 |
|
|
34 nominations received from 31
candidates
Jalandhar votes
2014 |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
With 35,112 additions, city has 15.48 lakh voters
Road carpeting at night irks locals
Cantt rly station
‘Terrorism-affected families feel betrayed’
Fish farming in dire straits
AAP’s Daljit Singh flays Cong policy on FDI
Health services
Parents protest hike in school fee, block road traffic
No check on roadside quacks in city
Campus
notes
City youth dies after fall from train Six qualify PCS Judicial exam Feedback
|
|
34 nominations received from 31
candidates
Jalandhar, April 9 Much drama prevailed at the fag end of the filing of nomination papers, as an independent candidate, Vikas Mohan Bhagat, alleged that he had come well in time before 3 pm, but the nomination team did not let him in. Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Election Officer Varun Roojam said when it was exactly 3 pm, he had asked his staff to call all three candidates, who had been waiting outside, to come in and bolt the door of his court room as well as the meeting hall. His staff alleged that the candidate came at 3:08 pm, at which his papers could not be accepted, as per the ECI guidelines. The moment the candidate's papers were not accepted, he and his lawyers started lodging a protest. They even met the DEO in this regard, who refused to accept their papers. The lawyers called their other colleagues from the District Bar Association to put their case strongly before the staff. ADCP-1 Naresh Dogra, too, was called in to check any untoward incident. The lawyers were asked to talk to SDM-2 and the ADCP-1 in the meeting hall. They tried their best till 5:15 pm and even threatened to call a strike against the office tomorrow, but the election staff refused to budge. In another last-minute drama, an Aman Nagar-based resident Varinder Kaur lodged a protest over the acceptance of the candidature of Asha, who had filed papers from Jalandhar Cantonment. The complainant alleged that she had lodged a criminal complaint against the candidate which was still being investigated by the police at the Jalandhar Cantonment police station. Asha’s papers, however, were accepted and at the same time, Varinder’s objections were also received by the election team. Asha, however, maintained that there was so far no FIR lodged against her. The 19 candidates who filed papers today included Jyoti Mann Akshara of AAP, Sukhpuran Singh of SAD (Amritsar), belonging to Kotli Than Singh village of BSP candidate Sukhwinder Kotli, Kamal Thapar, Karnail Singh of Bhartiya Jan Surakhya Party, Amit Jassi, Hans Raj Pabwa of CPI(ML) New Democracy, Manjit Kaur of BSP, Nirmal Singh of SAD (Amritsar), Kewal Kishan, Ajay Kumar Bhagat, Amit JP, Vivek Azad, Ganga Ram of Samajwadi Party, Mela Singh, Asha Akhil of Bharti Hindu Mahasabha, Kuldeep Kumar and Dharminder. Some candidates, who had filed papers earlier, submitted their duplicate sets again. The scrutiny of papers would be done tomorrow. There will be two more days for applying for the withdrawal of candidature with the final picture of the candidates in the fray to be clear on April 12. 64 gunmen attached
with candidates
With 31 candidates in the fray, the police had issued nearly 64 gunmen and two women constables for the security purpose to the candidates till Wednesday afternoon. Three party candidates, including those of SAD, Congress and BSP, had been issued 11 constables each and a Tavera vehicle. Some of the independent candidates like Manjit Kaur of Railway Colony had submitted it in writing that they did not want any security. |
|
Police chalk out plan to recover illegal weapons
Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, April 9 Now, the police are chalking out a plan to check that no one tries to bring illegal weapons in the district. Sources said the Jalandhar Commissionerate Police had issued licenced arms to 6,083 residents, out of which 4,400 licensed arms had been deposited by residents. Similarly, the Jalandhar rural police had issued 7,303 weapons to rural residents, out of which 6,260 arms had been deposited by residents till date. Some of the police officials are of the view that this is just an official data of licenced weapons granted by the city and rural police, but, in fact, there are thousands of illegal or unlicensed weapons owned by criminals or notorious people in the district These unlicensed weapons are mostly used to commit crimes, which will be a major challenge to the police to tackle during the elections. The police felt that they were able to recover these unlicenced weapons only when they arrested criminals after the crime. They said, otherwise, it was very difficult for them to recover such weapons. Sources said after the code of conduct came into force, the rural police had recovered one unlicenced .32 bore revolver with eight cartridges and one rifle with 10 cartridges. Police Commissioner Ishwar Singh said unlicenced arms were a challenge to the police, but it was not easy to find out who possessed these arms, he said, adding that the police were serious on the issue and were chalking out a plan on the same. SP, Detective, HPS Khakh, said unlicenced arms were merely brought to Punjab by migrant labourers from UP and Bihar, where these were available in plenty and at cheaper rates.
|
|
With 35,112 additions, city has 15.48 lakh voters
Jalandhar, April 9 With 6,209 additions from Jalandhar Cantonment alone, the number of electors from this assembly segment has become the highest at 1.95 lakh. This segment also stands apart with a big difference in the male and female voters. Largely comprising Army personnel who have got themselves registered as general voters instead of service voters, Jalandhar Cantonment has 1.05 lakh male voters and 89,763 female voters. Even the new addition has as many as 3,390 men enrolled. The Phillaur assembly segment, which has been represented by the Congress candidate Chaudhary Santokh Singh, has the second highest number of electors. There are 1.92 lakh voters here after the addition of 2,373 new voters. The Jalandhar (West) segment has the lowest number of voters, with the total figure standing at 1.53 lakh. The number includes 80,460 men and 72,712 women. Adampur, where from Lok Sabha nominee Pawan Tinu is a candidate, has the second lowest number of voters at 1.56 lakh. The voters in Nakodar, Shahkot, Kartarpur, Jalandhar Central and Jalandhar North stand at 1.84 lakh, 1.68 lakh, 1.68 lakh, 1.59 lakh and 1.71 lakh, respectively. |
|
Road carpeting at night irks locals
Jalandhar, April 9 Kulwinder Singh, a shopkeeper in the area, said two days ago stones were spread in the area and soil was poured in crevices. “The earth has not settled yet. There has not been spraying of water or use of machines to press the stones. The road is still not ready for upper coating. A small portion of the road, which was constructed earlier needs repair," he said. Onkar Singh, another shopkeeper, said, “It is after so many years that we are finally going to get a metalled road. If it is laid in a day, we can't keep a watch on the quality of material being used for the construction of the road.” Former Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan Kalia said he had received a call from the MC Commissioner who had suggested him to carry out the road work in the night. "I insisted that the work should be done during the day but the contractor went ahead with the work at the Partap Palace end of the road. They are making a mockery of the MC. It seems the MC Commissioner has no control over the department," he said.The work on Garha Road has begun all of a sudden. The 22-feet wide road is being repaired on the either side from BMC Chowk to Defence Colony railway crossing at a cost of Rs 99 lakh. The road, which leads to the bus stand, Green Park, Mota Singh Nagar, Defence Colony, Urban Estate, Cantonment, Golden Avenue, Garha and other localities have been in an extremely bad condition for the past two years. Jagdish Raj Raja, leader of the Opposition in the MC House, and other Congress councillors had held a protest on the road recently. Mayor Sunil Jyoti said the re-carpeting of the road was one of the projects approved for the Jalandhar Cantonment constituency. |
|
Death of porter fails to act as a deterrent
Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, April 9 Several people have been crossing the railway tracks at the Jalandhar City railway station even after this mishap. Among those perpetually committing the offence are many children studying in schools in the vicinity. Unmindful of a train waiting to chug off from a platform and even at times an approaching train, the offenders daily cross over between the platform Nos. 1 and 2. The Railway Protection Force inspector AK Sharma said he had been repeatedly asking his nearly 60-member team to look around for such people and challan them, but the offence continues unabated. The RPF has challaned as many as 250 offenders in the last three months and as many as 1,203 in the last calendar year, clearly implying that there are about 100 offenders who are nabbed each month. All such offenders are challaned under Section 147 of the Railways Act, he said. Those booked have to appear before the Railway Magistrate, who can impose a fine up to Rs 1,000 and punish the guilty for a maximum period of six months. The RPF staff said those indulging in the maximum violation were the labourers who often took along huge bundles and their packaged belongings going homeward and took the risk on their heads. They said that the passengers boarding the Paschim Express were the most common offenders. Sukhwinder Singh, a daily commuter to Amritsar, said crossing over with baggage from tracks was a common problem. He said the Railways authorities should install an escalator here to get rid of the problem.
|
|
‘Terrorism-affected families feel betrayed’
Amritsar, April 9 "The candidates of both Congress and SAD-BJP are playing with the sentiments of the terrorist victim families by airing their statements on the black days of terrorism for their vested interests. While the Congress party had been in the driving seat at the Centre for the last 10 years, the SAD-BJP has also been in power in Punjab for almost last seven years now," he said. "During their respective stints none of the parties have shown any interest in fulfilling the demands of these less fortunate families, whereas a package of Rs 781 crore is pending with the Ministry of Home Affairs since long. They were never released even after numerous reminders and personal meetings with the Congress leaders at the helm for the affairs for the reasons best known to them," said Hastir. Similarly, the BJP had mentioned in its election manifesto 2007 to release a relief package for terrorist victim families of Punjab on the analogy of relief package for 1984 riot victims. Even during the elections of 2012 we were promised by the SAD and BJP leaders that a Welfare Board for Terrorist victims would be constituted, but let alone the Board, the families have been devoid for their monthly pensions for last 4 months, the association said. While demanding that the two major political parties should clarify their stand on the demands of the terrorism affected families, they said they would support only those candidates who would assure them of meeting of their genuine demands within stipulated time frame. |
|
Fish farming in dire straits
Jalandhar, April 9 Nearly 50 farmers have given up fish farming this year so far. As per the Fisheries Department, Jalandhar, there were more than 150 fish farmers in the district last years but their number has come down to 100.
Lovesh Lekhi, a fish farmer of Barha Pind village, said fish farming was a profitable business but it could not survive if the basic need like water was not fulfilled. He is into the business for the past seven years. "We have undertaken fish farming on five hectares of land. For the past two years, we are facing a tough time due erratic power supply. We have approached the Electricity Department several times over the issue and every time they assured us to provide electricity for eight hours but never fulfilled their promise. Fish farming comes under the agriculture sector but we have paid industrial tariffs for power," Lavesh said. "The Punjab Government is not doing much to save fish farmers, whereas many schemes have been introduced for fish farmers in Haryana. Fishery Extension Officer Bikramjit Singh said the government was planning to encourage fish farming in Bathinda,
Mukatsar, Abohar and Fazilka as there was not water crisis. "To encourage people to opt for fish farming in this region, a modal fish pond is being constructed at Kukkar Pind village by the Fisheries Department with a budget of Rs 8.20 lakh. We will teach farmers about the modern fish pond," Bikramjit said. |
|
|
AAP’s Daljit Singh flays Cong policy on FDI
Amritsar, April 9 "The mammoth foreign monoliths are 'monopolists! They are carrying forward the colonial agenda and are modern colonists. They capture, brow-beat and subjugate local competition. India can do without such 'investments'," he said. This morning, he and his supporters were on foot to Vijay Nagar, one of the Amritsar's many middle class suburbs. While asking his rival Capt Amarinder Singh on his party's adamancy for FDI retail, Dr Daljit Singh inquired "Why is Congress hell-bent on bringing FDI in retail in India? Who is going to gain from this venture?" He further said, "It was for all to see how China is dumping its third grade products in Asian countries especially South Asia. In Pakistan, China has captured even their 'vehicle number plating' business. Congress should open its eyes and not take egoistic decisions that go against the mettle of the country." He said, "Indians are not laggards. If we like some foreign models and patterns why can't our local industry and enterprising top brains implement those projects in India on their own with technical help from other countries?"
|
|
|
Centre extended step-motherly treatment to Punjab: Naresh
Gujral
Rachna Khaira Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, April 9 “My father IK Gujral never approached anybody for favour. But for Punjab, he went to meet Manmohan Singh with a request to convert the Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) into a medical college. The Prime Minister turned down his request on the pretext of not having adequate funds for the project,” said Gujral. Though Gujral has donated heavily to the Civil Hospital in the past few years for the construction of public toilets and new equipment like digital X-ray machines and two dialysis machines, the hospital authorities failed to maintain them due to the inadequate maintenance fund provided by the state government. The three ventilators in the trauma centre of the Civil Hospital under the Punjab Health System Corporation (PHSC) remain out of order for the most of time. In the recent past, many people lost their lives due to the malfunctioning of the ventilators. Even the hospital does not have a single potable water point for patients and their attendants. Patients are being forced to drink water from the taps in public toilets. Sources at the hospital said though the Rajya Sabha member donated generously every now and then for new equipment, it had become a burden to maintain them.
|
|
|
Parents protest hike in school fee, block road traffic
Jalandhar, April 9 The parents first sat on a dharna outside the school and later moved to the Sodal crossing after their complaints went unheard. While parents laid rungs on the road as they sat protesting, they could be moved from the site only after the intervention of SP (North) Satish Malhotra in the month. Meanwhile, traffic on the Sodal Road remained held up for about an hour and many commuters faced a lot of inconvenience. Some of the passersby couldn’t even make through despite emergencies. The affected parents said the fee had been hiked from Rs 4,000 to Rs 11,000 and the book prices had also been hiked immensely. Reacting to protests, school principal Vibha
Sharda, said, “Many of parents daily cite they can’t pay the fee because of the lack of money or resources. While their kids carry Rs 10 to Rs 50 in their pocket daily, they complain about the school fee. Ours is a public school, we don’t get any government grants and the operational costs are also many. We have only nominally increased the fee. To give quality education to their wards, parents should at least bear with this much.” |
|
|
No check on roadside quacks in city
Jalandhar, April 9 Talking to The Tribune, a Jalandhar-based quack, Baba Kesar Singh, said he had been working as a quack for the past 25 years. "I have a solution for all sexual problems. Many patients visit me every day and I guarantee them proper treatment," he added. He said he prepared medicines on his own. He gets raw material like herbs for medicines from all over India. "I learnt to make such medicines from a guru who was famous in the region," he said. He said he always offered a free trial and then asked for money. When asked, whether he had any certificate or licence to practice as a quack, he said he had a certificate but was reluctant to show it. Despite the fact the local Health Department has tighten a noose around such people, they can be seen often in the city . When contacted, Chief Medical Officer Dr RL Bassan, said, "Our teams conduct raids when someone complains about quacks. Special instructions have been given to doctors to keep a check on such people . A raid was conducted under my supervision a few years ago many quacks were caught. |
|
|
Campus
notes Students of the biotechnology department at Lyallpur Khalsa College were apprised of genetically modified crops during a seminar on Wednesday. The key speaker during the seminar was Dr Pawan Kumar Malhotra from PAU, Ludhiana. While addressing the students, he said 90 per cent the cotton being produced in India was BT or biotechnologically modified and it was quite safe for human use. He mentioned that genetically modified varieties of vitamin-rich golden rice and GM tomato with a longer shelf life were being successfully cultivated. Dr Malhotra added that GM vaccines were also being produced as antidote for various diseases. Welcoming the guest, College Principal Dr GS Samra said if the technology was used appropriately, the quality of human life could be improved — TNS
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
After Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal promised Jalandhar industrialists to complete the repair of roads by April 15, the municipal corporation authorities are pressurising the contractors to meet the deadline.
Even after Jalandhar Central MLA Manoranjan Kalia objected to the re-carpeting of roads in his constituency at night, the contractors are continuing with the work even after the dusk.
Jalandhar, April 9
Naresh Gujral, a Rajya Sabha member of the Shiromani Akali Dal, held the Centre responsible for the pitiable condition of health services in the district. While talking to Jalandhar Tribune, he alleged that the Centre had always extended a step-motherly treatment to the state on the issue of providing better health services in the state.
Jalandhar, April 9
