Jalandhar, February 22
Taking a suo motu notice of the news item published in Jalandhar Tribune on January 18 regarding Jasdeep Kaur, an NRI-deserted wife with a one-year-old son, seeking justice from the NRI police wing, the Punjab State Commission for NRIs has directed the IG, NRI Affairs, to ascertain the status of the FIR. It has also told the IG to find out the subsequent proceedings from the NRI police station at Jalandhar and submit the same to the commission on or before April 3.

The commission has taken cognisance of the news report forwarded by KS Nagra, a human rights activist based in the city.

The report highlighted that Jaspreet Kaur, a 28-year-old woman was married to Malkiat Singh, an NRI from New York on February 26, 2011. Despite her parents spending around Rs 30 lakh on the wedding and dowry, her husband and in-laws demanded Rs 15 lakh from the girl's side to buy a new car, failing which she was repeatedly beaten up badly. She even gave birth to a male child in 2012, but even after that, her husband and in-laws refused to accept her.

Following this, she even filed a complaint with the NRI police station in the city which issued a look-out circular for Malkiat Singh and his parents. "We are following the case very closely. A look-out circular has already been issued for him and his family and he has also been declared a proclaimed offender. We have also arrested her brother-in-law, but later had to release him on anticipatory bail," confirmed ASI Mukesh Kumar, investigating officer.

The commission also observed that in the recent past, matrimonial disputes of NRIs were holding the centre-stage.This is a menace and need to be curbed with stern hands, observed the commission.

PHAGWARA: The police here has booked a Uganda-based NRI Ram Lal of Palli Jhikki village, his father Chachal Ram, mother Surinder Kaur and sister Gurmit Kaur under Section 498A/506 of the IPC on the charges of demanding dowry and physically and mentally torturing Ram Lal's wife Saroj Rani of Dhak Pandori village.

Saroj Rani, in a written complaint, lodged before the police said she was married to Ram Lal on April 10 in 2005 and they had a son also.

She alleged that she was being tortured by her NRI husband in East Africa (Uganda), who sent her back to India on October 21 in 2010. Her in-laws also threw her out from the house along with her son in November, 2010. She alleged that she was badly tortured by her-in-laws for more dowry. No arrest has been made so for.

In another case, the police has booked five NRIs, residing in Australia, South Africa and Spain, under Section 498A/506 of the IPC on the charges of torturing a Phagwara girl and demanding more dowry from her parents. They also duped her parents of lakhs of rupees on the pretext of settling her in Australia.

The complainant Ramandeep Kaur of nearby Narangpur village narrated her shocking tale of harassment and alleged, in her written complaint lodged before the police, that her Batala-based in-laws, including her NRI husband Jasbir Singh (Australia), his father Baldev Singh,mother Manjit Kaur, brother Satwinder Singh (South Africa) and another brother Palwinder Singh (Spain) cheated her and duped her parents of lakhs of rupees on the pretext of settling her in Australia with her husband.

Explaining her episode to the police, she said she was a divorcee of her Australia-based husband Inderjit Verma of Khanna to whom she was married in 2008. She married NRI Jasbir Singh in 2011 after her formal divorce. She alleged that her in-laws, including her husband, took more than Rs 20 lakh in different instalments on the pretext of settling her in Australia and she applied for spouse visa. Their demands, however, continued and when her parents expressed their helplessness to fulfil their demands, Jasbir, in connivance with his family members, withdrew her application for spouse visa.

She further alleged that Jasbir got engaged to another girl Gagandeep of Dhilwan on the sly during his India visit last year. The police is investigating the matter, but no arrest has been made so for.

Jalandhar, February 22
A day after holding a protest at Jyoti Chowk, illegal occupants along the Old GT road near the Division No. 4 police station today themselves started removing the encroachments put up by them.

The one-month deadline regarding the removal of the encroachments on the orders by the Punjab and Haryana High Court falls tomorrow. MC officials had already served notices to 36 illegal occupants and the building branch officials had sought police force for today for the removal of the encroachments.

Even before the action was to come today, the occupants yesterday managed the support of Jalandhar (Central) MLA Manoranjan Kalia and lodged a protest at the site. A compromise was reached last evening, after which it was finally decided that the shopkeepers would themselves remove their encroachments, which they did today.

Assistant Town Planner Parampal Singh said since the last date for the removal of encroachments falls tomorrow, he would check the progress of the removal of encroachments till Sunday and take further orders from Commissioner Manpreet Singh Chattwal on how to proceed further. 

Jalandhar, February 22
To revive the lost glory of famous village Sansarpur, renowned hockey tournament "Sansarpur Hockey Cup" is being organised from February 23 to 25 at the village after many years.

Around 10 teams from the Army, paramilitary forces and the Punjab Armed Police will take part in the tournament. Besides a separate tournament for children under 55 kg will also be organised simultaneously in which six teams from rural areas will take part. Whereas the winner of the Sansarpur Cup will be given Rs 35,000, the runners-up team will get Rs 20,000. The winning team of the Sansarpur Cup in the children’s category would be given tracksuits.

“We are trying to revive the lost glory of the village and to motivate the present generation, along with their parents, to come and take up the sport as a profession. Earlier, with the tournament being held annually in the village, many people like me got attracted towards the game.This time, too, we are hopeful to attract fresh talent towards our national game,” said Col Balbir Singh (retd), popularly known as Balbir (Services).

The tournament is being organised at this time as Sansarpur village is bustling with action and sporting splendour nowadays, as more than 40 hockey teams from different establishments of the Army have gathered here for their annual practice season. These teams come here annually during this season due to the easy availability of trained coaches, well-maintained grounds and above all, there are many teams to hone their skills with regular matches.

“Where else can we find so many teams for practice at a single place? I have been bringing my team here from the past 23 years. This place is the best to practise hockey. Besides easy availability of coaches and other teams for practice, we also have easy access to various types of practice grounds here. Moreover, being close to the Army area, boarding and lodging is never a big problem for us,” said Subedar Tilak, coach of the Army hockey team from Delhi. The village has three different types of turf which include astro polyturf, grassy and mud ground.

With the arrival of so many teams, the village also gears up to welcome them and also to earn some quick bucks by providing them various facilities. The most profitable ones are the coaches who, by privately coaching them, are earning anything between Rs 10,000 to 20,000. “We are paid according to our experience and the time devoted to the teams. But here one can find the best coaches in the country. The aura of the village motivates the players to perform and excel in the sport,” said ex-Sub Chaman Singh, coach.

The Olive Green teams come here from January to March to practice for their divisional-level tournament. Also the annual Sansarpur Cup is being organised during this time only among various competitive teams of the region to check their ranking and to allow them to improve upon their problem areas with the best coaching expertise available in the village, which is no doubt the best in the country.

Jalandhar, February 22
Due to lack of buses in the Punjab Roadways fleet, it is not only the passengers, who have to face the might of private buses crew. The Punjab Roadways employees have been suffering too.

The situation is such the private bus drivers and conductors do not let the Punjab Roadways staff to stop buses at bus stands of small towns for more than a few seconds. They themselves stop their vehicles for more time than the allotted time. They manage to get more passengers accommodated their own buses.

There are more private buses at every bus stand than the Punjab Roadways vehicles. In order to woo the travellers, they have got such a time table, which enables a private bus to always leave the bus stand before a Punjab Roadways does. Due to this passengers opt for private buses.

The way private buses staff treat other state transport buses like Haryana Roadways and J&K State Roadways Transport Corporation (JKSRTC) is quite terrible.

“Belonging to other states, we are easy targets for them. They don’t even let us stop at any small town bus stop,” said a conductor of Haryana Roadways.

State vice-president of the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) Pardeep Kumar said most of the private bus transport companies in Punjab belonged to the people, who were either themselves politicians or had good links with political parties. That was the sole reason behind the non-improvement of the quality of Punjab Roadways buses, he added.

“We need more than 1,000 buses in the present fleet in order to survive in such conditions. Apart from demonstration on several occasions, we have written numerous letter to the Punjab government and have held meetings with general managers concerned, but to no avail,” added Pardeep.

Amrik Singh, state president the Punjab Roadways Workers Union, said there were around 1,200 Punbus buses and 400 buses in the Punjab Roadways fleet. “As per the transport policy, there have to be 60 per cent government buses, including Pepsu Roadways Transport Corporation (PRTC) and Punjab Roadways and 40 per cent private buses on national and state routes. But 80 per cent of the buses on every route are being run by private transporters,” he added.

He said AC buses owned by private transporters had 35 minutes standing-time at every bus stand, whereas Punjab Roadways AC buses had seven minutes standing-time. For non-AC buses, Punjab Roadways had two minutes while private buses had seven minutes. “That is a sheer violation of state transport,” said Amrik.

He said there should not be any private bus plying on national routes, including Ludhiana-Chandigarh, Jalandhar-Amritsar and Ferozepur-Fazilka according to the transport policy. “We have been writing to be the authority concerned from time to time, but nothing has been done as yet,” he added.

Harjinder Singh Minhas, Punjab Roadway General Manager 1, said, “Private buses commute as per given time tables.” He said that it didn’t come under his jurisdiction to comment whether there were less buses in the fleet as it was a state-level issue. 

Jalandhar, February 22
Guru Ravidas Ayurved University, Hoshiarpur, in collaboration with Swami Vivekanand Sardhsati Samaroh Samiti, Punjab, organised a state-level Swami Vivekanand declamation contest at the convention hall of the DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology here today.

The function was co-ordinated by Dayanand Ayurvedic College, Jalandhar. The first position was bagged by Kriti Mehta of Innocent Arts College of Education, Jalandhar.

She received Rs 10,000 cash prize. Manpreet Kaur of DAV College of Education for Women, Amritsar, placed second, was given Rs 5,000 cash prize.

Aditya Jain of DAV University, Jalandhar, placed third, got Rs 3,000 cash prize.

Consolation prizes of Rs 1,000 were given to nine students.

Dr Rajnish Arora, Vice-Chancellor, Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar, was the chief guest. He highlighted the contribution of Swami Vivekananda towards upliftment of women and down trodden of society.

Prof OP Upadhyaya, Vice-Chancellor of Guru Ravidas Ayurved University, Hoshiarpur, presided over the function. He emphasised on the spiritual and philosophical aspects of Swami Vivekanand and his role in spreading the message of Vedas and Upnishadas to the West.

Dr Raj Kumar, Principal of Dayanand Ayurvedic College, Jalandhar, appreciated all participants for showcasing a keen interest in the teachings of Swami Vivekananda.

Jalandhar, February 22
Police Station Outreach Centres were today inaugurated in the city to improvise the community policing service. Chief Parliamentary Secretary KD Bhandari today launched an outreach centre of Division Number 8 police station at Transport Nagar. SHO Vimal Kant said various routine services of the public, including verification of passports, verification of servants, arms licence renewal, provision of FIR copies, details regarding disposal of cases and NOCs for various purposes would be available at the centre.

Jalandhar Central MLA Manoranjan Kalia also inaugurated an outreach centre at Division Number 2 police station. ACP Central Dev Dutt said as many as 22 services would be provided by the qualified police staff.

All provisions for the convenience of the visitors have been made, including setting up of counters, deployment of separate staff and other utilities. The staff has been instructed to deal courteously with the public and resolve all their issues in a proper manner, said the ACP. 

Jalandhar, February 22
The school of physical education lifted the overall trophy of the annual sports meet held at Lovely Professional University (LPU), near here, on the concluding day today. School of mechanical engineering was declared overall championship runner-up, while the school of electronics and electrical engineering remained the overall athletics runner-up.

LPU Chancellor Ashok Mittal was the chief guest on the occasion. He awarded the championship trophy to athletes of the school of physical education for their achievements.

Sarvjit Kaur of physical education was adjudged best woman athlete for setting two new records in 100 and 200 mtrs. Sandeep Kumar of electronics and electrical engineering was declared the best man-athlete of the university.

Pinky and Promila of physical education also won gold and silver medals, respectively, in 5,000 mtr race whereas student Guo Xiao Xiao, a student from China, won bronze.

Today’s results

Race 400 mtr (Men): Naveen (hotel management) first,; Aneet (physical education) second; Lakhan Singh (ECE) third.

Women: Pinky, Sukhdeep Kaur and Veerpal Kaur won gold, silver and bronze medals, respectively.

Hammer throw

Men: Navdeep Singh (hotel management) won gold, Sukhpal and Paramjit Singh, both of physical education, won silver and bronze medals, respectively.

Women: Navreet Kaur of physical education, Garima Sharma (CSE) and Pardeep Kaur (distance education) came first, second and third respectively.

High jump

Men: Basuki Nath (mechanical engineering) gold; Avisa (physical education), Ajay (ECE) and Sudhir (ECE) all got tied for silver.

Women: Amandeep (physical education), Meena (CSE) and Mafia (physical education) were placed first, second and third, respectively.

Races

4x400 Relay (Men): Team of Lakhan, Sandeep, Sarvesh and Naveen (all from ECE) set new meet record for the gold medals. Teams from the physical education got silver and bronze.

Women: Team of Sarvjit Kaur, Pinky, Harvinder and Balvir Kaur (all physical education) clinched the first position. Another two teams from the same department stood second and third respectively.

Javelin throw

Men: Sukhjinder Singh (distance education) claimed gold, Vikram Singh (mechanical engineering) silver; Jagdeep Singh (distance education) bronze medal.

Women: Nirmal Kaur (school of business) won the gold; Satwinder Kaur and Arti Abrol (both from physical education) got silver and bronze medals respectively.

200 mtr race

Men: Sandeep and Lakhan (ECE) won gold and silver medals respectively. Md. Yunus (civil engineering) claimed bronze.

Women: Sarvjit and Madhvi (physical education) claimed gold and silver medals respectively. Jyoti Mehta (computer applications) clinched bronze.

Jalandhar, February 22
The annual sports day was celebrated at Lyallpur Khalsa College for Women on Saturday. The event was inaugurated by the college Principal, Dr Kuldeep Kaur Dhaliwal, by hoisting a flag. The function began with a march past. After the oath taking ceremony various sports competitions like spoon race, 100 metre race, three-leg race, candle race, tug of war, dodge ball, musical event were held. Cultural activities added to the fun to the event. The college hockey team played a hockey match. Dr Inderjit while addressing students emphasised on the necessity of sports in the modern sedentary lifestyle. Many other events were also held on the occasion.

Results

100 metres: Gurjeet (BA sem-II), Jaspreet (10+1), Ramandeep (BA sem-IV)

Three-leg race: Ranapreet and Jatinder, Neha and Mandeep, Meenakshi and Sunita. Candle race: Yatisha and Manu, Navjot and Pooja, Lalita Poonam

Tug of War: Supriya, Shikha, Pushpa. Musical chairs (teaching): Reena, Sukhraj, Maninder Arora

Musical chairs (non-teaching): Narinder, Baljinder, Mamta. Dodge ball: Daljit Kaur (BCom sem-II). Sac race: Pooja Rani, Mandeep Kaur. Spoon race: Shivani, Bubbly, Reena.

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