Not a happy Diwali for cracker sellers
Blame the delay in issuing licences and a spot to set shop for sales dip
Amritsar, October 27
Diwali festivities failed to cheer firecracker sellers this year. The traders blame the delay in demarcation of a spot in issuing of licenses to them by the district administration as the reason for a dip in sales.

A mighty heart
He cycles to make spirit of special people count
Amritsar, October 27
Polio-affected Kuldeep Singh has devised a novel way to fight against the Central and state governments’ “apathy” towards the disabled persons. A resident of Ludhiana, 45-year-old Kuldeep Singh decided to ride his manual tricycle across the country. He reached the holy city from Chandigarh today to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple.

Brightest birthday for these bundles of joy
Amritsar, October 27
Khushi, which means happiness, is the name Vijay and Pinky have given to their daughter born on Diwali. Born on such an auspicious day, the couple hailing from Verka area believe that their baby is a gift to them by the goddess of wealth, Lakshmi. The child born at Jallianwala Bagh Memorial Civil Hospital at 11.45 am On Wednesday has already become a darling of her grandmother, Gurmeet Kaur who said, “The fact that she has come on Diwali, when Goddess Lakshmi is believed to visit her devotees, means that she is blessed.”

Civil Hospital dumps waste disposal norms
Amritsar, October 27
The local Civil Hospital has thrown the waste disposal norms to the wind as it is not segregating the bio-medical before disposing it. In hospital wards, the bio-medical waste lies in the same garbage bins used for throwing food and other wastes. The hospital does not have separate garbage bins for the segregation of waste.

Man booked for fraud
Amritsar, October 27
The Sultanwind police has booked Jatinder Singh Gill, a resident of 5-Peer Flats on the Amritsar-Jalandhar road on charges of fraud with the company that he worked with.

22-year-old city lad to take part in Mr Universe contest
Amritsar, October 27
At 22-years of his age, Rohit Tankh has made the city proud with his achievements in body building. Adding another feather to his cap, he has become the youngest participant to take part in the 65th World Men's Amateur Body Building Championship (Mr Universe 2011) to be held at Andheri Sports Complex in Mumbai from November 3-7. The competition is being organised by Indian Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation recognised by the Indian Olympic Association.

Rajasthan man deported from UK
Amritsar, October 27
The UK authorities have deported, a Rajasthan national Ashwani Kumar who had gone their on fake documents.

Farmers to block rail traffic in Punjab on October 29
Amritsar, October 27
Various Farmers' organisation have decided to disrupt rail traffic all over the state on October 29 to demand a roll back of the rising prices of chemical fertilisers.

Pingalwara puts hand-made artefacts on exhibit
Amritsar, October 27
The All India Pingalwara Charitable Society organised a sale cum exhibition show of the artefacts created by special kids and destitute women at the society's premises near the bus stand here on Diwali.

Govt fails to clear contractors’ dues
Development works in rural belt of Amritsar, Tarn Taran hit as a result
Amritsar, October 27
The Punjab government’s failure to clear dues of contractors associated with the Punjab Water Supply and Sanitation Department for the past six months has affected the progress of development works in the rural belt.

Amritsar, October 27
Foodgrain stock lying just 10 steps from the heaps of waste, continuously putting the health of the residents to risk describes the Bhaktanwala area. The area is the holy city's main grain market and has a population of more than 30,000. This site has been proposed to set up a solid waste management project and a city garbage dump pond was also been demarcated here.

Huge piles of garbage lie on the side of a road and (right) foodgrain stock are also stocked in the vacinity of the garbage dump site at in Bhaktanwala in Amritsar. Tribune photos: Vishal Kumar

For over two years, the ambitious project could not see the light of the day, the dump pond has filled up to its limit, and the heaps of garbage are mounting with each passing day. In the absence of making adequate arrangements to dump garbage, piles of garbage are getting piled up on the roads leading to the houses of residents, their places of work as well as their fields.

The situation is such that all sides of the grain market, having 60 shops, are covered with garbage. The spot, where paddy and wheat stocks are stored during the procurement season, has now filled with waste, emanating foul smell all the time.

Manjit Singh, a farmer from Khasa village, said the traders do not reach them because of the foul smell emanating from this over flowing dumpyard. "Even the roads here have been concealed under the garbage heaps. Look at those street lights between them. There is no way to reach us," he said.

Sharanjit Singh, a commission agent who has his office in the same market said the corporation had allotted the shops but the shopkeepers were finding it tough to survive under such filthy conditions," he said. Another resident Sukhraj Bahadur Singh says, "It has become difficult to even breathe here. Despite approaching the AMC office a number of times, our pleas went unheard. They should have made some alternative arrangement to dump the garbage elsewhere.”

Amritsar, October 27
This Diwali may pass as safe for the holy city as only one case of burn injury was reported but it was ugliest when it came to drunken brawls. As many as 19 cases of injuries sustained in such clashes were reported at the Emergency ward of Jallianwala Bagh Memorial Civil Hospital here on Diwali. All the injured were under the influence of alcohol. Most of the brawls were reported from Putlighar and the area near the local bus stand.

As many as three patients with more serious injuries were referred to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital. One of the injured had cut a major vessel in his throat with a sharp-edged weapon and the other two had sustained head injuries.

The hospital staff which was otherwise anticipating cases of burns had to prepare 19 medico-legal reports in one night.

Dr Manjeet Singh Khalsa, who was on night duty said, "It is the highest number of MLRs made by me in a night shift in my career so far.” Though medico-legal cases at government hospitals are not unusual but on normal days they never go beyond four to five, he said. The hospital staff informed that most patients had received cuts and wounds because of sharp-edged weapons such as knives and swords.

Dr Khalsa said, “The injured had entered into scuffles after consuming alcohol. Handling inebriated patients is more difficult than handling normal patients." No cases of burns were reported, he said.

On Diwali night, the hospital had put on duty two doctors instead of one to handle the anticipated rush of patients with burn injuries received while burning crackers. On Diwali when government hospitals had made extra arrangements anticipating a rush of burn injury patients, the fact is that only one case was reported came as a sigh of relief. There might be few stray cases which were not reported but the low number of accidents points to the fact that people celebrated a safer Diwali. No burn injury was reported at the (ESI) hospital, said Medical Superintendent Dr Eklavya Gabba.

Amritsar, October 27
Diwali festivities failed to cheer firecracker sellers this year. The traders blame the delay in demarcation of a spot in issuing of licenses to them by the district administration as the reason for a dip in sales.

It was only three days before the festival that the administration had issued licences to cracker traders to install their stalls.

"It was not that the buyers were not enthusiastic enough in buying crackers, but it was delay on part of the district administration in issuing licences, which spoiled business for us," said Harish Dhawan, president Amritsar Fire Works Merchants Association.

If the traders are to be believed, only 60 per cent of the crackers were sold from the shops sanctioned for the same.

“Contrary to their expectations, the total business conducted in the market was estimated to be to the tune of Rs 1.25 crore while we still have 40 per cent stock with us and are looking forward to other occasions like Gurpurab or personal functions which would compensate for the loss of sales," said Dhawan.

“Despite a rush of people to buy firecrackers, we could not sell enough due to a shortage of time and limited manpower," said Dhawan. He also urged the administration to issue licences on time.

Amritsar, October 27
Polio-affected Kuldeep Singh has devised a novel way to fight against the Central and state governments’ “apathy” towards the disabled persons. A resident of Ludhiana, 45-year-old Kuldeep Singh decided to ride his manual tricycle across the country. He reached the holy city from Chandigarh today to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple.

He is the live example of grit and determination in the face of adversity. “I am here after covering a distance of around 240 kilometres from Chandigarh. After getting dejected by the hollow promises and announcements of the government, I decided to take out a journey on my tricycle to raise the voice of the people with disabilities. “In a gentleman’s language, we are termed as special people, yet I want to explore how we are being ignored by the government,” he said adding that a group of disabled persons would leave to stage a protest in Chandigarh.

Besides spreading the message of peace and harmony, Singh’s immediate concern is to raise the disability allowance from the present Rs 250 per month and facilitation cards on the pattern of BPL (below poverty line) cards.

Singh, who was affected by polio when he was three years old, completed his bachelors in commerce in 1989 and earned his livelihood by assisting auditors.

He said that since in most of the cases, a person with a disability would be abandoned by their families, facilities equivalent to what is provided to the BPL families should be extended to the disabled persons, too, to help them get daily meal, medicines and hospitalisation at reasonable rates.

“A beneficiary card on the pattern of BPL card should be issued in the name of the disabled. It is pity that the state government has extended free power facility to farmers, irrespective of their status, yet it has never thought of extending the same facility to the disabled. I have also written to the Prime Minister, PPCC chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal, but to no avail,” he rued.

“Except for making announcement and claims, nothing has been done in this regard. I am on my mission to unite the disabled persons and we demand at least Rs 1,000 per month as disability allowance. We have lodged several protests in this regard, but no thought has ever been spared either by the Central government or the state government,” he said.

Singh claims to have covered 13,865 kilometres and toured at least 14 states, including Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttaranchal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. He has fixed a target to cover 12,500 kilometres before winding it up at his native village.

“I have an overdose of determination and adventure and this has helped me to take to such a task. I started my journey from my native village of Badwal Cantt on December 1, 2010. I cover at least 70 to 75 kms a day with the help of my hands. I avoid cycling in the dark due to traffic on highways. Gurdwaras are my destination on way and the caretakers there take care of my stay and food,” he added.

Amritsar, October 27
Khushi, which means happiness, is the name Vijay and Pinky have given to their daughter born on Diwali. Born on such an auspicious day, the couple hailing from Verka area believe that their baby is a gift to them by the goddess of wealth, Lakshmi.

The child born at Jallianwala Bagh Memorial Civil Hospital at 11.45 am On Wednesday has already become a darling of her grandmother, Gurmeet Kaur who said, “The fact that she has come on Diwali, when Goddess Lakshmi is believed to visit her devotees, means that she is blessed.”

A labourer at a garment factory, Vijay Kumar said, "The name Khushi was suggested by me. I had decided a long time back to name my daughter Khushi." He said he would send his daughter to school and hopes that she will bring them happiness with her pursuits in life. Khushi's mother Pinky said, "Deepawali is the festival of lights and my daughter born on this day would brighten our lives.”

Sukhwant Kaur, mother of another child born on Diwali said, "As per a belief the children born on Diwali are considered very lucky. The entire family is excited." She said they are yet to decide on a name for their child.

Jatinder Kumar, father of a girl child who took birth at a private hospital in Putlighar area said, "Now we have one more reason to celebrate Diwali every year. We have decided that we would celebrate her birth day on Diwali-no matter what date of the calendar it falls on."

Amritsar, October 27
The local Civil Hospital has thrown the waste disposal norms to the wind as it is not segregating the bio-medical before disposing it.

In hospital wards, the bio-medical waste lies in the same garbage bins used for throwing food and other wastes. The hospital does not have separate garbage bins for the segregation of waste.

Used cotton, syringes and other materials are thrown into a large bin near the mortuary. The place is also used to throw other wastes by a nearby cafeteria. Even safai karamcharis of the hospital dump the garbage collected from the entire hospital near the cafeteria.

Though the hospital has a special room - bio-medical waste store - it is generally used by sweepers to store their brooms and other items.

As per the guidelines of the biomedical waste (management and handling) rules, mixing of bio-medical waste with other waste is prohibited. In a notification issued by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest under the Environment Protection Act, the hospitals have been warned against mixing different kinds of wastes.

As per the guidelines, the bio-medical waste needs to be segregated in different types as prescribed at the point of generation prior to its disposal. For this purpose, hospitals are required to have separate bins for different wastes.

Senior Medical Officer Dr Balwinder Kakkar said: “The hospital staff has clearly been instructed not to mix bio-medical waste with other waste. We would check if the instructions are followed or not. Sometimes, even patients and their attendants use wrong bins due of ignorance.”

Amritsar, October 27
At 22-years of his age, Rohit Tankh has made the city proud with his achievements in body building. Adding another feather to his cap, he has become the youngest participant to take part in the 65th World Men's Amateur Body Building Championship (Mr Universe 2011) to be held at Andheri Sports Complex in Mumbai from November 3-7. The competition is being organised by Indian Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation recognised by the Indian Olympic Association.

"Even the selection in the competition is a big achievement in the competition which has 400 bodybuilders from 90 countries taking part," said Tankh.

He won Mr Punjab competition besides winning silver medal in Mr Asia competition held at Bahrain last year. Among his credit, he has won Mr Amritsar, Mr Punjab, Mr North India, Mr India (Junior) titles and has also made his mark in the Federation Cup.

Crediting his coach GL Sharma and his paternal uncle Kanwar Pehlwan Sandhu, he said, "What I am today, that's only because of uncle Sandhu and my coach GL Sharma in whose gym I trained."

Belonging to a middle class family, he found an able support in his paternal uncle Kanwar Pehlwan who spent a lot of money on his training. For past five months he has been training in Mumbai where his uncle lives.

At the age of 11 years he began wrestling at Gol Bagh stadium following his father and uncle. However, he wanted to become a bodybuilder something which his father did not agree to. His father insisted him to continue with wrestling but Rohit switched over to bodybuilding. Ranjit Tankh is a proud father now. With so much to his credit, yet Rohit is a completely down to earth man. He says he wants to win Mr Olympia Competition and bring laurels for his country.

Amritsar, October 27
The UK authorities have deported, a Rajasthan national Ashwani Kumar who had gone their on fake documents.

The immigration authorities at Guru Ram Dass International Airport handed him over to the police at the Airport in case of a complaint lodged against him on charges of forgery and conspiracy.

A case under Section 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the IPC and 12 of the Passport Act 1967 has been registered against him on the basis of a statement of Daljit Singh, Immigration Officer at the International Airport.

Ashwani, a resident of New Ghotra Colony, Khetri Nagar, Jhunjana, Rajasthan, had had been living in South Hall in the UK for a decade.

"He had gone to Moscow through a Delhi-based travel agent identified as Balwant Singh. From Moscow he shifted to France and then landed at the UK within two months of his departure from New Delhi," said Neeraj Kumar, SHO, Airport police station.

He said Ashwani recently got married to a widow there. The agencies there found that he had illegally entered into the country. All the documents, which he was carrying, were found to be fake.

Amritsar, October 27
Various Farmers' organisation have decided to disrupt rail traffic all over the state on October 29 to demand a roll back of the rising prices of chemical fertilisers.

Rattan Singh Randhawa of Jamhoori Kisan Sabha, one of the 17 farmers' organisations said the Punjab government continues to adopt an ignorant attitude towards the plight of farmers especially in view of the rising process fertilisers as well as the declining farm produce.

He said in 2008 the Pusa 1121 and Basmati variety of rice sold at Rs 3,300 and Rs 4,200, respectively while in 2011 it has gone down to Rs 1,600 to Rs 2,200, respectively. He said the quantum of farm produce has reduced considerably over the last decade while the input cost has risen making it impossible for small farmers to make ends meet.

"By blocking rail traffic we want to apprise the government as to how grievous the problem is? We know the people would face great inconvenience, but we are left with no option as all other means have proved inconsequential with government refuses to come out of their deep slumber," said Randhawa.

Satnam Singh Pannu, president, Kisan Sangharsh Committee, said the farmers would block rail traffic from 1 to 4 pm. We will resort to permanent blockage of rail traffic on November 22 in the absence of a favourable response from the government. The agitation will continue till the government accepts their demands, he said.

Declining to accept the Rs 115 hike in the Minimum Support Price (MSP) announced by the government, he said the government should fix the MSP according to the Swaminathan Commission report which had recommended Rs 2,900 MSP per quintal of crop. Besides the reduction in the prices of fertilisers, the farmer organisations have demanded Rs 500 bonus per quintal on paddy crop, waiving off the notification of 186 acres of farm land in Gobindpura, waiving off the electricity bills of tubewells etc.

Amritsar, October 27
The All India Pingalwara Charitable Society organised a sale cum exhibition show of the artefacts created by special kids and destitute women at the society's premises near the bus stand here on Diwali.

The items such as painted bed covers, cushions, toys made of plaster of Paris, coloured candles, sketches, garlands were put up on exhibit here. Pingalwara Society chairperson Dr Inderjit Kaur said from the sale of items at the exhibition, the Trust has earned Rs 10,000. She said the money will be spent to buy the raw-material for the young artists, she said. Pingalwara Trust organises two exhibitions every year to highlight the creative skills of the inmates.

Dr Inderjit Kaur said, “The children and women inmates had worked very hard and the response from the visitors had proved very encouraging for the inmates. The success of the exhibition made it a big day for them.”

Dr Inderjit Kaur said that looking at the encouraging response from the public; another sale-cum-exhibition show would be organised soon.