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Goldsmith murdered in broad daylight
Wanted criminals’ photos posted on police website
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pf scam
unmanned level crossings
Front for release of computer teachers
Better jalandhar: problem of pedestrians —I
Punjab Police HQ sans info on seized drugs, peddlers
Maize farmers not getting optimum price for crop
NHAI CASE
school notes
Two held with heroin worth Rs 7.5 crore
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Goldsmith murdered in broad daylight
The deceased was the son of Ashok Kumar, a resident of Mahindru mohalla. He owned Deepti Ornaments situated in Mitha Bazar. He is survived by his wife and a seven-year-old daughter. Vinod Kumar was reportedly BJP secretary of Ward No. 27 and close to Chief Parliamentary Secretary KD Bhandari. Harsh Mitu, brother of the deceased, said his brother had gone missing since yesterday. Even his mobile was found to be switched off. He suspected that his brother could have been murdered with a motive to loot him. “My brother was wearing gold ornaments worth several lakhs which were missing from his body. He had no enmity with anybody, but it was quite a mystery for them who murdered him and why,” said Harsh. Was gambling at rly platform: Police source
A senior police official said Vicky, along with an RPF constable Jasmel Singh, deployed at the city railway station, Rakesh Kumar, alias Tony, of Makhdumpura (a trader) and another man, was gambling on platform No. 1. They reportedly had fight over some issue during the play. Vicky left the game in a haste, while others started following him. After they cornered Vicky on the Railway Road, they slit his throat, the official added. RPF constable Jasmel was nabbed, while Rakesh and his one aide were yet to be arrested. Eyewitness account
Prince, owner of a tea stall situated on the Railway Road, and witness to the incident, said, “I was preparing tea when I noticed Vicky entering the Central Mill in a haste. He was followed by two persons, and one was carrying a knife. They slit the throat of Vicky. When the duo was trying to escape, they were cornered by market shopkeepers, but one managed to flee.” He was alive and people repeatedly asked him about the identification of the assailants and the reason behind the attack, but due to serious wounds, he couldn’t speak even a single word and breathed his last in a few minutes, the shopkeepers who nabbed one of the assailants said. Was believed to be
close to CPS
Vinod Kumar was a resident of the same locality where Bhandari lives. He also used to do wrestling with Bhandari on the ground situated in the Devi Talab temple. On Sunday also, the victim had gone to temple for wrestling, but after he left home at 9 in the morning, he remained incommunicado as his phone remained switched off. Fact file
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Wanted criminals’ photos posted on police website
Jalandhar, September 28 Although till date, the police has reportedly not received any vital clue from this latest practice, police officials are
expecting that their experiment will surely bring fruitful results in the days to come. Recently, the police had posted the photograph of a kidnapper Kartik Verma, a 22-year-old youth of Vijay Nagar, who had allegedly kidnapped a minor girl of Charanjit Pura. The boy had reportedly kidnapped the
girl from Sodal Mela on September 9. After the police couldn’t arrange clues about their whereabouts, the police uploaded the picture of the kidnapper on its official website. “After the kidnapping of a minor girl came to the fore, we have decided to upload the picture of the kidnapper on our official website. Along with the photograph of the kidnapper, even the picture of the kidnapped girl has also been posted, with the clear motive to recover the girl safely. Although it seemed a case of elopement, the police was
conducting serious investigation to nab the accused and the girl,” Lakhwant Kaur, Additional SHO, police division No. 2 said. The police official felt that since the youth remained hooked to the Internet, there was a bright chance that whenever they would go through the official website of the Jalandhar police, they could
reveal something vital to the police about the kidnapper. Sources said the police would also upload the pictures of other criminals on the website rotation wise. Apart from the picture of the kidnapper, the photograph of the abducted minor girl and a missing child were also posted on the website. |
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After summoning AIIMS head, deputy CSO called by EPFO
Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, September 28 The summons were issued to the Dy CSO after the Director, AIIMS, pleaded that the matter pertained to the security guards, so he should be responsible for further correspondence with the EPFO. Confirmed sources said the inquiry was initiated after the EPFO Department was flooded with several complaints against the security agency “Prehari” of AIIMS. Complainants comprise the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) and several other trade unions. The unions have alleged in their complaints that “Prehari” has been marring the social security benefit i.e. PF of its employees engaged in security work. Notably, an inquiry under Section-7A of the EPF & MP Act, 1952, was initiated against Prehari Protection Systems Pvt Ltd, Jallow Khana, Kapurthala, for the determination of the PF dues in respect of security guards deployed at AIIMS. During the inquiry, the establishment had submitted a list of employees employed at AIIMS, New Delhi, during the period 2009-10 to 2011-12. “As per para 30 of EPF Scheme, 1952, being a principal employer in respect of guards deployed by Prehari Protection Systems Pvt Ltd at AIIMS, Delhi, is directed to cross verify the list of guards submitted by the security agency to this office. Documents were also recently sent to Director, AIIMS, with the direction to check the details of the wages for the said period with their own records,” reads the summon (copy with The Tribune). It further stated that if any discrepancies were found, the same must be intimated to this office within seven days in person or by speed post, the EPFO official said. Sources disclosed that earlier summons were issued under the provisions of the EPF and MP Act, 1952, to the AIIMS Director, who had repeatedly failed to respond to the earlier notices. “Repeated summons were issued on June 6, 2014, August 6, 2014, and on August 28, 2014, but no reply was received. The EPFO had recently sent fresh summons to the Director, AIIMS, and had told him to file a reply within seven days or latest by September 29, failing which the undersigned will be constrained to levy penalty as mentioned above under Section 32 CPC read with Section 7A(2) of EPF & MP ACT,1952,” Regional PF Commissioner Dheeraj Gupta told The Tribune. “Now Director, AIIMS, has shifted the onus on Dy CSO AIIMS and has told him to make further correspondence with the EPFO. If Dy CSO will not file reply latest by September 29, 2014, legal action is likely against as per the law,” the EPFO official said. Penalty for default
Any such inquiry shall be deemed to be a judicial proceeding within the meaning of Section 193 of 228 and for the purpose of Section 196 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860). The court may compel the attendance of any person to whom a summon has been issued under Section 30 and for that purpose may issue a warrant for his arrest, attach and sell his property, impose a fine on him (not exceeding Rs 5,000), or order him to furnish security for his appearance and in default commit him to the civil prison. |
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Authorities fail to take remedial action in district
Aparna Banerji Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, September 28 Numerous accidents of students and college and school employees across the district have taken place for the past many years. A number of complaints to the administration to avoid the loss of innocent lives have been lodged but in vain. Organisations like Mehr Chand Polytechnic College, DAV College, Lawrence International School, DSSD School, among a host of other educational institutions have level crossings near them on which a number of accidents have taken place. Students and residents constantly put their lives at peril in a bid to cross over these areas, resulting in serious accidents. In a number of cases, repeated complaints have failed to evince a response. Paras’ death could have been avoided if something had been done in time. Notably, students of NIT had been complaining about the dangers of having to cross the six-lane highway and the railway tracks for the past many years. Two years ago, students of the girls hostel had made the request for an over-bridge to the institute director. While it had also been approved by one of the deans, the request was never delivered. There are about 3,500 students at the NIT, of whom 80 per cent live in hostels and they have to use the road while crossing rail tracks at night. Last year, a mess personnel of the institute was hit by a bike while he had gone to get some sweets. A year ago, a student of the institute had also been hit by a car on the highway. While students have formerly also held agitations at the institute regarding the issue, their demand for the provision of a foot over-bridge or railway under-bridge on the spot hadn’t been met. After the tragic incident on Wednesday, the institute has now promised that most of the demands of the students shall be resolved in the next 15 days. The demands of the students include the removal of thick bushes, both on the tracks and on the campus, provision of lights near the railway tracks so that they can see the approaching trains at night, deputing of guards near the railway tracks, starting of buses or autos from near the campus at reasonable rates so that students don’t have to cross on foot. The students have been told the demands will be met in about 15 days. Two guards have already been deputed near the tracks. Other cases
Meanwhile, the history of accidents in the district is quite old. Another very controversial crossing in the city is the railway halt near DAV College. A student of Mehr Chand Polytechnic College had met with an accident in 2012. Another college topper lost his life near the crossing in 2013. This year, there have already been a number of accident cases on the crossing. The body of the watchman of one of the colleges in the area was also found on the railway tracks in the area. While repeated complaints by the authorities of Mehr Chand Polytechnic College resulted in girders being put at the place to avoid illegal crossing, students and employees still continue taking hazardous shortcuts over the tracks. Professor Jagroop Singh, principal of the Mehr Chand Polytechnic College, said, “There have been countless times that accidents have taken place there, but a majority of the students continue going through. The accident at the NIT has been very tragic and to avoid similar eventualities elsewhere, the railways and/or the district administration have to ensure that it is rendered impossible for students to cross over such tracks.” Accidents have also occurred near Lawrence International School and Suchi Pind, some of which even resulted in fatalities, but the said the two
spots have now got level crossings. Spreading awareness through Youtube
Even as the agitation of students at the NIT has ended following assurances from the authorities concerned, students now say they will wait out these 15 days to take the next step on the issue. A video of the protests has also been uploaded on the Youtube by some students to generate awareness about the issue. Fact file
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Front for release of computer teachers
Jalandhar, September 28 Releasing a joint statement to media, leaders Bhupinder Singh Varaich, Balkar Valtoha, Karnail Sandhu and Prem Kakkar said putting up computer teachers in jail, who
were protesting in a peaceful manner, was highly condemnable. They said the Joint Teachers Front demands that the computer teachers, PMSA/SSA etc teachers should be included in the Education Department. The leaders said if the government did not release the computer teachers soon, their next course of action would be announced by the front at the Jalandhar convention which is going to take place on October 8. The leaders appealed to all teachers’ unions to be part of this action.
Jagmel Singh Pakkhewal, Devinder Punia, Shiv Kumar and Gurnam Ghanaour were present on the occasion. |
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Better jalandhar: problem of pedestrians —I Gagandeep Singh Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, September 28 Consequently, the basic and required infrastructure is being developed gradually as per the demand. Facilities like elevated roads and parking spaces too are being provided to the people. However, there is hardly any space for non-motorised transport and pedestrians resulting into hardship for them. It seems that pedestrians have been losing their identity in the city due to lack of proper paths for them. Apart from this, crossing roads amid a heavy flow of traffic on some of the busiest roads in the city also disturbs the pedestrians. A number of accidents have also occurred due to lack of pedestrian crossings. There are no pedestrian paths on most roads in the city. Even if there is a way for the pedestrians on some streets, they have been illegally encroached upon by the rehris (vends), advertising unipole, garbage dumps, extended shops and parked vehicles. Besides, no pedestrian crossing or zebra crossing exist on any main or internal links roads in the city, which amplifies the chances of accidents as many of them have taken place due to lack of such crossings. There are several areas in the city including the surroundings of the District Administrative Complex, District Court Complex Jyoti Chowk area, surroundings of the bus stand and railway station, Model Town, surroundings of BMC Chowk, Shashtri Market, surroundings of Namdev Chowk, Bhagwan Mahavir Marg, Ambedkar Chowk, PAP Chowk, BSF Chowk, Nakodar Chowk, Kapurthala Chowk, Football Chowk, Ladowali Road Market and others that need pedestrian paths and crossings immediately as the movement of people in these areas is much higher. In the West, there have been various programmes to encourage the residents to walk. It would not only keep the residents in better health but also be reduce carbon emission and solve the mounting traffic menace. However, the system here seems to be working to the contrary. There are several issues related to pedestrians that can be resolved by initiating various programmes and infrastructure. Reduction in traffic commotion
Traffic commotion has been the most haunting problem of every growing city. The number of motorised vehicles is on the rise in Jalandhar every year. The chaotic situation on the road enhances the chances of accidents. As per Pehal, an NGO, nearly 60 per cent of the accident victims are pedestrians. Yet nothing much is being done by the authorities concerned. If the pedestrians are motivated and educated through awareness programmes, traffic commotion can be reduced. Reduction in carbon emission
A constant rise in the number of motorised vehicles is also causing several environmental issues like noise and air pollution. As per Kulvinder Singh, Additional Commissioner for B&R, Jalandhar Municipal Corporation, people in the city are least bothered about issues like carbon emission. The environmental issues can be resolved if the habit of walking is encouraged among the residents. Other than this, it is not only the lack of infrastructure that is an impediment for the pedestrians, commuting on motorised vehicles has become a status symbol which is adding to the problem. There have been several reasons why pedestrians in the city are feeling let down. Unfriendly roads for pedestrians
Most roads in the city are not designed to be pedestrian-friendly. They are just meant for motor vehicles. Even non-motorised vehicles like rickshaws and cycles are facing difficulties. No footpath has been provided for the pedestrians. At certain places, there are proper footpaths on the road, which are unfortunately covered by trees to provide relief to the pedestrians in summer. However, these road are either illegally occupied by the street vendors and or by cars parked. Bad engineering of the roads in the city can be gauged from the lack of zebra crossings at various busy chowks and roads in the city. As per rule, there should be a zebra crossing on the road at certain interval. However, there are almost no zebra crossings on the city roads. Even if there is any, they are not in use at all. Speaking to Jalandhar Tribune, Kulvinder Singh, Additional Commissioner for B&R, Jalandhar Municipal Corporation, said that lack of parking and street vendors have been causing really huge problems for the pedestrians. A separate place will be provided to the street vendors soon as per the Street Vendors Policy 2009. Apart from this, parking problems will also be sorted out soon Status symbol
Commuting by a car or motorbike has become a status symbol. Even if people have to go to nearby areas, they hesitate to walk. Call it lack of awareness or new trends, city residents are reluctant to walk. "The pedestrians are considered as lower class citizens as they are thought to belong to the economically weaker class. Riding big cars has become a status symbol here," Lakhbir Singh, a representative of Pehal, an NGO, said. Lethargic approach of
the residents
Kulvinder Singh said no doubt there has been lack infrastructure and policy as far as pedestrians are concerned. However, he did not shy away from saying that the younger generation has been very lethargic. They prefer commuting in motorised vehicles to walking. |
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Punjab Police HQ sans info on seized drugs, peddlers
Jalandhar, September 28 After the DGP office failed to supply information sought under the RTI Act by this correspondent for eight months, Shiv Ram, a senior assistant in the ADGP office, appeared before the State Information Commission (SIC) on September 10, where he categorically denied having such information at the Punjab Police headquarter. The information was sought by this correspondent through an application dated January 15, 2014. The information sought pertained to the recovery of various drugs by the Punjab Police in the last five years and details about drugs which later turned spurious or fake during testing at forensic science laboratories during this period. Detail of drug smugglers, who got acquitted of smuggling charges after the drug recovered from them turned spurious during testing at chemical laboratories, was also sought under the RTI. A few days later, a letter dated January 23 was received from the AIGP-cum-PIO, DGP office, in which they gave the plea that the information was related to different PIOs and applied to all of them in the state. Meanwhile, this correspondent filed a first appeal with the DIG Administration-cum-First Appellate Authority (FAA) under section 19(1) of the RTI Act on March 3 this year. When no reply was received on the first appeal for months, the applicant filed a second appeal before the State Information Commission (SIC) on May 9. Acting on the appeal, the SIC issued a notice to the DGP office to appear for hearing on September 10. During the hearing, an official from the police headquarters, Jaspal Kaur, categorically said before the SIC that the DGP office didn't carry any such information sought by the applicant. Instead, he suggested that the applicant should apply separately to the 24 police districts and the three police commissionerate to get the information. Even the SIC turned down the plea of the applicant and said the information was not readily available with the DGP office. Hence, the appeal was disposed of. And the SIC also told the applicant to apply before the police chiefs separately to get the information. When asked, VK Bhawra, ADGP-cum-Bureau of Investigation, Punjab, told The Tribune that the Punjab Police headquarter does not maintain the record of drug samples which failed the test. But the police headquarter had all the data pertaining to the arrested drug smugglers and the drugs recovered. He said the districts maintain a separate record on drug sampling. Sources said the Punjab Police have arrested over 12,000 persons in the last eight months and registered over 10,000 first information reports (FIRs) under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act as part of a drive against drug trade. Still, the Punjab Police HQs couldn't furnish the information pertaining to drugs sought under the RTI Act. |
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Maize farmers not getting optimum price for crop
Jalandhar, September 28 The Agriculture Department launched a campaign to encourage the farmers to take up crop diversification. A village to village campaign from May 20 to May 30 was launched, in which the department attempted to motivate the farmers to adopt other crops like maize, pulses, sunflower and sugarcane rather than routine stuff like wheat and paddy. Apart from this, there was a 50 per cent discount on the maize seeds provided by the Agriculture Department. The reason for promoting crop diversification was to check the decreasing water table in the state One of the reasons behind the low price for the crops this season is said to be the higher yield of maize in Bihar and Chhattisgarh. Meanwhile, the farmers said that last season, they got a price ranging from Rs 1,300 to Rs 1,500 per quintal. But this time, they are getting only Rs 1,000 per quintal. Despite this, the price of fertilizers, diesel and the cost of labour has gone up drastically. The farmers have to spend thousands of rupees on inputs right from the stage of sowing to harvesting. This season, they were not able the meet even their cost of input. Speaking to Jalandhar Tribune, a maize farmer from Charke village said he has reduced the area under the maize crop. He used to sow maize on around 20 acres. But this season, he sowed maize only on 5 acre as he had monitored the situation. He said without the minimum support price for crops like maize, it is futile to bring up the idea of crop diversification. Chief Agriculture Officer, Jalandhar, Dr Suttantar Kumar, said it is difficult to convince the farmers to bring about crop diversification without the MSP. However, the matter has been taken up with Punjab Agriculture Ministry at a meeting and a solution coul soon be found. |
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Divisional Commissioner sets aside SDM’s award
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, September 28 Notably, some landowners, whose land was acquired, had approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court pleading that they have not been given the benefits of the solatium and interest. The HC had issued directions to the SDM, Dasuya, who is the competent authority to determine the solatium and interest after hearing the parties. After the SDM issued the award, NHAI challenged it before the Divisional Commissioner. On September 24, the Divisional Commissioner issued the orders, which mentioned, “From the arguments submitted in the case, it is clear that case has not been dealt diligently by SDM Dasuya. I set aside the award dated May 16, 2014 and direct the SDM, Dasuya to pass afresh orders strictly in accordance with the directions of the HC within two weeks time.”
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NSS Day celebrated
Jalandhar, September 28 Seminar on make-up
and skin care
Department of Cosmetology, Kanya Maha Vidyalaya, organised a seminar on make-up on skin care. Rachna Arora who is the trainer and executive assistant of Kryolan Company gave a presentation on different types of cosmetic products. Problems related to skin care were also taken up during the interactive session with the students.
— TNS |
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Two held with heroin worth Rs 7.5 crore
Tarn Taran, September 28 The accused were riding a mobike without bearing any registration No. when they were going to deliver the consignment. A case under Section 21, 61, 85 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act has been registered at Sarhali police Station against the accused. Sarabjit Singh, in- charge, narcotic cell, was heading the police party.
— OC |
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Jalandhar, September 28