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Building meant to be serai being used as OPD
No new power connections for residents in illegal colonies
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Govt ‘failed’ to protect rights of Dalits
Dalits raise voice against increasing atrocities
Land records society union threatens to shut down mutation centres
Courts complex becomes an eyesore
Theatre’s wake-up call
Foreign MPs want cabinet rank for NRI Sabha chief
Students get tips on storing info, images digitally
Awareness drive on illegal migration
Cops discuss women empowerment
PAHAL holds function
Make Phagwara a district: BJP to CM
Balwant Singh Kapur hockey tourney from tomorrow
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Building meant to be serai being used as OPD
Jalandhar, January 18 Four years back, in the memory of late Lion S.C. Wadhera his family constructed a serai on the premises of the Civil Hospital here. However, the administration of the hospital converted the serai, which was otherwise meant for housing the attendants of patients, into just another wing of the hospital’s outdoor patient department (OPD). As of now, instead of providing temporary shelter to the attendants of the patients, the building houses non-communicable diseases (NCD) cell, oral substitution therapy centre for drug addicts and district leprosy centre. With having such centres on its premises, the building remained open only for a few hours during the daytime and negates the very spirit of its construction. The double-storied serai, with the capacity to provide shelter to 30-40 persons, was constructed at a cost of Rs 3 lakh. Resenting the apathy of the hospital administration, the family criticised the authorities concerned and demanded that the building be put to use for the purpose for which it was built for originally. “I had seen the caretakers of the patients lying on the grounds in the shades of peepal tree during peak summer. Therefore, the family had decided to come up with the serai. However, it is disappointing to see that the building is not being used as a serai,” said Krishna Wadhera, widow of S.C. Wadhera. “Lack of buildings to run such OPD wings should not be taken as an excuse to turn the entire serai into an OPD block. Rather, the authorities should have promoted the use of the serai,” she added. Medical Superintendent Dr M.L. Puri, however, claimed that the attendants of patients had hardly opted to stay in the serai and the building was not being used optimally. He said the wings were shifted to the building only after getting consent of the family. He said the wings transferred to the building would be shifted again once the new building for such wings would be ready. |
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No new power connections for residents in illegal colonies
Jalandhar, January 18 A senior official of Powercom confirmed the list sent to him by the authorities concerned, to stop the release of power connections to the dwellings in illegal colonies. “We have got a list of illegal colonies, along with instructions not to release any fresh power connections to dwellings at such places,” said NK Gandhi, deputy chief engineer (north) of Powercom. He said Powercom would not release any fresh power connections, keeping in the view the instructions. However, Commissioner of the local Municipal Corporation Viney Bublani said he had sent no list to the Powercom with the instructions not to release the connections. Later, he said in case any such list had been sent, it had been done in routine. He further said it was an inter-departmental matter and he would discuss the issue with the Powercom authorities. Hemant Batra, Municipal Town Planner, too, denied having sent any such list. The plot owners in such colonies, however, are up in arms, demanding an inquiry against the illegal colonisers who carved out the areas, now becoming a cause of misery for them and themselves going scot-free. “We demand that such people, who duped us by not paying development charges and other dues, should be put behind bars and asked to pay our dues with interest. They should be given exemplary punishment so that they do not indulge in any malpractices in future,” they said. The illegal colonies include those along the Hoshiarpur road, Pathankot road, Nakodar road, Dhilwan road, Dakoha road, Mithapur Chowk, Ladhewali, near Leather Complex, Maqsudan, Suranussi and other areas in the outer city. It may be recalled that the Vidhan Sabha committee, led by Virsa Singh Valtoha, had asked the MC top officials to take action against all those town planning officers in whose tenure the illegal colonies came up in the city.
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Govt ‘failed’ to protect rights of Dalits
Phagwara, January 18 Talking to newsmen here on Saturday, he said the commission had received 12,000 complaints, including 868 from Punjab, in the country regarding atrocities against Dalits. He alleged that the SAD-BJP Government was adopting discriminatory attitude with the Dalits. He said the commission would inquire into allegations of diversion of funds meant for Dalits’ welfare projects in the state. He said the government had set up a fund of Rs 2,463 crore for the schemes for the welfare of the Dalits but the funds were being misused in other sectors.
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Dalits raise voice against increasing atrocities
Phagwara, January 18 Activists of Ambedker Sena Mool
Niwasi, Guru Ravi Dass Dharam Yuth Morcha, Guru Ravi Dass Tiger Force, Dalits Youth Federation, Begumpura Tiger Force and Guru Ravi Dass Force Punjab held a demonstration here today. Leaders Harbhajan
Suman, Satish Bharti, Rajinder Kaler, Yash Barna, Balbir Mand and Mohan Lal alleged that hundreds of Dalits were being implicated in false cases after Vienna episode, but the state government did nothing for the Dalits despite repeated assurances. They also submitted a memorandum to SDM Amarjit Paul to forward it to the Chief Minister. — OC |
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Land records society union threatens to shut down mutation centres
Jalandhar, January 18 Union leader Shiv Raj said they have been working on the project to computerise all the land record of the state since 2004-05 but have not been regularised. We are also paid less than our counterparts in the government, he alleged. Computerisation of the record is the dream project of the state and they had been assured at the time of their recruitment that they would be regularised but the state has reneged on its promise leaving hundreds of employees in the lurch. “The project has to be finished by March 31, 2011, and we are apprehensive that we will be on the roads after this date. Our pleas to the Revenue Minister and other government functionaries concerned have fallen on deaf ears,” he added. In case our demand was not met, we would be forced to stall work in all the 55 mutation centres across the state besides our head office in Jalandhar, he warned.
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Courts complex becomes an eyesore
Jalandhar, January 18 Though generally court complex is an area everyone would avoid visiting, this one is not at all inviting, literally. The rough and muddy entrance leads to a dark, dingy triple-storey building. The floors of corridors are dusty. The toilets are stinking. The drinking water areas are so slushy that everyone would avoid gulping even a single sip. The sides of the ramp, doors of the rooms and walls of the complex have patches of tobacco spitted out here and there. The area marked as “No tobacco zone” in front of the courts of senior judges is even filthier. There are heaps of waste papers and garbage lying here and there. Since a new block within the complex is under construction and no barricade has been raised on that side, it leads to the interiors getting even dirtier. The courts’ staff also complain of vehicles, including bicycles and motorcycles, of visitors and employees being lifted from the parking area every other day. “I believe that the problem can be solved by giving the parking site on contract. That ways our vehicles will be safe and it will help in generating income which can be used for some welfare work,” they suggested. Asked about the reasons for ill-maintenance, Jarnail Singh, superintendent, explained, “There are just three persons employed with us for the purpose. The area to be cleaned by them daily is more than 80,000 sq feet, which is practically not possible. To add to the problem, the footfall is so high that the floors need to be swept repeatedly in the day.” He added, “We had applied for sanction of 17 posts of contractual safai sewak. But we have been told that the approval could not come before the start of the next financial year. Till that time, we have to carry on like this.”
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Lohri celebrated at college, schools
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, January 18 Principal Dr D.K. Joshi recalled the historic role of Dulla Bhatti and urged the students to shed the old shackles and bring about social reforms. Aradhana Bowry insisted that Lohri should be celebrated not only on the birth of baby boy, but also on the birth of baby girl. There was also a meaningful discussion on various rituals associated with Lohri. Apeejay School
Apeejay School, Rama Mandi, celebrated Lohri on Janaury 13 and students made the occasion special by singing folk songs of the festival thereby mesmerising everyone. Both teachers and students of the schools pledged to celebrate the Lohri of girl children in the future. Little Blossoms
Little Blossoms School celebrated Lohri on its premises to arouse the cultural sentiments among the students and tell them the origin and importance of Lohri by narrating the tale of Dulla Bhatti. The students were quite enthusiastic. They danced on the beats of drum, which was applauded by all. Sacred bonfire highlighted the spirit of the festival. Children enjoyed the winter savouries - til, gajak, peanuts and popcorn. The pre-primary wing danced on the melodious folk songs. Their colourful traditional attires, the gusto and the mesmerising music made the celebration vivacious. Athletic meet
Students of DIPS, Nurmahal, brought laurel for the school in the CBSE National Athletic Meet organised by the Labour India Public School, Kotyyan, at Maharaja Stadium, Kochi. Daljit Kaur won a silver medal in discus throw. Balkar Singh got the fourth position in shot put. Jagvir Singh got the fifth position in javelin throw and Sagar Klair got the fifth position in triple jump event. Placements
Fifteen students of the DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology (DAVIET) bagged placements with Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) at a package of Rs 3.25 lakh per annum. While another six students were selected by Avtec Limited at an annual package of Rs 3 lakh. The placement drive was held on January 17. The students who bagged placements with Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) are Ankita Jyoti and Divya Gupta from computer science and engineering, Gazzala Anand, Garima Sood, Karanjeet Singh, Shreya Mahajan, Mukta Jain, Pooja Duggal, Shivam Malhotra, Khushboo Gakhar and Rajat Talwar from information technology (IT) and Harmeet Kaur, Tasleen Pasricha, Nupur Bharara and Dinesh Sarpal from electronics and communication engineering. While those who got placement with Avtec are Vinay Bansal, Dinesh Mahajan, Amandeep Singh, Jasvir Singh, Tushar Aggarwal and Vikrant Beri. Blood donation
The Red Ribbon Club in association with B.D. Arya Girls College, Jalandhar Cantonment, today organised a blood donation camp on the college premises. College students and staff members donated blood. Dr Gagandeep Singh, Blood Transfusion Officer of the Civil Hospital, was present on the occasion. Principal of the college Dr Sarita Verma highlighted the importance of blood donation. Realty shows
A debate on “The impact of reality shows on society” was organised at the St Soldier College of Engineering and Technology here today. As many as 50 students from different engineering branches participated in the debate and expressed their thoughts. While some termed it as a platform to present the true side of the story, others termed it as wastage of time and a blot on the society. Soft skills
DAV College organised a workshop on “Development of soft skills” in which the students were told about communication, interview and group discussion skills. As many as 200 graduate and postgraduate students participated in the workshop. The founder Director of Making India Employable, Prikshit Dhanda, gave valuable tips to students on how to improve soft skills and avail themselves of better opportunities in government and corporate sectors. Literacy camp
The Gandhian Studies Centre of Kanya Maha Vidyalaya (KMV) organised a day-long literacy camp at Chauharwali village during which stationery and books were distributed among children. The centre under its social extension activities holds such camps regularly in villages on the outskirts of Jalandhar. |
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Theatre’s wake-up call
Jalandhar, January 18 Marked by plays being staged all night long, the PLS has been holding theatrical evenings on January 25 since 1984. Amolak Singh, who co-founded the PLS with veteran playwright Gursharan Singh in 1982, said, “The tradition of staging plays on January 25 began with the need to wake the youth up to issues which haunt our society, through the medium of Punjabi theatre and music”. Why January 25? “The entire nation celebrates Republic Day on January 26. An initiative, which sensitises people about issues related to terrorism and state brutalities on the eve of Republic Day, seemed like a good idea.” This year, however, the night would be marked by two firsts. Documentary films, “Uth Gaye Gawandhon Yaar” about the pain of Partition, by Delhi-based filmmaker Anil Bhardwaj (who would be present on the occasion) and “Weapon of Resistance” (which takes the Iraqi journalist’s shoe-springing incident as a backdrop), would be showcased on the occasion. It would be the first time that documentaries were presented on January 25, a privilege earlier reserved only for the audiences of the Mela Gadhari Babeyan Da, or those attending special documentary screenings at the hall. The second major attraction of the evening would be veteran director Harjit Singh donning the hat of a playwright for the first time, with his debut theatre production “Sandal Bar”. Harjit Singh, whose path-breaking productions with Doordarshan had wooed the Punjabi masses, would collaborate with theatre group Yuva for the play, which would talk about the plight of the tribesmen of “Sandal Bar”. The other plays presented on the occasion would be “Rabb Ji Thalle Aao” by Kirti Kirpal, Natyam Abhineta Da Rang Manch, “Hanere Chanane” by Hansa Singh, Navchintan Kala Manch, and others. Choreographies and music presentations would also be presented on the occasion. Talking about the initial days of the January 25 theatre, Amolak Singh said, “We started this in 1984 and the tradition went on even during the peak days of terrorism.” “The plays presented here are special and different. The youth needs to open its eyes to the brutalities happening around them. There are many movements in history that went undocumented. These plays attempt at documenting those. It’s an attempt to get the youth to open their third eye. To wake up,” Amolak Singh quipped.
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Foreign MPs want cabinet rank for NRI Sabha chief
Jalandhar, January 18 At a felicitation ceremony of the NRI Sabha, they said the aforesaid moves would be important to find effective solutions to the problems of NRIs and PIOs. They said land and matrimonial disputes among NRIs had risen considerably and officials in Punjab seemed unable to deal with them, despite the fact that the government had constituted NRI police stations especially for the purpose. This is also one of the reasons why NRIs seem reluctant to invest in India. To get NRIs to invest in India, it’s important that the chairman of the NRI Sabha should be given a key role in the NRI Commission. Dhalla said the NRI Sabha chief plays an important role in the joint parliamentary forum made by Punjabi MPs across the world, since he is the one who knows well about their problems. Varinder Sharma said with the NRI Sabha chief getting a cabinet rank, bureaucracy would be inclined to treat NRIs in a just manner. — TNS |
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Students get tips on storing info, images digitally
Jalandhar, January 18 The theme of the day was “Let's create a green space”. “It is very important for the user to learn the ways of data storage, its management and security. One should learn to know storage area network, network attached storage, data backup and data protection, data de-duplication, holographic data storage and business continuity”, the company representatives told the students. The highlight of the event was live presentation by P.K. Gupta, Director, Backup Recovery Systems Practice, and Chief Architect - Asia Pacific and Japan for EMC, from Singapore through video-conferencing. Chander Shekhar, principal consultant and system manager for another company CSC, talked about importance of “Virtualisation and cloud computing”, whereas Amit Rawat, programme manager, Academic Alliance, EMC, elaborated on the career opportunities available in storage industry and advised students not to stick to one particular domain if they wanted to be successful. More than 350 students of MCA and B.Tech participated in various competitions arranged on the occasion, like online information storage management test and poster-presentation contest. Winners were given certificates of excellence and various prizes by EMC.
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Awareness drive on illegal migration Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, January 18 Seminars, symposiums and cultural programmes would be organised during the campaign in 10 blocks and 14 villages of the district. First phase of the campaign concluded last month. The campaign is being organised with the assistance of Union Ministry of Overseas Affairs, International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and Government of Belgium. Jalandhar was chosen for the campaign as there was an extremely high prevalence of illegal overseas immigration from the district and its surrounding areas, said Paramjit Singh Sahai, Principal Adviser, CRRID. Campaign coordinator Dr Krishan Chand said functions at Lohia and Nakodar were organised on January 14 and 15, respectively. Kety Verzelan, Belgium Immigration Liasoning Officer, and Amit Bhardwaj, a representative of IOM, were the main speakers at Lohia. Eminent economist Prof Ranjit Singh Ghuman, senior Akali leader Kuldeep Singh Wadala, Dr Jaspal Singh, Principal, Guru Nanak National College, Nakodar, and Gurmit Singh Dhuga, District Public Relation Officer, also shared their views during the programme organised at Nakodar.
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Cops discuss women empowerment
Phillaur, January 18 About 30 senior police officers, including women IPS and PPS officers, took part in the seminar. The seminar was conducted with a view to generate awareness concerning role, importance and challenges emerging due to the increasing number of women police officers in the state. Experts from different segments of the society interacted with the participants. Academy director Rohit Chaudhary said with the change in the global scenario, women had taken up new challenges and roles and invaded several avenues just men used to handle. A panel discussion on the topic ‘Role and Importance of Women in Police Working - The Emerging Opportunities and Challenges’ was also conducted on the occasion. |
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PAHAL holds function
Jalandhar, January 18 Prof Lakhbir Singh, president of PAHAL, said multi-faced efforts should be made for socio-economic development of the deprived section of the society. Efforts made by the government sector as well as by social, religious and voluntary agencies could make a positive change. Avtar Singh, field officer, explained about the Union Government’s vision of the NCLP. The NGO honoured businessmen Rakesh Jain, Kulbhushan Aggarwal and Manu Pathania for donating pullovers, uniforms and shoes worth Rs 1 lakh. An NRI from Italy, Manjit Kaur, and Kartar Singh from Kuwait were also honoured for making donations for the renovation of Kirat Bhawan in which the NCLP school is located.
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Make Phagwara a district: BJP to CM
Phagwara, January 18 The delegation submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister through SDM Amarjit Paul over the issue. A memorandum was given to Punjab Technical Education Minister Swarana Ram, who represents Phagwara assembly constituency, to raise the issue with the Chief Minister. The party had already demanded a district status for Fazilka and Pathankot while Batala MLA Jagdish Sahwney is struggling to make Batala a separate district. — OC |
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Balwant Singh Kapur hockey tourney from tomorrow
Jalandhar, January 18 From this year onward, the tournament committee has decided to sponsor five best promising players who would be selected on the basis of their performance and receive free kits and refreshments from the organisers. Another new addition to the tournament would be a cash prize for the team ending fourth in the tournament. The prize would be decided by the tournament committee on the basis of the feedback from the hockey players and game lovers. Addressing a press conference here today, president of the tournament committee Harbhajan Singh said the school-level tournament would be played on a league-cum-knockout basis. “To encourage the budding players at the grass-roots level, the committee would award a cash prizes to the winning teams. The winners will get Rs 1 lakh, while the runners-up would be given Rs 60,000 and the team finishing third and fourth would receive Rs 30,000 and Rs 20,000, respectively,” he added. A “Fairplay trophy” in memory of Harmohinder Kaur would also be awarded after observing all teams and matches in the tournament. Six best players of the tournament - best goalkeeper, best fullback, best halfback, best forward, highest scorer and most promising player - of the tournament would be awarded cash prize of Rs 5,000 each. He informed that top 10 school hockey teams from across the country would participate in the tournament. These were BRC, Danapur, Birsa Munda Vidyapeeth, Rourkela, Government Model School, Jalandhar, Lyallpur Khalsa School, Jalandhar, Bright Scholar School, Sonepat, Springdale School, Amritsar, Government School, Sundernagar (Himachal Pradesh), Raj Public School, Sangrur, Sports School, Jalandhar, and Sant Baba Uttam Singh Gurmukh Singh, Khadoor Sahib. Commonwealth and Asian Games gold medallist from the city Manjeet Kaur would inaugurate the tournament at 2.30 pm on January 20.
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This is a glaring example which shows the way the local health authorities treat the symbols of charity and donations made by philanthropists for the care of patients and their caretakers.
Young World
