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Code of conduct in strings
While the mode code of the conduct had come into force with the declaration of election schedule on December 29, the District Returning Officer and his staff failed to make arrangements to remove them even after a week. No political party lags in violation of the model code of conduct as hoardings, banners and buntings of almost all parties deface public places, including the stretch between Paragpur and Bhagat Singh Colony chowk, on the National Highway No 1 that falls in the city. However, the main political parties of Punjab including the Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) and Bharatiya Janata Party are ahead of others in this shameful deed. Hoarding, banners and buntings of the Congress are mostly in parts of the city from where the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh’s, Vikas Yatra had passed through. Similarly, the banners and buntings of the SAD (B) and BJP can mostly be seen where former Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, had addressed six rallies a few weeks ago. Parties to pay
When asked, the Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Returning Officer (DRO), Mr A. Venu Prasad, said he had already directed the Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar, to remove such banners and. He said the money spent on removing the buntings and banners would be taken from the political parties concerned whose banners are to be removed. The DC further said a committee chaired by the Additional Deputy Commissioner (General) would be set up to check putting up of hoardings, banners and buntings on public offices and public property, including roads, electric poles, telecom poles and roundabouts. The SP (City), MC Joint Commissioner and ADC (Development) would be included in the committee as members, he said, adding that a meeting of the committee would be called on January 8. Mr Venu Prasad said no political party would be allowed to put any banner or bunting at public places. Further a political party can put up its banners and buntings on a private building only after getting a written permission from the owner of the building. When contacted, the SAD chief of Jalandhar City unit, Mr Gurcharan Singh Channi, said his party had already started removing hoardings, banners and buntings put up in different parts of city soon after the DRO directed the representatives of all the political parties to do so in a meeting called on Thursday afternoon. His party workers had removed banners and buntings from the Cool Road and Industrial Area. Similarly, BJP Chief of Jalandhar City unit, Mr Shiv Dayal Chugh, said he had requested the DRO to remove such banners and buntings put up on public buildings. He said he had specially raised the issue of hoardings of Cooperative Bank which had been put up in different places displaying photographs of the Congress chief, Ms Sonia Gandhi, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and a local Congress leader Anil Dutta. The DRO had assured them of necessary action in this regard, he added. Besides Mr Channi and Mr Chugh, representatives of almost all political parties were present at the meeting.
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36 Sainik School students clear NDA written hurdle
The Principal, Col (Dr) A.K. Tyagi, attributed the success to the concerted efforts and the team spirit of the staff who had vowed to regain the coveted Defence Minister’s Trophy for sending the maximum number of cadets to the NDA. Incidentally, the school has bagged the said trophy seven times in the past. Krishna Kumar, school captain, was jubilant and excited on having cleared the written exam. He passed on the credit of his success to the dedicated efforts of the Principal and the staff. Another student, Simarpreet Singh, was equally ecstatic as he was now just one step away from fulfilling his father’s long cherished dream of him joining the NDA. Calls congratulating started pouring in as the result came out a few days ago. Many former students congratulated the Principal and the staff for their efforts and the success they had achieved. The Principal said he had taken certain concrete steps to improve the quality of the NDA results. The students were kept in the school during the vacation, the syllabus was completed by November and the students were given special training for the NDA examination. During the present session also the students are staying in the school and NDA training is being given to the students of class XI for the NDA exam to be held in August next year, he said. According to the information provided by the school, it has produced officers like Brig (Retd) MPS Bajwa, YSM (known as the Kargil Hero), Chairman of PEDA, Lt-Gen AS Sekhon, VSM, AVSM, Air Vice-Marshall Anil Chopra, VM, VSM and many others. Lt-Gen AS Sekhon is the first officer from the school to have risen to the rank of Lieutenant General.
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Peter controls chaos on road
Disturbed by the traffic chaos in the city, Sweden-based Mr Pritam Singh took over the duties of a traffic policeman to discipline motorists and passersby near the busy BMC Chowk on Thursday.
Dressed in a black shirt, trousers, with florescent green jacket, Mr Pritam Singh, alias Peter, stood on duty with the traffic cops on the road leading to Kamal Palace from the chowk. Annoyed at vehicles were coming from the wrong side for a short cut to reach the BMC Chowk, despite the said road being declared a one-way route, he stood guiding drivers to the earmarked traffic rules. Vehicles from the wrong side were asked to move to the GT Road past a small island to get to the BMC Chowk. The traffic cops too had been doing the same and he said he was adding onto their manpower and trying to be strict in implementation. But, not all was simple. There were many who did not like the idea, were unruly and tried to run him over. Shocked, but not undeterred, he continued. His efforts were somehow not to the liking of the policemen who allowed their acquaintances to move on along the wrong side too. One of the policemen laughed, “Let him do the job and feel satisfied. He will soon be put off.” Another one called him “mad”. Peter was so busy managing the traffic that he hardly had time to talk to curious onlookers who gathered around the place to see what was he up to. In a brief conversation, he said he was here with his friends running a car accessory shop at the chowk. He was not managing the traffic for the first time. “I have done that a number of times in Sweden and the UK. I wish to bring in some of their ideas of traffic regulation here and give them some that I pick from here”, he laughed.
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‘Rescued’ & Loved
Today, they live with dignity at a rescue centre where they preen themselves and swim in clean water. Reshma’s is just one of the stories featured in the “Rescued” calendar — 2007 released by PETA to create awareness in the public for animal welfare. Other stories include PETA chief Anuradha Sawhney rescuing a lizard from the clutches of street boys. They had tied a string around its neck and put it on a stick.
The calendar says whenever you see anyone mistreating an animal, immediately intervene and explain that animals too feel pain and deserve respect. Another leaf of the calendar shows adorable Pepper, an abandoned dog. A PETA staffer noticed the dog on the road. He got it treated. Since then Pepper has become an indispensable part of his household. Pepper was purchased from a pet shop. The owner of the shop claimed that Pepper was a purebred Pomeranian. When the owner took it to a veterinarian, he came to know that the dog was of mixed breed. He abandoned it. The calendar says never buy a pet from a breeder. Adopt stray animals, have them sterilised, and let them share their life with you. Paro, a donkey, was deserted by a ‘rehrawala’ on the streets of Solapur. When it could not manage heavy loads, the owner left it to die. It was suffering from dehydration, sores, muscle strain and depression from being subjected to beating, before it was rescued. Similarly, Raja, a horse, and Lakshya, a bullock, are being rehabilitated at a rescue centre under the Animal Rahat programme. The calendar says never patronise animal rides. The animals used for such rides are often made to work in sweltering heat with little food. If you see any animal forced to give rides, report it to your local animal shelter or animal organisations like the SPCA and the PFA. Another story is about Mili, the lamb, who had been caged at a slaughterhouse in Mumbai. When rescued, it was in a terrible state. Its mother had just been slaughtered. If you see anyone illegally transporting or slaughtering animals, call animal organisations or the police. Other rescued animals include a camel named Rakhee, lions Simbha and Sheena and a turkey, Gollum. Says chief functionary of PETA Anuradha Sawhney: “The animals cannot speak for themselves, so it is up to us to speak for them.”
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I-cards elude voters of
Sarabha Nagar
Residents of Sarabha Nagar colony near Pathankot bypass at Jalandhar are a disillusioned lot as many of them have not received their voter I-cards prepared by the administration for the forthcoming Assembly elections.
The residents said they had gone to booth No 112 falling in Government School, Noorpur, there to get their photographs taken but many of them had not got their I-cards. They said they had been trying to reach the officials concerned for the purpose but in vain. They rued that without an I-card, they would be denied their right to cast vote in the coming elections. Mr Surinder Singh, a resident, said he even tried to contact the officials concerned on the No 2244059 that was mentioned in one of the public notices released by the administration recently for getting the discrepancies noted but his call was not answered. He said when he contacted the officials in the booth; he was told that his photograph was missing. Mr Gurjit Singh, another resident, too had a similar complaint. He said there were scores of other people who were in a dilemma as he made his point that the voter I-card did not come handy at the time of elections alone but was also a proof of identity.
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City student for national fest
Having won a silver medal in rangoli at the North Zone University Youth Festival, Mandeep Kaur, a student of MBA from Lovely Institutes, will now participate in the national-level university festival to be held at Chennai soon. Mandeep is the only student from Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar, to have been selected to represent the North Zone for the national event. She said she had been practicing the art since her school days with different colours and designs. Though it would be a tough competing with south Indian students, she was trying hard to improve, she added.
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In clear defiance of the model election code of conduct, hoardings, banners and buntings of almost all the political parties put up a few weeks ago still can be seen at several public places in different parts of the city.
It was a joyous moment for Sainik School, Kapurthala, as 36 of its students cleared the National Defence Academy (NDA) written examination held in August last year. The school, once known as chief feeder institution for the NDA, has again generated tremendous results.
Reshma is a goose that was kept in a small filthy cage along with her friends on display at a restaurant on the Mumbai-Pune highway. Often the birds were teased by visitors and their feathers were dirty and unkempt. They were rescued by volunteers of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).
On her intervention, the boys ran away, leaving the lizard behind on the road to die. She removed the noose from her neck and released it into its natural habitat.