Jalandhar, September 29
In a smart move to hoodwink the authorities, owners of most of the marriage palaces across the district had adopted the strategy to convert the parking area mentioned in their plans as lawns and gardens.

Taking advantage of the leniency adopted by the departments concerned in holding subsequent checks, some palace owners did not even spare the tiniest place for parking of vehicles.

During functions, vehicles are instead made to park along roadsides up to a long stretch which causes traffic snarls along the road. The violation just does not end there. The lawns, gardens, fountain areas, entrance panoramas created in the site earmarked for parking area are further used for putting up food stalls or even as a separate venue for holding a party.

Some palace owners have even converted their basements initially shown as parking area into another banquet hall. Such an internal change within the palace has led to conflicting reports regarding palaces filed by various departments.

For instance even though the report sent to the court by the district authorities says a prominent resort along the Jalandhar-Amritsar highway has 30 per cent parking space (0.6 acre of total 1.5 acre), not more than three cars can be parked, those too in such a way that it would block the entrance.

Another palace along the Jalandhar-Phagwara highway falling in the MC limit has been shown to have 40 per cent parking place which is in complete contradiction. The area meant for parking has been shown to be 2.4 acre of total 6-acre land. However, there is a provision of parking not more than 30 cars as the entrance arcade towards the garden area or banquet begins soon after and vehicles cannot cross that point. Realising the trouble, the owner has taken a vacant plot alongside for parking vehicles of marriage parties.

Another palace near BMC Chowk is shown to have 90 per cent land as parking in the MC record (0.7 acre as total land and 0.63 acre for parking). However, there is no parking available within the building as there is a banquet even in the basement. The vehicles have to be parked in the parking lot of the market outside.

The JDA, which has already formed a committee for thorough investigation into each palace, has already done the spade work for the massive exercise. The authority will present the correct picture before the Punjab and Haryana High Court which will then decide on the action to be taken, the officials have said.

Asked regarding contradictory reports, Chief Administrator, JDA-cum-Deputy Commissioner Priyank Bharti said, “We are going by the reports sent to us by the SDMs or civic bodies. If the report submitted to me for presenting the matter before the court is based on findings from the site, the field officials of respective departments who have submitted the details will be surely taken to task.” 

Jalandhar, September 29
There is some bad news for the allottees of nearly 400 plots in the 99.97-acre Surya Enclave Extension scheme of the Jalandhar Improvement Trust. The scheme has got mired in legal wrangling.

All those who had invested money to the tune of few lakhs of rupees as the earnest money for allotment of their plots in November last year might have to wait for a long time as the Punjab and Haryana High Court has passed stay orders over the residential scheme. The orders have come at the time when the Trust had just started some development in the site by way of constructing a road.

Congress leader Varinder Sharma today held a press conference saying that 17 residents from the area had sought intervention of the court on the matter. The petitioners have contended that they were given just 30 days to raise objections against the scheme even as there was a statutory provision of 60 days. They have said that their objections were not properly heard by the JIT officials.

In the CWP 3559 of 2011 Arjan Singh and Others challenging the notifications 36 and 42 of the Punjab Town Improvement Act 1922, status quo regarding the possession of land had been earlier ordered.

Varinder Sharma said former Trust Chairman Baljit Singh Neelamahal extended benefits to some of his relatives. Neelamahal, however, has issued written statements saying that he was being maligned by some persons who did not want to see development in the city.

He said ever since there had been a stay, no activity regarding taking possession of land under stay was done by the Land Acquisition Collector, as was alleged. Over the allegations of registration of land after publication of notification under section 36, Neelamahal said the matter was with the Land Acquisition Collector. 

Jalandhar, September 29
As the Sodal mela ended on Friday, the roads leading to Sodal temple had one thing in common on Saturday morning. It was litter all around which was left over by devotees who after partaking langar did not bother to throw the plates in the dustbin.

Even those associations which had organised the langars did not do anything to clean the streets.

These langars were organised especially on the roadsides located within one-km radius of the Sodal temple.

These associations also used disposable plates, glasses and cups to serve langar to devotees.

Heaps of garbage was seen at two sites inside the Sodal mandir complex itself.

Besides, heaps of garbage were also seen on roads from Devi Talab Mandir Chowk to Sodal Chowk, Sodal crossing to Sodal Chowk, Gujja Peer Road to JMP factory, from Kali Mata Mandir Road to Sodal Chowk and from Devi Talab Mandir Chowk to Tanda crossing.

An office bearer of Sodal Kar Sewa Committee said the litter should also have been removed by the langar organisers. “Every year, we request these associations to keep the roads clean, but in vain.”

A social activist Rajat Mohindru said, “Associations organising langars should remove the garbage.” Going by an estimate, over 20 lakh devotees across Punjab and Himachal Pradesh paid obeisance at the temple during the mela.

Jalandhar, September 29
The preaching of a person who practices what he/she preaches are always more effective. Those who speak from experience reflect wisdom.

So when a congregation of people – most of whom themselves are hearing impaired – gathered together to talk about the rights of the hearing impaired, the listeners took notice.

The Deaf Hope Foundation (DHF), in association with the Punjab Association for the Deaf today held a Punjab Deaf Youth Conference here on the occasion of World Deaf Day.

Notably, 90 per cent of the members of the DHF are hearing impaired. The conference was followed by a rally to sensitise people about the needs and rights of the hearing impaired.

The main focus of the rally which started from the Red Cross Bhawan, where the conference was organised and went to Model Town before heading back to Red Cross Bhawan – was to sensitise city masses to converse with the hearing impaired using the sign language.

Rallying students distributing pamphlets (using sign language) teaching basics of the sign language for people to understand it.

During the conference people working for the cause of the hearing impaired from Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh among other places, gathered.

DHF’s president founder Ashwani Khadotra, a Jalandhar-based computer consultant, while speaking on the occasion, emphasised on the importance of educating the masses about the needs of the hearing impaired to bring about a change in social behavior towards them.

Khadotra, father of a 5-year-old hearing impaired boy, began touring the country digging out scenarios of education and research for the hearing impaired to seek out a better future for his son.

During the course of his work, he has brought solutions for many hearing impaired children.

While Khadotra provides lessons to schoolteachers and holds workshops for the parents of hearing impaired children, to get them well versed with the issue, his address today talked about the bright hope the hearing impaired had due to advancement in communication levels and many opportunities in the IT sector.

A search which began basically to be better equipped to provide quality education and facilities to his own son, Khadotra now provides lessons in understanding and sensitivity towards the hearing impaired for schoolteachers.

Rahul Jain, from Chandigarh, talked about animation and graphic design being two of the fields which hearing impaired were increasingly opting for today.

Notably, DHF’s secretary Abhinav Gupta is also a graphic designer who runs a printing business in Jalandhar. Saddiqui from Mumbai presented a play on the occasion. The play brought out the society’s tendency to overplay impairments, even as it disregarded the actual abilities of the impaired.

Saddiqui has been promoting artistic and cultural activities among the hearing impaired through his group. Himself an actor, Saddiqui makes students do plays on various themes through which he spreads awareness on the issue.

Later, a Deaf Awareness Rally was flagged off.

Manoranjan Kalia, former minister, was the chief guest on the occasion. 

Jalandhar, September 29
Even two days after a group of burglars broke into the showroom, the city police has failed to make any headway.

Though the burglars were caught on the CCTV camera and the police had taken its video footage into possession, policemen are still groping in the dark.

Talking to The Tribune, Assistance Commissioner of Police Sarbjit Singh said the burglars appeared to be professionals and were in early 30s.

“It seems that they had conducted a reconnaissance before committing the crime but the possibility of the involvement of certain insiders could not be ruled out. The police is also working on various theories,” he said.

The burglars had struck at the showroom on Thursday night and decamped with electronics goods worth lakhs of rupees. The stolen goods included 16 laptops, 60 mobile phones and cash.

Lalit Sethi, owner of the showroom, had lodged a complaint at the Police Station Division No-6 following which SHO Subhash Chander, accompanied by a team of fingerprint experts, rushed to the crime scene and initiated investigations.

The Station House Officer said the gang of seven youth was caught in the CCTV camera installed at a neighbouring shop. The footage of the CCTV camera also indicated that the thieves broke open the showroom in the wee hours and decamped with the booty.

Phagwara, September 29
Volunteers of Mohan Lal Uppal DAV College, Phagwara, organised a seven-day NSS camp on the college campus.

Members of the local Managing Committee and the entire staff were present at the inaugural function.

Environmentalist Malkiat Singh Ragbotra expressed views on environmental safety. He encouraged students to work for the sake of environment and plant more and more trees. He said environment protection was not a one-day project. It needed stern follow-up actions for the success. He encouraged everyone to save the environment through united efforts.

The college has adopted Mehtan village for the camp. The activities for the camp were also scheduled.

College students also performed cultural activities on the occasion. After the event, cleanliness of the college was performed by NSS volunteers under the supervision of Prof Kuldeep Singh.

Jalandhar, September 29
A project by Police DAV Public School, Jalandhar, on Braille printer has been selected by the Initiative for Research & Innovation in Science (IRIS) under the computer category.

This competition is organised by the Department of Science and Technology, Intel and the Confederation of Indian Industry to promote and recognise innovations among the youth and create an innovation culture in the country.

As many as 111 projects were shortlisted from across the country in which only 2 were shortlisted from Punjab. Police DAV Public School project on Braille printer is one of the two. This project will be displayed at a national fair to be held shortly.

The project has been made by two students, Khushwant Rai and Santokh Singh, of class XI under the guidance of their mentor Anuj Sharma. An ordinary dot matrix printer has been modified into a Braille printer and the paper is automatically embossed. The market price of such a printer is quite high, whereas this printer is made at the cost of an ordinary printer.

Dr Rashmi Vij, principal, applauded the team for their achievement.

Say no to polybags

‘Say no to polybags’, an awareness seminar and rally, was held at ST Soldier Degree College in which NSS volunteers of different colleges of the group participated.

Director-General Major Balwinder Singh, principal Veena Dada and staff members were present on the occasion.

In the seminar, Major Balwinder apprised the students of the harmful effects of polythene and asked them to use paper bags to control pollution. The students also conducted a rally in the campus carrying placards with the messages to stop the use of polybags.

Fresher’s Day celebrated

DIPS Polytechnic College, Rarra Morr, celebrated Fresher’s Day on the campus by organising a fresher’s party.

The function started with the recitation of a ‘shabad’ from ‘Guru Ki Bani’. It was followed by several entertaining cultural items, including plays, songs, group and solo dances.

On the occasion, Amandeep Singh Bajwa of the third semester and Pardeep Mohammad of the first semester were selected Mr senior fresher and Mr junior fresher, respectively.

Among girls, Dilpreet Kaur of the third semester and Harmeet Kaur of 1st semester were declared Ms senior and Ms junior fresher, respectively. Hardeep singh of the third semester was crowned Mr Singh.

The celebrations concluded with a vote of thanks by principal Rajneesh Kakkar.

Dr Rupinder Kaur, principal, DIPS College of Education, was present as the guest of honour.

World Tourism Day

To mark World Tourism Day, students of Sanskriti KMV School visited Jalandhar Railway Station and Verka Milk Plant.

The students enhanced their knowledge about the working of the railway station, parceling services, rail mail service, ticketing and reservation services.

The primary wing of the school conducted fun games and other activities for the students. Later, refreshments were also served to the students at the milk plant. Principal Rachna Monga asserted the need for such awareness programmes.

Jalandhar, September 29
The team of Hans Raj Mahila Maha Vidyalaya (HMV) won the first prize in GNDU Swimming Championship. Principal Dr Rekha Kalia Bhardwaj congratulated the team members and coach. She said Anisha, a college student, has been declared the Best Swimmer of the championship. Anisha won nine gold and six silver medals. Sukhpal of the same college won two gold and six silver medals. HMV team also won second prize in 4x100 m, freestyle relay, 4x200 m freestyle relay and 4x100 m individual medley.

Prof attends workshop

Dr Arun Dev Sharma, HoD, Department of Biotechnology of Lyallpur Khalsa College, attended a workshop organised by IISR, Calicut, in Kerala. The conference was a prestigious programme sponsored by the Department of Biotechnology, Department of IT and the Indian Council for Agricultural Research. Dr Sharma said that after rigorous screening of applications received from all over India, the organisers had selected him to participate. Dr Sharma was only candidate from Punjab. He was selected on the basis of his research projects and PG and PhD students being supervised by him. The workshop was based on the theme that how plants could be made stress tolerant by biotechnology means.

Daycare centre opened

A daycare centre has been opened by the Department of Home Science of Kanya Maha Vidyalaya. Principal Dr Atima Sharma inaugurated the centre and said that it would be a boon for not only for the staff members of the college, but also for the working women outside KMV College. The centre is well equipped with all basic amenities required for entertainment and overall development of children.

Patriotic song contest

BD Arya Girls College, Jalandhar Cantonment, bagged the first position in the inter-college patriotic group song competition organised by National Martyr’s Memorial Committee.

Motivational seminar

The Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering from Mehr Chand Polytechnic College organised a motivational seminar on positive thinking which was conducted by Vishwas Vaishnav, a management guru. Around 600 students were taught on how to face personal and professional life. Jagroop Singh, principal, exhorted students to remain positive and work hard to achieve 
their goals.

Essay contests

The Planning Forum of Hans Raj Mahila Maha Vidyalaya organised an inter-class essay writing and inter-class debate competition. The topic of essay writing competition was ‘economic problems’. Thirty students of various classes participated in the essay writing. The first prize was awarded to Kamna, Megha got second prize, and Shubham and Gagandeep shared the third prize. In debate competition, various topics of economics were covered and 50 students participated. First prize was given to Tarannum. Pallavi and Jasmine got second prize. Jagdeep and Prachi got third prize. Aarti and Gurpal got the consolation prize. A special prize was given to Puneet.

Elocution contest

Kirti Kalra of Innocent Hearts College of Education won a prize in the elocution contest on the topic ‘Relevance of Swami Vivekanand’s teachings in the present context’ organised by Bharat Vikas Parishad at Devi Talab Mandir recently. In this contest, as many as 16 candidates from various colleges of the district participated. The winners will now compete at the state level.

Installation ceremony

The installation ceremony of Central Association Team (2012-13) of BD Arya Girls College, Jalandhar Cantonment, was organised this week. Mamta was elected the head girl; Priya vice-head girl; Harpreet secretary; Navjot Kaur joint secretary; and Harpreet Kaur, Gurneet Kaur, Sovina and Gurwinder were elected executive members. The investiture ceremony of KMV students’ council took place. Ridhima from postgraduate diploma in fashion design was appointed the head girl; Gureet Kaur of BBA-III and Navneet Kaur of computer sciences were elected vice-head girls; and Rachna of BSc-III (non-medical) was appointed the associate head girl.

Boxer gets warm welcome

Champion boxer Amritpal Kaur, a BA-II student, was given a warm welcome by students, staff and managing committee of Kamla Nehru College for Women, Phagwara. She recently won a gold medal in the Junior National Boxing Championship.

She had also clinched a gold medal in the Punjab Junior Boxing Championship (Hoshiarpur), silver in the North India Boxing Championship (Shimla), bronze in the Inter-Zonal National Boxing Championship. 

Jalandhar, September 29
Three incidents of kidnapping of infants in Jalandhar and Kapurthala districts this September has raised suspicion of involvement of a gang in these incidents.

Though the police has ruled out presence of such a gang, frequent abduction of children have caused fear among residents.

The latest incident happened on September 20, when a couple abducted an eight-year-old infant and tried to sell him for Rs 50,000.

The couple kidnapped the son of Jagganath, a slum dweller in Patarkalan village, located on the Kartarpur-Kapurthala road on Thursday night.

The Jalandhar (Rural) police arrested the couple, identified as Roshan and his wife Seema of Fathudhinga village in Kapurthala for kidnapping the infant. During interrogation, the couple revealed they would have sold the infant to a childless couple - Amrik Singh and his wife Paramjit Kaur of Para village --- for Rs 50,000. The accused have also named Sanjiv, a middleman through whom the deal was finalised.

The CIA staff had taken the help of telecom companies to locate the kidnappers. The five were later nabbed under Sections 364 of the IPC by the Kartarpur police.

A one year-old boy, Jasprit Singh, was abducted from his house in Ramgarh village in Kapurthala on September 28. The Kapurthala police has failed to make any headway in this case even after a week.

A minor girl had also gone missing from Hargovind Nagar locality in Jalandhar on September 9. The city police recovered her just two days later. The police had also arrested Sabi, a resident of the same locality, for the abduction and a case under sections 363 and 366 of the IPC was registered against her at police station division No 8.

Superintendent of Police (Detective) Rajinder Singh, however, ruled out the possibility of presence of such a gang saying that no such fact has come out during the interrogation of the accused.

He also said there was no report of missing infants with the police for the past couple of years. 

Jalandhar, September 29
The host Lovely Professional University (LPU) has secured a berth in the quarterfinals of the North Zone Inter-University Football (Men) Championship 2012-13.

The event witnessed an electrifying contest between the LPU and Amity University teams. The match witnessed a huge rush at the university stadium, wherein the host team was cheered by a crowd of nearly 10,000 students from LPU.

The Pool A match saw LPU thrashing Amity University by a score of 2-1. Massi Dusu and Aman Chhetri of LPU scored goals for their team in the first and second half, which has now gone into the quarters and will play with PTU.

PTU is the defending champion of the tournament, having won gold last year.

In another clash of the Pool B, Delhi University defeated Guru Jambheshwar University, Hisar, with a score of 4-0. In the match played between Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia, the score was 0-2.

The fourth match featured Chaudhary Devi Lal University Sirsa v/s Kurukshetra University. In this match, both teams were unable to make any score and played for penalty shootout. Again, there was a tiebreaker. Finally in a second tiebreaker, Chaudhary Devi Lal University, Sirsa, defeated Kurukshetra University by 1-0.

Massi Dusu of LPU, on his success in securing the goal for the host team, said: “I have played football in my home country in Africa for long, but playing in India for LPU has been a different experience.”