Amritsar, July 6
In a major seizure, the Health Department today recovered a huge quantity of intoxicants from the Himalaya Trading Centre situated at the Katra Sher Singh area here.

The health team, comprising Sanjiv Garg and Karun Sachdeva, both drug inspectors from Amritsar and Kapurthala, respectively, Dr Naresh Kumar, medical officer, Jallianwala Bagh Memorial Civil Hospital, besides a police team of the narcotic cell, IG office, raided the premises in the afternoon.

The more than two-hour-long raid resulted in the recovery of intoxicants worth Rs 2.75 lakh.

The department had seized habit-forming drugs worth Rs 1.25 lakh from the same store two years back. The store-owner’s license was suspended while the store remained closed for three weeks at that time.

“We will write to the state drug controller authorities to get his licensed cancelled as time and again he has been found indulging in the sale and purchase of intoxicants illegally. The department is very serious about the drug menace prevailing in the society and the role of the involvement of various drug stores is under the scanner,” said Dr Chandanjit Singh Kondal, Civil Surgeon, Amritsar.

Rajkumar, owner of the shop failed to produce purchase bills of medicines, which include parvonspas, microlit, proxyone, besides 14 bottles of codeine syrup etc.

The drugs would be presented in the court tomorrow and a report would be sent to the state drug controller authorities, said Dr Kondal. 

Amritsar, July 6
Research scholars of Guru Nanak Dev University today took the protest path to raise voice against the alleged autocratic attitude of university authorities for ‘unprecedented’ hike in fee of various pre-PhD courses. They sat on a dharna outside the main gate of university here today.

They closed the main gate of the university that led to great inconvenience to the students and families who arrived for counselling of various courses.

Heavy police bandobast was made outside the university gates after the students gathered in numbers.

The agitating students raised slogans against Vice-Chancellor A.S. Brar and Dean, Students’ Welfare, M.P.S. Ishar. They alleged that the students living in the hostels were thrown out on baseless charges of indiscipline in the university.

“In a notice issued yesterday, the boys were asked to vacate the hostel immediately while the girls were given time till today morning. The hostel warden locked the rooms of the students immediately after the notice,” said a student.

The strike was postponed till evening only after the teachers assured to accompany them to Vice-Chancellor (who is out of station) to hold talks and to take up their genuine demands. A delegation of the teachers, led by Ishar, T.S. Benipal, Rakesh Mahahjan, met the students in this regard after which the students called off the strike till July 8, the date of return of Dr Brar.

While detailing the students without disclosing their names said the university authorities had unprecedented hiked the fees of pre-PhD course which is made necessary by the University Grants Commission. They said the university is demanding Rs 38,000 as the course fee while it is just between Rs 6,000 to Rs 8,000 in other universities.

Ishar talking to The Tribune said the students have agreed to talk and postponed the strike. He said the Dr Brar was open to any talk with the students. He said pre-PhD course has been introduced for the first time and whole fee structure is much less as compare to other universities who were charging fees on different accounts from the PhD students.

Amritsar, July 6
Punjab has been hounded by bandhs since November. Be it a call given by radical Sikh organisations in the wake of ‘injustice’ done to 84 riots victims, or another call given in protest against the recent violence in Ludhiana or just yesterday’s nationwide bandh call given by opposition parties, including the BJP-led-NDA and left parties, over price hike in petrol, petroleum products and steady rise in inflation against the UPA government.

Though, sarkari karmcharis enjoy a ‘paid holiday’ during the bandhs, the day certainly gets a mixed response from the common man. Even if it lasts for a few hours in a day, loss to the tunes of crores cannot be ruled out.

Gurdeep Singh Bhola, a cosmetics shop owner at the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Market, Amritsar, rued that the bandhs remind them of the ‘Operation Blue Star days’ when many traders had their work and schedules disrupted.

“I fail to understand whether these steps would bring about a transformation in our system or not. But surely it would not do any good for traders like me who have to meet daily target sales to run their homes,” he said.

Like Bhola, his fellow traders, dealing in clothes, confectionary items, imitation jewellery, stationary items etc., had no choice but to ‘kill time’ playing cards or taking to idle gossiping.

“These bandhs are like a blow to our livelihood. What they’d achieve by it is something I fail to understand. I aim to earn Rs 120 daily, only then can I get something to eat. Even the loss for a day is ‘unbearable’ to me,” said Satnam Singh, who drives an auto rickshaw on rent.

Dr Vaneet Sareen, District Chief, All India Human Rights Association, Amritsar, said, “The bandh, in itself, hits the economy, development, besides normal life. Political leaders have little time to understand its impact on the common man, especially youth. This is actually a fight of capturing the ‘golak’. My appeal to political leaders is to think about the future of unemployed educated youth, preserving the expiring trade industry, rather than forcing to close down every other day.”

Condemning it further, Dr TS Chahal, Chairman, Institute of Development and Planning Amritsar, said, “These moves have nothing to do with common people’s interest or bringing about reforms, rather they hit the country on the economic front. How can these steps be positive, when schools and colleges are made to close down? It’s all a political gimmick, irrespective of any party and should rather be banned in the larger interests of the public interest,” he said.

Owing to the bandh, the students’ community remained confused till late on Monday evening about the status of their exam, which was supposed to happen on the same day.

“This is really pathetic, but who cares. The situation indeed disrupts the attention, especially of meritorious students, who plan subject wise. But such conditions disturb their schedule and thus affect their performance. Moreover, the legitimacy of such forceful bandhs, too, is questionable. Leaders can lodge their protest in a peaceful manner without disturbing others,” said HS Walia, Secretary, Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union.

“Unscrupulous elements with muffled faces drive around on the streets to see if their leaders’ calls are being abided with or not. This will seriously affect the psyche of our youth. Political leaders should understand the situation has much serious repercussions than one can gauge from the surface,” said Gurpartap Singh, a parent. 

Amritsar, July 6
Deputy Commissioner KS Pannu has dismissed Balwinder Kaur, a clerk appointed at the office of Sub-Divisional Magistrate Baba Bakala, after an inquiry report indicted her of misappropriating a huge amount of money from the GPF of another employee. Pannu said apart from the report, the official in question has also confessed to have committed the crime. The District Revenue Officer held her guilty of the charges leveled against her in the report.

According to the report, Balwinder had illegally withdrawn Rs 2 lakh from the GPF of Patwari Gagandeep Singh and thereafter remained absent from duty.

The DC said the accused was issued a charge sheet and the District Revenue Officer was tasked with carrying out an inquiry against her. She appealed to the Deputy Commissioner to take lenient decision against her. However, Pannu turned down her request and ordered her dismissal. 

Amritsar, July 6
An eleventh hour cancellation of New Delhi-bound Shatabdi Express might have created a lot of inconvenience to its passengers from Amritsar Railway Station, but it proved to be a special treat for the rickshaw-pullers, auto drivers and destitutes.

For, in the wake of flood like situation due to heavy rainfall which lashed most parts of the region, the Amritsar-New Delhi Shatabdi, which was scheduled to leave for New Delhi from Amritsar station Platform No 1 at 5 pm, got stuck at Kurukshetra. Meanwhile, the mass preparation for food, supposed to be served in the train, had already been prepared well in advance.

This cooked food packets for over 1,000 heads had to be distributed among the rickshaw-pullers, autodrivers and destitutes. Though the railway authorities as well as the Doon Caterers, who have been entrusted the task of preparation of food for Shatabdi, outrightly denied it, but the pictures available with The 
Tribune speak otherwise.

Nevertheless, hoards of rickshaw-pullers, and rehri wallas were spotted at a residential place located in the Rani Ka Bagh area where the food packets, prepared for Shatabdi passengers, were openly being distributed among them.

Station Superintendent Vimal Kumar showed ignorance on the matter saying, “Who told you that the food was distributed like that? The train got stuck in Kurukshetra and no food was prepared today for the evening”.

On the other hand, the Supervisor of the Doon Caterers Dwivedi admitted that food for 1,100 Shatabdi passengers was prepared well in advance but declined to admit that the food was distributed among masses. When asked about the fate of the mass prepared food, Dwivedi, told that it has to be thrown away as per railway policy. “What else can we do? It is the policy of Railways which say that the food cannot be distributed elsewhere”, he replied.

Amritsar, July 6
Ancient languages Persian and Arabic along with verse rich Urdu still hold charm among people who are taking time out of their busy schedule to learn them.

The Urdu and Persian Department of Guru Nanak Dev University, which also teaches Arabic, receives students on an average from 70 per cent in Persian to 100 per cent in Urdu. Currently, the admission forms are being submitted online for one year part-time certificate, diploma and advanced diploma courses in Urdu, Persian and Arabic languages courses in the department. The last date for the admission is July 15.

Persian scholar Prof Aziz Abbas with the university, said globalisation, comparative study, availability of authentic historical facts in Persian and Arabic languages were some of the reasons behind holding of interest among public for these languages. Besides, charm for learning the poetry rich Urdu language crisscross all kinds of barriers.

“Globalisation has moved administrators of universities based at Delhi, Meerut and Aligarh to incorporate mass media in Masters of Urdu, Persia and Arabic.”

He said Punjabi has many words of Persian origin. The departments like Police, Judiciary, Railway, Irrigation and others still use terms like Abkari, Munsif, Diwani, Munshi, Daftari which were taken from Persian language.

The Persian scholar, who also teaches Arabic in the varsity, said Persian was no longer considered a foreign language in India but as one of the classical Indian languages. He said the language is also known as Farsi, is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is the official language of Iran and is also widely spoken in Afghanistan. He said the old Persian has close affinity with Sanskrit as well.

Unlike Persian, Arabic is a Central Semitic language and classified under Semitic languages such as Hebrew and the Neo-Aramaic languages. It is widely spoken in Middle East and North African countries, said Abbas.

The students of medieval history, Guru Nanak Studies, Sikh philosophy, officials from Land revenue, Excise and Taxation and advocates also form students of this classical language.

A scholar and teacher of Urdu, Prof Barkat Ali, also Head, Department of Urdu Persian of the university, said the language gained its vocabulary from Persian, Arabic, Turkic, Sanskrit, and Pashto influences. Its rhythmic vocabulary and language made popular by great poets such as Mir, Sauda, Ghalib, Zauq and Haali attracts the students from the cross section of society.

He the candidates after passing 10+2 examination were eligible for admission to one-year part-time certificate courses in Urdu, Persian and Arabic. While those who have passed the certificate course in the particular language could seek admission to part-time diploma course in Urdu or Persian. The diploma holders in Urdu or Persian language are eligible for admission to Advanced Diploma Courses, he added.

Amritsar, July 6
A joint team of the district administration and the police department today conducted a surprise raid at the premises of the high security Amritsar central jail here.

However, the team did not find anything objectionable during the raid, which continued for more than two-and-a-half-hours. The team checked various barracks of the jail and interacted with prisoners, it is learnt.

It is pertinent to mention here that the high security jail remained in the news for the seizure of mobile phones and habit-forming drugs used by criminals, lodged in the different barracks, especially those involved in drug trafficking. Various security agencies had expressed concern a number of times over the fact that notorious drug smugglers lodged in jails were operating their network through mobiles from the jail premises.

Led by Dr Kaustubh Sharma, Deputy Commissioner of Police, the team also comprised Paramjit Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner.

Dr Sharma, while interacting with the media, denied the recovery of any mobile phone or intoxicant. He said the team raided the complex after several complaints received by the department.

However, sources claimed that the team recovered three mobile phones, besides strips of intoxicant medicines thrown in dustbins after the prisoners got wind of the raid.

But Deputy Commissioner KS Pannu said the raid was conducted to bring in reformation and improvement in the functioning of the jail. He also denied recovering anything during the raid. 

Tarn Taran, July 6
The authorities have sent a batch of 20 special kids for surgery at Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Ludhiana, under Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan.Mann Singh Gill, District Education Officer (Elementary Education), said in the elementary schools of the district as many as 190 children have been screened with special need.

He said the first batch of 20 children have been sent for treatment and the surgery, including physiotherapy after cutting the plaster would be done free of cost, and all the expenses would be arranged under the SSA.

The authorities have made arrangements for fooding and lodging of the children. The DEO said all the 190 children would be given treatment. 

The height of the candidate should be 170 cms and weight 50 kg. For further details, the aspirants can contact the office at 52, Court Road, Amritsar. —TNS