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Construction of 621 plush chambers in doldrums
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Sangha farms raided again, another child identified
Road carpeting tops Lok Sabha poll issues
Rs 32 lakh robbery case
MC collects Rs 61 lakh as property tax
Workshop on practical ways of teaching
Truckers allege administration-sand mafia nexus
from schools
road patch work
2 snatchers nabbed
feedback
Medical conference
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Construction of 621 plush chambers in doldrums
Jalandhar, March 29 The present team headed by Mandeep Singh Sachdev will dissolve on April 24 with elections scheduled around that time. Having announced elaborate plans, the members of his team have now started saying that the construction of regular chambers in the existing site of 465 temporary chambers in front of the district courts cannot be a viable option. Secretary of the DBA Sandeep Singh Hundal said a new site was required somewhere in the periphery of the city. "The government must acquire land at some place for us. Earlier, there was a proposal to get 35 acres of land in Nangal Shama but it could not be worked out. We are soon planning to hold a general body meeting to discuss the issue all over again," he said. District president of the BJP and a lawyer Subhash Sood said, "I could foresee it much earlier that this plan is not workable. There is no outline of the area where they had been proposing raising of new chambers. The land in front of Mohan Palace belongs to the Jalandhar Improvement Trust and it cannot be covered. No cost estimates had been made and no government funds could be arranged. All DBA teams have been just coming, raising the issue and going back without being able to resolve the matter which is of utmost importance." KK Arora, a prominent lawyer, said: "There are at least two foundation stones laid for the purpose within the district courts compound but nothing is changing reality. “One stone had been laid by now Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal on December 22, 2001 in the presence of MLA Manoranjan Kalia and the second by Captain Amarinder Singh on February 15, 2004 then in his capacity as Chief Minister Punjab," he said. DBA president Sachdev had in August this year announced having received clearance of the project in the 4-acre land from the inspecting team of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He had even announced that their maps had been approved and a go-ahead had been given for the phase-wise construction. He had said that the committee had said that chambers of the size 9.6 feet to 12 feet be constructed. It had then also been decided to levy an estimated amount of Rs 20,000 per annum for five years for advance booking of a chamber, which would increase for those applying in subsequent years.
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Sangha farms raided again, another child identified
Jalandhar, March 29 Although, the team did not find children working in the fields during the raid, it has claimed to have found a few witnesses at the site who have confirmed the presence of the child labour at the farms before the issue was highlighted in the media. Also, the couple from Bathinda who earlier identified one child in the photograph published in the Tribune on March 26, came to the city on Saturday and visited Sangha farms to locate their missing child. "We have raided the farms along with the child's father at around 7 am in the morning. We raided the entire farmhouse including the storage points but could not establish the presence of child labour at the site. Nevertheless, we have met a few locals, who have confirmed the presence of the children in the fields before the issue was highlighted in the media," confirmed ACP Tejvir Singh, in-charge of the team. Meanwhile, Umesh Kumar, father of the missing child, Surjit from Mansa, also came to the city in search of his missing child. "One child in the photograph published in The Tribune looks like my son. Earlier, I went directly to the farms to locate my child but could not find the way to the farms and landed in some other village. Now, I have contacted a local NGO to help us find our missing child from the farms," said Umesh Kumar, father of Surjit. Surinder Saini, child rights activist from Jalandhar who is helping the father trace his missing child, has been slammed by the district administration for conducting 'mock raids' at Sangha Farms for the last two days. "This is just an eyewash. What the administration was doing when hundreds of children were openly working in the fields for so long? Why they only swung into action when the issue was highlighted by the media recently," said Saini. He also informed that the many NGOs from Jalandhar and Bhathinda have sent their complaints to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and very soon they are going to take a call on this. Lapses by district administration
The matter has not been thoroughly investigated as neither the District Task Force nor the police officials conducting the raids have called or questioned the owners or any of the 150 odd contractors at the farms to follow the chain through which labourers are being brought from various parts of the country. None of them have even asked for the details. |
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Road carpeting tops Lok Sabha poll issues
Jalandhar, March 29 While the Congress leaders have been holding rallies ridiculing the SAD-BJP government for its failure in providing basic amenities like roads, the ruling alliance is running around the contractors for getting the road work started. Even a national news channel had on Thursday evening highlighted bad condition of roads in the city as the main issue cropped here, of course other than the prevailing Dalit politics. Leaders of both the rival parties have also been using the social media for taking up the road issue. While the Congress leaders have been uploading all sorts of satirical caricatures on the Facebook, SAD candidate Pawan Tinu has been posting photographs of the road work started in various areas of the city. He had uploaded on Thursday as many as seven pictures of relaying of the Nakodar road with a comment, “Nakodar road da kum shuru” (work on the Nakodar road has started). One such post reads: In Canada, they use stickers on roads for cautioning the motorists to slow down on certain stretches. But in Jalandhar, they are far more advanced as they are using 3D technology. The post carries pictures of roads with huge potholes. The SAD-BJP leaders have been claiming to complete all road-carpeting work by April 15, but the Leader of the Opposition Jagdish Raj Raja and other Congress councillors have challenged that they would all resign if the ruling party achieved its target within the stipulated period. Most complaints received at the complaint cell of the District Election Officer pertain to all of a sudden taking up of road works despite the model code of conduct coming into force. Other than making reports, officers who are a part of the Code Monitoring Committee, have not yet checked the ground reality or reported code violation to the Election Commission. Interestingly, the Municipal Corporation is targeting to accomplish all works, amounting to Rs 60 crore, cleared recently. Various road works for which the foundation stone were laid in December 2012 by Mayor Sunil Jyoti are yet to get started. One such stone was laid in Gadaipur, but the road has not been carpeted ever since causing much inconvenience to hundreds of industrialists and labourers.
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3 months on, two nabbed, Army sepoy still at large
Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, March 29 One of the accused is a sepoy in Indian Army engaged in 10 JK Rifles and police teams are in touch with the army officials to detain him. The accused were identified as Gurdev Singh, who is also the kingpin, and Bhupinder Singh, both residents of Gandran village in Nakodar sub-division. Pushpinder Singh, a sepoy in the army, also a resident of the same village, is at large. SSP Jasprit Singh Sidhu said main accused Goni, was married to a foreign girl and whenever his wife came to India, the duo used to exchange foreign currency from Krishan, owner of Gobind Money Changer. Since the duo used to pay frequent visit the money changer's shop along with his wife, he had come to know about the stock of cash and foreign currency kept at the shop by the money changer. For a few days, accused Goni followed the money changer Krishan from shop till he reaches his home. The motive was to identify the location where they can loot the money changer. Later, he involved his two friends in the conspiracy. The SSP said incident on December 25 last year when the owner of Gobind Money Changer was heading home on his Activa scooter and was cornered by the abovesaid three accused near Tandon hospital and looted a bag that contained Rs 32 lakh. To crack the case, police had then also formed SIT but due to elections, all members of the team were transferred which effected the investigation. Now SSP had again formed another Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the leadership of SP (Detective) HPS Khakh, CIA rural incharge Angrej Singh, Nakodar city SI Surinder Pal and Special Branch was formed. "Our teams members devoted seven days a week to crack the case and fortunately, our efforts yielded results in just few days" SSP said adding that acting on the tip off, a naka was laid at a strategic place and after intercepting the accused driving in Swift car, was stopped and nabbed. During a search of the vehicles, police recovered 1700 US dollars, 2100 Canadian dollars, 4285 Australian dollars, 20 pounds and Rs 15 lakh Indian currency along with one kg of intoxicant powder, SP (Detective) Khakh said during the questioning. Police also managed to recovered one kg of intoxicant powder and added that the police was questioning the accused if they were also into the notorious trade of drug smuggling. Khakh said despite looting Rs 32 lakh in cash, the main accused Goni had told his partners that the looted bag contained only Rs 1.50 lakhs. Hence, he gave Rs 50,000 each to Bhupinder and Pushpinder as their share. The SP said Goni had deposited Rs 15 lakh at the Capital Local Area bank at its Nakodar branch and kept the remaining amount at home. The police said today, Goni was leaving for abroad after withdrawing the entire cash from the bank but was nabbed. The police also recovered a Swift car (PB02 BA 3002) and a Maruti-800 from the accused. The remand of the accused would be sought for further investigation.
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MC collects Rs 61 lakh as property tax
Jalandhar March 29 Even today, the staff of the department concerned was working to collect the revenue on account of property tax. An amount of Rs 27 lakh was recovered today while an amount of Rs 22 lakh came yesterday and Rs 12 lakh day before.The MC has collected Rs 22.66 crore as property tax so far. Mayor Sunil Jyoti said the owners of commercial properties had also started paying the amount while having initially launched a series of protest.He said while the tax would be levied after allowing 10 per cent rebate till March 31, those paying from April 1 onwards would have to shell out 20 per cent penalty instead. He said those who would not turn up till March 31 would have to pay 30 per cent more. He said the staff of the department would be working tomorrow as well.—TNS
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Workshop on practical ways of teaching
Phagwara, March 29 Principal of Ramgarhia Senior Secondary School, Phagwara, Manpreet Kaur Bhogal, was the chief guest on the occasion. Dr Vyoma Bhogal Dhatt, director, Ramgarhia Educational Institutions and Gagandeep Singh Dhatt, MD, Alpha Global Enterprises, were the guests of honour at the event. Principal, Dr Surinder Jit Kaur, welcomed the guests. Baljinder Kaur was the resource person at the workshop, which was divided into two sessions. The technical session was held first along with the prize distribution function to felicitate students for their achievements. The best speaker award was given to Jasvir Chand, the most outstanding alumnus award to Karan Dev Jagota, the award for the best alumnus to Vikas Aery, the outshining alumnus award to Harjinder Kumar Gogna and the best stake holder award was given to Gurdial Singh Saini, a social worker. In the second session, teachers from various schools and trainee teachers were acquainted with various pragmatic and utility-based practical ways of teaching so as to make teaching - learning process effective. They were also given training in effective communication and life skills. Arti Sobti, Jain Model School Phagwara; Raghubir Singh Chahal, Sahibzada Ajit Singh School Sarhali; Deepak Nayyar, SSD Model School, Phillaur; Jaswinder Kaur, Principal, New Sunflower High School, Principals of all the Ramgarhia Educational Institutions, students and many others attended the workshop. Bharpur Singh Bhogal, chairman-cum-president, Ramgarhia Educational Council, Phagwara, congratulated Principal, Dr Surinder Jit Kaur, and all the staff members and students for organising the workshop.
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Truckers allege administration-sand mafia nexus
Jalandhar, March 29 Vishnu Joshi, president of the Truck Operator Sabha, said the administration first identified 11 sale points in the district and later allocated them to a single company without inviting any tender. “We only came to know once we reached the spots. We were told that the tendering for these points has already been done and the sites have been allocated to them,” said Joshi. He said although they were selling sand at the rate of Rs 2,100 per truck, the administration had fixed the rate at Rs 2,200 per truck. Members of the truck sabha also accused the administration for helping the mafia by allowing their trucks to move even during the day time. “There are no checks on their trucks. They are not charged for overloading. They even do not pay the transit charges of Rs 8,000 like us. How can we sell sand at Rs 2,200 per truck when we have to pay Rs 8,000 per trip to enter the district,” said Joshi. He said the company had even hired goons at the sale points, who could be seen roaming with arms and ammunition even during the day time to prevent them from unloading. Deputy Commissioner (DC) Varun Roojam confirmed that the administration had fixed the charges for the sand transportation at Rs 2,200 per truck to break the sand mafia nexus in the district. The DC said, “These operators are selling sand between Rs 30,000 to 35 000 per truck. Now with the fixing of sand rates in the city, they cannot charge more from the public.” He said the sale points for the sand had not been allocated to a single company. “Anyone can sell sand from these points, but they have to sell on the rates fixed by the administration,” added the DC.
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Apeejay students top multimedia exam
Students of Apeejay Dance workshop
DIPS UE - I organised a personality development and attitude dance workshop for its staff. Dance instructor Amit was the resource person at the workshop. He elaborated on how to develop a fit and winning personality. The staff learnt many dance steps. Emphasis was laid on the development and enhancement of all aspects of character, behavior and attitude. Amit said positive attitude, good interpersonal relationships, leadership qualities, time management skills, high self esteem and a smile on the face were important prerequisites for a well- groomed personality. Teachers were explained that they needed to be smart, fit and healthy and have clear objectives and smart goals to succeed in life. Moot court
St Soldier Law College today organised the second state-level moot court competition. Eight teams for different colleges of the state, including Rayat College of Law, Ropar, Guru Nanak Dev University Regional Campus, Jalandhar, Panjab University Regional Centre, Ludhiana, Bhai Gurdas College of Law, Sangrur and Baba Farid College of Law, Faridkot, participated in the competition. The moot problem was related to the law on Intellectual Property Rights. There were four rounds of the competition after which the Team E of Rayat College of Law, Ropar, won the winner trophy with a cash prize. The team comprised Ambika Masih, Versha Gupta and Manpreet Singh. The Team H from GNDU Regional Campus Ladhewali, Jalandhar, was declared the runners up. Chief Judicial Magistrate RL Chauhan (retd) and senior advocate Jaswant Singh Chhabra acted as the judges. Principal of the college, Dr Subhash Sharma, introduced the theme of the competition and welcomed the guests and participants. Chairman of the St Soldier Group of Institutions, Anil Chopra, congratulated the winners and gave away the trophy and cash prize to the winning and runners up teams. BSc (non-medical) result
Students of Lyallpur Khalsa College bagged merit positions in BSc (non-medical, semester-III) exams held by Guru Nanak Dev University. In a press statement, Principal of the College, Dr GS Samra, said Jasmeen, a student of the college, bagged second position in the BSc (non-medical, semester- III) by getting 339 marks. President of the college governing council Balbir Kaur congratulated the student and wished her success in life. Jaspal Singh Waraich, joint secretary of the college governing council, Prof Surinder Kaur, head of the Department of Chemistry and Prof Arunjit Kaur were also present on the occasion. Placement drive
PHI Learning, a private company, held a campus placement drive at CT Group of Institutions, Shahpur, in association with Punjab Technical University (PTU), for recruiting BTech (CSE/IT/ECE) and MBA 2014 passing out students. As many as 158 students of CT, PCTE Ludhiana, APJ College, Jalandhar, participated in the drive held at Sardarni Manjit Kaur Auditorium of CT Group of Institutions, Shahpur. The selection process included an aptitude test on the basis of which the company shortlisted as many as 11 students, who will undergo a final interview round to be conducted by the company. After the successful completion of recruitment process, the students will get placement with a salary package of 3.5 lakh per annum. Students, who participated in this placement drive, said the attitude of the members of the selection team was encouraging and on positive. Students were briefed about the company profile and made aware that the company sought devoted and talented job-seekers. Students said, “We hope that most of us will be selected as we have been successful in clearing the interview round.” Students of Apeejay
College of Fine Arts topped in of MA (music instrumental, semester-I) exams conducted by Guru Nanak Dev University last year. The college students managed to secure first, second, third and eighth positions. College principal, Dr Sucharita, congratulated the students. |
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Mayor launches counterattack against Opposition
Jalandhar, March 29 The Congress councillors led by Leader of the Opposition Jagdish Raj Raja had said that they could not see much of the patch work done throughout the year for which such a huge payment was made. The Mayor, who has been at the centre of the storm over the poor condition of roads, today showed a list with the break-up of the works done, in his defence. The list showed patch work dating back to 2009-10, which involved laying of mix seal on Garha Road from GT Road to Railway Crossing at a cost of Rs 10.23 lakh. Jyoti said the payments of such works must had got stuck up somewhere owing to which the contractors got their dues in the financial year 2013-14, which is drawing to a close now. The total payment for the 260 works undertaken has been shown as Rs 11.98 crore, which after addition of Rs 1.06 crore cess and taxes comes to Rs 13.12 crore. Some works had been shown with account heads as maintenance of roads, others as repair, laying, widening and strengthening of roads. An amount of Rs 65.64 lakh had also been added under the provision of laying thermoplastic, eyes and road furniture. Though the white thermoplastic paint had been used, there hardly are any eyes and road furniture laid anywhere in the city. The Mayor said he was much peeved at corruption charges levelled against him. “I have with me the account details of each and every penny being spent by the MC,” he said dismissing any charges against him. Asked if he felt that he could accomplish the ongoing road works by April 15, he came out with a list of roads which he said would be ready in the next few days. — TNS
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2 snatchers nabbed
Jalandhar March 29 SHO Rajinder Sharma said the police recovered 45 gram smack, a motorcycle, a purse and mobile phones from the accused. During preliminary investigation, accused admitted that they had snatched a purse from a woman in Hukam Chand Colony on March 19, which was recovered by the police. The police said the images of the accused were captured by a CCTV camera installed outside the house from where the accused had snatched the purse from a woman. These pictures were circulated in all police stations. Acting on a tip off, the police nabbed the snatchers today. The police said the accused took to crime due to drug addiction. |
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feedback
The ruling SAD-BJP government of Punjab says it is doing a lot for the development of the state. The government claims that it has made the life of Punjabis better with its new projects. But nothing has been done so far. It is just an eyewash. I live in Jalandhar and the problems of the city have not been resolved. City roads are in a deplorable condition. The local administration has failed to maintain the roads, leave alone development. The Bawakhel road, Mihirah Gate and the Ravidas road are in a pitiable condition. Potholed roads create problems for motorists. What is the government and the local administration doing. Jalandhar is the third biggest city of Punjab. The administration should solve the problems of the city on a priority basis.
Gurjot
Bhullar, Jalandhar Chuggiti Chowk: An accident-prone area The roads are flooded with two and four-wheelers leading to traffic snarls. Delay in the six laning of the GT road in some areas of the Municipal Corporation limits has aggravated the problem. Chuggiti Chowk is one of the worst affected areas due to the non completion of the flyover. The administration, Municipal Corporation and elected representatives have turned a blind eye towards the accidents, which often occur at this chowk. Vehicle owners from the PAP Chowk, Guru Nanankpura, Chuggiti face a lot of difficulty if they want to go to Ladhewali or Guru Nanak Dev University Regional College or
various colonies as they have to cross over to Ladhewali from the Chuggiti Chowk. Will the authorities listen? Rajat Kumar Mohindru, Jalandhar
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Making another futile effort to search Krishan Kant, a 12-year-old child who was kidnapped from his home in Jalandhar in May last year, the police again raided Sangha farms owned by Gurdev Kaur Sangha, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and ex-chairperson of the Punjab State Women’s Commission, on Saturday morning.
Rather than taking up bigger national issues in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the entire electioneering in the city is revolving around one topic - broken roads.
While the Congress leaders have been holding rallies ridiculing the SAD-BJP government for its failure in providing basic amenities like roads, the ruling alliance is running around the contractors for getting the road work started.
