Jalandhar, October 9
The Jalandhar Development Authority (JDA) has decided to start projects worth Rs 6 crore for repair of roads in Urban Estates, Phase - I, II and Chhoti Baradari, Phase-II of Jalandhar and Urban Estate, Phagwara.

Aimed at sprucing up these colonies, tenders have been declared open for starting works. The estimated cost of the road construction has been pegged at Rs 1.76 crore in Urban Estate, Phase-I, Rs 2.17 crore in Urban Estate, Phase-II, Rs 1.47 crore in Urban Estate, Phagwara, and Rs 55 lakh for Chhoti Baradari, Phase-II.

The condition of the roads in these colonies was so pathetic that the residents had said that their life had virtually turned hellish. Huge potholes had made the ride through the colonies back-breaking with people avoiding visiting the areas and market places there.

Residents claimed that no new roads had been laid in the past three years. “Add to it the virtually non-existent drainage system. Accidents are a common phenomenon here,” the residents had complained a number of times using The Tribune as one of their fora.

The chief administrator, JDA, Parveen Kumar, has said the curb channels had already been cleaned up to ensure that there is no water-logging. “The trees and shrubs have been properly pruned to give a new look and this will be a regular feature. For garbage lifting and treatment, we are trying to enter an agreement with the organic waste plant at Wariana,” he outlined his plan.

The JDA chief said he hoped that all projects should begin by October end and culminate by November.

“Soon, we are also planning to take up Chhoti Baradari, Phase-I, road repair work. Next we plan to beautify the areas around our own office. The road dividers have already been painted. The trees have been pruned. The level of manholes has been raised to come to the level of roads. The berms and edges have been filed up with concrete and drainage system has already been cleaned. We would continue to make it one of the most upmarket areas, especially with the area becoming a popular commercial hub,” he added.

Kapurthala, October 9
Having already exported as many as 116 coaches to Senegal, Mali and Myanmar, Rail Coach Factory is likely to get an export order from Tanzania.

The RCF has earned Rs 70 crore in foreign currency by exporting 116 coaches to different countries during the past three years.

Now the RCF is hopeful of getting an export order from Tanzania also as a high-level Tanzanian railway’s delegation headed by member of parliament and director Tanzanian Railways Limited (TRL) Siraju Juma Kaboyonga visited the RCF a few weeks back. The objective of the visit was to see the infrastructure and coach manufacturing capabilities of the RCF as the TRL is interested in purchasing of railway coaches and locomotives from India.

Kaboyonga was satisfied with the infrastructure and the quality of coaches manufactured by the RCF and said he would submit his recommendations to the board of directors for purchasing coaches from the RCF.

The TRL is interested in buying quality coaches from the RCF because the Indian Railways extended a better maintenance support as compared to European and American suppliers, he added.

The delegation was apprised of the modern infrastructure at the RCF. It was shown a corporate film on the infrastructure and processes being followed for manufacturing of coaches. The delegation was highly impressed with the facilities available at the RCF.

General Manager S.K. Suri said the RCF had manufactured about 20,000 coaches of a wide variety since its inception. The RCF had enough experience to design and manufacture coaches suitable for the requirements of the TRL and it could provide operations and maintenance support also at very competitive prices, he added.

Jalandhar, October 9
The district consumer disputes redressal forum issued a notice to Samsung India Electronics Limited and its dealers Jankisons on GT Road and Pucca Bagh for November 5.

The case pertains to an appeal filed by complainant Gurdeep Singh of Islam Ganj Colony for the execution of an order passed more than seven months back regarding replacement of a defective air-conditioner or refunding the price along with an award of Rs 2,000.

The plaintiff had written that he had bought the AC on August 26, 2005, from the dealer on GT Road. He said he started using it in the next season in May 2006 only to find that the cooling by the AC was not adequate.

He said he contacted company officials but the representatives of Jankisons came and took the AC for checking. He said the AC was returned to him after having the old compressor changed with a new one.

It was sheer bad luck for Gurdeep whose AC continued to show defects time and again. He said the AC again stopped working on June 15, 2007. He reported the matter to the dealer. The mechanic, who came to check the AC, reported that the stabiliser was defective. The mechanic told him that the defect had been brought to the notice of the dealer. But nobody came to attend to the complaint again, he rued. He said when he contacted the office of the dealer again, a representative replaced the stabiliser. On June 26, 2007, a foul smell started emanating from the AC. He again lodged a complaint which was later rectified.

His woes did not end here. On July 26, 2007, the AC stopped working once again. He said he lodged a complaint once again, but no one came to remove the defect. Later, he was assured that an engineer would visit the house.

On August 13, 2007, a representative came and reported that the AC was practically dead and it would have to be taken to the service shop.

Gurdeep rued that the AC was taken by the dealer but the problem was not rectified as there was some inherent manufacturing defect in the machinery of the AC.

No representation was received from the company and it was proceeded against ex-parte. The dealer, however, contested the case and said he had replaced the compressor without charging any amount. He said the complainant had used the AC for two seasons and there was no manufacturing defect in it as such.

The forum found that the opposition parties had not returned the AC after repair and there was a manufacturing defect. They asked the three parties to replace the AC or refund the price, besides awarding Rs 2,000. Since there has been no compliance, conditional warrants have been issued against all of them.

Jalandhar, October 9
The cricket team from Township School, Lahore (Pakistan), is in the city for participating in the ongoing 9th Bhai Gobind Singh Pasricha Memorial All-India Inter-School Cricket Tournament being held at MGN Public School here.

Excited over their visit to India, the players said such friendly matches between the two countries should be conducted on a regular basis as these would help in providing exposure to budding cricket players. Team manager Mohammed Aslam Rasheed said, “Though we have been trying hard to play in India, certain formalities were keeping us away from doing so. It actually sounds good when cricket crazy people on both sides appreciate your efforts. We have even decided to invite the MGN Public School team for a similar inter-school match in our country in the coming days. We have come here to give our best shot.” The team authorities maintained that they had tentatively decided to hold friendly matches between the two countries from December 22 to 30. Further talking about the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Indian Cricket League (ICL), Lahore players said, “There are many cricketers who remain confined to domestic cricket due to one reason or the other but with the beginning of the IPL and ICL matches, things are changing for better.” Earlier those playing in the national team were considered as the top players of the country but the IPL and the ICL had given birth to good cricket, said vice-captian of the team Rana Mohammed Imran Yunus.

All of them commented upon the status of the players of the ICL that they had been barred from playing the Test matches. “There is a need for a soft stand for the ICL players so far as Test matches are concerned,” said captain of the team Rasib Saleem. The players expressed happiness over the warm welcome accorded to them by the school authorities.

On being asked about the fan following of Bollywood stars back home, the players quipped, “Shahrukh Khan, Amir Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Ajay Devgan are our favourites.” When asked about Bollywood actresses, the answer was 
Aishwarya Rai and Rani Mukherjee.

Jalandhar, October 9
Students of St. Soldier Divine Public School, Kapurthala Road, organised a cultural programme on the occasion of Navratras and Dasehra.

Jalandhar, October 9
The Chawla Nursing Home and Maternity Hospital organised its 20th annual baby show at Red Cross Bhavan here yesterday.

As many as 140 children of various age groups participated in the show.

Gynaecologist Sushma Chawla said this time the show had specially been dedicated to the girl child. She said to make people aware of saving the environment, saplings were distributed among the participants.

Editor of Vir Pratap Chander Mohan was the chief guest and IMA president Dr Yash Sharma the guest of honour.

In the 0-1 year category, a photo competition of child with mother and child with both the parents was won by Ranfateh Singh, Matangi and Divita Jain and Tiya, Anirudh and Bhuvi Kainth.

In the one year to one-and-a-half-year category, Sehaj Singh, Siya and Tavleen bagged the top slots.

In the one-and-a-half to two-year category, Agam Singh, Jasneet Singh and Saksham Grover were declared the winners.

In the two and two-and-a-half-year category, Evaan Luthra, Arshiya and Anantika won the first three positions, whereas in the two-and-a-half to three-year category, Shyla Gupta, Ruhani Sehgal and Jobandeep Singh were adjudged the best.

In the three to four-year category, Suhani Bhalla, Gloria and Prashast Sharma were the winners, whereas in the four to five-year category, which was introduced for the first time in the show, Arshiya, Harnoor Kaur and Mandeep bagged the top positions.

Two consolation prizes in each category were also given.