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Improvement Trust ‘gifts’ prime land to SAD, BJP
Patients left to languish in corridors of Civil Hospital
In the absence of wards, a large number of suspected dengue patients get only a corridor in Jalandhar Civil Hospital.
Tribune photo: Malkiat Singh |
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Soon, get passports renewed in just three days
A view of the soon-to-be-inaugurated passport seva kendra at the Nakodar Chowk in Jalandhar. Tribune photo: Sarabjit Singh
MC to hold adalats to settle water bill complaints
‘Edu Football League’ from Oct 23
Diyas find few takers
‘Assault victim’ alleges police inaction
From colleges
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Improvement Trust ‘gifts’ prime land to SAD, BJP
Jalandhar, October 21 While the parties are in the process of making payments and getting allotments of land, a move in this regard had been initiated on May 27. The trustees passed the agenda (number 16) in the meeting.
The agenda copy mentions that there was a proposal from the parties on December 24, 2010 followed by directions from the state government on allotting the land at 25 per cent of the reserve price on February 4, 2011. The land allotted to the BJP had been originally kept for providing affordable housing states the agenda. The Trust has also recently made two allotments to religious places at the reserve price. A piece of land adjoining that of the SAD party office site in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, measuring four kanals has gone at a reserve price of Rs 1 lakh a marla to the SGPC for setting up a school to train youth as Sikh priests. This week, the Trust has also allotted a land earmarked as Special Purpose Area measuring 1.18 acre to Akshardham Temple at Guru Gobind Singh Avenue. The land has gone for Rs 6427 per sq feet, the reserve price fixed for the site. The chairman of the Trust, Baljit Singh Neelamahal, confirmed the developments. He said, “We have allotted lands to four institutions which can contribute towards the welfare of the society. So there is nothing wrong in making the allotments at concessional rates.” Even the Congress party had done it during its own tenure by allotting land to itself in Rajinder Nagar. Trustee Shiv Dyal Chugh claimed, “The land has not gone for free. It is a much better deal than that of leasing out properties to the Apeejay Group and the MGN School for Re 1 and Rs 99 a year, respectively. We had tried to earn a gain of Rs 29 crore from the Apeejay Group by converting the lease deed to sale deed but it was unfortunately cancelled.”
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Patients left to languish in corridors of Civil Hospital
Jalandhar, October 21 Many of these patients at the civil hospital were found lying in verandahs, along with patients suffering from various other diseases, here
today.
Leave alone an isolation ward, these patients did not even have a regular room or ward where they could lie down in peace. The reason cited by the authorities: They had tested negative for the IGGIM anti-bodies test. While there are as many 25-30 patients with reduced platelets at the hospital, only four to five have been kept in the isolation ward, covered with mosquito nets, while the rest ‘less serious’ ones languish outside in the heat of the sun, and exposed to the danger of mosquitoes. While two staff nurses attended to the patients in isolation, the ones outside had no dedicated staff as the two staff nurses in the general wards took care of them along with the rest 40 to 50 patients in the various wards. Some families even said even though there were more patients last year, they were better taken care of last year as their constant calls for a doctor or staff for help or replacement of intravenous drips this time had been falling on deaf ears. Interestingly, there no way to tell whether the four or five patients in isolation are dengue patients or not, since right now the IG Macelisa test (the decisive test for establishment of dengue) is yet to be conducted on them. The kit for an IG Macelisa test being costly, it will only be conducted once the number of patient samples reaches at least eight. Speaking on the issue, Senior Medical Officer Dr. GS Pawar said, “We had a total of 300 dengue suspects last year, this year there are only 25 to 30. So things are much in control this time. But as far as the patients lying outside are concerned, we can’t do anything unless we get more wards or rooms.” “As many as eight beds each (for male and female categories) are there for dengue patients right now but the provision might be increased or decreased depending upon the number of patients that come in.” Talking about the dengue patients DHO RL Bassan said, “There has been one confirmed dengue case and 60 suspected dengue patients at the civil hospital this season. We have held surveys, camps and seminars on this front and continue to do so to keep the numbers down.”
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Health Dept keeps mum, residents uncomfortable
Aparna Banerji Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, October 21
Geeta, a resident of Shakti Nagar, says, “We have already stopped buying sweets. Of course one hears about these drives but it is a cause for concern that none of the offenders has been caught so far. There are so many coloured sweets one usually sees displayed during festival season. Of course the common man is being taken for a ride. What can we do? Barring some sweets for pooja, we have moved on to caked and chocolates.” Namita Khurana, resident of Football Chowk, says, “I don’t have much of sweet tooth but I have stopped taking even the few sweets that I took due to constant fear of adulteration. It is sad that no name has surfaced do far. It makes the consumer all the more uncomfortable.” Neither are the authorities willing to divulge the names of any of the sweetmeat shops from where samples were collected, nor has any action been taken against city shops which are openly selling coloured sweets or putting up stalls in the open. While some of the shopkeepers at the Kishanpura and Sodal areas were ‘warned’, except that, there is no news of any action being taken against any sweet seller or any seizure (barring an initial paneer consignment seized early on) According to sources, on the outskirts of the city, like Pathankot Chowk, many sweets sellers or units have already started preparing adulterated sweets, but the Health Department seems to be in a deep slumber. Though sources say under normal circumstances it shouldn’t take more than 14 days or lesser for reports of a food sample to arrive, the inordinate delay in the arrival of the sample reports has raised questions over the working of the Health Department. It is also being said that the working of the Department, as compared to last year, is lax this time. Stats support this - while of the total 365 samples taken this year, only 20 have failed so far, last year as many as 733 samples were taken and 61 had failed. Sample this
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Soon, get passports renewed in just three days
Jalandhar, October 21 Jor initiative it will go a long way in easing out the burden of the Regional Passport Office (RPO), bringing transparency and in turn streamlining the delivery of services for scores of passport seekers in this NRI belt. The subsidiary kendras would function under the supervision of the Regional Passport Office (RPO), Jalandhar. While two kendras would start at Guru Nanak Mission Chowk and Nakodar Chowk in the city, the third kendra would begin at Hoshiarpur district. The centres would be thrown open for the public on October 24, while its trial run began on October 17. Muktesh Kumar Pardesi, Joint Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, would inaugurate the centres. Talking to Jalandhar Tribune, the Regional Passport Officer, Perneet Singh, said the launch of the subsidiary centre would ensure renewal of passports within a stipulated time of three days only. “Earlier it used to take 10 to 15 days time for the renewal of passports but with the hi-tech services, the passport seekers would be at a great advantage”, he added. The passport officer said in these seva kendras the passport applications would be accepted online and appointments would be given in various slots throughout the day. “To begin with we will accept hand-filled as well as the online forms as a majority of the population comes from rural backgrounds and hence are not well versed with the computers”, he said. He said the applicants would go through three different zones namely-Processing, Verification and Granting zones. He said that the authority of printing and dispatching of the passports would remain with him only. “The opening of the kendras will equip me with maximum time to pursue the passport adalats, women grievances of NRI deserted wives and deportation cases on a priority”, he said. It needs mention here that the passport seva kendras would function in association with the staff of Tata Consultancy Service (TCS). The kendras would be headed by Assistant Passport Officer, superintendents of the Ministry of External Affairs and the TCS staff. Facilities
icants can check the status of passports on www.passports.gov.in
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MC to hold adalats to settle water bill complaints
Jalandhar, October 21 All complaints including those of double billing, illegal water connections and excess charges levied will be taken up during the camp. A common complaint regarding charging of water bills from residential property owners owning less than 5 marla area, despite exemption from the state government, will also be taken up during the camps. The venue of the camp will be the basement part of the MC complex with complaints to be heard by a panel of SE, XENs concerned, SDOs and JEs. As per the schedule being readied for the same, the camps will start from ward number 1. Five wards will be taken at a time with three days for each of them. The complaints from ward no. 6 to 10 will be taken in the next three days and so on with the camps continuing till mid-December. SE (O&M), MC, AS Dhaliwal said the decision had been taken after the councillors had raised a demand in this regard in the recent House meeting. “The cases will be sorted out on the spot and the residents would have to bring along documents supporting their claim”, he added. With the government’s voluntary disclosure scheme for availing amnesty scheme for illegal water connections coming to its fag end, the office has now decided to print pamphlets for the same to popularise it and earn some quick buck. The scheme, closing on October 31, will allow the residents to avail connection at one-third of the penalty amount, which is just Rs 500. The department has also speeded up its recovery with collection for water and sewer bills going upto Rs 8 lakh a day. The department had recently also managed to get a recovery of Rs 1.18 crore from the Railways. Mayor Rakesh Rathour said, “The camps can be a boon for residents who have been making rounds to our office repeatedly. We will try to sort out the disputes on the spot”. Fact file
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‘Edu Football League’ from Oct 23
Jalandhar, October 21 The official match jerseys of the league were released by Olympian Surinder Singh Sodhi and Gurmangal Das, the president of the YFC here today. Under the Edu Football League project, the budding football (U-12 & 14) players would be given coaching for five-day a week through out the year. Sports kits, worth Rs 1500, would be distributed among the players during the league and it will be free of cost. Life Skill Education’ workshop will be held that will focus on diverting the youth from drugs and other such vices. The YFC has also opened its satellite training centres in villages like Bundala, Bilga, Sarhali, Jandiala, Shankar and Aloona Tola, which would further equip the players to learn more. Gurmangal Das, the president of YFC, said the players would be closely monitored in physical, technical and tactical areas. “The players will be divided in 32 teams which will play 7-a-side football match every Sunday,” he said. He also said this league will be held every year with increasing number of players and will aim to promote football in a grand way. “Leading football players like Bhaichung Bhutia, Sunil Chhetri and Anwar Ali will visit the YFC during this period to motivate the budding players. Ace Punjabi singer Gurdas Mann is also associated with the league as he has recently released its logo,” he added. The YFC has a tie-up with Coventry University Sports Science department and Coventry City Football Club, UK, for technical help. Every year the club also calls foreign coaches to train the coaches and players of the YFC. Rurka Kalan village has set an example and is an eye opener for the All India Football Federation (AIFF). This small village has not only produced five international footballers, including the Indian defender Anwar Ali, but also brought home the ‘Street Child World Cup’ in March 2010. |
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Diyas find few takers
Jalandhar, October 21 The sale of diyas has drastically declined to just 10 per cent during the past five years. A section of the “ghumhar”, settled in various parts of the city, involved in making and selling earthen lamps for centuries are a worried lot. It has become very difficult for them to make both ends meet. Thus, the new generation of the “Ghumhar” community has started shunning its traditional work of making earthen lamps. Eight families of the same clan are making and selling earthen items at Sidh Mohalla near JMP Chowk for past several decades. Kala Devi is one of them. Her family is in the business of making earthen items for centuries. Kala Devi says, “The eight Ghumhar families settled here used to sell over six lakh diyas on every Diwali till five years ago. The sale reduced to just 60,000 diyas last year.” Kala Devi further says, “This year the situation is more worrisome. Not more than 10,000 diyas have been sold so far. There is no hope that the sale of diyas will increase as the residents prefer to lighten their houses with electric lamps instead of traditional diyas.” Both her sons Ashok and Gaurav had left this traditional work. They earn their livelihood as industrial labourers now. However, Kala Devi’s daughter-in-law Usha Rani helps her. Kala Devi says, “They used to make diyas themselves till some years ago but as there is not much profit and special earthen lamps has become costlier, they have started brining diyas from Haripur Chhote area in Amritsar.” While the small diyas are sold at Rs eight per dozen, the one bigger painted diya is sold at Rs five in retail. If one wants to buy the bigger diyas in bulk, it will cost Rs. 2.5 per piece to the buyer. Kala Devi says “She and other family keep on making earthen money boxes, pitchers and other earthen utensils during the entire year. The sale of these earthen items has also reduced during the past few years.”
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‘Assault victim’ alleges police inaction
The accused were identified as Jatinder Singh, Sudagar Singh, Surinder Kaur, Satpal Singh, Kulwinder Kaur, Sukhwinder Kaur, Prabhjinder Singh, all residents of Kurali and Kashmira Singh was of Lalian Kalan village, victim told to the press. He also alleged that Jasveer, accused’s brother, had also registered a false case against him at Lambra police station.
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‘Chemistun’ held at HMV
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, October 21 Dr RK Mahajan, Professor & Controller Examination, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Dr Rajesh Grover, Director Pushpa Gujral Science City, Kapurthala, and Dr K.N. Kaul, Principal of DAV College Amritsar were the guests of honour. On this various inter-college competitions like essay writing, collage making and powerpoint presentations were organised. More than 100 students from different colleges of Punjab participated in various events. World Nutrition Day
The Science Department of Kamla Nehru College for Women, Phagwara, celebrated World Nutrition Day. On this occasion the students of B.Sc-medical, non-medical and computer science participated in various events. Dr Harmeet Kaur gave a lecture on nutrition and health, which was followed by a quiz competition. |
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season, beaming over the fact that there has been just one confirmed dengue case in the city so far, but the ground realities about the state of patients (with low platelet counts) in the city are way different.
Raids on sweetmeat shops
City to get 2 passport seva kendras
Jalandhar, October 21