Jalandhar, September 9
With the Jalandhar Improvement Trust (JIT) having got its appeal against the excess compensation to be paid to the farmers for the plots in the 94.5 acre scheme of Guru Gobind Singh Avenue dismissed in the Supreme Court, the owners of nearly 680 plot holders will now have no way but to pay Rs 8000 per marla as enhancement fee 16 years after the allotment was made to them.

While the owners had earlier issued demand notices on the basis of the decision of a Tribunal, after it has now lost the case in the High Court as well as the Supreme Court, the Jalandhar Improvement Trust (JIT) is again in the process of issuing fresh notices to the owners of the houses. Only those houses which were allotted at fixed rates on the basis of the draw have been asked to make the payment, while the owners of the nearly 250 residents, who had purchased the property by way of auction at a premium, have been exempted from any additional payment.

President of the Guru Gobind Singh Avenue Welfare Society Rajan Gupta said he was not convinced with the JIT demanding enhancement fee from the residents that too 16 years after the allotment. He said, “At the time of the announcement of the scheme, we had been told that it was a no-profit-no-loss scheme. Since the Trust has earned crores of rupees by selling properties in the scheme, now the trust should itself pay the compensation to the farmers from its own funds. It is injustice forcing us to pay the amount at this stage. We will certainly lodge a protest and meet officials regarding the matter.”

He added, “Most of the residents already have registries and sale deeds in their name issued by the Trust. How can it now claim more amount now?” However, it is learnt that some residents who have already had to visit the Trust recently for various works, including the change of ownership, getting their building plan sanctioned and transfer of land after death case have already been made to pay the amount.

Even the Congress leaders, including former Jalandhar Cantonment MLA Jagbir Brar, have condemned the levy of enhancement fee from the residents.

JIT SE Mukul Soni said, “Ever since the farmers had shown resentment, the matter had been handed over to a tribunal. The tribunal had suggested enhancement. The matter had then gone to the High Court, where a fresh hearing was ordered to be conducted by the tribunal which enhanced the compensation slightly. The Supreme Court has now upheld the decision of the High Court.” 

Jalandhar, September 9
Following the verdict of the District Sessions Court, Chandigarh, the Punjab State Bus Stand Management Company (PUNBUS/Punjab Roadways) today took over the charge of Shaheed-E-Azam Sardar Bhagat Singh Inter-state Bus Terminal, Jalandhar.

A private company, Welspun, has been operating the bus stand since October 2007 under the build operate transfer (BOT) project.

The bus stand was constructed by the MSK, which was later on merged with Welspun Company, according to the Welspun management.

As per information gathered from the Punjab Roadways officials and Welspun, the PUNBUS/Punjab Roadways was supposed to get the charge on April 17, 2014. However, Welspun had filed a petition in arbitration court on the grounds of getting late charge of the site.

Welspun manager VK Sharma said the arbitration court had extended the charge of site further to Welspun till January 21, 2015.

The same verdict was challenged in the District Sessions Court, Chandigarh, by the PUNBUS/Punjab Roadways.

Punjab Roadways Depot 1, Jalandhar, general manager, Harjinder Singh Minhas, said as per the directions of the District Sessions Court, Chandigarh, issued on August 20, 2014, the PUNBUS/Punjab Roadways was authorised to take over the charge of the bus stand. “Therefore, we have taken over the charge of the bus stand today only, as we got the copy of the order yesterday. We have appointed our own personnel to collect the bus stand fees (adda fees) this evening.

Welspun manager said there were more than 100 employees who were responsible for the jobs from cleanliness and collecting the adda fees.

Punjab Roadways SDO Sanjeev Bhatia said PUNBUS/Punjab Roadways were supposed to get the charge from April 17, 2014. Therefore, the department was entitled to get the fund that was collected by Welspun Company since then. 

Jalandhar, September 9
A majority of private and Punjab Roadways buses in the state have been running without safety measures, including first-aid boxes and fire extinguishers, which are mandatory in the buses.

The District Transportation Department, however, seems to be least bothered about the issue.

During investigation, it came to fore that many conductors with private buses don’t even have proper training to provide first aid, which is a necessary component to get the conductor’s licence.

It has been observed that most the buses do not have the first-aid box at all, whereas some of them have boxes without any material in them.

A Punjab Roadways official said it was the duty of the department to provide the conductor with the first-aid box.

The box and fire extinguisher are the essential part of the buses to ensure the safety of the passengers. However, for the past 10 to 12 years this facility has not been provided. It is the duty of the department to provide conductor the first-aid box in the morning and take it back in the evening when the shift ends. Yet the practice is not being followed these days. “I have not any first-aid box in the department for a long time. The government is not providing them any more,” he added.

Apart from this, he said when a new bus comes, it has everything in it, including fire extinguisher. Yet with the passage of time, it gets vanished gradually. Nobody pays heed to get them back.

General manager, Punjab Roadways, Depot 1, Harjinder Singh, said the department tries to have safety equipment. Yet, these cannot be maintained properly due to certain issues.

District Transport Officer, RP Singh, said the department was regularly tracking the buses on the issue safety. Even today, some buses have been issued challan for the same issue.

When asked whether the Punjab Roadways buses, being in the government sector, were also being issued challans, he refused to comment. 

Jalandhar, September 9
Following a protest staged by sports students of Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Nehru Garden Road, Member Parliament, Chaudhary Santokh Singh, today inspected the school and the hostel building and listened to problems of students.

During his visit, the MP looked into problems faced by students, including dripping roofs, damp walls and roofs that pose the risk of electrocution, filthy and blocked toilets, and lack of sanitation.

While letting the MP know their issues, the students said they had been forced to live in an utterly unsafe and unhygienic atmosphere in the school hostel. Whenever there is rain the roof starts dripping that causes leakage of electric current in walls. The contractor, who is responsible to provide the sports students with diet, sometimes indulges in irregularities, they said.

A hockey player said most of the students in the school come from weaker sections of society. However, some of them have performed at the national level.

She said there was no doctor available in the school. A few days ago, a girl fell ill in the night. Students and the hostel warden had to take her to Civil Hospital. In the case of power cuts, which are frequent in the summers, diesel is not available to operate the generator. “We are forced to clean the ground every week, as no cleaner is available. A student was bitten by some poisonous insect while cleaning the ground. The gym has been in a dilapidated condition for a long time. No one has listened to us for the past six years,” she added.

There are a total of 62 sports students in the school, including judo, basketball and hockey.

The MP assured the students a speedy action in their problems. He said he would write to the Punjab Government and the Sports Authority of India that is responsible to provide infrastructure and various aspects of the building. He announced a grant of Rs 5 lakh from the MP fund for gym and sanitation.

The students had staged a protest in the school a couple of days ago for not being served proper diet in the hostel.

Meanwhile, with the residential wing players of Government (Girls) Senior Secondary School, Nehru Garden exposing the pitiable condition of the sports infrastructure in one of the best schools in Punjab on Saturday, various political leaders on Saturday visited the school premises today and met the players to share their concerns.

Pawan Kumar Tinnu, Chief Parliamentary Secretary for Sports, visited the school in the morning and met the girls.

The girls informed him that they were not given adequate food despite practising hard.

They were even forced to clean the school hostel, including washrooms. The girls requested him to send the school authorities away and then told him about the “mismanagement” by the school administration.

Tinu directed the school authorities to resolve the players’ concern at the earliest and directed the contractor to provide meals as per the prescribed norms. 

Jalandhar, September 9
The commemorative stamp of 'Indian Musicians' was released today by the Department of India Post. It seems to have pied-piped the city residents as the Philately Bureau at the Head Post Office sold stamps worth Rs 0.5 lakh on the inaugural day itself.

"We never received such a huge response to any of the commemorative stamp on the first day of its launch. It has shown that the city residents have love for music and are getting attracted towards Philately, one of the most sought after hobby across the world." said KP Meena, Senior Post Master, Jalandhar.

The set brought out by Postal Department features icons form the world of Indian classical music: Pandit Ravi Shankar, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, DK Pattammal, Pandit Mallikarjun Mansur, Gangubai Hangal, Pandit Kumar Gandharva, Ustad Vilayat Khan and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. The stamp was launched on September 3 at a denomination of Rs 5. The department has printed 4 lakh copies and has made few of them available at the local post office.

The Head Post Office in the city has a philately bureau comprising of some of the noted philatelist in the region. The hobby has gained momentum from the last few months as the bureau has organized camps in various schools to attract budding philatelist in the city. 

Jalandhar, September 9
India’s leading intellectual property (IP) experts and more than 100 R&D scholars, academicians and industry professionals will hold deliberations on various issues relating to intellectual property protection at a workshop at DAV University here on September 12.

The workshop ‘Interfacing Innovation and IPR for Diffusion of Technology’ will be organised on September 12 by National Research Development Corporation (NRDC), a Government of India enterprise under the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Ministry of Science & Technology, in association with DAV University.

Several renowned professionals including Dr Sanjeev Saxena, CEO, Agriinnovate India Limited, New Delhi, V K Varun, Scientist, F & CPIO, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), New Delhi, Dr DR Das, Scientist, DSIR, New Delhi, Y Panwar, Director, Patent Facilitating Centre, Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC), New Delhi; R P Yadav, Patent Attorney; Rahul Taneja, Scientist, Haryana Council of Science and Technology, Panchkula, will also participate in the workshop. They will lead technical sessions at the workshop. Prof H R Gandhar, Advisor, DAV University, Jalandhar will deliver inaugural address and N K Bhandari, Sr Manager, NRDC, New Delhi will brief the participants about the workshop and its objectives.

Dr Naresh K Sahajpal, Dean Academics, stated that protection of intellectual property and innovation could not be dispensed with since it grants competitive advantage to individuals and the nation. A continuous human quest for innovation and creativity was leading to the emergence of new brands, products and designs. Protecting intellectual property (IP) behind innovations was important since they are the assets of academic, industrial, social and government set up.

“Indian academia, R&D institutes and industry have been started understanding the importance and benefits of IP creation and protection. NRDC has been making efforts to make different stakeholders aware of intellectual property rights. Workshop is also a step in this direction,” said Dr Sahajpal. 

Jalandhar, September 9
Buying fruits and vegetables from Maqsudan wholesale market for keeping good health? Better be careful as they might have an adverse effect on you. The pitiable and unhygienic condition of the wholesale market in the city, will force you to think twice before eating even the best quality of fruits and vegetables bought from there.

Heaps of stale fruits, garbage, leftovers and roughage, dumped not only on the roads inside the market but also at the selling places, are enough to scare the common buyers. Round-the-year water logging and the garbage piled up between the platforms at the newly constructed wholesale market has made the place a breeding ground for mosquitoes and insects.

"The Mandi board is charging us around 2 per cent Rural Development Fee (RDF) with every sale. What is the use of paying lakhs of fee to them every month if they fail to provide us better infrastructure and environment conducive to our business," said a Commissioning agent in one of the largest markets of Punjab. He also revealed that despite giving repeated reminders, the board has not pulled its Public Health Department responsible for the maintenance of the market area.

Another commissioning agent revealed that due to the shabby conditions, he even has to face a lot of embarrassment from its fellow business associates and new clients. "We receive clients from all over the country. It is really embarrassing to call them here on our shops in such a hell bound conditions," said the agent.

Also, customers from nearby areas also feels harassed at the sad plight of the wholesale market. "This is really astonishing. The place supplying fruits and vegetables to almost every household in the city is in such a pitiable condition. That shows the lackadaisical approach of our Health Department," said Soma, a local resident.

Kuldeep Raj, SDO, Public Health, Mandi Board, said that he spends around Rs 1 lakh every month on the maintenance of the wholesale market. "There are around 10 people we have been hired on contract to clean the market area but the mandi board staff has been given the responsibility to lift the garbage in its vehicle. We are doing great but sometimes due to heavy rainfall, water gets stagnant on low lying areas." said Kuldeep Raj. —TNS

Jalandhar, September 9
Interactive session with Inspector General (IG) BSF Punjab Frontier Ashok Kumar with the girl students of the Cambridge International School for Girls literally turned into a hot discussion on international issues. Students from classes IX-XII hurled variety of queries related to the functioning of the BSF at Punjab borders and certain other international issues towards the IG.

BSF had chalked out a comprehensive plan to generate public awareness about itself, which is the ‘first line of defence’ and premier border guarding force of the country. As a first step in this direction, interactive sessions and other activities are being organised in educational institutions based in Jalandhar to generate awareness about the BSF.

As the interactive session began, a girl student stood up and asked in a curious way, what are the chances of fresh war with Pakistan now? IG, who first smiled and then reiterated, BSF was guarding the international borders and forces were ready to tackle any kind of urgency at borders but as of now there is no war like situation at borders.

Another student asked, what BSF men are getting for guarding borders? IG was hastened to add, “We feel proud that we are guarding nation and extending security to the citizen from the threats of external forces”.

Then a student queried, Line Of Control (LOC) is a tensed area, how BSF maintained calm at borders, IG replied, BSF was keeping hawk eyes over the terrorism activities at borders for day and night in a planned manner to keep the atmosphere calm.

Interestingly, question by a girl which claimed clapping from all around was related to USA support to Pakistan on ammunition. A student had asked the way America is extending weaponry and funds support to Pakistan, does it affect their (BSF) strength at borders? IG, although replied affirmative but said no external forces can down the morale of BSF jawans at borders.

Another sensible question by a student was related to Kashmir issue. A girl student asked, why some Kashmiri people don’t like soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir? IG replied, due to propaganda by some pro-Pakistani people, this factor may exist there.

Interestingly, a girl student questioned that when BSF was aware that terrorists hiding in Pakistan, then why BSF, the way American forces entered Pakistan and killed Osama Bin Laden, cannot intrude into Pakistan and kill the terrorists. 

Jalandhar, September 9
To raise their voice against commercialisation of education, the Punjab Students Federatrion today organised a convention at Desh Bhagat Yadgar Hall. The convention was presided over Rosedeep Kaur, Sunny Philaur and Sonu Dhesi.

Speaking on the occasion they said that due to same policies of both state and Centre, the education has been getting costlier and unaffordable. Following a long battle they have been able get the Post Matric Scholarship Scheme implemented. Another battle against privatisation of education needs to be initiated. —TNS

Jalandhar, September 9
The Kartarpur police has arrested a man for raping his wife. The woman had filed a case for divorce in court.

The victim had allegedly filed a complaint with the Kartarpur police that her husband had raped her. “On the night of September 7, he forcibly entered my house and started molesting me. Despite my repeated protests, he raped me and fled away.”

the woman said that she had filed a petition in the court to get divorce from him and their case was sub judice.

Acting on the complaint of woman, the Kartarpur police conducted a raid and nabbed the accused.