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Risking life for earning livelihood
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MC to step up making recoveries
Corporation demolishes building’s floor
DAV College staff, students lay siege to highway
PTU starts 2 new courses in MBA
Pulse polio drive hits Aayush centres
Trendsetter of two movements in Hindi Poetry
-'Vichar Kavita' and 'Lambi Kavita'
Operation worries of kidney patient sorted
40-year-old man crushed to death
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Risking life for earning livelihood
Jalandhar, February 22 Such vendors were noticed at Rainak Bazaar, Kachehri
Chowk, Gulab Chowk, Plaza Chowk and Phagwara Gate. Instead of fearing electric shock theses transformers can give, the vendors have been using them as shelters. At Phagwara Gate, a vendor has been running a tea stall for many years. The tea vendor, when asked about the fear of electrocution, said, “Nothing of that sort had happened so far and hopefully nothing will happen in future also.” He, however, confessed that during rains, he noticed minor electric sparks. At the Kachehri
chowk, a bookseller and a shoe-shiner boy have been using a power transformer as a shelter for their business. Though warning boards have been put up by the PowerCom on these transformers, still vendors are using them as shelters. Sources in the PowerCom reveal that the department holds no responsibility if any mishap takes place as it has already placed warning boards on these transformers. They said hot oil from transformers could cause severe burns to skin. |
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MC to step up making recoveries
Jalandhar, February 22 Mayor Rakesh Rathour had recently held a meeting with Building Branch officials pulling them up for low recovery. He asked them to expedite collection of composition fee, development charges and building application fee from the residents. He had even conducted another meeting with the staff of the House Tax Branch, wherein they had been asked to nail the defaulters and ensure maximum recovery from them. The O&M Branch where the recovery had reportedly dipped to Rs 1 lakh a day has now gone up to Rs 3 lakh daily. Officials said ever since the stay on water bill charges had been vacated, they were expecting better recovery. Insiders claim that the biggest blunder of the authorities was the excessive use of inter-locking tiles for road-laying work, which came at double the cost. The staff of the B&R Branch said some metalled roads, which had already been in a good condition, were dug up for the tiles to be re-laid. Similarly, footpaths, which had already been in good condition, too, were again broken to be covered with these tiles. Opposition
councillors, including Jagdish Raj Raja and Kuljit Babbi, have several times raised questions over the matter. Mayor on business trip to Germany Mayor Rakesh Rathour today left for a business trip to Germany where a trade fair has started. He will reportedly be away for a week. In his absence, Senior Deputy Mayor Kamaljit Bhatia has plans to be regular in the office from tomorrow afternoon. Bhatia claimed that stepping up recovery would be foremost on his agenda. |
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Corporation demolishes building’s floor
Jalandhar, February 22 Owner of the building Nand Lal Bahri had reportedly fought a legal battle against the MC for over 11 years till the judgement was finally pronounced in 2009. Then onwards the MC continued its correspondence with the building owner for two years and finally took action today. The MC took along a heavy posse of police force from Division numbers 3 and 4 police stations for the demolition. The ADCP-1, RK Sharma, also went along the MC team, which was led by Assistant Town Planners Ramesh Chhabra and Param Pal. The operation, however, went on peacefully. Officials said the owner had covered more area than permissible. |
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DAV College staff, students lay siege to highway
Jalandhar, February 22 Teachers and students boycotted classes. They assembled for a meeting at 10 am on the campus and decided to block the DAV College railway overbridge (ROB). The students and staff shouted slogans against political leaders and MC officials. The highway remained blocked from 11:45 am to 1:45 pm. Meanwhile, the police diverted the traffic to alternative routes and did not allow vehicles to move ahead of Patel Chowk on Jalandhar side and Maqsudan bypass on the Amritsar side. Scores of trucks, buses, auto-rickshaws and cars on either side, however, remained stuck in a long traffic jam for around two hours. Vendors, who had their carts loaded with fruit and vegetables bought from the adjoining Maqsudan Mandi, were also seen stuck in the traffic jam. ADCP-1 RK Sharma reached the spot and held a meeting with college principal Dr BB Sharma. Following an assurance of arranging a meeting with the MC Commissioner and other officials concerned, students and staff lifted the jam. Levelling charges against the MC, the principal alleged that MC officials had worked on a report of a retired naib tehsildar. He said it was ironical that instead of a complaint from the Irrigation Department, officials took action on a complaint from residents of colonies adjoining the college. However, MC Commissioner BS Dhaliwal said he was returning from Kapurthala when he stopped at the college. He said: "The college principal wanted demarcation to be done again, so I sent a naib tehsildar at the site." Hostellers said that 35 girls who were putting up in the blocks towards the broken wall spent the night in a common room. The remaining, they said, had left for home to prepare their exams. JIT chief denies allegations
Jalandhar Improvement Trust (JIT) chairman Baljit Singh Neelamahal has denied allegations that the MC had worked at his behest to demolish the hostel wall. The college authorities have said that since a relative of the JIT chairman owned colonies adjoining the college campus, they wanted the road along the DAV canal to be widened after demolishing the campus wall so that prices of colonies could go up. Neelamahal, however, said: "Do you think that MC officials would pay a heed to what I say that too at a time when the election code is still on?" |
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PTU starts 2 new courses in MBA
Jalandhar, February 22 Dr NP Singh, Dean, Distance Education, PTU, said nearly 60 students had already been admitted to MBA (airport management) course at a distance learning centre in Kerala. The Dean said offshore centres, too, had been started at Nepal and Bangladesh. As many as 100 students had taken admission at eight learning centres opened in Nepal. About 50 students had also been enrolled in two new centres in Bangladesh. This was for the first time that the university had opened its centres abroad as the Board of Governors of PTU had not sanctioned proposals earlier. The university would also for the first time enrol students for a regular course in M.Tech (Thermal Engineering) on its Punjab Institute of Technology (PIT) campus in Kapurthala. The course could not be started last year due to delay in announcing admission to the course and therefore no applicant applying for the course.
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Pulse polio drive hits Aayush centres
Jalandhar, February 22 Recently, the health department took the services of schoolchildren and trainee nurses for the drive. Besides, many special wings, especially ayurvedic dispensaries, which are already facing staff crunch, remained closed because the staff posted there was deployed for the pulse polio drive. As all Aayush centres in the city have a doctor and a pharmacist on duty, their deployment for the immunisation drive hit the patients hard. Talking to The Tribune, an ayurvedic medical officer said, "There are a number of ayurvedic dispensaries in the city. The Aayush wings are understaffed. During the anti-polio drive, our patients find the wings locked. We cannot go and treat them even when they call. Since the pulse polio campaigns are undertaken almost every month, dispensaries remain closed for six-seven days a month. The authorities know about the staff crunch, but still we are deployed for the drive every time. On an average, an Aayush wing gets 15 to 20 patients per day. We have to work all over again to build up faith in patients and as soon as the next pulse polio drive comes, the same cycle is repeated." Some of the affected Aayush wings are under the primary health centres at Jandiala, Raipur Farala, Daroli Kalan, Raipur Rasoolpur, Jamsher, Bilga, Rurka Kalan and Gorayan. Amarjit Kaur, a patient at one of these centres, said: "I have five members in my family and we are regular visitors to the ayurvedic dispensary here. But during the pulse polio drives, the doctor is never there. During these days, the clinic is always locked so we have to wait for the drive to be over to get treatment and medicines." "Since it is a national drive and we can't say no. It is indeed important. But it should not be at the cost of patients visiting ayurvedic dispensaries," said another doctor. However, Dr Amit Sidhu posted at an Aayush wing at the Raipur Rasoolpur primary health centre says: "I don't think the OPD suffers. There are two medical officers at the PHC and if one is not available, the other handles the tasks. Besides, pulse polio is an important drive." On the issue of some principals saying not to inexperienced schoolchildren administering polio drops, some doctors said some reputed schools in their locality had not allowed schoolchildren to administer drops to their students even once.
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Trendsetter of two movements in Hindi Poetry
-'Vichar Kavita' and 'Lambi Kavita' Aparna Banerji Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, February 22 Best known as a trendsetter of the 'Lambi Kavita' and 'Vichar Kavita' movements of Hindi poetry and for his controversial take on Mohammed Ali Jinnah, he has always been a nonconformist - known to rely on his own instincts above all. In the city to attend a seminar on "Punjab Mein Likhit Hindi Sahitya", Dr Mohan talked about his passionate ventures and plans. Born at Lahore in 1935, the Partition brought him to India where after moving to various cities, he finally chose Delhi as his abode. He has taught at the Arya College in Ludhiana and his association with Jalandhar stems from the three years (1961-9163) he spent teaching Hindi at the local Lyallpur Khalsa College. Retiring as a reader in Hindi from the Delhi University, he is almost always found with some or the other project playing on his mind. He is also a visiting professor to the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies (Shimla), Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwara University (Aurungabad) and Goa University (Goa). Dr Mohan also won acclaim for TV serial, Ujale Ki Aur (directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee) aired on DD, which was scripted by him. Lambi Kavita or Vichar Kavita
His first path breaking venture was in the field of the long poem. He worked on its form and idiom bringing out what was different about it in comparison to the short poem or the epic. He was the first person to explore the long Hindi poem with a critical, research-based approach. "The long poem has an independent entity, exploring its texture and digging out its social and political undercurrents, brings out newer meanings. In it there's a balancing of tension and relaxation and a play of dramatic and calmer elements," he says. His first poem collection was Iss Haadse Mein (1975) and the latest one was Rang Aakash Mein Shabd (2012), a magnificent work in which words and colours (literally, it's a colourful, illustrated book) play hand in hand. Ek Agnikaand Jagah Badalta (1983) was his first collection featuring a long poem. Other collections included Hatheli Pe Angaare Ki Taranh (1989) and Ek Sulagti Khamoshi among others. Mr Jinnah
The controversial play penned in 2005 was his first. But for him, it is yet another matter-of-fact piece of work. "I believe Jinnah has been misunderstood and misrepresented time and again. He was a passionate man and he was very sentimental about his country. My play attempted to take a peek into Jinnah's psyche rather than just typecasting him as a hero or a villain. At times he was heroic and at others he was just human. The play looks at how his personal life affected his political life and vice versa." The play talked of his love for the young Parsi girl Ratti at the age of forty; his taking to theatre at the age of 20; his habit of quoting Shakespeare in happiness and sorrow; his role reversal after earlier upholding Hindu-Muslim unity till 1920 and another major contradiction of his life in his own estrangement with his daughter Dina after she chose to run with a Parsi guy at age 18. He saw her face only on his deathbed years later. "After the play was banned, it was a very depressing time for me and more so for the team that worked hard practicing day and night for it. We took out a protest march from the place of rehearsal to the police station in Delhi following its ban. When it was later staged (for the first time) at the open air theatre in Jawahar Lal Nehru University, it was very satisfying. Interestingly, there was a power cut and it was first staged to the light of a torch." The play has now been translated in many Indian languages including Tamil, Telugu, Oriya, Marathi and Kannada and has been staged at venues across the country. Awards
Among others he has won the Sahitya Bhushan Award (UP), Shityakar Samman (Delhi), Shiromani Sahitykar Award (Punjab) among others. Upcoming projects Dr Mohan has penned his autobiography "Kambakht Ninder". His biography on Saadat Hassan Manto will be released during the upcoming Delhi Book Fair in February-end. |
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Jailed youths’ kin meet Oberoi
Jalandhar, February 22 Kuldeep Singh called his parents Suba Singh and Jasminder Kaur when they along with several other families from various parts of the state had come to the city for holding a meeting with Dubai-based businessman and hotelier SP Singh Oberoi, who has been pursuing the cases of several Indian workers lodged in Sharjah and Abu Dhabi jails for different murder and bootlegging cases. Talking to his parents, Kuldeep Singh said, “Oberoi and the Indian Embassy did a lot for pursuing the cases of his and other 16 Indians, who have been lodged in the Sharjah jail in connection with the murder of a Pakistani, Mishri Khan.” He said, “Though the court acquitted them in the murder case after Oberoi paid ‘diya’ (blood money) to his family, yet they have not been released as Mishri Khan’s cousin Mustaq filed another case against them charging them of injuring him during the clash when Mishri had died.” The youth asked his parents to request Oberoi and the Indian government to put pressure on the Indian Embassy to ensure their early release. SP Singh Oberoi expressed hope and said, “These 17 youths will soon be released from the Sharjah jail as he has already engaged top lawyers to pursue their cases.” Oberoi said, “He has been pursuing cases of 61 Indians, mostly Punjabis, lodged in Sharjah and Abu Dhabi jails on the charges of various murders and bootlegging since long. Twentyseven of them have already been released and have returned India.” Expressing hope that the rest of the youths will soon be released, Oberoi said, “He has also come to know from reports in various Indian newspapers that 17 more Punjabi youths were lodged in the Abu Dhabi jail. He is trying to get it confirmed from the Abu Dhabi authorities and if it is so he will pursue their cases too.” He said he had formed a group, Sarbat Da Bhalla, in Dubai to spread awareness among the youth about not indulging in criminal activities, including murder and bootlegging. A number of youths who had recently returned to India after their release from Sharjah and Abu Dhabi jails were also present. |
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Operation worries of kidney patient sorted
Jalandhar, February 22 Languishing for the past many months as he had to go for dialysis every few days, he will finally be operated on Tuesday. Harpal’s friend Arun Sharma, also an auto-rickshaw driver and who has toiled to arrange money for Harpal, today thanked all the doctors, do-gooders and well-wishers in India and abroad for the family’s help. Lokesh Shorey, US-based businessman and son of film producer and former excise and taxation officer KD Shorey and brother of Bollywood actor Ranvir Shorey, has been the most constant support for the family. His brother-in-law and some doctors (from Pathankot and Jalandhar) have also pitched in with support making medicines available to the family on subsidised rates. Many other city do-gooders and social organisations have also helped with Rs 5,000 to 25,000 from time to time. Arun says with good Samaritans arranging for subsidised treatment for the family, a lot of load was taken off their heads. The family, currently has an amount of Rs 1.25 lakh with them. “Some people have promised to offer help on the day of the operation itself,” Arun adds. After the operation, Harpal will be on medicines worth thousands of rupees per month for his entire life and he will also not be able to continue with his driving an auto-rickshaw like he used to do earlier. He is the only breadwinner of the family, which comprises his elderly mother and father and his wife. Even as the family is bothered with worries of a source of income for future sustenance, the assurance of an operation has eased things at least for the moment. Those willing to help the family can contact Arun on his mobile phone number 9888271730. His SBI account number is 31160664162.
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40-year-old man crushed to death
Jalandhar, February 22 The deceased has been identified as Manjit Singh, a resident of Dashmesh Nagar. He died on the spot. Parminder Singh, assistant sub-inspector, said Manjit Singh was admitted to a private hospital for treatment and yesterday, doctors advised him to go for a morning walk. When he went for the morning walk today, an unidentified vehicle crushed him to death. The police said his head was crushed under wheels of a four wheeler. SUV snatched at gunpoint
Three armed miscreants snatched an SUV from a driver of a relative of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Sarabjit Singh Makkar at gunpoint late last night.The incident took place in Ajit Nagar locality around 11 pm on Tuesday when Gurejpal Singh, the driver of the SUV, was on his way to hotel M-1 after dropping the owner at Makkar’s house in Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar. The masked miscreants, who were riding a motorcycle, started chasing the vehicle and after blocking the way, two of them trained a gun at the driver and directed him to turn the vehicle towards the Nakodar road. In his complaint to the police, Gurejpal said the miscreants tied his hand and legs, dumped him on a road in Shankar village near Nakodar and fled with the vehicle. |
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Jalandhar, February 22
It’s good news for
Pathankot-based auto-rickshaw driver Harpal Singh (26), who will finally get operated at a local hospital after a wait of months due to people in the city and abroad coming forward for the family’s help.
Languishing for the past many months as he had to go for dialysis every few days, he will finally be operated on
Tuesday.