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Sales go slow, traders still upbeat
They rarely celebrate Divali with families
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City makes the most of Dhanteras
PIMS set to open on Oct 20
Kapurthala Improvement Trust earns forum’s rap
PTU VC expresses concern over declining education standards
MGSIPA to train employees for better proficiency
Eight injured in road mishap
Community policing impresses Canadian envoy
850 students take part in placement event
Students of Innocent Hearts School celebrate Divali in Jalandhar. A Tribune photograph
Special cricketers win Singapore tournament
PSEB employees hold rally
Vishal Mega Mart raided, products seized
To ferry mail, Postal Dept still trusts horse-cart
250 students rally for women rights
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Sales go slow, traders still upbeat
Jalandhar, October 15 The wholesale crackers market, established in the huge ground of Burlton Park, is still waiting for crowds to turn up. There are above 100 wholesale cracker traders in this market. Traders from every section of this market hoped that the market will be in better position on 16th and 17th. “This year Divali is almost 20 days in advance. Due to seasonal changes and prolonged summer, enthusiasm in customer is low. Moreover, apprehensions due to yearlong recession can still be felt both in the minds of customer and traders. Fortunately, the Excise Department of the Central government has given rebate of six per cent as compared to last year. Due to this prices of crackers are almost similar as that of last year,” said a wholesale dealer in the market of Burlton Park. “As anti-cracker campaigns are becoming popular, enthusiasm for crackers in some sections of middleclass strata is gradually declining. Especially in schools, students are being taught about the ill-effects of crackers and their byproducts,” he added. Items of electronic goods usually witness boom in the days of festival season especially Divali. But owners of big electronic agencies are not very optimistic this year. Tirath Singh of Shalimar Agency, exclusive LG showroom in Sanjay Gandhi Market, said, “There is approximately 30 per cent reduction in sale of electronic goods in this market. Markets in small towns are in conditions that are more miserable. Crop of paddy is yet to come in market. Circulation of liquidity will occur only after that,” “We are providing scheme like prizes on scratch cards and other gifts. But turn up rate of customer is much lower as compared to Divali of last years. Usually during last years, one can feel the pulse of Divali preparation in every shop and household even 15 days before the festival. But this year, scene is drastically different. We feel that we did good business during Navratri days as compared to Divali,” said assistant working in Sigma’s Nokia showroom Meanwhile, after the exposure of large-scale use of adulterated and synthetic milk products in sweetmeat shops, trend to consume sweets has also declined especially in urban population. “After reading news reports regarding quintals of synthetic khoya, refined oil etc, people have become suspicious to consume milk products. Moreover, due to increasing trend in upper middleclass to consume low calorie diet and consciousness about diseases like diabetes, people prefer to consume products like dry fruits, low calorie juices and fruits,” added Kamal Sharma, posted in BSNL. |
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They rarely celebrate Divali with families
Jalandhar, October 15 These are the men who comprises the teams of Fire Brigades, who remains always ready for any emergency call to deal with any fire incident. A team of 35 firefighters of Fire Brigade Station of the city will remain away from their homes and families to take care of lives and property of our dear ones. While talking to The Tribune, Kashmir Singh, Assistant Divisional Fire Officer of the city Fire Brigade, said, “In my lifetime, I celebrated Divali with my family only during school and college days. After joining this department I never celebrated any Divali night with my family. For the last 32 years, it has been both my duty and compulsion to remain in field to prevent any unfortunate incident.” While giving details about the preparation regarding Divali, he said, “Here we are equipped with total of 16 firefighting vehicles, out which 12 are big vehicles with capacity of 4500 litres and four small vehicles with capacity of 3500 litres. We have stationed one additional vehicle at substations of Partap Bagh and Industrial Area. Moreover, vehicles have also been stationed at Burlton Park and Chowk Sudaaan. Each and every member of the staff will be present in the city on the night of Divali.” Despite not celebrating Divali with their families, these men are not able to perform up to the expectations of the city residents. Of the 135 sanctioned staff members, this station is surviving only with nearly 40 firefighters. In addition to this, the station is located in one of the most congested part near jail. “Sometimes people even abuse us and give wrong information about an incident. But we need to put our team into action. Sometimes residents show height of non-cooperation and do not even give us space to overtake. In these conditions, it becomes impossible for us to reach in time on the spot of incident,” said a firefighter, demanding cooperation from the city residents. |
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City makes the most of Dhanteras
Jalandhar, October 15 Dhanteras is also known as “Dhanvantri trayodashi”, which highlights “dhan” meaning wealth and “teras” the 13th day of the month before Divali as per the Hindu calendar. The day also marks the beginning of Divali day. City residents, especially women, had a great day hopping from one showroom to other, enjoying the festive mood and buying gifts for their near and dear ones. The Tribune spoke to a cross-section of women on the occasion. Harsimrat Kaur, an elderly homemaker, said she preferred to sell her old ornaments and invest in gold as it was considered lucky on this day. “It has been more than 35 years since I have been buying something on this day. Apart from jewellery and utensils, a set of daily use items is a must to be bought as a good omen on this day,” she added. The festive mood of the people can be gauged from the fact that despite gold prices reaching sky high, people prefer to venture out and buy suitable things. Navdeep Kalra, a local resident, said he bought a silver coin as a sign of good luck ahead of Divali. “Perhaps people wait for this day and revere it according to Hindu customs,” he added. Adding more charm to the festive mood of the people was the branded jewellery showrooms, which gave interesting, offers to customers. Branded jewellery showrooms like Tanishq, Orra, Asmi, Reliance Gold did a brisk business of fancy jewellery and precious metal. “There is nothing like investing in gold as it gives you back a double amount within a short period. And being an auspicious day, it has a lot of significance,” said Rashmi Singh, a homemaker. Even the big showrooms of home appliances and electronic goods were thronged by consumers. H.S. Juneja, a showroom owner in Model Town, said as the day had a religious significance, people did not mind doling out money on expensive things. |
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PIMS set to open on Oct 20
Jalandhar, October 15 Though no one from the PIMS Medical and Educational Society is ready to reveal the exact picture, the society is going to organise a religious ceremony on October 19 and outdoor patient services will be started thereafter. It is expected that a number of officials from the departments concerned with day-to-day functioning of PIMS, politicians and renowned medical professionals of the state will be present at the function. The society has already completed the process of recruitment of doctors and other staff. As per sources, a team of 25 to 30 professionals is arriving on the campus of the institute before the commencement of this religious function. This team, which constitutes medical professionals from abroad and down South, will stay here even after the completion of ceremonies. Whether this team will perform any kind of OPD services, and for how long, is yet to be ascertained. Meanwhile, a sudden gain in the momentum can be seen in the works going on the premises of PIMS. As per sources, the building of PIMS got permanent power connection from the PSEB on October 8 and trails of sewerage, drainage and water tubewells have already been done. In the recent days, the rumour was that PIMS would begin working
on New Year’s Eve. |
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Kapurthala Improvement Trust earns forum’s rap
Kapurthala, October 15 The trust has also been directed to pay Rs 3,000 as cost of litigation to Waraich within two months from the receipt of the copy of the order. Waraich had filed a case against the executive officer of the trust who was also holding additional charge of Jalandhar Improvement Trust and Chairman Improvement Trust, Kapurthala, alleging that the civic body had reduced his plot from 365 square yards to 301 square yards. He said an agreement between his father Niranjan Singh and the trust was executed in 1981 and the total sale price of the plot amounting to Rs 23,400 was deposited by the complainant. On the death of Niranjan Singh in 1995,
the plot was transferred Despite repeated representations for the sanction of approved building plans for the site, the trust issued site plant of the said plot but, shockingly, the area of the plot was reduced to 301 square yards from 365 square yards, he said. The trust issued the site plan for a plot measuring 301 square yards while charging for 365 square yards.
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PTU VC expresses concern over declining education standards
Jalandhar, October 15 Addressing the students, who came from different districts of Punjab, PTU Vice-Chancellor Rajnish Arora said the youth holds a great potential in changing the nation. “The youth should utilise this energy in eradicating problems like drug addiction in the country and working on these lines the workers of the ABVP can make a lot of difference in the society,” he added. The VC expressed deep concern over the declining education standard in the country. He said despite 60 years of Independence, nearly 90 per cent students across the country are not able to avail quality higher education. “It is ironical that only 50 per cent students are able to avail education in class V, 30 per cent in class VIII, 20 per cent in class X and a meagre 10 to 11 per cent are able to reach the college level,” he maintained. Tarun Vijay, another speaker on this occasion highlighted the deliberate attempt of foreign nations in deviating the youth from the path of nationalism and making them prone to drug addiction. He also lambasted the successive governments for failing to initiate pro farmer policies. Expressing concern over the rising Bangladeshi invasion in the country, former National Secretary, Srinivas said approximately six crore Bangladeshis have invaded in the Indian terrain, which is a threat to the internal security of the nation. He also highlighted the persistent threat from Naxalites and Maoists in the country who killed nearly 15,000 Indians in the last some years. The event was attended by youth from different district headquarters of the ABVP in the state. Among others who spoke on the occasion were C.L. Kochhar, the Regional Director (Engineering Colleges) and Project In-Charge of the upcoming DAV University, State President, Pankaj Mahajan, Dr. Madhurima Bhargav, State minister Suraj Bharadwaj, Industrialist Subhash Gandhi and others.
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MGSIPA to train employees for better proficiency
Jalandhar, October 15 Divisional Commissioner S.R. Ladhar presided over the meeting which was attended by former Chief Secretary N.K. Arora and Commissioner (Appeals) Bhagwant Singh. The institute would organise a training programme in this context in the coming days. It is the duty of every civil servant to provide quality service to the public and these parameters would be explained in detail to the employees during the programme, Ladhar said. He said G.S. Khaira, ADC (General), and P.P. Singh, Assistant Director, Land Records, had been designated as resource persons and would be responsible for explaining the duties of the employees towards the government and the public. Arora said all arrangements for the programme had been completed and a centre set up for this purpose would be functional soon. Besides the employees of the division, those working in the Panchayati Raj Institutions too would benefit from the camp. — TNS |
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Eight injured in road mishap
Phagwara, October 15 The injured, Shashi Kant (28), Satwinder Singh (33), Rajwinder Singh (19), Amandeep (23), Pooran (60), Mehal (5), a baby and Talwinder Singh (45), were admitted in the local Civil Hospital, while the motorcyclist was sent to a Ludhiana hospital, the police said. All three vehicles were badly damaged.
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Community policing impresses Canadian envoy
Jalandhar, October 15 He was on a visit to the city where he took a round of the centre and interacted with officials and complainants. IG S.K. Sharma and DIG Ishwar Singh accompanied the dignitary during his visit. The High Commissioner expressed his happiness at the functioning of the centre and remarked that there was a little scope for improvement since the centre was already up to the mark. He evinced keen interest in the concept of the women cell where marital disputes were sorted out through dialogue and reasoning by community elders and professionals drawn from various fields. Even we do not have such a praiseworthy concept in our country, he revealed. Caron was pleased to know that all the 389 complaints received by the cell till now had been solved. He was explained the procedures and steps taken by them to deal with the foreigners’ registration, economic offences wing, national status verification, police clearance certificates, passport branch, single-window services, free legal aid and child protection unit.
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Young World
Jalandhar, October 15 Companies like Contact Bridge ITES Pvt Ltd., KDMS (Kinerk Direct Marketing Solutions), JST Soft Solutions Pvt Ltd., Genpact India and Tata Business Support Services Ltd. visited the campus and offered jobs of senior web designer, accountant, dot net developer, project managers, software developer, CCEs, quality and business analysts, etc. at pay packages of around Rs 2.5 lakh per annum. LPU Chancellor Ashok Mittal, said, “More than 200 vacancies were required to be filled, and students were placed in companies of their choice.”
Green Divali The Save Earth Society of Mehr Chand Polytechnic organised a seminar on pollution-free Divali. Society president Sanjay Bansal said the prolong use of crackers caused air and noise pollution leading to diseases like asthma, bronchitis, hypertension, lung cancer, deafness and even heart attack. Polytechnic principal Jagroop Singh said that firecrackers were wastage of money and also promoted child labour. Divali celebrations The St Soldier Group of Institutions celebrated Divali with the inmates of Pingla Ghar with the message “No crackers, please”. Vice-chairperson Sangeeta Chopra presented 200 saplings to the inmates of Pingla Ghar and planted saplings on the campus. Divali was celebarted in CJS Public School. Various events like rangoli, thali decoartion and candle-making contests were held. A fancy dress competition was also held in which the tiny tots of the primary wing took part. Students of Innocent Hearts School celebrated Divali with religious fervour. Students presented a ‘diya dance’. They spoke on the need to do away with the practice of bursting crackers. Designer Divali Students of Lovely Professional University plan festivities in the form of designer Divali dhamaka. Students of B. design and interior design put up an exhibition to display decorative Divali items made by them which was inaugurated by executive dean Rashmi Mittal. The three-day long exhibition concluded with an initiative taken by students of the Lovely School of Hospitality (LSH). The exhibition witnessed sale of crystal coloured candles, artistic wall hangings, traditional diyas and pooja thalis, gift items, paper lampshades and God idols. CT sweets Keeping in mind the rising cases of adulteration in sweets and other food items, students and the staff of CT Public School joined hands to make “walnut ladoos” with the help of their teachers. The students were told about the dangers of consuming adulterated sweets. Apart from this, they also made Divali cards for their parents and carried them home with sweets and diyas. Chess championship The chess team of Guru Nanak Dev University College, Basti Nau, won the inter-college chess championship organised by Guru Nanak Dev University. The team comprised Harpreet Kaur, Komal, Ranjana, Neha and Rini. University toppers Anuradha, a student of MSc-II (chemistry) of DAV College bagged the first position and the gold medal in Guru Nanak Dev University by securing 965 marks out of 1275. Shruti, also a student of the same class, got the second position with 960 marks. In MSc (chemistry)-I, Shaveta Kapoor bagged the first position in the university by securing 469 marks out 600 followed by Harneet Kaur with 468 marks. International day Guru Amar Dass Public School celebrated International Day for Natural Disaster reduction on October 13. School principal Harminderjit Kaur Chawla spoke on the causes of increasing disasters and preventive measures. Meanwhile, the tiny tots of the school participated in a ramp show held on the occasion. Gurnoor Kaur, a nursery student and Divyaleen Kaur of senior KG were crowned as “Miss Graceful”. Accounting workshop The commerce department of Prem Chand Markanda SD College for Women conducted a six-day workshop on “Tally - accounting software”. A power point presentation was also held. Mala Khurana, the training head of NIIT was the resource person during the workshop.
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Special cricketers win Singapore tournament
Jalandhar, October 15 The tournament was held from September 23 to October 2 and was conducted by the host team Lanka Lions, Cricket Club, including Bengal Association of Singapore and Deaf Cricketers Federation, Malaysia. This was the maiden visit of the team ever since it was formed on July 26, 2007. Talking to The Tribune, Happy Passi, the interpreter of the deaf cricketers said though the team had a bad opening but they emerged winners in the final match. “The team won the championship on points basis,” he added. In the first match, the Punjab Deaf Cricket Team lost from the Lanka Lions Cricket Club by 40 runs. By winning the toss, the Lanka Lions elected to bat first and scored 164 runs in 20 overs. The Punjab Deaf Cricket Team was all out at 124 runs. However, in the second match the Punjab Deaf Cricket Team registered an impressive win opposite rivals IIT Alumni Association, who gathered from across the country to participate in the match. The Punjab Deaf Cricket Team won the toss and elected to bat first. The team scored 189 runs in 20 overs losing five wickets. In answer to this, the IIT alumni made 185 runs in 20 overs losing seven wickets. It is pertinent to mention here that earlier too the deaf cricketers registered impressive victories in various cricket matches. The deaf cricketers participated in the Dosti Cup held between India and Pakistan from July 1 to 7 last year. The team also represented Punjab in the fourth National Cricket Tournament of Deaf held in Lucknow in 2008. Punjab ended third in the tournament. Happy Passi appealed to the state as well as the Union Government for some grant to the budding cricketers. “The team despite making a name in the game never received any grant and support from the government. And even if we get a cash award, the prize money is too little to be distributed among the boys,” he lamented.
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PSEB employees hold rally
Phagwara, October 15 Different employee leaders, including Surinder Rawat, Mangal Singh, Gurnam Singh Saini, Subhash Verma, Gurdip Singh and Hans Raj Prashar, while addressing the protest rally, demanded implementation of the new pay scales, recruitment of new employees and abolition of the contract system. They claimed that a large number of employees would participate in the state-level protest rally scheduled to be held on October 21 in Patiala. — OC |
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Vishal Mega Mart raided, products seized
Jalandhar, October 15 As per information, a team of health officials, comprised of four doctors named Dr Rishu Mahajan, Dr Manoj Khosla, Dr T.P. Singh and Dr Tarsem Singh raided the Vishal Mega Mart after getting a tip-off that dates of manufacturing and expiry on the sealed bags and containers are being changed by the owners of store. During the raid, the team found out that re-slipping is being done especially on packets of eatables and consumable products. Officials sealed 40 kg of super-fined floor and 23 kg of ‘chirwada’. The team also directed to discontinue the sale of other consumable products from the store. Sample of seized items will be sent for laboratory tomorrow morning, said Civil Surgeon SS Walia.
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To ferry mail, Postal Dept still trusts horse-cart
Phagwara, October 15 When contacted, Postmaster Vijay Kaushal said the horse-cart had been engaged by the department on contract basis and the owner was being paid Rs 5,500 per month. He said he had to take four rounds of the railway stations to collect and dispatch the mail in different trains. He had to take another four rounds of the local bus stand to dispatch and collect the mail of When asked, Kaushal said there was no plan to replace the horse-cart with any motorised vehicle. Despite tall claims of modernising the post offices, postmen could also be seen distributing mail on their own bicycles. Of course, they are paid a cycle allowance. Kaushal disclosed that lottery tickets of the Punjab government would also be available in post offices with immediate effect. It was learnt that revenue stamps, which were easily available at post offices, were not being sold there now due to a dispute on commission between the postal authorities and previous Congress government in the state. Meanwhile, most post offices are working with just 50 per cent of the sanctioned staff. The vacant posts have not been filled for long. It was observed that the post offices at Hadiabad, a sub-town of Phagwara, on Hoshiarpur Road and at the bus stand were closed due to revenue losses.
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250 students rally for women rights
Jalandhar, October 15 Deputy Commissioner Ajeet Singh Pannu flagged off the rally at Nehru Garden Girls Senior Secondary School. Chairperson of the commission Gurdev Kaur Sangha stressed on the need of quality education for women. |
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If you have a grievance against a public utility, or if you have a complaint about any dealing with a public servant, in a government office, bank, finance company, post office, insurance company, in a train or at a bus stand… or if your grievance has not been attended to, send an e-mail (not more than 200 words) to jalandhar@tribunemail.com or jalandhartribune@yahoo.com, or post the complaint to News Editor, Jalandhar Plus (Tribune Adalat), The Tribune, SCO 20, Ladowali Road, Jalandhar. Complaints against individuals will not be entertained. Your complaint is our concern and The Tribune offers to suitably highlight it.
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Though Divali is just two days away, sales are yet to gain momentum. Interestingly, the traders have not lost hope and are still expecting rise in customers in the comings days.
Jalandhar, October 15
Around 850 students drawn from Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Chandigarh, Delhi, Hyderabad and Rajasthan participated in an
IT/BPO joint venture to recruit students and professionals organised on the campus of Lovely Professional University here on Wednesday. Students from other colleges and universities also participated.
