Jalandhar, June 12
Demanding laying of sewage and construction of roads, members of Uday Nagar and Tilak Nagar Welfare Society today blocked traffic on the Jalandhar-Nakodar road for more than two hours.

The residents of colonies adjacent to Wadala Chowk on Nakodar road said they were living in the area for the past nearly 35 years but the municipal corporation had not addressed any of the demands made by them.

The dharna that began around 9 am was lifted after MLA Jalandhar South Bhagat Chunni Lal reached the spot and assured the residents of quick action.

The residents alleged while their demand was being dilly-dallied since a long time, all provisions for the new private flats constructed close by had been fulfilled in the shortest possible time. Mohar Singh, a resident, said many elections had passed by but they did not get anything more than assurances by the authorities. Another resident, Gurmail Singh, said the colony had drains but there was no system of discharge of waste water.

Commissioner CS Talwar said since the colonies are unapproved, MC cannot be blamed for residents’ woes. But he said that it had now been decided in principle that all the colonies that are unapproved would be provided with amenities after they pay some development charges to the MC. 

Jalandhar, June 12
She had dreams but not means to attain them. This CBSE class XII topper, who had been under a severe financial crunch to continue her studies, finally found some good Samaritans to support her to make it big.

Manpreet Kaur, who appeared in the columns of Jalandhar Plus on June 6, has received an overwhelming response from city residents offering help to this small village girl.

A student of St Soldier Divine School, Bhogpur, Manpreet secured 95.6 per cent marks in the commerce stream. She wanted to continue her studies but her family sustaining on an income from a small agricultural land was finding it difficult to pay for her admission fee.

After reading a news item “Small village girl makes it big,” the authorities of several colleges, including HMV College, Mohan Lal Uppal DAV College, Phagwara, PCM SD College for Women, Lyallpur Khalsa College and St Soldier College, came forward offering her admission in B.Com with a complete fee waiver.

The owners of FC Sondhi, a local sports industry, have offered a job to Manpreet, while a local organisation, Des Raj Marwaha Charitable Trust, has expressed the desire to pay for her books and other stationery expenses. Manpreet’s father Jasvir Singh thanked everyone for their help and said their blessings would surely make his daughter achieve her dreams. He said Manpreet was interested in joining a B.Com (professional) course at HMV College. “I don’t want to burden her with a job at this point of time,” he added.

Kiranjit Kaur, convener of the HMV College admission committee, said the college was ready to offer her complete waiver of fee and annual charges. She said Manpreet would be able to get books from the college book bank. Besides, she would be given the maximum concessions in hostel fee in case she wanted to avail the services. “However, she had to pay an amount of nearly Rs 2,000 that is to be sent to Guru Nanak Dev University,” said Kiranjit, adding that fee concession for her cousin Kamalpreet, who got 92.2 marks in the same examination, was also being planned.

Kapurthala, June 12
The Rail Coach Factory (RCF) rolled out another Garib Rath rake in the presence of railway board chairman KC Jena on Wednesday. This was the 13th garib rath rake rolled out by the RCF for East Central Railway, Hajipur.

Each of the AC coaches of the Garib Rath train has 78 berths and these coaches are instrumental in providing AC travel facility to the lower income class. These coaches have been provided with improved interior furnishings and Madhubani Paintings for the first time.

Addressing RCF officers, Jena said the demand for passenger coaches was growing rapidly, so RCF has to manufacture more and more coaches. Besides, RCF has to deliver the quality which meets the ever growing expectations of passengers, he added.

On this occasion, RCF GM SK Suri said RCF officials were ready to accept the challenge and would not only meet the target but would also surpass it on all fronts.

Earlier on his arrival, Jena was accorded a guard of honour by the Railway Protection Force (RPF). — TNS

Jalandhar, June 12
The Nangal Shama-Ladhewali road, situated near the Guru Nanak Dev University Regional Campus here presents a picture of utter neglect.

It has been more than five years since any reconstruction of the road took place. As a result of this the stretch leading from the university road to the Hoshiarpur road lies in neglect.

With the ongoing construction of the flyover near Suchi Pind, the traffic has been diverted towards the Nangal Shama-Ladhewali road which has further aggravated the condition. A mere visit to the area reveals the pathetic condition of the road with large potholes in the centre and extremes of the road.

Jatinder Singh of Punjab Avenue says, “The condition of the road is quite dismal as no repair work has taken place for the past many years. Above all there is no proper street light facility as well. Every second day we witness minor accidents due to the shoddy road.”

Being situated near the university and having an easy access to areas like PAP, Pathankot bypass, Rama Mandi and Hoshiarpur, the area usually remains clogged with heavy vehicles, thereby creating a bottleneck for the commuters. Amritpal Singh, a student of Guru Nanak Dev University Regional Campus, says, “During rains the scene becomes all the more miserable with stagnating water in the potholes and mud pools everywhere. Many a time commuters have fallen in the mud-filled potholes. The road requires immediate repair.” When contacted, MC joint commissioner Rahul Gupta said, “The construction of roads is already in full swing in the city. At present, we are waiting for the tenders pertaining to construction of other roads. Once the tenders are invited, the work will begin soon.” 

Phagwara, June 12
Government agencies procured 98 per cent of total wheat purchased in Kapurthala during the recent rabi season, district and foods supplies officer (DFSO) Nirmal Singh stated this while talking to mediapersons here on Wednesday.

The DFSO said private flour mills purchased only 2 per cent of the total wheat purchased as the tax on purchasing wheat in Punjab was as much as 11.5 per cent.

The tax included market fee, rural development fees, VAT and arhtiyas’ commission. If a private company purchased wheat at Rs 1,000 per quintal, it cost it Rs 1,145, Nirmal Singh said, adding that big companies preferred to buy wheat from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

Further, he said the produce of wheat was much higher this time as compared to last year. As much as 2,11,130 quintals of wheat had been stored by Pungrain at its stores in Kapurthala against 99,000 quintals last year, said Nirmal Singh. — TNS

Jalandhar, June 12
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said that the 12-member team of Apeejay School, Jalandhar, would be sponsored for its visit for participation in the international space settlement design competition to be held at the NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, from July 25 to 28.

Disclosing this here on Thursday, a spokesman of the Punjab government said the team members, along with their parents and teachers, called on Badal at his residence this evening.

The team had emerged as the winner of the Asian region space settlement competition held at Gurgaon from January 9 to 13.

In an interactive session with the Chief Minister, team president Mohit Thukral apprised him of the concept of their project.

Jalandhar: Birla Sun Life Insurance (BSLI) has presented its unit-linked life insurance plan “Birla Sun Life Insurance platinum plus”.

According to company president and CEO Vikram Mehmi, “The platinum plus product is unique and we once again feel proud of leading the way in product innovation. The initial response to this plan is encouraging.”

Platinum plus is a short pay, medium-term unit linked insurance plan which aims at reducing the investment risk and optimise the returns. The plan offers guaranteed maturity unit price, first of its kind in the Indian insurance industry.

With platinum plus, not only will the policy holders participate in the equity market but will also enjoy a guaranteed maturity unit price. The maximum unit price recorded on the 15th of every month till June 15, 2015.The highest unit price recorded on the 88 reset dates is guaranteed at maturity.

The plan has a 10-year benefit period with three years premium paying term. Partial withdrawals are available after three policy years in case of any financial emergency. — TNS

Jalandhar, June 12
Demanding VAT exemption on sports goods on the lines of Uttar Pradesh, the Khel Udyog Sangh organised a black-flag protest here on Wednesday.

The members wore black badges and held a march in Basti Nau raising their demand. They gathered on the campus of Sain Dass School and criticised the government for not paying attention to the demand.

Convener Vijay Dhir said the three BJP MLAs from the city had failed to respond to their problems and the members had decided to give them a wake-up call by taking out “prabhat pheris” to their places next month.

“We had been asking these MLAs to help us in meeting Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal but they said it was not possible because of the code of conduct,” he added.

Giving details, sangh members Ramesh Anand and Parveen Anand said on July 1 a procession would be taken to the premises of MLA Bhagat Chunni Lal, who too owns a sports goods firm. They would carry “dholaks”, bells, “shankh” and other musical instruments.

They said the second procession would be taken out on July 3 to the residence of MLA K.D. Bhandari and the third one to the house of minister of industries and commerce Manoranjan Kalia on July 5.

The members also urged the state government to reduce the prices of petrol and diesel by giving subsidy and extent the date for submission of C-forms by three months from the deadline of June 30. 

Phagwara, June 12
Flaying the decision of the MataVaishno Devi Shrine Board for introducing priority darshan fee for the rich, the Bajrang Dal and the Vishav Hindu Parishad submitted a memorandum to SDM Amarjit Paul addressed to President Pratibha Patil so that she may use her office to get the controversial decision cancelled.

Representatives of the Bajrang Dal and the Vishav Hindu Parishad, led by Shiv Kumar Saini and Kaliash Gupta, stated in the memorandum that the introduction of priority darshan had hurt the sentiments of crores of Hindus.

Double standards were being adopted in the country, they said, adding that the Muslims were being provided subsidy for the Haj, whereas the Hindus were being asked to pay money for paying obeisance at the Vaishno Devi temple.— TNS