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Azad caught in precarious situation: Farooq Abdullah
‘Stamped’ impressions of war heroes, courtesy Vajra Corps
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Jalandhar
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Phagwara roads dotted with potholes
‘Hold referendum on Punjab development’
Centre flayed for not protecting rights of brick kiln workers
Encroachment in Badshahpur
PWD employees on hunger strike
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Azad caught in precarious situation: Farooq Abdullah
Jalandhar, November 7 Dr Abdullah said this during an interaction with The Tribune at a private eye hospital on the Mall Road here where he visited the ophthalmologist for taking treatment for conjunctivitis and sty. On being asked about the future of the state with reigns in the hands of a new Chief Minister, Dr Abdullah said that it was too early to speculate anything though he added that Ghulam Nabi Azad has been caught in a precarious situation too soon. “He is finding it difficult to handle the pressure to include the three tainted MLAs for the expansion of the Council of Ministers.” Commenting on the decision to restrict the entry for common people across the open LoC points, the National Conference leader said it was fair on the part of the government. “This will help in checking the intrusion of the terrorists across the border, while ensuring the movement of the patients and doctors for quicker medical relief.” The former Chief Minister blamed the government for not being able to handle the disaster after the quake. “Initially, the victims were not getting any relief supplies. Had the army not intervened timely, there could have been more fatalities,” he said. Soon after entering the city, Dr Abdullah is said to have visited a motor company on the Kapurthala Road. Later on, he reportedly went to a city-based theme resort owned by one of his acquaintances.
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‘Stamped’ impressions of war heroes, courtesy Vajra Corps
Jalandhar, November 7 A collection of rare postal stamps and first-day covers that marked the raising of Assam Regiment, Garhwal Rifles, Parachute Regiment, Ladakh Scouts, Defence, Research and Development Organisation, various brigades and corps were displayed. Stamps released as the tribute to the sacrifices of the Sikh Regiment on the Tiger Hill in the year 2000 and the stamps commemorating the Vijay Divas were also prominently displayed. Stamps giving details about the services of various corps of the army (dental, nursing, education and postal services) were also put up. Other attractions included the stamps with pictures of various Indian Naval Ships and aircrafts of the Indian Air Force. On this occasion, philatelists from the region displayed the best of their collections pertaining to themes such as nature, personalities, sports, culture, monuments, wildlife, ecology and science and technology. Members of the philately bureaus of Ludhiana and Jalandhar were also present. The exhibition was inaugurated by Lieut Gen Mandhata Singh, General Officer Commanding, Vajra Corps. A number of officers, junior commissioned officers, jawans, their families and school children were also present on the occasion. School students also participated in “design a stamp” competition. The prizes will be distributed tomorrow by Ms Sneh Prabha, President of the Vajra Army Wife Welfare Association.
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Phagwara roads dotted with potholes
Phagwara, November 7 Another city resident, Mr Tarlochan Singh, who stays at Hargobind Nagar here, said the roads in the city were a string of potholes. “Roads here are danger zones. What makes the matter worse is that the roads are dug up to provide telephone connections and then filled with mud. This ad hoc arrangement is hazardous for two-wheelers and often leads to accidents. The accident threat is increased during early mornings and evenings when visibility is poor,” he rued. The roads leading to villages adjoining the city, and the Banga Road leading to the city from the highway are in worst shape. The road leading to Guru Hargobind Nagar, too, is the same story of potholed, bumpy ride. The stretch in front of Gandhi Hospital and the State Bank of India is particularly bad. The big pothole near the traffic lights here has made the area accident prone. The authorities have carpeted a small stretch of this road, but left the remaining half untouched. A doctor of a private hospital here said that the city had a good number of patients suffering from injuries caused by potholed roads. “We get patients complaining of sprains, vertebral column fractures and slip discs. In many cases, the origin of the injuries can be traced to bumpy roads. These roads are all the more dangerous for elderly people, as their bones are fragile,” he explained. A senior gynaecologist in a private hospital said that the risk was even greater in case of pregnant women. Mr Sushil Maini, councillor of ward number 9, while expressing his helplessness, said the road leading to the Industrial Area had not been re-carpeted for a long time. “I made several requests to the Nagar Council authorities, but they did not pay any heed.” Mr Malkiat Singh Ragbotra, President, Phagwara Nagar Council, when contacted, said that the Nagar Council had demanded Rs 4 crore for re-carpeting the city’s roads. However, Director, Local Bodies, Mr G Vajralingam, had sanctioned only Rs 1 crore for the said purpose, he added. Mr Ragbotra said that tenders would be floated in a day or two and roads would be repaired soon.
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‘Hold referendum on Punjab development’
Jalandhar, November 7 On the recent debate on terrorism, he said that responsibility must be fixed on who was responsible for the menace faced by the state for 15 long years and a mere debate would not do. “A referendum must be conducted on issues of responsibility for terrorism and development in the state. The government must go to the public to seek its mandate on who is responsible for development.” He said the Capt Amarinder Singh government in the state is a government of “gimmicks.” “It wants to divert the attention of the public from the real issues, and keeps indulging in gimmicks.” Commenting on the government’s proposal to conduct a debate on development in the state, Capt Kanwaljit Singh said that the media would be the right judge for that. “Unemployment among lakhs of youth in state, broken infrastructure and lack of facilities like power are evidences of the failure of the government.” He said that the Congress government in the state was a non-performing one and added that it only wanted to divide the people by holding a debate on terrorism. “It sees weak prospects for itself in the 2007 assembly election.” Commenting on the Volckar report, Captain Kanwaljit Singh said that a serving Supreme Court judge should have been asked to inquire into the international scandal. “The Chief Justice of India must appoint a serving judge for a judicial probe if the Centre is serious in knowing the truth and wants to punish the guilty.” He said that in the past 50 years, no inquiry commission has ever delivered a clear verdict. The government has created a one-man judicial commission under the former Chief Justice of India, R.S. Pathak, to probe the matter.
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Centre flayed for not protecting rights of brick kiln workers
Kapurthala, November 7 Talking to The Tribune here today, he rued that despite the 1984 decision of the National Tripartite Committee on Legislation on Brick Kiln Workers that a comprehensive law be formulated within six months, all successive Union governments had remained silent on the issue. In the year 1984, according to figures available, there were more than 20,000 bonded labourers in north India, out of which 3000 were in Punjab only, he revealed. Mr Gill was here to attend the two-day zonal meeting of the Dalit Dasta Virodhi Andolan, Phillaur, in which more than 200 delegates participated from all over the state. “Though there are more than eight lakh labourers in the state working in the agriculture sector and brick kilns, no thought has been given to implement the Interstate Migrant Workmen Act (Regulation and Employment, 1979),” he said, adding that though more than three lakh labourers were working at the brick kilns in the state, not even a “single brick kiln owner had bothered to get his kiln registered under the Act”. “Today the workers in agricultural fields are given no more than Rs 70 per day. This is in gross violation of the minimum wages of Rs 92.77 in the state,” he rued. “The women working in the fields are paid Rs 40 only,” he added. “The apex court had ruled in a case that if the labour laws were not implemented in the sectors where majority of labourers were from the scheduled castes, it should be deemed as the violation of Article 17 mentioned in the Constitution of India. In spite of this, no labour laws are being implemented in the unorganised sector. More than 97 per cent of the labourers in the country are employed in this sector,” he claimed.
Cong sweeps bank polls
The Congress has won seats in five out of six zones in the elections for the directors of Land Mortgage Bank, Kapurthala, held here today. The Akalis managed to win one seat. The lone winner from the Akali Dal, Mr Gurinderjit Singh, bagged the seat from Dhaliwal Zone after defeating Mr Palwinder Singh of the Congress. The other five winners from the Congress are Mr Avtar Singh from Blair Khanpur, Mr Amrik Singh from
Surukhpur, Mr Navraj from Kapurthala, Mr Jarnail Singh from Sheikhpur and Mr Gurmail Singh from Khaira Dona. |
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Encroachment in Badshahpur
Jalandhar, November 7 Kuldip Singh also alleged that Surinderjit Singh accompanied by some Akali party office bearers and dozens of ruffians tried to intimidate and even abuse the female members of the family in the absence of male members. |
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PWD employees on hunger strike
Jalandhar, November 7 They also demand regularisation of daily wagers in the department, implementation of pension channel for every category, public health, being part of public service, to be kept out of the preview of the 73rd and 74th amendments, and implementation of pension scheme in the Sewerage Board among others. |
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Two arrested for theft
Jalandhar, November 7 |
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