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Is city ready to deal with earthquakes?
Surya Enclave Extension Scheme |
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Admn shows apathy on freedom fighter’s wife death
Principals oppose commercialisation of higher education
Universities offer new courses
Disaster management workshop ends
No-Tabacco Day
Medical camp held for women
Workshop for teachers ends
Effigy of terrorism burnt
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Is city ready to deal with earthquakes?
Jalandhar, May 31 As far as a comprehensive plan to deal with the eventuality of an earthquake is concerned, the district, which experts agree is a very vulnerable area in terms of earthquake sensitivity, currently lacks one. A draft created for the same, under a pilot project for earthquake vulnerability reduction, undertaken jointly by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of India in 2004, has been termed inconclusive by experts and the government itself. Professor Lakhbir Singh, who heads the Jalandhar-based NGO, Pahal, has been associated with earthquake-related awareness efforts in the city since long and is a member of the Urban Earthquake Vulnerability Reduction Project Committee. He says, “Jalandhar was a part of the pilot project, which included Amritsar and Chandigarh also. Beginning in 2004, work for the project picked up at first. In 2009, bid calls were invited by the government for volunteers (NGOs, etc), who would work on government funding. We did our bit, but slowly activity on this front died down and the eventual result for the project cannot be termed substantial.” Sources say a significant amount of funds earmarked for the project were actually returned, because they were not used. Dr Rizwan Ahmed Khan, Assistant Professor at the Civil Engineering Department of the National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, was invited by the district administration to work on the same project (which was earlier supposed to be wound up in 2009, but was extended to 2010) in December 2008. “The report first created was incomplete, so the respective district administrations began roping in engineers from local institutes. I was called in for Jalandhar to facilitate work on sensitising local engineers, workers and administration officials on the issue. Awareness as well as training and capacity building were our main tasks. The work done on the previous project report was just 15 per cent, but our output was 30 to 40 per cent. We got one year to prepare the final draft. It still can’t be termed a conclusive document, since more work needs to be done in the area,” Rizwan says. Rizwan also held two workshops to spread awareness - a one-day workshop in disaster management for master trainees and a five-day workshop on earthquake resistant design and construction attended by officials from various departments like PWD, irrigation, Punjab Industrial Development Board and Housing and Urban Development (November, 2010) - and visited some sensitive areas of
Jalandhar.
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Surya Enclave Extension Scheme
Jalandhar, May 31 Resenting the JIT’s move of acquisition, various owners have knocked at the door of the Punjab and Haryana High Court for getting relief against acquiring their land. The HC also provided them relief with imposing interim stay on the acquisition. A Division Bench of the HC, comprising Judges Jasbir Singh and Rakesh Kumar Garg, issued directions of interim stay on the acquisition of land to various petitioners, Bhrigu Dutt Sharma, Anu Sharma, Vijay Kumar Anand, Rajesh Kumar Anand, Seema Anand, Billa Bharat, Ghansham, Hari Krishan, Chinnaponnu, Nag Raj, Sat Pal and Kuppan, while hearing different petitions. Issuing the stay order, the Division Bench fixed the next date of hearing of all these cases pertaining to the Surya Enclave Extension housing scheme for July 5. The counsels for the petitioners stated that they clients would not raise any construction till further orders. The petitioners filed civil writ petitions under Article 226 of the Constitution for quashing notification under Section 36 of the Punjab Town Improvement Act, 1922, vide which development scheme has been framed under Sections 24 (1), 25, 28 (2) (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) (vii) (viii) (ix) and (xii) of the 1922 Act for an area measuring 94.97 acres adjoining Surya Enclave and Maharaja Ranjit Singh Avenue in Jalandhar. |
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Admn shows apathy on freedom fighter’s wife death
Jalandhar, May 31 The cremation, which otherwise should have been held with full state honours, ended up becoming a sole family affair. Karamveer hailed from the legendary village of freedom fighters and Ghadarites, Bilga, near Jalandhar. This despite the fact that a Tehsildar, an SDM from the administration and Nakodar MLA Amarjit Singh Samra were informed about the demise and cremation of Karamveer Kaur. However, all that the family received was a Tri-colour to wrap the body, which was brought by one of the Congress workers. Kartar Singh Bilga, freedom fighter from the Congress, was an influential person during the pre-Independence years and went to the jail for his anti-British stance. He was also actively involved in the Jaito Morcha and led many others to the freedom movement. Talking to The Tribune, Prem Bilga, a social activist, said what could be worse than the fact that despite informing the district administration as well as the Congress leadership none turned up. “Just three police personnel came at the time of the cremation. Initially we thought that they had come for giving the state honours, but they attended the cremation and went back,” he said. Kartar Singh Bilga died 25 years back and his children have been settled abroad. In the later years, Kartar joined the Akalis and also remained the sarpanch of the village. The body of Karamveer Kaur was kept at Bilga Charitable Hospital on Saturday. When contacted, Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner Priyank Bharti said he was not aware of Karamveer Kaur’s death. “Had the villagers informed me, I would have surely sent somebody from the district administration,” he maintained. |
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Principals oppose commercialisation of higher education
Jalandhar, May 31 The members of the federation conducted a meeting to discuss issues concerning higher education at Lyallpur Khalsa College here yesterday. During the meeting Dr Gurdip Sharma and Dr Jaspal Singh Randhawa were elected as president and general secretary, respectively, of the federation. Dr Randhawa said the state government should implement the Pension Gratuity Scheme for college staff as notified in 1999 without any further delay. The absence of pension benefit caused hardships to the college employees. Dr Randhawa also spoke about the implementation of minimum pay band of Rs 43,000 to principals appointed from January 1, 2006, onwards. He also demanded the implementation of pay scale of Rs 16,400 to 22,400 for principals appointed with a teaching experience of 15 years at the time of selection prior to January 1, 2006. The federation also demanded payment of arrears of revised pay scales, lifting of ban on appointments against aided posts in colleges, rationalisation of posts up to January 1, 2006, and timely release of enhanced grants. “The Punjab Government should constitute a statutory state council of higher education for upgrading the standards of higher education,” he added. Earlier in the day, federation members and all associations felicitated Dr V.K. Tewari, former Principal, DAV College, Jalandhar. The federation highlighted the contribution of Dr Tewari in the teachers’ movement by holding pivotal positions at the national and state level for 35 years and raising standards of education and dignity of the teaching profession through better pay scales and service conditions. The federation congratulated Dr Tewari on his re-election as secretary, World Federation of Teachers’ Union, and presented a memento and citation to him. The federation also honoured Dr Jarnail Singh, Principal of Public College, Samana, who would retire on May 31, for his contribution in the field of education. |
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City lad is CBSE-PMT district topper
Jalandhar, May 31 He initially took non-medical in class XI, little aware of the fact that shifting to medical stream would take him to such a glory. “I was sure of a good rank in CBSE-PMT, but never expected 135th rank,” he quipped. “I was surfing the internet on May 30 when I checked the CBSE-PMT website. It was something I could not believe myself. I just shouted with joy and my parents came rushing,” said Nikhil. The topper said the precious moments will remain etched in his memory forever. “Since yesterday, I am flooded with congratulatory calls, while my family is endlessly thanking the almighty,” he said. Nikhil gives credit of his success to his teachers. Kanwaljit Kaur, biology teacher in the school, turned out to be a source of motivation for him. “She is a wonderful teacher and probably the best teacher I could have ever got,” he added. So what remained his mantra of success? Prompt came the reply, “Don’t become a bookworm and get nervous during exams and do squeeze out time to relax between rigorous study hours. I worked extremely hard for 8 to 10 hours during the last four months. Even before exams, I watched movies, played cricket and enjoyed with friends,” he said. Nikhil’s parents, Rajesh and Anita Joshi, said parents should assist their children during exams and avoid pressurising them. Nikhil has already cleared his AFMC, Pune exam; Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore and would be appearing for the entrance of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). |
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Universities offer new courses
Jalandhar, May 31 The students taking admission in B.Tech would also be able to choose from a combination of new streams, such as automation and robotics engineering, electronic and telecommunication engineering, electronics and computer engineering, computer and communication engineering, construction engineering and management. The university has also invited applications from its affiliated pharmacy colleges for masters in clinical and hospital pharmacy and masters in pharmaceutical management and regulatory affairs. The university has also offered non-AICTE courses, such as BSc in food technology, BSc in mass communication, BSc in e-commerce and B.Com (professional). Likewise, Lovely Professional University has also launched new courses for Plus Two passouts in various disciplines ranging from agriculture, urban development, multimedia to library sciences. Of these, the course in bachelor in urban planning is unique and is being taught by only a few educational institutes. A four-year programme, it would help prepare the students for employment in a variety of professions involved in the infrastructure in cities. The three-year bachelor in library sciences is also being offered. The university also has plans to offer diploma in agriculture for imparting practical skills to farmers in harvesting activities, maintaining livestock feed and water supplies, using farm machinery and equipment maintenance. LPU also intends to offer bachelor in design integrated with MBA to provide the students an edge over other regular MBAs and open doors of animation and fashion industry for them. Under this course, the students would be taught subjects like designing in multimedia or fashion technology, followed with an MBA. To attract meritorious students, the university is also offering scholarships up to Rs 1 lakh per year per student. Pro-Vice Chancellor of the university Rashmi Mittal said, “Last year, more than 8,000 students benefited from the scholarship policy. The courses are open for students who have completed their Class XII with a minimum aggregate of 50 per cent and passing marks in each subject.” She added that the courses had been designed in such a way that these would help in creating a specialised workforce in the fields concerned. |
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The fading shades of marriage
Jalandhar, May 31 The story unfolds in a hotel where DK, a corporate honcho, hands over the task of building a bridge to a bogus company for earning extra money. His client Sodhi tells him he will send in a woman. DK begins wondering what might have caused Sodhi to believe that him being a family man, might need a woman. A debate on marriage and fidelity ensues when an uninvited, unnamed stranger, probably his own conscience, enters his room and starts digging out skeletons from the cupboard and pointing out DK’s inadequacies. Initial denials lead to admittance of his own follies. Fed up of his marriage, still willing to hold on to it, DK has taken fancy to a blue-sari-clad woman he met at Sodhi’s office. The frustration in his marriage is his own doing since he had thrust his wife on to his boss to get a promotion, and now seemingly has lost her. The play ends with a drunk DK frantically screaming out to the waiter to bring him the woman, more out of revenge than lust. The woman never comes, the conscience-man quietly steps out of the room, DK passes out and the curtain falls. Director of the play, Jas Karan, who also played the stranger, minced no words while ridiculing marriage. Though there was every chance for a take on such a sensitive subject to be ruined by judgemental statements and cloying emotions, the director succeeded in keeping it subtle. Manav Sharma, who played DK, hitherto been seen in smaller roles, was the surprise package. His portrayal of a frustrated, married man was realistic. Throughout the play, people laughed every time Manav lashed out at marriage, society and traditions with some of his choicest, witty expletives. There was lot of melodrama, but here it was acceptable since DK grew louder and shakier with every new drink-a transition he executed well. The changing shades of light reflected various moods of the character. The play dismissed tradition without talking about its joy and beauty. DK’s marriage-bashing monologue in the end got a bit too stretched while the conscience-man, unlike countering all his claims earlier, did not advocate the importance of marriage before leaving the room, a gesture a bit unlike his character. The play did not reach a conclusion about whether DK’s concerns were genuine or outrageous, whether he was just a coward getting back at his wife (driven to infidelity by himself), or was he just being a man. The play closed with continuity of ideas interestingly played in stream-of-consciousness manner and chose not to make any concluding remarks and the decision to decipher its meanings was left with the audience. |
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Denial of power connections
Jalandhar, May 31 The residents said while the municipal corporation (MC) was taking development charges and even approving their building plans, the PSPCL was not providing them power connection. The representatives of various colonies, including those of Dada Nagar, Cheema Nagar and Gurmeet Nagar, said their colonies had come up more than 30 years back, but had still not been regularised. Others who supported the protesters were Surinder Kaur, Congress councillor, and Jaswinder Billa, councillor and PPP member. They said they would continue to hold protest in the complex from 11 am to 2 pm daily till their demands were be accepted. |
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Young World
Jalandhar, May 31 An informative presentation was put up by students of Class XI, which included a short enactment, series of enlightening talks and distribution of badges and display of placards promoting the message. A special seminar was organised for Class IX to XII on “Drug prevention”. Dr Gulbahar Sidhu, psychiatrist, Pasricha Hospital, spoke on various aspects of drug abuse involving different kinds of drug addiction. Investiture
ceremony
The Millennium School organised an investiture ceremony last week. The ceremony commenced with the welcoming of chief guest Col Manmohan Singh. The prefectorial board was brimming with confidence to shoulder the newly assigned duties. Principal Punam Singhal conducted the oath ceremony. B.Sc (IT) topper
Sakshi Sharma, a student of B.Sc (IT)-III year of the local Kanya Maha Vidyalaya, bagged first position in Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, and scored 1940 marks out of 2500. A topper throughout her graduation, Sakshi thanked the faculty of PG Department of Computer Science & Applications for her success. ICSE topper
Sahil Gogna, a student of Class X of SD Model School, Jalandhar Cantonment, bagged first position in the school by scoring 90.5 per cent marks. As many as 71 students appeared in the ICSE Class X exams, out of which 69 students achieved first division. CBSE topper
Tanvi Soni, a student of Class XII of Kendriya Vidyalaya No 2, Jalandhar Cantonment, brought laurels to her institution by scoring 95.4 percent marks in CBSE Board exams results declared recently. She also cleared IIT-JEE and scored 3,673 rank. Mehr Chand topper
Kanav Mahajan, a student of Civil Engineering of the local Mehr Chand Polytechnic College, stood second in the state and was awarded silver medal by the Punjab State Board of Technical Education and Industrial Training, Chandigarh. Principal of the college, Dr Jagroop Singh, congratulated Kanav on his achievement and securing a seat in the GND College, Ludhiana. Farewell party
The students of the local Mahatma Hans Raj DAV Institute of Nursing organised a farewell party ‘Bon Voyage’ for the outgoing students on May 28. B.Sc Nursing interns, Post Basic Nursing interns and GNM interns participated in the modelling contest. Titles of Miss Eve, Miss Perfect, Miss Personality, Miss Punjaban and Miss Charming were awarded to Rajni Bhanot, Rinkal, Meena, Parminder and Savita, respectively. Principal of the college, Veena Williams, highlighted the importance of 4 D’s-dignity, dedication, divinity and determination- in the life of a nurse and urged the students to follow it.
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Disaster management workshop ends
Jalandhar, May 31 The
programme, held in collaboration with the Red Cross Society of India and St John’s Ambulance Society,
India, was an endeavour to create prepared, educated and holistic citizens who are capable of helping not only themselves but others
too in a situation of crisis. The afternoon began with Prof Lakhbir Singh addressing the participants. Dr Satish Sharma, Jitender Sharma, Principal, DAV College of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, Dr Raj Kumar Sharma, Principal DAV Ayurvedic College and Ajay Goswami were the other guests. |
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No-Tabacco Day
Phagwara, May 31 A seminar was organised by the Health Department at the Civil Hospital. Senior Medical Officer
Dr Rajiv Gupta inspired the doctors and different social organisations to launch a campaign to educate people about the bad effects of tobacco, which can be a cause of mouth cancer also. |
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Medical camp held for women
Jalandhar, May 31 Prof Lakhbir Singh, president, Pahal, talked about the importance of good health for women who play a pivotal role in the family. Dr Baljeet Kaur Ruby, Surinder Kaur, Dr Sudha Sharma, Dr Jyoti Sharma and Dr Sunita Mahajan examined the patients. The camp was inaugurated by the oldest female patient, Garnam Kaur, present in the camp. The DSP, Lakhwinder Kaur, was the chief guest. The doctors were helped and supported by 16 young trainees from the Indian Medical Institute (IMI), Jalandhar. Around 70 women showed up for the camp to get themselves examined for various ailments. |
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Workshop for teachers ends
Jalandhar, May 31 The programme was organised in collaboration with the National Institute of Technical Teachers’ Training and Research (NITTTR). As many as 26 teachers from 13 PTU-affiliated institutes participated in the event, where experts from top institutes of the country delivered lectures. Dr S.S. Pattnaik, HoD, NITTTR, ,Chandigarh, was the course co-coordinator of the workshop. |
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Effigy of terrorism burnt
Phagwara, May 31 A protest rally was also organised before setting the effigy of the terrorism on fire, which was addressed by party’s state chief Ajay Mehta and district general secretary Anil Goel, who urged the state and Union governments to take required steps to curb the terrorism. The rally was also addressed by party leaders Balwinder Bittu, Sat Paul Rall, Davinder Pinku and Kamal Kishore Pinka.
— OC |
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