Jalandhar, August 10
Take a glance of various shopping arcades coming around your area. You will notice a commonality between them all. Almost all new commercial buildings coming up in the city have a heritage kind of a look.

While till the past few years the concept of using huge glasses had become prevalent, the trend has reversed now towards imparting a more traditional look rather than a western kind.

The heritage buildings are characterised by domes at the top, round arcs and dim LED lighting on the façade.

In fact the first structure of the sort - Axis - that came at BMC Chowk courtesy Midland Group has already become a landmark building. Another building of the sort City Square - is coming near Namdev Chowk in collaboration with the local PPR group. The building will have a distinguishing clock tower at the top. The same group is coming up with PPR Arcade on Kapurthala Road with a similar concept.

Those into the construction of building say the change has perhaps come because the occupants complain of more effort and cost of maintenance involved in a glass building. “That is the feedback we got,” says Rajan Chopra of PPR Group.

Amardeep Samra of Midland Group too had a reason, “Since we do double glazing in glass building, it traps a lot of heat and the occupants need to use high power ACs to combat it which actually results in a lot of power consumption”.

Samra said one of his commercial buildings coming along NRI Sabha would have Art Deco Architecture which was common in the mid-1990s in old Paris and New York. “This kind of architecture is low cost. Skilled labour is not really required,” he added.

Jalandhar, August 10
With rapid development in the corporate world, market requirements and education trends have witnessed a sea change in the past some time. It is owing to this reason that educational institutes saw the mushrooming of “campus placements”, thereby changing the face of education.

From the leading universities to the educational institutions of the city, nearly every campus has its dedicated “campus placement cell” working for better job opportunities for students.

Educational institutions boast of their placement records and attract students from every nook and corner.

The Dr BR Ambedkar National Institute of Technology (NIT) boasts of its glorious placements where the highest package of Rs 11.2 lakh was offered by the Power Grid Corporation of India.

While companies like Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), National Thermal Power Corporation, Bharat Electronics, Nestle India, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and many others have been regular visitors to the campus, the NIT authorities said they were looking forward to rope in more companies to ensure the best placements for its students.

Director Dr Moin-Uddin said the institute saw some of the leading companies reaching out to its students.

“In the 2006-2010 batch, the institute received 317 job offers, of which 314 were eligible for the jobs. The last academic year saw a major boom as nearly all students received job offers before they passed out,” he added.

At Lovely Professional University (LPU), Phagwara, as many as 5,000 students bagged placements with companies like RBS, Delloite, Balaji Telefilms and Syscom Smart Chip since 2006.

At LPU, students got a post-training package of Rs 21 lakh per annum for the B.Tech programme while MBA students bagged a package of Rs 7.5 lakh annually.

Ashok Mittal, Chancellor of LPU, said, “With so many institutes providing quality education and new institutes mushrooming, Punjab is likely to become a renowned place for recruitments.”

Students feel that this change has ensured a good scope of growth in their career, coupled with an assurance of job placements.

“Earlier, only select students could find suitable jobs, whereas now job opportunities follow us, that too on the campus. It is a healthy trend,” said a student from Khalsa College.

The placement numbers speak for the DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology (DAVIET), which is set to start its university. Regional Director C.L. Kochher said in the 2006-2010 batch 234 engineering students got placements at an annual package of Rs 3.20 lakh with companies like Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam , Infosys, Wipro, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India, to name a few.

Even colleges don’t lag behind when it comes to providing campus placements. Lyallpur Khalsa College provided job opportunities to 95 students with an annual package starting from Rs 1.98 lakh to Rs 3.5 lakh.

Rajat Garg, placement officer from Khalsa College said, “Last year our students bagged placements with companies like Infosys, Wipro Technology, IBM Daksh, DELL, Satyam and many others.”

Over 110 students of Hans Raj Mahila Mahavidyalaya got jobs. Gullagong, placement officer, said students bagged placements with companies like Ranbaxy, DELL, Wipro, Indian Air Force, PAP, BSF, Indian Railways and many others at packages ranging from Rs 1.44 to 2.40 lakh per annum.

On being asked about how many students actually join the jobs, he said, “Almost 80 per cent of the students join duties. Only a few who bag placements with BPOs prefer to change their decision depending upon the circumstances.”

At Kanya Maha Vidyalaya six companies visited the campus from various sectors like insurance, BPO, training and placements, staffing solutions, information technology and software development.

Principal Atima Sharma said 135 students were placed in different companies. “The students who joined their duties in Jalandhar were offered a monthly salary of Rs 8,000 to Rs 18,000. While those who joined the BPO sector outside the city were offered a package of Rs 20,000 plus per month,” she added.

Jalandhar, August 10
In a first of its kind effort, the Canadian Deafness Foundation, in collaboration with the Rotary Toronto (Sunrise), would extend technical support to the local unit of Rotary to give a fillip to the project aimed at bringing down the rate of deafness among the newborn.

Under the project, one ton two-day-old children would be screened for any hearing impairment. Neonates will also be screened for the cause of impairment. The project would be unique in itself as no such facility is available in the government set-up across the state.

Dr Sanjeev Sharma, president-elect, Rotary Jalandhar Central, who was part of the Rotary delegation to Canada, said Dr Dino Sophocleous, President of the foundation, had assured technical support to the project.

“In Canada, ENT surgeons have been doing such screenings for the past 40 years. After the research of four decades and the database generated from it, they have developed a few techniques, norms and standards to conduct such screenings. They have agreed to share all these technicalities with us,” he said. It is only due to such screenings that Canada has brought down the rate of deaf and dumb children to two per 1,000 against six per 1,000 in India, he said.

He said equipment, the additional cost of which would be around Rs 7.5 lakh per unit, would be based on Auto Acoustic Emission and Brain Evoked Response Audiometry (BERA) techniques. He said approximately Rs 50 per individual would be charged for the screening.

“To avail the maximum financial aid for the equipment, we are shortly sending our proposal to our supreme body, Rotary International. Efforts are on to launch the project on the occasion of World Deafness Day, September 30, in Jalandhar and in other parts of the state afterwards,” he added. Members of the Indian Academy of Paediatrics and the Indian Medical Association have also been integrated in the project, he said.

Canadian Deafness Foundation, in collaboration with the Rotary Toronto (Sunrise), would extend technical support to the local unit of Rotary for the project. Under it, one to two-day-old children would be screened for any hearing impairment.

Jalandhar, August 10
The fact that inhuman treatment is meted out to eunuchs in India, even at the ministerial level, became evident after an application under the RTI Act was moved to know the various social welfare schemes for them.

The application kept doing rounds of the public information officers of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Ministry of Human Resource Development and Ministry of Home Affairs before the onus was astonishingly passed onto the country’s security forces and central intelligence agencies.

The Deputy Secretary-cum-CPIO of the Ministry of Home Affairs replied to the applicant, city-based RTI activist Rajinder Bhatia, about a fortnight back, writing, “As the information sought relates to administrative matter, the application is transferred to the CISF, the ITBP and the IB.”

Bhatia stands bewildered, “Why? I had not asked about a security threat. I had simply asked about any education and employment schemes for eunuchs, prevailing rules or provisions of ration cards for eunuchs, number of eunuchs living below the poverty line in India, eunuchs using their voting rights in the recent parliamentary elections or any previous elections, details of monetary grants released by the Central government to state governments for their welfare.”

Jalandhar, August 10
A delegation of the Kirti Kisan Union (KKU) today submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner regarding high royalty fee being charged by sand mining contractors.

All such mines are situated on the banks of the Sutlej in areas around Mehatpur and Nakodar towns.

Members of the delegation alleged that contractors had been charging a royalty fee up to Rs 1,200 against Rs 190 per trolley being charged last year. They said the fee had been shooting up despite the fact that this year the sand mining contract was allocated for Rs 67 lakh against the Rs 1.53 crore for which it was allocated in the district last year.

“Though the mines were allotted almost at half the rates than that of last year, contractors are charging four times the rate charged last year. Moreover, the district administration and other departments concerned have failed to take action against offenders,” said Sandeep Arora, member of the delegation. 

Jalandhar, August 10
NSD fever is back in town. Amritsar-based theatre group Dastak, along with the NSD faculty, is all set to give lessons to the city theatre bugs yet again. The 37-day workshop would be based at Doaba College and city-based Sparc Foundation would collaborate for it.

But this time there is a Punjabi twist - the workshop, titled Shiv Sarod, would be based on the legendary Shiv Kumar Batalvi.

Though flagged off on August 1, the workshop was formally inaugurated on Wednesday. Celebrated poet Surjit Patar graced he occasion with his presence.

Addressing students, he talked at length about poetry and “the” man. Patar, who has met Batalvi three times, lamented the fact that though rumours abound, Batalvi was a far cry from the pessimistic man that he was usually talked of as.

Some Mumbai-based productions are planning a documentary film and a feature film on Batalvi but owing to dearth of recorded material on his life, researching about him was still pretty tough, Patar said.

He recalled that his first meeting with Batalvi took place at a time when Batalvi was an established poet but he (Patar) had just started off.“Some of my poems had just been published in Preet Lari. Batalvi remembered them and even quoted three lines from one of my works. It was an encouragement for me,” Patar reminisced.

Camp director Rajinder Singh said they had chosen Batalvi as the subject for the workshop to spread the knowledge of Punjabi culture and literature among students.

Singh said 30 students from all over Punjab, including 20 from Jalandhar, were participating in the workshop.

Chaitnaya Kochar, general secretary, Sparc Foundation, said, “As compared to other major cities in the state, the theatre scene of Jalandhar is relatively glum. Workshops such as this would give direction to the theatre scene in the city.”

The workshop would see students getting lessons in the practical and theoretical aspects of theatre, music, dance, set design, lighting, etc., the faculty for which would arrive later this month.

The workshop would culminate in a theatre production based on Batalvi which would be staged both in Jalandhar and Amritsar.

Jalandhar, August 10
The World Wide Immigration Consultancy Services (WWICS) is an investor programme which ensures permanent residency status within six months to one year for immigrants to the United Kingdom (UK).

Stating this, Lt-Col B.S. Sandhu (retd), CMD, said one was required to set up business in the UK with 2 lakh pounds and could move there with family.

Upon landing, even the spouse can take up a job and the entire family is entitled to medical care and education of children. The processing time is only six to nine months and PR would be available after only four years.

Sandhu said a large number of CAs, builders, architects and service providers are taking advantage of this programme.

Similarly, many old categories had been excluded from the priority occupation list (POL) of Canada, while others have been included to widen the scope for immigration purposes for Indians.

Talking about the requisites for the programme, he said all federal skilled worker applicants must have an experience in one of the 29 in-demand occupations under the revised POL.

“Canada has declared to accept only 20,000 applications with a maximum of 1,000 applications per occupation for processing for those applying under the occupation list. Once the 1,000 figure is attained, the Canadian authorities will return other applications as well as refund the processing fees,” he said.

Jalandhar, August 10
The Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) organised a free drug de-addiction and mental health check-up camp at Pholriwal village.

Over 350 persons were examined and given free medicines at the camp. Counselling for the de-addiction was given by Dr Himanshu Sareen and Mehek Randhawa, the faculty of the psychiatry department of PIMS.

After inaugurating the camp, Jalandhar Cantonment Market Committee chairman Paramjit Singh Raipur stated that the addicts should be brought into the mainstream of society by encouraging them to give up narcotics by organising such camps.

Terming drug addiction among the youth the biggest threat to society, Medical Superintendent Dr Kulbir Kaur said PIMS would hold such camps in Sansarpur and Hussainwala villages shortly.

There are two lasting bequests we can give our children - one is roots, the other is wings - Hodding Carter

We, as parents, are supposed to love and nurture our children. We raise them, provide them a warm and secure home life. We feed them, make them sleep, do all the little things for them. We help our child to develop self-esteem. We compliment them when they do something good and discipline them when they break rules. But there comes a time when we need to let them grow up independently.

Developing a child’s skills of independence is very important. Parents can start helping their children develop a sense of responsibility early by letting them make simple decisions on their own. As the child gets older, continue to work for ways to encourage his responsible behaviour. Child must be exposed to different situations early so that he can handle things efficiently. Give your child the space that he needs to try out new things. Let him make mistakes and this will make him learn more. But let them know that you are there for your child whenever he needs you.

Some parents hover over their child so much that they deprive him of the opportunity to expand his experiences. These parents do not let their child grow up independently. In some families, the level of parental involvement does not lessen even when the child becomes an adult. It becomes difficult for these parents to think of their child as completely grown up.

Of course, it is important for parents to set up boundaries for their child, but making sure that the parents respect their child’s choice and let them live out their own dreams. This is what positive and well-balanced parenting is all about.

Jalandhar, August 10
Students of M.Com-II of Lyallpur Khalsa College bagged top positions in Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, exams. Sonia Kundra bagged the first position, while Nidhi Gupta stood second. Manmeet Kaur secured the sixth position in the university.

In MA (political science)-I exams, Rajni Tokhi stood first in the university, while Manpreet Kaur and Alisha Gill bagged fourth and seventh positions, respectively.

Principal of the college Dr Jaspal Singh Randhawa congratulated the students on their achievements.

Richa Gulati, a student of add-on certificate course in Internet application of the Prem Chand Markanda S.D. College for Women, bagged first position in GND University, Amritsar, examination. The topper bagged 86 marks out of 100, while Heena Nagpal stood second in the varsity.

Students of St Soldier Law College brought laurels to the institution by bagging 14 top positions in GND University, Amritsar, examinations. Shivani Arora, a student of BA LLB-five-year programme, secured the first position in the university, while Barinder secured the fourth position. Harpreet, Dinesh, Navdeep, Partik and Neeraj got sixth position and Kanika got fifth position.

Amandeep Singh of LLB (Third year) secured third position. Shukarguzar Singh of LLB (First year) secured third position, while Sunita bagged sixth position in the university.