The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Major fire breaks out in cracker godown
Fire brigade rescues two persons, three others missing; several vehicles parked in the market gutted in the fire
PK Jaiswar
Tribune News Service

One of the victims being rescued from the spot. Tribune photo: Vishal Kumar

Amritsar, October 22
A major fire broke out in a firecracker shop-cum-godown in the busy market at Mahan Singh Gate near the inter-state bus terminal this evening.

People ran helter-skelter as the fire broke out reportedly due to some sparking in the shop belonging to Billa Ram Shambhu Ram, a wholesale trader of firecrackers.

Several vehicles parked in the market were gutted in the fire that broke out at about 6.30 pm. The fire also damaged four adjoining shops.

As many as seven fire tenders were pressed into service, which were fighting to ring the fire under control at the time of the filing of the report.

The wholesale market has garment shops, book stalls and polythene bags adjoining the shop where the fire broke out today.

Ravinder Kumar, owner of an adjoining shop, said people managed to rescue Ramesh and another unidentified person from the spot who were then rushed to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital.

"We managed to rescue them by bringing them out through the roof of the shop," he said. The fire was spreading towards the wholesale market behind the shop, he said. He also claimed that three persons were missing from the spot.

Tarlochan Singh, fire officer, Amritsar, said all the persons from the adjoining KD Plaza hotel have been evacuated as a precautionary measure.

He said the fire brigade has managed to control the fire.

"Our main efforts are to save the fire from spreading to the adjoining wholesale market," he said. If the fire spreads to the market it could lead to a major loss of property. The fire brigade team is fighting to douse the fire which is spreading due to the fire crackers stored in the shop, he said.

However, the fire intensified later as the fire tenders ran out of water.

Fire tenders from Guru Ram Das International Airport were called to bring the fire under control.

Senior administrative and police officials, including Deputy Commissioner, Rajat Agarwal, and Police Commissioner RP Mittal, reached the spot.

Panic gripped the residents of the houses behind the market. The residents of the nearby area came out of their houses.

Headless body of school principal found
PK Jaiswar
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 22
The headless body of Rajwant Singh, a resident of Bala Chak village, falling under Tarn Taran, was found in the afternoon today in Noor Padri village which falls under Lopoke police station of Amritsar rural police district. It took five hours for the police to identify him.

Balkar Singh, SHO Lopoke police station, said a case Section 302 of the IPC had been registered. the head of the body was chopped off to conceal his identity.

The body also bore deep scars, he said. Rajwant, who ran a private school at the village, had recently been released on bail from Amritsar Central Jail where he was lodged following a complaint filed by the in-laws family of his son, who had committed suicide recently.

Bid to flee by three Central Jail inmates foiled
The accused were caught before they could scale the walls of the jail
GS Paul
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 22
The bid to escape by three Amritsar Central Jail inmates was foiled. They were caught while trying to escape by scaling the walls of the jail premises. The iron shuttering rods and angle iron wires acquired by the three inmates to make an anchor-like tool to facilitate their motive has put a question mark over the administration in the high-security jail.

The inmates, in their mid 30s, have been identified as Sushil, Sunil and Arjun. Hailing from Uttar Pradesh, and were lodged in Barrack no 1-4, under the crimes of serious nature such as murder.

The three first won over the jail authorities with their good conduct. Last evening, they managed to get the iron rods and other material from the construction stock which piling up in the jail premises. They concealed the material till dark. Thereafter, they made an anchor-like tool.

Their absence from their barracks at sunset brought the matter to light. During a search operation, all the three were found near one of the first walls of the jail premises. The three were arrested and lodged back to separate barracks.

Jail Superintendent Tejinder Singh Maur said it was impossible for them to scale the walls of the jail but admitted that it was a lapse in the security for which the personnel on duty are liable.

"Actually, we too could not gauge their intentions. They won the confidence of the jail officials with their good behaviour, like they used to take care of Mandir chores and distribute newspapers inside the jail, as per regular practice. Our staff too became lenient and they did not keep an eye on their activities. We generally give such inmates some grace period if they do not come back to their barracks at the designated time. They took advantage of this leniency. Even then, it was next to possible for them to scale the high-rise walls of the jail,” he said. “Anyway, it was a serious lapse on the part of our staff too. Those who were on duty too are liable for negligence in performing their duties," he added.

The failed escape

n The inmates, who are in their mid 30s and hailing from Uttar Pradesh, have been identified as Sushil, Sunil and Arjun. They were lodged in Barrack no 1-4 which is usually reserved for inmates who have committed henious crimes such as murder.

n The three won over the jail authorities with their good conduct. Last evening, they managed to get iron rods and other material from the construction stock which had been lying piled up in the jail premises.

n They concealed the material during daytime. Thereafter, they made an anchor-like tool with the help of the material.

Fans swoon over ‘rocking’ Ranbir Kapoor
Neha Saini
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 22
The 'Rockstar' star Ranbir Kapoor had his fans in frenzy as he kept his date with the city as part of the promotion of his upcoming film ‘Rockstar’. The venue, which saw girls screaming and trying to shake hands with the heartthrob, was BBKDAV College. Ranbir did not disappoint his fans as he climbed atop a car to make his 15-minute visit to the college premises a time of their lives for his fans.

The Mexican wave started by his fans on the popular number from upcoming movie Rockstar 'Sadda Haq Aithey Rakh' was nothing short of a live rock show.

In his 'Rockstar' look, Ranbir was at his carefree prankster best. Asked about his look that has become a rage, he said, "Actually, we were short of cash due to the high production cost of the movie and didn't have any budget left for the costumes. So, we decided to beg and borrow clothes from our friends."

Before BBKDAV, Ranbir also paid an early morning visit to the Golden Temple. Like a true devotee he did seva and ate langar along with Imtiaz Ali, the director of the movie. He also enjoyed a quite walk inside the walled city, checking out everything from the shops to reading a newspaper from the roadside vendors. Later, he stopped at Kulchaland in Ranjit Avenue. "I am a Punjabi and true to my personality I love good food. Amritsar has lots of distinct flavours and I love each one of them, every time I come here, I make sure I go out to eat street food," said the actor.

Nargis Fakhri, the best kept secret from the movie visited the Golden Temple while the rest of the cast was in BBKDAV. The beauty offered her prayers and later shopped at the local market for accessories and artifacts.

Komalpreet hugs actor Ranbir Kapoor at BBKDAV College in Amritsar on Saturday. Tribune photo: Sameer Sehgal

Hugging success

n Komalpreet Kaur came to BBKDAV college dreaming of meeting Ranvijay but ended up more than meeting her favourite Ranbir Kapoor. “I came to the college thinking that Rannvijay had come. Since I couldn't meet him while he was shooting at the GND University, I thought I would get that chance here. But to my shock and surprise it was Ranbir Kapoor in the car," she said.

n Jumping on the roof of the car, she hugged Ranbir. “It was a great feeling just to have hugged him. He was very nice and gave me a Sadda Haq tee," she said. She may have lost her footwear as she was almost thrown off by the bouncers. "But I just met Ranbir Kapoor," was all she had to say.

Daughter lights father’s funeral pyre
Neeraj Bagga
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 22
Breaking the custom that only a son can light the funeral pyre of his parents, Neelu Maan performed the last rites of her father Rajinder Singh Maan at the cremation ground of Gurdwara Shaheeda Sahib today. Rajinder Singh Maan had passed away on October 21.

A postgraduate in Commerce, Neelu has a son. She is the eldest among two sisters. Her father was a businessman. After his death, the responsibility of running the family business of blankets as well as a boutique fell on the shoulders of his wife Harsharan Kaur and daughter Ritu Maan.

Dr Baljit Kaur, a family friend, said Neelu's parents never regretted not having a son. She said the proud couple provided the best of the education and facilities to both their daughters.

Seven more ambulances flagged off
PK Jaiswar
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 22
Seven more ambulances have been added to the fleet of 108 ambulances services launched in the city. The emergency service is meant to help accidents victims as well as ferry patients to the nearby hospitals.

The addition of new ambulances has taken the total number of ambulances in the city to 22. Earlier, there were only 15 buses at the disposal of the 108 ambulance service here.

Deputy Commissioner, Amritsar, Rajat Agarwal, along with the Police Commissioner, Amritsar, RP Mittal, flagged off the new ambulances at a function held at Circuit House here today.

With the help of these vehicles we are now able to cover more area in and around the city. Earlier, the ambulance found it difficult to provide reach far flung areas.

Business gets cracking at Patakha market
Police permits 15 out of 20 shops to sell firecrackers from the market from today
Neeraj Bagga
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 22
Shutters at the Patakha Market inside the Jahajgarh area here finally opened today for the first time just four days ahead of Diwali. The market finally opened after the Amritsar Police Commissionerate released 16 licenses for the sale of crackers this morning. Before the traders could stuff their shops with firecrackers, police and the fire brigade officials ensured that all safety measures were put in place. Fire Officer, Amritsar, Tarlochan Siugh, who was present at the site, said following a meeting with the Assistant Commission (East) of Police, he had allotted one fire tender for the market. He said the fire tender would remain here as long as the market functions. A fire tender filled two water tanks constructed in front of the shops as a safety measure.

All the traders installed have fire extinguishers outside their shops and to distinguish each shop from the other sand bags have also been placed between them. A trader Sharan said as per the guidelines issued by the police they had taken all safety measures and would be able to begin sales from tomorrow morning. He said the entire day today will be consumed installing fire extinguishers, placing sand bags and shifting firecrackers. He said they had suffered immense loss due to the delay in the opening of shops. He said to cash in on the festive season the shops must at least be opened a month ahead of Diwali. He said traders from far off places in the district would a tough time in procuring and them shifting firecrackers.

Amritsar Fire Works Association (AFWA) president Harish Dhawan has welcomed the move of the police department. He said the traders had already incurred losses on account of the delay in opening of shops and said in these four days they would be able to minimise the losses. He said about firecrackers worth Rs 7 crore were sold from the market. He said in case the stocks were not sold during these days then the entire material could get damaged with the change in the weather. Police Commissioner, Amritsar, RP Mittal, said 15 licenses have been issued to traders for seven-days to operate shops under the Explosives Act. He said the traders have submitted undertakings that they would take all preventive measures. He said the Police had ensured the installation of fire extinguishers and presence of fire tenders at the market. He said 15 out of a set of 20-shops have been permitted to operate. He said many sand bags have been placed to demarcate the shops. He said ten shops, from number 77 to 87, have not been allowed to open as they are situated behind a filling station.

The AFWA had filed a petition in the High Court last year following which the court had allowed the sale of firecrackers from the shops at the same market for a certain period ahead of the festival of Diwali last year. Earlier, the wholesale firecracker market was situated at the IDH Market near the bus stand and Papparwala Bazaar near the Golden Temple.

However, all these markets had to be shifted to Jahajgarh area in 2000 after a massive fire had broken out at the IDH market in which material worth crores had perished and loss of human life had also been reported in 1999.

Free cancer detection camp on Oct 24

Amritsar, October 22
Roko Cancer Trust, an NGO, working towards the cause of creating awareness and detection of cancer, will hold a free Cancer Detection and Awareness camp on October 24.

The camp would be held at Manawala complex of Pingalwara in the memory of Bhagat Puran Singh. Free mammography, Pap smear, free oral cancer examination, general check up and physical examination would be held. — TNS

Non cooperation from pvt hospitals hampers health dept efforts
PK Jaiswar
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 22
Even as dengue has begun spreading in the city, private hospitals are allegedly not cooperating with the health department in terms of providing information about suspected cases and in collecting samples of the suspected dengue patients.

The health department had issued instructions to all the private hospitals in the city to inform the department and send samples at the microbiological lab at Government Medical College for confirmation in such cases.

However, it was the health department authorities who have to approach the private hospitals and check if there is any dengue patient, then take the samples and send them to the designated lab.

"It's not that all the hospitals are not complying with the (health) department orders. There are a number of hospitals which are approaching the health officials and requesting them to take samples," said an official on the condition of anonymity.

Recent reports of the suspected dengue patients have confirmed 16 cases of dengue. However, the reports of 25 suspected patients are still awaited.

"The microbiology department authorities at Government Medical College have informed that the reports of the remaining patients would be provided on Monday," said Dr Charanjit Singh, district epidemiologist. Meanwhile, he said, the official appointed has taken 13 new samples of suspected patients and submitted it to the GMC.

"We have divided the city into four parts and appointed six-member teams headed by supervisors and sanitary inspectors besides laboratory technicians," he said. Following the confirmation of dengue cases, we have also conducted anti-larvae spray and fogged the area up to 100 meters surrounding the places where the confirmed dengue patients live.

Information under RTI denied to one, given to another
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 22
How can information be denied to one person and be given to other person under Right to Information Act. The office of Principal Secretary of Governor has done so.

It had denied information sought under RTI Act by Ravinder Kumar Sultanwind, an RTI activist and President of All India Youth Association. He wanted to know about the number of complaints received by the office against the State Information Commissioners from 2007 to 2011 and the subsequent actions taken on the basis of these complaints.

However, quoting Section 8 (J) of the RTI Act, the office said the information could not be provided. The same information was provided to an advocate of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, pointed out Sultanwind.

Section 8 (J) says, “Information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information.”

“How come, the office denied information to me while the same had been given to another RTI activist who happens to be a high court lawyer,” he rued.

In the letter written to the Governor, he urged him (governor) to provide him the necessary information and requested a probe against the accused officials who had deliberately denied him the information.

ACAAI’s convention for the first time in Amritsar
Neeraj Bagga
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 22
In its nearly four-decade long existence, the Air Cargo Agents Association of India (ACAAI) would hold its 4-day 38th annual convention for the first time in Amritsar from November 3.

ACAAI President Bharat Thakkar said Amritsar being the holy city and the gateway for traveller coming to India from central Asia, was the potential city to become the centre of commercial activities, including surface transfers. The theme for this convention is “Indian Air Cargo-Conquest of the Skies”. Six business sessions would see distinguished and eminent speakers across all segments sharing their thoughts and experiences, and assisting in expanding the scope of the aviation industry.

He said the aviation industry clearly appeared to be turning the corner after the disaster called “the downtrend of 2009”. He said the traumatic experience taught the industrialists to think more globally while firmly entrenched in local roots. He added that India was one of the few countries in the World that over came the slow down with 12 per cent increase in business traffic in fiscal year of 2010-2011.

He cautioned that down turn was still there. The currency re-evaluation, export uncertainties may continue till the last quarter of 2011 or early 2012 resulting in average traffic increase between 3 to 4 per cent. He said the Air Cargo Industry seemed to have managed the threat from the competitive thread of ocean shipping. Quoting the recently released survey of the Air Cargo executive, he said that customer buying preferences and patterns had permanently shifted, as a result of the global economic crises and this may have an impact on the aviation industry as well.

Campaign to popularise F1 racing flagged off
Neha Saini
Tribune News Service

BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu (centre) flags off F1 team at Alpha One Mall in Amritsar on Saturday. Tribune photo: Sameer Sehgal

Amritsar, October 22
The holy city had its share in the excitement of F1 racing with Sahara Force India Formula One Team flagging off the ‘Raise The Flag’ campaign in Amritsar. Doing the honours was Member Parliament Navjot Singh Sidhu. The Amritsar leg of the ‘Raise The Flag’ campaign is the fourth of a nine-city signature campaign aimed at encouraging and gaining support for the Sahara Force India Formula One Team as they prepare for their first-ever home grand prix to be held on October 30 in Noida.

The campaign also aims to promote Formula 1 in India and support India's solitary Formula 1 team. Sahara Force India Formula 1 Team will give fans an opportunity "It is one of the biggest things to have happened to Indian sports. The Indian Grand Prix will take sports in the country to the next level," said Sidhu. Asked if Punjab would participate in the sport, he said, "It is too early to suggest anything. But now that we have an initiation, the reaction will follow soon."

With this campaign, the Formula 1 Team will give fans a chance to experience the thrills of life in the fast lane. The lucky ones will get a chance to play the role of the Formula 1 Team's pit stop crew. Fans will also get an opportunity to change the tyres of the Sahara Force India's 'pit-stop' show car, a specially created show car and the only one in India to enable users to perform a realistic pit stop on a Formula 1 car.