‘Kidnapped’ boy found in Delhi
Jalandhar, July 8
A teenaged son of an ASI of the BSF enacted a drama of his kidnapping for meeting his Delhi-based Facebook friend. The city police came to know about this during its efforts to find the boy, Gopal, who had gone missing under mysterious circumstances from BSF School in Jalandhar Cantonment on Thursday.

Gopal Dubey, who enacted a drama of his kidnapping, with a police personnel in Jalandhar on Monday. Photo: Sarabjit Singh

Bountiful rain saves residents from extreme heat
Jalandhar, July 8
As predicted by the Meteorological Department, adequate rain in and around the city this year so far has protected the citizens from continuous extreme heat. Thanks to 150.7 mm rain till Monday this season as compared to just about one-third, ie 56 mm, till July 8 during last season.

DUTY BOUND: Traffic police officials perform duty barefoot at BSF Chowk as their shoes got wet after a heavy rain in Jalandhar on Monday. Tribune photo: Malkiat Singh

Govt approves two-tier sewerage project for city
Jalandhar, July 8
Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal has approved several projects worth thousands of crores of rupees for Jalandhar, the NRI hub of Punjab. Presiding over a high-level meeting of elected leaders and officials of various Departments of Jalandhar held in Chandigarh today, Sukhbir said as Jalandhar was the third largest city of the state having population of more than 10 lakh, the Punjab Government had approved two-tier sewerage project for the city.

Mayor takes a U-turn on selling MC properties
Jalandhar, July 8
In what may be termed as a U-turn from its earlier stance, Mayor Sunil Jyoti has said it would be wrong to conclude that the Municipal Corporation (MC) has decided to sell its vacant properties to generate funds. Terming the item pertaining to the sale of about 16 civic body properties, including the residence of the Municipal Commissioner, in the agenda of the MC general house meeting scheduled for July 9 as a "mere proposal", Jyoti said the matter would be referred to the Finance and Contracts Committee (F&CC).

The residence of the Municipal Commissioner in Adarsh Nagar in Jalandhar, which has been listed in the agenda of the MC general house meeting for auction. Photos: Sarabjit Singh

Waterlogging poses health threat
Jalandhar, July 8
As many as 1.5 lakh commuters at Shaheed Bhagat Singh Bus Terminal are facing health risk everyday due to huge water-logging on all sides of the terminal. About 3,000 buses daily operate from the bus stand. Ironically, the bus stand is under the adept care of an internationally applauded company Welspun.

A damaged road at the entrance of the bus stand in Jalandhar. Tribune photo: Sarabjit Singh

Potholes on the approach road of the bus stand. A Tribune photo

Incomplete work on GT Road causes traffic snarl
Jalandhar, July 8 The damaged stretch starting from PAP Chowk till Rama Mandi Chowk has become a major bottleneck on the busy GT Road thus, hindering the flow of vehicular traffic. The stretch, abandoned by a construction company after leaving its widening process midway, has been badly damaged during the recent rains. A bumper-to-bumper traffic jam at PAP chowk in Jalandhar. A Tribune photo

Punjabis enthrall international audience with bhangra, gatka

Phagwara, July 8 Folklore is a universal language and world folk festivals create a platform of international friendship and culture of peace. Punjabis, who had just come back to Punjab, after attending an international folk festival in Tula region of Russia, speak about the rich traditions of Russian folklore and the response of the Russian community towards Punjabi folk dances. A bhangra troupe performs at the Red Square in Russia. A Tribune photograph

Mehr Chand Polytechnic student ranked first in State Board
Jalandhar, July 8
The students of ECE Department secured first and second position in the State Board Examination held in May this year. The overall result of the Department is 92 per cent. As many as five positions among first 20 have been grabbed by the students of ECE Department. Polytechnic Principal Jagroop Singh blessed the students and congratulated the staff and parents for the excellent performance of the students.

Daredevil: Putting his and other commuters’ lives at risk, a biker stands atop his Bullet motorycle as he crosses a bridge near Phagwara on Monday. Tribune photo: Malkiat Singh

Pratap Bagh was flooded with rainwater after the showers on Monday. Tribune photo: Sarabjit Singh

‘Kidnapped’ boy found in Delhi
BSF ASI’s son enacted drama of his abduction to meet his Facebook friend
Dharmendra Joshi
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, July 8
A teenaged son of an ASI of the BSF enacted a drama of his kidnapping for meeting his Delhi-based Facebook friend. The city police came to know about this during its efforts to find the boy, Gopal, who had gone missing under mysterious circumstances from BSF School in Jalandhar Cantonment on Thursday.

After finding him from Delhi after five days of his mysterious disappearance, the city police handed over the Class X student to his uncle residing in the Chogitti area here.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Model Town police station, Manpreet Singh said, “The boy started liking a Delhi-based girl while chatting on the social networking site and the girl also reciprocated in the same manner.”

“At this, Gopal enacted the drama of his kidnapping by leaving a note in his schoolbag stating that he had been kidnapped. He took the help of a child in getting the kidnapping note prepared. He went to a park in their locality and lured a kid to write a line in devnagri script, 'Pandit chhotey ko bacha sakta hai to bacha le' (Pundit, save your kid if you can),” he added.

However, the police, on the basis of circumstantial evidence, from day one was of the view that he had not been kidnapped and gone at his own will, the ACP said, adding that the boy had switched off his mobile number, but the police came to know from his uncle Subash Dubey that he had called his Bangalore-based cousin from a new mobile number a few days ago.

After getting the information, his uncle also called him on his new number to know his whereabouts, but he switched it off. The police kept his new mobile number on surveillance and came to know that he had called a Delhi-based girl several times from the new number, the ACP added.

The Jalandhar police took the help of the Delhi Police and called the girl’s father to the area police station and asked him to know the whereabouts of the boy from his daughter.

Interestingly, both of them started loving each other so much through Facebook that the girl had also arranged a separate room for Gopal in a nearby locality. Both of them admitted that they fell in love with each other during chatting on Facebook about six months ago.

At this, the police counselled them and managed to bring back Gopal to Jalandhar. He had also gone missing about three months ago and was found after sometime.

Gopal alongwith his mother, sister and uncle is residing at Chogitti, whereas his father is posted at Aizawl in Mizoram.

Bountiful rain saves residents from extreme heat
Dharmendra Joshi
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, July 8
As predicted by the Meteorological Department, adequate rain in and around the city this year so far has protected the citizens from continuous extreme heat. Thanks to 150.7 mm rain till Monday this season as compared to just about one-third, ie 56 mm, till July 8 during last season.

The sufficient rain has brought smile on the faces of paddy growers as they have not depended on their diesel-run motors to irrigate fields. It also prevented long power cuts in the urban areas, which were imposed during the paddy season for ensuring at least eight-hour electricity supply to rural areas, as the demand of power decreased a lot due to rains at regular intervals.

The Meteorological Department made a forecast of more rain in the season in the time to come.

Meanwhile, the city and surrounding areas experienced heavy rainfall in the morning today. The Meteorological Department recorded 33 mm rain today.

Though the residents suffered a lot due to inundation of majority of the roads with several feet-high rainwater, yet they heaved a sigh of relief from the heatwave lashing the region for the past few days.

In the meantime, the Meteorological Department predicted that the sky would remain cloudy even tomorrow.

Govt approves two-tier sewerage project for city
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, July 8
Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal has approved several projects worth thousands of crores of rupees for Jalandhar, the NRI hub of Punjab. Presiding over a high-level meeting of elected leaders and officials of various Departments of Jalandhar held in Chandigarh today, Sukhbir said as Jalandhar was the third largest city of the state having population of more than 10 lakh, the Punjab Government had approved two-tier sewerage project for the city.

"Under the project, in Phase-I Rs 54.79 crore and in Phase-II Rs 62.37 crore would be spent," he said. Minister for Local Government Bhagat Chunni Lal was also present in the meeting.

Sukhbir said to cover the 100 per cent population with ultra-modern treated sewerage network up to 2025, Rs 235.86 crore had been sanctioned under the National River Conservation Plan, out of which Rs 52.48 crore had been released as on June 30. He said for 100 per cent water supply coverage, an amount of Rs 14.86 crore had been sanctioned and the work of project was in full swing.

Reviewing the progress of the solid waste management Project, the Deputy CM said Jalandhar would soon witness door-to-door collection of garbage and under the programme the garbage would be taken from bins to the solid waste treatment plant in GPS-enabled vehicles. He said the work had been allotted to a renowned firm of the country and the GPS-enabled vehicles had reached the Municipal Corporation for the first phase of the project.

Briefing the process of collection, Sukhbir said the field staff of the authorised company would collect the garbage in segregated manner more suitable for processing. He said 75 ward-wise dumping points had also been identified and the first phase of operation would be started in six wards (Ward 18, 29, 30, 31, 34 and 35) in the third week of July. He said a mobile application "cap me and track me" is also being introduced, under which the system will generate alert automatically, if the bins was not cleared once in 12-hour time.

The Deputy CM also approved series of road infrastructure and other development projects, including food court, 3G fish aquarium, redevelopment of Nehru Garden and Integrated Housing Slum Development Programme. Approving Rs 279-crore roads redevelopment programme Sukhbir approved a flyover at Basti Bawa Khel to be constructed at the cost of Rs 38 crore, widening and strengthening of Hoshiarpur Road up to Lamba Pind (Rs 3.50 crore), widening of main approach from Urban Estate to Dairy Complex (Rs 2 crore), widening of road from PAP Chowk to BSF Chowk (Rs 1.87 crore), construction of ROB at the Chuggitti railway crossing (Rs 32 crore) and total coverage of Jalandhar city for stormwater drainage system at the cost of Rs 172 crore.

Focusing on rehabilitating dwellers of 26 slums, Sukhbir has directed the MC to expedite the construction of 3,676 slum tenements and hand over the keys to them within one year. The residents of Jalandhar would get a breather from traffic chaos with Sukhbir approving Rs 47 crore for the construction of the Chandan Nagar railway over-bridge that would facilitate the movement of 10 lakh population living near Brij Nagar.

Prominent amongst those present in the meeting included Chief Parliamentary Secretary KD Bhandari, MLA Pargat Singh, Secretary, Local Government, Ashok Gupta, Principal Secretary to Deputy CM Paramjit Singh Aujla, Sukhbir's Special Principal Secretaries Manvesh Singh Sidhu and Ajay Kumar Mahajan, Director, Local Bodies, Priyank Bharti, Municipal Commissioner Vinay Bublani and other senior officials of various department.

The projects

• Garbage to be taken from bins to the solid waste treatment plant in GPS-enabled vehicles.
• 75 ward-wise dumping points identified.
• Company Bagh to be redeveloped at a cost of Rs 3.84 crore.
• 12 major roads to be paved at a combined cost of Rs 24 crore.
• Rs 32.40 crore to be spent on the integrated housing slum development programme scheme covering 22 slums, 3,676 slum dwellers to be benefitted.
• City to get 13 blocks of "sulabh" toilets.
• Railway over-bridge at Chandan Nagar.

Mayor takes a U-turn on selling MC properties
Umesh Dewan
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, July 8
In what may be termed as a U-turn from its earlier stance, Mayor Sunil Jyoti has said it would be wrong to conclude that the Municipal Corporation (MC) has decided to sell its vacant properties to generate funds.

Terming the item pertaining to the sale of about 16 civic body properties, including the residence of the Municipal Commissioner, in the agenda of the MC general house meeting scheduled for July 9 as a "mere proposal", Jyoti said the matter would be referred to the Finance and Contracts Committee (F&CC).

Notably, till yesterday, the Mayor, who owes allegiance to the BJP, was categorically justifying that there was no harm in generating revenue by selling off the civic body properties.

Speaking to The Tribune, Jyoti said, "The F&CC will see to it as how the vacant properties can be utilised. In case the F&CC suggests to sell off any property, then again, the matter would be tabled in the general house. Any decision on this issue will be taken after taking the approval of the general house." He also clarified that the F&CC would see to it that whether the vacant land can be utilised for housing scheme, etc, while adding, "In tomorrow's meeting, a resolution seeking approval of the House to send the matter for a report from the F&CC would be tabled."

According to the highly placed sources in the state government, the Mayor has to change its stance following a stiff resistance from the Minister for Local Government Bhagat Chunni Lal, SAD and Congress councillors on the issue.

While the Congress councillors had already announced that they would oppose any move to sell off the civic body properties, even the councillors of the SAD have stated that they will oppose the move. Senior Deputy Mayor Kamaljeet Singh Bhatia (SAD) has said the idea for selling off the Municipal Commissioner's residence is ironical and uncalled for. "For revenue generation, there are so many ways. Selling own properties is certainly not a solution to the problem of fiscal crunch," he said, while adding that Akali councillors would take up the matter for thorough discussion during tomorrow's general house meeting.

Waterlogging poses health threat
Rachna Khaira

Jalandhar, July 8
As many as 1.5 lakh commuters at Shaheed Bhagat Singh Bus Terminal are facing health risk everyday due to huge water-logging on all sides of the terminal. About 3,000 buses daily operate from the bus stand. Ironically, the bus stand is under the adept care of an internationally applauded company Welspun.

There is huge water-logging, mucky platforms, absence of housekeeping staff, congestion of buses on all gates and lack of civic amenities inside the terminal. Open and unhygienic food is sold at a higher price than the MRP. This has brought the passengers under direct threat of cholera, viral fever, malaria, dengue and other diseases. Welspun has blaimed Jalandhar Municipal Corporation (JMC) for causing health hazard to commuters.

V.K Sharma, Senior Manager, Welspun, said We have water-logging inside the terminal due to awful approach of the JMC. Road coming from BMC chowk towards Garha and encircling the entire bus terminal is on a higher level than the terminal. There is no proper drainage system for the rain water. During monsoon, water from all sides comes gushing inside the terminal causing discomfort to the commuters and putting them to health risks. Due to this, people avoid coming inside the bus stand and try to get buses from outside the terminal. This causes huge traffic congestion on all gates, he added.

R.L Bassan, Civil Surgeon, Jalandhar, said This is a very serious situation. We have written a letter to JMC regarding the problem. We have urged them to clean the area on daily basis. Water-logging poses a serious threat to people. Meanwhile, inside the terminal, the situation was even worse with shopkeepers selling stale food at much higher prices to the commuters, who are stuck inside the terminal due to heavy rain and huge water logging. We are coming from Gurdaspur. The bus dropped us outside only due to water-logging. We were shocked to witness so much congestion and chaos inside the terminal. Even fans are not working here. It is so difficult to travel with children, said Gurmeet Singh, a commuter. Municipal Commissioner Vinay Bublani was busy in a meeting with Punjab Deputy CM and could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

Incomplete work on GT Road causes traffic snarl
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, July 8
The damaged stretch starting from PAP Chowk till Rama Mandi Chowk has become a major bottleneck on the busy GT Road thus, hindering the flow of vehicular traffic. The stretch, abandoned by a construction company after leaving its widening process midway, has been badly damaged during the recent rains.

Knee deep potholes have come up on its surface with the bitumen disappearing from the site due to heavy volume of traffic.

The trenches dug up by the company along the sides of the road, mud and solid waste accumulated at various places further add to the inconvenience of the motorists. The unscheduled bus stoppages and violation of traffic rules by vehicles while overtaking often causes traffic jams on the road, thus forcing the vehicles to move at snail’s pace.

The situation goes bad to worse during office hours when long queues of the vehicles could be seen on the road.

Two over bridges (at the PAP Chowk and at the Rama Mandi Chowk) which have been a hanging fire since long further complicate the problem, claimed Surinder Mittal, a city resident to commutes to Phagwara.

Absence of adequate traffic police personnel to regulate the traffic smoothly is another main reason of frequent traffic jams here. Besides enabling easy movement of the VVIPs, VIPs, bureaucrats and politicians travelling on the GT Road daily, the cops could be seen facing problem of traffic rule violators.

Officials of the company to which the project of widening of the road has been allotted claims that the work has been suspended due no availability of the construction material and some other technical reasons.

Punjabis enthrall international audience with bhangra, gatka
Our Correspondent

Phagwara, July 8
Folklore is a universal language and world folk festivals create a platform of international friendship and culture of peace. Punjabis, who had just come back to Punjab, after attending an international folk festival in Tula region of Russia, speak about the rich traditions of Russian folklore and the response of the Russian community towards Punjabi folk dances.

Russians have great respect for colorful turbans and traditions of Punjab. The mesmerising effect of the Punjabi folklore and Sikh martial arts Gatka during our folk performance at Tula amphitheatre, Vaniov Theatre, Golden City Resorts, Greecovysky and other places, said Davinder Singh Chhina, director of Punjab Cultural Promotion Council, while talking to the The Tribune, here yesterday.

All the participants - Dr Davinder Singh Chhina, Karanbir Singh Chhina (Patiala), Bansi Lal (Ludhiana), Neeraj Kumar, Navraj Singh Chhina (students of Nankana Sahib Public School, Ludhiana), Atambir Singh (student, Budha Dal Public School, Patiala) and Alamjeet Singh (Mohali) were honoured with Dyplom-de-participation by Vadim Barshinikov, Natalia, head of the Folk Culture House, Tula Region, and Emil Dmitrov, manager of the FolkWorld, at the glittering- felicitation ceremony, held at Tula amphitheatre.

Punjab Cultural Promotion Council (PCPC) team was joined by Bosnian students at Tula Theatre to enthral the audience with exotic Bhangra. Bosnian girls, attired in Punjabi costumes, excelled in Bhangra actions. Russians, too, enjoyed Bhangra. Dhol beats of international drummer Bansi Lal captivated the folk artistes from Russia, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Macedonia and other countries.

Gatka artiste Atambir Singh exhibited Sikh martial arts - Gatka at all the venues of the festival. The international audience and tourists from various nations had a great time watching Gatka at the world famous tourist destination the Red Square of Moscow city. The overwhelming response of the audience towards our performance inspired me a lot, disclosed Atambir Singh, aged 14, the youngest member of the folk troupe from Punjab.

The cultural happenings and folk manifestations by international folk groups and exhibitions on Russian arts and artifacts at Twelve keys valley of Tula region, as well as exchange of cultural souvenirs between Punjab delegation and international delegates, were the other highlights of this international event.

While speaking to Russian TV crew, Davinder invited the Russian delegations to visit and explore the great heritage of Punjab. Colourful dances of Punjab region are exceptional and absorbing for the Russian community,€said Nina and Natalia, organisers of the festival.

Mehr Chand Polytechnic student ranked first in State Board
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, July 8
The students of ECE Department secured first and second position in the State Board Examination held in May this year. The overall result of the Department is 92 per cent. As many as five positions among first 20 have been grabbed by the students of ECE Department. Polytechnic Principal Jagroop Singh blessed the students and congratulated the staff and parents for the excellent performance of the students.

Student bags TCS placement

Juhi Kumara, a BCA student of Apeejay Institute of Management Technical Campus, has been selected in TCS under Open Ignite Programme for the post of software developer. TCS Ignite is a six month specialised learning programme, where the selected students are trained to become software professionals. The selected students will also enroll in MCA programme offered by SASTRA University, while simultaneously employed with TCS. The curriculum includes lectures, projects, assignments and interactive sessions. These would be complemented by soft-skill development in presentation, communication, teamwork and leadership skills.

Innocent Hearts shows excellent results in PGDCA

Students of Innocent Hearts International Institute of Distance Education have shown excellent result in PGDCA Examination 2012-13 conducted by GNDU, Amritsar. All the students have passed the examination in first division. Sakshi Gupta stood first in the college scoring 620 marks with distinction followed by Divya and Balwinder Kaur, who stood second and third respectively.