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Milk adulteration Rampant in district
Teams sent to Delhi, Dehradun to nab accused
Committees gear up for a booming Dasehra
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Renovation of Nehru Garden yet to begin
Harsh winter for jobless Punjabi 'students' in UK
Pritam Grewal (centre), Mayor of Hounslow, UK, addresses a press conference along with the members of the NRI Sabha in Jalandhar on Tuesday. Tribune Photo: Malkiat Singh
Security beefed up in city
8th Light Cavalry celebrates Raising Day
5 bookies nabbed for betting on cricket match
The five accused in police custody in Jalandhar on Tuesday. Tribune Photo: Malkiat
Singh
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Milk adulteration Rampant in district
Jalandhar, October 23 Half of the milk coming from dairies in Jamsher, Bulandpur, Sekhe village and Nala village is said to be adulterated. Water, skimmed milk powder, ararot powder (starch), refined oil, urea, etc., are commonly mixed with the milk. On an average, 300 dairies of the Jamsher Dairy Complex have a yield of 12,000 quintal milk per day, half of which, sources say, is adulterated. Cattle are also commonly injected with the banned ‘oxytocin’ injections to boost the yield of the milk. The milk from about 250 to 300 cooperative societies in the district is said to be relatively safer because the inherent checks in these are
stringent. Of the 101 samples taken in the district in the past three years (2010 to 2012), 37 have failed. Of the total 20 milk samples taken from both urban and rural milk
vendors by the Health Department in 2012 (January to September), five have failed. Of the five milk samples taken from milk vendors in August alone, two have failed. In 2011, the Health Department took a total of 62 milk samples, out of which 22 failed. In 2010 (between March 15, 2010, and August 18, 2010), 19 samples were taken by the health and dairy development board food inspectors, out of which 10 failed. As many as nine of these milk vendors (seven from Jamsher Dairy Complex and the rest from the
city) were taken to court by the Dairy Development Board after their samples failed. The sources say the law was later tweaked to facilitate the dairy owners. “A complaint was registered against the erring milk vendors by food inspectors of the Health and Dairy Departments in the Sessions Court in 2010, but ironically, some
dairy owners got their samples rechecked later and they were mysteriously declared passed. Currently, a case is on against only one of the said milk vendors, while the rest were let off,” said an
official. While the Health Department has been operating as per the Food Safety Standard Act (FSSA), 2006, (implemented in Punjab in August 2011), before the implementation of the FSSA, the Dairy Department was working in tandem with the
Health Department under the Food Adulteration Act, 1954. Confirming this, Deputy Director, Dairies, Surinder Pal Singh, said:
“After the implementation of the FSSA, our department is no more authorised to check dairy samples. It is now directly under the purview of the Health Department.” Sources say since the implementation of the FSSA, the law is being soft on offenders and most samples which are even unfit for human consumption are let off by
being labeled merely substandard. Blaming the Health Department-dairy owners’ nexus for rampant milk adulteration in the district, the sources say under the FSSA, the DC or the SDM delegates a food inspector to look into the matter and offenders are simply challaned even when they should be taken to court. Fact file
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Kidnapping case Our Correspondent
Jalandhar, October 23 Balbir Singh, Inspector, Police Division No. 1, said the police teams had been searching for the accused at their suspected hideouts in Delhi and Dehradun, but no vital clue of their location had been received. “We also tried to trace the location of their mobile phones, but the same were found switched off,” the inspector added. The city police had nabbed two former Ranji Trophy players among four on the charge of kidnapping a city-based insurance employee, Ajay Suman. The police had also rescued the victim from the clutches of the kidnappers, who was detained at a house in Bhago Majra village near Mohali. According to the police, Raj and Rocky were former Ranji Trophy players. About the reason of committing the crime, the accused during the questioning had told the police that they had paid about Rs 5 lakh to Ajay (the victim) to get their entry into the Indian Premier Corporate League (IPCL) and when he could not fulfil his promise, they kidnapped him from his house.
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Committees gear up for a booming Dasehra
Jalandhar, October 23 Talking to The Tribune, Saket Singh Goraya, general secretary of the Dasehra Committee at Burlton Park, said: “Ours is one of the biggest Dasehra gatherings in the city. This year, we will have Ravana with a revolving face. The effigies of Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Meghnath will be 65 feet, 60 feet and 55 feet tall, respectively.” A number of politicians have been invited at the venue. Another special feature of the celebrations would be a fireworks show. While most venues hire a single firecrackers expert to host the show, the Burlton Park show is a contest between two competing fireworks specialists resulting in a special display of fireworks. Rakesh Kumar from the Shri Ram Utsav Committee said: “We will hold a Sundar Kand path in the morning, after which a 'shobha yatra' will begin from the Shivaji Park and head to the PUDA market.” Kumar said: “The speciality of this year is our Ravana, which will emit sparks from the eyes and fire from the mouth.” The Mahanagar Dasehra Committee has also kept some special plans up its sleeve this year. Incidentally, this Dasehra was part of the list of the top 100 Dasehras declared by ZEE TV last year. “We were declared 24th by the channel and earned the special privilege to be among the choicest Dasehras in the city,” said Sushil Talwar, chairman of the Mahanagar Dasehra Committee. A valet parking, special refreshments, huge crowds and special paid security guards to keep the
rabble-rousers quiet. “We have been holding Dasehra for the past six years and we get a crowd of at least 50,000 people. We will seat at least 1,000 people in the VIP block alone. As many as 8,000 chairs have been laid. Dasehra grounds sometime get a bad name for unruly crowd. So, we have hired special security personnel to keep chaotic elements at bay,” said the chairman. The 60-feet effigies of Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Meghnath will emit sparks from their eyes in Dasehra, which will be held at Government Training College grounds. |
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Renovation of Nehru Garden yet to begin
Jalandhar, October 23 Various civil works include a musical fountain, three designer gates, fixing tiles on curving paths, creating canopies and huts on hillocks with benches and designing mounds and fixing stones of special quality. Mayor Sunil Jyoti said the issues had been settled after a meeting with the contractor today. “The Hoshiarpur-based contractor wanted some changes in the conditions of payment finalised by the Finance and Contract Committee to which we have disagreed. We have assured him of timely payment and he agrees to get the work started after we hand over the work order to him in a day or two,” he pointed out. Chandan Nagar RUB to cost
Rs 47 crore
Less than a month after having taken the charge, the new Mayor is actively pursuing the much-demanded project of starting the Chandan Nagar railway under-bridge (RUB). Owing to delay in getting it started, there has been cost escalation of nearly Rs 4 crore, due to which the estimated cost, including land acquisition, is likely to come to Rs 47 crore. The bridge has been in much demand by the residents around the Sodal area and Deen Dyal Upadhaya Nagar. Departmental coordination team constituted
To solve various inter-departmental matters, the Municipal Corporation Jalandhar has constituted a departmental coordination team to be chaired by Joint Commissioner Anupam Kler. The other team members include Assistant Commissioners Ved Vyas and Gurbinder Randhawa, SEs Kulwinder Singh and Narinder Singh and secretary SK Gupta. The members would meet every month-end to resolve various inter-departmental problems. |
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Harsh winter for jobless Punjabi 'students' in UK
Jalandhar, October 23 "They have no jobs. Earlier our youngsters vied with natives and it were the natives who took them as a threat. Now, tension is escalating among Punjabis who have settled there for long and the younger lot who have either gone on student visas or the ones who have managed to sneak in the UK using illegal means. Those settled there for long have started taking young illegal immigrants as a threat to their jobs and works," said London Borough of Hounslow Mayor Pritam Singh Grewal. Grewal, who was accompanied by the former NRI Sabha president Kamaljit Hayre, said the situation was that of a double whammy for NRIs and their problems have increased due to the ongoing global recession in their respective countries and owing to the 'dismal law and order situation' back in Punjab. "While on the one hand, NRIs are facing recession, on the other hand, they have got depressed by the absence of law and order situation in Punjab. We cannot think of making any investments here due to the lack of security and safety. If this situation continues, our children won't come to Punjab. They don't feel secure. Lands of NRIs are being usurped in Punjab and hardly anything is being done to redress their grievances," said Grewal. He said the NRI Sabha, Punjab, was doing a bit in solving the problems of NRIs. "I won't say they are not working, but they need to do more efforts to make NRIs feel safe and secure," said Grewal. Talking about the plight of Punjabi students and illegal immigrants in the UK, Grewal said those who landed in the UK with an objective to study only had no problems, but the ones who 'misused' their student visas to stage disappearance were in the soup. "Over 90 per cent of small colleges have been shut down. Their students have nothing to do. They are forced to sleep under bridges and brave harsh weather. They have no work to do now," added Grewal.
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Security beefed up in city
Jalandhar, October 23 The CRPF companies were deployed a week ago to maintain law and order during the ongoing festive season and to tackle any sort of untoward incident. Police sources said about 200 personnel of the CRPF companies, along with hundreds of city police personnel, would remain deployed in the city till Dasehra. To a query whether there was any militant threat in the ongoing festival season, a police official and said the security was beefed up to maintain law and order situation. The police would seal the entry and exit points of the city and thorough checking of vehicles would be done on Dasehra. The sources said police personnel in civvies would also be deployed at various Dasehra grounds in the city to keep a tab on anti-social elements. PCR teams had already started day and night patrolling in the city to ensure peaceful celebrations during the festival, he added. |
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8th Light Cavalry celebrates Raising Day
Jalandhar, October 23 The Regiment has a glorious past both in the Pre and Post-Independence periods and maintains a rich heritage and tradition befitting the third oldest Armoured Regiment of the Indian Army. The Regiment was raised on October 23, 1787, as the 5th Regiment Madras Native Calvary as part of the Madras Presidency. The Regiment was presented with the ‘GUIDON’ by President of India Dr Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed in 1976. On the occasion, a special sainik sammelan was organised wherein the Colonel of the Regiment addressed and also interacted with all personnel of the Regiment and appreciated their efforts. The veteran officers, JCOs and other ranks of yesteryears had an enjoyable time recalling their older days and reliving old memories. Their presence was indeed a great source of inspiration for the younger generation for their further endeavours. — OC
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5 bookies nabbed for betting on cricket match
Jalandhar, October 23 Assistant Commissioner of Police (Central) Naresh Dogara, who was today promoted to the rank of Addition Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP), said the police got secret information that the bookies were indulged in betting on a cricket match in the Rama Mandi locality. Acting on the information, a police party raided the house and arrested all accused. A case has been registered against the accused. |
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Milk adulteration scenario in the district is mired in cover-ups, inaction by the administration and greed.
Even as almost 50 per cent of the milk coming from commercial dairies, most of which are situated at the Jamsher Dairy Complex, in Jalandhar is said to be adulterated, the number of samples failing in the district is mysteriously low, because inside sources say the guilty are often let off the hook.
Thousands of jobless Punjabi students and other illegal immigrants are forced to spend harsh winter nights under bridges due to global recession- triggered large-scale unemployment in the UK.
"They have no jobs. Earlier our youngsters vied with natives and it were the natives who took them as a threat.
Jalandhar, October 23
