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ROAD CONSTRUCTION WORK
Bacchus lovers troubled as vends go dry
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After landlines, BSNL mobiles to sing election tune
Cong councillors flay Mayor on
Rs 13-cr patchwork issue
District Transport Office nets Rs 96.71 crore
Karampal elected as bar assn president
Organic farmers seek govt help in marketing
This techie loves taking deep creative dips
City lawyer clears PCS (Judicial) exam
AAP candidate gets threatening call
Govt officials pledge to vote
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MC fails to meet its April 15 deadline
Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, April 15 Huge piles of construction material can still be spotted along Ladowali Road, Garha Road, Police Lines Road and 120 feet road with work still waiting to begin. Only a part of the raised divider has been constructed on the Garha Road, with the road having deep craters yet to be scrapped and relaid. Sukhbir Badal, during a meeting with industrialists at New Jawahar Nagar on April 1, had to apologise for the badly potholed roads in the city, saying they would have to wait for just 15 more days. The next day he had held a meeting with Mayor Sunil Jyoti and party councillors, asking them to ensure the progress of work and completion of work in a fortnight’s time. Opposition's take
Congress councillors, led by Leader of the Opposition Jagdish Raj Raja, on Tuesday alleged that works in their areas were yet to begin. Raja was quick enough to say, “The Mayor had challenged me that the work would be completed by April 15 and that I should be ready to quit. Now that he has not been able to meet the deadline, I instead urge him to quit”. Mayor's take
On the issue of not having been able to meet the deadline of April 15, the Mayor said, “The plants for the manufacture of road material had started functioning on March 15. The work effectively began two days later. The work started in full swing after a week. Then there have been rains, intermittently wasting our three-four days. But now we have managed to complete the work on 10-12 main damaged roads, which have been done in the first priority list which included Kapurthala Road, Nangal Shama road and Cool Road. Now we have moved on to the second phase which includes internal road.” The MC Commissioner has sought the permission of the EC for the completion of the pending tender work for road laying. Mayor Sunil Jyoti said, “We have sought permission because if we continue the tendering work after May 17 when the election code is likely to be lifted, the road work will actually begin by mid-June. The rains would just be around at that time which again would be a problem. So we have sought permission so that the work should be expedited in public interest.” |
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Bacchus lovers troubled as vends go dry
Jalandhar, April 15 Interestingly, some of the brands are available in small packing instead of full packing, forcing booze lovers to shell out more from their pocket. Buying a small packing is much costlier than a full bottle. Booze lovers wanting a full bottle are forced to shell out more bucks for buying small bottles. Sources told The Tribune that city had fourteen zones in which there were 322-liquor vends. A survey of all vends by the correspondent showed that all outlets were running short of liquor stock. Sources revealed that liquor vends were having almost all brands of country made liquor but they were short of English brands. The sources said after winning draw of liquor vends, all contractors were required to fulfil formalities to get L1 and L13 permits. L1 permit is for Indian Made Foreign Liquor
(IMFL) while L13 permit is for Punjab Made Liquor (PML). An Excise Department official on condition of anonymity said after the draw of liquor vends, wine contractors had to apply for permit like L1 and L13 for retail, L2 and L14 for wholesale, depending on their choice. Once a contractor gets the permit, he can lift stock of liquor from mills as per his quota and can sells the same in the market. “As per my knowledge, some of the liquor contractors in the city are still awaiting permits as they have not completed the formalities required for the same. A wine contractor cannot sell liquor legally in retail or wholesale until he gets the permit,” the official said. “However, if any liquor vend is selling liquor without getting retail permit, it means he is violating excise rules and is liable to be
penalised,” added the official. “Another reason for less stock at liquor vends is delay in approving the labels on brands. Unless the labels suggested by companies are approved by the government, liquor cannot be launched in the market from liquor mills,” said the excise official. One of the wine contractors requesting anonymity alleged that delay in clearing the label by the government was causing huge dent on their daily liquor sale. The government should speed up the process of clearing labels so that all brands could be sold. “I have inquired from several wine shops, but I could not get the brand of my choice. Many wine shops are having only small packing, which cost more than buying a full bottle of liquor,” Gaurav Sama, a booze lover said. |
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After landlines, BSNL mobiles to sing election tune
Jalandhar, April 15 “We had earlier received a request from the DC to start a voice messaging service on our landline phones by which people, on picking up the handset, would hear a message from the DC to cast their vote on the polling
day. Recently, we had started the service from one of our exchanges at Focal Point and very shortly, we will start it in another one too,” said
SK Nigam, General Manager, BSNL (Jalandhar Division). He also, however, informed that looking at the response they, along with the administration, had now decided to extend the service to 4.5 lakh mobile users as well. Under the plan, the
message ‘Vote on April 30’ would keep on flashing on all mobiles of the BSNL subscribers till the polling day. “Being a government enterprise,
it is also our moral duty to support the district administration to motivate the people to cast their vote,” said Nigam. To register the highest poll percentage in the district, the district administration has planned various voter awareness campaigns for the last
few days. Apart from launching the signature campaign, various mass contact programmes have also been organised under the systematic voters education and
electoral participation (SVEEP) programmes. Along with the district administration, many
corporate and private companies in the district have also come forward to offer discount to
the people who would cast their vote on the polling day. Also sources in the civil administration said that an innovative special drive had been planned to motivate the people by roping in Pakhar Singh, a 106-year-old man from the district who is probably the oldest voter of India, by making him appeal to all the people to cast their vote on April 30. |
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Cong councillors flay Mayor on
Rs 13-cr patchwork issue
Jalandhar, April 15 He, along with other District Congress Committee (Urban) chief Rajinder Beri and 10 party councillors, today, at a press conference this evening, said several details of the money spent were without dates, which further raised suspicion on He has specifically quoted the work numbers in the list of 1 to 260. He said 16 works in the list were out of the purview of the patchwork definition. Raja further pointed out, "The works 20, 155, 172, 181, 217, 219, 220 and 221 pertain to horticulture and green belt development and he wondered how these could be mentioned under the road patchwork list. Even there are some streetlight works in the list which were included in the serial numbers 144, 238 and 239. Even the works for installing cat's eyes and road marking have been put up on serial numbers 119, 128, 136 and 250." He further said that the works for the repair of houses and government buildings, too, had been listed on seven points. He has further alleged that even the works for the cremation ground repair and community centre repair had been put in the same list on numbers 120, 129, 130, 163-165 and 170. The councillors have alleged that he found violation of rules in the list by putting all these works in the patchwork list, which the staff or the Mayor must clarify. |
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District Transport Office nets Rs 96.71 crore
Jalandhar, April 15
On the contrary, there had been a big spurt in the tax and fee collection of the department in 2012-13, with the annual figures rising by a huge difference of Rs 25 crore. The total amount netted in the fiscal year 2011-12 stood at just Rs 69.38 crore. The staff of the department revealed that the collection on account of compounding fee stood at just Rs 1.14 crore this year against a collection of Rs 3.18 crore last year and Rs 2.06 crore in 2011-12. Since officials on the posts of the challaning authorities, including the District Transport Officer and Additional District Transport Officer, kept rotating, there was hardly any checking of illegally plying schoolbuses and autorickshaws in the city in the last three quarters, with recovery on this account remaining quite low. Similarly, the collection of Motor Vehicle Tax also dipped to less than half. The tax collected in this head stood at Rs 77.59 crore last year, which came down to just Rs 33.26 crore this year. Such a collection also increases when commercially plying vehicles are checked on road and challans for pending tax are issued, the department staff said. Various other taxes and fee, including those for the issuance of licences and registration of vehicles, has, however, gone up by nearly 10 times. The amount collected under such revenue heads stood at Rs 6.73 crore last time, but has jumped up to Rs 62.31 crore now, to at least equalise the total revenue collection made in the two subsequent years. Ever since PCS officer Dalwinder Jit Singh had been transferred in October last year, there has been no regular DTO here. The department staff had been handling the post ever since. While it was Kehar Singh on the post earlier, then it was JS Dhillon. The government had recently appointed SDM-2 Paramjit Singh on the post, but the officer has been able to spend very little time in this office owing to his poll duties.
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Karampal elected as bar assn president
Jalandhar April 15 Gill said he was also elected secretary of the DBA in 2003 and 2004 respectively. He claimed that during his stint as secretary of the DBA, he started a special welfare fund, which was used by lawyers at the time of urgency. He had also raised the issue of bar chambers during his tenure. “I will religiously rake up the issue of bar chambers which is the need of the hour. Many of my colleagues do not have any sitting arrangements due to the shortage of bar chambers,” he said, adding that the issue of chambers was his top priority. Gill said presently the district courts had only 350 chambers, but it required at least 200 more. He said he would raise the issue before the higher authorities so that the facility could be extended to all the lawyers in future. Three executive members, including Pandit Ved Vyas, Gurmit Singh and Maninder Singh, were also elected as unopposed.
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Organic farmers seek govt help in marketing
Jalandhjar, April 15 Avtar Singh of Charak village said he had been into organic farming for the past 12 years and he was satisfied with his produce. He said organic jaggery and turmeric were very much in demand. “People approach us for these products. Last year we produced 65 quintal jaggery, but the demand exceeded the supply,” he added. Avtar, who owns an organic farm called Bhangu Organic Farm said he gave wheat and other products to consumers for trying so that they could test them and start appreciating organic products. He said he had 12 acres of land and all his land was under organic farming. “I grow organic products such as sugarcane and potatoes, which are high in demand. However, the government’s help is necessary to market our products on a large scale,” he added. Jaspal Singh of Musewal village said he had 15 acres of land, which was under organic farming for the past 10 years. Although, he was a certified organic farmer from the Institute of Marketecology (IMO), which is an international organisation, he finds it difficult to get right price for his produce. “I have more than three tonnes of organic turmeric in my store. Due to lack of proper marketing and right price, I am unable to sell my produce,” he said, adding that organic products were more nutritious than other products. Chief Agriculture Officer Dr Suttantar Kumar said though the department provided help to all farmers whether organic or inorganic, they had no programme to provide assistance in the marketing of organic products. |
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This techie loves taking deep creative dips
Jalandhar, April 15 He claims that more than 200 copies of the novel have been sold after it was made available online on December 11, 2013. Originally from Andhra Pradesh, Sarwagna said, in his novel, a demon and an angel break all rules and end up falling in love with each other, notwithstanding their natural animosity. “It took me four months to write the novel and I had completed it by the end of January 2013. Thereafter, I spent a lot of time looking for publishers. After being rejected by nearly 7 publishers, in April 2013 I got calls from three publishers, including Mumbai-based Lead Start Publishers, which I opted eventually. I have experienced that finding publishers is harder than writing.” Earlier, Sarwagna had written a novel titled ‘The Army of Saints’, which was never published. He said he had put that novel on a website, where he got nearly 2,000 readers with positive comments. “I spend more time on writing creative stuff than on my course studies. Whatever I do in the classroom is enough for B Tech, however, I work hard and get incredible support from teachers and friends during my examinations,” he said. “I always wanted to opt for a creative field, although my parents wanted me to join B Tech as they were a little afraid that I might not get success in the writing profession. Now, my only aim is to be a writer, either a script writer or a novelist.” Throwing light on his future projects, Sarwagna said he had two projects in pipeline. “I am going to come up with a sequel of this novel very soon. I would also write a novel titled ‘A Girl I Cheated Everyday’ on women’s harassment.
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City lawyer clears PCS (Judicial) exam
Jalandhar, April 15 He did his basic schooling from the Shakti Model School at Guru
Nanakpura, where he studied till fifth standard. He also studied at the Doaba Khalsa School and did his X+II from the Government Senior Secondary School, Ladowali Road. After completing his schooling, he did MA (economics) from Lyallpur Khalsa College and finally completed his law from Guru Nanak Dev University Regional Campus at Basti
Nau. He appeared for the PCS (Judicial) examination in 2010, 2011 and finally in 2013. He gives credit for his success to his father Premnath Hans, superintendent in the AYUSH Department. “For at least four years, I was in a preparatory phase, which included a couple of failed attempts. But my father never pressurised me to work or give up trying for exams. His support kept me going and I finally cleared the
exam.” Chandan also thanked Prof Subhash Chyander Sharma, principal of the local Law College for coaching him for exams.
Chandan has been associated with social activities and is known for a charitable bent of mind among peers. He suffered a setback when his mother passed away in 2010, but he managed to channelise his energy in studies. Criminal law is his favoured field. He often helps victims of crimes by getting them support from the police. He now aims at putting his 100 per cent into the upcoming training. |
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AAP candidate gets threatening call
Jalandhar, April 15 Talking to The Tribune, Mann said someone called on her mobile number at 3 pm this evening. The call was attended by her worker Mohinder Pal. The caller told Mahinder that the life of AAP candidate from the Jalandhar parliamentary constituency Jyoti Mann was under threat and she (Jyoti) should inform Arvind Kejriwal about the same. The caller had told his name as Karan, but didn't reveal anything else about his whereabouts. Taking the call seriously, the AAP workers submitted a written complaint to the SDM and sought action against the miscreants. Jyoti termed it as a handiwork of some miscreant who wanted to dissuade her from politics. She, however, said that she was not scared of the life-threatening call and would continue to be in the battleground of the Lok Sabha election. |
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Govt officials pledge to vote
Jalandhar, April 15 In the MC office, Joint Commissioner Gurmeet Singh administered the oath to the nearly 200 staff members. The staff took oath of not falling prey to the enticements given by candidates for casting vote in their favour.
— TNS |
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Having failed to meet the April 15 deadline given by Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal to the Municipal Corporation (MC) authorities for the completion of road construction work in the city, the delay has come as another embarrassment for the ruling alliance.
Congress councillors today flayed Mayor Sunil Jyoti again on the issue of the Rs 13 crore spent on the patchwork of city roads last year.
The councillors, led by the Leader of Opposition Jagdish Raj Raja, said while they had on April 10 submitted before SE (B&R) that they be given the details of the Rs 36 crore spent on road paving and Rs 13 crore spent on patch work last year, the MC authorities had, instead, chosen to upload the detailed list on the official website.
Not having a regular District Transport Officer (DTO) in Jalandhar for most of the time of the last financial year has resulted in the annual revenue collection of the department going up just marginally by Rs 1.4 crore.
Being one of the highest revenue generation departments, the District Transport Office has fetched the state exchequer an amount of nearly Rs 96.71 crore in the current financial year, vis-a-vis Rs 95.30 crore last year.
Jyoti Mann, the candidate of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the Lok Sabha elections, today received a life-threatening call from some unknown number.
She, along with her party workers, submitted a written complaint to the SDM Neeraj Kumar and demanded action against the miscreant.
