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3 of snatchers’ gang held
Easy access to illegal weapons makes crime rate shoot up in city
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Emergency services hit as BSNL snaps links
Amritsar, October 3 Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) by snapping links with many private telecom operators over non-payment of carriage charges has left thousands of their subscribers in the lurch.
Varsity teachers to strike work
Khalsa College museum set for digitisation
Auditions held for Awaaz Punjab Di
First co-educational govt college, a boon for city students
Children’s Film Festival kicks off in city
Saplings planted
Of reel drama and real issues
The cast of Punjabi serial Kach Diyan Wangan in Amritsar. Tribune photo: Vishal Kumar
From Schools
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3 of snatchers’ gang held
Amritsar, October 3 The accused include Kabir Singh of Gali Tokewali, Faizpura, Karam Singh of Karampura and William Masih of Mandirwali gali, Faizpura. Two of their accomplices, however, managed to escape from the hotel room by jumping out of the window during a police raid. The accused who are absconding are Surinder Singh and Rinku of Karampura and Gillwali gate, respectively. The police have seized three country-made pistols-two of .315 bore and one of .32 bore, eight live cartridges and mobile phones besides 3 kg of charas from their possession. Commissioner of Police, Amritsar, RP Mittal, said as the festival season has begun, the accused had returned to the city to commit more such crimes. “We received information that the accused were living in Ashirwad Hotel on Batala road. A police party headed by SHO Sarabjit Singh of Rambagh police station raided the hotel and arrested the two accused. They were just about to leave the hotel, when the police team caught them," said Mittal. A case under Section 399, 400, 402 of the IPC and 25, 27, 54, 59 of the Arms Act has been registered in this connection and a manhunt has been launched to nab the remaining culprits, he added. The police is yet to identity members of the gang working towards providing specific inputs about the projected target. "They identified the target, gathered inputs such as the timings and route which the victim usually takes, vehicle numbers etc. They then informed the next 'wing' which planned the entire incident the accused executed the same," Mittal said. Terming the arrests a major success, Mittal said the culprits came back to the city as they planned to commit more such incidents of crime. Gullible traders or their collection agents were on the hit list of the gang in view of the increased trade activities during the festive season. The accused are yes to be presented in the court, the commissioner said. |
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Easy access to illegal weapons makes crime rate shoot up in city
Amritsar, October 3 Incidents of snatchings and robberies in the recent past in the city indicate that criminals have become more daring as they are equipped with country-made pistols and revolvers, reportedly procured from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the den of illegal trade of country-made weapons. The recent arrests in Uttar Pradesh brought out startling facts. The illegal arms traders in these two states (Bihar and UP) sell arms in Punjab, Haryana and the National Capital Region (NCR) where a large number of criminal gangs are among their customers. Illegal country-made ‘tapanchas’ and guns from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are easily available anything between Rs 10,000 and Rs 30,000, revealed a police official on the condition of anonymity. Recently, the city police busted four gangs and recovered as many as seven country-made pistols and revolvers from them. The incident in which a jeweller and his son were looted at gunpoint also involved an organised gang that was armed with country-made weapons, it is learnt. The jeweller, identified as Ramesh Chander, was shot at his chest by robbers. More than a half dozen shots were fired in the incident. Ironically, the police has done little to curb this menace. A police official pointed out that such weapons are manufactured in other states too. This means a joint strategy should be formed by involving the state, Central governments and the police departments. On our part, the police is doing its utmost to nab such criminals and stemming the problem of supplying of illegal arms. The Police Commissioner, RP Mittal, admitted this is really a worrisome trend. “Easy availability of illegal arms have made crime rate shoot up. Especially cases of snatchings and lootings have increased manifold. But we are doing our best. We are looking into devising ways to how to control the supply of illegal arms,” said the Police Commissioner. |
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Emergency services hit as BSNL snaps links
Amritsar, October 3 For the past four days, these subscribers (Airtel, Vodafone and Spice) were not able to reach BSNL landline numbers and even the emergency numbers of the fire brigade, police and 108 Ambulance. The connectivity services of Tata Teleservices and Reliance Communications have been revived by the BSNL. As a result of snapping links, there has a 40 per cent decline in calls made on emergency numbers. The BSNL officials said they were helpless in the matter. The Deputy General Manager, BSNL, Amritsar, Raj Dev, said, “Since the point of interconnectivity (POI) has been discontinued with the defaulting service providers, all BSNL and BSNL-operated numbers would automatically become out of reach.” Even as the emergency service providers in the district have approached the BSNL officials to solve the issue amicably. As a damage control measure, these providers have started flashing alternate numbers for public convenience. Jatinder Sharma, Operations Head, Punjab for 108 Ambulance Service, said a communication was sent to the Assistant Director, BSNL Regulations, to get the service revived on priority, but they did not respond. “As these services relate to the life and death, we have approached them to consider the issue on humanitarian grounds. On our part, we have released alternate emergency numbers, which are not toll free but these would prove to be of great help to the public,” he said. Sunil Gandhi, district manager of the 108 Ambulance service, said he had received massages even from the ancestral village of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal that people have been suffering because of this issue. The fire brigade did not have any official alternate numbers, but the officials have come forward to provide mobile numbers of the fire station in-charge, Suba Singh, in-charge, Control Room said. “Response from the higher authorities is awaited.” The police department has not made any alternate arrangements so far. |
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Varsity teachers to strike work
Amritsar, October 3 During the house meeting, the teachers observed that the crisis situation had arisen out of the removal of the GNDU Teachers Association president Dr Balwinder Singh from the headship of Business and Commerce Management department, dismissal of Dr GS Bhalla, Professor of the same department, etc. |
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Khalsa College museum set for digitisation
Amritsar, October 3 The college authorities today announced that hundreds of documents, manuscripts and books would be digitized. College principal Dr Daljit Singh said the museum, which was established in 1930, has more than 6,274 books, which include rare books in English and Punjabi dating back to the 16th and 17th Centuries. He said there are hundreds of manuscripts in Urdu, Sanskrit and Persian languages, apart from newspapers and magazines that are dated as old as the year 1904. There are weapons belonging to the times of Khalsa Army and other Sikh wars besides old coins. "It is a treasure house of the Sikh history and culture. Hundreds of students used the documents for their research activities. Now, we have planned to preserve the articles in the museum by using the latest digital technology," said Dr Daljit. The work on the digitization would begin soon, he added. The museum receives numerous visitors everyday, who come to see rare books and photographs. There are also two handwritten "birs" of Guru Granth Sahib which are a major source of attraction for the visitors here. Khalsa College Governing Council honorary secretary Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina said they have earmarked special fund to preserve the ancient and rare documents at the museum. "The funds will not be a problem when it comes to preserving this rare treasure of Sikh history and culture," said Chhina. Prof Inderjit Singh, head of the Department of Sikh History and Research said many research scholars visit and use the documents available at the museum for conducting research in the field of Sikh history. |
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Auditions held for Awaaz Punjab Di
Amritsar, October 3 “I am looking for talented female artistes as I believe in the girl power. It has been a while since we had a female artiste who could remind us of the real strong Punjabans like Sardarni Surinder Kaur. I hope I am able to find one here in Amritsar,” said Bitti, who herself is known for some powerful, entertaining folk singing. Sabar Koti, though narrows down his search a bit. “I want singers who can touch the audiences’ soul with through their voice. It’s not about how good singer you are, most of the youngsters today are good. But it’s about having that stability and sense of music.” They said the way things are headed, soon it will be all about money and not music. “We are witnessing a herd-mentality right now. Most of the new breed of singers is promoting violent and over-the-top music, which is stupidity. A fankar is no less than a fakir, somebody who sings about dunaalis can never know about tanpura,” says Sabar. Bitti said there is a lack of knowledge and commitment towards the real music. |
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First co-educational govt college, a boon for city students
Amritsar, October 3 With Guru Nanak Dev University Constituent College, first government co-educational institute Jatinder Singh, BBA-I student of the constituent college, says if the college was not there, his large family would have found it tough to support his education. A resident of Rajinder Nagar near Mall Mandi, Jatinder had finished his higher secondary at Saragarhi School this year. He wanted to do a professional course. BBA was his first choice. His 7-member family was perplexed at the thought of admitting him in other city colleges as they would have to shell out about Rs 40,000 annually. At that point of time, a family friend suggested them to look for a government college at Verka about which he had read in some newspaper. Jatinder recalled that he along with his parents visited the under construction college campus and was elated to find that admission had started for this academic year. His family was more than happy to hear that the college fee was Rs 11,000 annually for the same course. Similar was they tale of Amanpreet Singh of Kot Khalsa. Now a first year student of the constituent college, Amanpreet said, “I did my senior secondary from Khalsa Public School so obviously Khalsa College was my first choice. Besides, my residence was also near to the college.” However, huge gap in fee structure made him to choose the constituent college. A new beginning
The constituent college has provided a relief to several parents who had long wished for a government college for boys. Earlier, there is only one government college for women (SR Government College for Women). For a brief time, the Government College for Boys was started in the Red Cross building in 1999 near the bus stand. However, it was soon closed as the then government failed to provide any building, infrastructure and staff to the college. GND University Vice-Chancellor AS Brar said the government had been contemplating to open a boys college in the holy city for the past sometime. In the meantime, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh announced a plan to open 342 new colleges across the country. Of these 18 were awarded to Punjab and the Union Government released Rs 118 crore for establishing these colleges. He informed that the GND University was authorised to open four colleges. He said under the plan, constituent colleges were opened at Amritsar, Narot Jaimal Singh (Gurdaspur), Chung (Tarn Taran) and Mithra (Kapurthala). He added all the colleges had received stupendous response. Every college has witnessed at least 500 admissions in the maiden academic session. The Principal of the constituent college, Mahal Singh, said there were about 900 students, including 285 girls, in the college. He said at present degree courses in BA, BSc (non-medical), BSc (economics), BSc (computer science), BCA, BSc (IT), BCom (professional) and BBA and postgraduate diploma in computer application are offered in the college. He said the institute charges just Rs 3,100 for BA annually, which is otherwise Rs 20000 in any other city college. He said the college was being run from 16 classrooms of science block while arts and information technology blocks would be operational from October 30. Of the 13-acre college campus, nine acres have been earmarked for sports on which separate grounds for basketball, volleyball, badminton, football, hockey and other games would be set up. Students Speak If the college was not there, my large family would have found it tough to support my education. My first choice was Khalsa College. But the large gap in the fee structure made me choose the constituent
college.
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Children’s Film Festival kicks off in city
Amritsar, OCtober 3 Inaugurated by DC Rajat Aggarwal at Aanam Cinema the annual festival will screen national award winning and critically acclaimed children’s movies like Karamati Coat, Lagi Shart, Hadahoda, Ek Ajooba, Nandu Ka Raja and more. “The films will be screened across nine theatres in city and are aimed at promoting moral values through passive education amongst children. This year we have additional 50 shows that will be screened across various villages and rural areas in the peripheries for underprivileged and poor kids who cannot come to city for this kind of an event,” says Rajat Aggrawal. Though the week long festival is an annual event and features acclaimed movies, the opening remained a low-key affair, restricting itself to just the elementary and secondary schools under the District administration. Any reason for the lack of promotion? “Its pre-planned event that follows the guidelines laid down by the administration. From our side, everybody is welcomed to the festival,” says Aggarwal. But the DPRO Ruchi Kalra has a different opinion. “The footfall depends on the capacity of the theatre and also the focus of the festival is on underprivileged and poor kids who have never seen films on this level.” But isn’t moral education a free for all necessity? Also, most schools are holding examinations during this time and the timings of the film shows i.e. 8am is a bit of a limitation. “We tried adjusting eth time slot to a more appropriate time but since most of these theatres are having their commercial shows, it’s bit of a problem. Also, we are trying to extend the duration of the festival to two weeks so that more kids can enjoy the movies,” says
Aggarwal. |
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Saplings planted
Amritsar, October 3 Principal Dharamvir Singh said tree plantation was aimed to sensitise children towards their fragile environment. The students also took out a rally carrying placards on importance of trees. A trip to Harike Patan bird sanctuary was also organised.—TNS |
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Of reel drama and real issues
Amritsar, October 3 “Every once in a while, the entertainment industry witnesses a change and speaking of the Punjabi entertainment industry, it is time we too have our own popular daily soaps,” says actor Shivinder Mahal, who plays one of the lead characters in the ETC Punjabi daily drama and was also seen in movies like Dharti, Mel Karade Rabba and Jihne Mera Dil Luteya. The serial revolves around the story of a family of three sisters. Like all popular daily soaps it has the perfect ingredients for a hit, family crisis, love triangles and loads of drama. “It is not an extravagant fashion parade in the name of daily soaps that we see on popular channels these days. We have real characters, portraying real issues like NRI frauds, female discrimination and social issues. Unlike most serials, it has a story that every viewer can relate to and not just dummy characters,” says the actor who has worked in numerous Hindi serials like Mahabharata, Tipu Sultan and more recently Meet Milade Rabba. The other actors present were Satwant Kaur, Dipti and Charanjit Saini who plays the negative lead in the serial. Our overseas audience are the best. “We get mails of appreciation from Punjabis settled in Canada, US and UK, sharing their own experiences. Most of them relate to the issues and situations shown in the serial and enjoy the look and feel of the characters as it’s very real,” says Satwant Kaur. The rising production standards of Punjabi cinema have had positive effects on the television industry as well, feels Shivender. “Two words-professionalism and competition, have changed the way Punjabi entertainment industry. There are young talents, good productions and big budgets. Actors like Monica Bedi and Priyanshu Chatterjee coming up with their Punjabi films speaks volumes. Similarly, the television too is changing and progressing towards the same direction.” He does warn about the rat-race, “Young actors want to move very fast and head to Mumbai before even trying their luck here. It becomes difficult to find good talent as once settled in Mumbai, regional television becomes a space too short for their stature.” |
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From Schools Dasmesh Parivar International School launched its official website today. School chairman Baba Gurbachan Singh launched the website www.dpis.ac.in and a said that a lot of information regarding the school and its activities could now be obtained from it. Painting contest organised
As many as 160 students from 32 schools took part in the painting competition organised by the SGPC to commemorate Prakash Purb of Guru Ramdas, which falls on October 9. The competitions were held on the topics of global warming, female foeticide, addiction and their impact on the society. The winning candidates would be felicitated at Gurdwara Manji Sahib Diwan Hall on October 9. Besides, contests would be held in declamation on October 4, poetry on October 5 and Shabd-kirtan contest will be held on October 7 at Gurdwara Manji Sahib Diwan Hall. |
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Amritsar, October 3
Amritsar, October 3
Amritsar, October 3
