Amritsar, August 13
As many as 53 tubewell drivers, gardeners and chowkidars were a disappointed lot as they were not paid salaries by Municipal Corporation (MC) for the last three months.

Reason: The MC House has failed to hold meeting for granting sanction to their salaries for last three months.

It is pertinent to mention that these employees were shifted from Punjab Water supply and sewerage board to Municipal Corporation in year 1996.

Delayed in salaries is not the only problem they are being facing, they were also fighting legal battle for their regularisation. The corporation is dithering to regularise them even as the Punjab and Haryana High Court had asked the civic authorities to grant them minimum grade pay scales with no increments from January 2010.

“I am unable to pay the fees of my three children studying in a private school while ration depot owners were asking for money every now and then. The school authorities were also demanding monthly fee,” said Parkash Chand, a sewadar and one the 53 employees who were shifted from the Sewerage Board Department. “For how long the shopkeepers and depot holders would give ration material to us,” he added. The Nagar Nigam Manav Kalyan Union, which is fighting legal battle for regularisation of their jobs, however, termed the delaying of salaries as vendetta policy to harass them.

Approximately 80-90 persons were employed by the Water Supply and Sewerage Board for the operating and upkeep of 40 tubewells constructed by the department in the city in year 1993-94, which was later handed over to MC in 1995.

“In 1996 these employees filed a petition in the labour court for regularisation which given its verdict in favour of the employees in 1999 ordering the corporation to consider them for minimum grade of regular pay scale with all allowances from 1996 but without any increment,” said Union General Secretary Narinder Nath.

He said the corporation moved to the high court against the decision. However, single bench in 2009 upheld the decision of industrial labour tribunal after which the corporation filed the writ to double bench. Narinder Nath said the double bench granted the stay to the corporation within two months of filing the petition but with a rider that it would grant minimum grade pay scale with allowance from January 2010.

Amritsar, August 13
The Chinese rakhis would again appear on the wrists of children and adults this Rakshabandhan. If the medical experts are to be believed, these cheap Chinese “wrist art” comprises toxic material and is injurious to health.

Neena Ghai, a mother of two kids in the Shivala Bhaian area, has another domestic battle to fight these days. Just a few months back she had to face tough times to wean her kids away from China-made toys after reports that the lead used in their colours could damage children’s brain cells appeared.

Now her six-year-old son Sumit, who is hooked to the Pokemon series on TV, wants only a Pokemon rakhi, one of the brightly coloured Chinese rakhis that have flooded the market.

“A friend told him about the rakhi and he is insisting that we get him one. It’s going to be difficult now to coax him to wear one of the Indian rakhis, which are plain, but safe,” she said.

Truly, the craze for these Chinese rakhis is tremendous. Despite knowing the ill effects of these Chinese bands, the parents could well be spotted searching for the “demand” of their wards. The most common ones are the rakhis carrying figurines of animated characters like Pokemon, Shinchan, Ben-10. This was not all, the Chinese have mastered the art of attracting crowd by making traditional idols of Indian Gods like Ganesha and Hanuman on the satin bands, which cost anywhere between Rs 20 and Rs 450.

While making a round of the city markets, it has been found that about 80 per cent rakhis on display this season have Chinese raw material.

The rakhis are mostly imported by small traders who have little knowledge about the dangers of lead and cadmium in their paints. Mohan Desai, a stationery shop owner at the Lokhandwala market, has a big stock of Chinese rakhis due to their sales potential.

The Chinese rakhis have become a rage among kids because of the Pokemon and Shinchan characters on them. This week, anyone buying a rakhi for a kid has been only picking up the Chinese rakhi.

These have dual motive. After the festival, the figurines can be used as toys or stick-ons. On investigating it was found that all these are being manufactured in China and that too at half the cost. “I don’t want to take any risks. He will be eating with the hand on which the rakhi is tied,” Neena Ghai said.

But a word of caution from the medical experts should not be ignored. Experts believe that the PVC material used in the rakhis are similar to those of the toys. “The brighter the rakhi, the more dangerous it is. And, unlike toys, the rakhis are unbranded, so the risk is greater, ” they observed.

Amritsar, August 13
Ajnala Forest Range Officer Jagdish Singh, booked by the Amritsar rural police on rape charges, today pleaded innocence and termed the charges as baseless and a deep-rooted conspiracy to defame him.

The officer was booked for allegedly raping a middle-aged gardener of the department posted at Ajnala. A complaint was lodged by the alleged victim herself on August 11after eight days of the incident.

The victim in her complaint to the police alleged that the accused raped her on pretext of dropping her at her native place in Amritsar. The incident occurred on August 3 evening near Jagdev Kalan village drain.

Result of the medical examination is still pending.

Jagdish Singh rebutting the charges said he was being framed of some ulterior motives. He said the so-called victim was recently transferred to Amritsar from Ajnala range which she did not like. Meanwhile, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Satnam Singh while talking to The Tribune, confirmed that departmental enquiry was being marked to Deputy DFO Wilbert Samson to dig out the truth.

Kulwant Kaur (name changed), a widow in her complaint, alleged that on August 3 evening, Jagdish Singh stopped her on pretext that he would drop her in his car at her native place as he was also going to Amritsar.

The woman has alleged when they reached near Jagdev Kalan village drain, he pushed her to the back seat and committed rape. She said he 
also threatened her to get her dismissed from her job if she told anyone about this.

SSP Amritsar rural police Gurmeet Singh Chauhan said a case has been registered in this regard and investigation was under progress.

Jagdish Singh, while defending himself, said the day which was mentioned in the complaint, he remained busy in meeting with Additional Deputy Commissioner, Divisional Forest Officer and Deputy Divisional Forest Officer till late in the evening regarding the plantation drives being launched by the district administration under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.

Meanwhile, coming to the support of the officer, the Punjab Non-Gazetted Forest Officer Union headed by Balbir Singh Dhillon sought cancellation of case registered against him. He also demanded high-level probe into the case and termed the incident as deep-rooted conspiracy against Jagdish Singh.

Amritsar, August 13
The State Bank of India, Amritsar cantonment, has adopted 25 poor girl students of Nishkam Sewa Public School which is imparting free primary education to poor children of rag-pickers, downtrodden and other weaker sections of society.

S.K. Sehgal, Chief General Manager of the State Bank of India, Chandigarh Circle, and Kavita Sehgal, president of the State Bank Ladies Club, Chandigarh, distributed books and cheques for Rs 5,000 to each girl student for fees, books, stationery and uniforms.

Amritsar, August 13
Ashwani Kumar, a jeweller, was shot at by four unidentified persons in the Green Field area on Majitha Road here last evening. He was closing his shop when the incident took place.

He was rushed to a private hospital where he was stated to be out of danger.

Roshan Lal, father of the victim, said four persons armed with pistols and with covered faces came to the shop at about 7.45 pm. They asked Ashwani to hand over the keys of the safe containing jewellery. However, Ashwani resisted their attempt. The accused shot at him that hit his leg, he added. Hearing the gunshot, people ran towards the shop while the looters fled on their motorcycles.

Police Commissioner Varinder Kumar said police had started investigations.

Meanwhile, Roshan Lal alleged that this was the second incident of loot at their shop. Earlier, unidentified persons had looted their shop about one and half years ago and the police had failed to nab the culprits at that time also.

Amritsar, August 13
The expressive eyes and rhythmic body movements of Kavita Dwibedi, daughter and disciple of Odissi maestro Guru Harekrishna Behera, enthralled the gathering at a recent presentation of Odissi dance at Spring Dale Senior School.

Kavita is held as one of the leading exponents of Odissi in India. She is known for her superb abhinaya. In her professional career spanning over 10 years, Kavita has had the privilege of presenting Odissi in almost all the major dance festivals in the country, including the Khajuraho Dance Festival, Konark Music and Dance Festival, Natyanjali Dance Festival, Soorya Dance Festival.

Kavita had a successful the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR)-sponsored performance tour to the UK, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Denmark, Ireland and Norway during the 50th anniversary celebrations of India’s Independence.

The artiste earned accolades for her performances at some of the world’s highly prestigious platforms in countries like the USA and Canada, including her presentation at the UN headquarters in New York.

Like other forms of Indian classical dance, the Odissi style traces its origin to antiquity, she said and added that the Natya Shastra also mentions the dance form as Odra Magadhi.

“The little recognition that the dance form had gained in the past few years was mainly the result of artistes’ own efforts,” said Kavita, adding that the government needed to do a lot more than just instituting funds and scholarships to attract students.

She apprised students of various schools of Odissi dance, Mahari, Nartaki and Gotipau, which had evolved over the centuries.

Amritsar, August 13
Road rage incidents have shot up with the introduction of lopsided traffic management plans while the holy city yearns for an effective mechanism to control its growing volume of automobile vehicles.

These days two or more people could be easily spotted exchanging fisticuffs and showering blows on each other over a paltry traffic issue on the road while people watch around it like a “tamasha”. A concerned citizen, Naresh Johar, said the administration invariably introduced half-baked plans which instead of controlling the traffic added to its woes. Instead of helping people to smoothly commute on the roads, it pitted them against one other to slug it out. Altercation and verbal duels were a common phenomenon these days.

The traffic police has installed barriers to stop four-wheelers from moving on to the patch from the Hathi Gate to Pink Plaza in order to reduce stress from the ever-busy Gandhi Gate, popularly known as the Hall Gate, which leads to the Golden Temple. Interestingly, the patch is ample wide and free of encroachments making it ideal for four-wheelers to move on.

However, the four-wheelers were diverted to the Ring Road inside the historic wall city. Rampant encroachment and parking of vehicles make it unworthy for four-wheelers. It resulted in chaos on the road and people were left to fight among themselves to find their own way, said a shopkeeper, Narinder Kumar. He said street fights among commuters had become an order of the day in the area.

The ambitious plan to operate and control traffic around the Golden Temple remains a non-starter. Earlier, different agencies of the district administration had introduced a plan, but it had to be withdrawn following objections raised by shopkeepers.

Similar phenomenon could be seen at any road in the city crying for immediate attention of the authorities concerned.

Amritsar, August 13
When it comes to zeroing down on a stream of study after school, the most crucial factor which haunts youth is career planning. Owing to a fierce competition, ensuring space in a decent institute is an ordeal in itself. Once a place has been secured, the battle to “survive” hounds them constantly.

Even as higher education in most sought-after streams like science, commerce or engineering equip them to be part of the competition convoy, ultimately it would be the employable factors which would help them cement their position in the competition era.

There is a common belief that science is the most important subject, compared to humanities or even commerce, and only the best students opt for these streams.

If job placement experts are to be believed, parents easily become part of the rat race in looking for lucrative streams like commerce, science or non-medical while ignoring the interest of their wards.

Dr Hardeep Singh, in charge, placement cell, Guru Nanak Dev University, echoes similar views. “It is truly a rat race among parents to engage their wards in streams like science, non-medical or commerce, little realising the fact that opportunities after the completion of humanities group are tremendous. In fact, it is the individual’s own skills which help him/her to get a good job. Over the past one year, there has been a drop of around 40 per cent in admission seekers for the humanities stream,” he opined.

Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union secretary H.S. Walia opined that in the absence of such facilities in school, try to collect information from different sources. He also had a word of caution, “Never go by the claims of flashy advertisements in the media at their face value.”

Walia said it was not widely appreciated that humanities also offer many options after 10+2 other than the usual BA degree course. Except for courses in science and technology areas, one could take up many other courses such as travel and tourism, advertising, journalism, performing arts, business management, etc. Humanities were also the favourite choice of many students who sat for the civil service examinations.

“For humanities students, civil services are the first choice, and many take it up only because of this. Subjects like history, political science, sociology, geography, etc. help you prepare better and be a better administrator,” said Walia. Another school of thought advocates that the experience of writing since school days makes students capable of expressing better than the rest. Some career options include author, columnist, copy editor, critic, editor, grant writing, interpreter, translator, playwright, script writer, speech writer and lyricist. The bottom line is that the scope is vast and upcoming, opine experts.

Tarn Taran, August 13
Prof. Laxmi Kanta Chawala, Health Minister, Punjab has once again advocated an increase in the age of specialist doctors to 65 years and asked that they should not be treated at par with class four and clerk-level employees of the state.

Chawla was here today to inaugurate the free check-up camp for pregnant women and children, organised by the department in Muradpur, a slum area locality of the town.

Talking to The Tribune, she said the state should enhance the retirement age of the specialist doctors up to 65 years. She said the state Government was committed to provide better health services to the poor and rural sections of the society.

She added that the department should not let private firms to get the services of specialist doctors by giving them better benefits. No doctor likes to sit idle after his superannuation at the age of 58 years, she added.

In her address, after inaugurating the camp, she called the poor sections of the society to avail the benefits of government health centres where doctors were better qualified and medicines were given free of cost.

As many as 560 patients were examined in the camp, which included 130 pregnant women out of which 94 lacked proper HB.

Dr Balwinder Singh Kalsi, Civil Surgeon and other officials of the department spoke on the occasion.

Amritsar, August 13
The Georgetown University, Washington, has sanctioned Post Doctoral Fellowship to Prabhjit Kaur Randhawa, Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences of Guru Nanak Dev University, for completion of her doctorate degree.

Dr Saroj Arora, Head of the Department, said Dr Prabhjit Kaur was a senior member of the team of Dr Satwinderjeet Kaur, who is working on the Chemopreventive potential of medicinal plants. She said during her doctorate study, Dr Prabhjit isolated the number of bioactive phytochemicals viz anthraquinone (s), napthoquinone(s), flavonoid (s), terpenoid (s) from Rubia cordifolia and Glycyrrhiza glabra and evaluated their antioxidant, antimutagenic, anticancer, anti-inflammatory potential. She has presented her research work in various National and International Conferences/symposia and published the same in journals of High Impact Factor.

She said under this Post Doctoral Fellowship she would work on Systems approach towards diabetes research using molecular profiling tools with Dr. Amrita Kaur Cheema, Research Director, Department of Oncology, Georgetown University, Washington. In this project, scientist would perform comparative metabolomic and proteomic analysis between normal and diabetic patients using ultra performance liquid chromatography in conjunction with the highly sensitive time of flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-TOF-MS) in order to detect metabolites as well as proteins from biofluids derived from healthy and diabetic individuals.

Amritsar, August 13
Khalsa College International Public School to celebrate Independence Day on its school premises. A cultural programme and patriotic songs were played on the occasion. An inter-house patriotic song competition was also held, besides a short play depicting Bhagat Singh’s contribution and martyrdom.