab, this is the only centre of the kind.”

The institute has proved to be a dream come true for the likes of Paramjit, a trainee from Goindwal. “I wanted to open a mobile phone repair shop but there was no training available in his area. I contacted the employment exchange for guidance and the officers there told me about the free training at the centre,” says an elated Paramjit.

Drink it Desi
Aparna Banerji
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, December 20
Drinkers of Punjab have always been perceived as extremists. The thought of a couple of men sharing an evening drink always aroused two contrasting images. It either had to be a few truckers getting incredibly drunk at their favourite “theka sharab desi” and taking to a lot of effing and blinding to the tunes of a “Mittran ne dhakke naal piyatta” song, playing somewhere in the background. The other extreme would be that of a few gentlemen, dressed in executive suits sharing drinks over the classy instrumental version of a 70s song, at a dim-lighted restaurant (of course accompanied with an equally classy bar).

With globalisation creeping in every nook and cranny of the world and Jalandhar being no exception, the watering holes of the city have come of age. With the “theka sharab desi” and the classy bar-cum-restaurants still very much there at the service of the alcohol lovers, there is a new creed of pubs and bars which have sprung up in the city.

The pubs might be raw or classy but the owners take care that their names are something that the robust masses of the city completely fall in love with. Hinglish names seem to be riding on top of the priority list of the bar and pub owners.

Yankee Tunn in the Model Town area is a case in point. Though the name suggests that the place would be a hardcore drinking joint, where alcohol lovers can completely chill out and let go of themselves, the ambience of the pub is totally different from the initial image constructed in the mind. Except the name, everything about the place is very English. The wooden, cut-glass panelled door of the pub announces in a stylish font that it has been there since 2000. Inside is an elaborate bar which is surrounded with a tastefully designed sitting place.

Pub general manager Swarup Dhiman says, “We had initially thought of giving this name to the pub and everybody liked the idea. It is a name which is liked by both the young and the old. Jalandhar being an NRI hub, the people like names which talk about both the cultures. The visitors of the pub are mostly NRIs and the place is not only liked by men but families also visit frequently.”

Khadkey Glassy bar and restaurant is also a hit among the alcohol lovers and here again the name plays a critical role.

General manager Vijay Kumar says, “The name of the restaurant is ‘pendu’ (it has a village charm) due to which both the rural and urban population is attracted to it.”

Glassy Junction general manager Manoj Sharma says, “There is a place by the same name in England too and some people think it is a branch of the one in England. Due to this reason NRIs largely prefer this place. The name undoubtedly plays a pivotal role in its success.”

They may or may not be branches of “phoren” outlets but indeed the “desi” touch has added an extra edge to these havens for alcohol lovers. As long as the glassys are “kharking” happily in these yankee “thekas”, all would be well with “daru” lovers of the city.

Young World
Christmas celebrated at Apeejay School
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, December 20
Students and staff of the primary section of Apeejay School put up a spectacular show as they held Christmas celebrations. The budding artistes captivated the hearts of viewers as they depicted scenes of the birth and life of Jesus Christ.

The kids presented a foot-tapping dance number. The celebration gave the children a wonderful chance to acquaint themselves with cultural heritage of Christianity. Senior children dressed up as Santa Claus distributed sweets and gifts to them. Everyone enjoyed the carols sung by the choir in praise of the Almighty.

Exchange programme

Two students, Mihkel from Estonia and Samuel from the USA, are at Delhi Public School attending classes with other students as a part of international exchange programme conducted by the “Youth for understanding programme.”

The students are staying with their host families in Jalandhar trying to understand the cultural values as well. They are even taking training in Indian music and Indian dance.

Deepakshi Madaan, a student of class XI, is also preparing herself for a six months’ stay in a New York School.

Campus placement

The CT Group of Institutions organised a campus placement for MBA students by the Centurion Bank of Punjab. The bank selected eight candidates for the post of customer relationship officer at the package of Rs 2.75 lakh.

The recruitment process comprised of group discussions and personal interview. Atul Ghai, area sales manager, and Ashwani from HR, conducted the process.

Pharmacy toppers

Final-year students of B.Pharmacy from the Lovely Institute of Technology have grabbed top four positions in the examination conducted by Guru Nanak Dev University.

Jaspreet Kaur of the institute has scored 80.4 per cent marks to top the merit chart, closely followed by Gurdip Kaur and Jaspal Singh at second and third slot, respectively. While Gurdip has obtained 79.4 per cent marks, Jaspal has got 78.8 per cent marks. Aakash Kumar has stood fourth in the university with 78 per cent.

Sports day

Army Public School, Jalandhar cantonment, celebrated its sports meet on Thursday. Maj-Gen K.M.S. Shergill, Chief of Staff, 11 Corps, was the chief guest. Senior military and civilian officers of the station also attended the event.

Seminars held

A seminar on career guidance was organised at Lyallpur Khalsa Collegiate Senior Secondary School. Usha Kapoor, deputy director, employment, and Balbir Singh, employment generation and training officer, made 150 students aware of job opportunities, especially in the defence forces.

To make the IT and commerce students aware of recent updates in software technology, a seminar was organised at St Soldier College, Basti Danishmandan, by Tally Software Academy. Lovish, director of the academy, gave a presentation about the new software for finance industry.

A.S. Multani, director of the college, and Sunil, head of the IT department, were also present.

Last member of Saipuriya gang held
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, December 20
The district police has nabbed Chintoo, member of criminal Raja Saipuriya’s gang who had been absconding. All other members of the gang had been arrested.

Confirming this, SP (city-I) Dr Surinder Kumar Kalia, said Chintoo was considered the right hand man of Saipuriya and was wanted in at least three criminal cases registered against him at police station numbers one and two.

Chintoo was arrested from the area falling under police station number two. The police also seized 60 gm of smack from his possession and a case under the NPDS Act has been registered against him.

Chintoo was with Saipuriya when he shot at a police party in the Shashi Nagar locality and escaped. Saipuriya was later arrested from Chintpurni in Himachal Pradesh.

While almost all members of the Saipuriya gang have been nabbed, some of members of the Bhalu gang are still absconding and will also be nabbed soon, said Kalia.