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Passports of 249 people withheld
Post Iraq developments, police set to tighten noose around travel agents
Financial aid comes for IIT heroes Amit and Sumit from various quarters
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Qazi Mandi tops AIDS patients’ list
Last date for meritorious school extended to June 30
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Passports of 249 people withheld
All of them have now been put in the prior approval category (PAC) for two years under which the MEA would seek the prior approval of the Regional Passport Office in Jalandhar before issuing them passports from any of their other offices in India. First information reports (FIRs) have also been registered in Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur, but the police of Kapurthala and Jalandhar are yet to register a case in the matter that has come to light at the same time in various districts. The SSP of Kapurthala has sought certain clarifications from the Regional Passport Office before filing the FIR against the accused in their area. “The defaulters have been put in the PA category so that they cannot get the passports issued from any other passport office in India by again submitting fake documents. Now, the ministry would first seek approval from us before issuing them their passports. It was only after two years that they could again apply for a fresh passport,” confirmed Harmanbir Singh Gill of the Regional Passport Office at Jalandhar. He also said that presently, the police were trying to explore whether the fraud had been committed intentionally by these people or had been effected by agents. |
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Post Iraq developments, police set to tighten noose around travel agents
Jalandhar, June 21 Going through the rising number of complaints being received against the unscrupulous travel agents, Police Commissioner Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh has ordered the junior officers to scan all past complaints lying pending against travel agents and speed up the investigation in the same to bring the guilty agents behind bars. Singh recently conducted a meeting with his officers and strictly told them to look into the complaints against travel agents. He also cautioned the officers to act smart if anyone files complaints against travel agents. The Police Commissioner said that everyday, the city police was receiving four to five complaints, hence the figures of complaints would be around 2,000 in a year. “Following the Iraq tragedy in which the role of some unscrupulous travel agents has come to the fore, I have told junior officers to scan all past complaints against travel agents and take immediate and required legal action as per the merit of the case.” When asked whether inquiries being conducted into the travel frauds cases were slow, he said though there were a large number of complaints being received from victims against travel agents, in many cases, people also file fake complaints. “Investigation takes time, as the police has to collect evidence and establish whether the allegations being levelled against travel agents were true. The police move ahead in registering an FIR only after getting enough evidence against agent,” he revealed. In many cases, kin of the youths stuck in Iraq have alleged that travel agents had promised to send their kin to Dubai, but they eventually took them to Iraq. After the issue came into limelight, many travel agents have reportedly shut down their business premises and have gone underground. DCP, Jalandhar, Naveen Singla said after the issue of Iraq cropped up, complaints against travel agents had started pouring in. Although there was no complaint pertaining to Iraq fraud in Jalandhar, people, who were earlier shying away in complaining against the agents, had been coming forward. “There is one immigration firm named Bala ji travels against whom over 50 complaints of travel fraud have been received in a few days. The police have now speeded up the investigation in all cases and the guilty will not be spared,” he added. Fact file
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Financial aid comes for IIT heroes Amit and Sumit from various quarters
Jalandhar, June 21 The education minister, at an event held here this morning, also took their number and said help would be provided to them. Having cleared the counselling for IIT Kharagpur, Amit and Sumit couldn’t study there, as they did not have money for admissions. Their father, Jeetendra Kumar, runs a tea vend at Chugitti Chowk here. But they did not give up on their dream and cracked the JEE exam again. While last year, their ranks were 1,600 (Amit) and 1,800 (Sumit), this year Sumit got 809th rank and Amit got 2014th rank in the JEE (Advanced) exam. The Tribune highlighted their plight in a news story carried today. Two banks and an educational institute, among many do-gooders, have already lent them help. They have also been flooded with calls from across the city, with people offering support and promising the two brothers monetary assistance. City based do-gooder Dr Chetan Mehta has offered them help by offering them Rs 80,000 for their studies. At an event here this morning, the two brothers were honoured by Education Minister Daljit Singh Cheema. At the same event, the minister also handed over to them Rs 1 lakh donated for their studies by St Soldiers Group of Institutions. Interestingly, the minister first came to know about them when a journalist brought them to a prèss conference addressed by the minister here. They have also received assurance of help worth Rs 11,000 from the Rotary Club. While the manager of PNB bank branch offered them a loan, their account was opened in another one. Satish Kumar Verma, a manager of the SBI, gave Rs 5,100 (each) to the brothers, to deposit in their newly opened accounts. Talking to The Tribune, Sumit said, “While we hadn’t even hoped last year that we would ever be able to study, the help from residents here has provided us the much-needed hope. We are thankful to all who have helped us. We just hope that help is also extended to other poor students in the city. We know how we spent last year. The same shouldn’t happen to other poor students out there.” While the education minister’s PA had called the brothers on Thursday and assured of any help they needed, at a meeting held at the press club here today, their number was taken by the minister, who said their case would be brought to the notice of the CM Parkash Singh Badal and help would be provided from the government as well.
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Qazi Mandi tops AIDS patients’ list
Jalandhar, June 21 The place is known to be a safe haven for the drug peddlers and even minor children of 8 years or less in age are involved in the illegal business of drug peddling. Many minor children, including girls from the area, have also registered themselves with the ART centre here. "Around 40 per cent of the intravenous drug (IV) users registered with us in the district are from the Qazi Mandi area," said a source at the Art centre. Presently, there are around 7,300 registered patients with the centre that has patients coming not only from Jalandhar but also from other nearby districts as well fearing identification in their own area. Qazi Mandi is one of the main hubs of the drug market in Punjab. Illegal drug trade has been going on in this locality. Not only adults, even the children are also found to be involved in the drug business along with their parents. Many minor girls have also been caught by the local police from time to time in the last few years. Surprisingly, even after the area has been declared as having the maximum number of HIV/AIDS patients in the district, the Health Department has not taken the initiative to curb the menace that has engulfed even the future generation in the district. RL Bassan, Civil Surgeon, Jalandhar, confirmed that no awareness drive has ever been conducted in the area by the Health Department to create awareness in the localities about the menace of the deadly disease. Teenaged children with weathered faces walk around smoking in the area. "Little kids are an integral part of the drug trade. They start off as couriers and end up falling prey themselves. I have sent my kids to Salem in Tamil Nadu. Had they stayed here, they would not have survived," said a resident. "Children are the foundation of the drug network. Earlier, the henchmen used to employ elder men. Now, they have kept little kids who work for them across the areas. Even in villages, they have three to four disciples in every street. They are messengers and drug providers," he said. Residents of the area have confirmed that at least 75 per cent of the youths of Qazi Mandi are addicted to drugs. In the past one year, at least 300 youths have died in the area. Locals say they have lost count of the number of deaths. Streets in the area teem with people who lie unconscious after sundown. Except for thieves, snatchers and addicts, no one treads in the area after 5 in the evening.
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Last date for meritorious school extended to June 30
Jalandhar, June 21 While the Education Department had famously pegged the number of estimated entries from Jalandhar alone to 300, in total contrast — a mere 105 entries have come in the past few days. These too are both from Jalandhar and Kapurthala. "A number of school heads and principals are on holiday. Even some meritorious students, who are away on holidays, are not aware of the scheme. On top of it, the scheme is initially being met with a lot of scepticism and students are wondering what's the point of studying in a hostel in their own city. Only a small number who are dissatisfied with studies at their respective schools are opting for it. While the extension of deadline might improve the numbers marginally, a dramatic rise in applicants cannot be expected, said a source. DEO (Secondary) Kuldeep Sharma said, "We have been asking students to submit applications for the past many days but adequate number of applications haven't come in. Seeing that there might be lack of awareness among the students due to holidays and the possibility that many teachers and school heads might be unavailable due to the vacations, the deadline is being extended." The extension of the deadline is also bound to have its fallout on the starting date of the school. While the school was set to open from July 1, the deadline extension might push the opening date further by a few days. Meanwhile, work on the meritorious school in the city is almost complete. |
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Student bags laurels
Jalandhar: Training and practice in shooting is one of the key areas of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) curriculum. Cpl Priyanka Jamwal from the KMV NCC sub-unit, in an initial training camp, has exhibited natural talent for the same and has been selected for Jalandhar Group Shooting Team in order to prepare the cadets for Inter-Group Shooting Competition-2014. These selected cadets will be made to represent the (Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh), Chandigarh Directorate at national level camps like (Thal Sena Camp) TSC and also NCC National Games in which shooting is one of the events. Principal Dr Atima Sharma congratulated the NCC cadets and the NC Department for the same. She said that such trainings went along a great way to empower the girls. SD College students shine in exams
The students of BA/BSc III of PCM SD College for Women, Jalandhar, have given an outstanding performance in the examination held by Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar in April. Sakshi Pujara secured 1,740/2,400 marks and stood 26 in university, Amandeep secured 1,656/2,400 marks and stood 70, Prachi secured 1,626/2,400 marks and stood 101 in the university. In BSc, Shahist, Shabhnam, Harjot Kaur Ramandeep Kaur stood first in the college. Principal Dr Kiran Arora congratulated the students and wished them a bright future. Faculty development programme
Apeejay College of Fine Arts, Jalandhar, organised a Faculty Development Programme for the commerce faculty. Dr Balwinder Singh from Commerce and Business Management Department, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, presided over as the resource person. He acquainted the faculty members with the emerging topic of Indian Financial Code (IFC). A draft IFC was released on March 22, 2013 on the recommendation of the Legislative Reforms Commission. The proposed IFC is a single unified law that will replace all financial laws in India for better governance and transparency in the Indian financial sector. Presently, multiple regulators are governing the Indian financial sector, i.e. RBI, SEBI, IRDA, PFRDA and FMC. These authorities would be merged under the IFC for orderly development of the financial sector. Faculty members were enlightened with valuable knowledge about Dr Balwinder Singh. Principal Dr Sucharita thanked Dr Balwinder Singh and encouraged faculty members for their academic pursuits. |
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Stop infighting: Sisodia’s message to party cadres
Jalandhar, June 21 "The Modi wave stopped in Punjab but the vital ground the party has gained shouldn't be lost to trivial fights and bickering over who didn't get a seat, a name in the party list or didn't get to be on stage. Wherever I go, media persons ask me why is there so much infighting within the cadres," he said. Taking a dig at some of the workers he said, "People who were equating Arvind Kejriwal to Bhagat Singh and me to a reincarnation of some freedom fighter, started calling us thieves and robbers the moment they were denied a ticket. The party needs workers who don't work for their vested interests. Those who are concerned with a ticket or the stage can't fight against the drug or sand mafia." Reiterating the Vidhan Sabha targets for the party, Sisodia said, "We plan to depute booth leaders at 1,800 booths in the city and each one of these will need a booth leader who can work selflessly. People among you will be deputed as booth leaders and they should be willing to work tirelessly in their respective areas." He said while the party plans to fight the drug and sand mafia in the state, it can't be done without selfless leaders. Jalandhar MP candidate Jyoti Mann and party leader Jarnail Singh were also present on the occasion.
— TNS |
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Two burglaries
reported
Jalandhar: Two burglaries were reported from the Choggiti area in the city last night. The first burglary was reported from the house of Husan Lal, from where thieves reportedly decamped with a gold ring, mobile phone and some cash. The victim said he had gone to Phagwara last night and when he returned home on Saturday morning, he found his house burgled. The second theft was reported in the house of Seema from the same area, where thieves decamped with gold earrings, mobile phone and a gas cylinder. She said the police was informed about the theft. The Surya Enclave police post in-charge said investigation was underway. Youth held for uploading objectionable photos of girl
The Sadar police in Nakodar nabbed a youth who allegedly uploaded objectionable pictures of a girl, after the latter rejected his marriage proposal. The accused has been identified as Rajwinder Singh alias Raja, a resident of Jamsher village. The police said the accused wanted to marry the girl but she did not accept his offer. Annoyed over the rejection of proposal by the girl, the youth created her fake profile on a social networking site and uploaded her objectionable pictures. The police said the youth was arrested from today Jamsher. A case under Sections 354 A, 342, of the IPC and 66A, 66C, 67 A of the IT Act was registered.
— TNS |
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Width of footpaths
should be reduced
The municipal corporations in Punjab have got footpaths constructed for pedestrians to walk but instead it is being encroached upon by commercial/private players making the space negligible to walk for the pedestrians. As in Jalandhar, there are many roads where the size of the footpath is more than three feet. On the road from Kamal Palace to New Courts, the footpaths are more than 3-feet wide. If the width of the footpaths is reduced, the road can be widened for parking of two- wheelers or four-wheelers. Similarly, the footpaths around the Administrative Complex have been encroached upon by private players to sell their items. Keeping in view the revolution in two-wheelers and four-wheelers, the roads seems to have reduced and the parking problem has increased manifold. It is strange as to why the DC, Commissioner of Police and the Municipal Commissioner are not worried about the demolition of encroachments on the footpaths where encroachment by private players is only too rampant? Will the Administration find out an amicable solution to the footpath problem in public interest? The need of the hour is to widen the roads for the smooth flow of traffic. Rajat Kumar Mohindru, Jalandhar
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Following a
spate of resignations and controversies across the country after their Lok Sabha
poll debacle, AAP leader Manish Sisodia's message to the party men in the city
today was to 'stop infighting'.
Jalandhar, June 21
