Jalandhar, May 3
Over 100 labourers working in Krishna Engineering Works in Jalandhar and manufacturing bomb shells have not been given their salaries for the past seven months.

Taking action against the factory, the Labour Department has already issued challans to the factory owner. The department is now all set to file a challan in a civil court against the factory owner.

Meanwhile, the labourers today staged a protest outside the bomb shell factory located on the Ladowali road.

Harimuni Singh, president of the Bar Association Labour Court Jalandhar, said the labourers had not been given their salaries for the past over seven months. The factory owner has been giving lame excuses for not releasing the salaries. We had also filed a complaint with the Labour Department for taking the required action against the factory owner and its officials had assured us of legal action, Harimuni said.

Apart from labourers, there were about 15 employees, including engineers and clerks etc, who had also not been given their salaries for this period.

The protesting labourers alleged that earlier also they had held several agitations against the factory owner. After every protest, the factory owner promised to release our salary, but he never stood by his word.

Last week, factory owner, Mukesh Juneja, had promised to release one month's salary, but he failed to fulfil his promise later, the protesters said.

"Today as well, the factory owner assured us to release one month's salary by Wednesday. Going by the previous hollow promises, we will put off our protest only after getting one month's salary on Wednesday only."

Assistant Labour Commissioner Jatinder told The Tribune that on the complaint, he had issued challans to the factory owner. "After receiving complaint, I had told the factory owner to produce the salary register, but he failed to do so. Subsequently, a challan was issued. We will soon present the challan in a civil court for further legal action," Jatinder added.

The Labour Commissioner said he had also told the labourers to file claims before the Labour Department so that he could send recovery notices to the factory.

Jalandhar, May 3
BJP leaders while extending support to former mayor Suresh Sehgal, who has been booked for thrashing a Congress leader, Subash Sharma, during the polls, today filed a complaint of poll code violation with Assistant Returning Officer Manpreet Chatwal.

BJP leaders, including Sehgal’s sister-in-law and a councillor from Ward No 18 Suman Sehgal, alleged that Congress leaders had staged a dharna outside the polling booth No 155 at the Phagwara Gate. Hence, they violated the poll code.

A complaint has been filed against Reeta Sharma, Subash Sharma, Meena Rani, Minki Sharma and Prem Chandar Sharma.

"During the elections, the booked persons placed a dari in front of the booth No 155 and blocked the election process and also raised slogans against BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi," BJP leaders alleged.

Action should be taken against the Congress workers who have violated the norms while staging a dharna within the area of 100 m of a booth and also suspended the election process during this period and cause a breach of peace, they added.

Jalandhar, May 3
The much-needed respite which city residents have been seeking from slaughter houses seems to be constantly eluding them.

While residents of various areas are up in arms against slaughter houses (involving chicken, mutton, beef and other meats) in areas across the city, the lack of administrative action has caused a great deal of disappointment among people.

Residents of two localities in the city are also up in arms against the slaughter houses located in the areas recently. They even held up traffic to protest on the issue.

Residents of both Baba Budha in agar and Mithu Basti held protests in their respective areas due to the regular unloading of tempos filled with chicken in the area and the resultant insanitary conditions caused in the locality. While residents of the area held a protest against the slaughter houses opened illegally in the area on Thursday, the incident claimed the lives of 200 hens which couldn’t be loaded off a tempo due to the residents’ protest.

The animals died locked up in the vehicle without water and food and the onus for the "loss" was put on residents by the slaughter house owner.

Meanwhile, organisations which have been protesting against the incessant killing of animals at slaughter houses - especially cattle - have announced that they will be formally taking up the issue in a formal yatra across the state in which their prime demands would be the restoration of the lands traditionally meant for grazing cattle, usurped and being used for other purposes now.

Mandeep Bakshi, Punjab president, Gau Sewa Board of a political party in the district, has been strongly condemning the slaughterhouses running in the district.

Speaking to The Tribune, he said, “Illegal slaughterhouses are a pain for residents. While in areas residents are facing problems, in turn, animals abandoned on the roads are also mostly domesticated ones.

We have surveyed the entire city and found that a majority of the cattle left on roads and smuggled quietly by mafia are the ones that belong to owners. Rather than keeping them indoors, they leave the animals out in the open and they are only taken inside when they have to be milked. We are planning a huge protest across the state on the issue once the elctions are over and shall be taking up all these issues.”

“Many cattle herders from Maharashtra have also come to the state with their cattle and feed bad things to the animals. We object to this and demand that the about 500 to 1000 cattle herded by these people be kept in proper conditions or we shall be holding protests on the issue if they don’t do so within 15 days.” 

Jalandhar, May 3
Startling facts of alleged police torture have come to the fore in the medical report of the boy, Gagandeep. The medical examination was conducted by a board of doctors at the Civil Hospital today.

The doctors confirmed that the wounds and injuries on body parts of the boy were of a serious nature and could be the result of police torture.

The report may increase the problems for the Jalandhar police, as the boy’s parents have also been levelling allegations against the police for giving a third-degree torture to their son. Although two police officials, including a sub-inspector and a head constable, had faced suspension in the case, ADCP (Headquarters) Naveen Singla is still conducting inquiry into the allegations of third-degree torture. He is expected to submit his final report within a day or two to the Commissioner of Police.

Seniors medical officials said they had sent the medical report to the Jalandhar police in which they had mentioned about the serious injuries. However, the doctors said they had not found any injuries that were inflicted through electric shocks.

“We have found injury marks on Gagan’s body, which can be construed as someone deliberately inflicted these on him,” a medical official said.

After the boy was nabbed by the Surya Enclave police post on April 28, he had later mysteriously disappeared from the police custody. Sunita, mother of Gagandeep, had then levelled allegations against the police that his son was given a third-degree torture by police to make him to confess past snatching incidents. She had also alleged that her son was given electric shocks by the police at the CIA staff for making forcible confessions.

After two days of mysterious disappearance, the boy had returned home yesterday and he also said that he was given third degree by the police.

Vijay Hans, who has been fighting the legal battle for the boy, also claimed that the medical report of the board of doctors had confirmed police torture. “I have come to know that the medical report has confirmed that the boy was given third-degree torture by the police. I have also apprised the Punjab police DGP Suresh Arora that the Jalandhar police had extended third-degree torture to the boy,” Hans disclosed.

“We have submitted the birth certificate of Gagan to the Jalandhar police,” Hans said.

The birth certificate (a copy of which is with The Tribune) was issued on August 2013 from Amritsar. As per the certificate, Gagan’s birth falls on September 3, 1997. Vijay Hans said the birth certificate clearly indicated that boy was still a minor. By taking a minor on police remand and then giving him third-degree torture for making him confess past crimes, the Jalandhar police had committed a wrong and errant officials should be punished, he said.

Hans demanded that the inquiry officer should be changed, as they had no faith in ADCP Naveen Singla. Singla couldn’t be contacted on his phone.

Jalandhar, May 3
Environmentalist Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal is all set to bag another international honour for his services in environmental conservation.

Sant Seechewal will be honoured by the Punjabi Council of Australia on May 8. He will receive the honour at a ceremony at the Parliament House in Sydney, Australia. Michhelle Rolland, MP for Greenway, will be honouring him.

Maninder Singh, president, Punjabi Council of Australia, said the honour 'Maan Punjab Di' would be conferred on the environmentalist. He said the way in which he had worked for the conservation of the Kali Bein and the way he had been associated other people in it had set a precedent in the world.

He said the challenging work of the cleansing of the Kali Bein was a milestone.

Seechewal will stay in Australia til May 22. He will be visiting Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, Canberra and Woolgoolga cities where Punjabis have been living for the past 150 years. At the Sydney International Airport, Seechewal was accorded a warm welcome by members of the council and other Punjabis, including, Varinder Singh Bajwa, Prabhjot Singh Sandhu, Comrade Ajit Singh, Talwinder Singh Jagraon, Harkirat Singh Sandhar, Jaideep Singh and Armaan Singh, settled in that country. Advocate Balbir Singh Biling was accompanying Seechewal during his visit.

Jalandhar, May 3
In order to create US jobs by capital investment from foreigners interested in obtaining Permanent Residency/Green Cards pursuant to their investments, NYSA has launched its product EB-5 Investment Programme.

The NYSA is a complete financial management company with offices in India, the US and Singapore. Under the programme, an investor could qualify for US Permanent Residency (Green Card) with eligible family members.

Since its inception in 1990, the programme has evolved to bring a valuable financial tool in meeting the requirements of US enterprises looking for capital as well as a transparent, fast and efficient mechanism for foreigners seeking to become the permanent residents of the US.

Over the past three years, more than $6 billion has been raised from over 12,000 investors via the EB-5 programme.

Mark Hesemann, Executive Director, NYSA, US, said under the EB-5 programme, the foreign investor and his immediate family members, including spouse and unmarried children, below the age of 21 years gain Green Cards pursuant to investing in a qualifying US enterprise.

He said the Green Card enables the investor the Permanent Residency status entitling the holder to all rights of American Citizenship except the right to vote and serve jury duty. It does not require periodic renewal. The holder can apply for full citizenship to the United States after holding a Green Card for five years.

He said this was a renewable programme by the US Congress, which was last renewed in September 2013. It was renewed after three years. The programme had gone well at Jaipur, New Delhi and Chandigarh.

“A minimum investment of $5,00,000 (around Rs 3 crore) is required in 'targeted employment areas' and $1,000,000 in other areas. Each investment is required to create 10 jobs within two years’ period,” he added.

Mark said at a time when the immigration industry’s credibility was at stake, NYSA offers a trustworthy, clean and transparent mechanism whereby genuine investors and potential immigrants could explore the probability of migrating to the US with eligible family members by investing in approved USCIS Regional Centre projects.

Jalandhar, May 3
Students of NBS Gurukul emerged as flag-bearers with top results in JEE (Mains) examination —2014 in the region. The toppers include Nikhil Sharma (246 marks) Ankush Babbar (229), Deeksha (215).

Other students who qualified the examination are Puneet Singh, Divya Sharma, Abhishek Sharma, Subham Gulati, Yogeshwer, Akhilesh Sharma, Zaheen Kaur, Hitesh Sharda, Drishpreet Singh, Saurav Gupta, Pushpreet Singh, Bhupinder Singh, Harjot Singh, Romal Saini, Namneet Kaur and Gurleen Singh.

Out of the JEE (Advance) batch of 32 students, 22 students qualified for JEE (Advance) with a success ratio of about 70 per cent. Cut off marks in general category are 115 out of 360.

These are the marks of only 75,000 students out of the 14 lakh students who appeared in the exam. The toppers of Gurukul attributed their success to hard work and guidance of Prof Sanjiv Nanda (Physics), Prof Adarsh Bhatti (Chemistry), and Prof Gurpreet Singh (Mathematics).

Three students of St Soldier Group of Institutions — Rupneshwar Singh, Suresh Kakkar and Samneet Singh — have also cleared the JEE (Main) conducted by the CBSE at the all-India level with 213/300, 203/300, 139/300 marks, respectively.

Vice-chairperson Sangeeta Chopra honoured the students and said it was a great achievement for the institution. They will appear for the JEE (Advance) examination to be held on May 25.

Jalandhar, May 3
Computer science (CS), mechanical and aerospace engineering seem to be in high demand for JEE qualified students. Students, who have qualified for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), 2014, have been looking forward to get placed in either computer science or mechanical or aerospace engineering in the city.

The admission criteria for undergraduate engineering programmes at NITs, IIITs, other centrally funded technical institutions, institutions funded by participating state governments and other institutions shall include the performance in the Class XII/equivalent qualifying examinations and in the JEE (Main).

The Paper-1 (BE/BTech) of JEE (Main) will also have an eligibility test for the JEE (Advanced), which the candidate has to take if he/she is aspiring for admission to undergraduate programmes offered by the IITs.

Speaking to The Tribune, Suresh Kakkar, who has managed to crack the JEE recently, said he would like to opt for computer science.

“The reason I would like to go for computer science is that job opportunities will be more by the time when I complete the course,” he added.

He said he always wanted to opt for computer science. Therefore, he has to go through an intense coaching for two years. “My Class XII result is about to be declared. I started taking coaching when I got admission in Class XI in St Soldier group,” he added.

He said nearly 14 lakh students appeared for JEE across the country. He is one of the students from across the country who will be appearing for JEE (advanced) on May 25.

Another city lad, Samneet Singh, said he would like to opt for mechanical or aerospace engineering as he believes that there would be more chances to get recruited in these areas.

“Like other students, I have to go through a thorough coaching for two years. Without proper coaching, it is impossible to crack the examination,” he added.

Jalandhar, May 3
The premiere of the long-awaited Gurdas Maan and Neeru Bajwa starrer Punjabi movie 'Dil Vil Pyaar Vyaar' was held at Jalandhar on Thursday evening.

Held at PVR Cinemas, MBD Mall, in Jalandhar, the premiere was marked by the presence of the lead actor in the film, Gurdas Maan, along with the leading lady Neeru Bajwa bringing an air of excitement among fans who had gathered outside the venue to have a glimpse of their favourite stars.

Speaking on the occasion, Gurdas Maan said, “It is a great moment for me as also the leading lady and other cast, producers and director of this magnum opus to be here. The story is good and we are hoping it will be a success at the box office.”

Sumeet Singh, MD, Unisys Infosolutions, the company which has the sole rights of the film, said, “We have planned 500 shows of the film across the country. Not only Punjab, but we are also having its shows in Delhi, Haryana, Nagpur, Pune and Mumbai, among other cities. The movie will also be shown in Australia, Canada and the UK."

Leading citizens of Jalandhar, civil servants, members of the media and of the film industry were among the special invitees for the premiere.

The film was lauded by local residents for being a clean Punjabi entertainer.

The positive response by the audience shows that 'Dil Vil Pyaar Vyaar' is slated to be a blockbuster.

Jalandhar, May 3
Three narcotics smugglers were awarded 10 years' imprisonment by the District Courts here today. The sentence was awarded by Balwant Singh, Additional District and Sessions Judge of the Fast Track court.

Jaskaran Singh and Gurvant Singh (both brothers) of Mari Uduke village in Taran Taran and Bhag of Amritsar were nabbed by officials of the Counter Intelligence Department from the Vidipur level crossing in July 2011.

Intelligence officials had information that the trio was on its way to supply narcotics to their customers. A naka was laid near the Vidipur level crossing and after intercepting their Tata Safari vehicle, the three were nabbed. During search, the officials had recovered 8 kg of heroin.

After a trial of over two years, the court found the charges to be true and awarded them 10 years' imprisonment.

Jalandhar, May 3
Pradeep Kaur (29), a resident of Green Avenue here, allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself at her home late tonight.

In a suicide note recovered by the police, she has blamed her uncle Gurmej Singh, her aunt Varinder Kaur and their son Amritpal for her death. She further revealed that her uncle was sexually harassing her since the age of nine and later blackmailing her to bequeath the entire property in their name.

The police have started investigating the matter.

According to her husband Harvinder Singh, her father, being mentally challenged, could not take care of the family. Following this, her aunt Davinder Kaur and her uncle Gurmej Singh started living in their house since 2001. He also informed that after throwing her mother out of the house, her uncle raped her and even made a video clip with the help of her aunt.

In a complaint written to the police earlier, Pradeep had stated that by blackmailing her with that clip, her uncle had got all the property transferred in her name. Before dying, she requested the police to punish the accused in the court of law.

According to DCP Tulsi Ram, who reached the spot, initial circumstantial evidence pointed towards suicide only. We will send the suicide note for forensic analysis before starting the detailed investigations into the case, he said. Pradeep was earlier married to Harmeet Singh in Gurdaspur, but later after her uncle showed the video clip to husband was thrown out by her in-laws. She again married Harvinder Singh.

She is survived by eight-month-old twins Noor and Dilawar.