J A L A N D H A R

NIT confers Doctor of Philosophy degree on Swaraj Paul
Jalandhar, February 24
In recognition of his accomplishments in the fields of education, industry, social and cultural affairs, eminent NRI industrialist and chairman of Caparo Group Ltd, UK, Lord Swaraj Paul, was awarded the honorary degree of “Doctor of Philosophy” during the third annual convocation of the Dr B.R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology (NIT) here today.

Students of the Dr B.R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology (NIT) during their annual convocation in Jalandhar on Friday. — Tribune photo by Pawan Sharma

Newborns exchanged? Civil Hospital denies allegations
Kapurthala, February 24
A piquant situation arose in the local Civil Hospital today when relatives of a patient alleged that her newborn male baby had been exchanged with a female baby. But the hospital authorities have denied the allegations.

SAD (B) wins Nagar Panchayat President’s post
Bholath (Kapurthala), February 24
SAD (B) councillors were today able to wrest the post of the President of the Bholath Nagar Panchayat from the ruling party . Their candidate, Ms Jaspal Kaur, defeated her rival, Ms Sarabjeet Kaur of the Congress, by two votes.

NGO demands facilities for brick kiln workers
Jalandhar, February 24
Dalit Dasta Virodhi Andolan, an NGO working for the Dalit community, today demanded that the brick kiln workers, 40 per cent of whom are women, be provided with basic sanitation facilities near their working area.

Pulse polio camps on Feb 26
Jalandhar, February 24
The Jalandhar Civil Surgeon, Dr S.P. Sharma, today flagged off a rally to spread awareness about the 1300 pulse polio camps to be organised by the Health Department on February 26 in the district.

Decision to import wheat criticised
Jalandhar, February 24
Demanding that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of wheat be fixed at Rs 750 per quintal, the All India Jat Mahasabha today criticised the decision of the Central government to import five lakh tonne of wheat.

Loan melas organised
Jalandhar, February 24
Jalandhar Central Cooperative Bank Ltd organised a loan mela for advancement of car and motorcycle loans, on its premises here today.

NIT confers Doctor of Philosophy degree
on Swaraj Paul
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, February 24
In recognition of his accomplishments in the fields of education, industry, social and cultural affairs, eminent NRI industrialist and chairman of Caparo Group Ltd, UK, Lord Swaraj Paul, was awarded the honorary degree of “Doctor of Philosophy” during the third annual convocation of the Dr B.R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology (NIT) here today.

Dr Moin Uddin, Director of NIT, awarded degrees to 241 engineering graduates. Toppers of this deemed university were also given prizes.

Speaking on the occasion, Lord Paul said he was happy to be at his birthplace. In her speech, Ms Sushma Berlia, chairperson of NIT, said there was a paradigm shift in the capabilities of new technologists in terms of continuous self-learning attitude, inter-disciplinary mindset and knack of commercial exploitation of knowledge.

Earlier in the day, Lord Paul visited the site of the proposed “Punjab Technical University-Swaraj Paul School of Excellence on Manufacturing and Material Sciences” near Wadala Kalan, Kapurthala. He was accompanied by Dr S.K. Salwan, Vice-Chancellor, Dr M.S. Grewal, Registrar, and Ms Berlia, his niece and president of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industries and Chairperson of NIT, Jalandhar.

Lord Paul has contributed Rs 6 crore towards the project, which, he says, is ready with his charitable foundation in India. He said he had seen the design of the building, which should start in another six week’s time. He said he would also endeavour to get faculty from abroad for the project.

At PTU site, he had a ‘bad’ experience, as his car got stuck in the sandy ground right at its entrance. Later, he visited the Apeejay College of Fine Arts and Apeejay School, founded by his brother, Mr Satya Paul. 

Newborns exchanged? Civil Hospital denies allegations
Arun Sharma
Tribune News Service

Kapurthala, February 24
A piquant situation arose in the local Civil Hospital today when relatives of a patient alleged that her newborn male baby had been exchanged with a female baby. But the hospital authorities have denied the allegations.

According to information, one Isha delivered a baby through a caesarian operation this morning. Immediately after the delivery, the relatives waiting outside the operation theatre were informed by some of the maternity staff members on duty that the woman had been “blessed with a son”.

But minutes later, the hospital authorities reportedly clarified that the baby was a female. On hearing this, the relatives got enraged and started blaming the hospital authorities for foul play.

When contacted, the officiating SMO, Dr Raj Kumar Sharma, claimed that Isha had given birth to a female baby. “But due to some reasons that are yet to be investigated, the family members were given the wrong information,” he added.

“I am a paediatrician and I myself examined the baby immediately after the delivery.”

He said only two babies were born in the hospital this morning through caesarian operations and both were female.

“There is no chance that the child got exchanged,” Dr Sharma claimed.

SAD (B) wins Nagar Panchayat President’s post
Tribune News Service

Bholath (Kapurthala), February 24
SAD (B) councillors were today able to wrest the post of the President of the Bholath Nagar Panchayat from the ruling party . Their candidate, Ms Jaspal Kaur, defeated her rival, Ms Sarabjeet Kaur of the Congress, by two votes.

The post of the Nagar Panchayat’s Senior Vice-President went to Ms Neelam Devi, an independent candidate who had the support of SAD (B) councillors. She defeated Mr Sukhwinder Singh Wadhawan, a Congress councillor.

Mr Wadhawan had to content himself with the post of the Vice-President. 

NGO demands facilities for brick kiln workers
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, February 24
Dalit Dasta Virodhi Andolan, an NGO working for the Dalit community, today demanded that the brick kiln workers, 40 per cent of whom are women, be provided with basic sanitation facilities near their working area.

Addressing mediapersons here, the NGO’s president, Mr Jai Singh, also demanded that as per the recommendations of the National Tripartite Committee on the Brick Kiln Industry, constituted by the Government of India in 1984, a separate legislation should be introduced for the industry and the workers should be provided with special security schemes, including a Provident Fund scheme.

The NGO also took out a rally in support of their demands and submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner. 

Pulse polio camps on Feb 26
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, February 24
The Jalandhar Civil Surgeon, Dr S.P. Sharma, today flagged off a rally to spread awareness about the 1300 pulse polio camps to be organised by the Health Department on February 26 in the district.

Dr Sharma said 5,000 health workers and volunteers would be conducting the 1327 camps on that day.

Polio vaccine would be administered to the children for the first two days, while over the next two days, health workers and volunteers would go from door to door to continue the pulse polio campaign. 

Decision to import wheat criticised

Jalandhar, February 24
Demanding that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of wheat be fixed at Rs 750 per quintal, the All India Jat Mahasabha today criticised the decision of the Central government to import five lakh tonne of wheat. Addressing a meeting here, Dr Gurdial Singh Khaira, the sabha’s vice-president, claimed there was no need to import wheat. “Farmers of Punjab are capable of supplying wheat to the whole country,” he claimed. — TNS

Loan melas organised
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, February 24
Jalandhar Central Cooperative Bank Ltd organised a loan mela for advancement of car and motorcycle loans, on its premises here today.

During the mela, 60 personal loans, 10 house-building loans and dairy loans to the tune of Rs 4.02 crore were distributed by the bank officials.

Mr Paramjit Singh Gill, DIG, Jalandhar Police Range, was the chief guest. Mr Kewal Ram, district manager of the bank, Mr Anil Dutta, MD of the bank, were also present on the occasion.

Meanwhile, the Oriental Bank of Commerce, Jalandhar region, organised a loan mela at Dosanjh Kalan yesterday and distributed loan worth Rs 52 crore to farmers and entrepreneurs.

The executive director of the bank, Mr M.D. Mallya, presided over the function.