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Residents protest against admn
Harivallabh: CM to visit on day one
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Car’s windowpane broken, valuables stolen
Last date Dec 20
MC house meet
City unit CSD staff restart stir
DAV College Professor pens book on terrorism, human rights and police
US-based cardiologist performs five surgeries in city hospital
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Residents protest against admn
Kapurthala, December 17 Kapurthala Deputy Commissioner Alak Nanda Dyal, meanwhile, said that so far notices were being sent to all allottees and holders of such lands and they were being asked to answer certain queries. “Only those land holders would be evicted who were occupying “Nazul” lands in violation of the spirit of the Nazul Land (Transfer) rules . Notices are being sent to occupants in accordance with the Punjab Government policy on ‘Nazul’ lands,” said the DC. “Nazul” lands are those pieces of land which are situated beyond 2 miles of the municipal limits and which are escheated to the state government and have not already been appropriated by the state government for any purpose. Kapurthala district, it is learnt, has over 2433 acres of “Nazul” land and most of it is said to have come from the erstwhile Kapurthala Royal family. Like elsewhere, people have occupied large portions of “Nazul lands” in Kapurthala also either by way of allotment or otherwise and they have been using these lands for decades for residential or agricultural purposes. More than a dozen posh residential colonies have also come up on “Nazul” lands in and around Kapurthala. “Hundreds of residents would get homeless if they are evicted. People have acquired lands by investing earnings and savings of their entire lives. Most of the families have not even taken their meals fearing eviction by the government after they were served notices,” said Krishan Kumar, a resident of one of the residential colonies situated on a "Nazul" land. Irked over the issuance of notices to occupants, residents of "Nazul" colonies have formed the Nazul Land Sangharsh Committee to oppose the government move. Ram Murti, president of the committee, said occupants were being harassed even as, they were armed with registered deeds of their lands and had taken bank loans for construction of houses. “All houses are duly fitted with power connections and most of the colonies have been accorded facilities like water supply and sewerage system,” said Ram Murti, adding that the residents would give a memorandum to the DC regarding their problems. “I don’t know what is the motive behind the administration move? People have duly acquired their lands as per the letter and spirit of the ‘Nazul’ land transfer norms. If allotment was wrong, why did not the government authorities object to the registration of the land deeds during the past over 25 years?” questioned Krishan Kumar. Amrik Singh, a resident, said plans of all colonies standing on the "Nazul" lands were duly passed by the authorities and occupants have got building plans passed from the MC. “We have spent lakhs of rupees on our homes and hearths. How can we leave these like this without any reason?” he questioned. 'Nazul' lands
“Nazul” lands are those pieces of land which are situated beyond 2 miles of the municipal limits and which are escheated to the state government and have not already been appropriated by the state government for any purpose. Kapurthala district, it is learnt, has over 2,433 acres of “Nazul” land and most of it is said to have come from the erstwhile Kapurthala royal
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Harivallabh: CM to visit on day one
Jalandhar, December 17 Announcing this at a press conference here today, members of the Shri Baba Harivallabh Sangeet Mahasabha said the Chief Minister would be visiting the sammelan on its first day on December 28. Like every year, the rhetoric of the committee members quickly veered to fund concerns of the
sammelan. Treasurer Rakesh Dada said the sammelan costs had escalated to Rs 28 to 30 lakh this year. Committee members stressed that they needed funds for the proper functioning of the festival and to call various artistes. They exhorted the government and music lovers to donate as much as they could for the festival. Talking about previous funds, they said of the Rs 25 lakh that the committee was promised in 2010, only Rs 12.5 lakh had been received so far, while the rest of the amount was still awaited. Responding to queries, general secretary Purnima Beri said to allocate the rest of the budget, the government was asking for a map of the incomplete Harivallabh
Bhawan, even though the budget was promised for the sammelan. Notably, the Harivallabh Bhawan project, which was started in 2007, has also been awaiting completion since then. Despite ambitious plans, the committee members themselves admitted that the Harivallabh Bhawan was presently lying in ruinous state because it could not be complete because of lack of funds. The committee received Rs 1 crore from the Chief Minister in 2007, but since then generous state funds have been eluding the Harivallabh
sammelan, even though a little amount is donated whenever the Chief Minister visits. The Harivallabh Sammelan this year will be preceded by the Harivallabh Pratiyogita from December 25 to 27. Pt Ajoy Chakraborty (vocal), Niladri Kumar (sitar), Pt Channu Lal Mishra (vocal), Shashank Subramanyam (flute), Taufiq Qureshi
(djembe), Vijay Ghate (tabla), among others, will be performing at the festival this
year. Djembe (Qureshi) and piano (Utsav Lal) will be making a debut at the sammelan this year. When asked why different talent and Carnatic musicians weren’t being brought to the
sammelan, Purnima Beri said, “It has been observed that Carnatic classical isn’t digested by Punjabis very well. However, we had tried to rope in violinist L.
Subramanium. He couldn’t be brought in because the rates were too high.” The Harivallabh will be aired live for the first time on DD Punjabi from 8 am (December 28) to 1.30 am (December 29). It shall also be aired on DD
Bharti. This year’s Harivallabh Sangeet Sammelan will be dedicated to the recently deceased legends of the music world Pandit Ravi Shankar and Satguru Jagjit Singh. With the Kapurthala Heritage Festival and the Patiala Heritage Festival both dying tragic deaths, the only surviving and the oldest classical music festival of the state (and the world) needs to be sensitively nurtured for it to survive. Recent lapses on the part of both government and committee have to be reviewed and corrected so that Harivallabh sammelan doesn’t fall prey to the apathy that has already claimed many of the artistic ventures, fairs and festivals in the state. |
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Car’s windowpane broken, valuables stolen
Jalandhar, December 17 Narrating the incident, the photojournalist Kulwant Matharu said he had gone to get his car washed at Vikas Motors located in the service lane near Lawrence Public School on the Amritsar-Delhi National Highway Number 1 at 4.15 pm. “As some cars were already parked inside, I parked my car outside Vikas Motors and went inside waiting for my turn,” he said. “When I came back after a few minutes, I was surprised to see the right window pane of my car (bearing number PB 08 AT 1388) broken. Soon I came to know that my bag containing valuable items worth nearly Rs 1.5 lakh was missing.” A resident of Urban Estate, Matharu further stated that he informed police control room within no time, adding that a PCR team reached the spot within five minutes. On reaching the spot, the PCR team called the Rama Mandi police station personnel after getting initial information about the incident. The thana personnel recorded his statement and registered a first information report (FIR) under section 379 of the IPC against unknown thieves. The Rama Mandi SHO Inspector Baljinder Singh said the message regarding the theft had been sent to the PCR teams deployed in the city soon after getting information about the crime. He expressed the hope that the thieves would soon be nabbed the valuable items would be recovered. Senior police officials of the city commissionerate were also informed about the incident. |
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Only six of 188 marriage palaces apply for regularisation
Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, December 17 Despite the fact that public notices regarding the same have been issued from time to time, the palace owners seem to have perhaps ignored such directives. The JDA has also sent written communications through Speedpost to the owners of 71 marriage palaces, who had turned up during the hearing and scrutiny of documents held by Chief Administrator-cum-Deputy Commissioner Priyank Bharti done in October. Of the 73 palaces falling in Hoshiarpur, none have responded. There are 62 palaces in the JDA limit falling in Jalandhar and 53 in Kapurthala, of which only six have so far submitted their documents before the District Town Planner. The palace owners have been asked to submit the proof of ownership and detailed building plans along with the application. The authority, on the basis of the application and details provided, will circulate these to the departments concerned, including forest, PPCB, PWD, PSPCL and fire, seeking their NOC and comments on the matter. The District Town Planner, who is the nodal officer for the job, will then process the applications and present these before the scrutiny committee, which will then give its verdict and ask the palace owners to deposit the requisite CLU, external development charges, urban development fund and other charges within three days. All the cases have to be disposed of before December 31. Additional Chief Administrator Sarojini Gautam Sharda confirmed having received only six applications. "There still are three more days, I hope there will be more files coming in," she said.
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Mayor issues warning to officials on
complaints
Redress of complaints on sanitation work, tehbazari and streetlight maintenance Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, December 17 The House also unanimously resolved that all O&M works done in the city, including those of water supply, sewage repair and streetlight installation and repairs, would require a satisfaction certificate from the councillor of the area concerned. The Mayor, who is a second-time councillor, had no qualms in making a statement that the work of these departments had become extremely hopeless. ?I have not seen Tanda Road and Pathankot bypass roads lit up for months. It will be the officials who will be held accountable for any laxity for these works. There should be zero tolerance on the matter, as these concern the overall image of a city," the Mayor announced, taking side with the fellow House members. "It is because of the careless attitude of the officials that the councillors who are public representatives have to bear the wrath of the residents of the area."
Leader of the Opposition Jagdish Raja was the first one to get his turn in the zero hour. He blamed the O&M officials for turning a blind eye towards an alleged Rs 2.42-crore scam by the contractors related to the streetlight maintenance in the city. He said while the contractors were being paid for painting the poles and panel boxes, nothing was being done on ground. "In fact, the contractor has not even learnt from the lesson he got after the death of photojournalist Akhilesh Kumar by electrocution from a streetlight point." He put a file on record as he said, "I along with the SDO and the Executive Engineer had got an inquiry done in ward 37, which pointed to imposing of two penalties of Rs 1.17 lakh and 1.18 lakh on contractor from a single ward as per the agreement done." BJP councillor Joginder Tony added that the work had been further sublet to a small-time company, whose employees were replacing quality bulbs and chokes with poor-quality stuff. The Mayor declared forming of a committee on the matter. Issues raised by councillors All councillors seemed much charged up as they got an opportunity to voice the issues concerning their wards six months after their election to the post. All councillors of the Dynamic Congress Group sat together, owing to which there was much competition among them and the other faction led by the Leader of Opposition. Some of the councillors had even got evidences to make their point. While Deputy Leader of Opposition Des Raj Jassal had got a brick to prove that poor-quality material was being used at the base of sewer disposal, independent councillor Raminder Kaur Dhindsa had got pictures to prove her point regarding no action being taken against encroachers by the tehbazari department. Resolutions
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City unit CSD staff restart stir
Jalandhar, December 17 Talking to The Tribune, the district president of the union, Pal Singh said they had restarted their strike on Monday as Brigadier Arun Sehgal had failed to keep his promise made a week ago for getting their demands fulfilled after taking up the matter with his seniors. Pal Singh said their main demands included the implementation of the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission and formulating a promotion policy for them. There are about 4,500 CSD outlets nationwide. Most large canteens, located in major military stations and cities where the clientele is heavy, are staffed by civilian employees, who do not come under the purview of the Army, Navy or Air Force Act, but are governed by regulations applicable to the civilian government employees. Besides, there are also hundreds of small CSD outlets at the unit level, which are generally operated by service personnel from the respective unit. In a letter sent earlier by the All India Defence Civilian Canteen Employees Union to the Defence Minister, the employees had demanded that the pay and allowances of the employees working in the CSD retail canteens should be at par with those working in the CSD wholesale outlets. Further, they are also demanding that the all CSD transactions be brought under the ambit of the Comptroller and Auditor General.
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DAV College Professor pens book on terrorism, human rights and police
Jalandhar, December 17 The state, which concerned citizens have been saying might head towards chaos if steps are not taken to prevent the degeneration of the law and order situation, a writer has penned just the right book at just the right time. Raj Kumar, Associate Professor in political science at the DAV College here, has penned a book tracing the history of the role of the police in the state and its pressures, trials, inadequacies and heroic deeds. Titled "Terrorism, Human Rights and Police", the book “is an endeavour to trace the origin of terrorism in Punjab, the violation of human rights in the state and the role of police in containing terrorism.” Released in Amritsar by veteran Communist leader Satyapal Dang, the book, for which the author talked to more than 100 people, including terror victims in the state and police officers who were at the heart of the matter during the terrorism days, both lauds the men in uniform for their acts of extraordinary heroism and condemns others among them for their overwhelming cowardice. The book was triggered by the response of an officer when Raj Kumar, along with a relative (an advocate at Amritsar) went to lodge an FIR at a Jalandhar-based police station after his relative’s bag was stolen in 2009. “The ASI told us to write an application. We did. When we asked him to lodge an FIR, he refused to do so and on being pressed, retorted, I am not the thief here," Raj Kumar said. "I had heard of other such cases and was intrigued to know why police officials were so reluctant to lodge FIRs even in genuine cases like theft,” he added. “During the course of my research I found that the Police Department in the state has force which is high-headed, unprofessional and plagued by political interference,” Raj Kumar said. Raj Kumar’s book discusses the Valtoha case (1989) and Jaswant Khalra case (1995). He also talked with Khalra’s wife Paramjit Kaur for the research. The book also discusses some cases of theft in recent years, for which no FIRs were registered by the police despite requests by victims. The long list of police officers (former and present) with whom he has conversed regarding the book includes KPS Gill, SS Virk, Dr AA Siddiqui, Mohd Izhar Alam, Dr GS Aujla, Suresh Arora and Rajinder Singh. “My observations have also been that during the terrorism days the lower-rank police officials, who took bullets and sacrificed their safety working at the grass-roots level, did not receive their due,” he said citing examples of people like constable Rasbir Singh. Talking about present term, he said, "In the state honest police officers do not feel safe and feel like tools in the hands of the government. Whenever a new government comes in, so does the government’s favoured DGP. And this is irrespective of the fact whether it is a SAD or Congress government.” “I also talked to number of police officials who greatly favoured my research and even a nodal officer was created to facilitate the proper flow of information to me. Honest people can change things if governments let them do,” he said. “While it is important that the police rule in the state, as recommended by the National Police Commission, be implemented, the working of the police will only undergo a change when governments are resolute for police reforms,” Raj Kumar quipped. The book is an outcome of a major research project sanctioned by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to the author.
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US-based cardiologist performs five surgeries in city hospital
Jalandhar, December 17 Apart from his two-day tour of the city on the initiative of local private hospital, he will also visit Delhi, Hyderabad, Goa, Bangalore and Mumbai to share his experience with Indian physicians and doctors on the latest developments in cardiology and the technology used to empower the doctors to provide excellent patient care with good results. Besides interacting with prominent doctors of the city and the surrounding area regarding latest update in interventional cardiology, he also conducted complicated operations on five patients to provide practical training to the doctors of the hospital. Talking to The Tribune after his first operation on a Una-based an ex-serviceman, Dr Suhail said, "I have conducted minimal invasive surgery in this complicated case by doing latest modifications and advancements in the stenting technology and he will be discharged within two days. Whereas in normal cases, such a patient requires open heart surgery and will have to remain in the hospital for at least a fortnight." To a query regarding preventing heart disease, Dr Suhail said, "Diet modification, regular exercise, avoiding smoking, visiting doctor for regular check-up for diabetes and hypertension may prevent heart disease." |
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