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Helmets made mandatory for pillion riders too
Negligence in treatment: Family holds protests against doctor
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Hoteliers pay for top cops’ stay
Rajasansi airport: Second phase ensures better facilities
Sanawar school delegation leaves
for Pakistan
Right time to spray bordo mixture: Horticulture
City doc participates in TCT at Washington
Threat to Golden Temple
gnd varsity youth
fes
Homoeopaths seek 40 pc hike in salary
Consul General of Canada visits GND University
Physical education teachers updated on
techniques
NAAC recognition for govt college
Gurpreet’s village celebrates his golden show at CWG
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Helmets made mandatory for pillion riders too
Amritsar, October 8 Nevertheless, with about 10 lakh two wheelers in the city, of which seven lakh ply on roads daily, helmet sales has been expected to be brisk manifold. It is mention that citing the Punjab Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 the Supreme Court (SC) made it mandatory for the two-wheeler drivers as well as pillion riders to wear the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certified helmets. The SC ruling, after making some amendment in the high court’s earlier verdict on the issue, also gave exemption to the Sikhs and women riders, whether driving or on pillion seat, from wearing helmets. The SC also advocated two-wheeler manufacturers and dealers to provide the new buyer with the BIS standard helmets, the cost of which should be added to the cost of the new vehicle. Even as the Amritsar administration implemented the condition of wearing of helmets compulsory for two wheeler riders and pillion riders while barring Sikhs and women, it is yet to be seen whether the SC’s directions regarding the specification of BIS helmets, would be implemented strictly or not. “While it would be too early to judge the impact of the SC ruling, yet the decision is good and is in the interest of the safety of two-wheeler riders. Still, I feel that exemption given to the Sikh gentlemen is justified but the women’s head is not made of steel, on what grounds they have been given exemption is beyond my understanding,” said Naresh Johar, an office goer. As BIS-certified helmet usually costs more than Rs 500, many recycled and sub-standard helmets are sold for much lower prices. OfficialSpeak
Additional Police Commissioner, Traffic, S.S. Sidhu: From today onwards, we would be challaning two-wheeler drivers or pillion riders without helmets. This drive has been launched for the safety of public. We have been conducting awareness drive by distributing leaflets, through advertisements in newspapers, through radio or patrolling vehicles’ address system, for over a month. But, at the moment, we have not focused yet on the quality of the helmets. In a later phase, this aspect too would be taken into account. |
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Negligence in treatment: Family holds protests against doctor
Amritsar, October 8 Gurdip, a poor driver and daily wager, was admitted to the said private hospital after he suffered a fracture in his leg, when it got entangled in the belt of a chopping machine used for cutting fodder, about two months back. However, Dr Amandeep Singh, owner of the hospital, refuted charges, claiming that the victim suffered compound fracture, which takes time to heal. He said he had told everything to his owner, who had accompanied him at the time of his admission to the hospital. Gurdev Singh, Block Sammittee member, who was accompanying Gurdip, said he (Gurdip) spent more than Rs 1 lakh, which he borrowed from his relatives during his treatment in the hospital. The villagers also financially supported him for paying the money. He said after two months of treatment when they re-conducted the x-ray, they found that the bone had never joined. The family threatened to approach the consumer court in case the hospital failed to return the money or treat him for free. Dr Amandeep Singh said during compound bone fracture, the bone is joined by using external fixater, in order to heal the wounds. After curing the wounds, it is opened again to join the bone by inserting plates. He said some persons have misguided the family, which did not even approach them before going to media or holding agitation against us. “They should have come to us so that we could tell them the real condition of the patient,” said the doctor.
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Hoteliers pay for top cops’ stay
For three days, over hundred of Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSPs) and above rank officials stayed in various luxurious city hotels allegedly free of cost. Defying this, the top city police officials maintained that it was not a totally free affair. A deal was struck with the hoteliers for offering rooms on concessional rate. While being adamant on their prior statement, the city hoteliers, preferring anonymity, said no such deal was ever made and till now not even a single penny had been paid. They rued that they had, reportedly, been communicated to be ready for the same kind of hospitality for the cops during the expected visit of the President of USA Barack Obama, in the mid of next month to the city. It is to pertinent to note that during President Patil’s visit here, thousands of police personnel, Reserve Battalion and PAP commandoes were hired to scrutinise the security aspect and facilitate President’s cavalcade. While in city, they were put up in various hotels of the city and were provided with bed and morning tea. Over 150 rooms in various hotels were kept reserved at disposal of the police department for three days --- from morning of October 3 till the evening of October 5. All the rooms were booked in the star category hotels, which, otherwise, command a room rent between Rs 1,000 and Rs 4,000, for a night stay. This implies a deep dent into their already diminishing revenue, which runs into several lakhs during this VVIP visit. The hoteliers said with the intervention of some of their influential counterparts, this time they managed to seek exemption from providing “the guests” with food and other convenience services like laundry, STD telephone facility or free pick up or dropping at tourist places etc. The hoteliers resented that they have been passing through a bad phase of the business due to global recession. Now this extra burden on them has given them a double blow. “For the last three months, from July to August, there have been scant occupation, it was only in October onwards that we expect some relief but due to such VVIP visits, the whole budget plans have got topsy-turvy,” they rued. It was not for the first time that the hoteliers were put to task during any VVIP’s visit. The hoteliers complained that it happened with them during the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpaee’s visit to the city in 1997 and during Queen Elizabeth’s visit, about 9 years back, when no payment was made. “During those visits, we were directed to provide the police officials other conveniences and food and beverages also. The average bill of each cop had crossed Rs 15,000 then, because they had called up their family and local friends in the hotel room for food and drinks. Who dare to ask them for the extravagant usage of the facilities?” they complained. OfficialSpeak
Deputy Commissioner KS Pannu: Had the police department approached the district administration, I would have arranged their stay budget. Now that such an unjustifiable act has come to my notice, I will definitely look into what compensation can be extended to the hoteliers. For the forthcoming President Obama’s visit, I will make sure that the hoteliers should not fall victim to such unreasonable treatment again. Deputy Police Commissioner AS Chahal: It is absolutely baseless to say that the hoteliers were forced to offer hospitality to the police officials for free. Rather, we requested them to provide rooms at concessional rates. Right at the moment, I may not be in a position to reveal the exact concession that was extended to us. I will check with the department concerned about the status of their payments. If their payments are lying pending with us, we would make them on priority. |
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Rajasansi airport: Second phase ensures better facilities
Amritsar, October 8 Modernisation of the Amritsar airport was part of the Civil Aviation Ministry’s plan to upgrade 35 non-metro airports in the country by 2010. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) had announced to upgrade and develop the Amritsar airport at a cost of Rs 128 crore in 2003. The new integrated terminal building at the airport has an area of about 40,175 sq metres, which earlier was 12,770 sq metres. It has state-of-the-art facilities, like inline X-ray baggage inspection system, escalators, public address system, flight information display system (FIDS), CCTV cameras, check-in counters with common use terminal equipment (CUTE), car parking and other areas. It commands peak-hour passenger handling capacity of 1,200 passengers and annual handling capacity of 14.6 lakh passengers. The integrated building has 30 check-in counters, four X-ray scanners (for baggage), 26 immigration counters, 10 custom counters, 12 security check booths and four conveyor belts. It was in 2005 that the Aviation Ministry had given a “go-ahead” signal to the second phase of the expansion plan to modernise the Rajasansi airport.The Punjab Government’s contribution is limited to hand over 44 acres to the AAI for the expansion of the airport.“Aviation, far from being a mere mode of transportation for the elite, is vital for the sustainable development of trade and tourism. Hence, it is significant that airport infrastructure grows in anticipation of the growing needs of the air transport industry,” says Amritsar Hotel and Restaurants Association general secretary A.P.S. Chatha. As per a survey carried out a few years ago, 97 per cent of the country’s foreign tourists arrive by air. The survey pegged the tourism sector as the nation’s second largest foreign exchange earner. After having been granted the status of an international airport, passenger traffic at Amritsar has seen tremendous growth from 12,000 passengers in 2000-01 to 62,8,453 in 2009. It registered a passenger growth of 64.6 per cent during April-December 2009 and was ranked number one in the country with the fastest growth. Meanwhile, Aviation Minister Praful Patel inaugurated a Rs 145-crore integrated arrival terminal building at Amritsar International Airport on February 25, 2009. In the first part of the expansion, the airport added an arrival and departure terminal. The geographical advantage of the city, located at the threshold of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Middle East and Central Asia, could be useful to supply merchandise there. With the sports hub at Jalandhar, hosiery at Ludhiana, fresh fruits and vegetables from Himachal Pradesh and parts of Punjab could be exported from the permanent perishable cargo centre, with 200 tonnes per day capacity, at the Rajasansi airport. Besides, the holy city attracts tourists from across the country and from around the world.
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Sanawar school delegation leaves
for Pakistan
Amritsar, October 8 British academician Henry Lawrence had established four Lawrence Schools at Sanawar, Ooty, Mount Abu and one in Pakistan. Vasisht said they were leaving for Pakistan to attend the function on the invitation of Lawrence College Principal Farooq Kiyani. The students would be participating in the annual concert - a dance and a song event - to be held tomorrow. He said Prime Minister of Pakistan Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani would be the chief guest at the function. During its stay in Pakistan, the Indian delegation would make educational tours to Murree, Taxila, Nankana Sahib, Panja Sahib and Lahore. One of the students in the contingent, Adityajit Shergill, said, “He has been keenly looking forward to see his grandfather’s house at Murree.” He said all students in the group were waiting to meet and exchange ideas with students of the Pakistani college. Before returning on October 12, the delegation would meet the Governor of Pakistan Punjab at Lahore. |
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Design Weekend in city
Amritsar, October 8 Design Weekend’10 is a niche event that celebrates style, beauty, fashion, luxury and festivities. It is organised by Rivarchand Entertainment, a very young company emerged from the passion to create and promote cultural as well as social occasions. Emerging as a recognisable leader in the production of select and exclusive events of substance, and created in 2009 by Vishhal Chand Mehra, a fashion enthusiast and alumni from Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, London, the brainchild behind the show, Design Weekend is a trademark creation of Rivarchand Entertainment. “It is a statement of pure creative outburst - be it clothes, accessories, art, décor….. whatever one can conceive of,” quoted Vishhal Chand. Design Weekend is an annual paradise of beauty, fashion, style and luxury promoting leading creative heads from the fashion and design fraternity of India under one credible canopy to celebrate the latest moods of Pret-a-Porter (Ready-to-wear), Fusion (a line between ready to wear and trousseau/couture), Couture and Bridal along with accessories, jewellery, luxury home décor and more. Design Weekend shall be marked by the who’s who of the cities of Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana stepping in to shop from the celebrated designers from across the country Designers / labels on board would be Nikasha Tawadey, Harangad Singh, Gaurav & Ritika, Jatin Verma, Harpreet Narula, Rashi Kapoor, Arjun, Hemant & Nandita for clothes (western and Indian wear). For accessories, like shoes and bags, it would be Stoffa Shoes (Mumbai) Rachel Bags (Delhi). Meanwhile, Prasadam Jewels (Jaipur) would be there for jewellery. Fashion
Show
Starting October 8, amidst fun and events, Celebration Mall would host “Diwali Dilse”. The other events to be part of the programme would be fashion shows displaying best brands, trends and style, the Treasure Hunt would take you to places within the Mall in search of hidden clues that lead to the treasure hunt, Youth Stars 2010, would bring all colleges on a single platform and showcasing the talent of the youth of Amritsar, the mehndi contest, card making and painting contests. |
Right time to spray bordo mixture: Horticulture
Tarn Taran, October 8 Dr Gharyala said sub-division Patti had been heading the Delhi market in the pear fruit business since the last 30 years. In Punjab, the Patti area is number one in producing quality wise pear fruit. He said cutting of unwanted branches of the pear trees after plucking fruit was necessary. He further said bordo spray helps fight disease. He said for preparing bordo mixture it needed two kg of copper sulphate and equal quantity of unslaked lime to be mixed in 250 litre of water. He said the pear tree needed three sprays, the second to be done in December-January and the third in April.
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City doc participates in TCT at Washington
Amritsar, October 8 Dr Jaswal, who was invited there as a TCT advisory faculty member, said, “It was a unique opportunity for the global interventional community to learn the latest breakthrough and advancements in clinical science and review evolving management strategies which will ultimately result in improved outcomes for patients with heart diseases.” He said there were vide discussions on various topics such as complex coronary, endovascular or structural cases, with interesting clinical situations, anatomical obstacles, device-specific challenges and management of complications during the conference.
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Threat to Golden Temple
Amritsar, October 8 Huge logs of woods could be seen lying on the langar hall premises, where pulses and other vegetables are cooked. Underground furnaces have been created outside the hall where these logs are used as a fuel. It is pertinent to mention here that the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Punjab Pollution control Board (PPCB) have expressed serious concern over the mounting pollution level in the surrounding areas of the Golden Temple that is damaging the marble and beautiful frescoes of the holy shrine. The board had found high levels of harmful nitrous oxide and sulphur dioxide in the ambient air during their visit in January, 2008. The board experts had also cautioned that fireworks during festivals released these gases, reacted with marble leading to corrosion and blackening while wall paintings and gold-plating were also under threat from these harmful gases. The PPCB had also recommended to the government to ban burning of fuel other than LPG in the walled city to save the Golden Temple. During their visit, the two boards (CPCB and PPCB) had also asked various departments, such as Powercom, municipal Corporation, police and food and civil supply, etc, to submit a draft plan for making the 500-m radius area around Darbar Sahib pollution free. However, they failed to do so even after the elapse of about two years. Earlier, the administration had banned the use of coal or kerosene oil by goldsmiths, dhabas and hotels. It handed over new LPG connections to goldsmiths for running their workshops in the Guru Bazaar area, he added. Harbans Singh Malhi, Manager, Darbar Sahib, when contacted said the Shiromani committee was doing efforts to divert to LPG, but it would take time while adding that they were trying to procure more LPG connections. “Till that happens, there is no other way but to cook dal (pulses) and vegetables by using wood as fuel,” said Malhi. |
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gnd varsity youth
fes
Amritsar, October 8 Dr Sarvjit Kaur Brar, the first lady of the university and principal of the local Khalsa College Public School, presided over the valedictory function and presented trophies to winners. Addressing students, Dr Brar said the festivals are a good platform to provide opportunities to students to exhibit, explore and promote their talent. In the A division, SD Arya Mahila College, Dina Nagar (district Gurdaspur) remained runners-up and Pt. Mohan Lal SD College for Women, Gurdaspur got the third place. In the B division, Sikh National College, Qadian (district Gurdaspur) remained runners-up and Guru Nanak College, Batala (district Gurdaspur) got the third position in the fest. Over 800 student-artists from 27 colleges affiliated to the university situated in the Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran districts participated in this four-day festival and competed in the 37 items of fine arts, music, literary, theatre and dance. Following were the final results of the last day items: Western Vocal Solo: Rama Chopra SD Kanya Mahavidyalaya, Pathankot stoof first; SD Arya Mahila College, Dina Nagar stood second and SRPA AB College, Pathankot & Sikh National College, Qadian, jointly, stood third. Western Group Song: First - SD Arya Mahila College, Dina Nagar; second - RR Bawa DAV College for Girls, Batala and third - SRPA AB College, Pathankot. Gidha: First - SD Arya Mahila College, Dina Nagar; second - SGAD College, Khadoor Sahib & Guru Nanak College, Batala and third - RR Bawa DAV College for Girls, Batala.
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Homoeopaths seek 40 pc hike in salary
Amritsar, October 8 Dr Gurbir Dhillon, senior vice-president of the NRHM Homoeopaths’ Association, while putting forward the demands, pointed out that homoeopaths appointed under the mission in Uttar Pradesh were getting Rs 24,000, while in Chandigarh they were being paid Rs 23,000 per month. On the other “Moreover, the state government had granted an increment of 15 per cent and then again of 5 per cent in the salaries of all other employees working under the NRHM, while it totally ignored the medical officers,” alleged In a press note, Dr Dhillon said there was confusion among the homoeopathic and Ayurvedic doctors whether they were authorised to issue medico-legal report or medical fitness certificates during their emergency duties. He urged the authorities of the Health and Family Welfare Department, which had issued the instructions for designating emergency duties to Ayurvedic and homoeopathic doctors along with allopathic doctors in allopathic hospitals at least for four days in a month, to clear the confusion. He said in the event of any legal case, only the government would be responsible if it failed to clear the confusion. The association also appealed to the government to immediately release their quota of medicines, which had not been issued for the last one and half year. “Whatever the medicines have been released till now were issued under the quota of permanent doctors,” the association pointed out while adding that they were facing huge problems due to shortage of medicines. It also sought funds for setting up a separate wing of homoeopathic medical officers on lines of Ayurvedic doctors who were given Rs 10 lakh for forming a separate wing.
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Consul General of Canada visits GND University
Amritsar, October 8 The Consul General also assured of high-quality research collaborations in different thrust areas of science and technology, including material sciences, environmental and life sciences with GND University. The International Council for Canadian Studies would make proposals with the cooperation of the university in this regard, he added. He stressed that collaborative projects and programmes so designed should be implemented in real sense, so that the researchers of both the countries get high-quality training in varied branches of science and technology and get good placements for socio-economic development. Fellowships, exchange programmes of students and faculty and training programmes were also discussed during the interaction. Earlier, Slessor, accompanied by Gurbans Sobti, Trade Commissioner of the Government of Canada, was extended a warm welcome. Dr Surinder Singh, Dean, Academic Affairs, apprised the visiting dignitary of the academic, sports, cultural and other activities and achievements of the university. He said the varsity stressed on research activities, management control of a large number of affiliated colleges and setting up of regional campuses in remote areas, transparency in admissions and examination system of the university. Dr Surinder Singh honoured Scot Slessor with a set of university publications on the occasion. He held a meeting with the cross section of industrialists and traders.
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Physical education teachers updated on
techniques
Tarn Taran, October 8 Roop Lal Roop, District Education Officer (Secondary), here today. He said this initiative was taken in accordance to the instruction issued by the Director General School Education (DGSE). Besides PTIs and DPEs, the teachers of physical education participated in the seminars. The DEO said eight teachers who have taken special training from Mohali were deputed as resource persons for imparting training to the teachers. Surinder Singh Bhatia, Assistant Education Officer (Sports) and Deputy District Education Officer (S), supervised the seminars. Rajiv Kapoor, Kuldeep Kaur, Kuldeep Singh Kahlon and Satnam Kaur were among the resource persons. —
OC |
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NAAC recognition for govt college
Tarn Taran, October 8 The college, which was established in 1965 as Sri Guru Arjun Dev Khalsa College with the efforts of the prominent personalities, like Dr Gurdial Singh Dhillon, the then Speaker of the Lok Sabha. It was taken over by the state government in 1974. The college had been proving to be very helpful for the rural students of this border area. Courses in BA, BSc (Economics), BSc (Medical and Non-Medical), BSc (Computer Science), BSc (IT) besides BCA, PGDCA are available in the college. Dr Manohar Singh Gill, Union Minister for Sports and Youth Welfare, had released grants worth Rs 1 crore for the development of the college. There were 450 students in the college last year and the strength has risen to 700 this year. |
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Gurpreet’s village celebrates his golden show at CWG
Naushehra Pannuan (Tarn Taran), October 8 Manjit Singh and Charanjit Kaur, father and mother of Gurpreet Singh, said they were hoping for more medals from their son. Gurpreet Singh bagged two gold medals in the men’s 25m and 10m pistol events yesterday pairing Vijay Kumar and Omkar Singh, respectively. Celebrations started as soon as the news reached the village last late evening. The villagers danced on the beats of dhols. The jubilation continued the whole day today also. Even the schools of the village were closed to join in the celebrations. Ameer Chand Sood, an English teacher of the Oxford Public School, from where Gurpreet did his matriculation said
Gupreet was special from the very beginning in his school days. Gurpreet
belongs to backward class family whose father was running a grinding (kharadia)
shop in the village. He has two brothers and a sister.
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Amritsar, October 8
Amritsar, October 8
