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Congress councillors take on mayor
Jalandhar, March 29 Perhaps eyeing the forthcoming MC elections, the Congress councillors seemed to be quite angry over the pending projects in their wards and minced no words to blame the mayor for the delay in the projects. Realising that it could be the last meeting before the poll, the Congress councillors got up from his seat and went about expressing their ire about the pitiable condition of roads, streetlights and tubewells in their wards. Akali and BJP councillors literally enjoyed the drama as their work seemed to have been assumed by those representing the ruling party. A Congress councillor from ward number 35, Surinder Kaur, said: “The MC seems to be working only for its favourites. The priority list is still not clear to me. No work has been done in my ward. Even a road being named after my husband has not been laid. This literally seems to be the rule of Mohammad Tughlaq”. This anguished the mayor so much that he allowed the proceedings to go on only after seeking an apology from Surinder Kaur. Since the mayor was allowing only those to go on who eulogised his work at the first stance, the technique was adopted by all Congress councillors who started with a line of praise and then went on to express their fury. At this, Surinder Kaur commented: “It is easier to listen to those words of praise and occupy a high position but it is far more difficult to face the reality.” Des Raj Jassal said the House had not given any respect to its councillors in the five-year term. He questioned the mayor as to why no action had been taken ever since the streetlights along with the poles had been stolen along the Amritsar road, starting from Maqsudan to the Bidhipur railway crossing. He said the lights had not even been replaced on the road much to the inconvenience of the motorists. Darshan Singh, another councillor, too indulged in a squabble as he asked the mayor: “Why have all those works not been completed against which the orders had been passed more than four At this, BJP councillor Pawan Kumar Gupta, son of former MLA Raj Kumar Gupta, argued: “I have a list of scores of works that had been allotted since last meeting on November 28 but when we ask for work in our area we are told that there are no funds.” The mayor could not stand more and he declared the zero hour closed. He asked his staff member to read out the agenda but the councillors did not let him do so as they created uproar. Even as all points in the agenda were not spelt out, he left the House quietly. The commissioner, however, stood back signing various documents put to him by the
councillors.
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Report on child labour
still not ready
Jalandhar, March 29 The work had begun on a war footing in October last when the ban wasannounced. Not only the staff of the labour department but also employees of the Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar, had been engaged in the survey across the city. Assistant labour commissioner Inderjit Singh had said that he would come up with a report on the matter early this year. With the change in the government, senior officials in the department are waiting for their transfers and the employees are taking it easy. The staff revealed that not only was the compilation work pending but also the survey. They said the new officer could ask for a fresh survey. They had learnt during the survey that many children worked as domestic help in the houses of officials here. An officer had even sent a notice to governmnt employees asking them to stop engaging child labour or face action. In bastis many parents had engaged their children in stitching footballs at home.
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Priyanka first among DAVs in Punjab
Jalandhar, March 29
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Jagjit for simplicity
Jalandhar, March 29 Jagjit Singh is happy with proliferation of punjabi music and its domination over the firmament of music. “I am elated to observe that punjabi music has reached every where in the world, but, at the same time the quality has come down. Pop has harmed melody and regional music. For being an accomplished singer, you must know how to sing. Here people become singers without any formal training. Learning has taken a back seat. It appears that now-a-days one needs to have just to become a singer,” said Jagjit who was in the city for a ghazal concert . “One must lead a simple life to overcome stresses of everyday life. Simple life, studded with hard work towards your profession brings success and happiness,” advises Jagjit. The maestro surprises when he responds with a witty one-liner. Why people have to keep waiting endlessely for melodious compositions? The answer comes, “Because, nowadays they (music directors, poets and arrangers) don’t know how to make them.” “Initially, I had never thought to be a singer and my career was upto my parents who wanted me to become an engineer or an IAS officer. But then I developed a taste for music. My father Sardar Amar Singh remained passionate about music all through his life. I learnt music under baton of Ustaad Zamaal Khan at Ganganagar in Rajasthan,” said Jagjit. About his future plans in respect to Punjabi music Jagjit Singh was non-committal. “I love to sing in punjabi. But none of my Punjabi project is in pipeline,” he added. Asked about bollywood, Jagjit said, “They don’t call me for singing any more. I am happy singing on stage. I love to sing perfectly in face to face with audience and to adjust to their mood swings,” added the maestro.
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Kalia’s assurance on rail overbridge
Jalandhar, March 29 Punjab Local Bodies minister Manoranjan Kalia told The Tribune that despite review of controversial BOT projects, on-going construction for such works would not be stopped as it might create inconvenience to the public. As a result, the ongoing construction work for the ROB will continue. However the completion of the ROB might get delayed by five months, said Municipal Corporation (MC) Commissioner Satwant Singh Johal. “The ROB was scheduled to be completed by July, 2007 but its has now extended till December,” the Commissioner added. The construction work for the ROB was started by Gammon India, a renowned construction company, in July last year. “The MC had estimated cost of the ROB as Rs 18 crore. Subsequently, it reached an agreement with Amritsar based Durga Advertisers that the latter would provide financial help of Rs. 18 crore in installments in lieu of a fixed number of hoardings in specified places of the city for a particular period,” Johal said. However, BJP had levelled allegations of corruption while providing advertisement rights to Durga Advertisers at prominent places of the city in lieu of just Rs 18 crores. The then leader of opposition in MC, KD Bhandari had raised the issue of corruption in allotting advertisement rights and had demanded inquiry. However the demand of inquiry was never met. Recently Kalia announced that all the controversial BOT projects of different cities of the state would be reviewed and if irregularities were found, Vigilance Bureau would be asked to take action against the erring persons. At the same time, he clarified that work for the ongoing projects would continue keeping in mind the convenience of the public at large. Kalia said that the review would be done without any political vendetta and law would take its own course. BJP had also made the allotment of these projects an issue during recently concluded Punjab Assembly elections. Meanwhile BJP MLA, KD Bhandari said that he would raise the issue of alleged corruption by then Local Bodies Minister Chaudhury Jagjit Singh and Mayor Surender Mahay in Punjab Assembly and would demand handing over the cases to VB. “The MC have lost crores of revenue that might have been earned if the right of advertisement wasn’t given to a private company,” he alleged.
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Gujral to build bridges
Jalandhar, March 29 “The biggest requirement of the time is that parliamentarians from the state should turn pro-active and participate in debates over state-related issues. In my case, it is easy to lobby for Punjab in New Delhi as half of the union ministers have been in my father’s cabinet. He said: “I would be lobbying for safeguarding the interests of Punjab in more than one way, but also my role as a parliamentarian in New Delhi would be to bridge the gap between the NDA and the UPA. “Since, we have the UPA government in New Delhi and the NDA government in Punjab, we require harmony between the two forces so that we can make Punjab prosper at a faster pace and its interests are not harmed in any way. “My endeavour on these two fronts would be to work relentlessly to put an end to female infanticide and for making a place for unwanted baby girls. More than 30,000 students from Punjab go to Manipal and other southern cities for attaining quality education. So, I would strive to set up an education city in Punjab. “This way we would not only be providing education to our kids but would also be able to open gateway of the world for them. My sole objective would be to see Punjab progressing leaps and bounds. I will be a full-time resident MP. Normally, MPs go to New Delhi for attending the session. But I would be different in the way that I would be present there all the time,” he said.
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Young World Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, March 29 A.P. Vig, reader, department of botany and environmental sciences, Guru Nanak Dev University, delivered a lecture on “Vegetable waste management through vermicompositing”. He gave a live demonstration of its functioning to students. Prizes were distributed among winners of a poster making and slogan writing competitions. Corporate meet
ICFAI National College organised a corporate meet for its students on Wednesday. Students interacted with officials from Reliance Money, Reliance Life Insurance and Birla Sun Life. They held discussions over issues related to placement, skills enhancement and training programmes. Visit
A group of 100 students from Kanya Maha Vidyalaya visited Khatkar Kalan, ancestral village of Bhagat Singh on the occasion of his 75th martyrdom day. In the museum, the students were excited to see the photograph of Sushila Didi, an alumnus of the college and a close associate of Bhagat Singh, who helped in his escape and arranged for his stay in Kolkata. Placement
Five MBA students from Lovely Institutes have been selected by Vardhman Polytex Ltd in a campus placement programme. Nearly 55 students appeared for the selection.
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Chaudhary left alone
Jalandhar, March 29 The vigilance bureau has not only booked Chaudhary Jagjit Singh in the city centre scam, but it is also on the lookout for him amid rumours that he is either in and around New Delhi or he could have ‘slipped’ to some foreign country. Senior Congress leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, however, had asserted that Chaudhary Jagjit Singh was in India and the SAD-BJP government had been working against the Congress “under its policy of vendetta”. Anyway, Chaudhary’s absence from the scene has been proving too ‘unbearable’ for two of his confidants. These two confidants were reportedly so close to the former minister that it is presumed that they knew graphic details about Chaudhary and were privy to his alleged acts of omission and commission. One of these two had also been close to former Punjab Congress chief H.S. Hanspal, who is also in the dock in the city centre scam. Since a case has been registered against former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh and Chaudhary Jagjit Singh, these two popular figures have not only started distancing (or deserting) themselves even from the name of Chaudhary Jagjit Singh, but one of them even started activating his “cells” in the SAD so that nobody could touch him. For this purpose and to explore the ways to stage an exit from the quagmire, he recently headed for New Delhi and managed his meeting with a senior SAD leader. He is also reportedly on a lookout for some contacts who could strike a deal on his behalf and so that he could buy peace with the present regime “in return of every detail about Chaudhary Jagjit Singh”.
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No headway in twin murder case
Jalandhar, March 29 The two youths Gopi and Manga of Duduwal village were found murdered on February 24 in Chitti Bein near Kukar village. Both bodies showed sharp injury marks. Sukhdev Singh, Station House Officer (SHO) of Sadar police station, admitted failure in solving the case. Deputy Superintendent of Police (Rural two) Jagmohan Singh Kang who is presently handling the case, said several persons have been questioned in connection with the murders. Refusing to divulge further information on the ongoing investigation, he said the police was working on different angles and the murders would be solved soon. As the victims were reportedly addicted to smack, the police is said to be exploring that angle also. A chowkidar had seen their bodies in the Chitti Bein and had informed the police. It is suspected that the killers had thrown the bodies in the Bein after eliminating them.
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Cry for billboards
Jalandhar, March 29 It also asked the Municipal Corporation to issue revenue receipts for fixing billboards on private buildings. Talking to media persons here yesterday, association president Tanmeet Singh and its press secretary Vineet Dhir said that the private advertisers had been allowed to fix billboard on private buildings after getting Rs 63 per square feet for a year. The Municipal Corporation authorities are conniving with Amritsar-based Durga Advertisers, which had been awarded several BOT contracts, they alleged. Tanmeet and Vineet said if the outdoor advertisers were not allowed to fix billboards after March 31, over 500 families, including those of the advertisers, and workers would suffer adversely. They submitted a memorandum to the Municipal Corporation.
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Plea to declare holiday
Jalandhar, March 29 All other states, said V.K. Sarangal, general secretary of the association, have declared holiday on that day and the previous governments also used to declare the holiday on the ocassion. Sarangal has written a letter to the President, the Chief Minister and the Governor in this regard.
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