Amritsar, December 29
Problems and Ward 16 have seemingly become synonymous as there is virtually nothing in the name of development while the drainage system, sewerage and roads still elude the areas falling in this ward situated just close to the outskirts of the city on the Batala road.

Ironically, the ward consists of a major portion of the historic township of Verka which has been nothing more than a slum, thanks to the continuous apathy of the Municipal Corporation and successive state governments.

“Boasting about the holy city and raising the pitch to grant heritage status is like cracking a cruel joke if a person pays a casual visit here,” said Pawandeep Singh.

Words may fail to explain the plight of the residents who have to face the problem of water-logging everyday.

The Verka drain, carries sullage and even dead animals, which have become fodder for stray dogs. In the absence of a drainage system in the area, the wastewater from every household is piped out in the open pond and drain resulting in stench from the stagnant water, making the people of the area prone to water-borne diseases.

Due to the presence of the ganda nullah, the drinking water pumped out from underneath, through the tubewell is becoming unsafe for human consumption.

Amritsar, December 29
Rohit Prinja, a former student of Sai Polytechnic College, Manawala, has sought punitive measure against the college authorities which have failed to refund the fee as per the directions of the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

Prinja, who got admission in diploma in computer science course in Sai Polytechnic College in 2008, later joined Government Polytechnic College and urged the college to refund the fee. However, even after lapse of so much time, the college failed to refund the fee even after the directions of S.K. Goel, Deputy Director, AICTE.

C.S. Verma, Regional Officer, AICTE, in his recent reminder of December 11 to the director of the college said that the AICTE had been empowered under section 10 (n) of the AICTE Act to take all the necessary steps to prevent commercialisation of technical education, adding that non-refund of fee subsequent upon a students not continuing with the course amounted to commercialisation of education. It said that any violation of instructions shall call for punitive action, including withdrawal of approval and recognition of erring institutions.

He asked to initiate process to refund the fee as per the rules. It is pertinent to mention here that the AICTE had also issued a public notice in this regard. In the reminder letter, Verma also asked the college to send a report of action taken within one week of receipt of the letter.

Talking to The Tribune, Prinja said he was charged Rs 15,000 for provisional admission against receipt on July 28, 2008, along with Rs 3,500 as transport charges for six months. He said he attended the class for about three weeks and then joined another polytechnic college. He alleged despite repeated directions from the AICTE, the college authorities have failed to refund the fee.

He urged the AICTE to take punitive measure without further loss of time.

Director of Sai Polytechnic S.K. Punj, could not be contacted even after 
repeated attempts.

Amritsar, December 29
The new-found awareness to look lean and fit has left the city dotted with a number of state-of-the-art health fitness centers.

The desire to look as fit as a fiddle, among youngsters, has contributed to the opening of gyms in all nooks and corners of the city.

The new fitness and look-good-feel-good revolution has gifted the city about 15 sophisticated gyms and health centres which offer workout facilities as well as beauty services like never before.

Majority of the gyms have opened up in the civil area, with each claiming to possess foreign-made machines. Obviously, these gyms cater to people from the high-income groups.

Some local businessmen have floated a joint venture called Renaissance. Located in the posh Ranjit Avenue, it offers gym, unisex saloon, spa, sauna bath, steam bath, Kerala and aroma massage, slimming, physiotherapy centre, Ayurvedic treatments, health food cafeteria under a roof on 2,500 square feet.

Dr. Bhupinder Singh Arora, MD (Ayurveda), along with a team of trained masseurs from Kerala, has been tasked with providing massages to de-stress people.

Jasbir Singh Chatha, one of the co-owners, said the complex would not house junk food. On the contrary, it would offer health drinks. He said the center would cater to all age groups and would be a suitable family joint.

Another owner of Renaissance, Sarbjit Singh said all machines in Work Out World, name given to the gym in Renaissance, have been procured from a USA-based company with proven record in manufacturing international level machines.

Varun Maheshwari of Elements Fitness Center claimed that he had installed most technically-advanced machines made from Italy-based company Techno gym. He added that it was the same company which had supplied equipments in Beijing and Sydney Olympics.

Elaborating on its unique features, he pointed out that the equipments run automatically and adjust as per the heart beat of the person who exercises. He added that they had hired six trainers to handle not more than 30 persons at a given time.

He informed that his center possessed a Body Composition Analysis machine to inform the amount of fat gathered in different parts of the body. Following which a person needs to workout for those parts of the body and receive adequate results in a short span of time.

Besides, his fitness center also guides for diet as per the requirement of the body and advised workouts.

Some of these high-end gymnasiums have also hired professionals like physiotherapists and fitness experts to provide satisfactory customers. Physiotherapist at Work Out World Sophia said being a professional, she could recommend exercises required for a person and could also guide them.

Undoubtedly, these gyms also charge heavy monthly and annual charges from customers. Their owners claimed that since they had invested heavily, they could not afford to offer mediocre charges. 

Amritsar, December 29
A makeshift isolation ward, unavailability of dedicated staff for handling swine flu patients point towards ad hoc arrangements by the Health Department to handle and cure the mounting number of H1N1 patients.

Whatever may be the claims of the department, it seems that the city is not prepared to tackle swine flu cases. The district has confirmed 12 positive cases and two deaths from H1N1.

Costly testing kit for swine flu for taking throat swab are not available in adequate numbers with the microbiology department.

Insiders from Guru Nanak Dev Hospital said only a portion of the hospital had been declared as isolation ward. However, no other measures have been taken to literally convert it into an isolation block in the true sense.

Pre-immunisation of staff is of paramount importance. However, it is blatantly missing from the department’s duties. Apart from this, the designated staff for handling H1N1 patients must be given high protein diet to strengthen their immune system to ward off any kind of infection.

Amritsar, December 29
Intense winter conditions have turned Amritsar as the coldest city in the plains, claiming its first casualty with a small-time labourer who died last night in the walled city. The police is yet to identify the body but according to information, the diseased was a native of Uttar Pradesh.

The power cuts of several hours have added to the problems of the residents.

A resident, Parmod Khanna, said that during this long weekend holidays a large number of relatives and friends are on a visit to the holy city to enjoy the winter break but the power shortage at odd hours had created a miserable situation for the guests as well as the hosts. He said the government must ensure regular power supply, especially during these unusual winter conditions.

In the absence of winter rains, various diseases are rampant in the city with a large number of people thronging clinics and chances of spread of swine flu have also alarmed 
the people.

The foggy conditions during December have created problems for the air, road and rail travellers as a majority of train services and air flights get delayed for several hours.

Amritsar , December 29
Onkar Singh Thapar, Chairman of the Punjab State Industrial Development Corporation (PSIDC), has announced that he would impress upon the state government to allocate a special paint zone in the state.

Addressing the inaugural session of three-day seminar of Indian Small Scale Paint Association (ISSPA) here today, he said he would request Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for the same.

Nirav Revshia, President, ISSPA, said if the zone was allocated then the members of the Association would pay the commercial cost of land and would not seek any kind of subsidy.

Thapar hoped that the industrialists in north India would get a level playing field as deadline of the Union government announced tax holiday package for hill states would soon conclude, in which about 150 raw material suppliers, machine suppliers and technocrats from Delhi Zone comprising Punjab , Haryana and neighboring states participated.

He said it augmented well for the industry of Punjab. He said before extending tax holiday, the Centre must have kept in mind that the state suffered immensely during the wars with Pakistan and had undergone tumultuous period for over a decade during the militancy. PSIDC chairman urged the Centre to grant special industrial package to Punjab to revive its economy.

Thapar opined such seminars were must to offer a platform for exchange of ideas besides keeping industrialists abreast with quality, modernisation and upgradation.

The ISSPA President said the association has nearly 1,700 members, which makes it the largest paint association in the world. Its members contribute 53 per cent paint out of the total paint production in the country.

Amritsar, December 29
Artists of Art Centre presented Punjabi play “Mahatma”, which attacks superstitious beliefs, dera culture and tries to find causes behind its indispensability from society.

Written and directed by Jaspal Sethi, the play hits at the blind following of godmen, babas and mahatmas. He said depicting the irony of the typical Indian mentality of toeing the line of godmen in all circumstances, without looking at the consequences, was the aim of the play.

Protagonist of the play, Suraj, played by Gurbinder Bhatti, hailed from a lower middle class family. Even after attaining good qualification and putting sincere efforts, he failed to secure a job. Unemployed Suraj penned his ideas which impressed his girlfriend Kiran (Seema Sharma).

In true love with Suraj and his writings, Kiran used journalism to eventually spread his message in society. Suraj scathingly attacked superstitions and godmen in his articles.

His chance meeting with his old friend Amar, who had become a mahatma of a sect, opened a new chapter in the story. He recalled how Amar was strictly against all this during college days.

Amar, fed up with a life of penury and inability find a job, led him to this profession. He also offered Suraj to respectfully absorb in the sect. However, Suraj refused.

After some days, Suraj was informed that he had been bequeathed with all property and headship of the sect by Amar following his sudden death. The followers of the sect forced him to join its headship.

However, when Kiran learnt that high ideals of Suraj were just shallow, she rebuffed and shunned him. Humiliated, Suraj committed suicide and following him, Kiran also embraced death.

The followers, finding themselves directionless, raised a statue of Suraj and addressed it as mahatma. 

Amritsar, December 29
The Amritsar Sewa Samiti, one of the oldest NGOs of the city, which provides health services to the poor and downtrodden, plans to set up an eye and ENT hospital at its existing hospital premises at Madan Mohan Malvia road here.

Meanwhile, the samiti installed latest high-tech colour doppler and ultra sound machine worth Rs 15 lakh to facilitate the poor patients for proper diagnosis of various health problems.

Shashi Bhushan Khanna, the honorary secretary of samiti, said they would provide these tests at nominal cost of Rs 300 which otherwise cost more than Rs 2,000 in private centres.

He said well qualified doctors were available in the centre to give authentic diagnostic reports. He, however, added in case the poor patients were unable to pay the small fees, the samiti provides free facility to such patients.

Khanna said several lakhs of people from the poor strata of life are provided health facilities and medical consultation at its 70 branches in the city. He said that with annual budget reaching to Rs 4 crore and more the entire collection comes through donations and through its permanent members who are 1,200 in number.

Amritsar, December 29
S.S. Chhina has had diverse experience in his nearly four-decade-long career from handling hardcore terrorists to highly energetic youth.

Outgoing security officer of the Guru Nanak Dev University, Chhina had been awarded President Police Medal for Gallantry.

He had joined the force as ASI and went on to become an IPS officer. He is relieved from the university after putting in over nine years of service. He was the first graduate from his Dalam village nearly 15 km from here.

On his stint with the university, he said ensuring security and handling youth was altogether different from his previous job. “The police deals with petty criminals to hardcore terrorists which require physical, legal and government force, whereas ensuring security in the university requires psychological and moral force,” he said.

Chhina remained posted at the most sensitive areas like Ferozepur, Batala, Jagraon, Nawanshahr, Barnala, Malerkotla, Ludhiana and Amritsar during the peak of militancy.