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Rs 55 crore for food to children
Kapurthala first town to supply water 24 hours
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‘Land possession by dera lawful’
No intention to rejoin Cong, says Balbir Singh
Factions emerge in
BJP unit
Farmers bodies hold convention
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Rain deluges Phagwara
Phagwara, August 7 There was a total collapse of the drainage system with most roads collecting knee-deep rain water. The vehicles kept breaking down in the middle of the waterlogged roads. The situation exposed the functioning of the Phagwara Nagar Council. It was clear indication of the council’s failure to prepare the town for the monsoon. Sarai Road, Gaushala Road, Banga Road, Model Town, Hargobund Nagar and the bus stand were the worst-affected areas. One could see roads inundated under 1-2 feet of water. The drain water entered some huts built illegally near the ESI dispensary and Dharamkot areas. The occupants, in an effort to save their goods, made a hole in the locality wall to release the water. Gaushala Road faced the worst situation. It was, as always, converted into a pool. In Gaushala Road, the shopkeepers were seen busy draining out the water from their shops. Mukesh, a shopkeeper, attributed today’s mess to the council’s failure to take precautionary measures, including timely cleaning of the sewerage system prior to the monsoon. However, when contacted, the council authorities assured the smooth disposal of rain water soon. |
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Rs 55 crore for food to children
Jalandhar, August 7 Newly-appointed Punjab Minister for Social Security, Women and Child Development Mohinder Singh Kaypee, said this during a state-level seminar on the “Importance of breast feeding of babies” here today. He also announced that Rs 2 crore had been earmarked for “Kanya Jagriti Jyoti’, a scheme to up lift women. The minister said over 3.5 lakh people were receiving old-age and other pensions through the department. During his speech, Mr Kaypee underlined the importance of breast feeding. He said breast feeding kept a child healthy all his life and gave them better IQs. Director, Social Security, Women and Child Development Raj Kamal Chaudhary said the ongoing joint campaign of the Centre and the Punjab Government for creating awareness about the benefits of mothers’ milk, would continue this month. Meanwhile, a sum of Rs 176.24 crore has been earmarked for the construction and widening of roads and bridges in Punjab during the current financial year. A fund of Rs 216 crore has also been earmarked for repair of roads. Mr Amarjit Samra, Punjab Minister for Cooperation, has said. He has also distributed cheques worth Rs 33 lakh among panchayats of the area for development works. He said the state government was making all efforts to provide urban facilities to villages. “The state government has already got a Rs 100 crore World Bank project for construction of new roads and we have got Rs 63 crore from the Centre under the road development fund. The Punjab Government is going to utilise the entire of the amount for better infrastructure,” Mr Samra said.
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Kapurthala first town to supply water 24 hours
Kapurthala, August 7 The Kapurthala Municipal Council (MC) has been supplying uninterrupted water to 90 per cent of the nearly one lakh population. MC’s Executive Officer Raj Kumar Mittal said the council had further strengthened the system to continue the 24-hour water supply and made arrangements to provide water to the 100 per cent of the town’s population. As many as 16 interconnected tubewells were installed in different parts of the town to provide water to 15,000 metered connections, he said, adding that five more tubewells were being installed at Shalimar Bagh, Gopal Park and Industrial Area and near Peer Chaudhria Dargah and Improvement Trust office. These new pumps would be set up within two to three months and the total population of the town would be supplied water regularly, he claimed. Presently, each of the 16 tubewells produce as much as 20,000 gallons of water per hour, he said, adding that the income was much more than the expenditure through the supply of water, as the recovery rate of this MC was the highest in the state. The revenue from supplying water and providing sewerage facilities was over Rs 3 crore annually, he added. Mr Mittal said an automatic dossier system was being installed at each tubewell for regular chlorination. Similarly, timers had been installed in 11 of the 16 tubewells to save manpower, he said. Timers would also installed in the remaining tubewells soon, he added. The EO said regular water supply was also ensured during power cuts in the recent past. Two of the 16 tubewells were connected to a 24-hour ‘hotline’ power supply in the recent past, he said. The MC, he added, had deposited Rs 4.50 lakh with the Punjab State Electricity Board to get the hotline connections. To a query, he said the MC was not only providing quantitative but also qualitative water that was unlike other MCs. He added that most consumers here paid their water and sewerage bills on time. Mr Mittal also favoured metered bills instead of flat rates for regular water supply, as the residents here, he said, hesitated to waste water. The chairman of the third Finance Commission, Mr Ajit Singh Chatha, specially visited Kapurthala on July 5 to get detailed information about the methods being used to supply water 24 hours and to recover bills. Mr Chatha was accompanied by member secretary of the Finance Commission Anjali Chib Duggal.
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‘Land possession by dera lawful’
Jalandhar, August 7 Mr Verma, a veteran journalist, had got a case registered against as many as nine persons, including five officials of the Revenue Department, saying that revenue officials had connived with certain persons, who had usurped his ancestral land in Model Town. He had also alleged that the police was not arresting the accused. The case has been shifted from the Jalandhar police to the Crime Branch. “In fact, the disputed land, measuring more than five kanals, belonged to Mr Bahadurl Lal and Mr Krishan Kumar, sons of Lala Khidmat Rai. They were the joint owners in 1955,” Captain Bajwa said. “However, due to an omission on the part of the revenue officials concerned, the mutation was wrongly sanctioned in revenue records against ownership of Krishan Kumar only, whereas it should have been sanctioned against Mr Bahadur Lal too,” he added. He said the said owners had transferred the land to the dera, “which is a lawful possession”. “A civil suit is pending in the case. The Chief Minister too has marked a high-level enquiry into the complaint,” Captain Bajwa added.
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No intention to rejoin Cong, says Balbir Singh
Jalandhar, August 7 A visit by PPCC president Shamsher Singh Dullo to the senior SAD (B) leader’s house is said to have fuelled the rumours. After Mr Dullo’s visit, certain quarters had started claiming that since Mr Balbir Singh was not happy with his position in the SAD, he might rejoin the Congress. But, the open denial by Mr Balbir Singh about any such possibility has brought the rumours to a halt, at least for the time being. |
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Factions emerge in
BJP unit
Phagwara, August 7 The meeting was attended and addressed by district BJP president Hira Lal Dhir. The dissidents, former Improvement Trust Chairman Om Gupta, councillor Bira Ram Baljot, ex-councillor Jagdish Chander, BJYM leader Sudarshan Dhillon, Chaudhary Gurdev Singh Advocate, raised their voice against indifferent working of the local BJP leadership. But Mr Duggal alleged that a few leaders of the ruling group were trying to damage the image of BJP councillor Arun Khosla who recently met BJSP president Uma Bharti.
— TNS |
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Farmers bodies hold convention
Jalandhar, August 7 Dr Gurdev Singh Gill, chairman, Agriculture Technocrats Committee, Punjab, Dr R.P.S. Aulakh, its general secretary, Mr Prem Singh Bhangu, president, All India Kirti Kisan Sabha, Mr Hardev Singh, president, All India Kisan Mazdoor Sabha, Mr Pishaura Singh Sidhupur, president, BKU (Ekta), Mr Puran Singh Shahkot, general secretary, BKU (Lakhowal), Mr Balbir Singh Rajewal, general secretary, BKU (Rajewal) and Mr Lehmbar Singh Taggar, general secretary, Punjab Kisan Sabha (Taggar) participated in the discussion along with others. The agriculture technocrats and farmers’ leaders said that instead of backing down from the public procurement system, the government should strengthen it and enhance the
minimum support price for crops. They demanded pay parity with medicos and veterinarians. |
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