Amritsar, July 11
Cutting across political affiliations, the intelligentsia and the common man in the city fully backed the initiative of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on the nuclear deal with the USA and bringing the country out of nuclear isolation.

Leading the crusade in favour of the deal, his brothers and the family echoing the similar sentiments said Dr Manmohan Singh had never compromised with the interest of the nation and had been steadfast in his commitment to strengthen the country’s economy and the infrastructure.

His brothers, Surjit Singh Kohli and Daljit Singh Kohli, said it would be historic agreement, which would meet the energy needs of the country, which is on the threshold of becoming super economic power. They said the PM had all along been a strong nationalist who would only work for the development of the country with his far sight and dedication. They said the vested interests in the country were only trying to throw spanner in his mission to make country strong and economically powerful.

They said in view of the country’s growing needs of power, the agreement was necessary to lead the nation for accelerated growth in the coming century.Backing up the strong contention of the family, registrar of Guru Nanak Dev University Dr R.S. Bawa said India must emerge out of the nuclear wilderness, which was a result of Pokhran tests of 1974 and 1998. He said the world had completely frozen to transfer nuclear technology to the country, which is passing through a worst phase of nuclear isolation.

He said the opportunity had been knocking at India’s doors and the PM was instrumental in taking a major initiative to break the barriers and come up with one of the best energy deals through this agreement. He said the Indian nuclear reactors with vintage technology were facing an oblique future and running at 30 to 40 per cent of the installed capacity to provide power to the energy-starved country.

Dr Bawa said the agreement would upgrade not only the technology but also help build more power reactors to meet their energy needs as the present nuclear stations were providing two to three per cent of the power. He said the civil and the military aspect of the agreement would also allow the country to meet its defence deterrent while providing energy to our industry and agriculture sector.

He said the country must fully back the PM who is not only one of the most sincere politician but also a truly professional who would steer the country out of the present political impasse.

The registrar said the country today requires modern nuclear technology and more high-tech reactors to upgrade its power systems. A close relation of the Prime Minister, Jasbir Singh Chatha, said the PM would receive the full backing of his home city for clinching the historic agreement for meeting the energy demands of the country’s growing power needs. He said the whole country must stand by him to strengthen his vision and resolve for taking the nation forward to new heights.

He said the country, especially Punjab, which had been in difficult times due to power shortage, must rise above narrow political considerations and back Dr Manmohan Singh to finalise the agreement.

The CII vice-president, Punjab, Gunbir Singh, said it is very imperative to meet the energy requirements of the country, especially Punjab, which is at present going through acute power crises. He said the natural resources for thermal power and hydro power are fast depleting creating uncertain situation to meet the growing needs of power. He said the country must attain its full nuclear status through this agreement which is very crucial and vital for the growth of the country. 

Amritsar, July 11
The income tax department would upgrade its computer system after which e-filing would be made compulsory for the corporate companies.

This was disclosed by income tax chief commissioner Sunil Chopra during an interactive session with the members of local industry. The interaction was organised by Confederation of Indian Industries Amritsar Zonal Council.

Giving details, Chopra said centralised processing centres for tax returns and setting up of specialised departments for international taxation, charitable exemptions and transfer pricing were also on cards.

He said it was for the first time in the history of India that the contribution of direct taxes was more than the payment made through indirect taxes. This was a sign of matured and progressive economy, he added.

When the industrialists rued that the local industry was suffering due to closure of small scale industries, chief commissioner declined it. He said according to the analysis carried out by the income tax department, there has been a growth of 35 per cent in tax collection as compared to the last year in Amritsar.

CII Amritsar Zonal Council chairman Shivinder Singh Sandhu said the CII would take up the issue at local level and carry out a survey to find out trades in growth stage and recession mode.

This would help the local industry to work accordingly on its core competencies, he added. He also suggested the income tax department to devise a credit rating system for corporate whereby those filing maximum returns could be encouraged.

Amritsar, July 11
A one-day-old baby boy was found abandoned in front of a house in Sunder Nagar locality here.

The house-owner Sonia found the healthy baby wrapped in a polythene bag outside her house and immediately took the newborn inside and draped him in soft clothes. The relatives of Sonia brought the incident to the notice of the police and the baby was later taken to the local Red Cross society and handed over to the custodian under the cradle scheme.

Deputy commissioner KS Pannu, the brainchild behind the scheme, said as many as four newborn babies have been brought to the Red Cross under the scheme, which was initiated seven months ago. He said after proper medical checkup, the baby was sent to Shishu Ghar in Jalandhar.

Pannu said the state government has set up five such child care centres in Punjab where abandonded children are kept and after proper legal procedure handed over to parents who are willing for adoption.

Meanwhile, police have registered under section 317 IPC against an unknown person and the investigations were being pursued to identify baby’s parents. The cops have also raided residences of certain midwives and hospitals. 

Amritsar, July 11
A mentally challenged man, who was being stoned by the onlookers due to his being naked, was rescued at the behest of health minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla and then admitted to Dr Vidya Sagar Institute for Mental Care and Research here.

The victim was lucky as the health minister was watching a street play of Jaspal Bhatti at that time. She heard the shrieks of the youth and immediately called up the district police chief Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh, who arranged a vehicle for taking the youth to the hospital. He was badly injured and given first aid by the 
mental hospital.

Dr B.L. Goyal, director of the institute, said the youth was fast recovering from the injuries. The youth identified himself as Shakeel but failed to provide his address. Dr Goyal said the general public must understand the agony of the mentally challenged persons and should not resort to attacking such persons. Such acts aggravate the condition of mentally challenged persons.

Dr Goyal said Shakeel was in bad condition when he was brought to the hospital. However, after the first aid he revealed the names of his father and brother as Husain and Rustam, respectively. 

Amritsar, July 11
Students and staff members of the Khalsa College for Women along with the local NCC unit planted more than 100 saplings today to celebrate Save Environment Day.

Tarn Taran, July 11
A foot march was organised today here by the different schools to mark the World Population Day.

Parkash Singh, additional deputy commissioner, flagged off the march.  The march which started from the local government senior secondary school and passed through the main bazaars and roads of the town before concluding at Guru Arjun Dev Sarai where a langar was organised for the participants by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee.

The students carried placards, spreading awareness on family planning and need to eradicate social evils. Students from Arya Girls High School, Government Girls Secondary School, Maharaja Ranjit Singh Public School, SD Senior Secondary School, SGAD Khalsa Senior Secondary School and SD Girls High School participated in the march.

Amritsar, July 11
The Punjab State Cooperative Inspectors Grade-I  Association has urged the state government to fill up the vacant posts of inspectors so that there was no problem in starting the new schemes launched by the government for the people welfare.

Rajbir Singh Sandhu, state president of the association, claimed nearly half of the total 1,400 seats were lying vacant as the government had made no recruitments since 1980.

He said at least 500 posts should be filled up immediately. He rued that inspectors in the cooperative sector have been ignored as compared to their counterparts in the audit department. — OC

Amritsar, July 11
Ansal City Buildwell Ltd, a corporate house in the real estate sector, is coming up with a modern township on the Amritsar-Jalandhar GT Road.

Addressing mediapersons here today, senior GM (marketing) Anurag Verma said the Ansal City Amritsar is conceptualised as an ultra modern contemporary township. He said it offers world-class infrastructure which has been visualised to create noise-free city with ample fresh air and sunlight. The city also offers various sizes of plots ranging from 200 to 500 sq yards in the first phase of the construction. Thereafter, the company would go for building villas with other outdoor and indoor facilities, including clubs, indoor celebration lounge, swimming pool, health and fitness centre besides a hospital and health care.

Verma said the company plans to use hi-tech technology for creating wire-free surroundings and make the entire project environment-friendly with provision for rain water harvesting. 

Amritsar, July 11
Khyber Continental, an upscale hotel named after the famous Khyber Pass, takes you to a journey of fine-dining cuisine.

Located in the heart of the city, it has a “Green Zone” restaurant serving versatility of cuisines.

Providing a convenient dining atmosphere, it specialises in lip-smacking continental food like fish florentine, grilled chicken, mutton goulash to name a few. At the same time, it adhers to the traditional food.

An ultimate comfort food zone, it provides facilities like spacious, centrally air-conditioned restaurant and bar, buffet service at reasonable rates and other amenities like underground parking.

Jaspal Singh Dhillon, one of the directors of Khyber Continental, while talking to Amritsar Plus, said the hotel remains in constant flux to keep up with the recent food trends.