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No money, no work, say contractors to MC
64 new UID card registration camps yet to be set up in dist
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2 booked for murder of brick kiln owner
Memories of the maestro: Nostalgia tinged with grief
IDBI Bank held guilty of not returning title deed to consumer
Court: Six to be declared POs
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No money, no work, say contractors to MC
Jalandhar, October 10 Following a meeting of the Finance and Audit Committee meeting for the approval of new civic works proposed by the councillors about two weeks back, the MC had fixed the schedule of receiving and finalising bids for various works from October 13 to 21. The contractors held a meeting in this regard today and decided not to respond to tenders till their pending dues worth Rs 14 crore
are cleared. Since the MC has also started on with the e-tendering process through which it gets responses from contractors outside state as well, the contractors even threatened
to oppose clearing of any forthcoming tenders in which they do not participate. Bowing down to the pressure of the contractors, the MC officials have even decided to postpone the tender process. Commissioner MC BS Dhaliwal said that it had been decided to put off the schedule by one week. “In this time period, we will try our best to arrange for the payments of the contractors”, he explained. Avtar Singh, president of the contractors’ union, said, “Even as the MC is expected to dole out monthly payments to us, we have not been able to get any payment after mid-May. Divali is around the corner. How will our families be able to enjoy the festival without any money? Labourers are after us because they want us to make advance payments”. Vinod Gulati, also a contractor, voiced his concern, “We are finding it extremely difficult to carry on with our ongoing projects. How can we take on new ones?” Mukesh Chopra, another contractor, demanded, “We want complete payments. We do not want any pick-and-choose policy either. The office must compensate all of us at one go.” “The outstanding amount of the MC is too high that the office will not be able to make payments even if it gets a grant from the Improvement Trust. Even if the MC gets Rs 15 crore from the Trust, it would not be able to pay us more than Rs 2.5 crore out of it, as per norms. Ideally, the officials need to expedite the recovery process. The officials just need to gear up to catch big fish who are being sheltered by political masters, all financial problems will automatically get sorted out.” —
Jagdish Raj Raja, Leader of Opposition in
MC |
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64 new UID card registration camps yet to be set up in dist
Jalandhar, October 10 And a time frame of 16 months was given to the staff to complete the work of preparing UID cards. At present the district has 45 UID card Aadhar registration camps, out of which 19 are situated in the city limits and the rest in various parts of the district. Talking to The Tribune, District Food and Supplies Officer and the Nodal Officer of the project T.S. Chopra said they had been waiting for the fresh batch of data-collection machines for the past sometime. “It is owing to the delay in the allotment of the new machines that the new registration centres were not opened. The data-collection machines should have been here by this time,” he added. The Nodal Officer maintained that the entire district
had 181 data-collection machines and another 204 machines were still awaited. However, he said, the delay in the opening of new registration camps had not affected the delivery services of the UID cards. “Till date we have released UID cards to 5,15,815 persons in the district, which is indeed a big number,” he added. On being asked about any rectification cases reported by any UID card holders, Chopra said, “No such case of any rectification has come to our notice so far. The data entry operators first read out the particulars of the applicant to him and it is after confirming them from the applicant that the final details are released to be filled in the UID card.” The UID Aadhar card is a 12-digit number, which is directly linked to the implementation of the Public Distribution System in Punjab. Apart from taking biometric data, the Punjab Food and Civil Supplies Department has also decided to collect details of ration cards, LPG connections, kerosene and status on the implementation of the supply of food grains to
people. |
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Residents heave a sigh of relief as safai karamcharis resume duty
Jalandhar, October 10 The passage of the yatra that was to cross through the old city areas, including Company Bagh Chowk, Jyoti Chowk, Workshop Chowk, Patel Chowk, Nakodar Chowk and old GT Road, was cleaned on priority. The area till yesterday was the filthiest of all because of market areas all around having a high footfall. Certain posh areas, including Model Town, were also cleaned this morning. A huge dump
of garbage along the boundary wall of Niku Park, which had been overflowing, was cleared today. Aruna Arora, councillor of the area, said, “Thankfully, the safai karamcharis are back on duty. The residents had been after me all this while. With no garbage lifting
for six days, the stench had spread all over. It, however, will take another few days for
the karamcharis to clear the whole area.” Other important landmark sites which had off late got converted into dump sites, including back of DC Complex, gates of Circle Education Office, Alaska Chowk and dump in front of the Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences, could not be cleaned today. The commuters on Mahavir Marg had to face much inconvenience as a huge pile of garbage, which had spilled towards the road, was set on fire. Smoke emanating from the site disturbed the entire traffic proceeding towards BMC Chowk. |
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2 booked for murder of brick kiln owner
Jalandhar, October 10 The police has also booked Mohan Singh and his son Sandeep Singh on a complaint of Gurmel Singh, a brother of the deceased. The complainant alleged that the duo had been threatening Bahadur Singh. According to Gurmel Singh, Bahadur Singh had purchased a chunk of land from a relative of the accused. The accused were allegedly occupying the land and were not ready to evict it even after its sale, he claimed. The duo were unhappy with the deal and were forcing Bahadur Singh to scrap it. They had even entered into a scuffle with Bahadur Singh at the kiln site a couple of months ago. The issue was, however, resolved by village panchayat, Gurmel Singh added. Superintendent of Police (Detective) Gurmit Singh said the accused had been rounded up. The police was also working on various other theories as there no eyewitness to the shooting incident. |
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Memories of the maestro: Nostalgia tinged with grief
Jalandhar, September 24 The legendary ghazal maestro himself said, on a nostalgic note, during a visit to the college in 2009, that those were some of the best days of his life and were exponential for his growth as a singer. Satish Tandon, his junior (who later went on to become a teacher and VC at DAV College ), says, “The greatest thing was that he never forgot his college. He was always keen about it and loved it greatly. During his visits he never had the air of an international artist.” “He had first opted for science during graduation but later shifted to arts. As a junior, I saw him rehearsing in the green room by the open air auditorium. We always saw him practising. At that time, youth festivals used to happen at the Panjab University ( Chandigarh ) level. Everyone knew if Jagjit participates, a prize is guaranteed. He was a hero for us even back then,” he adds. Anup Watts, dean, Alumni Association of the college, says, “His last visit to the college was on December 17, 2009 . He stayed here for seven hours. He performed for three and a half hours and took a good look around here. Went to his room (no. 69) in the hostel and met the boy who was the room’s occupant then. He remembered his friends and talked about his college days.” Suresh Seth, a Jalandhar-based writer, his batch-mate and good friend, says, “We have been together for 52 years. His was a voice that is immortal and would never be forgotten. He was witty and would always have one or the other prank up his sleeve. He was a great fan of Talat Mehmood’s voice and had deep respect for Madan Mohan. He had a great love for horses too. When he suffered, he sought salvation in music. He wanted me to write a novel on him. I have been working on it for the past three years.” Jagjit Singh also met his good friend the great poet Sudarshan Faqir (who gave words to his hits like “Vo Kagaz ki kashti”, “Aadmi aadmi ko kya dega,” and the hit album titled ‘The Latest’) in Jalandhar. Both were DAV alumni but they first met at the radio station (AIR Jalandhar). Faqir’s wife, Sudesh Faqir, says, “He was like a brother to my husband. Very few people know about his kindness. He initiated the CRY venture, to help orphaned kids and had also been running an old age home near Pune. Despite his fame, he was an extremely humble person. He was also looking for a publisher to get a compilation of my husband’s (Sudarshan Faqir’s) ghazals published. I was planning to go to Mumbai within some days regarding that. A voice like Jagjit Singh’s will never be found again.” While the auditoriums that once felt his presence, brood over the lost voice and the laughing five years (1959 to 1963) that the maestro spent here, Jalandhar wonders whether it will come across such class ever again. |
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No precautions to tame the killer stretch
Jalandhar, October 10 As per records, eight persons lost their lives on this ‘killer’ stretch in the past two months out of which five were killed in different accidents at the Pathankot bypass, while three persons, including two students, lost their lives at Rama Mandi Chowk. Even after being marked as “black spots” (most accident-prone spots), the police authorities have failed to take precautionary measures to bring down the accident rate so that there should be no more loss of life. The black spots on the Ludhiana-Amritsar stretch of the GT Road include Rama Mandi, Chugitti, Pathankot bypass, Transport Nagar, Focal Point, Verka Chowk, Cinema Turn and Bholath, while Kala Bakra and Kureshia Naka are two main ‘black spots’ on the Jalandhar-Jammu highway. The police shifts its responsibility, claiming staff shortage as the main reason. The city residents, however, blame the government for deploying a majority of the police personnel with the VVIPs, VIPs, politicians and bureaucrats, instead of considering the significance of human safety. According to the police records, 39 people lost their lives and 38 sustained grievous injuries in road accidents at various parts of the city in the past seven years. The accidents occurred at 32 such “black spots”. The ACP (Traffic), Diljinder Singh Dhillon was not available for comments, sources in the police, however, claimed that the volume of traffic has increased manifold in the past decade, while the sanctioned strength of police staff is inadequate for handling this problem. Monti Sehgal, a local social worker, observed that drivers approaching the city, either from Ludhiana or from Amritsar and Jammu sides continue to accelerate their vehicles at the same pace (which they drove on the highway) within the city limits, thus resulting in accidents more often. Deep trenches dug for widening of the highway and unfinished flyovers on this stretch are an addition to the woes of the motorists, says Ashok Sharma of Urban Estate Phase-I, Jalandhar. Hoping against hope, the city police claims that the accident rate will come down with the enforcement of the “Road Safety-10” (RS-10). |
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IDBI Bank held guilty of not returning title deed to consumer
Jalandhar, October 10 In the seven-page decision, forum president Surinder Mohan, its members Jyotsana Thatai and Darshan Singh directed IDBI Bank to pay Rs 5,000 as compensation and Rs 1,000 as litigation cost to the consumer, Manmohan Kalia, resident of Rail Vihar, within a month from the date of receipt of the copy of the order. In his complaint filed on September 29, last year Manmohan Kalia stated that he had deposited title deed of his house measuring 185 sq feet at Rail Vihar as security in lieu of the loan taken from IDBI Bank. The complainant stated that he had requested IDBI Bank to decrease the rate of interest by charging it as per the market rate prevalent in other banks. When IDBI Bank refused to decrease the rate of interest, he got the loan transferred to the SBI. All other documents were handed over by IDBI Bank to the SBI, but for the original title deed with some ulterior motive, he alleged. The complainant stated that the authorised signatory of IDBI Bank had also certified that the original title deed had been received by IDBI Bank while sanctioning the housing loan. It seemed that IDBI Bank was harassing him by not providing the original title deed to him as he had got the loan transferred to another bank or the title deed had been misused by some official in some other loan case, he alleged. After observing the documents and hearing the arguments of the complainant’s advocate Davinder Kumar Gupta and IDBI Bank’s advocates OP Narang and Shashi Shukla, the forum asked the IDBI Bank representatives to pay damages and the litigation cost to the complaint. The forum also stated in its order that the complainant should get a daily dairy report (DDR) recorded in the police station concerned on the basis of the judgement as the original title deed was missing so that he might not face any hardship for want of original title deed for dealing with the property in future. |
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from schools & colleges
Jalandhar, October 10 77 students get jobs
Seventyone students were selected during a joint campus placement drive held at the Ramgarhia Institute of Engineering and Technology, Phagwara, recently. A large number of MBA students from different colleges of North India participated in the placement drive. Rich Infra India Limited, a reputed company, held the drive. The process started with pre-placement talk by Ravinder Singh, Zonal Manager, and Parmpreet Singh Sidhu, Regional Manager of the company. The company selected the students for the posts of Relationship Manager and Senior Sales Manager. They will undergo three-month training, during which they will be paid stipends of Rs 10,000 per month. After the training, they will be given an annual package of up to Rs 3.4 lakh, which will be increased further according to the company rules and regulations. Meanwhile, a placement camp of the food chain KFC was organised at Ramgarhia College on September 29 in collaboration with Alpha Global Enterprises, Phagwara, by the efforts of Navin Dhillon of RIET, Tajpreet Kaur of Alpha Institute and Dr S.K. Ganjoo, coordinator, placement cell of Ramgarhia College. As many as 122 candidates participated in the placement drive from different colleges of Phagwara and adjoining areas, including Guru Nanak College, RIET, MLU DAV College, Kamla Nehru College, Polytechnic College, St Soldier College, Lovely Professional University, etc. For the campus placement, Sunil Vasudev and Lalit Negi came from New Delhi to select candidates for the posts of Shift Manager and team member. The students were first shortlisted on the basis of aptitude test and then were individually interviewed. Finally seven students were selected and were given job appointment letter. Principal and coordinator thanked officials of the KFC and congratulated the selected candidates. Topper
Sonika, a student of the Prem Chand Markanda SD College for Women stood first in the certificate course in computer application of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, by securing 64 marks out of 100. Hindi Samarpan Divas
The PG Department of Hindi of Kanya Maha Vidyalaya (KMV) organised Hindi Samarpan Divas in which Bhopal-based writer Dr Ramesh Dave was the chief guest. He delivered his keynote address on “Hindi sahitya ki vikas yatra” in which he spoke at length on the progressive nature of fiction. On this occasion, “Jagdish Chander ki Granthavali”, a collection of his complete works in four volumes, was released by Dr Vinod Shahi, who edited the work of Dr Dave. Pankaj Bist, a noted writer from New Delhi, expressed his optimistic views on the endless journey of fiction that even in this era of IT revolution was relevant. |
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Open wire joints on poles of streetlights invite mishap
Jalandhar, October 10 A visit to the road located outside the posh Gymkhana Club revealed several uncovered electric wire joints at the lower end of nearly 30 electric poles erected at the central verge. Ashish Aggarwal, a businessman at Basti Bawa Khel, who comes to this road daily for a morning walk, said “Though no mishap has occurred, there is always a risk of an occurrence anytime as the uncovered wire joints are so low that even a child may touch it.” Sunny, a shopkeeper in Lajpat Nagar Market said, “The MC should get these wire joints covered at the earliest to avert a mishap.” When contacted, MC Commissioner BS Dhaliwal said he would get it checked and get the wires covered. |
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Court: Six to be declared POs
Jalandhar, October 10 The Judicial Magistrate (First Class), Pushpinder Singh, has taken a serious note against the accused who have been evading arrest by misleading the warrant officer. The accused Sarabjit Singh, Paramjit Singh Panjwar, Paljit Kaur, Sehbaz Singh, Manbir Singh and Sulakhan Singh have been evading their arrest and providing wrong information to the warrant officer, Kamal Kumar. As per the police, warrants were not handed over to the accused because the accused were not residing in Panjwar village and they were away to unknown place. Arrest warrant of Sulakhan Singh was also not executed because he was not residing in Maluwal Kalan village and have shifted to some undisclosed place. |
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