Jalandhar, May 20
The municipal corporation Jalandhar and municipal committees in its periphery have decided to act tough on all those indulging in violations along national highways and scheduled roads in the district.

While those who have encroached upon the roads will not be spared, the buildings and structures of even those who have been covering berms on either side of the roads will be facing demolition. The action, it is learnt, has come after a PIL was filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court calling for removing such hindrances for the convenience and safety of the commuters along highways.

The national highway authorities and the PWD, with the assistance of MC officials from the town planning section, have already started a survey by checking encroachments and violations along the highways, including the GT Road, Nakodar Road, Hoshiarpur Road and Pathankot Road and scheduled roads like Kapurthala Road.

The corporation and committee authorities, on the basis of the survey, will then issue notices to those covering 5 metres of berms in A class MCs like Phagwara, 10 metres in B class MCs like Goraya and 30 metres in other areas such as Bhogpur.

In the preliminary survey, the sources in the department said it had been found that Kapurthala Road, which was 104 to 120-foot wide on papers, was actually left just 66 feet, with nearly half of the busy road covered with factories, shops or other commercial establishments.

“At some places, the road has been reduced to barely 40 feet wide as along the Basti Bawa Khel area,” the authorities said, adding that such encroachments were causing frequent traffic blockades while making the patches highly accident prone.

MC commissioner C.S. Talwar said the action had come in the wake of a recent High Court decision. He said since the records of the roads were available with the PWD and national highway authorities, they would list various encroachments. “If the defaulters would not pull down their illegal structures within a time-frame, the corporation would help the PWD and highway authorities in getting these removed or demolished,” he added.

Jalandhar, May 20
Defying her disability at leg caused by polio since childhood and now a growing age, Sangeeta Deol of Jalandhar’s Dhannal Kalan village has set an example for others in society. She has found her niche through beekeeping. Sixty-year-old Sangeeta Deol has proved to be the ablest beekeeper, tasting sweet success with many awards to her credit.

Having commenced her beekeeping business with just one box in 1984, Sangeeta rose to receive the coveted award of farmer of India. She is the first woman to have earned such an award.

“I started beekeeping in 1984 after receiving training from Punjab Agriculture University. I had around 90 boxes for beekeeping when I started this business. The honey that I collected from the bee boxes didn’t sell for three years. Earlier, I had given up one poultry farm and all seemed to be empty,” said Sangeeta.

She says shortage of money and children’s needs like college fees motivated her to take to apiculture.
“I ventured into beekeeping and selling honey, going from street to street, knocking at every other door. Five bottles of honey were sold for Rs 100 and then the money started coming,” said Deol.

“It encouraged me to expand. When the business started running well, I was felicitated with an award of leading bee farmer of district in 1988. I have endeavoured for all the development work in beekeeping in Punjab and shared the secret with others. I was honoured with awards for development in beekeeping in Punjab by many organisations,” she said.

There was a time after Sangeeta’s marriage when her house was on mortgage. It pushed her to ensure its release from the debtors’ clutches. She had to sell off all her jewellery to redeem the house.

During her school and college days, she suffered mockery of many students due to her being a polio-affected student. Many would not talk to her or avoid her.

Sangeeta opines women should not hesitate to take up any vocation like food processing, marketing seeds, etc. since hard work pays. She, as a woman farmer, takes pride in herself. But she regrets those in the village who show resentment if women work.

She says, they don’t understand if the village women also start working, the farmers will be able to earn more money and their financial condition will improve.

Sangeeta wants various government agencies should come forward and lend a helping hand in marketing of products since the rural folk have their own drawbacks like networking of distributors and assessing feedback.

Sangeeta has been felicitated with many commendations such as Punjab’s leading bee farmer, gold medal for agriculture diversification, special award from Punjab Agriculture University and a special award from Kisan Club for record production in honey. — ANI

Jalandhar, May 20
Willpower and passion are the only keys to crack civil services and once you get this no one can stop you. This was expressed by 27-year-old Ramandeep Chaudhary who made city proud by securing 84th rank in the civil services in his first attempt.

A mechanical engineering graduate from IIT Delhi, Ramandeep said, “I never thought of joining civil services while I was in school. After my post graduation from the USA, I realised that engineering would restrict me. So I thought of joining administration as it would give me more opportunities and authority too.”

Not finding his age as constrain he said the average age for joining IAS has increased in the past few years. Besides, it’s better to appear when one feels he was ready for it. Since self determination, focus and persistence were very important for the IAS aspirants, one should try when he attains it.

Talking about his interview during the exam, he said, “It was not a brainstorming session. The interviewers there just look out for the qualities which a civil servant should have. One should have a balance view while answering questions along with a pragmatic approach.” The questions asked are generally related to development issues, security measures, etc, he added.

Ramandeep said coaching institutes can only support the efforts. The real work has to be done by the students themselves. “Though I was from an engineering background, I took geography and psychology as my subjects because it is easy to grasp these subjects”.

Revealing about his future plans, he said his focus would be on rural development. 

Kapurthala, May 20
Farmers in Kapurthala district are facing heavy losses as an outbreak of viral disease has led to a large-scale damage to the muskmelon crop. Kapurthala is one of the largest producers of muskmelon in the state.

The viral disease has led not only to a stunted growth of muskmelon but is also rotting them in the field itself. The farmers are now ploughing their fields to root out the infested crops and prepare the field for a new crop. “I had cultivated muskmelon in four acres and most of it has been destroyed due to the viral disease which has also hampered the growth of the melon and spoilt the crop,” said farmer Ranjeet Singh.

Jalandhar, May 20
So if you are looking for variety food and that too under one roof, then perhaps Food Bazaar is one of the most sought-after option. A name famous for its mouth-watering vegetarian cuisines, the eating joint is popular for its appetising “Jammu ki puri, Meerut special muter kulcha, honey chilli gobi, cheese chilly and a long list of other recipes as well.

A part of Central Green, Food Bazaar was started five years back with a view to serve the Punjabi palate. The USP of the restaurant is its multi-cuisine menu and quick service. There are seven different food stalls at Food Bazaar with separate sections namely Indian, Chinese, Continental, Halwai Corner, Popcorn Corner, Chat Corner, Meerut Kulcha Special Corner and South Indian.

Steven William says, “The plus point of our restaurant is that being situated in the heart of the city, it is within the reach of the residents. Above all the food is available at very reasonable rates varying from Rs 10 to Rs 50.”

The place has as many as 35 cooks for cooking the lip-smacking delicacies.

The bazaar has a sitting capacity of 110 persons. People come from far off places to enjoy the dishes here. The restaurant also provides exclusive outdoor catering facility and kitty party arrangements as well.

Jalandhar, May 20
A two-day cultural-cum-academic festival, “Utkarsh”, was organised by the electronic and communication department of Lovely Professional University. The festival showcased the students’ best in various competitions.

In junkyard wars, the students made use of junk items to construct novel things and thus exhibited their innovative streaks. In “Gamers’ Xtrdge”, the students competed in gaming modules to judge themselves on the parameters of speed, quick action and pragmatism.

A quiz session was conducted in the seminar hall, where questions, both on the basis of technology and extra-technical issues, were asked from the students. Promoting a product, with a mix of humour in expressions, was the theme of the ad-mad show. The “rangoli” making competition saw a flood of colours with various designs adorning the floors of all the corridors of the main building.

People, especially Doabites, have a strong urge of going abroad. The trend has increased multi-forth. There seems to be no end to the “tashan” - youngsters are trying to encapsulate their lives with. The deepest desire to go abroad compels them to go to any extend like selling of property, fields, farms, shops, houses, household goods, etc. Even if they’ve nothing to put on stake, they take loans for the specific purpose but the results sometimes get disastrous too.

Recently we’ve read about a terrible incident that made us quiver when a Jalandhar lad was killed in a city near Manila. This is not the only incident. Earlier also approximately 100 Punjabis have been reportedly killed in the Philippines during the past six years and among them three-fourths were Doabites. Last year also in the Philippines at least 10 Kapurthala youths lost their lives. This recent data have revived the previous macabre incidents in various countries. Who can forget the “Malta tragedy” that paved the way for the watery grave of the ambitious youths. To add with it in some cases, Indian students had also faced humiliation by fellow students at the school and university levels in the USA, England, France, etc. They are sometimes considered as second grade citizens there.

In spite of all the data available our youth seems to have learnt no lesson from this sorry state of affairs. What is the need to lead a derogatory life like this if in our own country we can live with ease and placate while enjoying respect in society. It is advisable for the youth to shed the “tashan” of a better life standard in foreign countries. If they are resolute to go, the trips should be properly planned. Who is not allured by the money but this allurement should not be at the cost of one’s life.

Jalandhar, May 20
Spice Telecom has brought to the people of Punjab, a fun-filled chance to experience real cricket in Jalandhar.

Spice Telecom has brought to Punjab a one-of-its-kind bowling machine that can bowl up to a speed of 150 km per hour. The machine will allow people to practise cricket the way cricketers do. What’s more, the machine can bowl off-spin, leg-spin, leg-break, off-break and every variant of bowling. The machine runs on tennis balls and is safe enough for women and children also.

The activity kick-started on Saturday in the Model Town market where people got a chance to face the bowling machine on a state-of-the-art pitch.

This innovative cricket experience was available for the masses from May 17 to 19 at various places in the city.

The evening saw people from all age groups gather in large numbers to get a first-hand experience of this unique bowling machine at the specially created cricket zone.

Fans and supporters of Kings XI Punjab gathered in large numbers to post their messages for the team on a Spice graffiti wall, adjacent to the activity venue.

Company vice-president (marketing) Mukul Khanna said, “The cricket zone is an initiative to bring cricket to the masses and to garner support for the Kings XI Punjab team.”