Jalandhar, October 8
More skeletons may tumble out of the closet of the Surjit Hockey Society as it has finally allowed RTI applicant Sanjay Sehgal to personally view its accounts on October 30 after getting relevant directions from the State Information Commission.

Sehgal during the hearing had cried foul and accused the society of providing incorrect and inadequate information after the society in a press release has rebutted the information published in the media.

“How could the society rebut the information provided by its own Public Relations Officer? The information that I had given to the media is entirely based on the details of transactions provided to me by the society itself. It has stated that no money more than Rs 20,000 has ever been given in cash,” said Sanjay Sehgal, adviser member of the RTI Activist Federation of Jalandhar.

“The biggest evidence to prove to their lie is that as per the details given to me for the last financial year, all the prize money awarded to the players was given in cash only,” said Sanjay Sehgal.

The society in a press release claimed that reports published in a section of media about its dealings and handling of accounts were "factually incorrect". It said only a nominal amount of imprest cash was given to two of its members. But according to the details provided by the society itself, maximum cash payments have been made to the two members. Many of them are given even without any voucher entry.

“The columns meant for filling the voucher numbers and details were left blank by the society. What does that mean?” asked Rajesh Agnihotri, general secretary, RTI Activist Federation of Jalandhar.

The Society has claimed that an amount to the tune of Rs 2 lakh that was spent on VVIP refreshments includes expenses on media, guests, organisers etc. But they have not mentioned the same in the transaction detail provided to the RTI body.

“This proves that they have provided us insufficient and incorrect information which itself is a contempt of the State High Commission. On the contrary, the media expenses were mentioned under a separate heading on the same ledger,” said Sehgal.

The RTI Activists Federation further claimed that if the society was getting government grant for the tournament, running an office on government land and organising a tournament in government stadium, they should be made answerable for the public money by declaring them a public entity.

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Jalandhar, October 8
Strike of the employees of the Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) entered third day today with over 50 protesters staging dharma in front of the main out-patient department (OPD) of the premier healthcare institute here.

Up in arms against the management, the employees, including non-teaching and paramedical staff, assembled outside the OPD at about 8.30 am and staged a dhrana till 2.30 pm.

The registration of patients at the OPD was adversely affected as there was hardly anybody to entertain the visitors, thus disrupting the hospital functioning.

The angry employees also raised anti-management slogans accusing the higher-ups for non-payment of salaries for the past three months.

The protesters complained that the PIMS management had repeatedly failed to pay their salaries and other dues since after the institute came in existence. They were unable to maintain their household budget, the protesters said. 

Jalandhar, October 8
Not attending a function held on the campus to mark the visit of minister Sarwan Singh Phillaur two months ago has led to the suspension of the principal of Government Senior Secondary School Chitti near here today.

The orders regarding the suspension of Garo Devi, principal of the school, were passed by Education Minister Sikander Singh Maluka today.A release issued in this regard mentions that the suspension came on the charges of dereliction of duty and indiscipline in the school. It also reads, “During the suspension period, the headquarters of the principal have been shifted in the office of Circle Education Officer (CEO) Faridkot.”

Minister for Jails Sarwan Singh Phillaur, who is also the MLA of the Kartarpur constituency under which the school falls, had gone to the campus on August 12 for the inauguration of a computer laboratory and planting saplings. The principal, it is learnt, abstained from the function, later citing health reasons for the same.

However, Phillaur felt offended and even mentioned his grouse in his speech at the function. Soon after, official communication on the matter began from the office of Secretary, Education. It has been nearly two months now since the principal and six other staff members who had remained absent on that day are being asked to explain as to why they went absent on that day. District Education Officer (Secondary) Neelam Kumari confirmed that an inquiry was on in the matter.

School principal Garo Devi, however, has countered the allegations on the matter. “I was unwell on that day and could not attend the school. I had no communication about the visit of the minister either through him, his staff, office of the Circle Education Department or even the District Education Department. This perhaps would have happened since the school was closed for three days from August 9 to 11 on account of Id, second Saturday and Sunday. Had I known that the minister was there, I would have definitely made it to the school,”she has said. She, however, added that she had not yet received any suspension orders.

The other six teachers who are being asked to explain their absence include Raj Rani, Sarojini, Poonam Kanda, Kamla Devi, Sunil Kumar and Neelam Kumari. The teachers were said to be having an off on that day, as they were observing fast on Monday to mark the month of “sawan” as per the Hindu rituals.

To make a strong case against the principal, the state education department has even been inquiring regarding the conduct of the principal on the campus by recording the statements of the teachers against her.

Jalandhar, October 8
Sources at the Civil Hospital have confirmed that the initial findings of the post-mortem report of Rashi Sharma, the 36-year-old lecturer who died due to some complications on Sunday, suggest towards the reaction of some injection given to her during the uterine septum removal surgery at Vardaan Hospital.

However, staff at Vardaan Hospital refuted the initial findings of the Medical Board.

Surprisingly, the staff that operated upon Rashi at Vardaan Hospital claimed that she was given only three drugs, namely Ketamine, Midaz and Propofol, at the time of the surgery. While Ketamine and Midaz do not require any testing before their administration to the patient, Propofol may cause allergy but it is very uncommon,” said Dr Anuradha Daver, who assisted in the surgery of Rashi along with Dr Navin, chief surgeon of Vardaan Hospital. She also admitted that the reaction was noticed almost 25 minutes after the administration of the drugs to Rashi. “She was administered these drugs 10 minutes before the surgery. She was ready to be operated at 2:10 pm.It was an 18-minute procedure. As we were about to finish the procedure, we noticed some swelling on her face. At 2:30 pm, we noticed the reaction in the form of a swelling on her face. I immediately planned her transfer to the super-speciality hospital,” said Dr Daver.

But, the anaesthetist of Vardaan Hospital Dr MP Sethi has refuted the claim. “It is all rubbish. It cannot be a drug allergy because such types of allergies are caused immediately after giving the drugs. The oedema was noticed when the whole surgery was done and the doctors were about to close the operation,” said Dr MP Sethi. Dr Daver, in reply to a question, has accepted that the surgery was completed and the remaining septum was removed successfuly from Rashi’s uterus.

On the chances of Rashi developing a possible drug reaction, the Civil Surgeon said it might be possible. “It is very difficult to say anything at this moment. The investigations are at a very early stage. But this is a fact that any medicine can cause reaction anytime. It may be possible that Rashi could have died of some reaction by some drug,” said RL Bassan, Civil Surgeon, Jalandhar.

Rashi had developed pulmonary oedema (swelling of the organs) during the surgery due to which she had anaphylaxis (swelling of the respiratory track). Her pulse rate started falling and she went into coma.

On the other hand, Rashi’s family, at a press conference on Tuesday, alleged that Vareesh Kumar is not a doctor and had only passed high school as mentioned in a notice issued to him by the Civil Surgeon in 2005. The family has alleged that he was earlier also booked under various acts of negligence, cheating and frauds in 1996 and 2008.There are several cases pending against him at the Medical council and Consumer Forum. The family has also alleged that he was not having a proper qualification as ART specialist in all his prescriptions. The family has supported all its allegations with valid documents provided to the media at the press conference. However, Vareesh Kumar was not available for comments despite repeated attempts. 

Jalandhar, October 8
While the Jalandhar Development Authority (JDA) and Municipal Corporation (MC) officials are hopeful that all remaining plot-holders, buildings owners and colonisers will avail another opportunity provided by the state government, only a few applicants turned up on the first day of the extension period of 18 days for applying for the regularising of unapproved colonies.

The Punjab Government extended the last date for filing applications for regularisation till October 25 on Monday, but a total of 192 plot-holders, building owners and six colonisers applied for regularisation with the JDA and MC authorities in Jalandhar on Tuesday.

In this way, a total of 16,369 plot-holders and building owners and 258 colonisers so far applied for regularisation till Tuesday. As many as 515 colonisers have yet not applied for approval as a total of 773 colonies were identified as unapproved in Jalandhar and some neighbouring areas falling under the JDA and MC.

JDA chief administrator Jaskiran Singh told The Tribune “Forty-two plot holders and building owners and four colonisers have submitted applications on Tuesday. With this, a total number of 3,219 plot-holders and building owners and 206 colonisers have so far applied for regularisation. As many as 244 colonisers have yet not applied so far for regularisation with the JDA as a total number of 450 colonies have been identified as unapproved in the areas falling under the JDA jurisdiction.

MC senior town planner (STP) Trilok Singh said about 150 plot-holders and building owners and two colonisers submitted application for regularisation today. So, a total number of 13,150 plot-holders and building owners and 52 colonisers have so far applied for regularisation — TNS 

Jalandhar, October 8
Without taking the Jalandhar Commissionerate Police into confidence, the Jammu and Kashmir Police this morning reportedly apprehended three youths who had been staying at a hotel near Namdev Chowk here.

The three youths who were taken into custody include Pankaj of Batala and Vikas Gupta and Radhish Sharma of Rajouri. The three reportedly checked into the hotel late last night by giving the voter ID card of Pankaj in the hotel.ADCP-1 Naresh Dogra and SHO New Baradari Subhash Chander were completely ignorant of the visit of the J&K police and lifting of the three boys. As they got to know of this, they visited the hotel and checked the video footage of the same to verify the information. They also took on record the copy of the ID proof of the boys.

Dogra said the J&K police should have taken the local police into confidence, but there was no information from their side.We got to know about this from locals after the incident. All we know is that the three youths were involved in a dispute at Rajouri, he added. — TNS

Jalandhar, October 8
While it has been five days since a 50-year-old woman had been attacked with acid, the city police is completely clueless regarding the identity of the culprits of the heinous crime.

The cops claim that they have no evidence regarding the identity of the youth. All that they know is that there were two youths on a black bike who threw acid on the left side of the face, head and arm of the victim Jatinder Kaur, who was returning from Waryam Nagar Gurdwara when the incident took place.

Since the youths were wearing helmets and the number plates of the bikes had been blackened, this left the victim and other onlookers with no direct clue about their identity.

The police has, however, stepped up vigil since. Round-the-clock nakas have been laid near the site of the attack. The incident has also led to the police putting up early morning nakas across the city so as to ensure the safety of elderly and other visitors to religious places or for morning walks.

ACP (Model Town) Manpreet Singh said the probe was on from other angles. “We are not just tracking the case with snatching attempt in mind. We are looking into other aspects with regard to a dispute that the victim had entered into a few days ago or any other internal family matter. Other than this, we are also interrogating all history-sheeters in the area, keeping a track of youths out on bail in various cases and finding their link with the episode. It will be a lengthy inquiry but I am sure that we will be able to solve it,” he said.

MS Sodhi, a counsel and brother-in-law of the victim, said the family was planning to meet top-rung police officials tomorrow to expedite the inquiry in the matter.

Dr Jaswant Bath, plastic surgeon attending to the patient, said the condition of Jatinder Kaur had been improving. 

Jalandhar, October 8
As demand for dairy products is going north as the festival season nears, the health authorities have turned a blind eye to the preparation of spurious products by sweetmeat manufactures across the district.

While the manufacturers are busy preparing sweetmeats by procuring adulterated dairy products such as khoya from other states, the district health authorities are in a deep slumber.

Sources revealed that health officials were hardly prepared to curb the problem in the district.

Teams of Health Department generally take notice of information passed by people and that too after grilling the informer, a former district health officer said.

Generally, adulterated and spurious dairy products are smuggled by traders from other states via trains, buses and other modes of transport.

Neither the government not health officials chalk out strategy to check smuggling of these products, said Surinder Mittal, a former presiding member of District Consumer Court, Kapurthala and Jalandhar.

Consumption of sweetmeat and dairy products is quite high in Jalandhar. The city-based sweetmeat manufactures sell dairy products to the neighbouring states such as Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. The end-users are usually unaware of the quality and level of adulteration in the eatables, said Sanjeev Sharma, a Model Town resident.

Dr RL Bassan, Civil Surgeon, said, "I have already directed District Health Officer (DHO) Dr Balwinder Singh to keep a check on the manufacturing process in workshops of various sweetmeat houses, besides keeping tabs on smuggling of adulterated dairy products from other states."

The District Health Officer could not be reached for comment. 

Jalandhar, October 8
The district health authorities today operated upon 22 patients for various opthomological disorders at the Civil Hospital here.

The authorities had organised a free medical check camp in Bara Pind on Monday and after examining 800 patients for different eye ailments and disorders, 22 were recommended operations by a team of ophthalmologists.

A press note issued by Dr RL Bassan, Civil Surgeon, said that besides educating the general public about maintaining hygiene and taking care of their eyes, the doctors also advised different exercises to patients.

Jalandhar, October 8
Guru Nanak Dev University College, Ladawali Road, bagged the overall third position in youth festival division-B organised at GNDU here.

Jalandhar, October 8
"Although the Punjabi film industry has grown creatively in the last few years, the Jatt community is shown in the films is still the same. They are still projected as funny, nonsense and illiterate people. It would be great if our Punjabi film industry projects them as qualified professionals contributing to the society," said Guggu Gill during a press conference for Punjabi film "Ronde Saare Vyah Picchon".

The film is releasing on October 11 with Neeru Bajwa and Harish Verma in the main lead. Gugu Gill is playing the role of a zamindar in the movie.

"It is a romantic, exciting and exhilarating gift to our viewers on the onset of festive season. The con woman (Neeru Bajwa) who gets married again and again to loot the house ends up loving one of her victims. What ensures later is a hilarious comedy with some of the best moments of laughter," said Neeru Bajwa.

Harish Verma is shown as a handsome, sophisticated and rich young man who weds a beautiful girl of his grandmother's choice.

"This movie will enforce values of relationships that we are losing on," said Harish Verma.

Himmat Singh, the producer of the film, said even as the Punjabi film industry expanded in a big way, it was still not ready to do experiments. The Punjabi audience is still not as dedicated and may not accept change, he added.

"Do you feel that the audience would have responded in the same way it has responded to Milkha Singh if the film would have been made in Punjabi?" asked Himmat Singh.

Ved Prakash has written the story and also worked on screenplay with Vijay Kumar Arora. The cinematography is by Karan B. Rawat. Gurmeet Singh, Daljit Singh, G Deep and GJ Singh have given music to the film. Kumaar, G-Deep of DJ Wale Veera and Kudi On Fire and Yakoob of Channa Ve fame have penned lyrics for the songs. Singers Lambhar Hussainpuri, Tarranum Malik, G-Deep, Jaspreet Jasz, Nikita, Sandeep Bankeshwar and Navraj Hans will be heard in the foot-tapping numbers. Jayesh Pradhan and Jot Sohal have choreographed the sequences, while Pradyumna Kumar is the action director for RSVP.

Sanjay Sankla has edited the movie, which has been shot in Amritsar. 

Jalandhar, October 8
Stage is all set for the 30th edition of the Indian Oil SERVO Surjit Hockey Tournament, which will be inaugurated today by the Chief Parliamentary Secretary (Cooperation), Punjab, at the local Olympian Surjit Hockey Stadium in Burlton Park here.

On the inaugural day, the formal opening match will be played between RCF Kapurthala and Indian Navy Mumbai at 5.45 pm while Corps of Signals will face Punjab Power Corporation, Patiala, at 4.00 pm.

The Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) has appointed Kulbir Singh as observer, Rakesh Bhatia of Delhi as tournament director, Avinash Srivastva of UP as manager of umpires, HS Sangha, VP Singh as technical director, GS Sangha, Ripudaman Kumar Sharma, Suresh Thakur, Bhupinder Singh, Virendra Singh (Railways) and Virender Singh of Haryana as umpires for the tournament.

The tournament is organised every year by the Surjit Hockey Society, Jalandhar, to keep the name of ex-Olympian late Sardar Surjit Singh Randhawa, former skipper of Indian hockey team alive, who lost his life in a fatal car accident near Jalandhar on January 7, 1984, fighting hard for the up-liftment of the game.