Jalandhar, June 14
After the drubbing of the SAD-BJP alliance candidate from the Jalandhar (Reserve) parliamentary constituency, now the Congress is all set to corner the alliance in the 
Municipal Corporation (MC) House.

Perturbed over Mayor Sunil Jyoti’s attitude of running the House as per his “whims and fancies”, the Congress leader of councillors in the MC house, Jagdish Raja, said it had been more than two months since the general House meeting was held, but the Mayor was still not convening the meeting for reasons best known to him. He has given indications that in case the general house meeting was not called, the Congress may knock the doors of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Notably, the pathetic condition of the city roads, besides the failure of the civic body to provide basic facilities to people was the major election issue that badly affected the SAD-BJP combine. “It is strange that even after facing defeat in the elections, the Mayor is not bothered to change his style of functioning. The last general house meeting was the budget meeting held on March 24 this year. Now, it has been almost a month since the election results were declared. Despite repeated requests, the general House meeting is not been convened,” said Jagdish.

Accusing the Mayor of playing in the hands of bureaucrats, Jagdish said the general House meeting was the one forum where the councillors of all 60 municipal wards could raise the issues and the problems in their respective wards. “The house meeting is the best way to make the municipal officials accountable and that is why these officials advise the Mayor not to convene the meeting on a monthly basis,” he claimed, adding that presently several city areas were grappling with the problem of water scarcity. “No one in the Corporation seems concerned with the plight of the common people. I will discuss the matter with seniors in my party and if required, the Congress will not hesitate to take legal recourse,” Jagdish said.

Meanwhile, despite repeated attempts, Mayor Sunil Jyoti was not available for comments.

Jalandhar, June 14
It has been a sheer harassment for the allottees of the Bibi Bhani complex who had invested their hard-earned money for the purchase of LIG flats near Guru Amar Dass Nagar here about five years ago. They are yet to get the possession of the same. The deadline of the project, which had got started on November 17, 2009, was in May 16, 2011.

A visit to the site shows a grim picture. A coat of paint which has been done on half of the flats has already started coming out and the others are waiting for a similar finishing. The sanitary and kitchen fittings are yet to be done. Cement flooring, too, has been done for only one block of the flats, while the remaining still have only stones spread across. One side of the flats is also yet to get door and window fittings.

Even a board that earlier displayed the salient features of the scheme has got badly rusted with nothing readable on it. There is wild growth all around with no roads, sewage or streetlight system installed yet. The ground floors of the flats have animal dung spread all around. Some of the rooms perhaps are also being used by drug addicts, as they have left trails of residue behind.

While the allottees have blamed the authorities for having failed to meet the deadline of the construction work, the authorities have been putting blame on the contractor. SE of JIT, Mukul Soni, said a meeting on the project had been held last week in which the contractor had been blacklisted. “We have sent the file to the government for further instructions,” he said.

The basic civic work sans fitting and finishing work was over since October 2011, but since then, the project had been going slow with no signs of work at the site for the past nearly a year. The allottees have been fuming over the problem. BS Saini, an allottee, said, “The delay in giving possession of flats has been inordinate.”

Jalandhar, June 14
It, perhaps, has been the worst-ever response to any government housing project so far in the city. Even as the Jalandhar Improvement Trust (JIT) had invited applications for 119 super deluxe flats which are to come up in Surya Enclave, it has got only 19 responses.

Clearly, there will be no competition among the applicants, who will easily get a flat allotted against each application. The JIT authorities have also, accordingly, decided to hold draw for just one out of the six blocks of the flats, which it plans to construct in the plan.

The JIT officials have said that since the applications for the 10-storeyed HIG flats, each costing Rs 67 lakh and covering a floor area of 2,660 sq feet, had been invited on March 3 just two days ahead of the implementation of the election code, the response had remained poor. However, insiders said a poor track record of the JIT officials in dealing with allottees and giving them possession late had been a problem. Also pending litigations, delay in getting departmental clearances for starting projects and blocking of investors' money were some of the reasons for people showing little interest.

Owing to a pending litigation over the acquisition of the land, an approach road to the flats was yet to be completed. A 120-foot road connecting Old GT Road from the Chugitti side to the Domoria ROB had not been completed, as the matter was pending in the Punjab and Haryana High Court with the next date falling on September 29.

As per the plans, 119 flats were to come up in six circular blocks. Each flat has been planned to have three bedrooms, a lobby, and a drawing room with a provision of 24x7 power supply and security. The plan envisages two flats per floor on each block with 10 feet wide circulation in between, two lifts in each floor, including one stretcher lift and fire escape bridges, on alternate floors, separate club with indoor swimming pool facility and separate halls for get-togethers, CCTV for entrance at each floor, flooring in rooms and balconies with vitrified tiles and anti-skid tiles in toilet of superior brands, bathroom and kitchen fittings from premium range of superior brands.

Mukul Soni, SE, JIT, said the response had been perhaps poor because elections came midway. "The file for the conduct of the draw has been moved to the chairman, who will fix a date for the same," he said. He added that only one tower would be constructed for the time being. He further said that tenders for the part of the approach road which was not covered under litigation would be floated soon.

Jalandhar, June 14
The Punjab Pradesh Congress has demanded the formation of a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the killings of innocent Hindus for 13 years during the dark days of terrorism in Punjab.

Demanding the formation of the SIT, Congress spokesperson Nimisha Mehta said a special team should be set up in Punjab to probe the killings of the Hindus. "Also a separate SIT should be constituted to probe the alleged fake encounters of innocent Sikh youths by officials of the Punjab Police to either take revenge or grab medals. The guilty officials should be punished by the state government," said Nimisha.

Nimisha stated that Sukhbir had always played politics on the issue of 1984 anti-Sikh riots. "Sukhbir should not forget that he has been chosen by the people of Punjab. During the dark days of terrorism, more than 35,000 Hindus were killed in Punjab. Has he ever expressed grief on those merciless killings or taken a step to provide justice to them?" she questioned.

The Congress spokesperson further said that Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had always alleged about fake encounters of Sikh youths by the Punjab Police during the black era of terrorism in Punjab and had always tried to politically exploit the issue, adding that despite being in power for seven years now, no investigation had been initiated to bring out the truth.

Lambasting the BJP in Punjab, Nimisha said the party had always projected itself as a Hindu nationalist party, but why the BJP had not raised the issue of Hindu killings in Punjab. "Presently, the BJP government is there in the Centre and Punjab. What is the hurdle in initiating a probe into the sad issue of killings of Hindus. Sukhbir Badal should also explain why his party is giving plum positions to SAD leaders who have been attending bhog ceremonies of terrorists," she asked.

Jalandhar, June 14
An engineer with an MBA degree, Jalandhar-based Raghoo Puri’s drive to do something for the country made him appear for the Civil Services examination in 2012 and in his second attempt in 2013, he got the 110th all-India rank in the reputed exam.

Pursuing a lucrative job with Mahindra and Mahindra in Mumbai, Raghoo recently resigned from his job to take up his long-nurtured dream of being able to formulate policies for the betterment of the nation.

While he comes from a business family - his father Rajesh Puri and uncle run a hotel in the city - he was never interested in the family business, as he says his joint family was taking good care of it.

Having pursued engineering in bio-technology from Panjab University, Chandigarh, he later joined the Management Development Institute in Gurgaon, where he was lauded for his organisational skills.

But the final resolution that IAS was his calling came during his training for Mahindra and Mahindra.

“I was the secretary for an event at MDI wherein I was managing 50 people working under me. One of the visiting IAS officers lauded me and said I would make a good IAS officer. Later, during my training for my job in Rajasthan, we were seeing the government’s departmental working of the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan during a visit to a village. It was then that I realised I required to do that,” Raghoo said.

Revealing his future plans and approach for the job he has got for himself, Raghoo (28) says, “Usually if we want to do something for society, we are free to do it. We can help or provide for someone’s needs. But the craze for IAS is for one prime reason. It gives you the discretion to implement effective decision on a wider level. A proper policy goes a long way in changing people’s lives. You can’t do that through mere activism. This is why I had been aiming for it. I hope I am of great service to people in whichever area I am posted.”

Jalandhar, June 14
After the state government decided to postpone the implementation of the Solid Waste Management Project, the Opposition today came out with a strong message that the government must take the Congress leaders to other urban local bodies’ clusters to demonstrate how the project was being executed there.

Congress leaders led by MP Chaudhary Santokh Singh, former Local Bodies Minister Chaudhary Jagjit Singh, District Congress Committee (urban) president Rajinder Beri, District Congress Committee (rural) president Jagbir Brar, leader of the Opposition in the House of Municipal Corporation Jagdish Raj Raja and a group of councillors held a meeting to lodge a protest in this regard.

The Congress leaders demanded that the project be taken far away from the residential areas so that the lives of the people residing around it was not affected. They said the residents of Jamsher, where a proposed incineration plant was to be set up, would be badly affected. They have already been lodging a protest in this regard.

“Around 15 years ago, the MC had forcibly evicted dairy owners from the city areas and shifted them to Jamsher. Now the same site has been selected for a waste management plant, which is not justified. The health of animals and residents of the entire city, which gets milk supplies from dairies located in Jamsher, will be affected by the move,” said former Jalandhar Cantonment MLA Jagbir Brar.

The leaders said the past experience of the MC regarding garbage dumping site was not good. There had been complaints of ground water contamination in Wariana village because of the huge garbage pile up.

The Congress councillors have also demanded the scientific disposal of waste as the method of burning fuel for production of electricity would cause pollution.

They said every word of the safai karamcharis, who have been cleaning the city for the past 50 years, must be heard carefully before taking any harsh step.

Jalandhar, June 14
Ration Depot Holders’ Union Punjab at a meeting decided to stage a demonstration all over the state to get their demands fulfilled. Union member Ranjit Singh said depot holders wanted the ration to be provided on monthly basis. At present, the ration is supplied after a span of six months. He said the government was going to bring more changes under which ration would be provided after 11 months.

“The ration depot holders have not been given their commission and other expenditure by the Food and Civil Supply Department. But the food and civil supply inspectors have got the funds for the same,” added Ranjit.

He said the union representatives had taken up the matter with Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal before the Lok Sabha elections in a meeting held at Bathinda. The Deputy CM had assured that their issues would be addressed after the elections. More than a month has passed since the elections, but nothing has been done to fulfil their genuine demands, said Ranjit. “If the state government fails to meet our demands, we will stop cooperating with the food and civil supply inspectors, apart from staging a demonstrations,” he added.

The meeting was presided over by Surinder Singh Ludhiana in which Janak Raj Patiala and Surinder Singh Shinda were unanimously elected patron and president, respectively.

Jalandhar, June 14
In a district, which has seen an alarming number of accidents in the recent past and has a footfall of thousands of patients at the Civil Hospital per day, the blood bank at the Civil Hospital is presently battling with a crisis.

While the holiday season usually brings sweat on the brows of doctors, this time the situation is more sensitive.

For the blood bank, which officials say has a holding capacity of as many as 600 units of blood, the Civil Hospital has only 334 units of blood in its stock. That too, after the hospital authorities conducted blood donation camps during the last two to three days to make up for an acute shortage during which blood wasn’t even provided to the hospital’s own patients.

Even as the officials say at any given time their deposition target (by voluntary donors) for the units of bloods collected during any given month is 800 to 900, the Jalandhar blood bank certainly has a lot of catching up to do.

There are 13 licensed blood banks in the district. The local Civil Hospital and the blood bank at Nakodar are the only licensed government blood banks.

The rest are private licensed blood banks. The dependence of patients on the Civil Hospital blood bank is heavy as it is perceived to be the safest in the city.

A few days back, patients from the maternity ward requiring blood from negative groups had to make arrangements from elsewhere because the Civil Hospital was out of these blood groups. Similar exigencies were faced by thalassaemia patients and patients in emergency as well as in other wards of the hospital.

Senior officials said the OPD of maternity patients per day was about 100 to 150. Around 50 per cent of pregnant women were anaemic. In cases of surgery, anaemic women required immediate blood.

A week ago, when blood units stocked in the blood bank dropped to under 100, the hospital was making do with one unit of blood for three different patients undergoing surgeries in the maternity ward.

Sources said in the recent crisis, blood was arranged from blood banks in Nawanshahr, PIMS and private blood banks. Doctors arranged funds on personal basis because blood from private sources was available only on payment.

Blood Transfusion Officer, Dr Gagandeep Singh, said, “We were a bit short on May 28 and that was primarily due to the closing of educational institutions and thus lack of voluntary blood donors, who are our primary source of blood. On an average, the consumption of blood units at the Civil Hospital per day is 15 to 20 units and the back-up blood requirement in case of a disaster or some other emergency at the hospital is not more than 60 to 100 units. We always have that much. However, in the past three days, some hectic blood donation camps have been organised.

“We can now say the situation at the hospital is safe in terms of meeting the blood requirements of patients at the Civil Hospital.”

Discussing a plan to avoid similar emergencies in future, he said, “We are planning a calendar for coming years wherein regular camps will be held to arrange blood even when educational institutes are closed.”

Civil Surgeon RL Bassan could not be contacted for his comments.

Prof Lakhbir Singh, president of Pahal, an NGO, said, “At least 50,000 blood units are required yearly across the district. Presently the heaviest reliance is on the licensed blood banks and among them, primarily, the Civil Hospital blood bank. During an emergency in the previous days, the crisis was widespread in the district. I had patients calling me, who were being charged exorbitantly for blood. In private circles, those who provide donors are charged Rs 1,000, but those not providing any donor for blood are charged Rs 2,500. The government has to get strict about making available only safe blood, the availability of more professional donors and to mobilise voluntary blood donors to beat the occasional blood crisis in the district.”

Jalandhar, June 14
Desh Bhagat Yadgar Hall Committee is all set to organise a three-day Sikhiarthi Chetna Camp to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Komagata Maru incident.

Dr Raghbir Kaur, general secretary of committee, said the camp would be organised from June 27 to 29 at Desh Bhagat Yadgar Hall and all the preparation in this regards were complete. People from all over the state would participate in this camp. Different student organisations and NGOs are making efforts to bring more and more people in the camp, added Dr Raghbir.

She said the camp would play a crucial role in providing positive direction to today’s youth. A documentary film by People’s Voice would be screened on June 27, theatre plays would be staged by the Styles Art Association and the YUVA Theatre group on June 28. Certificates will be distributed among the participants on June 29.

Jalandhar, June 14
A short-term course on “Data analysis and soft computing (DASC-2014)” organised by the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Dr BR Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, concluded here yesterday.

The five-day course started from June 9. The last talk of the course was delivered by Dr AL Sangal, principal, DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology, Jalandhar, on “Importance of secured exchange of data”.

Eminent resource persons from academia and industry delivered talks, which covered a variety of research-oriented topics related to the fields of data analysis and soft computing techniques, such as genetic algorithms and applications, artificial neural networks, fuzzy logic, natural language processing, computing trends, big data, social network data analysis and modelling and computational science.

Dr Maninder Singh, professor, TIET Patiala, spoke on social network data analysis, Dr Kamlesh Dutta, professor, NIT Hamirpur, discussed genetic algorithms and applications and Dr Hardeep Singh, professor, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, spoke on computing trends and big data.

A hands on training session using statistical data analysis tool by Dr Geeta Sikka, associate professor, Department of CSE, for exercising techniques such as clustering and outlier analysis, and a demonstration of R-Tool for data analysis by Dr Kamlesh Dutta gave an important dimension to the course.

A couple of sessions were also devoted to the discussion on the art of performing basic research and finding ways to tackle the mental barriers encountered while performing a meaningful research work.

Dr Renu Dhir, chief coordinator and HOD (CSE), and other coordinators, honoured Dr AL Sangal. A valedictory session was held in which Dr Harsh Verma, Dr Geeta Sikka and Dr Paramvir Singh were also present.