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Roadways employees observe protest
Bogus billing: Trader penalised Rs 1.90 lakh
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Festival sheen fades for aided school teachers
Bank employees protest outsourcing
ASHA workers demand higher wages, insurance cover
3-day conference on trends in engineering begins at PTU
1 booked for harassing wife for dowry
Garment shop burgled
6 held for looting trader
Woman dies due to burn injuries
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Roadways employees observe protest
Jalandhar, October 16 During the protest, all entrance and exit points were sealed by the protesters. It was absolute harassment for the passengers as they were struggling to get buses for their destinations. Apart from this, bus operators, including private and state-run transport buses belonging to adjoining states, were being operated from roads outside the bus stand, causing a massive traffic jam. Representatives of the committee said the two-hour protest was organised all over the state against the “anti-government employee” and “anti-government institutions” stance of the Punjab Government. Speaking on the occasion, the committee leaders condemned senior officials of the Punjab Roadways and Transport Department for acting under the pressure of the Punjab Government. Addressing the gathering, vice-president of Centre Body Pardeep Kumar said the demands had been taken up with the transport ministry and senior officials of the Punjab Roadways several times but without result. A meeting between Transport Minister, Ajit Singh Kohar, and the Punjab Roadways Joint Action Committee took place on September 30 that failed to reach any conclusion. Speaking about their long-pending issues, Pardeep Kumar said the debt-free 571 Punjab State Bus Stand Management Company (PUNBUS) buses had not been merged with the Punjab Roadways fleet. Consequently, the Punjab Roadways was left with only 333 buses in its fleet, which was too less compared to other state transports. As per rules, the debt-free PUNBUS buses had to be merged with the Punjab Roadways. He said permits to private bus operators were not being issued as per the rules and regulations. The other demands included providing jobs to the kin of deceased Punjab Roadways employees, regularisation of services of the PUNBUS employees, terminating the recruitment on contract basis and promotion of the staff in the roadways. |
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Bogus billing: Trader penalised Rs 1.90 lakh
Jalandhar, October 16 About violations, excise officials said the truck was carrying around 21 tonnes of goods, but the bills shown by the driver stated only 5 tonnes of iron goods. The truck was going to Gobindgarh from Amritsar. Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner Bhupinder Gupta said, at a joint naka put up by the excise and VAT officials between Goraya and Phillaur, three loaded trucks with bogus and incomplete billings were seized. Today, the iron trader had come here to get released the consignment of the iron goods, and after calculating the tax evasion as per the bogus billing, a penalty of Rs 1.90 lakh was levied on him. The truck driver, carrying dry fruits, had shown bills of garments. As the truck was carrying consignment of dry fruits but having bills of garments, it was a clear attempt to evade tax. Even the starting point of the consignment was shown Bombay which in reality was Ludhiana, the Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner had added. Excise officials had also seized a truck loaded with copper. The Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner said no representation regarding the seizure of other two seized consignments, including copper and dry fruits, had been received and if within 72 hours, the trader does not come to deposit penalty, the department will levy penalty on the trader as per the law. |
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12.50 quintals of spurious ghee seized, factory owner held
Jalandhar, October 16 The police had received information about the spurious desi ghee and accordingly, a team raided the spot and recovered the ghee from the car of Mittal, who was on his way to deliver it in a market. The accused had taken a factory in the surgical complex on rent at Rs 20,000 per month where he was preparing the ghee. Meanwhile, a police party conducted a raid at his factory in the surgical complex from where it recovered a huge cache of spurious ghee, which was being packed to be supplied to customers. Police sources said 29 quintals of raw material, which was recovered along with the ghee, included vegetable ghee, colour chemicals and some genuine ghee. The police said as the festival season was on, the police would keep a tab on such suppliers and they would not be allowed to supply adulterated desi ghee to people. The accused would be produced in court and his remand would be sought to further inquire if he had owned any other factory where such spurious ghee was being prepared.
— TNS |
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Rise in air, noise pollution during Diwali in past five years Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, October 16 This can be substantiated by the comparable reports of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) regarding respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM), SO2, nitrogen oxides and even the noise level recorded pre-Diwali and on the Diwali day since 2009. Even as the permissible noise level for residential area is 45 dB, the average value of noise level on Divali day touched 72 dB last year, up from 68 dB in the previous year and 57.4 dB in 2009.
Even as the crackers are not allowed to be played after 10 pm as per the Supreme Court orders, the noise level between 10 pm to 11 pm was calculated at as high as 86 dB last year, clearly pointing to the violation. Even the RSPM in residential areas has gone up in the last five years. While it stood at 262 mg/m3 in 2009, it went up to 305 mg/m3 last year on Diwali. The permissible levels for the same are just 100 mg/m3. The PPCB has been taking data for various parameters, fixing its equipment in three categories of areas – Urban Estate Phase 1 for residential area, Jyoti Chowk for commercial area and Civil Hospital for sensitive area. Discrepancies in values?
Interestingly, the commercial area selected by the board falls just about 100 metres from the sensitive area of Civil Hospital. The data collected for both areas at such a short distance shows a stark difference in the values. While the noise level at Jyoti Chowk was calculated at 66 dB, it stood at 51 dB for the Civil Hospital. While the particulate matter at Jyoti Chowk was shown to be 270 mg/m3, it stood at 196 mg/m3 for the Civil Hospital. |
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Sant Samaj demands arrest of culprits
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, October 16 Dr Supriya committed suicide at Dayanand Medical College, Ludhiana, on September 29. The members of the Sant Samaj alleged that the Ludhiana police were working under pressure from a certain lobby in the case. They said while after repeated dharnas and protests, the Ludhiana police had registered a case under Section 306 against the professors named by Dr Supriya’s parents in their statement given to the police, the accused were not arrested yet. The activists said if the police did not arrest the culprits responsible for the suicide soon, the entire Sant Samaj would take to streets to demand justice. Meanwhile, father of Dr Supriya, DHO, Jalandhar, Dr Balwinder Kumar, reiterated the demand and said the prime interest of her family was that this should never happen to another student. He said, “Our fight is for our daughter and for the rights of all students, and those who have been affected by similar situations. The guilty should be arrested immediately, failing which, we shall not shy away from taking to the streets.” Dr Balwinder also aired the demand that the police should find the remaining pages of the victim’s diary as well as review the CCTV footage at the hospital.
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Festival sheen fades for aided school teachers
Jalandhar, October 16 All of them are female teachers. They said while they hadn’t received the three instalments of their arrears, their salaries are also due despite complaints submitted with the DEO. “Our union told us that the matter had been conveyed to the DPI, but we haven’t received any response. While our bills lie with the Treasury Department, we continue to suffer as our household budgets have been adversely shaken,” they added. The teachers lamented that while the salaries and arrears of the Secondary Department had been cleared, their own salaries were still pending. This problem exists with teachers of primary aided schools across the state. The teachers said they would have to take dire measures if the department did not pay heed to their demand. “For the moment, we only want that our demands be met peacefully so that we have a hearth burning before Diwali. In times of high inflation, right before Diwali, we are left without money. We shall have to take measures if the department and the government does not respond soon.” |
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Five days on, police still without clue
Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service
Jalandhar October 16 Five days have passed since Gopi was kidnapped from Rainbow Park. Since that day, family members have been going through sleepless nights. All their relatives have been converging at their place to keep their hopes firm about the recovery of the child. On the one side, police officials are working overnight to get vital clues about the missing child, on the other, family members themselves have launched a manhunt to trace the child. They have been putting up posters of missing Gopi at nooks and corners of the city. Since the day Gopi went missing, Gopi’s kin had pasted thousands of posters at various public places in the city, including the railway station, bus stand, schools, taxi stands, busy markets and streets. Hardev Kaur, the grandmother of Gopi, remains standing near the gate of her house hoping to see her grandchild. “We all remain awake during the night with a hope that Gopi may arrive home,” said Kaur with tears rolling down her cheeks. Similar is the condition of Gopi’s maternal grandmother, Paramjit Kaur. “Gopi used to play pranks with me all the time and I used to enjoy the company of my grandson. Now, our hopes rest on the Jalandhar police.” Sources said the police had rounded up some suspects in the case. However, they are still without any vital clue about the child and the kidnappers. On October 12, a seven-year-old son of a property dealer was allegedly kidnapped from a locality in the Model Town. The boy, Gurdeep Singh, was playing along with his sister when he was kidnapped by an unidentified car-borne man.
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Bank employees protest outsourcing
Jalandhar, October 16 Comrade Amrit Lal, secretary, Punjab Bank Employees Federation, Jalandhar unit, said outsourcing had reached to such an extent in Oriental Bank of Commerce that in more than 1,300 branches, cleaning and sweeping was being done by casual and temporary employees. “Outsourcing in cash logistics and housekeeping is being done on a large scale. Disciplinary proceedings are being used as a mock exercise to impose predetermined and disproportionate punishment,” he added. He warned the management to mend its ways and to call the union for amicable solution or else, Oriental Bank Employees Union would observe a full day strike on November 5 and All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) would extend its support to it. Comrade GK Joshi, president, Punjab Bank Employees Federation, Jalandhar unit, said Oriental Bank Employees Union was demanding a one-time opportunity for all the sub staff to disclose/record their educational qualifications that had not been disclosed at the time of employment. Despite the assurance given earlier, the management rejected the demand in a meeting held on July 14, 2014 without citing any reason. |
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ASHA workers demand higher wages, insurance cover
Jalandhar, October 16 They held a district-level protest dharna outside the Civil Surgeon’s office today. Headed by district president, Balwinder Kaur Sarih, Harinder Singh Dusanjh and Gurinderjit Singh, leaders of Mulazam Manch, Punjab, said the policies of privatisation and liberalisation of the Punjab government were causing much harm to the people of the state. Activists said ASHA workers should get at least Rs 6,475 per month in wages and Rs 10,000 per month should be paid to facilitators. They said they should get insurance cover worth Rs 2 lakh from the government, mobile allowance, provision of a separate room for workers who go to hospitals to ensure deliveries of patients and proper infrastructure and equipment should be provided to the workers in hospitals. They said if the government does not make a statement in response to the demands of the ASHA workers soon, then they shall hold dharnas at all centres of the district and a state-level rally at Director, NRHM, Prayas Bhawan, Chandigarh on November 7. |
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3-day conference on trends in engineering begins at PTU
Jalandhar, October 16 The event began with the welcome address by Dean, Academics, Dr Buta Singh Sidhu, followed by lighting of lamp and a shabad gayan by students of Punjab Institute of Management. The conference attracted more than 150 research scholars from more than 10 states of India and seven countries of the globe of which Poland and Japan participated for the first time. |
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1 booked for harassing wife for dowry
Phagwara, October 16 In her complaint lodged with the police, the victim said she got married with Mandeep on October 12 last year. Soon after, the husband went to Kuwait. She was being tortured by her-in-laws to bring more dowry, she alleged. She said though her husband returned after a few months, he also started torturing her. No arrest has been made so for. |
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Garment shop burgled
Jalandhar, October 16 At 6.30 in the morning, I was called by a person engaged as a sevadar at a religious dera near the shop. After I reached the showroom, I found the whole shop ransacked. The thieves had cleared their hands on the whole stock and had not even left a single piece of garment, the shop-owner added. Meanwhile, the Bhargav Camp police was informed about the incident. Sources said a few days ago, a mobile shop was also burgled in the area and the police are still groping in dark in that case. |
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6 held for looting trader
Jalandhar, October 16 “The accused attacked Jai Pal Aggarwal and injured him. The trader was carrying Rs 2 lakh in a bag but the accused managed to loot Rs 3,000 kept in his pocket,” the SHO added. |
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Woman dies due to burn injuries
Phagwara, October 16 The critically injured woman was first admitted to Panchhat Hospital, from where she was shifted to Phagwara Hospital. Later, she was taken to a hospital in Jalandhar where she succumbed to her injuries.
— OC |
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