Jalandhar, February 5
The centre-sponsored Integrated Housing Slum Development Scheme, under which pucca houses with kitchens, toilets, proper sewerage, roads and streetlight system were to be provided to the 2,300 slum dwellers in the city, is likely to get lapsed.

The (dis)credit goes to the lackadaisical attitude of the municipal corporation in procuring tenders for the same.

While the central government had even sent its 80 per cent share for the mega project coming up at a total cost of Rs 42.4 crore by the end of 2007 with clear instructions that the money be utilised within 15 months, the MC failed to get a valid tender for the same.

The contractors have recently taken away work in bulk to the tune of Rs 90 crore but none applied for the slum development scheme, shattering all hopes of the poor people to get their houses re-constructed in a planned manner.

The MC officials said the contractors were perhaps not interested, for they knew that they would hardly reap any benefit from it.

“It is extremely difficult to renovate the toilets and kitchen of the poor. Even if we dump some concrete at the site, there would be little left to be used the next day. Who will then dare to indulge in a fight with them,” contractors are said to have confided in the officials.

Councillors rue that since the Code of Conduct could come into force any time around the end of February, there probably is no chance left for the scheme
to get materialised.

Independent councillor Joginder Singh Tony said he was surprised at the lax attitude being adopted by the authorities in the matter.

“Over 400 people in the Makhdoompura area that I represent are after me pressing for the execution of the scheme. I do not know how to pacify them,” he lamented.

Congress councillor Surinder Kaur said there would have been many beneficiaries in her ward had the MC gone ahead with the scheme. “But there has been one obstacle or the other since long,” she pointed out.

Another councillor Gurmit Chand said he had been long pressing for covering 100 slum dwellers falling in the Maan Singh Nagar under the scheme. “The proposal has been kept pending for all this while,” he said.

Interestingly, local bodies minister Manoranjan Kalia had even inaugurated the scheme in December. But it had to be put off following allegations by the District Congress Committee members in the allotment of tenders.

Mayor Rakesh Rathour expressed his helplessness in the matter. “I know that the scheme would lapse in a short time if we do not go ahead with it. I have already made a lot of effort negotiating with the contractors, insisting they should send bids and bring down the rates quoted by them in the last few months. But at the end 
of it there were allegations and the tenders had to be called off.”

Jalandhar, February 5
Hundreds of people from Jalandhar left for Varanasi, the birthplace of Guru Ravidass, in special train Begumpura Express to take part in his birth anniversary celebrations.

The train left Jalandhar railway station at 1 pm. A team of doctors accompanied the devout in the train. The arrangement for food has also been made.

The function to celebrate the birth anniversary of Guru Ravidass would be held at the Goverdhanpur temple in Varanasi on February 9.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati is likely to attend the function. Earlier a shoba yatra was held from Dera Ballan in the morning.

Meanwhile, Jalandhar city has been decked up for the celebrations. Big hoardings have been put up at different places in the city inviting people to join the birthday celebrations of Guru Ravidass.

Phagwara, February 5
In a clear case of government apathy, the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) is turning a blind eye towards the problem caused due to severe air and noise pollution caused by a unit being run in a residential area of Phagwara.

The residents of New Model Town in Phagwara brought up the matter of the polluting unit in their locality to the notice of Guru Teg Bahadur Enclave, Jalandhar-based PPCB office two months back but the PPCB authorities have not taken any action except issuing the unit owner a notice under the relevant sections of Air Pollution Control 1981.

A resident of the locality, Kamal Kumar Bagga told The Tribune that he, along with the other residents of the locality, had submitted a written complaint against Mohit Fabricators to Jalandhar-based PPCB office on December 1, last year.

Bagga said “The iron gates are being manufactured in the ironware unit where the entire work from cutting the iron, giving the shape of a gate and then painting it is done. Further, the unit owner also runs a generator during power cuts.”

“The noise created during cutting iron and running of generator and the air pollution caused during painting the gate has made our lives a hell,” he said.

“Clothes left to dry on the lines in the houses become dirty due to the spray paint being used by the unit. Even the original colour of some of the vehicles parked in the locality has changed due to the spray used by the unit.”

When contacted, the PPCB XEN Harbir Singh said a notice under Air Act had already been served to the unit.

Suggesting the residents of the locality to contact Phagwara municipal council authorities, he said the PPCB would revisit the unit to see how much pollution was caused by the unit.

Meanwhile, the residents also submitted a complaint to Kapurthala DC JM Balamurugan on January 27, who marked the same to the Phagwara SDM with a written direction to take action under appropriate law if the unit was found to be causing pollution and health hazard.

Phagwara, February 5
The Institute of Computer and Finance Executives (ICFe), the leading provider of training for the finance sector, in collaboration with the Traditional Karate Federation of India held “Project Shakti”, women empowerment programme here.

The two-day programme, at the GNBL College of Girls, Phagwara, on February 2 and 3, aimed at empowering women to defend themselves against all forms of attack.

The ICFe took the initiative for women apprentices in and out of ICFe institutes.

The ICFe is aiming to train college girls with self-defence techniques so that they can defend themselves from eve-teasers and reprobates.

Speaking on the occasion, ICFe CMD Santosh Mangal says, “Till now we have conducted two successful ‘Project Shakti’ events in Lucknow, where a large number of women turned up not only to learn basic self-defence techniques but also to rejuvenate their inner buoyancy.”

Mangal said, “India is the country where molestation, rape and murder for dowry cases are witnessed on day-to-day basis despite the fact that India is a woman-centric country having the highest number of women politicians and leaders in the world. A good combination will be made when power or position and status can be combined with power of self-defence.”

“Project Shakti” was a motivational drive to arouse the Indian society by strengthening the feminine consciousness and empowering them with the ability to defend against all forms of attacks.

The two-day programme helped them understand the basics of self-defence and unleash the prowess hidden within for effective repulsion of attacks.

Traditional Karate Federation of India president Rajeev Sinha said, “An increase in the number of women molestation at different sections of society had given birth to the idea of self-defence. Thrashing of women is not confined only to the illiterate classes but to the masses present all over the country. The need of the hour is that every woman should be prepared to defend herself against any kind of aggression.”

Jalandhar, February 5
“Sannu kujh vi na yaad reha, tere ton bagair, ohna karange pyaar jinna karengi tu kair, mara chamkan tu sannu bhaven rajj ke ruva lai par chadd ke na ja”.

Topping the charts, continuously playing in our minds and stealing away most of the airtime on radio and TV channels this sitar-studded, weepy, true blue number by Nachattar Gill, owes its existence to the pen of the know-it-all poet.

Back during his graduation years, when he hadn’t cut a single song or album, Vijay Dhammi had known he’d make it big.

An essay on “my hobby” during his optional Punjabi examination in BA (final), had turned into a lofty (but true), self-predictive monologue when he had written to the examiner, “Tusi mera naa zehan vich rakheo, jaldi hi eh Punjab de geetan vich sunonge” (remember my name you will hear it in Punjabi songs).

He was pretty confident about himself even then and looking at the way events have advanced, he had all the reason to feel so.

He has penned lyrics for scores of songs churning out hits after hits and making stars out of artistes.

Born at Heeran village in Nakodar, he is also known as Dhammi Heeran wala.

A good friend of artiste Malkit Singh, he did his schooling with Malkit from class VI.

They also studied together at Lyallpur Khalsa College, Jalandhar.

“Malkit and I were part of the college bhangra team for which he used to sing and I used to write boliyan.”

Tired of Punjabi professors mispronouncing “zindagi” as “jindagi” and his name as “Vizay”, his was the case of being inspired by the wrong people for the right reason.

Punjabi singer Kuldip Manak’s “lok katha” style songs acted as a huge catalyst for him to experiment with different writing styles.

His first song - “Sohniye ni sohni tere naina di sharab...” was recorded in Hans Raj Hans’s voice in 1983 when he was working as assistant sales officer at British Motorcar Company, for the album “Ik kudi menu ranjha fakir kar gayi”.

His almost two-decade-long career has been strewn with hits like “Lali nainan ch rirakdi chad gaya supne gulabi rang de, ishke di barsaat” (Hans Raj Hans), “Ik gera giddhe vich hor” (Jasbir Jassi), “Maa diye lado ni taali vale khet naa jayin” (Maqbool), “Aa sohneya ve jag jyondeyan de mele” (Harbhajan Mann), “Vadeyan ton mukri” (Nachattar Gill), “Rehan vasdiyan rab eh mere pind diyan kudiyan” (Kanth Kaler), “Mela do gharian” (Sarbjit Cheema). Some of them had even been translated to serve as local versions of states other than Punjab.

He regularly contributed for Punjabi magazine “Aarsi” and worked as a press reporter for “Ajit” for three years.

He is strictly against obscenity in songs. “I never used to stay at my village when a popular singer used to come there. I hated the trend of singers passing remarks on girls through their songs and being lauded for the same.”

He is planning to come out with an album in which lyrics would be sung by Amarinder Gill, Sardool Sikandar, Feroz Khan, Amar Noori, K.S. Makkhan and Yudhvir Manak.

Dhammi who has also been felicitated with the Lashkara award for the best lyricist (2002), has this message for aspiring writers - Read a lot. Don’t run after singers and writers. If you have the talent it will show.

Jalandhar, February 5
The minimum temperatures in Punjab rose sharply last night and were 4 to 7 notches above normal.

According to agricultural experts, above normal temperatures during night were not conducive to the wheat crop.

The minimum temperature suited the wheat crop this time of the year should be around 6 to 8°C, but it went up to 13 degrees last night.

The minimum temperature in Adampur rose by almost 9 degrees since last night to settle at 13.6°C, which was almost seven notches above normal.

The minimum temperature in Amritsar rose by four degrees and was recorded 12.3°C, 7 degrees above normal.

The minimum temperature in Halwara rose by 7 degrees and was reported at 12°C.

The minimum in Bathinda rose by 4 degrees and was registered at 13.8°C, while at Pathankot, it was 12.4 degrees, up by three degrees from last night.

There was early morning fog in Punjab, but the day later became clear. However, according to the Met Office, the day was expected to remain partially cloudy.

The night temperature in Chandigarh also rose sharply and was recorded at 13°C, rise of five notches from last night. The day was partially cloudy in Chandigarh.

The Met Office has forecast an overcast sky with chances of a light rain in certain parts of Punjab in the next 48 hours.

The night temperatures are expected to fall marginally in the state. — UNI

Jalandhar, February 5
Students of DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology (DAVIET) have brought laurels by winning prizes in an all-India essay writing competition organised by the Shri Ram Chandra Mission, an NGO working with the United Nations Department of Public Information, to commemorate United Nations International Youth Day.

As many as 1.5 lakh students from across the country participated in the event which was held at several venues in each state simultaneously.

DAVIET was represented by a batch of 90 students and 50 of them secured merit by registering more than 70 per cent marks each.

Varun Verma, a first year student of mechanical engineering, was one among the bunch of the top nine students.

All the students were awarded with certificates of merit in a function organised in the campus last week.

About 100 students of St Soldier Nursing Institute, pharmacy, physiotherapy, BSc biotechnology and law college were present.

Dr Sharma said there were approximately 250 types of cancer. He said that awareness was ore important than treatment.