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CM promises computers to all govt schools within two years
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VIPs bring along traffic woes to city
Farmers to block road over land erosion issue
Purewal Khed Mela from Feb 10
Body found hanging
Congress leader held, released on bail
Infant found dead
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CM promises computers to all govt schools
Dhariwal (Jalandhar), February 5 “The basis of development in today’s world are computers and no field can progress without it. Realising the importance of the computer, we are going to make computer education compulsory in all schools of the state, which will also be equipped with computers in a phased manner within the next two years,” he said. He was addressing a gathering here after paying tributes to former Punjab Minister Gurbanta Singh on his 26th death anniversary. Punjab Local Bodies Minister Chaudhary Jagjit Singh was also present on the occasion to pay tributes to his father. Captain Amarinder Singh said computer education in as many as 1,300 government schools would be started during the first phase this year. In the next phase, as many as 4,800 schools would be covered. “The objective of this programme is to enable our children to compete with their counterparts from the developed countries. They should be armed with education in such an atmosphere that they can land jobs in any part of the world,” he said. Turning to the plight of the farmers, he said the problem was that the land holdings were shrinking in the state at a fast pace. He said the loss could only be made up with the help of crop diversification. “More than 80 per cent of our farmers do not possess more than four acres of land. To enable farmers to fetch more income from small land holdings, the Punjab government is encouraging crop diversification and cultivation of cash crops,” the Chief Minister said. “If all of us work for the upliftment of small and poor farmers, it will the real tribute to Master Gurbanta Singh,” he added. Captain Amarinder Singh said the Punjab government was in the process of allotting as many as 80,000 plots to homeless people from the Dalit community. “All of these 80,000 plots would be given to homeless Dalits during the current year, so that each and every person in Punjab could have a home of his own,” Captain Amarinder Singh said. Ms Kartari Devi and Mr Phul Chand Mulana, the Health and Education Ministers of Haryana, respectively, also paid tributes to Master Gurbanta Singh and narrated how he used to help the poor and downtrodden. Chaudhary Jagjit Singh said he had resolved to work for the upliftment of people and follow the footsteps of his father. Others who attended the function included the Punjab Food and Civil Supplies Minister, Mr Avtar Henry, the Punjab Revenue Minister, Mr Amarjit Samra, the Parliamentary Secretary, Mr Raj Kumar Verka, former MP Iqbal Singh, veteran Congress leaders, Dr Lekh Raj, Chaudhary Darshan Singh and MLA Chaudhary Santokh Singh, the Commissioner, Jalandhar Division, Dr Swaran Singh, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Ashok Gupta, the SSP, Mr Ishwar Singh, the IG, Mr Hardip Dhillon, Mayor, Amritsar, Sunil Datti and Mayor, Jalandhar, Mr Surinder Mahey. |
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VIPs bring along traffic woes to city
Residents of Jalandhar faced an array of difficulties during the “special traffic” arrangements made by the police keeping in view the visit of Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh to the city today.
As soon as the cavalcade of the Chief Minister, senior officers and Congress leaders headed from the PAP helipad, where Capt Amarinder Singh had landed, towards the city, the entire route from PAP to Dhilwan village was virtually sealed by the Jalandhar police’s traffic wing. Interestingly, special arrangements, with deployment of traffic cops, were seemingly made to ensure that the VVIP cavalcade did not have to halt at any of the number of red lights present on the route, while passing through the heart of the city. Much before they got the information about the Chief Minister’s arrival, traffic policemen sealed intersections that had red lights such as BMC Chowk and Guru Nanak Mission Chowk and the commuters were asked to stop at these intersections for a couple of minutes. This not only caused inconvenience to the people, but also resulted in spiraling queues of vehicles. |
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Farmers to block road over land erosion issue
Dhilwan (Kapurthala), February 5 The farmers have now decided to stage a protest by blocking the GT Road near Dhilwan on February 13 in case compensation to the affected farmers was not given and remedial measures not taken to protect their lands. Thousands of acres of land of the farmers residing in these villages have eroded due to a change in the course of the river. As per a survey conducted by the Revenue Department, a total of 1,110 acres of land was eaten up by the river due to a change in its course before June last year. According to an estimate, the river in this region is eroding more than 20 acres of land every month. Gurdev Singh, a farmer from Butala village, committed suicide in October last year after his land got eroded. “Due to the sandy land in the region, the rate of erosion is high,” Mohan Singh Bal, a resident of Butala village and leader of Akali Dal (Mann), said. “Now, there is hardly any farmer from our village who has not been affected by the river’s new course,” he said. “I have lost more than 20 acres in the erosion,” Nirvair Singh from Butala said. Mohan Singh and Kirpa Singh from the same village have also been affected. A proposal to give Rs 10,000 per acre to the affected farmers was sent to the government by the district administration after Dr Swaran Singh, Commissioner, Jalandhar division, visited the affected areas on June 22 last year. Besides, a plan to check the land erosion was also submitted by the local Drainage Department to the Chief Engineer (Drainage) in August last. According to the plan, 20 studs and three spurs were to be constructed at a cost of Rs 2.17 crore to protect the agriculture land in these villages from erosion. But no funds for the purpose has been released till date. Mr Samir Kumar, Deputy Commissioner, Kapurthala, when contacted, informed that Rs 49 lakh had already been received by the district administration from the government against compensation to the farmers of Dhilwan and Sultanpur Lodhi for the loss of their lands. He said the compensation would be disbursed within the next ten days and more money was expected to be released in the near future. “The funds for constructing studs and spurs in the area are also going to be released soon,” Mr Kumar added. |
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Inter-college fest concludes
Jalandhar, February 5 On the first day of the festival, students from 20 colleges across the region participated in various contests, including master mind quiz, hard-selling and motivational song. In quiz, Gaurav, Geetika and Nitesh from the host team won the first prize, followed by those from the Apeejay College of Fine Arts and SMDRSD College, Pathankot. In hard-selling, the team from DAV College, Amritsar, stood first. Doaba College team was declared second, while those from the Lyallpur Khalsa College for Women won third prize. In motivational group song, the team from B.D. Arya College bagged the first prize, Lyallpur Khalsa College team was declared second and SMDRSD College, Pathankot, got the third prize. The function was inaugurated by Mr Balbir Singh, former Member of Parliament and President of the Governing Council of the college. Dr Satish Kapoor, Principal, said an overall development of personality in students could only be brought about if they were given an opportunity to express their talent in academic and cultural spheres. On the second and concluding day, various contests like skit, fancy dress and group dance were organised. In the skit competition, Guru Nanak College, Phagwara, won the first prize, while Hindu Kanya College, Kapurthala, stood second and APJ College, Jalandhar, bagged the third prize. In fancy dress contest, Doaba College, Jalandhar, won the first prize, Lyallpur Khalsa College, Jalandhar, won the second position, and SMDRSO College,
Pathankot, stood third. In group dance, Lyallpur Khalsa College, Jalandhar, bagged the first prize, BD Arya College, Jalandhar, stood at the second position and KRM DAV College, Nakodar, was on the third position. Mr S Bhagwant Singh, Director Science City, was the chief guest. The function was inaugurated by Dr Ashok Kumar Gabha, Deputy Director, IGNOU (Research). |
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Purewal Khed Mela from Feb 10
Jalandhar, February 5 The mega-tourney is being organised annually since 1988 by NRI brothers Malkit Singh, Charan Singh, and Gurjit Singh in the memory of their father Harbans Singh Purewal. The three brothers themselves have been kabaddi players and wrestlers. “The first prize for the winner team in the kabaddi section would carry a cash prize of Rs 1.51 lakh, while the second prize in this section is Rs 1 lakh. Similarly, the first prize in the wrestling event would be Rs 1.1 lakh,” Mr Gurjit Singh, said while talking to The Tribune here recently. “Gatka would be displayed by Nihang Sikhs of the Harianwale fame,” he added. |
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Body found hanging
Begowal (Kapurthala), February 5 According to Mr Amrik Singh Powar, DSP Bholath, Phumman Singh, a resident of Awan Ghorhe Shah village in Hoshiarpur district, used to work as a labourer here. He was employed with one Pritam Singh, a resident of the same village, for the past eight months but left the job a fortnight ago, the DS P said. Mr Powar said the deceased might have committed suicide more than 10 days back, as the body was in decaying condition. The police has registered a case under Section 174 of the IPC. |
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Congress leader held, released on bail
Kapurthala, February 5 According to information, Shekhar Anand had objected to the installation of an electric pole in his fields by the Electricity Department. He allegedly uprooted the pole. After a complaint was lodged by the Department, the police arrested Shekhar Anand after registering a case against him. The accused started shouting in the lockup and when the lock was opened, he pushed the sentry aside and ran away, the police claimed in a press release issued yesterday. |
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Infant found dead
Phagwara, February 5 Wrapped in a cloth, the child seemed to have been born premature.
— OC |
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