Jalandhar, May 26
The recent guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to strictly regulate the arms licence issuance system have started showing effect in the district.

The total number of arms licences issued in the district during the past one year is much less than that of the previous years, largely due to the strict guidelines laid in the circular issued in the early months of last year.

Police officers are of the view that the recent guidelines would result in the lowering of the crime graph.

“It will lead to disarmament of those sections of the society which do not need to possess or carry arms. A good number of youngsters, obsessed with exhibitionist tendencies, carry deadly weapons with themselves. Due to this tendency, sometimes a mere altercation leads to an occurrence of severe crimes like murder,” said DCP Arun Pal Singh.

Sources confirmed that before the implementation of the guidelines, approximately 800-1,200 arms licences were issued every year by the district administration.

“After the guidelines have come into effect, around 300 arms licences were issued by the Jalandhar (City) police during the span of one year from April, 2010, to March, 2011,” said DCP Arun Pal Singh.

On the other hand, a district officer revealed that during the corresponding period, around 128 arms licences were issued by the district administration, which is the licencing authority for those residing in the areas falling beyond the jurisdiction of the Jalandhar (City) police.

Thus the total figure of the arms licences issued by both the district administration and the City police was around 428, which was much less as compared to the earlier years’ figures, said an officer.

Defining the eligibility, the Ministry of Home Affairs has divided the licence-seeking candidates into various categories, according to which the licence could be issued to serving and retired employee of the military, paramilitary forces and police.

Besides, under the family heirloom category, the licence could be transferred to children and grandchildren, if the weapon is more than 25 years’ old and the age of the licencee is more than 70 years.

However, in case of ordinary subjects, the licence can be issued to only those persons, who can produce document evidences of a serious threat posed to their life, said an officer.

Jalandhar, May 26
Courageously facing all adversities, including abject poverty, Karan Kumar, a local lad has managed to grab the 222 rank IIT-JEE in reserve category, the result of which was declared yesterday.

Living in a one-room dingy house in a narrow lane of New Raseela Nagar here, both his parents stitch footballs to make their both ends meet. In fact, Karan himself has been stitching footballs to manage the expenses of his studies. The semi-literate parents took loan worth Rs 80,000 from close relations and friends to arrange coaching for their son, who has come out with flying colours.

His mother Sunita Rani is just class IX pass while father Ramesh Chand did not study beyond class II. But the twosome had nurtured a dream of imparting good education to their son and making him sail through IIT entrance.

The boy has studied in Devi Sahai SD School till class X. His mother Sunita Rani said, “Finding it difficult to pay the fee of four children, we sent Karan (the eldest of them all) and his sister to the hostel of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Talwandi Madho, about 20 kms from here, for securing education free of cost”.

With tears flowing from his eyes, she said that there were times when they did not have money to buy copies and pencils for their wards. “But Karan’s result has come as a great reward because we could now hope for a better future”, she said wiping off tears.

Karan too turned a bit emotional as he said, “It was the pressure of this financial burden that drove me to do well in the high profile exam. Last year, my grandmother had given me every penny from her old age pension to help me meet the expenses of my coaching, books and stationery. She had been saving it for years. My maternal uncles too have been supportive”.

“When I was at Navodaya, I used to have a curious look at the Roll of Honour board and used to dream that one day my name could be placed there. Today, my school principal O.P Mudgal called me to the school. He repeatedly hugged me. It was a great moment for me when I was told that my name was being inscribed on the school board.”

Cricket has been Karan’s passion which he says he had given up for the past one year. “As now I feel relaxed, I plan to spend most of the day time playing cricket with my friends”, he said.

Jalandhar, May 26
The Punjab State Subordinate Service Selection Board (PSSSSB) and Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) have failed to appoint permanent lecturers in the colleges owing to which the standard of higher education in the state has gone down drastically.

This also becomes a major reason of the exploitation of the students and the lecturers in the colleges. While the students end up paying hefty fees, the lecturers are forced to work for peanuts.

These thoughts were expressed by former Vice-Chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Dr S.P. Singh while chairing a meeting of the Higher Education Reforms Committee under the Punjab Education Policy-2020 at Lyallpur Khalsa College here today.

Talking about certain recommendations to be made by the reforms committee, Dr S.P. Singh said, “It is high time that the state government should constitute a separate autonomous body for the recruitment of permanent lecturers in the colleges, which can ensure speedy appointments. The government should also seriously contemplate the revival of 95 per cent grant-in-aid scheme and structuring of fee system to improve the higher education.”

Further expressing concern over the status of guest faculty teaching in the government colleges in the state, he said it was height of exploitation as they were working on a meager salary of Rs 40,000 annually. “It is due to the anti-educational policies of the consecutive state governments that the guest faculty is subject to sheer exploitation. This is the result of ban on recruitments made in July, 2005, despite the recommendations of the G.D. Sharma committee,” he added.

The Higher Education Reforms Committee, comprising eight senior academicians, was formed by Education Minister Sewa Singh Sekhawan as part of bringing changes in the education system in the state.

Dr S.P. Singh along with his team would first prepare an interim report while step-by-step recommendations of the committee would also be sent timely. The committee would submit its composite report later.

The meeting was attended by members of the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union (PCCTU), Guest Faculty in Government Colleges, Government College Teachers Association.

In their submission to the reforms committee, the PCCTU demanded that vacant posts of lecturer should be filled on regular basis, whenever the ban on recruitments was lifted it should be brought under 95 per cent salary deficit grant-in-aid scheme as it was done when it was implemented.

Jalandhar, May 26
The students and teachers of the local Prem Chand Markanda SD Collegiate School bagged first prize in Space Olympiad organised by Pushpa Gujral Science City, Kapurthala, in collaboration with Indian Space Research Organisation on the occasion of National Technology Day on May 10 and 11.

A school team consisting of four students of Class XII stood first and got a cash prize of Rs 10,000.

Jalandhar, May 26
The week saw an increase of Rs 2, 4 and 5 in the prices of potatoes, capsicums and cauliflowers, respectively, while the prices of onions, lemons, lady’s fingers and bottle gourds went down.

Among fruits, only the price of muskmelons went up while those of sweet lime, banana and litchi went down.

Talking of vegetables, potato prices rose to Rs 6 per kg this week from Rs 4 per kg last week. Capsicum and cauliflower prices went up to Rs 10 and Rs 25 per kg this week from Rs 6 and Rs 20 per kg last week, respectively.

The price of onions came down to Rs 7 per kg from Rs 8 per kg last week. Lemon prices witnessed a steep fall from Rs 60 per kg last week to Rs 35 per kg this week.

The price of brinjals came down from Rs 12 last week to Rs 8 this week (per kg), while that of lady’s finger came down to Rs 16 this week from Rs 20 last week (per kg).

The prices of tomato, garlic, ginger, peas, bitter gourd, teenda, cucumber, mint and spinach remained steady at Rs 6, Rs 50, Rs 40, Rs 20, Rs 12, Rs 20, Rs 6, Rs 15 and Rs 8 per kg this week, respectively, like last week. The prices of muskmelon rose to Rs 10 per kg from Rs 7 per kg last week.

Sweet lime and litchi prices witnessed a decline of Rs 10 and Rs 30, respectively.

While the prices of sweet lime came down to Rs 40 per kg from Rs 50 per kg last week, those of litchi came down to Rs 70 per kg this week from Rs 100 per kg last week. The prices of banana went down to Rs 40 per dozen this week from Rs 50 per dozen last week.

The prices of watermelon, mango, apple and cherry remained same as last week at Rs 10, Rs 40, Rs 120 and Rs 150 per kg.