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Solid waste mgmt
Cong leaders gherao minister Bhagat’s car
Teachers protest rationsalisation
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3 agents nabbed for fraud
Basti Danishmandan
IG Crime’s info officer gets notice under RTI Act
Global business issues discussed at conference
VAT hike on petrol in state flayed
Youth who broke open ATM, held
Rise in PCS officers’ strength in city
City bus operators make part payment
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Project put off to Nov 15
Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, September 8 The MC, which was earlier mulling to take action against the company for not honouring the deadline and not turning up at meetings despite notices, has reverted its decision after receiving an e-mail from the company on August 29. The company officials, it is learnt, have demanded the fulfilling of certain pre-requisites from the MC side. These include getting clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests, selection of secondary points for the collection of garbage, creating of tipping fund, shifting of dairies falling in waste disposal site at Jamsher village, widening of approach road to dumping site, erecting streetlights along the road and the finalisation of policy from the local bodies department. Commissioner Vinay Bublani said most requirements, including environment clearance, secondary garbage collection points and finalisation of policy, had already been done. He said the tipping fund was about to be created. “The B&R wing was preparing a plan for the widening of the approach road. Funds to the tune of Rs 33.63 lakh have been earmarked for streetlights,” he said. The most difficult task for the MC, however, would be to shift the dairies, as the residents, supported by Congress MLA, had been opposing the move tooth and nail. Officials said after the representatives of the Jindal group failed to comply with the deadline, they had been contacted telephonically as well as on e-mail for attending a meeting on July 20, but no one turned up. Another meeting was fixed for July 25, but still no one appeared. The officials felt that the company was not interested in the project. Since the project is being regularly monitored by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the SE (O&M) had again fixed a meeting for August 6, but to no avail. It was at this stage as the officials had started contemplating on action when they received a mail from the company seeking fulfillment of pre-conditions. At this, the deadline of the project got extended.
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Cong leaders gherao minister Bhagat’s car
Jalandhar, September 8 Minutes after minister Bhagat Chunni Lal, his son Mahinder Bhagat and Mayor Rakesh Rathour had laid the stone, members of the Punjab Youth Congress tried to gherao them over the issue of lack of development in the Jalandhar West constituency. The youths, led by Rajesh Agnihotri, started raising slogans against the minister for not being able to provide sewage disposal system in Basti Peer Daad, Rajan Nagar and Pannu Vihar colonies, which had been recently even badly affected due to diarrhoea breakout. The youth activists were supported by newly elected Congress councillor Baldev Singh. In a bid to save themselves from being gheraoed, the minister, his son and the Mayor had to take shelter in a leather factory near the site. The attempt of the Congress leaders to corner the minister was somehow thwarted by the police deployed at the site. Till the time they remained inside the factory premises, the agitating leaders kept on waiting for the minister to come out. The minister sent a message across that five representatives from their side could go in and put up their demand. But the leaders disagreed and demanded that the minister must come out to listen to their demands. After no consensus could be reached, the minister finally asked his driver to bring in the car inside the factory premises, from where he could get directly seated and move out swiftly with the help of his pilot vehicle. It was this plan of the minister which further created an ugly scene. As the minister sat down for moving out, his pilot vehicle managed to move out easily, but his own Camry got trapped. The Congress activists lay in front of his car and the policemen had to forcibly pull them all away to clear the passage for the minister. The Mayor followed the minister in his car, but the minister’s son Mahinder Bhagat stopped for a while to vent out his ire against the policemen for not being able to handle the situation well. Later in the evening, the Congress leaders, led by Sanjay Sehgal and Rajesh Agnihotri, held a protest outside the Basti Bawa Khel police station, claiming that the party workers were being rounded up for holding a peaceful protest. Cornered
In a bid to save themselves from being gheraoed, the minister, his son and the Mayor had to take shelter in a leather factory near the site. The attempt of the Congress leaders to catch hold of the minister was somehow thwarted by the police deployed at the site Mayor’s last function turns ugly
Like his last meeting, the foundation stone-laying ceremony, which was the incumbent Mayor Rakesh Rathour’s last function, turned out to be ugly. The protest shattered the charm of inauguration function.
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Teachers protest rationsalisation
Jalandhar, September 8 The teachers also submitted a demand letter to SDM I Iqbal Singh on the occasion. Rallying for their demands, the prime demand made by the teachers was the establishment of the teacher student ratio of 1:30 rather than the 1:45 ratio recently decided as per the government policy. The teachers said the 1:45 ratio was a cruel joke with both teachers and students as proper education would not be ensured if classes wre held according to the latter ratio. The teachers said the rationalisation was causing a situation in which teachers were being declared surplus from schools where they were needed and being sent to places where they weren’t needed as much. This, they said, was also unfair to children. They also demanded that unfair postings of English masters on the post of social science teacher be balanced more wisely. They also demanded that the promise of increasing their wages as per the cabinet meeting be implemented as soon as possible. Condemning the rationalisation policy, the teachers asked for the implementation of their demands as soon as possible.
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Labourer hit by train, loses foot
Jalandhar, September 8 The victim met with the accident while he was being chased by certain unidentified looters. In a bid to save himself, he was hit by the train. Hailing from Jharkhand, he was living near railway godowns near the city railway station. The victim was identified as Mahavir. He is undergoing treatment at the trauma ward in Civil Hospital and was still in a serious state. The Government Railway Police (GRP) said the police had not been able to record the victim’s statement, as doctors had declared him unfit. Asked whether the police was aware of the fact that victim lost his foot while he was being chased by looters, a GRP official replied he was not aware of any such fact and the police would initiate legal proceedings only after recording the victim’s statement. About the incident, Mahavir, the victim labourer, alleged that he worked as a daily wage labourer. Last night, when he was returning to his room, three unidentified miscreants, in a bid to loot him, stopped him near Domoria ROB, but he managed to escape from the scene. “The moment I reached near the railway tracks, I was still being chased by miscreants. Apprehending risk of being looted, I started moving fast on the tracks. Unfortunately, I was hit by a train from the rear side and my foot got crushed,” Mahavir said. The victim was rushed to the hospital by 108 emergency ambulance. Sources said attempts were on to contact the victim’s family members in Jharkhand, but in vain. |
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3 agents nabbed for fraud
Jalandhar, September 8 The complainant, Usha Rani, a resident of the Jalowal area, had told the police that the persons had assured her to send her abroad after solemnising her marriage with some Bahadur Singh, a resident of the USA. Interestingly, the agents had also performed her engagement ceremony with the photograph of Bahadur, sources said. When the victim asked the agents to arrange her visa to the USA, the agents asked her to pay Rs 8 lakh if she wanted to go to the USA, police sources said. Despite paying the amount, the victim was not provided with the visa. She then complained to the police. |
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Addiction menace: 2 to 3 cases of young deaths in area per month
Aparna Banerji Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, September 8 At first look, the two prime problems that face almost every dispensary of the city are bad infrastructure and cramped space. But this one is free of both these problems. Situated on the edge of the Guru Ravidass mandir at Basti Danishmandan, the centre is housed in three rooms. An entire room is reserved for the ANMs (five) and their supplies, one for the medical officer and another for the pharmacist. A little passage is reserved to park cycles. The only infrastructural problems are a crack in the wall of the room for the ANMs and water coming into the centre during rains because the level of the threshold and the centre floor are the same. The centre is also one of the only dispensaries in the district to have a dedicated TB lab. The TB lab is run by two staff members. Established about 22 years ago, the centre caters to a population of about 50,000 people. While the centre gets an OPD of about 40 people per day, 10 per cent of the OPD comprises TB patients. Since its just one of the two TB labs in the district, it covers a huge area which comprises Basti Danishmandan, Basti Bawa Khel, Mithu Basti, Basti Nau and villages Gilla Gakhlan and Kadian. Rampant addiction
The prime problem of the area is addiction. Addiction is one of the key causes for a number of deaths of young people in the area every month. The centre staff discloses that at least two to three young men die in the area every month and as has been seen, addiction is the prime cause of these deaths. The staff says at last two to three young widows come to them to claim widow pension every month. While the centre also houses an ARSH clinic, staff say they do not get too many specific cases for the clinic although they make sure they spread sexual awareness and on matters regarding AIDS and/or addiction during awareness drives. TB common
The sputum tests of at least 40 new patients are conducted every month at the center’s laboratory. While 55 currently take treatment at the centre, the sputum of at least two to three new patients tests positive per month, which indicates that there is a very high incidence of TB in the area. BPL
With an OPD of 40 per day (1000 to 1200 per month), 70 to 80 per cent of the patients belong to BPL families. Conservative estimates state that about 20 per cent of them are addicts. None of the patients coming to them have been seen to carry smart cards by the staff. JSSY
While about 14 to 15 deliveries take place at the dispensary per month, the patients are given an amount of Rs 600 for an institutional delivery and Rs 500 for a delivery conducted at home. The doctor says the amount for the deliveries has presently been cleared. The temple boon
Dr Parminder Kaur, MO, says the temple authorities have been very kind in providing funds for repairs and maintenance. She also says the temple authorities played a pivotal role in the setting up of the TB lab for the centre. |
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IG Crime’s info officer gets notice under RTI Act
Jalandhar, September 8 In the notice issued to the information officer (the copy of the same is with The Tribune), the commission has asked the two parties to be present before RS Negi, State Information Commissioner, on September 25 with relevant papers and documents to answer queries. The commission issued a notice after the applicant Honey Wadhera, resident of Shahkot, filed a complaint against the denial of information under Section 18 of the RTI, Act. The applicant had filed an application in June before the IG, Crime, to seek information on the number of suicides committed by men, women and minors in Punjab for the past two years till May 30, 2012. The information was also sought district-wise. The SIC directed the PIO to appear in person or through a duly authorised officer (not below the rank of the APIO) who should be well conversant with the facts of this case. The commission also directed the PIO to file a written reply within a period of 15 days of this notice and in any case before the next date of hearing mentioned above. The PIO was also told to send a copy of reply to the appellant/complainant in advance before the date of hearing. The appellant, Honey, said about two weeks after his application, he received a letter from the Deputy Inspector General of Police (Crime)-cum-Assistant Public Information Officer, Punjab, Chandigarh, in which the officer said the sought information was not available in their office and to seek the information, the applicant should directly contact Police Commissioners and Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs) of the state at their own level.
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Global business issues discussed at conference
Jalandhar, September 8 The conference was attended by distinguished resource persons of the field from Germany and Netherlands, along with other renowned scholars from prestigious universities and institutions of India, including IITs and International Management Institute, New Delhi. The scholars deliberated on vital issues of global business such as business innovations and marketing, global e-commerce, finance and accounting, international business and human resource management. Dr Dayanand Arora, Prof for International Finance and Accounting, from Berlin was the chairperson of the conference. He specialises in Japanese financial institutions in Europe and their international competitiveness. Prof Arora spoke on “Trends in International Business Practices: Evidence from Recent Research”. He discussed international business theories and talked at length about the New Trade Theory. He said: “The driving force of the new paradigm is not lower trade costs, but lower coordination costs such as information and communication costs”. Elaborating on the idea, he stressed the importance of ethics and social responsibility in business practices. Dr Balwinder Singh, Associate Professor and Head, Department of Commerce and Management, GNDU, Amritsar, and also the think tank behind the conference, in his address, said: “Information technology has aided globalisation. We are not nationals of India, we are global citizens. The world is flat and it is important to be aware of the ethics and etiquettes needed to become a force to reckon with in this global market.” Emeritus Prof Maarten JR Regouin, an eminent scholar from Netherlands, was the keynote speaker for the conference. Prof Maarten, who retired from Hanze University, Netherlands, and has been actively associated with projects aiming at globalisation of education, in his address, presented European prospective of the economic situation of the world. He said: “We need new economic models as old models no longer offer solutions for our current economic crisis”. He said: “We are on a collision course with the Earth as the carrying capacity of the Earth is limited. The population of the world, which now stands at 6.5 billion, will become 9 billion by 2050. There is a need to balance life and work”. He further said: “Budding economists are going to redesign the future. They need skills and expertise, which can be called corporate wisdom in order to create a better world”. He proposed that a programme titled “Seeds for change” should be incorporated in higher education. The proceedings of the seminar were brought out in two publications, a book titled Transcending Barriers towards Business Transformation and an internationally referred journal Envision Vol. 6. They were released on the occasion by Kamna Raj Aggarwal, joint secretary, Apeejay Education Society, and Dr Sucharita, principal of the college. There was a cultural evening in honour of the amalgam of scholars who had gathered for the conference. The students of Apeejay College of Fine Arts, Jalandhar, presented a colourful programme in the evening in which they performed a musical Fusion’-a mix of traditional and modern musical instruments. Other items presented on the occasion were bhangra, giddha, kathak, ghazal and skit. The valedictory address was given by Dr Dayanand Arora and the conference report was read by Dr Monika Mogla, convener. The vote of thanks was proposed by Manisha Sharma, organising secretary of the conference.
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VAT hike on petrol in state flayed
Jalandhar, September 8 Anandpur Sahib MP Ravneet Singh Bittu said: “The Central Government is providing subsidy on petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and wheat, while the Badal government is minting money by selling petrol costlier than the neighbouring states by Rs 7 per litre and charging Rs 2 per kilo more on wheat through ration depots.” Bittu further said: “Instead of creating conducive atmosphere for investment in Punjab, the cash-strapped Badal government is burdening the common man and making life difficult for the people of the state.” Meanwhile, a former Congress MLA, Sukhpal Singh Khaira, said: “The BJP undoubtedly owes the nation an unconditional apology for obstructing and hijacking the Parliament for cheap and narrow political gains. By blocking the Parliament for the entire Monsoon Session, the BJP has caused a huge loss of over Rs 30 crore to the public exchequer, besides the Rs 2 crore remuneration as allowances to MPs”. “Having stuck to their illogical and politically motivated demand of seeking the resignation of the Prime Minister on coal blocks allocation was nothing but the negation of the democracy. By resorting to dysfunctional politics the BJP in fact blocked all likely action that could have been taken to unearth scandal, if any, on the CAG report on coal blocks,” he added.
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Youth who broke open ATM, held
Jalandhar, September 8 The accused was identified as Sandeep, a resident of Jamsher near here. Bhupinder Singh, Investigating Officer, said on September 3, two youths, who were reportedly in an inebriated state attempted to steal cash from an ATM and when after a few minutes of struggle, the miscreants were unable to break the machine. Before fleeing from the spot, the youths ran off with a CCTV camera installed in the ATM room, police officials said. The accused were later identified by the police through CCTV camera footage. Acting on a tip-off, one of the accused Sandeep was nabbed from the Jamsher area. The stolen camera was also recovered.
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Rise in PCS officers’ strength in city
Jalandhar, September 8 The four new PCS officers to join recently in the city are District Transport Officer Dalwinder Singh, Joint Commissioner Municipal Corporation Anupam Kler, Additional Chief Administrator PUDA Sarojini Gautam Sharda and GA to DC Jasvir Singh. While the first two posts had been held by departmental officials, the last two had been with retired re-employed PCS officials. The four posts, which were occupied earlier as well, were those of Additional Deputy Commissioner (G) Praneet Bhardwaj, SDM-1 Iqbal Singh Sandhu, secretary Regional Transport Authority Jaskiran Singh and Commissioner Municipal Corporation Jalandhar Vinay Bublani. Bublani, who remained in Hoshiarpur during the Assembly elections, was the first one to make it back to the city. There still are some key PCS posts lying vacant including those of Additional Deputy Commissioner (D), the charge for which is currently with ADC (G). The post of Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner has been filled from within the department ever since PCS officer Kanwalpreet Brar got transferred to Ludhiana. The PCS posts of Assistant Excise and Taxation Officers-1 and 2 have also been filled by officers from within department. The post of Estate
Officer PUDA, which was till the past time mostly held by officers from Punjab Civil Services cadre, too, has been assigned internally. The charge of Deputy Director Local Government, too, lies with Pritam Singh, who was re-deployed after superannuation on contract basis. He had earlier held the post of GA to DC, which has now gone as additional charge to SDM Phillaur Jasvir Singh. There are in all nearly 20 PCS officers in the city. The post of SDM-2 is with IAS officer Isha Kalia. Earlier considered as independent charges, the posts of Land Acquisition Officer for PWD and Land Acquisition Collector of the Jalandhar Improvement Trust now rests with SDM-1.
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Eight criminals land in police net
Amritsar, September 8 The police recovered a stolen car, two motorcycles, jewellery, a LCD TV, a camera and seized a large number of bottles of illicit liquor and intoxicants from the arrested. Harvinder Singh, Assistant Commissioner of Police (West), Amritsar, said three members of a gang, which committed a theft at a teacher’s house in Deenanagar, were nabbed by the Chheharta police. The accused were identified as Narinder Kumar of Panchwar village, Kishan Lal of Dhupai and Sunny Singh of Prem Nagar in Dhupai. The police recovered a stolen car, motorcycle, LCD TV, 500g gold and a camera. The gang members were also carrying 255 toxic capsules when they were nabbed. The trio has been booked under relevant sections of the IPC and NDPS Act. In another incident, ASI Varinder Kumar attached with the Chheharta police nabbed Jatinderpal of Bhaktanwala on Friday and recovered two stolen motorcycles from his possession. A case under relevant sections of the IPC has been registered against the accused. Chheharta SI Ranjit Singh also arrested Sajan of Rattan Singh Chowk area with 5g heroin and a stolen motorcycle. He was booked under relevant sections of the IPC and NDPS Act. The Chheharta police also laid down nakas at different places on Friday evening and arrested three persons who dealt in illicit liquor. Sukhdev Singh of Guru Nanak Colony, Chheharta, was arrested with 70 bottles of illicit liquor. Mewa Singh of Bhalla Colony, Sher Shah Suri marg, Chheharta was nabbed with 60 bottles of illicit liquor. Aman of Nawa Pind Jandiala was held with 40 bottles of illicit liquor. The three have been booked under relevant sections of the Excise Act.
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City bus operators make part payment
Jalandhar, September 8 The board, headed by Deputy Commissioner Priyank Bharti, had met on August 25 and had asked the operators to make the payment, failing which their bank guarantee to the tune of Rs 17 lakh would be encashed. Commissioner MC Vinay Bublani said the operators had made a part payment. “They have agreed to pay the remaining amount soon. There still is a shortfall of Rs 4 lakh amount, leaving aside the bank guarantee with us.” As per the agreement, the operators plying buses on four routes across the city have to pay up a fixed royalty per route per bus which they have failed to deposit for more than a year. The operators have been making an average collection of Rs 80,000 each day by plying their 15 buses.
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A zonal-level dharna was held by teachers of the SSA/RMSA/CSS Teachers Union at the DC’s office against the government’s rationalisation policy here today.
