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Posters, hoardings still dot city
Publicity material under EC scanner
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EC’s Facebook page flooded with poll related queries
Holy cow! Malnourished cattle dying of neglect, cold
BEd teachers say No to poll duties till salaries paid
Industrialists condemn EC orders on cash seizure, suggest wayout
Reprieve for cash-strapped MC as octroi abolition on fuel reverted
From Colleges
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Posters, hoardings still dot city
Jalandhar, December 29 Recently, Jalandhar Tribune had reported of two hoardings in Shastri Market, one with pictures of the Chief Minister and other politicians and the other one with pictures of AICC chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Even as the authorities removed the SAD hoarding from the PSEB regional depot building yesterday, they failed to remove the Congress hoarding put up just a few yards from the SAD hoarding. Surprisingly, the Election Commission of India in its guidelines has clearly stated that taking cognisance of the newspaper reports pertaining to the violations of the code of conduct, the district election authorities are bound to take action. Similar violation was noticed on Jalandhar-Pathankot bypass, where a huge hoarding of Avtar Henry, a Congress ticket aspirant from the Jalandhar North constituency seat, was found displayed. Meanwhile, notices were sent to the Congress, the SAD and the BJP for violating code of conduct. While 28 buntings of the BJP were removed in the Jalandhar Central constituency, an FIR was lodged against Seth Sat Pal Mall of the Congress and president of the BSP Rajinder Singh Rehal under Section of 3 of the Prevention of Defacement of Public Property Act, 1998. Returning officer of the Jalandhar Central constituency, SDM-I, Iqbal Singh Sandhu said: “Four hoardings and a poster of the BSP were removed today. Besides, the model code of conduct teams also removed 33 flags of various political parties.” |
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Publicity material under EC scanner
Jalandhar, December 29 Printers will also have to produce before the election officers the copies of bills to be given to candidates for getting the work done. The exercise will solve the twin purpose for the election officers who will ensure that the election leaflet or poster or banner bears the name of the printer, his address and the number of copies he has published on the face of the main page as stipulated under Section 127-A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. They will also be able to know the expenditure that the candidate has incurred for the work so that the same can be entered in the account of election expenses of each candidate. The bills received will be entered in the shadow expenditure register to be maintained by the assistant expenditure observers. Passing on these stringent guidelines of the Election Commission of India, District Election Officer (DEO) Priyank Bharti today held a meeting with printers this morning. He told them to mention the genuine number of copies printed or face action. “The flying squads of each RO will be on vigil and will be able to ascertain the number of copies of the handouts from the offices of the candidates and even their vehicles. “Any anomaly of not giving us copies of each kind of poster or fudging the number of copies printed can land you in a trouble,” he cautioned them. Bharti asked the printers to ensure the compliance as violation of certain provisions of the Act was also punishable with imprisonment for a term up to six months or with a fine up to Rs 2,000 or both. He said: “Do not print any election pamphlet or poster unless a declaration is signed and attested by two persons.” He told the printers to send a copy of the declaration after completing each job work to the Chief Election Officer, Punjab, and the district magistrate. Surrogate advertisements
The DEO also discussed the issue of surrogate advertisements appearing in the print media, for or against particular political parties and candidates during the election period. “In many such cases, advertisements are for the prospects of election of particular candidates. As per Section 77 (1) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, the expenditure involved in such advertisements in connection with the election of any candidate has to be added to the account of the election expenses of the candidate,” Bharti added. |
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EC’s Facebook page flooded with poll related queries
Jalandhar, December 29 Even the ECI, which is administering this page, has been responding to the queries of voters and the users, making its presence felt. One such query on the page was that of Narender Pal Singh, who had asked: “If any person has dual voting rights in two different states, what action is possible?” The ECI has responded to this query stating that such an offence is liable to an imprisonment of one year. Another user Dharam V Sharma from Chandigarh has written that he lost his voter card and how can he get a duplicate one? To this, the ECI has replied: “Approach the office of the Chief Election Officer, Chandigarh.” Another active user Jagdeep S Bhatia has drawn the attention of ECI towards their silence on the complete capture of media by the ruling SAD-BJP combine in the poll-bound state. He has written, “24X7 we see PTC owned by the Badals showing their own rallies live and they hardly show any news which goes against them.” A large number of users have also demanded the option of ‘rejecting the candidates’ on the electronic voter machines (EVMs). One such comment reads: “Chief Election Commissioner Dr SY Quraishi, it is your turn to make history. Implement the ‘right to reject’. To many such queries, the ECI has responded with the option of ‘Rule 49-O’, which enables a voter to refuse to cast vote. However, to an array of such questions, there is an exception too. The ECI does not respond to all the queries of users as a majority of them are confined to direct attack on the political parties, politicians and the bureaucracy. A user on Facebook has also commented on the educational qualifications of the politicians and had written: “To become even a class-VI employee, minimum education is required. Then why is there no minimum qualification for becoming an MLA, MP, CM or Prime Minister.” Many users have also asked the ECI, that whether the page on Facebook was genuine or run by a fake user. To this the ECI has responded: “The ECI is administering this page.” |
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Holy cow! Malnourished cattle dying of neglect, cold
Jalandhar, December 29 Underfed and forgotten, cows have been kept in dark, dank sheds full of a wet mix of dung, fodder, water and cow urine in the December chill. It’s been ages since many of them have been taken out in the open under the sun. While the death rate of calves in the gaushala is on the rise, the injured cows are not able to get up once they lose balance and fall in the slush, say regular visitors to the gaushala. The gaushala on Tanda Road is being run since 1948 and the one at Transport Nagar near Bulandpur for the past about 20 years. The Transport Nagar gaushala has 657 cattle in all and the one at Tanda Road has 319 heads of cattle. Since it is located in the city and near a temple, the Tanda Road gaushala cows are relatively lucky. Devotees regularly feed them and donors arrange for their fodder. The building is old it is full of mud and dung. However, as they are fed well, the cows here healthier. The gausala on city’s outskirts is full of slush and dung. The cows do not sit unless they are injured and tired due to the cold. The feeding troughs of cows in the inner sheds were found to be empty. In some sheds, cows were cramped in a small area with no space to move around. Even though many unhealthy cows had collapsed or lied down, there had been no efforts to shift them to the
dry area. Many cows were infested with worms or fleas and were rubbing their heads on the iron girders of the shed. In one of the sheds, The Tribune team saw cows pouncing on a newborn calf. The authorities, however, said they were not aware of it. When questioned, visiting doctor Parminder Singh said: “It is difficult to keep tab on each and every cow in these sheds.” A malnourished cow was nearing death in one of the sheds, but the staff claimed it had fallen down after being attacked by another cow. Deepak Jyoti, a Kot Kishan Chand resident, who has been visiting these cow sheds for the past many years and has been feeding cows, said: “I have never seen the staff taking care of them. Years pass and cows die in damp sheds. In winter evenings, I have even found many tied cows in the open.” Sources say that in 2010, about 500 cows have died and this year, the figure has touched 250 at the Bulandpur cow shed. Veterinarians do not make regular visits to these cowsheds. While four doctors are supposed to be on duty, The Tribune team found only one during its visit at the Transport Nagar shed. Mismanagement galore
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BEd teachers say No to poll duties till salaries paid
While in all 14,000 teachers (across the state) were recruited in 2008, they were regularised in April this year. While about 150 teachers (regularised this year) have not received their salaries for the past eight months, the rest have not received them for the past four months. The teachers recruited at primary schools (on the post of ETT teachers) have not received their salaries for the past seven months. Those working at senior secondary schools are also undergoing similar problems. The 625 teachers (450 secondary and 175 primary) working in the Bhogpur block of the district are the worst hit because due to a technical fault, their salary status is being shown in minus digits, further irking the teachers. They have not received salaries for the past four months. But teachers say it is due to a clerical mistake made by the treasury department as the funds have been released by the government for their salaries. The teachers had also met the Deputy Commissioner regarding the issue on Tuesday and though assurances have been provided that their salaries will be released soon, they say in case their salaries are not released soon, their role in election duties would bear the brunt. President Ravinder Singh, who works at a school in the Bhogpur block, while talking to The Tribune, said, “I have to travel 50 km daily to reach to my school. Now in the coming election rehearsals we will have to shell out money to travel to the venues. We are already falling short of money to pay even for daily commuting, we will have to shell out extra chunks of money to reach for the rehearsals in the city. The government has to ensure our salaries are released soon or there might be problems.” General secretary of the B.Ed teachers association Kanwaljit said, “There are some teachers who haven’t even received arrears so far. In all the blocks, teachers haven’t received salaries for at least three months. In some, it is more than that.” A meeting of the teachers with CM Parkash Singh Badal on Monday (during a Sangat Darshan) wasn’t fruitful because he told them to meet the DC regarding the issue. On Tuesday, they met Deputy Commissioner Priyank Bharti. They say though he has assured the money will be released in three to four days, so far nothing has happened on the front. |
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Only animal welfare organisation in city cash strapped
Jalandhar, December 29 While it has been lauded umpteen times for the dedication and work put in for the care of injured, helpless animals by Chander Bhushan, who heads it, and his team, fund and space woes of the NGO have been lying unaddressed since long. Even as the NGO requires one to three lakh per month to run the establishment smoothly, it is surviving on the meagre amounts donated by philanthropists and animals lovers while the government puts in a mere Rs 30,000 to 50,000 annually. A little premises at the back of the Police Lines area of the city is where it runs from. Even as the MC gave up its half-hearted sterilisation drive years ago and the existing gaushalas of the city have earned flak for their poor arrangements, the PFA premises is a haven for all the animals cattle, dogs and birds, that find their way there. Beginning with 10 to 20 animals in 1999, the NGO’s currently taking care of 170 animals (80 to 90 cows, 45 dogs, three goats, 20 sheep, one buffalo and one cat). While the cattle are given dry ground in the sheds, sacks as makeshift pillows to rest their heads on and a little yard in the back where they graze; the injured dogs receive special therapy (casts to heal their broken spines in) and a limited but open compound where they play around. The six workers feed crippled dogs with their own hands. Since the MC stopped its sterilisation drive four years ago, the PFA has sterilised about 200 dogs (dogs are never left out in the open without being sterilised and the crippled ones are never abandoned even after their injuries have healed). As many as 50 per cent dogs with the NGO are stray and the rest are domesticated animals that were abandoned by their owners. Chander Bhushan, the man who runs PFA, says, “We get countless domesticated animals being dumped at our doorsteps. The owners in the city are not very responsible people. We could use better sheds for the cows and rooms for the dogs to be treated in but that will only happen when funds pour in. The administrations have largely been apathetic about the animal care issue. Dogs or animals are a no-issue for them. We have been mocked at by some officials when we took our complaints to them. Right now, we are making do with the existing donations but if we get fuller, steadier regular grants, our cause will get a major boost.” Bhushan is also all for locality-wise premises across the city to run the sterilisation campaign. “Dogs are bitten and hounded on the streets. The injured animals we get are proof of major apathy on the residents’ part. If the MC or administration runs regular, area wise drives, setting up sterilisation units in each area, the stray dog menace in the city can be countered. Many people can also feel safer at night when going back home,” he says.
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Surveillance up, so is Election Commission budget
Jalandhar, December 29 Undoubtedly, the expenditure incurred on fuel this time will increase with excise teams, police teams, income tax department teams, booth-level officers and sector officers for a group of 10 polling booths to be in the field. The expenditure is bound to increase as each RO has three video surveillance teams which are to be accompanied by videographers for recording recoveries. Soon, there will be micro-observers from the local central government offices who would be attached with the election observers for day-to-day monitoring. This staff will also need vehicles, fuel and video teams. Besides, there is a media monitoring committee under ADC Praneet Bhardwaj as well, which has hired televisions and has deputed government staff to monitor each news and advertisement on TV channels. There will be additional expenditure on hiring TVs and paying for the duties of thousands of people involved in the poll duty. There will be additional expenditure on stationery, phone calls and internet usage by the static teams of each RO. Rs
50,000 received
The returning officers on Wednesday received Rs 50,000 each from the ECI for running the office work, including purchase of stationery, toners for printers and other office items. More funds are expected next week. Petrol and diesel in vehicles is being filled from petrol stations through slips issued by ROs. |
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Industrialists condemn EC orders on cash seizure, suggest wayout
Jalandhar, December 29 Since it is not safe to keep the cash in office or factory, the businessmen usually carry the cash in the morning and return home with it in the evening.” “Since the past two days, police barriers have been laid where industrialists are being unnecessarily harassed and exposed in the name of checking”, he said. As a way out, he has suggested that the industrialists and their employees be allowed to carry the cash with the attested copies of the PAN card of the firm with certificate by the employer of how much cash he was carrying. “The copy of the certificate and PAN card can be taken by the police and handed over to the Income Tax department for verification of the entry from the company’s account books at any time”, he has demanded. |
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Reprieve for cash-strapped MC as octroi abolition on fuel reverted
Jalandhar, December 29 The MC Jalandhar, which already is reeling under acute financial crisis, would have had got another blow had the orders not got reverted. The MCJ has been making an income of Rs 10 crore annually or Rs 80 lakh a month with the levying of octroi. Announcing a poll sop for petrol pump owners in urban areas, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on December 24, the date of implementation of code of conduct, had announced to abolish octroi on the supply of fuel within municipal limits of towns and cities across the state with an immediate effect.
— TNS |
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From Colleges
Jalandhar, December 29 The purpose of organising the seminar was to evoke interest for chemistry in the young minds and to acquaint them with vast scope of this subject. Dr Subodh Kumar, the Head of the department of chemistry of GND University, gave the keynote address. This was followed by a workshop where faculty members demonstrated the preparation of soap, paper soap, shampoo and hand sanitiser. Scriptwriting workshop
The PG Department of Journalism and Mass Communication organised a seminar on script writing. Kanika Dhillon - Head, Creative Content Division - Red Chillies Entertainments Private Limite and a novelist was the key speaker. Kanika discussed the difference of writing a script for television and film script writing. She also shared with the students her experience of working in Bollywood. Head of the department, Professor Simran Sidhu, Professor Gurpreet Kaur and Priya Chopra were present on this occasion. Workshop on income tax
A one-day workshop on ‘Tax implications for Salaried Persons’ was held at CT Group of Institutions, Maqsudan campus. As many as 100 faculty members from all the institutes of CT group attended the workshop. BP Aggarwal, former Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax, was the chief co-coordinator of this workshop. He emphasised on the need to go for systematic tax planning to get benefits under various tax saving schemes and elaborated the concept of e-filing where an individual can get benefit of easy refund and avoid hassles of filing return with the Income Tax Department. He urged the staff members to file their returns well in time and to fully disclose about income earned from various sources. |
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Jalandhar, December 29