Jalandhar, July 16
A Rs 3 overcharging by V-Mart, a departmental store on Nakodar Road, has cost it dear. The district consumer disputes redressal forum has asked the store owner to pay Rs 3,000 as compensation to a consumer.

Schoolteacher and resident of Krishna Nagar Sandeep Kumar Arora had alleged that the store men had charged him an excess amount for a product which was above the MRP mentioned on the carton of the item.

The consumer had said he purchased certain goods from V-Mart, including a Colgate zigzag toothbrush, on March 31. He said when he was comparing the items purchased with the bill, he remembered that he was asked to pay Rs 27 for the toothbrush against the MRP of Rs 24.

He said he asked the employee at the cash counter to return the excess amount but to his astonishment, the employee showed his helplessness to return the excess amount on the pretext that whatever computer had printed was the final rate.

Jalandhar/Nawanshahr, July 16
The “Jagriti Jatha” started by the Left from Amritsar on Monday to make masses aware about the Indo-US nuclear deal reached at Jalandhar today.

Speaking on the occasion, CPM state secretary Prof Balwant Singh and CPI working committee member Dr Joginder Dayal said the BJP was playing a dual game on the N-deal and the party should declare that it would not take up the issue if it returns to the power. “If the BJP was really concerned, they should scrap the deal whenever they take over the reins in future,” the leaders added.

Flaying Dr Manmohan Singh, they said the PM had not taken the Left into confidence before moving ahead with the N-deal and it means that India had to compromise with its security. Such a sensitive and important matter had not been debated at any fora in the country and this amount to betrayal of the peoples trust in the present regime. Congress leaders too have used the opportunity to spread untruths about the benefits of the deal that was the sole pill to solve the country’s power pangs, they added.Meanwhile, the yatra later reached Khatkar Kalan, the birthplace of Shaheed-E-Azam Bhagat Singh. Addressing the gathering there, Prof Balwant Singh said presently 70 per cent of power was being generated by thermal plants and 27 per cent from hydel projects.

Jalandhar, July 16
Parkash Kaur of Munak Kalan village in Hoshiarpur district is dissatisfied with the report of general railway police (GRP) inspector general (IG) in connection with her husband Joginder Singh’s suicide case.

The GRP IG submitted his report to Punjab State Human Rights Commission (PSHRC) on June 12 in response to the complaint by Parkash on March 18.

The complainant alleged that GRP had intentionally not included several relevant sections of IPC, including 506 and 120 B, in the FIR registered against the accused in connection with Joginder’s suicide. He had jumped before a train near Munak Kalan village in Tanda of Hoshiarpur district, falling under the jurisdiction of Jalandhar GRP thana on the intervening night of November 25 and 26, last year.

The FIR was lodged at GRP thana in Jalandhar against one Harish Chander on the basis of Joginder’s suicide note. Harish is father-in-law of Joginder’s son Mohinder Singh. Prakash claims that since the accused used to threaten her husband, sections 506 and 120 B should be included in the FIR

In his report IG stated that the investigation officer in the case took the legal opinion of Hoshiarpur DA (legal) who said there was no need to include these sections in the FIR.

The PSHRC has sent a copy of IG’s report to the complainant for submission of her response on August 26.

The complainant claimed she has evidence, including a CD in which the accused had used threatening language against her husband.

Further her husband wrote several letters to senior police officers in which he had clearly mentioned that he had been threatened by Harish Chander, she said, adding that she would submit the CD along with other evidence to PSHRC on the next date of hearing.

Notably, it took seven months for GRP to catch the accused in the case.

According to GRP sources, Joginder Singh had held Harish responsible for his suicide. In his note, written in English, Joginder had clearly stated, “I am fed up with Harish. He has got me implicated in false criminal cases.” 

Jalandhar, July 16
Tuesday evening brought a great surprise for city lad Abhishek Saini who had been eagerly waiting for the results of the AIIMS entrance test. This NTSE scholarship holder and National Olympiad (biology) winner has got the 14th rank in the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) test.

That’s not all. He has already secured the first position in the entrance examinations for Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, and Vardhman Mahavir Medical College. Besides, he is fifth in the Punjab-PMT, seventh in Manipal University, 15th in the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (MGIMS), Wardha, 20th in the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical  Education (JIPMER), Pondicherry, and 25th in the CBSE-PMT.

Attributing his success to regular self-study of four to five hours, Abhishek said, “I did take tuitions as they help to have a systematic study pattern. For physics, I depended on my father H.R. Saini who himself takes coaching classes at home.” There were other tutors for chemistry and biology, but it was perhaps his habit of religiously following a fixed time schedule that has done the trick.

He had attained 96.3 per cent marks in physics, chemistry and biology (PCB) in the class XII examination conducted by the CBSE.

An introvert person, Abhishek is well known as artiste, cricketer and singer in his friend circle.

For his proud parents, it has been an accomplishment of dreams which they had seen for their four children. “My two elder daughters are working as engineers for multi-national software companies, while the youngest daughter is doing an internship after completing MBBS from Government Medical College, Amritsar. Abhishek too has cleared the major hurdle,” said mother Rita Saini.

Hoshiarpur, July 16
The district health department has launched a campaign to save people from water-borne diseases, especially gastroenteritis, during the ongoing rainy season.

District health officer Dr M.L. Puri told said here today that 201 samples of water had been taken from rural water supply schemes, local bodies, government and private schools and other sources up to June 30, 2008, to check quality of water.

Out of the total samples, water from three of the rural water supply schemes, five from local bodies, 14 from government and private schools and nine other samples was found non-potable and unfit for human consumption. Two samples of water, taken from the public tap posts at Kotwali Bazaar, were also found non-potable. Water from 112 samples was found potable, whereas results from 58 of them were still awaited.

The water supply authorities had been asked to chlorinate water at the supply sources to avoid spread of any epidemic. Puri pointed out that water from the hand pumps in some of the government and private schools was also found non-potable.

More than 2.77 lakh chlorine tablets had been distributed among the public in the rural areas. Besides, chlorination of water of community wells had also been done.

During the campaign, over-ripe fruits and vegetables were destroyed in all the towns of the district.

Puri claimed that no case of gastroenteritis had been reported from any part of the district so far. The health officer advised the sellers of all types of edibles to place their goods in glass cases or cover them with a neat and clean cloth.

Batala, July 16
The race for the president of the Batala municipal council is hotting up and BJP councillor Ambika Khanna, who has been elected from Urban Estate, appears to be the front-runner.

The BJP councillors have taken a unanimous decision that a party councillor should be nominated as president of the council. BJP leader Harbans Lal Mahajan (Ward 29), Rajbir Singh Bhullar (Ward 22) and Raj Kamar Kali (Ward 3) favoured the nomination of Ambika Khanna for the presidentship of the MC. They claimed that being the daughter of chief parliamentary secretary Jagdish Sawhney, she, if made president, would be helpful in getting more funds for the development of the town. Moreover, she would be the first woman chief of the municipal council. — OC