Jago Punjab Yatra to get new name
Tarn Taran, March 15
Manpreet Singh Badal’s “Jago Punjab Yatra” will be given a new political name at a rally to be held Shaheed Bhagat Singh’s native village, Khatkar Kalan, on March 27.

Amritsar to have environmental park
Spread in 125 acres, the park will be sort of a leisure valley
Amritsar, March 15
The Amritsar administration plans to set up an environmental park soon. Spread in an area of around 125 acres, the park will be sort of a leisure valley. It will be situated on two stretches of vacant land on both sides of the canal — from Vallah Bridge to Tarawala Bridge and from Sultanwind Bridge to Chattiwind.

Placement agencies dupe gullible youths 
Amritsar, March 15
In absence of defined procedure, unscrupulous placement agencies are duping gullible youth with impunity.

Amritsar, March 15
The Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) would soon be installing 
a 25-kw solar power plant at the Golden Temple Complex.

A team of experts led by PEDA Chairman Manjeet Singh visited the Golden Temple on March 5 and carried out an inspection of the possible sites for the plant. The team finally selected the rooftop of Sri Guru Ram Das Sarai (inn) for installation of the plant.

Talking to The Tribune, the PEDA chief said, “The SGPC was keen on getting this plant at one of its ‘sarais’ (inns). We have selected Sri Guru Ram Das Sarai, as it gets proper and uninterrupted sunlight. We will connect the plant with the SGPC’s main feeder and they can use the solar power as per their wish.”

The team also held a discussion with the SGPC officials led by Secretary Dalmegh Singh.

At present, the sanctum sanctorum needs 25 kw power daily while the ‘parikarma’ (17 kw) and the parking area (8 kw) jointly require the same amount of power. Therefore, the SGPC can utilise solar power in lighting up either of these areas or may be its ‘sarais’ (inns) depending upon its requirement.

Manjeet Singh told that apart from the Golden Temple, they are installing solar power plants at other important places too like a 15-kw solar power plant at Durgiana Temple, 10 kw plant at Jallianwalla Bagh, 15-kw plant at Attari border and 20 kw plant at Heritage Centre in Anandpur Sahib. He said the work on 20 kw plant at Punjab Assembly and 45 kw plant at the Governor House is underway, while they plan to put up a 15 kw plant at Punjab Secretariat.

Earlier, the PEDA had installed a solar water heater plant for supplying hot water to Sri Guru Ram Das Langar Hall. The PEDA Chairman said the government is providing 60 per cent subsidy on installation of solar water heater plants in 4 border districts, while the subsidy is 40 per cent in case of other districts.

According to him, the government is giving 90 per cent subsidy in solar power plants and they have already got nod for its installation in 23 villages. Out of these 17 belong to Gurdaspur and six to Tarn Taran district. In these villages, a 10 kw solar power plant each will be installed which will supply power to 50 street lights, a dispensary and a school. 

Amritsar, March 15
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed the Amritsar Improvement Trust to provide basic amenities including water supply, roads and sewage in the Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar area (Mall Mandi Scheme) within six months of the ruling.

The consumer court pronounced its decision in a case filed by Kanwar Rajinder Singh who had his plot in the said locality. The court also ordered the trust to grant Rs 10,000 as compensation to the complainant.

The aggrieved party approached the court after the Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT) issued a letter to the complainant to pay the penalty in case he failed to start construction within a year of allotment of plot.

Terming the non-provision of basic amenities as ‘deficiency in service’, the court in its decision said, “Till the providing of basic facilities in the scheme, the opposite party (Improvement Trust) should not be levy any penalty on the complainant for the non-construction as without basic amenities complainant cannot be compelled to start or complete the construction of his plot.”

As per the details of the case, Kanwar Rajinder of Katra Moti Ram approached AIT for demarcation of his plot and delivery of possession in year 2006. However, the trust cared two hoots which forced him to file a complaint in the consumer court.

During the proceedings the opposite party stated that it would sanction the plan and subsequently demarcating his plot within a month. However, it took about two months and finally handed over the plot to him on August 18, 2010. But it also issued a letter that he would be liable to pay penalty if it failed to start the construction within a year.

Kanwar pointed out that AIT in its brochure at the time of allotment claimed that “when the trust offers the possession only then the basic services would be made available in the scheme.”

He alleged that he visited the office of AIT a number of times for providing the basic amenities but it bore no fruits.

While delivering its judgment the consumer court pointed out that more than 5 years have elapsed since the implementation of the scheme, but the opposite party (AIT) has failed to provide basic amenities in the scheme within the stipulated period and even the time extended till August 2010. 

Amritsar, March 15
The Amritsar administration plans to set up an environmental park soon. Spread in an area of around 125 acres, the park will be sort of a leisure valley. It will be situated on two stretches of vacant land on both sides of the canal — from Vallah Bridge to Tarawala Bridge and from Sultanwind Bridge to Chattiwind.

The uniqueness of the park will be in the fact that the present natural contours and the greenery of the spot, be it trees or bushes, will be maintained “as it is”. Planting of ornamental saplings and landscaping using stones and small rocks would further beautify the park.

Deputy Commissioner KS Pannu said the beautiful layout plan of the 5-km stretch from Vallah to Chattiwind and the arboriculture of the site would be a gift to the future generations and would be there within a span of one year.

“The stretch already has a thick green cover. Cashing in on this natural asset, we decided to convert it into a place where people could spend their time leisurely. The term environmental park has been used for the project because except for little pruning, no trees or bushes will be chopped off,” Pannu added.

The district administration has engaged Hardial Singh Johal, adviser to the state horticulture wing, who played an important role in designing green cover of Chandigarh.

Once completed, one would have a perfect view of white and golden silver oaks, jacarandas, lagerstormias, mahoganys, amaltas, gulmohars, bauhinias (kachnar), etc. with a green cover of majestic trees like pilkhan and Arjun.

“We also plan to construct gazeboes in the park. These will be small, lightweight free-standing open-sided canopies, which will lend a beautiful view to the park. The horticulture department has promised to nurture and provide some rare plants for the park,” Pannu said.

A high-level advisory team from the horticulture and forest departments has already paid a visit to the area and given the go-ahead for expediting the work of the park.

The funding would be done by the Amritsar Development Authority. “Once the blueprint of the park is submitted, our target will be to complete the project within one year,” Pannu said. 

Amritsar, March 15
In absence of defined procedure, unscrupulous placement agencies are duping gullible youth with impunity.

At one hand, mushrooming growth of these agencies, which can be noticed near the bus stand, railway station road and some other areas in the city, is an indication of availability of plenty of jobs while a number of persons with dubious past have switched over to this new profession, which appeared in the business circle with the arrival of chain stores, outlets and MNCs in the city. Hence, they charge as per their whim and fancy.

Unregulated agencies extract Rs 250 to Rs 500 per candidate in the name of registration fee and preparing their resume.

Unscrupulous persons are making most of the opportunity and don’t hesitate from manipulating the system.

These placement agencies utilise advertisements in the local media. Many of them advertise without mentioning names of the placement company. However, they magnanimously advertise their contact numbers.

A set pattern of advertisement is “male, female 10+2 and graduates could approach for placement counsellors, receptionist, tele-callers, showrooms, multinational companies, hospitals, nursing, hotels, telecom and insurance sectors.”

Job seeker Rajesh Kumar, belonging to a lower middle class family, said after graduation he found it extremely difficult to get employment, which he needs to support his family.

After reading the advertisement, he approached a placement agency. The placement agency sought Rs 250 for registration and later Rs 250 more for preparing a resume. He requested to deposit the amount after getting a job but as the agency paid no heed he had to borrow the sum from one of his friends. Rajesh is still waiting for a job.

His is not an isolated case. Many youths register with these offices and keep visiting them in hope of getting a job.

Varinder Singh of Majitha said after completing 10+2 he registered with a private placement agency in search for a job in the city. He said after sustained pressure, owner of the agency arranged an interview for a job in a hotel. After some days he was told that his communication skill was not fit for the job. Now, he is working in a cell phone company while simultaneously pursuing his graduation through correspondence. Yet there are many placement agencies offering quality and prompt services to the unemployed youth against a reasonable payment. The youth lacking in skills were also advised to develop the same by these agencies. These placement agencies deposit 10.3 per cent service tax to the government keeping in view that their profession fall under service provider category. Deputy Commissioner Kahn Singh Pannu said as such there was no procedure to be followed before opening a placement centre. He assured that given a complaint the administration would act swiftly against the unscrupulous placement agencies.

He opined that he would request the government to make it mandatory for the placement centres to be registered with the district employment office.

On the condition of anonymity, an executive of a leading local placement agency said that his agency deposit 10.3 per cent service tax to the government as their profession fall under service provider category. 

Amritsar, March 15
The Centre has formulated a policy to deal with terrorism. The focus will be on border areas, mainly Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Ferozepore and Gurdaspur. This was disclosed by Union Minister of State for Planning and Parliamentary Affairs Ashwani Kumar during his recent visit to the holy city.

“Some concrete policy matters are on the priority list of the government’s agenda to counter terrorism (both cross-border terrorism and the Maoist threat). The Union Government is committed to normalise relations with Pakistan and a committee has been formed to carry forward the dialogue process with Pakistan, but subject to the condition that it would not let terrorism prosper on its soil,” he said.

A two-tier policy has been formulated to deal with terrorism. The first step would be to create development infrastructure in terrorism-affected states, thereby generating more and more employment opportunities so as to involve people, especially the youth, in gainful activities. A provision for Rs 610 crore has been made for this purpose. Secondly, a policy is being framed to revamp the police establishment, the intelligence agencies and to upgrade their weapons.

Regarding overall development programmes in the state, the minister said the government had been expediting the proposed Delhi-Mumbai-Gujarat industrial corridor that would house industrial estates spreading in 100 km area around it.

“It would be in existence by 2014-2015. An amount of Rs 4 lakh crore is being spent on the project. This would facilitate Punjab to get connected with Delhi, Mumbai, Gujarat and other important destination in terms of trade, marketing of produce and utilisation of raw material in a more economically viable manner,” he said.

The minister claimed the Centre had been liberal in releasing funds to raise the graph of small-scale industry in Punjab. The SAD-BJP government in the state should make better utilisation of the Central subsidy of Rs 60 crore for boosting small-scale industrial units, the minister said. 

Amritsar, March 15
Spiralling prices of iron and cement have hit the plans of middle and lower-income families that have been thinking of buying or constructing their dream houses.

The prices of iron have gone up from around Rs 32 per kg to Rs 40 per kg, while a bag of cement, which was available for Rs 260 earlier, costs around Rs 305 now.

Raj Pal Mahajan, president of the Iron and Steel Merchant Association, said the prices of these commodities had seen a spurt over the past one month. Consequently, he said, demand of these items had gone down sharply.

Jagbir Singh, a mason, said the demand for masons and labourers had also gone down and many of them had to return home in the evening without any earning.

Jaspal Singh of Dam Ganj said he had saved some money to construct two rooms to meet the requirements of his seven-member family. However, after learning that the prices of iron and cement had gone up steeply, he had postponed his decision.

Sanjay Joshi, manager (marketing and sales), Impact Project, said keeping in view the rising prices of iron and cement, his company would have to reconsider the prices of flats being offered by them. At present, they were offering one-bedroom flats for Rs 15 lakh each, two-bedroom flats for Rs 24 lakh each and three-bedroom flats for Rs 27 lakh each. He, however, did not give the quantum of proposed hike in the prices of flats. 

Amritsar, March 15
Alteration in design of Amritsar Railway Station has initiated a debate among locals that why its design must be maintained in its original form.

An example of Victorian architecture, the railway station came into being six years after the Indian sub-continent’s first formal run of train from Bori Bunder (Mumbai) in 1853. It was among the few well-connected railway stations along the international border with newly carved nation - Pakistan during and before the Partition.

A major railhead junction of the Northern Railways, the local railway station had witnessed the maximum movement of trains carrying refugees to and fro from India and Pakistan during the Partition, considered to be the biggest human migration in the world.

Efficient rail link with newly carved out nation Pakistan had made the city first choice of the people coming to India. This was the reason that many Hindi and Punjabi flicks on the subject had scenes of the local railway station. Some of these pictures showed the station prepared in a film studio. Box office hit ‘Gadar Ek Prem Katha’ had one of its scenes picturised at Amritsar Railway Station.

Heritage lovers are irked with the Railways over changes being made on the façade of the British-era station. The then railway authorities - Great Indian Peninsular Railway - had constructed the railway station of Lahore at the same time in 1859.

Balwinder Singh, Conservation Planner and Head, Guru Ramdass School of Planning, Guru Nanak Dev University, said style of Lahore railway station was of grand Victorian architecture and the authorities in Pakistan had assiduously maintained it in its original form.

He also forwarded a communiqué to Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee to direct its official to maintain the outlook of Amritar Railway Station in its original form. He said as per the International Council on Monuments and Sites, even colours of over-a-century-old buildings must be preserved.

First it was given a red colour, then a white and a red and recently pink sand stone and granite was in the process of fixing. Patron, Amritsar Vikas Manch, Charanjit Singh Gumtala said the old outlook of Amritsar Railway Station must be maintained. He said old buildings must be identified to preserve them. Citing the case of Hyderabad, Gumtala said its administration had identified buildings in the old part of the city and sent a report to the UNESCO for declaring them world heritage sites. He demanded that on this pattern, similar process must be initiated in the holy city.

Jaswinder Singh of Akaal Purkh Ki Fauj supported the new design. He said the new look of the local railway station is in tandem with the architecture of Harmandar Sahib and would give a feel to the visitors that they were in the holy city. He said, “We should not forget that the British were invaders. On the other hand the Sikh architecture was a result of an indigenous movement.” SB Singh, a banker by profession, said he appreciated the move of the railway authorities to turn the design of local railway station in consonance with the architecture of Golden Temple and Khalsa College. He opined that pilgrims and tourists from around the world came to pay obeisance at Golden Temple and invariably appreciated the design of Khalsa College. New design of the railway station would add another architectural marvel to the holy city. 

LACk of funds

The beautification process of the façade of the railway station has come to a standstill for want of funds. Railway officials said the work would resume once the funds were released from the head office. 

Amritsar, March 15
In a bid to consolidate its presence in Punjab, the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) - a United Nations’ approved body - has bestowed the title of Ambassador of Peace to SS Arora, Deputy General Manager, Punjab National Bank, here recently.

Ram Sharda, Senior Ambassador for Peace of the UPF (Kenya), stated that the UPF, an inter-religious and international federation for world peace, was working towards expanding the ambit of the organisation in this part of the country.

He further added: “We have initiated the process by holding a function at Amritsar, a city known for espousing the message of universal brotherhood.”

Sharda, a resident of Ludhiana who settled in Kenya in 1950, said the organisation had received special consultative status with the economic and social council of the UNO.

He added that with an aim of arriving at a mutual bonhomie and brotherhood among various communities, religions, sects, tribes and clans, the UPF was working in this direction in various parts of the world.

Floated by Sun Myung Moon of North Korea in 2005, the UPF has worked in the most troubled countries like Israel, Palestine and various parts of Africa.

Amritsar, March 15
There is a marked decline in male reproductive health due to an increase in genetic abnormalities in male genitourinary abnormalities like testicular cancer. It is seen mostly in the young ones, observed Dr Rima Dada during the two-day national seminar on “Genomics of Complex Diseases”, organised by the Guru Nanak Dev University here today in the conference hall, Guru Nanak Bhawan.

This UGC-SAP sponsored seminar was organised by the Department of Human Genetics. Speaking on ‘Role of genetic factors and DNA damage in male infertility’, Dr Dada discussed the role of various environmental factors like high temperature, exposure to radiations and pesticides, insecticides along with the various genetic factors involved in male infertility in the era of ART (artificial reproductive technology), to prevent the transmission of genetic diseases.

She also informed about the various genetic conditions like cystic fibrosis and AIS (testicular feminisation) and the most commonly use ART i.e. intra cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) to cure male infertility.

Dr Gurjit Kaur, while speaking on ‘Prenatal screening for chromosomal aneuploidies and neural tube defects: prevention based approach’, detailed the importance and need of pre-natal screening in daily practice to prevent the chromosomal disorders with the advancement of medical science.

“The incident of chromosomal abnormalities in all conception is 5.7 per cent and most of these are involved in spontaneous abortions, still birth and neonatal deaths. Ones who survive develop mental or physical abnormalities after birth”, she said.

Dr Shashi Choudhary, while delivering a lecture on ‘Genomics and Parkinson’s disease - the potential of concealed DNA sequences’ said Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neuro-degenerative disorder and affects approximately 1-2 per cent of population worldwide. She also explained the different categories and salient features of Parkinson’s disease.

In the afternoon session, Dr. P.K. Sehajpal, Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry of the University gave a lecture on ‘Ascertaining genetic determinats of Tuberculosis’. He pointed that a strong hypothesis of a study is needed to find an association of certain genetic factors and environmental factors to get a clear picture of TB.

Amritsar, March 15
A 14-year old girl was allegedly raped by three youths when she went to the toilet, located at the rooftop of her house, last night. The accused first hit the victim with some blunt weapon on her head after which she fell unconscious. They took her to the neighbouring house, belonging to one of the accused, and committed the crime.

The Gate Hakima police registered a case on charge of rape, attempt to murder, illegal confinement and other relevant section of Indian Penal Code on the statement of victim’s mother Preeti. The culprits identified as Suraj, Inder and Amit, all resident of same locality, were at large after the incident.

The shocking incident came to light when the girl, who was suffering from stomach bug, failed to return to her room for a considerable time.

“When she failed to return, Toni, cousin of the victim, and her mother went to the rooftop where the toilet is situated. However, she was not there. The family started to look for her. They found the minor girl lying in pool of blood in the house belonging to Suraj. The victim was profusely bleeding,” stated the mother in her complaint to police officials.

They also saw Suraj and Inder who were standing near the girl while Amit was in another room. They fled the scene after seeing the family.