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Health dept exposes newborns to TB risk
Sarpanches draw blank on RTS Act |
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Mad rush of youths to see foreign ‘beauties’ in action
Lakhs go down the drain
A woman cleans sewage water from a temporary drain in front of her house at Rajan Nagar in Jalandhar. Tribune photo: Sarabjit Singh
City’s little wonders get their idea patented
Shweta Sharma, Jaskiran Kaur and Chhavi display the certificates they received from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, at their school in Jalandhar on Wednesday. Tribune Photo: sarabjit Singh
Computer education for 300 girls under HPCL’s project
Strike by Lecturers
With few lectures taking place, students find healthy time
for gossip. A tribune photograph
Chilli powder used to snatch Rs 2.73 lakh
Armed miscreants attack youth
Religious functions on roads a nuisance
Organisers of a religious function erect tents on the Nakodar road near Jyoti Chowk leaving the entire road blocked. A Tribune Photo
PUDA auctions fetch Rs 5.5 crore
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Health dept exposes newborns to TB risk
Jalandhar, November 17 Given for protection against tuberculosis, mainly severe forms of childhood tuberculosis, this vaccine is essential part of the dose for every newborn. Sources in the department say the last supply of the BCG was of about 2,000 doses, which ended 15 days ago. For the past 15 days, government establishments across the district, from primary and subsidiary health centres to dispensaries and the Civil Hospital, have been turning back families with newborns as they have run out of BCG vaccine stock. Only Bara Pind and Phillaur have the supply of vaccines. In the past 15 days, the Civil Hospital alone has recorded about 40 births (not counting those registered with the municipal council and the civil surgeon). There are about 200 hospitals in the city alone. Sources say 20 per cent of these vaccines in the city come in from private suppliers (from Chennai and Sanofi, France) and 80 per cent of private hospitals get these from government sources. These 80 per cent hospitals get the vaccine under the government’s Extended Programme of Immunisation (EPI). While the EPI hospitals get the services for free, they charge patients for the services provided. Hundreds of newborns in the district have been devoid of the vaccination as eight to 10 births are reported in private hospitals and maternity homes daily. As well-heeled families manage to vaccinate their babies, the poor have nowhere to go but wait for the government to get the vaccine for them, till then exposing their children to the risk of tuberculosis. Rakesh, the father of a newborn, said in the past two days, he had visited at least four government dispensaries in the city but the vaccine was not available. “I have visited the anganwari dispensaries in Sodal and Lath Maar Mohalla and also government dispensaries at Focal Point and Maqsoodan, but doctors at all these places said they are out of stock. In such a crumbling medical system, who do we bank on?” Health department sources say it might still take a week, may be more, for them to get a fresh supply of BCG vaccines. Civil Surgeon HK Singla had nothing much to say on the issue. “Yes, maybe we are short of vaccines. We will get them soon,” he said.
BCG factfile
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Sarpanches draw blank on RTS Act
Jalandhar, November 17 Many sarpanches said it was today that they were circulated copies of brochures regarding the Act. “Leave aside a few uneducated sarpanches among us, most of us who make it a point to read newspapers daily were also not aware of more than three to four services falling under the Act,” they confessed. The sarpanches also blamed it on the absence of boards regarding the same at various offices, including patwar khanas, civil hospitals and food and civil supplies offices. “As people are not aware about the Act, how can they claim their right in due period,” said Inderjit Singh, a panchayat member of Sattowali village in Adampur. He alleged: “There have been so many births and deaths in my village since the implementation of the Act, but officials have not provided certificates in time, despite being approached several times.” A sarpanch from Shahkot raised a point: “The time period listed for getting a marriage certificate is two days, but there is so much harassment. We are asked to get statements of nambardars of both the concerned parties with the tehsildars which often takes a lot of time.” Sarpanches also took up the issue of delay in addition and cancellation of names in ration cards. “This service also needs to be included in the already listed 67 services of the Act,” said Inderjit Kaur, sarpanch of Bir Pind. Another sarpanch said: “We continue to receive the cheques for old age pension beneficiaries of our village from the District Social Welfare Office even after their names have been deleted from the list owing to their deaths.” The CS said the he was planning to sensitise villagers by holding meetings of opinion leaders and representatives of five villages at a time. He said a government institute would be roped in for the purpose. The CS said he would ensure that there were boards outside all departments concerned. He ensured that the procedure would be simplified for late entry cases for birth and death registration. Problems galore
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Mad rush of youths to see foreign ‘beauties’ in action
Jalandhar, November 17 As per advertisements, the women team match was scheduled to begin at 5.30 pm. This led to huge rush. However, spectators were surprised when the first match was held between Italy and Sri Lanka and they were left waiting to see their favourite women teams in action. Surprisingly, despite a huge rush, the old spectators stairs of the stadium remained almost empty, as the crowd was virtually keen for finding a place in the two newly constructed pavilions, which remained jam-packed. Such was the palpable excitement that whenever the raiders of both the team were gripping their opponents, the crowd too was responding with a roaring noise. So much so that the youngsters, especially the boys, were vocal about their desire to watch two foreign women teams playing kabaddi. “We have especially come to watch the women kabaddi match as it is exciting to see players from Turkmenistan and England play this game. Even their style of saying kabaddi kabaddi and taking on their rivals is amazing,” said Harjinder Singh, who had come from Rama Mandi to watch the match along with his friends. Keshav Kumar who too came along with his friends to watch the match, said: “I have clicked some pictures and made a small video of the women team, which I will upload on Facebook. Luckily, I got a seat in the front row and got a chance to see women play.” Another group of boys from Maqsudan, who were catching the performance on their mobile phones, said: “We reached the stadium around 6 pm to find a good place to sit and enjoy the match, but it started late. Apart from being good kabaddi players, the girls are good looking. There is heavy security in the stadium, else we would have got pictures clicked with all of them.” The boys were also seen shouting and virtually celebrating the success of the England team as they won the match defeating Turkmenistan 56-17. “We were supporting the England beauties and they won,” giggled another group of boys.
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Lakhs go down the drain
Jalandhar, November 17 For the same reason, sewage pipes have not been connected with the main disposal line along Kala Sanghian drain since the past five years owing to which the sullage continues to flow on the roads into vacant plots in the colonies. The government is now pumping in more money to resolve the problem temporarily. Lakhs are now being spent again to carve out a new disposal system in the area. Rinku, a resident of Rajan Colony, said, "The sewage line laid here has been of no use. We are leading a very tough life. There are too many mosquitoes and flies here." Gurdev Kaur, another resident, complained, "The owners of vacant plots visit us time and again threatening us of dire consequences in case we continue to allow the sewage water to flow into their plots." The MC staff claims that they send their machines to pump out water and throw the sullage elsewhere. Former MLA Gupta, however, contradicts the allegations against him. "There was nothing wrong with the plan. The present government has failed to take up the plan the way we had proposed. An amount of Rs 4.27 crore had been earmarked at that time for laying 4.75 km of sewerage network," he said. SE (O&M), MC, AS Dhaliwal, said he had received some complaints. "I was not serving here at that time. I need to check the records."
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City’s little wonders get their idea patented
Jalandhar, November 17 Students received the award at a ceremony held at IIM Ahmedabad on November 11. The ideas of all three of them --- Jaskiran Kaur, Shwta Sharma and Chavi --- students of Class IX (all aged about 15), defy their age. The competition in question - meant for students’ ideas and innovation (IGNITE 2011) - was organised by the NIF, run by the Department of Science and Innovation (Government of India) in partnership with CBSE, Navodaya Vidyala Samiti, Society for Research and Initiatives in Sustainable Technologies and Institutions (SRISTI) along with others. The winners were awarded certificates and a trophy by Dr APJ Abdul Kalam (ex-President of India) on November 11 at IIM, Ahmedabad. In total, 4,104 entries were sent from across India, which ranged from sectors like energy, environment, transport, general household utility items and many even discussed societal problems. Only 25 ideas across India were shortlisted, out of which 11 were awarded. The rest were given consolation prizes. The Police DAV Public School trio belonged to these winning entries. The ideas of Police DAV students were given a wide coverage in the national magazine “Honey Bee” published by NIF. The Department of Science and Innovation will hand over the selected ideas to companies in the private sector. If the ideas are found to be feasible, then the production work shall start and students will be entitled to a percentage of the profit thus made. Students have been given the patent certificates of their ideas by the organisation. In 2010, Mayank Walia and Shruti Tyagi, both Class XII students, won this award. In 2009, Anurag and Pallavi of Police DAV won the award. The ideas
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Computer education for 300 girls under HPCL’s project
Aimed at spreading computer literacy among girl students from weaker sections studying in aided and municipal schools, the project will hold five computer classes per week for these girls for the coming two and a half months. HPCL has engaged the services of NIIT teachers to provide classes. To cater to these students, course material has especially been printed in Hindi for ease and understanding of the students. Two teachers from each school will also be trained as resource persons. These schools, which did not even have sufficient classrooms, now will have computers with a good laboratory. Four computers (each) to both schools will also be donated under the project. HPCL is engaged in carrying out these projects every year and this year too, they are planning to undertake projects worth Rs 30 crore. While 3,000 schools are covered across the country every year, in Jalandhar, this project is run for two schools. The students will undergo a 40-hour course followed by an online test, after the completion of which they will be issued a certificate by the
NIIT.
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Studies hit for second day
Kusum Arora Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, November 17 Moreover, studies will further take a back seat as lecturers have now decided to hold two-hour strike for a week. Meanwhile, district members of Punjab Chandigarh College Teachers Union (PCCTU) held a rally at the local Desh Bhagat Yadgaar Hall in support of their demands. The union members raised anti-government slogans and sought implementation of their long-pending demands. As many as 400 members of teaching and non-teaching staff of various colleges under the PCCTU participated in the rally demanding pension, gratuity, revised pay scales for non-teaching staff, security of service, lifting ban on recruitments under 95 per cent grant-in-aid scheme which was implemented in 2005. The district president of PCCTU, Tejinder Virli, said after the two-day strike, the union has decided to hold two-hour strike daily in their respective colleges for a week. “Both the teaching and non-teaching staff members will take part in the strike,” he added.
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Chilli powder used to snatch Rs 2.73 lakh
Jalandhar November 17 The victim, Davinder Kumar, told to the police that he closed his shop at 9 pm last night and put the cash in a plastic bag. When he was about to reach home, two youths came on a motorcycle and one of them threw chilli powder in his eyes, the victim said. The miscreants snatched the plastic bag containing cash from him. Davinder said he tried to chase the miscreants, but they managed to flee on their motorcycle. The victim was not able to record the registration number of the vehicle. Lakhwinder Singh, SHO, Lohian police station, said they had rounded up a few youths with notorious track record for questioning. The SHO said a case under Section 382 of IPC has been registered against the unidentified youths and search was on to nab them.
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Armed miscreants attack youth
Shahkot, November 17 Soni, a resident of Malsian, said he was heading towards his home at 9.30 pm last night and the moment he crossed the level crossings, four youths on two motorcycles asked him to stop. “When I stopped my bike, they asked me about some address. When I was about to leave, two youths carrying sharp-edged weapons took out the keys to my bike and asked me to hand over cash and valuables,” the victim said. “When I protested, one of the miscreants attacked me with a sharp-edged weapon on my right eye. They, however, fled after noticing a four-wheeler coming from the Shahkot side.
— OC |
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Religious functions on roads a nuisance
Jalandhar, November 17 Traffic jams are a routine on Tanda road and holding of religious functions worsens the situation. Further, both the roads were also damaged at several places after the functions. Besides, blaring noise from loudspeakers create problem to nearby shopkeepers and residents. ResidentsSpeak
Mohan Sharma, a resident of the nearby Thapran Mohalla locality, said, “First I was stranded at the nearby railway crossing for half an hour as three trains passed in a short span. When the crossing opened, I saw the entire road was blocked. I had to take U-turn to reach my house covering a long distance.” Social activist Rajat Mohindru said no one should be allowed to cause inconvenience to general public in the name of religion. Jagrans should not be held on roads. Authorities should tell associations about problems of holding functions on roads.
Organisers Speak
Hemant Sareen, President of Jai Maa Sewa Samiti, said his organisation took permission from the administration to hold jagran on the road. We know roads should not be blocked as it creates inconvenience to public but tell me where is the open space in the heart of the city where we can hold jagran. If we try to hold Jagran in park, residents nearby prevented us to do so. Moreover, we blocked the road in such a way that the public should have minimum inconvenience. We will fill the damaged road with cement. We use this road as our shops are located on the sides of this road. Munish, a sewadar of Sain Sewa Samiti, said they have taken permission from the administration for holding Sain
Sandhaya. Official Speak I am personally against holding any religious functions on roads as it causes inconvenience. Only one association has contacted me for getting permission to hold jagran on the road a few weeks ago, but I refused to give permission. Appropriate action will be taken if any association is found holding religious function on the road. — BS Dhaliwal, Mc Commissioner It becomes difficult for the police to take action keeping in mind that the function is religious and any hindrance may hurt sentiments of the general public. — Diljinder Singh Dhillon, ACP Traffic
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PUDA auctions fetch Rs 5.5 crore
Jalandhar, November 17 The PUDA held auction today for 15 residential properties measuring 172.70 sq m to 371 sq m, of which only seven could be sold. Auction for 14 commercial properties was planned for today but it got response just for two of them measuring an area of 62.7 sq m. Auction of 10 SCOs of the area ranging between 62.7 sq m and 104.5 sq m in the same colony was also scheduled for today but there was no response. Auction for seven commercial properties around Police Station Division No. 3 was also planned for today but it too fetched no response. The reserve price fixed was Rs 1,97,368 per sq m which the bidders claimed was too high. Nine commercial properties around the old DC and SSP office were also put for auction at a reserve price of Rs 1,52,390 per sq m but these too got no bidders. |
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Jobs for 31 students
Jalandhar, November 17
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Jalandhar, November 17
Jalandhar, November 17
This is the best example of how desperate politicians allow the public money to go down the drain just to be in the good books of their prospective voters.
Even as nearly Rs 17 lakh was spent by the then Congress MLA, Raj Kumar Gupta,
during the last days of his tenure in 2006 to appease residents of Rajan Nagar
and Punnu Vihar colonies falling near Basti Peer Daad, the money has proven to
be of no use as MC officials claim that the work does not conform to the sewage
master plan for the city.
Jalandhar, November 17
Jalandhar, November 17
Jalandhar, November 17
Jalandhar, November 17