 |
|
|
Members of RCF’s Staff Council resign
Properties of narcotics smugglers to be seized
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Fire in MC: DC asks residents to file objections within seven days
PTU students get ‘wrong’ question paper
Phagwara Nagar Council may extend municipal limits
Exporters seek CM’s intervention
Prisoners learn the Art of Living
Three killed in two separate accidents
District Press Reporters’ Association to award academic toppers
250 caskets of foreign brand liquor seized
Fake currency recovered
|
|
Members of RCF’s Staff Council resign
Hussainpur (Kapurthala), January 11 Mr Brij Mohan, Joint Secretary of the Staff Council, in a press release, even levelled charges of corruption and malpractice against the RCF authorities. The members of the Council alleged that Mr Balram Singh, the CWE, did not allow the workers to warm their hands before the commencement of work, even though, according to the RCF’s rules, kerosene oil, heater or firewood had to be provided by the administration for the purpose. The members further alleged that the sanctity of the decision arrived at the meeting of the Staff Council with the Railway Board held on September 2, 2004 had not yet been maintained. They said that an agreement was reached that no further contracts would be awarded and contracts presently going on would not be renewed. The members alleged that under the pretext of the cost factor, the contract works were being awarded continuously “to encourage corruption.” Mr Brij Mohan complained that the firms who had been given the contracts, supplied “substandard materials.” “The quality of the buffers supplied by a firm based in Baddi was declared to have been rejected, but the administration preferred to use these substandard buffers ignoring the safety concerns of railway passengers.” He alleged that such corrupt practices and willful irregularities were quite rampant in the RCF these days. “As such, we have dispatched our resignations to the Union Railway Minister, Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav, Member Staff (Railways), Mr R. S. Vashney, and Member Mechanical (Railways), Mr P.N. Garg,” Mr Mohan said. Meanwhile, denying the allegations levelled by the members of the Staff Council, RCF’s General Manager, Mr Yash Pal Gupta, said that no sanctity of the decision arrived at the meeting of the Council with the Railway Board had been violated. “No labour supply contact was awarded to anyone.” He said that to maintain discipline and compete in the market, the management had to check the people who wasted their time sitting before the heaters for long durations. On the question of using substandard buffers in the coaches, the General Manager said that the substandard buffer assemblies in the coaches were replaced as soon as the management received the testing reports on their quality. “The coaches equipped with the rejected buffers that had left for their destinations before the quality standard report came in have been identified and the railways have been informed on the matter appropriately,” he added. |
|
Properties of narcotics smugglers to be seized
Phagwara, January 11 According to police sources, the area police would send some cases to its intelligence branch after collecting details of the “ill-acquired” properties of the smugglers. The police’s intelligence branch would further send the cases to the Secretary, Home Department, and then a committee would consider these cases on merit basis to confiscate the properties and detain the smugglers, they said. Talking to The Tribune, sources in the Police Department said that despite facing several cases of narcotics trafficking, smugglers resumed their nefarious business once they were out of jails on bail. “Tackling these smugglers is a ticklish job for the police, as jails are the place where they actually develop their contacts and widen their network and work in collaboration with other accused once they are free birds,” a senior police officer said. H added that the police authorities in Ferozepore, Bathinda, Mansa and Muktsar was working on cases
of around 12 notorious smugglers and some of these cases had already been sent to the state Home Department for consideration by a committee. For assessing the market value of the properties of the
smugglers, the police has sought the help of the Revenue Officers of the area and collected the details from the banks accounts owned by the accused. After seizing the properties, the details were sent to the Narcotics Control Bureau, New Delhi, sources said. The Bureau would then inform the Deputy Commissioner, SDM and Revenue Officers of the area about the seizure so that the smugglers could not alienate their properties, the police officer said. While the Bathinda and the Mansa police were reportedly working on 15 cases involving notorious smugglers, the Muktsar and the Ferozepore police had collected details of six smugglers each, sources revealed. |
|
Fire in MC: DC asks residents to file
Jalandhar, January 11 Mr Sharma is enquiring into the fire incident. The fire had fuelled allegations that some important files pertaining to “illegal” buildings in the city and belonging to some influential persons were gutted. The Deputy Commissioner has also ordered a magisterial probe into the incident, which took place on the night of January 3. The probe was ordered by Mr Gupta on the basis of a letter, said to have been written by the office of the Municipal Commissioner, Mr S.S. Johl. The commissioner’s office has also favoured the probe. Though the exact cause of fire has not yet been ascertained and the Commissioner maintaining that only a few “irrelevant” files had got burnt, a number of Opposition councillors, including Mr K.D. Bhandari of the BJP and Mr Kuldip Singh Oberoi of the SAD, have apprehended a foul play in the incident and demanded a judicial probe into the matter. The Opposition councillors had alleged that certain important files, pertaining to some influential people, who had erected huge buildings in posh localities of the city in violation of MC’s building by-laws, could have been damaged and that the fire incident was “nothing but a well-planned conspiracy.” On the other hand, the Municipal Commissioner has been saying that the damaged files belonged to a period between 1960 and 1989 and that no importance could be attached to the damaged records, as it was of no use to the Corporation. In his orders, Deputy Commissioner said that the ADC (Development) would be conducting the probe into the incident. He also advised the people that if they had any objections, they could contact the office of the ADC and file their objections within a period of seven days.
|
|
PTU students get ‘wrong’ question paper
Jalandhar, January 11 The 32 students in the batch said they got a question paper that was “actually meant for the students of B.Tech (electronics and communication engineering).” The students said that while the code of their subject was 207, they had to attempt a paper that had the code number 201. The students said that even as the syllabi of the two courses had some commonality, some topics were entirely different. As a result, they said, 20 marks questions out of the total of 60-mark question paper were out of the syllabus. They said that when they raised hue and cry, their faculty talked with the authorities of the Punjab Technical University. The students said they were then told to attempt whatever they could. “This us jittery and even as we answered whatever we could, we were quite apprehensive about our result.” The students said the Mathematics-3 paper that they had got on January 6 had many questions with wrong statements and incomplete data. They are now demanding that they be given grace marks for the “errors” for which the university is responsible. They said if this was not done, they might have to “resort to strike”. Dr Siby John, Controller of Examination and Dean (Examinations), was not aware of the complaint, as no one from the institute had called him up. He said that while subject codes were different at times, the syllabi still were the same. He added that in many cases, the syllabus of a course common for two streams had little difference. He said that in case it was found that the students had been put to any disadvantage, their paper would be separately evaluated and they would be given marks accordingly. |
|
Phagwara Nagar Council may
Phagwara, January 11 The survey would also study the gains and liabilities to be accrued from the proposed extension, said Mr Ragbotra. “The proposal will be implemented only after thorough study of its feasibility and benefits. If it will be gainful, then the extension will be undertaken,” he said. When asked as to how much new area would be included in the proposed extension of the municipal limit, Mr Ragbotra disclosed that it would range from one to two kms from the border of the present limits. “We have proposed to extend the limits up to Mehli-Mehtan byepass linking Phagwara on two sides on GT road and Banga road,” he said. Divulging the details of another proposal, Mr Ragbotra said the ambitious, wide-piped separate sewerage project costing Rs 8.25 crore, would benefit 50,000 residents of one dozen localities. The Punjab Infrastructure Development Board had okayed it after the local MLA and Chairman Punjab Agro and Foods Corporation, Mr Joginder Singh Mann, had written about it, he claimed. “I had raised the issue in the Development Board meeting. During the meeting, Ms Gurkanwal Kaur, Punjab Cabinet Minister and the Chairperson, Kapurthala District Planning Board, had promised to take it up with the Chief Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh, for getting it cleared,” Mr Ragbotra claimed. When cleared, the project would ensure release of water and sewerage to JCT Mill, Onkar Nagar, Khothran road areas, provide relief to Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar Tibbi, Industrial area and would be linked with Hoshiarpur road covering Khalwaragate, Mehligate, Varinder Nagar, Prempura, Patel Nagar localities, he added. |
|
Exporters seek CM’s intervention
Phagwara, January 11 In a joint statement issued here today, Mr A.K. Kohli, senior vice-president, Punjab Chamber of Small Exporters, Mr Gursharan Singh, president, Federation of Jalandhar Industrial and Traders’ Association, and Mr Sudesh Sharma, president, Federation of Phagwara Small Industries’ Association, demanded that notification regarding VAT on these items be placed on the departmental internet website to save the exporters and industrialists from the heavy burden of tax. Even though the Punjab Cabinet had cleared the reduction in December last year, the delay in issuing notification was playing a spoilsport, they rued. Mr Kohli said first paying VAT and then claiming its refund, which is very cumbersome, blocked huge funds of the traders. Mr Kohli also demanded an easy availability of H-Form, which, he said, remained in short supply for tax exemption to exporters of Punjab from the Excise and Taxation Department for local purchases as it delayed unnecessary and time-bound export shipment. |
|
Prisoners learn the Art of Living
Jalandhar, January 11 “I was nurturing hatred inside me for those who had sent me to the prison. But now I feel at peace with myself. The hatred has gone away,” said one of the prisoners. Another prisoner remarked that the course had equipped him with the courage to introspect. According to Captain Brij Paul Singh, the Art of Living teacher who conducted the course, the jail inmates had evinced a keen interest in the nine-day course. Many of them had said that peaceful sleep had been eluding them for long, and the course had made that “peaceful sleep possible” for them, he added. Mr Umesh Puri, a businessman associated with the Art of Living Foundation, said 49 prison inmates had attended the course that was tailored for prisoners. “There is an undeniable stress among jail inmates and unless that stress is managed effectively, it can well take a person to a breaking point,” he said. “The prisoners were taught breathing exercises and Sudarshan Kriya. Talks were also delivered on the significance of value system,” he added.
|
|
Three killed in two separate accidents
Phagwara, January 11 Seventyfive-year-old Milo Devi and her grandson Sham Tirath, aged 24, both residents of Jamalpur Ludhiana, were killed when their vehicle Tavera rammed into a stationary truck near Jamalpur village on GT road today. While Milo Devi died on the spot, her grandson succumbed to his injuries in a local hospital. The two victims were going to Rajpur Gota from Tanda. It was learnt that the truck had tilted on the road after an accident, that had occurred earlier. Since it was not removed from the site in time, it caused another accident. In a separate hit-and-run case, a motorcyclist Beant Singh from Jagjitpur village was killed on Hoshiarpur road here last evening. |
|
District Press Reporters’ Association
Kapurthala, January 11 Mr B. N. Gupta, the president of association, announced this at a cultural programme organised by the association here on Tuesday. Eleven schools from the district arrived to compete in the programme. Mr Manjit Singh, an NRI from Australia, has sponsored the awards. Talking about the awards, Mr Manjit Singh said the university topper in graduation from the district would be awarded Rs 11,000 along with a gold medal, while toppers of 10+2 and matriculation would get Rs 5,100 and Rs 3,100 with medals, respectively. The students who secure first and second positions in their matriculation and 10+2 exams at the district level would also be given awards, added the NRI. Hindu Putri Pathshala, Punjabi Sabhyachar Forum and Kulwant Rai Jain DAV School, Kapurthala, stood first, second and third, respectively. — TNS
|
|
250 caskets of foreign brand liquor seized
Jalandhar, January 11 A total of 253 cartons of the Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), as it is called, was seized from a truck when it was being smuggled into the state from Himachal Pradesh, the SP , City (1), Mr Surinder Kumar Kalia, said. The SSP, Mr Ishwar Singh, said the conductor of the truck, Nek Ram, a resident of Jamula of district Mandi, had been arrested under Section 61 of the Excise Act. Two others, Dinesh Bahal, and Hardip Singh, were absconding in the case, he added. In the second incident, the police party, led by Inspector Sukha Singh, raided the house of one Jatinder alias Bittu, a resident of Gandhi Nagar in the city, and recovered 25 cartons containing 300 bottles of liquor. Jatinder was arrested and a case has been registered under Section 61 of the Excise Act. In another case, 25 cartons containing 300 bottles of liquor were recovered from Rakesh Kumar, a resident of Basti Danishmandan. He had kept the cartons in Millwala Bhatha village in New Gandhi Nagar. |
|
Fake currency recovered
Jalandhar, January 11 According to SP City (1), Mr Surinder Kumar Kalia, the fake currency was recovered today from Jagtar Singh’s house at Billi Chau village. He added that two passports bearing the photographs of the accused were also found during the search. |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
