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Revenue Dept to auction factory
Double murder case: Police await forensic lab report
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Faux pas by minister on Republic Day
MC staff lift 12 carts from Adarsh Nagar market
Traders protest over property tax
Better
jalandhar/pARKING PROBLEM
VC unfurls National Flag at varsity campus
R-Day function peaceful; Phillaur unfurls Tricolour
BSF School games conclude
Man killed in accident
Minor kidnapped, raped; 2 held
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Revenue Dept to auction factory
Jalandhar, December 27 The court of Tehsildar-II-cum-Assistant Collector Aman Pal Singh has declared February 11 as the date of auction for the hand tools factory of Parco Tools India. He has also asked patwaris to put up public notices in this regard and the General Manager of the District Industry Centre to be prepared for the sealing of the factory, if required. The Revenue Department officials have even asked District Nazir to get the revenue lock-up cleared at the earliest in the event that any detention is required for the recovery of dues. The matter was also taken up at the recent monthly Revenue Department meeting. The partners in the factory Kamaljeet Shoor and Chander Parkash Rana, both brothers, had reportedly been asked by the Joint Director, Foreign Trade, to pay up the penalty on September 1, 2010, for the violation of clause 11 (2) of the Foreign Trade Development and Regulation Act 1992. It was on August 9, 2011, that the Minister of Commerce asked the Revenue Department of Jalandhar to recover the amount as arrears of land revenue after taking action under the provisions of the law. It is learnt that the department staff had earlier held an auction on November 28, 2013, too. On December 3, the Tehsildar reported to the DC that the factory owners had removed the pasting of notices for auction from the walls owing to which there was no response, after which DC Varun Roojam directed him to go armed with a camera next time onwards to do photography of the same for taking the matter on record. The staff had also reported that since the factory was in a running condition, things were difficult for them. They even wrote that there had been some resistance, as the factory gates were not opened for them for quite a long time, forcing them to sit outside for hours. A partner in factory Chander Parkash Rana, however, has been trying hard to save the situation meeting revenue officials and giving a representation to the DC, seeking more time. He has said that his factory against which the penalty had been declared was already wound up. "We were doing a good business in hand tools. In 1984-85, we started exports, for which we took a licence by paying a fee of Rs 20 lakh under which a minimum export of Rs 30.6 lakh exports was to be done. But soon there was a recession and we could not fulfill the norms. But this happened 27 years ago. I really find it difficult to digest the action coming on me now. The penalty has been imposed on me haphazardly. I need to dig out my 25-year-old records, which I am not even sure that I would be able to get," he said. Suspecting foul play, he said he had found that another rubber factory owner of Jalandhar had been asked to pay up Rs 4.7 crore for the violation of the same Act by the Foreign Trade office. The matter has even been sent to the Revenue Department here, but officials are silent in his case for reasons better known to them. “I demand that even if there are some penalties on my side, I be allowed to pay up in some yearly installments," he said.
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Double murder case: Police await forensic lab report
Jalandhar, January 27 Assistant Commissioner of Police RPS Sandhu said once the police received the report, their investigation would also come to an end in the case. The FSL report would actually clear if the bullets were fired from the pistol recovered from the spot, he added. Former terrorist Tittu and his paramour were found dead at the latter's house in Azad Nagar on January 18. The two had received bullet injuries on their head. The police have ruled out the possibility of the involvement of a third party in the case, but the final report from the FSL would further corroborate their investigation theory. Tittu was a history-sheeter, as he was charged under TADA in 1991 for being found in company of terrorists, possessing arms and ammunition by the city police. He was also involved in five murder cases, including that of former MLA Gurdial Singh Saini.
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Faux pas by minister on Republic Day
Jalandhar, January 27 Soon after hoisting the flag, he started to walk off, unmindful of the fact that the National Anthem was being played and he was supposed to stand without moving for sometime. The minister, who is a seven-time legislator, however, soon realised his mistake, noticing other senior administration and police officials standing in respect of the National Flag. He then took a few steps back and stood in the "attention" position. Phillaur was the chief guest on the occasion. Deputy Commissioner Varum Roojam, Police Commissioner Ishwar Singh and Deputy Police Commissioner Rahul S and other senior administration officials were standing along him in the gallery of the stadium. As per the protocol, when the National Anthem is being played, one should be standing in "attention position" and saluting the flag. “It is when the last string of the Anthem is being played, we lower the salute,” said an official.
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MC staff lift 12 carts from Adarsh Nagar market
Jalandhar, December 27 As the team was lifting carts, utensils, burners and other stuff, the vendors started lodging their protest, accusing the team of secretly levying a monthly amount. “If you are to take action against us like that, why had been accepting the monthly amount from us?” they asked. An elderly man even lay down on road in protest, while others tried to stop the cops and staff, who had been forcibly lifting and loading carts into the MC vehicles. On Friday, BJP state vice-president and councillor Ravi Mahendru raised the issue regarding the levying of Rs 4,000 per cart from the vendors in the market by the staff. He even pointed out that an illegal "chaupati" that had been running from the site had been doing a brisk business in the evenings. The matter flared up when it was pointed out that a "golgappa" seller, who had been putting up his stall, sold the site to another vendor for Rs 2.5 lakh as he was to shift to Ludhiana. Even the shopkeepers around the site said the vendors had been making more income than them, which, at times, was really pinching. As the tehbazari team, led by superintendent Vikrant Verma, got into action taking vendors by surprise, the latter, in a jiffy, started throwing their more expensive material, including gas cylinders, burners and heavy utensils, into two parks on either side of the "chaupati". But the team that had come with three trucks spared little, taking away almost all carts and material they could load in one go.
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Traders protest over property tax
Jalandhar, December 27 The protesters, led by Ravinder Dhir and Gursharan Singh, said they had been told that a decision would be taken with regard to their demands, after which they had wound up their protest. However, nothing had been done, forcing them to relaunch their stir all over again. The traders said the government policies had led to the destabilisation of their businesses, forcing them to agitate on roads.
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jalandhar/pARKING PROBLEM The rising number of vehicles in the city has brought about attendant problems like traffic snarls and parking woes. But the situation is not without hope as the civic authorities are busy exploring the options before them. Jalandhar Tribune takes stock of the situation Rachna Khaira Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, January 27 Parking sites in the city
Presently, there are only six authorised parking sites in the city. Apart from that, two more are functional on Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis — the first at Nehru Garden and the other in the basement of Narinder Cinema. Besides, there are yellow lines at around 10 places in the city, including areas from PNB Chowk to Jail Chowk, Mahaveer Marg, Model Town, Bastiat Road, Cool Road, Link Road, from Old SSP Chowk to Skylark Chowk and from Mission Chowk to Basant Chowk up to Geeta Mandir. However, traffic experts feel that for 8.73 lakh people having more than 10 lakh vehicles, the parking space is too less. How big is the problem?
According to a rough estimate, 8 out of 10 cars are parked illegally in the city either due to shortage of parking space or lack of civic sense. Acute shortage of parking space on both sides of the streets adds to the woes of traffic chaos. Around 80 per cent of the traffic has to waste approximately 15 to 20 minutes in each trip to find a parking place. This leads to more congestion. Illegal constructions, mainly on the road sides, are another cause that leads to this problem. Sources at the Corporation office said that around 2,000 buildings constructed on major roads of the city did not follow the prescribed parking norms. According to building by-laws, the property owner has to provide open space in front of the building and at the rear. Permissible site coverage lies from 40 per cent to 90 per cent depending upon the plot size to ensure space for parking within the premises. “If you check, most of the corporate buildings use basements and areas in front and rear meant for parking either for commercial purposes or exclusively for personal vehicles. Some of them earn huge money by renting out these places. People who come to these multi-storeyed offices are left with no option but to park their vehicles on roads leading to traffic congestion and snarls,” said Paramjit Singh Chawla, a city resident. Sources said hundreds of cases related to unauthorised use of parking areas in the city were long pending due to the connivance of the MC officials with the violators. Last year, the MC had planned to auction around 20 sites, but only six could go under the hammer. “We tried to auction many sites which included heavy load areas like Lajpat Nagar market and Civil Hospital, but contractors refused to take them due to lack of civic sense of the people and the lackadaisical attitude of the traffic police in dealing with the violators,” said Vikrant, superintendent, MCJ. Around 3 to 4 acres of land is lying vacant in front of the PUDA market near the busy Jyoti Chowk. Although there was a proposal to build multi-level parking there, sources at the PUDA office said that it couldn’t materialise due to political interference which was supported by local officials. “Although, there is no authorised parking in front of the PUDA market, illegal contractors charge up to Rs 30 per car for an hour. Sometimes they charge up to Rs 50 for more than five hours,” said Kamlesh Gupta, a city resident. The local shopkeepers said that many illegal vendors who had encroached upon the PUDA land were paying regular ‘Hafta Vasuli’ (extortion money) to the government officials. There are no specified parking stands for auto- rickshaws and taxis in the city. They could be seen choking the traffic everywhere. Projects that couldn’t take off
To move with the rising number of vehicles in the city, the MC had planned a few projects but none could take off due to various reasons. A project of underground parking was planned for the land in front of Hotel Radisson. Its estimated cost was Rs 2.5 crore in the beginning. But by the time it matured, the cost escalated to Rs 8.5 crore. Like Connaught Place in New Delhi, an underground parking was planned under the Central Park in the Model Town area. “We had planned to construct a multi-level parking at the Central Park with beautiful landscape on top, but people misunderstood the whole concept and revolted against it. We had to finally call off the project,” said Kulvinder Singh, executive engineer, MC. Proposed plans to be executed soon
The MC recently prepared a comprehensive mobility plan (CMP) for the next 20 years till 2030. The aim is to plan future development projects after studying the existing traffic facilities, mobility and engineering practices in the city. “We have already started working on the CMP-2030. The work on the Chandan Nagar RUB, costing Rs 45 crore, has already started. Another project of Kapurthala road flyover near Basti Bawa Khel with an estimated budget of Rs 55 crore has also started. Under the CMP, we have shortlisted some pockets from 150 to 200 square feet area for the proposed taxi stands,” said Manpreet Singh Chatwal, Municipal Commissioner, JMC. “We have proposed to build a shopping centre along with a multi-level parking in Model Town by demolishing the Mayor’s house and many abandoned houses around it. We are expecting a fiery revolt, but we are hopeful of starting the project soon,” said Mayor Sunil Jyoti. He also said four multi-level parking lots had been proposed at the Old Jail site, under the 3D Fish Aquarium site adjoining the MC office, Burlton Park and Model Town area. The ultimate solution
In the existing scenario, experts feel that multi-level parking lots above and below the ground are the only solution to this problem. “The city is old and congested. There is less space available for new parking areas. The corporation should go for multi-level parking. This will not only help them generate revenue but also provide solution to traffic problems,” said Jaideep Singhania, a renowned expert in traffic engineering, Delhi. Distribution of vehicle parking according to purpose in the city
Purpose % of share Work 39.6 Education 5.1 Shopping 8.9 Social/meeting 5.6 Tour/recreation 3.1 Religious 1.3 Hospital 1.1 Home/return trips 23.6 Others 11.7 (Source: Comprehensive Mobility Plan till 2030:
JMC) No takers for these parking areas (Auction getting cancelled for the last 5 years) 1 Civil Hospital 2 Lajpat Nagar market 3 Bhagat Singh Chowk 4 Bhagwan Valmiki Chowk 5 Hotel Down Town 6 Lovely Autos 7 Hotel International 8 Hotel Kings Places that can generate revenue by getting converted into parking areas 1 Model Town Area 2 Near Jyoti Chowk 3 New District Administrative Complex 4 Near Milap Chowk 5 Gandhi Vanitha Ashram 6 Central Jail Site 7 Fish market, Basti Adda, Old GT Road 8 Guru Amardas Chowk near Jawahar Nagar 9 Adarsh Nagar 10 Area in front of the Passport Office (Source: CMP-2030)
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VC unfurls National Flag at varsity campus
Amritsar, January 27 Prof MS Hundal, Dean, Academic Affairs, welcomed the chief guest and others while Dr Inderjit Singh, Registrar, presented a vote of thanks on the occasion. Dr Jagjit Kaur, Director, Youth Welfare, compered the event. Prof Brar said, “Although we achieved a lot after 1950, but more needs to be done to compete and meet the international requirements. During the last four-and-half years, this university progressed in all spheres, especially, in the field of science and technology.” He said many expensive scientific equipment and new infrastructure had been created in the university with the help of grants received from various funding agencies and around Rs 300 to Rs 400 crore is also expected in the coming years. He said in spite of this, the university needed to generate 17 per cent of the expenses from its own resources. “We don’t want to raise the fee of the students. By increasing the number of students admitted to various classes, the problem could be sorted out to a certain extent,” he said. He exhorted the faculty to work hard to impart quality education with modern aids so that the university could attract students not only from the state but also from other countries. “Ours is the only university of the region which pays the dues, arrears and salaries to its staff on time. Almost 61 per cent of salaries of all employees have been increased in the last four years. I seek the cooperation of the faculty and the employees of the university to excel and to achieve new heights of success,” he said.
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R-Day function peaceful; Phillaur unfurls Tricolour
Jalandhar, January 27 Acting on the directions of the Punjab Police officials from Chandigarh, the city and the rural police were on high alert to thwart any attempt by anti-social elements. According to city police officials, the Intelligence inputs had suggested that miscreants might resort to subversive activities anywhere in Punjab. Minister for Jails, Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Punjab, Sarwan Singh Phillaur, unfurled the Tricolour during the Republic Day celebrations at Guru Gobind Singh Stadium yesterday. The minister said the state government was committed to serve the interests of its people. To pay tribute to the people who contributed to the freedom of the nation, the state government would come up with Jang-e-Azadi memorial at Kartarpur, he said. Elimination of poverty, employment for all, a corruption-free nation and brotherhood among people would be real tributes to the nationa’s heroes, he added. Phillaur said the state was now attracting whopping investments from across the country. Recently, the state government received investment proposals worth Rs 65,000 crore, he added. Ensuring better health facilities for the people, the government had earmarked Rs 300 crore for setting up of cancer units at Amritsar, Faridkot and Patiala, and also simplified the formalities required to getter cancer relief fund, he said. The government would open six special schools in the state where students would get free education, free accommodation and free food, he said. About 2,200 students presented cultural performances on the occasion. The minister honoured freedom fighters and others who achieved milestones in public and private sectors. Divisional Commissioner R Venkatratnam, District and Sessions Judge JS Kular and DC Varun Roojam were also present there. — TNS
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BSF School games conclude
Jalandhar, January 27 Deputy Inspector General/Principal Staff Officer, BSF Punjab Frontier, JP Uniyal, the chief guest at the closing ceremony, was accorded a warm welcome by principal Dr BB Chauhan and the BSF School fraternity. The closing ceremony included cultural performances by students of the school, followed by the prize distribution ceremony. In his address to the students, JP Uniyal emphasised on the importance of sports and the need to maintain a proper equilibrium between a healthy mind and healthy body to achieve sustained professional efficiency.
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Man killed in accident
Kapurthala, January 27 Shop gutted
A fire broke out at a leather showroom in Kasaba Bazaar here late on Saturday night. Pardeep Baweja, the owner of the shop, said he got the information in the wee hours yesterday after which he called the Fire Brigade. It took the staff six hours to douse the flames. He said goods worth Rs 30 lakh were destroyed. |
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Minor kidnapped, raped; 2 held
Jalandhar, January 27 The medical examination of the girl has also confirmed rape. The accused have been identified as Ravinder and Shyam, residents Nirmla of the Basti Shiekh locality had complained to the police that the accused had kidnapped her minor daughter on October 22 last year. The accused had forcibly taken her daughter along while she was standing outside her house, the victim's mother had alleged to the police. Acting on a tip-off, the police conducted a raid at a specific place and nabbed the accused, adding that the girl was also recovered. A case under Sections 363 and 366-A of the IPC was registered earlier. Now with the confirmation of rape in the medical examination, Section 376 of the IPC had also been added.
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Punjab Minister for Jails, Tourism and Cultural Affairs Sarwan Singh Phillaur committed a faux pas when he forgot to maintain the "attention position" after unfurling the Tricolor during the district-level Republic Day celebrations at Guru Gobind Singh Stadium here yesterday.
Restarting their protest over their demands to reduce property tax on commercial buildings, withdrawal of implementation of advance tax and quick payment of VAT refunds, traders held an hour-long protest outside the residence of Jalandhar MLA (Central) Manoranjan
Kalia.
The XXIV Annual Athletics Meet of BSF Senior Secondary School was held at Frontier Headquarters, BSF
Jalandhar, from January 24 to 26. The meet concluded yesterday with a colourful ceremony held at Ashwini Stadium, Frontier Headquarters, BSF Jalandhar.
