Jalandhar, September 24
Despite directives by the Municipal Corporation regarding shifting of all dairies out of the city limits, several dairies continue to flourish in certain pockets much to the annoyance of residents of the surrounding colonies.

There are several dairies in Bashirpura, Amrik Singh Nagar, Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar and in colonies along Kala Sanghian drain in the city. While the corporation authorities claim to have issued notices, no strict action has been taken to shift them to the designated site at Jamsher village.

The worst affected are the residents of Surya Enclave and Guru Gobind Singh Colony as they have often complained regarding the owners of such dairies who bring in their cattle and allow them to graze in the vacant plots of these two colonies.

Lakhwinder Singh, a resident of B block of Surya Enclave, said animals entered in huge herds and were a big menace for them. “The JIT has recently planted over 750 grown palm and other shady trees, but the effort may go waste as the cattle will uproot them,” he said.

The MC had recently cut sewage connection of 17 dairies along the Kala Sanghian drain in order to force them to evict from the areas concerned.

MC Commissioner Vinay Bublani said: “The dairy owners had moved the court against our action. But now the stay had been vacated. Soon, there would be some action against them.”

Similarly, a joint demolition was carried by JIT and MC officials in Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar about four months ago, but it could only be partly done owing to protest.

Regarding dairies in other areas, Bublani said: “We have issued notices to all dairy owners in the city, but they are not moving. We may have to be a little harsh but we will take action in due course of time”.

Phagwara, September 24
The police has arrested a travel agent, Raj Mal, resident of Surja Masandha village, Goraya, who was declared a proclaimed offender (PO) by the judicial court in 2009 in a case of fraud registered here under Sections 406 and 420 of the IPC against him ,Madan Lal and Soni.

They were charged with duping Harjit Singh of Zandiali village of Rs 1 Lakh on the pretext of sending him to Canada, but neither they could send him to Canada, nor returned his money. The Superintendent of Police, H.P.S. Khakh ,said Raj Mal was nabbed by the police today while the other two accused were still at large.

In another incident, the police today nabbed three women thieves involved in a theft in the house of a trader, Harjinder Singh, in Model Town yesterday.

Khakh said the police succeeded in arresting these women thieves within 24 hours of the theft. A case under Sections 454 and 380 of the IPC was registered against them.The arrested accused were identified as Payal, Jyoti and Pinki - who were working as domestic helps in various houses and stole valuable goods from tHarjinder Singh's house yesterday. 

Jalandhar, September 24
Addiction is a menace which is eating into the roots of our society. It is rampant in the district and tuberculosis (TB) follows close on its heels.

Maximum TB cases are found in areas with rampant addiction, slums and/or a bustling migrant population.

The three, as can be observed, go hand in hand. TB situation is often equated with a ticking time bomb in the district.

While as many as 4,000 TB cases were registered under the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) in the district in 2011 (the total number of TB patients, including those reporting to private doctors, was projected at 6,000), this year 2,445 people have already tested positive for TB till August, not counting those reporting to private doctors.

If 30 per cent TB patients reporting to private doctors are counted, the numbers will go up.

In the third quarter (April 1 to June 1) alone, 1,073 patients were diagnosed with TB.

In August, 282 patients were tested positive for TB. While presently, 26 patients are receiving treatment for TB at the local Civil Hospital, a couple of months ago, 50 patients were receiving treatment for the same.

Two city dispensaries (Bhargo Camp and Basti Danishmandan), which house a designated microscopy centre (DMC), are being flooded with TB cases as well.

While six to eight new TB cases are reported at Bhargo Camp dispensary per month, 10 per cent of the regular OPD comprises TB patients at Basti Danishmandan dispensary. Currently, 55 patients are receiving DOTs treatment at the dispensary.

Among other areas, high incidence of TB patients has also been reported at Gandhi Camp, Basti Bawa Khel, Garha, Kazi Mandi, Industrial Area and Buta Mandi areas.

The number of TB patients registered with these dispensaries varies from 13 to 30. In almost all of them, 2 to 3 new TB patients are being reported every month. Presently, barring the government workforce, volunteers of the Axshay Project, Nikshay Project and the Voluntary Health Association of India, Red Cross and NGO Pahal are also associated with the district’s RNTCP programme.

Lack of awareness and departmental laxities

A volunteer of the Axshay Project reveals: “Social stigma regarding the disease has made things more difficult in the district. While at some places, departmental shortcomings hamper the TB project, at other patients themselves are non-responsive. People refuse to visit a doctor and languish with the TB trouble. The list of defaulters is also long. The course is 6-month long, but most people quit earlier. In some instances, health staff provides half the information to patients. Due to all these factors, delayed diagnosis is very common.”

MDR scare

The rise of multi-drug resistant (MDR) cases being reported is one of the most serious threats in the TB situation. This kind of TB, the incidence of which has risen in the recent years, is resistant to standard drugs and needs specialised treatment.

Presently, 17 MDR cases have been reported at the local Civil Hospital. These are the cases which could not be cured by the usual course of TB treatment.

These cases are referred either to Delhi or Amritsar by the local Civil Hospital authorities.

The treatment of MDR patients is carried out entirely by the government and the cost of the treatment of one MDR patient ranges from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh.

Culture procedure (to determine the type of TB) is carried out on such patients and if diagnosed drug resistant after culture, they receive MDR (or category 4 - DOTS plus) drugs under the DOT programme.

There is no facility to carry out culture procedure in the district.

Diagnosis dilemma

Sputum test and conducting an X-ray are the only existing methods through which diagnosis can be conducted at the local Civil Hospital. In cases where sputum tests negative but TB symptoms persist, X-rays are conducted to determine whether the patient has TB or not. But sources say X-rays are a primitive method and are not effective in determining TB.

CT scan is termed a more effective method, but CT scan facility at the Civil Hospital has still not begun functioning. Since CT scans are expensive and patients mostly poor, getting scans conducted from private sources is costly. It is anyone’s guess that TB suspects whose sputum tests negative and X-rays also don’t confirm TB are only stuck with the costlier options.

y While as many as 4,000 TB cases were registered under the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) in the district in 2011 (the total number of TB patients, including those reporting to private doctors, was projected at 6,000), this year 2,445 people have already tested positive for TB till August, not counting those reporting to private doctors.

Jalandhar, September 24
The Jalandhar Improvement Trust (JIT) has started the construction of a bypass for those coming from Amritsar or Pathankot side and going towards the railway station or old city areas.

The bypass will also be of much use to the residents putting up around Lamma Pind Chowk, Ladhewali or Chogitti side and wanting to directly reach the station via Domoria railway over bridge while avoiding the increasing rush at PAP Chowk, BSF Chowk and the busy Ladowali road. The passage will reduce the commuting time of the residents to almost half.

The 120-feet-wide road starts at the entry gate to Maharaja Ranjit Singh Enclave. The road is coming up as a development plan of the Jalandhar Improvement Trust’s 99.97-acre Surya Enclave Extension Scheme. Owners of about seven shops falling on the road were recently evicted and given compensation.

The road will end at Qazi Mandi, which, too, would be soon evicted as part of the scheme so that commuters are able to take Domoria ROB. Another good proposal is that all encroachments on the other side of the railway station would be removed to facilitate double-side entry, which again would benefit the residents coming from the Amritsar and Pathankot side.

Mukul Soni, SE, JIT, said the first phase of the construction work had been approved at a cost of Rs 6 crore. “One lane of the road will be complete except for 200-300 feet stretch where the owners have gone to the court. Only 50 per cent of the other side of the road will be done in the first phase,” the SE added.

Jalandhar, September 24
Four motorcycle-borne youths injured a daily wage labourer last night while he was returning home from work. The armed assailants also snatched his motorcycle.

The victim, identified as Kuldeep Singh, resident of Kohar Kalan village, is undergoing treatment at Shahkot Civil Hospital.

The victim said last night, he was going to his home on a motorcycle and the moment he reached near Slaicha village, four motorcycle-borne armed assailants parallelled their bike with his bike and suddenly stopped him on the way. When he protested their move, the youths, whose faces were covered, attacked him with sharp-edged weapons.

“In the melee, I sustained deep wounds on my head and fell down. The miscreants then fled from the scene with my bike. I then managed to call my friends who took me to the hospital,” he further said.

He said neither he was able to identify the assailants nor he noted down registration number of their bikes.

The Shahkot police recorded the statement of the victim and launched a manhunt to nab the accused. — OC

Jalandhar, September 24
Perhaps following several complaints regarding alleged illegalities in the ongoing multi-storeyed housing project, Shourya Greens, by Nitishree Infrastructure at the Surya Enclave locality here, Director, Local Bodies, Ashok Gupta today took a round of the complex with officials of the Jalandhar Improvement Trust (JIT).

There have been several issues regarding violation of construction norms, which have been brought to the fore by RTI activist Ajay Sehgal during his several correspondences with the Jalandhar Improvement Trust and other related departments.

The project being run on the public-private partnership, which was started way back in 2005 on a 16.52 acre land from a scheme area of the JIT, was to be completed in 2007. The company was, however, allowed to extend its deadline to June 20, 2009, which, too, passed more than three years back.

Further without due sanctions from the Chief Town Planner, Jalandhar Improvement Trust and the Airport Authorities, the company has gone ahead with the construction of 10-storeyed flats. The construction of some of the towers up to the 10th storey had been done last year, while the approvals sought by the builders are yet to be "sanctioned".

As another anomaly, only the construction of 872 flats along the Jalandhar-Amritsar bypass road had been approved. The land had been allotted for an amount of Rs 27,98,48,000, which was to be paid in five half yearly installments. However, again without prior sanctions of the Chief Town Planner (CTP) and the Jalandhar Improvement Trust, the builders had even constructed a market at the frontal part of the site, which stands ready since August last year. Superintending Engineer, JIT, Mukul Soni confirmed that the approval from the Local Bodies Department had come in principal, but sanction from the CTP was still due.

"For the same reason, we have not yet given approval from our side for the construction of any commercial building at the site," he clearly spelt out.

The builders on their own, without the requisite approval, already started raising the number of flats to 972 in 35 towers, with an addition of a set of 100 three-bedroom flats. Their revised plans are yet to get various sanctions. The JIT officials have even written to the builders to stop unauthorised construction or face demolition, but to no avail. Soni said 6 per cent of the cost of land was also due as late construction charges as the project had entered third year beyond the deadline.

Yashpal Joshi, liaison officer, Nitishree, said an application for composition of plan had been sent to the departments concerned since October 9, 2009, but the sanction process seemed to be going too slow. "We have already paid an amount of Rs 1.21 crore on account of penalties for late construction," he added.

• Director, Local Bodies, Ashok Gupta made a round of five sites in Jalandhar, regarding which an inquiry had been started by a Vidhan Sabha committee, led by Virsa Singh Valtoha, two years back. These include a road in Guru Gobind Singh Avenue, departmental store on the old GT Road, sanitation store on Nakodar Road and Rangla Vehra at Jyoti Chowk. He was accompanied by MC Commissioner Vinay Bublani, MTP Tejpreet, MC SE Kulwinder Singh, JIT EO Jatinder Singh and SE Mukul Soni.

Jalandhar, September 24
While the ruling BJP and its alliance partner Akali Dal will finally declare the names of Mayor, Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor in tomorrow’s meeting of the MC House, the opposition Congress will also announce the name of the Leader of the Opposition thereafter.

The outgoing Leader of Opposition Jagdish Raj Raja is keen to get the prestigious post again, but the Congress is likely to entrust this responsibility to a firebrand councillor this time so that the issues of the general public be raised effectively.

Besides Jagdish Raj Raja, Congress councillors Balraj Thakur, Bal Kishan Bali, Shravan Grover and Sushil Rinku are leaving no stone unturned for lobbying senior party leaders for the post of Leader of Opposition.

Balraj Thakur (3,861 votes) has emerged victorious from Ward 57 by defeating his nearest rival Gurpreet Singh (2,214 votes) of the SAD with a margin of 1,647 votes.

He has been contesting MC elections since 1997 as earlier his area did not fall under the corporation and he remained a member panchayat of Kingra village in 1993. While he lost his first MC elections in 1997, but he won the polls third time in a row after that in 2002, 2007 and 2012.

A science graduate (BSc medical), Balraj Thakur (48), said he had already informed senior Congress leaders about his desire to become the Leader of Opposition as he was not only working for his ward, but also had already pursued several issues relevant to the entire city.

Similarly, Bal Kishan Bali defeated his nearest rival Kishan Lal of theBJP in Ward 7 in the recent MC elections. Though Bali’s margin of victory was thin (just 40 votes) this time, yet it went to his credit to defeat Kishan Lal, a former president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM).

Either Bal Kishan Bali or his wife Ramesh Rani Bali has been emerging victorious in all the five MC elections held since 1991. While Bali won in 1991, 1997, 2002 and 2012 MC elections, his wife Ramesh Rani registered her victory in 2007 when the ward was reserved for women.

Blaming outgoing Leader of Opposition Jagdish Raja for doing nothing to raise the issues of general public in the city, Bali said his nature for fighting for the rights of the public went to his credit and the senior Congress leadership already knew his nature of struggling. Though he is under-matric, Bali (57) claimed he deserved the post of Leader of Opposition considering his seniority and if given chance, he would leave no stone unturned for reviving the Congress in the city.

Shravan Grover (4,582 votes) defeated his nearest rival Dr Ajit Bhardwaj (1,899 votes) of the BJP with a margin of 2,683 votes, the highest among all the 22 wining Congress councillors. Like Bali, either Grover or his wife Kamlesh has been emerging victorious in all the five MC elections held since 1991. While Bali won in 1991, 1997, 2002 and 2012 MC elections, his wife Kamlesh registered her victory in 2007 when the ward was reserved for women.

Fiftynine-year-old Grover (BA) has already conveyed his willingness to become the Leader of Opposition to senior Congress leaders.

In the same way, Congress councillor Sushil Rinku’s family has been serving the Congress for decades. Son of two-time councillor late Ram Lal, Sushil Rinku emerged victorious from Ward 46 this time. His wife Suneeta Rinku was a councillor from this ward last time.

Similarly the outgoing Leader of Opposition Jagdish Raj Raja emerged victorious from Ward 37 by defeating his nearest rival Rajinder Singh Bhatia of the SAD with a margin of 683 votes.

Jagdish (MA part I) or his spouse Anita Raj has been contesting MC elections since 1991 when the voting for the first Municipal Corporation of Jalandhar was held. Either Jagdish or Anita has won MC elections for the fifth time in a row.

However the recent 2012 MC elections are exception for them as the Congress decided to field both of them and they did not let it down. While Anita was allotted Congress ticket from their home ward 36 as this ward was reserved for women, Jagdish was asked to contest from adjacent ward, number 37.

Jalandhar, September 24
A Punjab Technical University-sponsored two-day conference on “Analytical Skill Developments in Pharmaceutical Research” was organised at CT Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Charanjit Singh Channi, Chairman, CT Group of Institutions, inaugurated the conference by lighting the ceremonial lamp. Dr SK Sharma, former advisor, Department of AYUSH, chaired the inaugural ceremony of the conference.

In his keynote address, Dr Sharma focused on the need of quality assurance and standardisation in pharmaceutical industry, especially the medicine from natural origin.

He further emphasised that if the venom of snake was properly processed and standardised then it could also be used as drug in many diseases.

In a scientific session, Dr Abhay Asthana from MM University, Ambala, 
delivered an interactive talk on pharmacokinetics of drug products and techniques for the analysis of drug samples in biological fluids.

The last session of the conference was a presentation on spectral analytical techniques by Prof Kishore S. Jain, Dean (Pharmacy), University of Pune.

More than 350 delegates attended the conference and about 100 research papers were presented during different scientific sessions of conference.

Freshers’ meet held

The DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology, Jalandhar, organised a freshers’ meet for MBA, MCA and M.Tech students.

Om Gauri Dutt Sharma, deputy director general, Doordarshan Kendra, Jalandhar, was the chief guest on the occasion.

Arun Setia, associate vice-president, Sukhjeet Starch and Chemical Ltd., and Sachin Garg, general manager, Markfed, were the guests of honour. CL Kochher, Regional Director, DAV Engineering Colleges attended the event.

Dr Sonia Chawla, HOD, MBA, welcomed the dignitaries present on the occasion. She welcomed new entrants and focused on opportunities that would be provided to them to groom their personality during their study period.

She motivated them to learn time-management skills, decision-making skills and analytical skills.

Dr AL Sangal, principal of DAVIET, extended a rapturous welcome to the chief guest. In his speech, he threw light on the role of senior students for new entrants.

First-year students participated in ramp walk and appropriate titles were given to the selected students.

Arun Setia, Sachin Garg and Saloni Sangal gave their judgement regarding different titles to the students. Dr Anil Soni, HOD, MCA presented the vote of thanks. The meet concluded with dinner.

Shagun Sharma of M.Tech was chosen Mr Aaghaaz and Gagandeep Kaur of MBA was chosen Ms Aaghaaz.

Vikrant, Manisha, Prabhdeep, Mehak, Gurpal and Pushpinder won the titles of first runners-up boys, first runners-up girls, second runners-up boys, second runners-up girls, Mr Personna and Ms Elegance, respectively.

Management confluence

The CT Institute of Management and IT in association with IIM-Ahmedabad, organised a summit “Management Confluence 2012”. More than 200 students from different colleges participated in the summit.

The events of the workshop included idea generation, team formation, business plan, investment, finance, marketing and technology. There was a zonal competition on the second day of this workshop. The participants presented their business plan.

The top 10 teams from the zonal final across India would get direct entry for the second round of the master plan 2012. All participants were given a start up kit having study material, training, videos, and e-books worth Rs 1,500 during the workshop. This zonal workshop was kept open for the students of all streams.

On this occasion, Isank Joshi, cofounder, Nurture Talent Academy, Sheetal Kaharka, alumni of IIM, founder and managing director, Innocent Heroes Foundation, were the dignitaries who witnessed the talent of the students.

They also discussed marketing strategies, problems of entrepreneurs and the ways to succeed for a new entrant in the sphere of business.

PTU convocation

The 10th convocation of Punjab Technical University is scheduled to be held on October 15 at the CT Institute of Engineering and Technology, an affiliated institute of the university.

Governor of Punjab Shivraj V. Patil will be the chief guest of the convocation.

Dr Buta Singh Sidhu, Dean, Academics, PTU, has been appointed as chief coordinator of the convocation and Dr Balkar Singh, controller, Examination, PTU, has been appointed as coordinator of the convocation. This information is released from the office of the Public Relations, PTU.

BCA, MBA toppers

Three students of St. Soldier Management and Technical Institute got top university positions in BCA and MBA results declared by PTU, Jalandhar.

Principal Dr Sanjay Bahl has congratulated Gagandeep Kaur, Babita and Richa. Chairman Anil Chopra and vice-chairperson Sangeeta Chopra congratulated the students for their success.

Amritsar, September 24
After a brief lull, robbers again struck in the city with a sensational daylight robbery here today in which three unidentified miscreants shot at a money exchanger firm employee and took away a bag containing about Rs 40 lakh from him.

The incident, which has yet again raised a question mark on the functioning of the police, occurred at Gali Karmo Wali, located in the congested lanes of the walled city at about 12.30 pm. The area is situated near Katra Jaimal Singh and the telephone exchange area, which is famous for its cloth market.

The injured employee, identified as Rajan Sharma, was immediately rushed to a private hospital, where his condition was stated to be out of danger. He sustained bullet injuries on his shoulder and leg. Rajan, along with Prem Khanna, was going to deposit the amount in a bank. As they reached a few metres from their firm, three youths attacked them and indulged in a brawl with them. They tried to snatch the bag containing the money from Rajan and Prem, but faced opposition from the latter. The three accused took out a countrymade pistol of .32 bore and shot two fired at Rajan, which hit his shoulder and leg and fled from the scene through labyrinthine lanes of the area with the bag.

Eyewitness said one of the accused was a Sikh, while two others were having shorn hair. They came on foot and after committing the crime ran away through a temple located in the street.

Vikas Khanna, owner of the firm, said they were yet to estimate the exact amount contained in the bag. He said as the market was closed today, Rajan and Prem were going to deposit the money in the bank when the accused committed the crime.

It seemed the three accused were aware of the fact that the firm employee used to deposit the cash and that the market remained closed on Monday. They knew the topography of the area, as they fled through the temple which connects the street with the telephone exchange area.

Kapurthala, September 24
The District Agriculture Department will hold a Kisan Mela at the New Grain Market on the Hoshiarpur road in the Phagwara subdivision on Wednesday.

An official spokesperson said farmers would be informed regarding new policies and schemes for their betterment during the mela, which will start at 10 am.

Jalandhar, September 24
Even as a week's time given for inquiry into the electrocution of photojournalist Akhilesh ended today, no report on the matter was submitted to the MC Commissioner.

Commissioner Vinay Bublani said it was probably due to the fact that it was a government holiday today that he did not get the report. He said he would tell Anupam Kler, Joint Commissioner, MC, to complete the report in a day or two and submit him the copy.

Young Akhilesh had died on the intervening night of Sept 16 and 17 when he came into contact with loose, uncovered streetlight wires.