24082024-JTR-01.qxd 8/23/2024 10:37 PM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar tribune GOVT COMMITTED TO COMPLETING NHAI PROJECTS: MINISTER Minister for Public Works Harbhajan Singh takes midday meal with students during a surprise visit to schools. P3 » ABHISHEK HAS ONCE AGAIN IMPRESSED WITH STREE 2 MANOJ BAJPAYEE TALKS ABOUT SYSTEM OF LOBBYING FOR AWARDS Abhishek Banerjee doesn’t mind if it’s commercial or parallel cinema as long as the role interests him. P4 Bagging 4 National Awards is not an easy feat to achieve, but Manoj managed to bag his 4th National Award recently. P4 » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR MAX 34°C | MIN 25°C YESTERDAY MAX 33°C | MIN 24°C SUNSET SATURDAY 7.00 PM SUNRISE SUNDAY 5:59 AM SATURDAY | 24 AUGUST 2024 | JALANDHAR INBRIEF PROF SAVITA IS ABVP CITY CHIEF Hoshiarpur: Prof Savita Grover of the Panjab University Swami Savanand Giri Regional Centre was appointed as the president and Jagpreet as the secretary of the ABVP. The announcement was made in the presence of Manmeet Sohal, state secretary, ABVP, Punjab. Zila Pramukh Prof Dr Brajesh Sharma was especially present and guided the new team. District coordinator Ankit Kundra, advocate Harsh Thakur and district executive member Pawan Kumar were also present. OC MAN ARRESTED WITH PISTOL Phagwara: The police have arrested a person under the Arms Act and seized a .765mm pistol along with six cartridges from his possession on Thursday night. Phagwara SP Rupinder Kaur Bhatti said the accused identified as Sunny of Joginder Nagar, Phagwara, was nabbed at a check-point near the Shivpuri locality. OC HEROIN SEIZED FROM VILLAGER Phagwara: The police arrested a person and seized six gm of heroin from his possession on Thursday night. The accused Gurmukh Singh of village Narangshahpur near Phagwara was arrested at a nakabandi near Hardaspur. A case under the NDPS Act has been registered against the arrested accused. OC FOUR BOOKED FOR ASSAULT Phagwara: On a complaint lodged by Manjit Singh of village Madhopur (Phagwara), the police have booked four persons on the charges of attacking and injuring the complainant. They include Gurpreet Singh of village Sangrudhi and Harman of village Isserwal, besides two more persons.The police are investigating the matter. OC Seven booked for attempt to murder Our Correspondent PHAGWARA, AUGUST 23 The police have booked seven villagers on the charges of attempt to murder and rioting. The accused have been identified as Vishal of Kotli Kamboj village, Noni of Sindharr village, Param, Rahul and Rohit of Sardar Wala and another Param of Mehraj Wala village and Rohit of Kamalpur village. Viki of Kang Khurd village complained to the police that he and his brothers Rannjit Singh and Suraj Singh were going to Lohian on August 18 when the accused waylaid his brothers near Nawan Pind Khale Wal attacked them. He said the accused also tried to attack him but he somehow escaped. A case under Sections 109 (attempt to murder) 351(2) (criminal intimidation) 118(1) (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means),126(2) (wrongful restraint) ) 190(3) (unlawful assembly ) 190 (rioting) of the BNS has been registered against them. No arrests have been made and raids are being conducted to nab them. Despite crackdown on underage HC for curbing menace of stolen driving, no let-up in traffic violations goods’ purchase 18 challaned |New MV Act norms yet to be enforced|Parents to get more time Saurabh Malik Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Chandigarh, August 23 The Punjab and Haryana High Court has called for curbing the menace of purchasing stolen goods after making it clear that the menace was affecting the society at large. Describing people purchasing stolen articles as “perpetrators”, the Bench made it clear that they were behind the surge in the offence of thefts. The ruling by Justice Kuldeep Tiwari of the high court came on a petition filed by a scrap dealer allegedly indulging in the sale and purchase of stolen articles. “People like the petitioner, who purchase stolen articles, in fact, are the perpetrators behind surge in offence of thefts, inasmuch as they facilitate easy and smooth sale of the stolen articles. This menace is affecting the society at large and needs to be curbed,” the Bench ruled. The matter was placed before Justice Tiwari after the accused moved the court seeking the concession of anticipatory bail in a theft case registered on August 19, 2023, initially under Section 379 of the IPC at Division No.2 police station in Jaland- Jalandhar, August 23 Even as the Punjab Police had given parents a 20-day window to ensure that their minor wards stop driving and their parents don’t face challan under the harsher sections of the amended Motor Vehicle Act, it does not seem to have worked much. Even as the traffic police adopted a lax attitude, 18 youths were challaned for either being underage or not possessing driving licences (even if they were not minors). However, none of the youth was challaned as per the new provisions in the Act. “We shall give the parents one week more to impose fine under Section 199 A and B of the amended Motor Vehicle Act. Even going by the old norms, they shall have to pay up at least Rs 5,000 as the challan amount”, said ADCP , Traffic, Amandeep Kaur. Traffic police personnel did not start on-the-spot challan and choose to send the cases to the Regional Transport Officer on whose discretion the challan amount would be finalised. “We also challaned five overloaded autorickshaws and a bus of Cam- Despite awareness programmes, students can be seen violating traffic rules with impunity in Jalandhar. TRIBUNE PHOTO: SARABJIT SINGH bridge School for MVA violations”, said a traffic police inspector. A constable posted at Guru Nanak Mission Chowk said, “After issuing challans, we have been telling the parents of all offenders on the phone about the violations that their wards have been indulging in and warning them of harsher penalties for Order to speed up work on projects Tribune News Service Jalandhar, August 23 Jalandhar Divisional Commissioner Pardeep Kumar Sabharwal on Friday conducted a review of the development works being carried out by the Jalandhar MC, directing officers to complete all ongoing projects within the stipulated time-frame. He stressed that the timely completion of these projects was crucial for ensuring that the city’s residents benefit from the state government’s pro-people initiatives. During the meeting, the Divisional Commissioner emphasised the importance of maintaining cleanliness in the city and directed officials to ensure effective sanitation services. He also highlighted the need for an efficient drainage sys- tem during the monsoon season to prevent waterlogging, which can disrupt traffic flow. Additionally, he reviewed the progress of the ongoing plantation drive, encouraging officers to maximise tree planting efforts. Sabharwal instructed officers to maintain cleanliness, enhance beautification and complete pending civil works to ensure a welcoming environment for visitors in the office complex of Divisional Commissioner. The meeting was attended by Additional Commissioner Amarjit Bains of the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation along with officers Rahul Dhawan, Superintending Engineer, and officials from the Public Works Department and the Horticulture Department, who assured their commitment to the directives. har District Police Commissionerate. Certain other offences under the provisions of the IPC were added subsequently. His counsel during the course of hearing submitted that the petitioner’s name was not mentioned in the FIR. In fact, his name surfaced for the first time in the disclosure statement of a coaccused after which the petitioner was been arrayed as an accused in the FIR. Appearing before the Bench, the counsel added that the investigating agency was not seized of any cogent evidence indicative of the petitioner’s involvement in the alleged crime except the disclosure statement. After going through the arguments and the documents, Justice Tiwari asserted the case record revealed that the petitioner was a scrap dealer, “who prima facie indulges in the sale and purchase of stolen articles”. Besides this, the petitioner was involved in three more criminal cases involving commission of similar offence. The stolen articles’ recovery, too, was yet to be carried out. As such, his custodial interrogation was required. another similar violation, including cancellation of the RCs of their vehicle, Rs 25,000 fine and bar on issuance of licence till the age of 25.” The ADCP said, “As many as 300 personnel from the police and PCR teams shall remained deployed at 7 am and again at the time when schools are over to check vio- lations tomorrow. They shall be deputed at strategic locations, including BMC Chowk, Workshop Chowk, Chunmun Chowk and other sites just in the vicinity of the schools. We are simultaneously running 60 challan books, especially for violations of underage driving.” The violations by students were common outside almost Cane farmers stage dharna over arrears Inter-state gang of drug peddlers busted Phagwara, August 23 Hundreds of farmers of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Doaba) led by BKU general secretary Satnam Singh Sahni sat on a dharna before the SDM office, Phagwara, in protest against the non-payment of sugarcane growers’ dues by Phagwara Sugar Mills. Addressing protesters, Sahni and farmers’ leader Gurpaul Mauli alleged that despite repeated reminders, neither the civil administration, nor the management of sugar mill were ensuring the payment of their arrears of more than Rs 41 crore. SDM Jashanjit Singh came out of his office and assured the farmers of redressing their problems by August 31. Later, a large number of the farmers proceeded to Kapurthala and sat on a dharna before the DC office there. — OC all schools as they did not only indulge in underage driving or driving without licences but were also not wearing helmets. Some bikers were also seen indulging in triple riding outside a school on Ladowali Road. Meanwhile, the rush of applicants for getting learner’s licences has increased with the Transport Department. 2 arrested with 5 kg opium Tribune News Service Jalandhar, August 23 The police claimed to have busted an inter-state gang involved in smuggling of opium by arresting two persons with 5 kg opium. The accused have been identified as Bablu and Imran Ansari from UP . The Commissioner of Police said the police had got a tip-off that an inter-state gang was involved in smuggling of opium in the state. He said acting on the tip-off, the police had laid a trap near T-Point Salempur Musalmana Road near Tarlok Avenue, Jalandhar. He said the police party saw two individuals approaching from the direction of village Salempur Musalmana. He further added that on suspicion, the police party thoroughly checked both youths Two persons arrested with opium in Jalandhar police custody on Friday. and recovered 5 kg opium from them. He said 2.7 kg of opium was found in Bablu’s bag and 2.3 kg of opium was found in Imran Ansari’s bag. Consequently, an FIR was registered against the detained individuals. The police said during investigation, the youths admitted that they travelled to Jalandhar from Bareilly at the behest of another coaccused to deliver the opium. Jalandhar tops in citizen-centric services Rana Gurjeet bats for better Tribune News Service Jalandhar, August 23 Jalandhar district has secured the top position across the state in delivering citizen-centric services through its sewa kendras. Deputy Commissioner Dr Himanshu Aggarwal attributed this achievement to the entire administrative staff in Jalandhar and their team work. He explained that the performance of the sewa kendras was reviewed weekly and feedback was taken from citizens to ensure that they did not face any issues. Dr Aggarwal appreciated efforts of officers and staff in maintaining the record of the lowest pendency rate. He also Kapurthala at second spot, Hoshiarpur third mentioned that instructions had been issued to all SDMs to conduct regular visits to sewa kendras and personally oversee the service delivery. Over the last year (from August 23, 2023, to August 22, 2024), the administration received 3,98,673 applications for various services through sewa kendras, of which 99.91% of eligible applica- c m y b tions were processed. The remaining applications were being processed and issues would be resolved within the stipulated time, the DC said. According to the state-level report on citizen service delivery, Jalandhar secured the first position, followed by Kapurthala second and Hoshiarpur third. Dr Aggarwal reiterated the administration’s commitment to providing uninterrupted and timely services and directed officials to prioritise the processing of applications to maintain zero pendency. Over 430 different services related to various departments are being provided to the public through the district’s 35 sewa kendras. waste, sewage management Tribune News Service Jalandhar, August 23 Reacting to the imposition of a penalty of Rs 1,000 crore on the government by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for failing to comply with environment laws, Kapurthala Congress MLA Rana Gurjeet Singh today said the commissioners and the executive officers of the civic bodies in the state’s municipal corporations and councils needed to put in special efforts for the management of municipal waste and sewage treatment. The MLA suggested for a protocol for the solid waste management and treatment of sewage in cities and towns of the state, suggesting for mechanised system of waste treatment. “To begin with, the Department of Local Bodies should start mohalla-level cleaning of sewage lines in the cities, so that the neighbourhoods are clean and there is no overflowing,” he said. “The waste originating from cities and towns has become a big problem and it needs to be dealt with on a priority basis,” suggested Rana Gurjeet Singh. Citing example from his constituency Kapurthala, the MLA said despite his repeated requests, the system of waste management remained improper. According to the MLA, “It is sad that the government has been asked to pay huge penalties for failing to comply with environmental laws. This is second time in three years that Punjab has come under the scanner of the NGT”. “Instead of paying heavy penalties, the government should focus on capital investment for sewage treatment and waste management”, he said, giving a call for overhauling the sewage and waste collection system.