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Who will be next Mayor — Mahendru, Jyoti or Kochhar?
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‘Implement one-rank, one-pension scheme’
Helpdesk for journalism course
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Who will be next Mayor — Mahendru, Jyoti or Kochhar?
While Mahendru is a clear-cut choice of MLA from Jalandhar (Central) Manoranjan Kalia, Jyoti is the first choice of MLA from Jalandhar (North) and Chief Parliamentary Secretary KD Bhandari. Kalia had vouched for Mahendru even in the previous tenure, but the coveted post went to RSS loyalist Rakesh Rathour. If the RSS has its say again, Minta Kochhar is likely to be the first choice. Jyoti, on the other hand, is said to have been enjoying the support of MLA Bhandari. BJP councillors falling in Bhandari’s wards have fared well getting as many as 12 seats owing to which he can claim more say. Jyoti also enjoys support of former Mayor Rakesh Rathour with whom he has been closely attached since the past four years. Both Jyoti and Mahendru are second timers and have been members of the finance and contracts committee of the MC from 2007 to 2002. While Bhandari had been trying to bring in his cousin Dinesh Bhandari in Ward 27 as the BJP candidate, Kochhar still managed to get the ticket. Oldies lose
Several old timers, especially those from the Congress, who had been fielded again, have lost the MC polls. Septuagenarian Swaran Singh, who had been pitched in the poll battle, lost to BSP’s Vipan Kumar in Ward 53. A law graduate, Vipan had also been a councillor in 1997. Another elderly from the Congress, Sardari Lal, lost to Kasturi Lal of the BJP in Ward 52. Kasturi got 2,438 votes while Sardari Lal managed 1,039 votes. Young faces lose
The new MC House perhaps has the maximum lot of middle-aged persons. Some new young faces fielded by the parties failed to make a mark. SAD’s Rohit Kumar Vicky, Congress’ Sakait Goraya Shetty and BJP’s Rajan Angural all failed to strike a chord with the masses. Independent candidate and comedian from Ward 26 Rekha Kashyap, too, has not been able to succeed. Migrant as councillor
Palni Appal of the Congress, originally hailing from Tamil Nadu, has become the first migrant councillor. He had tried his luck in 2007 polls also, but had lost to Gurmail Singh of the BJP, who now stands third in Ward 17. The ward includes Madrasi Mohalla with a sizable population of residents from the southern state. He has won by a margin of 11 votes from independent candidate Maninderpal Singh. Maximum votes polled
Sushil Kumar Rinku of the Congress from Ward 46 has become the councillor to have polled maximum votes. He got 4,932 votes against his rival Rajan Angural of the BJP. Interestingly, Rajan is also the only losing candidate to have got as high as 4,688 votes. Congress councillor Sharvan Grover from Ward 49 also managed to get 4,582 votes. His rival from the BJP Ajit Bhardwaj managed 1,889 votes. Gullu in support of BJP
Former Congress councillor Mahinder Singh Gullu, whose wife Kawaljit Kaur won from Ward 26, has announced his support to the BJP. He came at the residence of Jalandhar (Central) MLA Manoranjan Kalia and announced the decision. |
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Councillors and their priorities
— Davinder Kaur Reru (SAD), Ward No 3 My priority will be to get a water disposal system installed at Basti Peer Daad so the waterlogging problem of Preet Nagar gets resolved. I will also try to help residents of Aman Nagar get rid of high-tension wires. Some streetlight points need to be added for which tender work is near completion. I will also strive to make the ward drug free as the illegal drug sale practice rampant in two points of my colony which is having adverse effect on the youth of my area. I will also help the elderly, needy and the physically challenged avail maximum benefit of government schemes. — Bhagwant Prabhakar (BJP), Ward No 4
— Sunil Jyoti (BJP), Ward No 5
— Reena Kaur (Congress ), Ward No 6
— Bal Kishan Bali (Congress), Ward No 7
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Panic after bomb shell-like objects found
Jalandhar, June 12 High-rank police officials, including Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP), City, IRK Sharma, Assistant Commissioner of Police, North, Balkar Singh, and inspector, Police Division - 8, Bimal Kant Sharma, reached the spot. In preliminary investigation, the police cleared that though the objects looked like bombshells, in reality they had no association with arms or ammunition. The police said it would urge the Army authorities to get their inspection done. Inspector Bimal Kant said they were told by the residents that some bomb shell-like objects were lying in a pond at Dhogri Mohalla and instead of taking precautions, children of the area were playing with them. “We immediately reached the spot and recovered 18 such objects weighing 7 kg each. The people have mistakenly taken them as bombshells and got panicked,” the SHO said. To get preliminary investigations done, the police had also taken along some retired Army officials who claimed that the recovered objects were part of the Army equipment, but they had no association with bombshells. These objects are called as “connecting pins”, which are used by the Army to construct temporary bridges. “We have taken the objects in our custody and will intimate the Army authorities to get their inspections done,” the ADCP said. He said the condition of the objects in which they were recovered cleared that they might have been dumped in the pond for the past several years. As part of the investigation, the police had been questioning some local scrap dealers. |
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Polio-ridden thief falls off rooftop, hospitalised
Shahkot, June 12 The burglar sustained fractures in his right arm and was taken to the Civil Hospital by the owner of the house from where he was referred to the Nakodar Civil Hospital. The doctors said that youth was ridden with polio and was also under the influence of drugs. The burglar, who was lying in an unconscious state in the hospital, earlier identified himself as Dimple of Dhoorkot Mohalla, but he later backtracked from his statement and said he was a resident of Baghwala Mohalla in Shahkot. The incident took place at 4 am when the youth entered the house of Joginder Pal and after breaking the locks of an almirah, he laid his hands on cash and other valuables. However, after hearing a noise, members of Joginder Pal’s family came out and saw the youth fleeing. As they chased him, the youth managed to scale a wall of another house, but he fell off the roof in the courtyard of the house. The ornaments recovered from the youth were found to be artificial. However, cash was recovered from the youth. No case had been registered till the filing of the report. |
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South Indian by birth, Punjabi by nature
Jalandhar, June 12 Punjabi by nature and a South Indian by birth, this is the identity of Palni, the councillor of ward number 17, who won from the Congress ticket in the recently held MC elections. Clad in a typical Punjabi white kurta-pyjama with the mandatory South Indian tradition of applying ‘tilak’ on his forehead, he is garnering limelight than many of his contemporaries, who won the MC elections. Popularly known as “Palni swami”, he is making headlines back home at Salem in Tamil Nadu as a majority of the media in South India covered his victory in the MC elections. Extended family and friends celebrated his achievement with pomp and show at Salem. Palni said: “Though I lost the 2007 MC elections, I remained a people’s man in my ward. From social work to public demands and assisting people, my profile was never confined to the four walls of my house. This factor played a major role and I won”. Palni defeated his nearest rivals Maninder Pal Singh (Independent) and Gurmail Singh (BJP), the sitting councillor of the ward in the elections. His major poll plank was - “making his ward free from the clutches of drug mafia”, which is one of the major problems faced by the residents of this ward. Asked about the reasons behind his success as compared to two Punjabi candidates against him, Palni
said: “My ward is “Mini India”, which represents people from all the states, communities and castes residing together. We have mohallas named after communities - Madrasi Mohalla, Marathi Mohalla, Muslim Mohalla, Bengali Mohalla, Haryanavi Mohalla to name a few. Hence, garnering the support of the electorate was not a difficult task. People voted for change and development.” Further talking about the development agenda for his ward, Palni said he would soon start a cleanliness drive in every mohalla of the ward and wanted to start a government school, too. “Cleanliness in the ward is one of the major issues that was raised by the electorate during the elections and I have to fulfil that promise,” he said. Palni, a wholesale scrap dealer, has been associated with the Congress for the past 20 years. Born and brought up in Jalandhar, Palni proudly shared his love for the city. “Though I go back home to Salem, Jalandhar is my hometown now. I don’t feel like an outsider. Even my two children are happy staying and studying here. It is as if Jalandhar is my identity now,” he added. |
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multifaceted personality
Jalandhar, June 12 Besides, she is a Microsoft-trained system engineer having done her certificate courses in restaurant management, bookkeeping and accounts keeping. Driven by an urge to serve her home state Punjab, she bade goodbye to the US where she was settled for the past over 15 years. Shavi finally settled in Jalandhar where she is running Manhattan, a franchise of international chain of restaurants. Shavi and her family are already running different businesses in UK, China and Australia dealing mainly in high-end belts and denims. “I take life differently. I see it as an opportunity to acquire maximum skills and to learn more and more if allowed by circumstances. Since, running a hotel is in my blood, I thought to shift my hotel business from the US to Punjab to give something back to my home state,” said Shavi, whose in-laws hail from the nearby Jandiala village. Citing reasons for her migration from the US to Punjab, Shavi said: “The biggest factor is that India and Punjab have a lot of opportunities to offer to entrepreneurs now even as couple of problems still exist here in the system. Secondly, I feel that people here in Punjab are more receptive to new ideas and they are ready to spend on good food. On the other hand, there is a rat race going on in the US and I don’t want to be a part of that race. Here one can find the peace of mind.” |
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‘Implement one-rank, one-pension scheme’
Jalandhar, June 12 The delegation comprising of five retired Army officers under the banner of All India Defence Brotherhood met Defence Minister A K Antony along with Gurdaspur MP, Pratap Singh Bajwa and handed over a memorandum to him. President of the Defence Brotherhood (Punjab Chapter), Brigadier (retd) Kuldip Singh Kahlon said that they apprised the Defence Minister to immediately implement OROP. “We highlighted that the Rajya Sabha committee is in the view that the total financial liability would be Rs 1,300 crores per annum for OROP, which is a big amount to be spent on the defence personnel”, he said. Kahlon demanded that the new Army chief, Gen Bikram Singh should also take up the long pending issue of OROP vigorously. “We expect Gen Bikram Singh to write in this regard to the Defence Minister, A K Antony, Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh and the Supreme Commander of the defence forces to ensure that OROP is implemented,” he said. Brigadier Kahlon also raised the issue of 4th pay commission under, which ‘rank pay’ for captains to brigadiers in addition to the ‘Integrated (basic pay)’ was accepted by the centre government. “Despite various court verdicts, the decision to grant the rank pay has not been implemented. Even the anomalies of 6th pay commission should be addressed expeditiously”, he said. The delegation, which included Brig (retd) MPS Bajwa, Col (retd) Ajay Uppal, Col (retd) Dharam Singh and Col (retd) Amrik Singh also discussed the need to set up a national commission for military veterans’ affairs on the lines of the minority and NRI commission. “Widows should also be treated at par with other military pensioners for purpose of any enhancement of pension and other related benefits,” said the delegation. Further talking about the role of Punjab as sword arm of the country, the delegation demanded that the government should increase the quota for youth in defence services, particularly for the border districts of Punjab. “The training skills of the ex-servicemen should be utilised by raising National Disaster Relief and Environment Protection battalions. Ex-servicemen should be given equitable representation in all the central boards, corporations and PSUs,” said the delegation. |
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Helpdesk for journalism course
Jalandhar, June 12 Candidates, facing any difficulty regarding admissions can get information either from the university extension 3223 (PABX-0183-2258802-09) or through the phone numbers given on the official website www.djmcgndu.com or www.gnduadmissions.org of the department and the varsity respectively. Dr Kamlesh Singh Duggal, the Head of the Department said, “Online admissions to the course started from June 7. Students can also personally approach the department at the GNDU Regional Campus, Ladhewali in case of any problems.” Dr Duggal said from this academic session, the nomenclature MJMC had been substituted by MA (Hons) (Journalism and Mass Communication). “The Honours degree is not available in any other institute of the region. Even the BJMC degree in affiliated colleges of GNDU has been converted to BA (Journalism and Mass Communication),” he said. |
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Jalandhar, June 12
Now that the voters have imposed their faith in me, I feel encouraged and want to pay them back. I will get the road laying work done in all colonies where work for laying sewerage lines has been completed. Theses areas include Sarabha Nagar, Bachint Nagar and Gulmarg Colony. A huge sewage pond in Reru village is likely to go dry since the sewerage line work is near completion. I plan to develop a park at the site as soon as the pond dries. I also plan to take up the case to upgrade the government primary
school.
I will get a tubewell installed at New Santokhpura colony. I will also get roads re-constructed in the undeclared part of Guru Ram Dass Nagar using the MLA grant. I also plan to undertake an extensive plantation project in the ward and make it look greener. I also wish to re-start my campaign against the use of plastic in my ward. We had started distributing jute and paper bags to people coming in mandis and markets. It could not yield much response, but I plan to restart it. 
My topmost agenda will be to set up a health club in the ward. The areas, including Durga Vihar and Santokhpura, have complaints regarding water supply and sewage. I will look into those and get them rectified at the earliest. Complaints of chain snatching are rampant and there are not enough streetlight points in the ward. The problem of dumping of garbage in vacant plots is also rampant. Door-to-door garbage lifting is not being properly done. I will personally supervise garbage picking and cleanliness in the
ward. 
Having remained a councillor for 20 years, I have been consistently representing people’s problems and will continue to do so. Foundation stones for road laying works to the tune of Rs 1.5 crore in Kishanpura and Baldev Nagar localities of my ward have been laid by the MC, but the projects are yet to be started. The authorities have been discriminating against me and sanctioning a few works in my wards. But this time, I have resolved to be ‘more pushy’ for the welfare of residents who have voted for me. 