Jalandhar, April 1
Adding international fame to their kitty, three veteran badminton champions from the city are all set to represent India in All-England Veterans Championship to be held in London soon.

An honour ceremony for their achievement was held for the trio by badminton players of the city at the Hansraj stadium here.

The badminton champs, namely Ram Lakhan, Ranjit Singh and Dheeraj Sharma, returned home after making waves at the recently concluded 36th Senior (Veteran) National Badminton Championship held at Haridwar from March 24 to 28.

While Ram Lakhan won the 45+ men’s singles title defeating a Mizoram player in the finals, Ranjit Singh and Dheeraj Sharma ended up as runners-up in the 40+ men’s doubles event. It was Dheeraj Sharma’s maiden attempt in the national circuit.

A 17-member squad from Punjab had gone to participate in the senior nationals out of which only these three players from the city were able to make it to the finals. As many as 650 players (men and women) from all over the country had participated in the tournament.

Talking to Jalandhar Tribune, former world champion Ram Lakhan said, “It is an honour that all the three veterans selected for this prestigious event are from the city. The championship will see renowned veteran badminton players in action. Now we are waiting for the announcement of dates for the event.”

Ram Lakhan, who has been playing badminton for the past 28 years, is presently working with the PowerCom in Jalandhar. A former world champion (2004) in 40+ event held at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, he completed his hat-trick in the 45+ singles event by winning the national championship consecutively for the third time in Haridwar. He has also represented India last year in the World Masters Championship in Vancouver, Canada.

Another teammate, Ranjit Singh, an international badminton player from Rail Coach Factory (RCF), Kapurthala, said their selection for the event was based on their performance in the national championship.

“Earlier, I represented India at international events held at Spain in 2009 and Canada in 2011. However, the one to be held at London is nothing short of a dream come true as all leading veterans from across the globe would be together,” he added.

He, however, lamented the apathy of the government in recognising the contribution of veterans in bringing glory to the country. “Even today, a select group of badminton enthusiasts held an honour ceremony for us. The state government claims to be the champion of sports, but there are many sportspersons like us, who are virtually neglected,” he said.

Ranjit also made a mention of Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner Priyank Bharti, who especially arranged a financial assistance of Rs 51,000 for him for air tickets during his last year’s visit to Canada. “DC Bharti is himself an avid badminton player and he supported us wholeheartedly. Even now once the dates are announced we would definitely meet him in this regard,” he said.

The manufacturer of Guide Shuttlecocks, one of the oldest brands in Indian shuttlecock industry, Dheeraj Sharma made history in his maiden attempt in the national circuit and bagged second position in 40+ men’s doubles event.

Ritin Khanna, a former state champion, said, “There is not enough money and fame in badminton as compared to cricket, hence it becomes all the more important for people like us to publicise the achievements of the players. The attempt is to popularise the game across the globe,” he added.

Jalandhar, April 1
The city police has arrested a youth of Wariana village for allegedly sodomising a minor boy of Reru village, near here.

The incident occurred at Reru village on Saturday night while villagers were busy in a Bhagwati jagran organised by them. Ashwani Kumar, resident of Wariana village, sodomised a nine-year-old son of Manjit Singh.

Ashwani Kumar, who was in the village for pitching a tent for the religious function, took the boy to a remote area on the outskirts of the village by luring him and sodomised him, revealed Mulkhraj, investigating officer.

In a complaint to the police, Manjit Singh alleged that the bleeding boy returned home at about 10 pm and narrated the sequence of events to his parents.

The police was informed and the boy was admitted to the Civil Hospital.

Today a medical examination was conducted on the boy, who is under observation of doctors there.

The police has nabbed Ashwani Kumar and a case under Section 377 of the IPC was registered against him at the Division No 8 police station, said Jaswinder Singh, Station House Officer.

Jalandhar, April 1
It’s been over a month when the plight of the inmates of Guru Nanak Anaath Ashram at Budhiana village first came to light. Over a month later, things have undergone a massive change at the modest little ashram.

Visitors and help are pouring in for the ashram that once did not have money to provide a roof for the inmates to shelter them from chilly winter nights.

While a report published in The Tribune on February 13 first got aid and much-needed attention from the government for the ashram, hectic activity was witnessed at the ashram as The Tribune team visited it again.

Medical help from the government (as promised by the district administration) has poured in.

Once in a week, the ashram gets medicines from the Adampur Civil Hospital. Twice a week, it is visited by doctors and the psychologist from the Civil Hospital (Adampur) comes there on Tuesdays.

The ashram got an initial help of medicines worth Rs 20,000 and now the medicine van comes every week.

Tricycles have also been donated to a couple of school-going children in the ashram by the Education Department.

There is plenty of help from philanthropists too.

The roof of the under-construction portion of the ashram has been costructed (the shuttering will be taken off within a few days). The pit that played a garbage dump has got a little well, all set to be covered and an effective drainage system is being laid.

Twenty beds and 40 mattresses have been donated to the ashram.

It has also got a bore-well and an eight kanal land in Phagwara has been donated to it.

Talking to The Tribune, caretaker Surinder Singh said, “Help from all quarters has poured in for us and many of the things we never thought would be possible are being done.”

The ashram has, so far, received help in cash and kind from philanthropists based in the UK, US, Kartarpur, Nawanshahr, Phagwara, Mahalpur, etc. A US organisation has also shot a video film on the ashram, which will supposedly be aired in front of a Sikh congregation, which will further help raise funds. “Some people give fruits, some funds, some material for the construction of the roof and some pay for the labour,” says Surinder Singh. “The help has changed our lives. We have many things available to the inmates, which we would never have thought possible earlier,” he adds.

Jalandhar, April 1
For the past about one and half months, four men staying at Guru Nanak Anaath Ashram got well and have gone back to their respective homes, but for the rest, it’s a life not short of hell, despite the recent bout of help.

The chains might be off, but these people, most of whom don’t even have the sanity to understand where they are, are tied down by the fact that their families will never come back to take them home.

At the ashram are glaring examples of callous families - of people lying abandoned, even though their families know where they are and are well off to take care of them, or worse - of people who were tortured and enslaved by their families while they were still with them.

A man from Ludhiana was locked up in a room at his house for six months on the pretext that he was mentally upset.

An old woman was hit by a truck. While the driver ran away, she was taken to the Civil Hospital where she stayed for about 15 days before being brought to the ashram.

There are at least 10 inmates at the ashram whose families know where they are, but still don’t come to get them.

There’s a family of two sisters and their mother from Jagraonpind, all three are mentally challenged. The father knows that the family is here but chooses not to care.

One of the women - Balwinder - has her parents settled in the USA and another one’s father also stays in the USA.

Of the five new inmates the ashram has received in the last about a month, one is a paralysed girl of 11 to 12 years of age, who can’t tell what happened to her.

Another, is a 70-year-old woman, whose head was so infested with lices and bugs that the staff at first thought the rot had made way into her head.

The heads of most of the women living at the ashram have to be shaved off because they are found with sticky, entangled, bug-infested hair.

Caretaker Surinder Singh says that for the ashram staff this is quite normal . There are ghosts from the past too. “About a couple of years ago we found a woman and kept her with us. We later realised that she was pregnant. But she was so feeble that both she and her child could not be saved. Women found on the streets are generally gravely exploited.”

Many inmates of the ashram who got well now work there.

Jalandhar, April 1
In a major relief to employees and faculty of Dr BR Ambedkar National Institute of Technology (NIT), Jalandhar, the Punjab and Haryana High court has directed the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) to implement the old pension scheme (1972).

The court passed these orders on March 28. The NIT faculty received the orders on March 30.

In its judgment, the court said, "The MHRD will have to extend the old pension scheme (1972) as per Clause No 29 of NIT statute 2009." The judgment came as a breather for the employees and the faculty of the NIT.

A case in this regard was jointly filed by the NIT Faculty Forum and NIT staff union in 2010. They demanded the implementation of pension scheme for the staff and faculty.

Talking to Jalandhar Tribune, Professor MD Roy, president of NIT Faculty Forum, said as per the NIT Statute and NIT Act 2007, we had demanded pension benefits.

"Following our case, the MHRD gave verbal orders in November 2011 to bring the employees under the ambit of pension benefits, but it could not be implemented as the Union Finance Ministry refused to accept the proposal," added Roy, who is from the department of textile technology.

Later, the staff members filed a contempt of court in the same year as the ministry had said it was impossible for them to extend the pension benefits to the NIT staff. "Further we challenged this order and after four hearings in this case, the court finally ordered the MHRD to implement the old pension scheme (1972)", he said.

"This was a long-pending demand of the NIT staff as the old pension scheme was implemented in all NITs across the country barring NIT, Jalandhar. The judgment of the court has rekindled the hopes of the entire staff of the NIT," the union members said.

Jalandhar, April 1
A two-day UGC sponsored workshop on 'Sparse statistics optimisation and mechanism learning' was organised at Lyallpur Khalsa College.

The workshop saw the participation of scholars and teachers from different institutions and colleges. A special paper was presented by Dr AN Gill, professor, Panjab University, Chandigarh.

Jalandhar, April 1
A 19-year-old boy died of electrocution after he came in contact with high-tension wires at the godown of the city railway station last night.

The deceased has been identified as Rajan Singh. The deceased's father had parked his loaded truck adjacent to a goods train to load goods in the train. The Government Railway Police (GRP) officials said as the deceased's father was busy unloading goods, his son climbed on the truck and put his one leg on the roof of the goods train and came in contact with high-tension wires.

The victim was immediately rushed to a nearby private hospital where he breathed his last.

The GRP had initiated inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPC.