The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Smooth Sailing On Cards 300-cr project to spruce up city roads Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service Jalandhar, November 28 The municipal corporation, under a Rs 300-crore World Bank project, is all set to spruce up a 70-km network of the roads in the city encompassing all major rush areas with an aim to introduce road safety and to facilitate the use of non-motorised transportation. The plan includes segregation of the motorised and non-motorised vehicular traffic by creating separate, clear-cut lanes, and adding up pedestrian footpaths, dedicated bus lanes, bus shelters, auto-rickshaw, rickshaw and taxi stands, earmarked hawker spaces, street furniture, public conveniences, street lighting and plantations between lanes. The project also includes improving the road geometry with proper turning radii and appropriate lane widths. It will also focus on introduction of road guides such as regulatory signs, way-finding signs, speed limit signs and flat hump zebra crossing to make travel easier and safe. The report carries the case study of select roads. The proposed plan for the Nehru Garden Road includes division of the 16.26 metre road into seven metres of motorised vehicular lane, 1.2 metres of non-motorised vehicular lane, 2.5 metre for on-street parking and 1.2 metre on either side for pedestrian footpath. The plan envisages matching of one-way traffic direction on the main road with the traffic from inner residential lanes and use of leftover spaces along inner residential lanes as potential parking lots. Similarly, the 62 metre-wide road from BMC Chowk to BSF Chowk includes the area of a new flyover in the central portion, 7.5 metre side lanes for motorised vehicles, 4.5 metre of multi-utility zones and bus shelters, three metre of non-motorised vehicular lanes, three metre of footpath and paved landscape on either side. The corporation officials have got all these ideas incorporated in the master plans designed by a Delhi-based private company recently. The project report is said to have got cleared at the ministerial level and will now be forwarded to the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB) for further processing. The files will then move on to the World Bank for a final nod by January. The roads to be covered under the plan include 14.3 km stretch from PAP Chowk-PNB Chowk-Jail-Bidhipur Crossing, 4 km from BMC Chowk to HMV Chowk, 1.8 km along HMV Chowk-Gazigulla Road-Chandan Nagar crossing-Sodal Chowk, 5.2 km along Bhagwan Valmiki Chowk-Wadala Chowk-TV Tower-MC limit on Nakodar Road, 5.5 km along Ravi Dass Chowk-Kapurthala Road via 120 feet wide road, 4.7 km stretch along Patel Chowk on GT Road-Kapurthala Chowk-Kapurthala road till MC limit, 2.5 km Circular road to Pathankot Chowk, 2.5 km Circular road to Lamba Pind Chowk, 2.5 km Namdev Chowk-Skylark Chowk-Model Town Market, 1.4 km from GPO to Railway Station, 2.2 km from bus stand to Nakodar road along Bhagwan Parsu Ram Marg, 2.2 km Alaska Chowk-Partap Bagh and Alaska Chowk to Nehru Garden, 2.3 km Football Chowk to Basti Guzan-Babu Jagjiwan Ram Chowk, 1.3 km from Mall Road to Urban Estate, 1.8 km Mall Road till Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar, 2.45 km Patel Chowk-Adda Hoshiarpur Chowk-Milap Chowk-Negru Garden via Bhagat Singh Chowk, 1.58 km Old Railway road and new railway road, 2.38 km Cool Road, 2.3 km Police Lines road from Milap Chowk-Shastri Chowk-Sadar Thana crossing, 1.5 km Gulab Devi Hospital Road, 1.25 km Branch Tanda Road, 1 km Preet Nagar Sodal Road, 2 km Rainbow road in Model Town and 0.7 km Chogiti Road from railway crossing to bypass.
	Man, parents jailed in dowry death case Our Correspondent Hoshiarpur, November 28 Additional sessions judge S.K. Arora today sentenced Jaswant Singh, his mother Joginder Kaur, father Mohinder Singh to four-year imprisonment with a fine of Rs 2,000 each for harassing and torturing Sukhwinder Kaur of Kukran village for more dowry which compelled the latter to commit suicide. In case of non-payment of fine, they would further have to undergo imprisonment for two more months. The judge further sentenced them to two-year imprisonment under section 498-A and fined Rs 2,000 each. In the case of non-payment of the fine, they would further have to undergo imprisonment for two more months. Both the punishments would go simultaneously. According to the prosecution, Sukhwinder Kaur was married to Jaswant Singh. All the accused used to torture and harass her for more dowry which compelled her to commit suicide on January 23, 2006. The Mahilpur police had booked all the accused under sections 306 and 498-A of the IPC in this connection. Hoshiarpur resident gets lifer Hoshiarpur: Fast Track Court judge A.S. Narula today sentenced Mohinder Pal, son of Bachan Ram of Denowal Khurd, to life imprisonment for murdering his wife Raj Kumari, alias Bholi, with an axe on November 14, 2005. According to the prosecution report, Mohinder Pal had a quarrel with his wife on some minor issue. Later, enraged Mohinder Pal killed his wife with the axe. On the complaint of his son Jagtinder Kumar, the Garhshankar police registered a case under various sections of the IPC on November 15, 2005. — OC
	Telecom services poor in India: Expert Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service Jalandhar, November 28 You may soon be able to get live videos of a ceremony being organised by your kin in the West directly on your mobile phones. Enabling this, new 3-G phones are all set to enter the Indian domain but for a delay in a clear-cut policy on the matter by the government regarding providing the operators a spectrum range for the same. Dr Anand Srivastava, director, C-DOT, said this during an interaction with the participants of the two-day conference on “optical and wireless communication” that began at the DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology here today. The director said the data-transfer speed currently available on the wireless system using GSM phones and wi-fi systems was too slow enabling only small-sized files to get transferred and that too within a very small range. He said the new Wi-Max facility would allow large documents to get quickly downloaded while roaming, in a wide range. “Once the department of telecom specifies the bandwidth and frequencies to the operators, they will be able to bring in the new technologies to the country,” he said as he delivered his keynote address on “overview of optical and wireless technologies”. But Dr Ajay Chakrabarty, professor of electronics and electrical communication engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, disagrees. “These are all delaying tactics on the part of the telecom company. They want to first sell off the obsolete technology before they bring in the new products,” he claimed. Dr Chakrabarty also talked about the poor quality of telecommunication services provided in the country. “We in India do not insist on better quality coverage. Sometimes, we have to move out to a specific corner in the house or in the verandah to get voice quality. Ideally, the companies should do terrain mapping before rendering their services,” he said as he gave a talk on “introduction to electromagnetic interference” and discussed the working of various devices used to check any such interference. IP video-conferencing During the programme, the institute used its new video-conferencing technology working on the Internet protocol (IP) for the first time on the campus. G.P. Chopra, president, DAV College Managing Committee, addressed the gathering at DAVIET from Delhi through the system. Dr Manoj Kumar, head, electronics and communication engineering department, DAVIET, said the technology enabled anyone who knew the online passwords (or sitting in any of the computers in the hostel, library or laboratories) to get the live coverage of the conferencing. He said soon provisions would be made to ensure that the faculty in any of the IITs could be contacted to deliver a programme for DAVIET students through the system.
	Trade Fair More than 400 visas issued to Pak visitors Ashok Sethi Amritsar, November 28 Even as the alleged involvement of Pakistan in the recent Mumbai terror attacks is suspected, 400 visas have already been issued to Pakistani traders and visitors for the five-day international trade fair being held in the holy city from December 5. A senior functionary of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry R.S. Sachdeva told The Tribune here today that the chamber had assured various callers from the neighbouring country that they would be welcomed with open arms and would be provided proper protection and security. He said Pakistan being a major partner during the exhibition, 50 stalls had already been booked and hundreds of visitors were expected to explore various business proposals and joint ventures and business deals. Sachdeva said they expected Indo-Pak trade to go up a couple of notches from the present $ 2 billion. He said the economies of both the nations had been hit due to the global meltdown but India, with strong economic fundamentals and a large manufacturing base, would open up many opportunities for Pakistan-based businessmen. He said some more companies from Myanmar and Poland had also confirmed their participation to give a wider dimension to this international forum where the business communities from these two countries would be vying with each other to showcase their range of products and services. He said the first fair held here in 2005 had brought in two lakh visitors and hoped that the tally would increase in view of the enthusiastic response from the corporate houses and exhibitors. Meanwhile, the arrangements are in full swing to set up waterproof canopies and hangers at the Ranjit Avenue site where the five-day fair would be organised. The district administration and the police were planning a foolproof security arrangement for the visiting Pakistanis and other delegation in view of the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
	Special campaign to raise awareness on women rights Our Correspondent Nawanshahr, November 28 Deputy commissioner Nilkanth Avhad launched a drive to create awareness among the women about the laws to protect their rights as well as to curb atrocities on them by releasing a pamphlet published by the District Family Counselling Centre here today. The ceremony was attended by officials of the various departments and representatives of the NGOs. The drive, brainchild of Prajakta, chairperson of the centre, was the first of its kind in the state which aimed at bringing in social equality by ensuring women empowerment. Prajakta said while presiding over the counselling sessions being held twice a week by the Family Counselling Centre, she had experienced to check the growing menace of the matrimonial disputes, to make the women, especially girls, aware of their special rights, was need of the hour. They should not emphasis merely on the laws but they should also be educated not to misuse these laws, she said. A comprehensive programme to organise seminars at the school, college and village levels would also take place under the drive, she added. Avhad, while stressing the need of concerted efforts by all sections of society in making the drive a mass movement, said by ensuing women empowerment, the heinous social evils like female foeticide would automatically be curbed. Among others, general assistant to deputy commissioner Sukhmander Singh and deputy district education officer Swarn Singh also spoke on the occasion.
	NGOs’ drive to curb drug menace Nawanshahr, November 28 Under the “say no to drugs” drive jointly launched by the Sankalp Welfare and Awareness Society (SWAS) and the All-India Crime Prevention Society (AICPS) in the district, an awareness programme was organised at Government Senior Secondary School here on Thursday. SSP Shashi Prabha Dwivedi presided over the seminar. In her address, the SSP, while stressing the need of launching concerted efforts to convert the drive into a mass movement, said youth, especially the girls, should be mobilised for active participation in the drive. The youth should not only resolve to strengthen their will power to thwart the allurements leading to fall a prey to drug addiction but should also start a drive “say no to drugs” from their homes as well as their surroundings. “Often questions are raised on the efficacy of the health and police departments in curbing the supply of the narcotics to thwart the menace of drug abuse,” said Dwivedi, adding that the social evils could not be eradicated by merely enforcing the law. — OC
	Police meet: PPA Phillaur are overall champs Hoshiarpur, November 28 The ninth combined zone inter-range police duty meet concluded at the Police Recruits Training Centre at Jahan Khelan, 8 km from here, last evening. Joint director MRS of the PPA, Phillaur, B.K. Garg, gave away the prizes to the winners at a valedictory function. The results: Band: PPA, Phillaur, first and PRTC, Jahan Khelan, second; scientific aid to investigation: SI Narinder Singh first and inspector Balkar Singh second; photography: SI Manish Kumar first and ASI Surjit Lal second; videography: HC Mewa Singh first and HC Chander Kant second; computer awareness: Amit Kumar, Manpreet and Paramjit Singh first and ASI Paramjit Singh second; The overall championship was won by the PPA, Phillaur. — OC