Jalandhar, February 6
The Jalandhar municipal corporation today sealed three commercial buildings in Model Town market that had been constructed recently without proper parking space. The action comes after a new report, MC fails to crack whip on influential persons’ appeared in The Tribune on February 5.

The three buildings, right in front of the Sportsking showroom, are adjacent to each other. The proprietors of all the buildings are stated to be ‘well connected’.

One of these buildings is reportedly owned by Avtar Kaur, mother of Indian off spinner Harbhajan Singh. The showroom sells Reebok stuff and has huge posters of off-spinner 
on display.

The double-storeyed showroom does not have any parking place and buyers often tend to choke the road right in front of the showroom with their vehicles.

The second building that was sealed is an under-construction shopping complex Enn Jay Tower, which is owned by Sarabjeet Singh, who is said to be close to 
an MLA.

The building also has no provision for a parking place. The third building that faced MC stick houses items of “Catmoss”. This double-storeyed building too did not have any parking space. Interestingly, it has a shop constructed right in the basement. The building is said to be owned by Parveen Kumar, who is considered close to a senior corporation functionary.

MC officials revealed that a check was also performed on Orange Square in Model Town. It was found that the owner has got a proper ramp constructed after dismantling the old one, which did not conform to norms.

The MC officials confirmed that they had acted after a report was published in the columns of the newspaper. 

Kapurthala, February 6
Begowal nagar panchayat Akali president Dalip Singh Tibba, known as a close confidant of former SGPC president Bibi Jagir Kaur, was today removed from the office in a no-confidence motion passed against him at a meeting of the councillors held at Begowal.

Bholath SDM Dalwinderjit Singh, who was appointed observer of the proceedings, confirmed the passing of a no-confidence motion against Akali president Dalip Singh Tibba.

He said eight Congress councillors voted in favour of the no-confidence motion, while four Akali councillors opposed the motion.

The Congress councillors had gained a two-thirds majority in the nagar panchayat after one Akali councillor Mohinder Pal Singh joined the Congress.

The SDM said he would send the proceedings to the government to denotify Tibba from the post of president and the election to the post would be held after the denotfication of Tibba.

Meanwhile, nagar panchayat vice-president Prabha Devi would be officiating as president till the election of the president were held, the SDM said. — UNI

Nawanshahr, February 6
Child development and project officer Ravinder Kaur Bhatti has been booked for alleged misappropriation of grocery items meant for children in aganwaris under the mid-day meal scheme.

The police has booked the officer under section 409 of the IPC on the basis of a statement filed by the chowkidar, accompanying a rickshaw loaded with grocery items to the house of the accused.

The rickshaw loaded with grocery items like rice, dry milk, sugar and panjiri etc had been seized by the police in front of the house of the CDPO on January 29. The chowkidar of the CDPO office, Bikker Singh, accompanying the rickshaw, stated in an affidavit with the police that he was only obeying orders of his immediate boss, who had instructed him to deliver the grocery items to her house.

Denying allegations Bhatti termed it a conspiracy against her. The grocery items had been dispatched to the anganwari centre situated near Gurdwara Manji Sahib on Banga Road here but failing to find the keys the chowkidar brought the rickshaw loaded with the grocery items to her residence for the keys, she clarified. “If the chowkidar went to her residence to get keys then why was the rickshaw taken there too,” SHO Rakesh Kumar said. 

Jalandhar, February 6
The members of Punjab Roadways Workers Union (PRWU) today staged a dharna at the Jalandhar bus stand to protest against the failure of the state government in fulfilling their  long-pending demands.

Addressing the gathering, convernor, Balbir Singh Sandhu said, “Our meeting with transport minister Master Mohan Lal on January 15 did not yield any results. So we are s planning to stage a state-level dharna in Chandigarh on March 5.”

Condemning the SAD-BJP government for ‘turning a blind eye towards the problems being faced by the employees of PRWU, Amrik Singh Gill, member of the association, said, “The recruitment of the drivers and conductors on contract basis should be banned’.

He added that the promotion channels of sub-inspectors, conductors, supervisors, inspectors and workshop employees should be ordered. As many as 200 agitators from18 depots from across the state, including Jalandhar-I and II, Amritsar-I and II, Ferozepur, Moga, Muktsar, Jagraon, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Nangal, Ropar, Nawashahr, Hoshiarpur, Pathankot, Tarn Taran, Patti and Batala, took part in the dharna. 

Phagwara, February 6
Punjab Governor Gen S.F. Rodrigues (retd) said today that it was disheartening to realise that the education system of India after 60 years of independence was primarily focusing on preparing youth for jobs, earning money and taking care of oneself.

The governor said this addressing students of Lovely Institutes during their first annual convocation on the campus here today. He pointed out that three facets of education must not be ignored - developing moral values, sensitising students towards environmental issues and creating good citizens. Gen Rodrigues said he had asked Guru Nanak Dev University’s vice-chancellor Dr Jairoop Singh to get a research done to know the student’s ideas on such issues.

He urged the students to leave the venue with three questions. “The first one is what is your dream for the future. I know that you all would want to reach the moon. The second one is what will it take to reach that dream. The answer involves a lot of introspection, analysis and study. The third one is a clincher. What price I am prepared to pay for it?” he said.

Addressing the authorities of Lovely Institutes, he said, “I will like to suggest you to go in for an assessment of the institute by NAAC. This will help you know your rating with regard to various parameters, your forte and may be even a few areas that need more attention.”

Amritsar, February 6
The suspended Finance and Development Officer (FDO) of Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) has urged the university syndicate members to reject the findings of the inquiry report and reinvestigate the matter by ordering a fresh probe into the case of reinvestments of the fixed deposit receipts worth Rs 32 crore.

Verinder Pal, former FDO, GNDU, in missives to members of the syndicate, has urged them to seek the copy of the complete file relating to reinvestments of FDRs, inquiry report of the earlier probe officer Jatinder Singh, copy of the note submitted by him to the then inquiry officer and get the complete issue investigated from an accomplished financial analyst, to ascertain that who caused the financial loss to the university.

However, when contacted Dr Jai Rup Singh, vice chancellor, said the suspended FDO, instead of going to the press, should present his case before the probe officer, besides answering the charges leveled against him in the chargesheet.

Pal alleged that inquiry officer U.S. Arora’s assumptions of the ‘so-called’ loss accrued to GNDU and as mentioned in the inquiry report, were not only ill-founded and impractical but also confirmed his belief that the report had been dictated by the VC.

He said the hypothetical calculations made by the inquiry officer and the resultant report itself becomes redundant as the FDRs could not have been prematurely encashed and reinvested either on May 1 or September 1, 2006. It is pertinent to mention here that Pal, in a representation to the Governor of Punjab and chancellor, in July 2006, had alleged that the VC, in order to favour the Allahabad Bank, appointed Padam Bahl as the financial advisor, who is also the advisor of the Allahabad Bank, in gross violation of the university rules, as no such post existed accorded to the university budget.

He alleged that despite his objections the VC continued to send the classified and privileged documents to the financial advisor.