Jalandhar, August 12
Basic civic amenities elude nearly 800 families of police personnel putting up at police lines here.

Roads have not been constructed since years. Barring the road across the control room, a short stretch along the main gate and outside the residences of SPs and DSPs, all other roads seem to have simply vanished giving way to muddy passages with deep potholes. There is no proper drainage system and rainwater remains standing for two to three days even after a moderate spell, rue the families.

The wives of police personnel, pressing for anonymity, revealed that for five days in the last week, there wasn’t a single drop of water available even on the ground floor. “The motor that supplies water got burnt and it took five days to get repaired. Our life virtually turned into a living hell in the hot sweltering days”, they lamented.

A peep into the houses of the constable and even the inspectors gave an insight into the troubled lives they were leading in the unkempt shacks which they were forced to call home. The cracks in the walls and roofs, broken windowpanes, algae-infested floors and no whitewash for years sum up the sad story.

“While only the control room, façade of the police lines and houses of SPs and DSPs on the front lane are white washed and repaired, we are being forced to get it done at our own expenses. The amount of Rs 2,000 or so which is entitlement for house rent in our salaries is deducted each month but we are barely getting a shelter in the name of an accommodation”, rued the police personnel.

There is no proper park for the families of the policemen. “There of course are some ill-maintained lawns but no swings for the children to play,” said the women.

To top it, there is no provision of a sweeper in and outside the residential quarters. “We all have our own private safaiwalas. Huge piles of garbage outside the main gates have added to our woes. It is almost impossible for anyone of us to take a stroll out there. We wonder what the MC councillors do. They make tall claims at the time they plead for votes but later forget our problems,” the families pointed out.

SSP Pawan Kumar Rai said he had decided to write to the concerned civic bodies including municipal corporation and Police Housing Corporation soon and ask them to do the needful.

Rahul Gupta, joint commissioner, MC, said the road construction projects were going to take off all across the city in next few months and police lines area would also be covered. He added that he would check into the park and drinking water supply problems.

Phagwara, August 12
The local municipal council will consider the revision of the rent of the City Club. This was stated by Balbhader Sen Duggal soon after taking charge of the president of the council.

According to information, the MC provided the land to the City Club on lease of just Re 1 per month a few years ago. The market rent of the land is at least Rs 1 lakh per month.

If the rent is revised according to the market rate it will help improve the financial status of the MC, which is already facing an acute shortage of funds.

Duggal said the matter of revising the rent of the City Club would be discussed thoroughly and the decision would be taken after considering all aspects.

The MC president said his topmost priority would be to provide adequate potable water, sewage facilities, streetlights and proper roads to all residents of the city.

He requested the residents to deposit house tax, water and sewage bills in time so that the MC should not face paucity of funds in providing required facilities to them.

Admitting that the MC is facing shortage of sweepers in the city, Duggal said he would try to get sanction of filling the vacant posts of sweeper.

Duggal claimed he would leave no stone unturned to make the city encroachment-free.

While efforts would be made to remove encroachments on footpaths and service lanes, no one would be allowed to make new encroachments, he added.

MC senior vice-president Sarabjeet Kaur was present on the occasion.

Phagwara, August 12
The Punjab Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has restrained cable operators from frequent and prominent showing of scroll and advertisements that disturb the viewing of the main programme.

In a recent judgement, Justice K.C. Gupta (retd), along with other two members of the commission, stated that cable operators could give advertisements only after permissible intervals when the main transmission was not being shown.

However, they cannot obstruct the main view of transmission by inserting scroll or running advertisement that cause irritation to the viewers.

Giving details of the judgement, forum member Surinder Mittal told mediapersons here on Monday that the commission had also instructed the operators to implement the instructions of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India regarding monthly tariffs.

To control the cable operators who are increasing tariff frequently, TRAI has fixed the maximum tariffs for the subscribers of cable operators and divided major cities and towns in four different classes.

A maximum amount of Rs 260 per month could be charged by cable operators for more than 45 pay channels, Rs 235 for 30 to 40 pay channels and minimum 30 free-to-air channels in A-1 and A class cities, Rs 200 for B-1 and B-2 class cities and Rs 185 for other towns and areas. — UNI

Jalandhar, August 12
“Future belongs to renewable energy resources,” this was the message that students spread through their models at the recently-concluded CBSE regional level science exhibition-2008 at the Police DAV Public School, Jalandhar Cantonment.

The exhibition saw some of the best working as well as static models on display as the students came up with very innovative and practical ideas that could benefit society in the current times.

The exhibition, which was open to all the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) affiliated schools, turned out to be a free platform for students to learn and share the basic concepts of science. Not only the students but also teachers from far-off places came in large numbers to participate and understand the basics of the science models on display.

As many as 161 models were exhibited from 120 schools across the state which got a tremendous response in the two-day exhibition. The students submitted their models in six categories - energy resource, disaster management, educational technology, food and agriculture, mathematical modelling and water management.

However, one subject that remained the centre of discussion among the students was the need to generate energy from natural resources which, according to the students, is one of the biggest challenges in the years to come.

Arshpreet Kaur, a class IX student from Mamta Niketan Convent School, Tarn Taran, who made a working model on organic farming vs chemical farming, said, “Through this cost-effective model I have explained how the yield from organic farming has more nutritive value. Chemical farming might result in quick yield but it lacks in quality. Above all the model is practically applicable and the common man can take advantage of this method.”

Another cost-effective model which caught the fancy of many students was the model of “natural way to energy” which was made by Rupinder and Maninder, both students of Army Public School, Ucchi Bassi. The students depicted how the use of “briquettes” (made from dried banana leaves and cow dung) can help in reducing pollution and at the same time are more handy to use as well.

“People in the villages can utilise these briquettes for cooking food instead of the cow-dung cakes. The briquettes have more ignition temperature and produce less smoke and ash thereby keeping the environment pollution free.”

Neha, a student of Police DAV Public School, Jalandhar, whose model was based on “robot for disaster management”, said, “This robot has been designed in such a manner that it can help in the rescue operations swiftly through its various mechanisms. With the help of these robots we can generate a fully wireless and pre-programmed system for performing various tasks, irrespective of the type of disaster. Even the speed of the robots can be increased from 50 to 85 km per hour.”

Jalandhar, August 12
The district transport authority earned Rs 25 lakh from auction of 80 VIP registration numbers in the new series and highest bid was of Rs 7.25 lakh for PB-08-BF-0001.

As many as 80 VIP numbers were auctioned today and the highest bid was from one Delhi-based Parveen Choudhary who made the bid of Rs 7.25 lakh for the VIP number for his “Bentley”, district transport officer Babita Kaler said.

The new series of PB-08-BF was launched recently and as per the policy of the Punjab transport department, as many as 80 VIP numbers were auctioned, said the disiirct transport officer, adding that the bid of Rs 7.25 lakh was the highest in the state for the auction of VIP numbers. — PTI

Jalandhar, August 12
Making an improvement over the conventional diesel-operated power generator, polytechnic students of the Lovely Institute of Technology have devised an environment friendly, affordable generator that works on the LPG.

A team of six students of mechanical stream of the institute - Amrinder Singh, Tarsem Singh Matharu, Kulvir Singh, Kulwinder Singh, Jai Parkash and Karamveer Singh - have designed the genset which also has an advantage of being noise-free.

The students pointed out that their design was much more economical as it cost less and so was its operating cost. They said the generator had a capacity to supply power for an average household load for 20 hours with one cylinder of commercial LPG.

Discussing the detailed statistics, they said, “The commercial cylinder costs nearly Rs 950 (as per the prevailing prices). The conventional diesel engine consuming diesel of a similar amount supplies power for only 15 to16 hours. In other words, the efficiency of the newly invented machine is 20 per cent higher than the diesel generator.”

But the students were convinced to take this efficiency to 50 per cent by making further changes in the model, said their guide and teacher Vipan Bansal. “With rising prices of oil fuels, the new generator will be a big respite to common household. The invention will also go a long way in tackling the power crisis prevalent in the country in a cost effective manner,” he added.

“LPG being a clean fuel, the new machine is more environment friendly as it causes less pollution. In fact, the generator operates on dual fuel (LPG and diesel) allowing the consumer to use the fuel available at a particular point of time,” the teacher said.

Maj-Gen Bedi, principal, Lovely Institute of Technology (polytechnic) said, “It is a matter of utmost pride that our students are coming up with novel ideas and giving practical outputs to the learning imparted to them.”

Ashok Mittal, chancellor, Lovely Professional University, said he would ensure that machine get further enhanced to make the product more commercially viable.

He said the product was likely to be a part of the business incubator cell of LPU where all such inventions would be exhibited for commercial use.

Jalandhar, August 12
In an effort to provide medical assistance for injured and ailing animals, the local unit of the Bharat Vikas Parishad (BVP), led by R.K. Seth, donated medicines, feed and other items to the animal shelter-cum-rehabilitation centre run by the People for Animals, an NGO, here today.

Rajeev Verma, secretary of the parishad, said the project “sewa and sanskar” was being carried out by the parishad throughout the country under the sanskriti saptah celebrations.

The parishad members also inspected the rehabilitation centre and enquired about the health of the animals. — TNS

He started his career with Sai Paranjpe’s Panchhi Ek Chaal Kay. After successfully juggling theatre, Hindi films and regional cinema, Bollywood baddie, Ashish Vidyarthi, is back with Zee TV’s magnum opus Waaris, a family drama set in the backdrop of the underworld. The serial marks his comeback on TV after Dastaan. A tete-e-tete with Vidyarthi on his new avtaar.

About Waaris.

The serial deals with the question that haunts most families in our country, finding the waaris or a successor. Though the serial around a family with a saas, sasur and bahu, but it comes with a tinge of danger and excitement. It’s an atypical illustration of the underworld.

Your role in the serial?

I play Rudra Pratap Singh, an ageing mafia don, who has two sons. He is a family man and you cannot call him a totally negative person. It is a delineated character and that allowed me to bring out various shades in him.

Is it something like that of Big B in Sarkar?

Amitabh Bachchan played the patriarch of the family and so do I. So the comparisons valid only to that extent. — TNS