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6 more cases of jaundice, typhoid
Stray dog census: 4 months on, admn yet to finish job
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Poverty-ridden labourer commits suicide
Nine held under gambling Act
Integrated courses on the rise to attract students
DAV College hails Grover’s appointment as PU VC
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6 more cases of jaundice, typhoid
Jalandhar, July1 While the health department claims the cases have little to do with the outbreak as the said patients haven’t fallen ill due to water-borne diseases, residents of the area say otherwise and are irked at the fact that they are still getting dirty water. Talking to The Tribune, a resident, Rajesh Agnihotri, said, “The MC has done a half-hearted job. It has only reduced the flow of water disposed from the motor near the main road. The water supply is still dirty and though officials have carried out desilting work, the point of contamination has not been nailed.” “There’s also a new site of water accumulation at Rajan Nagar. While the problem in one area hasn’t been fixed, a new area has already begun suffering,” added Agnihotri. While it has now been established that the mixing of sewerage and drinking water supply in the area is taking place, the municipal corporation has still not made arrangements for alternative drinking supply for the residents, who are forced to consume the contaminated water. The neighbouring Raja Garden area also seems to be gearing up for trouble as sewerage overflow issues also torment the area residents. While Raja Garden had also been dug up for sewerage work, due to the work being left incomplete, the pits and openings in the area also give rise to dirty water accumulation. Sanjeev Kaushala of the Raja Garden area said, “While the area had prefect sewerage, it was dug up again during the tenure of the last councilor without any reason. Some of the open sewers now lead to trouble. At times the streets are so clogged with water that it is difficult to walk through. In our locality, too, without filters the water is too dirty.” Out of the six new patients found with jaundice and typhoid in the Basti Peerdaad area, one is a four-year-child who is presently admitted to the Civil Hospital, another is a 46-year-old patient Amarjit Lal who is suffering from typhoid and is severely anaemic. The other four patients are Navdeep Singh (9), Sumitro (42), Surjit Kaur (65) and Harpreet Singh (19). Dr RL Bassan civil surgeon-cum-district health officer said, “Due to a lot of choked drains and dirty water accumulation and sewerage overflow in the area, the situation is grave. During my visit, residents also complained that the area wasn’t being cleaned regularly. The neighbouring area of New Rajan Colony is also suffering from the same issue.” Talking about the six patients, Dr Bassan said, “The six patients are in the recovery phase. One of the patients is suffering from typhoid and anaemia and typhoid which isn’t even a water-borne
disease.” On the matter of fresh water tanks still not being supplied in the area, he said he would write to the MC officials on the issue. Dr Satish Kumar, district epidemiologist, confirmed that three teams of health officials visited Basti Peerdaad today. “We visited 311 houses, checked 1,173 patients and distributed 3,000 chlorine tablets. We also sprayed demephos in the area. The health teams visited the Basti Peerdad, New Rajan Nagar, Pannu Vihar and Anand Nagar areas today.” |
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Stray dog census: 4 months on, admn yet to finish job
Jalandhar, July 1 The decision was taken by the administration following a number of dog bite cases in the rural as well as the urban areas of the district. A number of people, especially children, had fallen prey to dog bite incidents in which many had even lost their lives. Deputy Commissioner Priyank Bharti had directed the Block Development and Panchayat Officers (BDPOs) in the villages to conduct a survey and submit a report so that some preventive measures could be taken to curb the dog bite menace. DC Bharti had also asked the BDPOs to find out how many carcass dumps in the villages were without any proper boundary wall and gates, as that was the major reason behind the dog bite cases. Bharti had at that time also maintained that since
a majority of the dogs were found feeding on carcass dumps, the number of dog bite incidents were
on the rise. According to information available with Jalandhar Tribune, as many as 358 dog bite cases were reported in January and February this year. While 982 dog bite cases were reported last year, 1,100 such cases were reported in the year 2010 alone. It is pertinent to mention here that this year witnessed some terrifying dog bite incidents, out of which some were reported from rural belts of the district. On April 10, a five-year-old boy was mauled and injured by a group of stray dogs feeding on a carcass dump in Nakodar while a nine-year-old girl, Mandeep, from Bulanda village of Mehatpur was mauled by stray dogs on February 10. Stray dogs feeding on carcass also mauled another boy from Nakodar who was playing with his friends in the month of March. In April, a senior citizen was also bitten by a dog in the city. Recently, the issue of rising dog bite cases in the state was also raised in the assembly session, in which it was highlighted that an estimated 15,585 dog bite incidents took place last year in the state. The issue of acute shortage of rabies vaccine was also highlighted but no consensus on this issue could be reached. |
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Three-yr-old girl raped
Jalandhar, July 1 The accused, identified as 19-year-old
Subir, son of Mohammad, originally hailing from Bihar was presently living in the Raj Nagar locality. Assistant Commissioner of Police
(ACP), West, RPS Sandhu said a case under Section 376 of the IPC had been registered against the accused. The accused was a tenant in the same building where the victim girl resided. Hailing from Utter
Pardesh, Shanti Devi, the victim’s mother, alleged that while she was busy in household chores, her daughter, who was playing in the courtyard, was allegedly convinced by
Subir, who later took her in his room. “When I started searching for my daughter in the house and then suddenly peeped inside Subir’s room, I was stunned to notice that he was molesting my minor daughter and was making physical relations with her. I then immediately raised an alarm and informed the nearby residents,” the victim’s mother told the police. |
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Poverty-ridden labourer commits suicide
Jalandhar, July 1 The victim was identified as Sukhdev Singh, a resident of Bhagoarayia in Sultanpur Lodhi. He succumbed to his injuries at the local Civil Hospital late in the evening. The victim’s family members revealed to the police that he was reeling under poverty, which actually became the cause of taking the extreme step. The victim’s legs were completely crushed in the accident. Soon after the incident, an emergency 108 ambulance took him to the hospital, where he breathed his last. An inquest proceedings under section 174 of Cr PC were initiated, police sources said. |
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Nine held under gambling Act
Jalandhar, July 1 The six arrested accused were identified as Ashok Kumar and Ajay Kumar from Model House, Jagan Nath, Tinku and Tilak Raj from Bhargav Camp, and Harjit Raj from Tej Mohan Nagar and Rs 3,000 was recovered from them. The other group of gamblers was also arrested from the same spot and Rs 1,500 was recovered from them. They were identified as Shakti Kumar and Som Nath of Bhargav Camp, and Bodh Raj of the Model House locality. A case under the Gambling Act was registered against the arrested accused. |
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Harivallabh gets cold shoulder again
Jalandhar, July 1 But it looks like these are not enough for the Punjab Government to pay heed to the precious Harivallabh Sangeet Sammelan. Another year, another budget and another string of long-faced committee members wondering whether they will be able to raise enough funds to save face this December, because the government, clearly, is not interested. The members of the Baba Harivallabh Sangeet Mahashabha are peeved at the fact that the Harivallabh Sangeet Sammelan did not even find a mention in the budget passed this year. While Rs 1 crore was earmarked for the sammelan by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal a few years ago, last year Rs 25 lakh was earmarked for the sammelan. Even as the committee members had received the Rs 1 crore, out of the Rs 25 lakh earmarked last year only Rs 12.5 lakh has been received so far. This despite the fact that the Harivallabh Sangeet Sammelan, called the city’s soul by oldies, is the biggest of city attractions for tourists, music lovers and scholars from across the nation/globe, in the chilling December cold every year. With the other classical music festivals of the state slowly slipping into oblivion, Harivallabh is one of Punjab’s few hopes to make its presence felt on the cultural map. But as prestigious as it is, the indifference it suffers is yet another of the proofs of a growing disregard for culture in the state and the city of Jalandhar. OP Seth, president of the Harivallabh Sangeet Mahasabha, said, “We have been left in a position that we will have to go door to door with a begging bowl to raise funds for the sammelan. The Harivallabh Sangeet Academy project has also hit rock bottom. We had planned it to be a prestigious affair with state-of-the-art facilities for music students, but since we have no funds, the building lies midway, waiting for funds for the construction to be completed.” Reacting on the budget, mahasabha general secretary Purnima Beri said, “It is such a pity. We are totally lacking the backing of the government. It seems we have been forgotten after being given that Rs 1 crore.” “We will have no other option, but to turn to various IAS officers to build pressure for the flow of funds. We will also have to seek local help for grants. Once the academy is completed, the sammelan could finance itself to some extent. But for that, construction needs to be completed first. We need a minimum of Rs 4 crore to move forward with the work,” she added. Both Seth and Beri said the escalating cost of artiste fees has also been a big worry for the past couple of years. “Earlier things used to be wrapped up within Rs three to four lakh, but now we need at least Rs 18 to 20 lakh to put up a decent show,” they said. Notably, the festival also receives an annual grant from the cultural ministry (Centre) through the Sangeet Natak Akademi. While they are supposed to get Rs 5 lakh per year, they have received Rs 3.75 lakh so far and members say for the central grants, too, only a part is paid first, while they often have to clamour for the remaining grant. |
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Integrated courses on the rise to attract students
Jalandhar, July 1 The colleges and universities have started offering a combination of various courses in the integrated form so as to enroll a student for a continuous period of at least four to six years. There are an array of combinations being offered as is B.Tech with M.Tech, B.Tech with MBA, BBA with MBA and so on. Lovely Professional University is offering B.Tech with M.Tech and B.Tech with MBA in all streams. Aman Mittal, Assistant Director, Public Relations, said students have a big advantage of saving one year by taking admission in the integrated courses. “While normally B.Tech and M.Tech takes a total of six years, this way the student can complete both degrees in five years”, he added. “Similar is the case with courses --- Bachelor in Physiotherapy and Masters in Physiotherapy and BCA and MCA. There is no year-saving only in BBA-MBA, B.Pharmacy-M.Pharmacy but those who had opted for the integrated programmes have a better chance of placement as industry wants students from such courses since they have better understanding of the concepts. Also, by the time the students start the MBA course, they are levied fee on the four-year-old fee pattern wherein they also tend to save money”, he further elaborated. Punjab Technical University has started offering integrated B.Tech after Class X at Punjab Institute of Technology Mansa. The student has an added advantage that he will not appear in any entrance test and will straightaway get admission in an engineering college. The university has registration process till July 10 and students will appear for on-the-spot counselling on July 13 at a transit campus set up at Nehru Memorial College there. Besides, PTU is also offering BBA with MBA at PIT Nandgarh for which counselling will be held at Giani Zail Singh College Bathinda. Sri Guru Granth Sahib World University Fategarh Sahib is also offering combo courses on similar pattern. |
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Man on ‘Green on Wheels’ mission comes to city
Jalandhar, July 1 Ujjal Pal (38), on a journey across the country to spread environmental awareness and encourage people to plant trees, touched upon the city on Friday night. A graduate in agriculture, Pal, also an MBA in marketing and finance, quit his job of Rs 50,000 per month in the private agricultural sector last year to tour the country. Originally from West Bengal, he first visited Bangladesh and then embarked on a cycle ride across the country with national parks and sanctuaries as his chosen stops. In his project titled “Green on Wheels” he plans to cover 28,000 km touching all Indian states in about 730 days. Starting from Sunderbans Royal Bengal Tiger Reserve (West Bengal) on December 16, 2011, he has already covered 5,700 km and is all geared up for the rest. So what exactly triggered his passionate odyssey? “My job made me observe the environment and agricultural practices very closely. The water table is depleting, the summers are getting hotter and the levels of environment degeneration are alarming. But people weren’t really bothered. I felt an urgent need to do something.” Pal, who has also pursued an advance mountaineering course (2001) from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi, used to visit the hills twice or thrice every year. The melting glaciers added to his unease. On the move for the past six and a half months, Pal’s journey mantras are set. He doesn’t spend a penny from his pocket on his stays (spends nights at police stations, forest lodges, temples, gurdwaras, churches or friends’ houses) and advertises his plans on the net before visiting any city. “People have been more than supportive and my Facebook posts have often resulted in a number of calls with people volunteering to help.” His journey hasn’t been without challenges. In Madhya Pradesh, he had to go without food and water for an entire day when a shortcut through a forest turned longer than expected. And he has often had wild encounters with jackals, elephants and spotted deer during his various exploits through dense Indian forests. He has also stopped at villages, schools and universities on the way, often sharing his experiences with students and other enthusiasts. After his cycling spree ends (he will be 41 then), he has plans chalked out for the rest of his life. 41 to 50: Will go for world tour with the same message. At 50 I will take retirement from cycling.” 51 to 60: Will visit colleges and universities spreading my message. After 60: Will start plantation drives with my like-minded friends. Will pursue my passions - writing (daily records of his experiences) and photography. Ne never wants to go back to a 9 to 5 job. “I have enough to eat,” he says. Pal has toured West Bengal, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, parts of Haryana. He is in Punjab right now and plans to go to Rajasthan, Gujarat and South India. Pearls of wisdom
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City youngsters have gala time at ‘Salsa Night’
Jalandhar, July 1 While for many it was an occasion to get accustomed to the Latin dance forms, for others the evening ensured a memorable time with foot-tapping Latin and salsa music in the background. Among the centre of attraction in the dance evening was US-based couple Arshdeep and his wife Rakhi Singh, who have taught these dance forms even to the Managing Director of the institute, Manpreet. Manpreet along with his US friends has been promoting the Latin American dance forms, besides others. Manpreet, who has remained a choreographer of many shows on Doordarshan, music videos and Punjabi movies, said, “Even I picked salsa, Merengue and Bachata dance forms from them. The salsa night event was planned with the motive to promote these dance forms among the youngsters.” |
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DAV College hails Grover’s appointment as PU VC
Jalandhar, July 1 Principal DR BB Sharma said Dr Grover was a student of the college from 1967 to 1968. “He had visited the campus on March 2 this year for a national conference and had delivered the inaugural address. The Guru Nanak Dev University Vice Chancellor too has been an ex-student of our campus”, he said with pride. |
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