Amritsar, November 23
Two nambardars and a councillor are among nine persons booked by the Civil Lines police in a fraud case.

The two namabardars, Dalbir Singh and Ajit Singh, and the councillor, Sukhbir Singh, had attested documents relating to the identification of persons who gave surety for the dowry accused before the court of Rajesh Bhagat, Judicial Magistrate First Class.

Later, it was found that the accused in the dowry case produced forged documents and fake persons in front of the court in order to secure bails.

Others who were booked in the fraud case are Nirmla Devi, Ravinder Khanna, Pinky (residents of Rani Ka Bagh), Balwinder Singh and Harminder Singh (residents of Gumtala) and Simranjit Singh of Sultanwind area.

A case under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the IPC has been registered against the nine persons at Civil Lines Police station.

Informed sources said one Mamata had been fighting a dowry case against her in-laws, including Nirmla Devi, Ravinder Khanna and Pinky, in the court of Rajesh Bhagat, JMIC.

During the proceedings, the court received information that the accused had produced fake persons and documents for securing bails.

Balwinder Singh had given the surety for Nirmla while Simranjit Singh and Harminder Singh had given surety for Ravinder and Pinky, respectively. The councillor, Sukhbir Singh, had attested the identification of Balwinder Singh while Dalbir Singh and Ajit Singh (both nambardars) had attested the identification of Simranjit Singh and Harminder Singh.

The judicial magistrate asked the Deputy Commissioner Office to investigate into the case which later informed the court that the persons who had given the surety for the accused persons never lived in the residential addresses given. Moreover, the land records (jamabandis) produced in the court were also found to be forged.

The Civil Lines police said the case has been handed over to Tarsem Singh, in charge court complex police chowki, for investigation and action would be taken accordingly.

Tarsem Singh, investigating officer in the case, said he was yet to receive the file and as soon as he gets it, he would start the investigations.

Amritsar, November 23
The number of dengue cases in city in about three months has reached 125. The fact was revealed in a recent report sent to the state health department by the local health officials yesterday.

However, with change in temperature, the number of suspected dengue cases coming to various hospitals has decreased. The health officials said these days they are getting one or two suspected dengue patients at various hospitals in the city. Talking to The Tribune, District Epidemiologist Dr Charanjit Singh said the Health Department is regularly sending the samples to the Government Medical College for Mac Elisa test as and when these are collected.

He added the high time for the dengue has passed and the virus has grown weaker with dip in the temperature. “There had been times when the Health Department received reports of 15 or 20 suspected dengue patients. Now as the climate has changed, the number has gone down,” he added.

Dr Charanjit said that out of the total 125 cases, the list of which has been sent to the state health authorities, only 28 had tested positive on the Mac Elisa test.

He added that remaining number of patients were found positive on the NS 1 test conducted for diagnosis of dengue fever. He added that Mac Elisa was earlier considered the only dengue confirmatory test.

Dr Singh ruled out reports of any dengue death in the city. “We had checked medical records of all patients who were reported to have died of dengue at various hospitals. The hospitals and the medical record of the patients have confirmed that there were no dengue deaths,” he said.

Amritsar, November 23
Poor patients visiting the anti-rabies clinic in the Guru Nanak Dev Hospital have been left in the lurch.

With the hospital not providing vaccine, patients are either forced to buy the same from private medical stores at a very high price or go without any treatment.

About five years ago, the vaccine was provided to the patients free of cost or on subsidised rates.

The pharmaceutical company in Kasauli, which was hired by the government for manufacturing anti-rabies vaccine, was closed following an apex court order about five years ago. The vaccine was banned because of its side affects.But the government failed to make any alternative arrangement for providing the vaccine in the hospital.

If the data with the anti-rabies clinic in the GNDH is of any indication, thousands of residents, especially the poor and rural population, become victim of animal bites. Out of that 95 per cent are victims of stray dogs in urban as well as the rural areas.

"On an average about 2,000 patients of animal bites visit the clinic every year. A majority of these are stray dog bite cases. This year in October, 4 deaths have been reported. On an average, at least three persons die of rabies in Amritsar while 150-200 patients visit the clinic per month," said a doctor in the clinic preferring anonymity.

A senior teacher of Department of Social and Preventive Medicine (under which the anti-rabies clinic works) said the number never presents the true picture as majority of persons used to visit quacks and so called babas for the treatment and only few of them come to the hospital.

Amritsar, November 23
There has been a lack of coordination among different government wings to put an end to the menace of street dogs.

In the absence of any concrete policy matters, the ambitious Central government-funded Rs 1.26-crore Animal Birth Control (ABC) project has failed to take off in the city. Stray dogs were to be sterilised under the project.

Consequently, the population of dogs, which is already too high, continues to grow.

The project, which was to be executed by the Animal Welfare Board of India and had been approved by the Government of India, was kept in abeyance.

The much bragged about Advanced Minimally Invasive Vas Occlusion Technique (MIVOT) under this project to sterilise male dogs introduced three years ago too has failed to deliver the desired results.

As per a census conducted by the Department of Animal Husbandry, the population of stray dogs had surpassed the 25,000 mark. The stray dog menace is severe in the walled city. Posh areas, including New Amritsar, Green Avenue, Basant Avenue, Ranjit Avenue and Rani Ka Bagh, are also in the grip of the problem. Bylanes are the dreaded territories as pedestrians, cyclists and two-wheeler riders become easy targets of dogs.

Two-wheelers in bylanes are often chased by dogs leading to accidents.

Also, when chased by dogs, schoolchildren run across roads in a bid to escape, but often get hit by speeding vehicles.

Amritsar, November 23
With the authorities gearing up to start the work on Kitchlew Chowk flyover, over two dozen century-old eucalyptus trees would face the axe. Ironically, the Improvement Trust, which would execute this project has Sanjeev Khanna as its Chairman, who is a close associate of ‘Go Green Go clean’ campaign’s pioneer MP Navjot Singh Sidhu.

Even as the road widening work on the city’s outskirts has taken a toll on the city’s green cover, the blue print for another heart rendering act of axing over 25 trees has been prepared by the Improvement Trust to pave way for proposed 900-metre long flyover, starting from Kitchlew Chowk.

Another startling fact is that the whole area comes under the Forest Department and the norms demand ‘due permission’ from the Divisional Forest Office, but the officials of the Forest Department confirmed that no permission for this stretch was sought by the Improvement Trust.

A visit to the site revealed that already the authorities have “illegally” erected offices to facilitate the monitoring agency officials, just on the roadside leading to Ajnala and many trees have been axed for the purpose.

It is to note that as many as 1,200 trees were chopped to facilitate way for the eight-lane project on the Amritsar-Jalandhar highway, at Taranwala pul point.

The environmentalists said the authorities have been blindly ruining the green belt without realising its consequences.

Amritsar, November 23
Partly demolished shops at old Sabzi Mandi have turned into safe haven for drug addicts and anti-social elements.

Surjit Singh, a resident of adjoining Ram Bagh area, said suspicious looking persons and drug addicts were spotted roaming around the area. He said the district administration had not taken any cognisance of the area after evacuating whole sale merchants of fruit and vegetables from the place in 2004 and later in 2009.

Residents and shopkeepers from nearby areas said it seemed that the authorities were waiting for a mischief to occur. They said already many cases of robbery occurred in various parts of the city in the past one week and the place could offer those críminals safe refuge to perform another diabolic act in this part of the city.

He said besides it had become the most unhygienic part of the city as people answer to nature’s call on vacant lying land. The idle lying market land has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes, posing a threat to the health of the residents and shopkeepers of nearby areas. The location of the market is also very important. It is situated with in a few meters of the Hall Gate, which is the main road leading to the Golden Temple and close to the densely populated walled city. Unhygienic conditions would affect every one within no time.

A nearby shopkeeper on the condition of anonymity said shopkeepers selling fruit and people plying hand driven carts for selling fruit throw fruit waste and other residues in the area. A little shower worsens the situation; land here turns marshy and served as open invitation to mosquitoes, flies, dogs and other animals. Piles of garbage especially of fruit can be found in the market.

Apparently, it indicates that the authorities failed to take stock of the situation after the land was acquired from the fruit and vegetable whole sale vendors.

It may be mentioned here that about six acres of the Old Sabzi Mandi land belonged to the Corporation and had been under lease to the Mandi Board and some private lessees since 1953.

After evacuating the land, it was categorised as “nazool” land. As per the law framed by the SAD-BJP coalition government the ownership of “nazool” land rests with the state government, while the Municipal Corporation Amritsar (MCA) was acting as custodian.

Amritsar, November 23
A two-day photograph exhibition, showcasing various aspects of life in Punjab, was held at the Government High School, Naushara, Majitha Road.

A city-based artist Baljit Singh, 54, clicked these mesmerising pictures.

Named ‘Punjab Darshan’, these photographs offered an overview of entire Punjab.

The exhibition, which displays about 500 pictures, captures interesting places of the state, including religious shrines of Sikhs, Christians, Hindus and Muslims. Baljit Singh gave emphasis on the lifestyle of old Punjab. His pictures captured archaeological sites pertaining to ancient civilisation as well as rural life style, which were fast fading from contemporary set up. Charkha, drawing water from well, washing of clothes at village pool were some of his pictures that defined old Punjab.

A number of photographs were of excavation sites at Dholba, Hoshiarpur. Considered to be a site of Harappan civilisation, the photographs show mural paintings at Ram Tatwali Dholba, its Mansa Devi Temple and others.

Interestingly, Baljit Singh clicked all these photographs while covering 2,600 km cycling tour of Punjab in 1993. Pictures of Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru and Queen Elizabeth II in the Golden Temple were the special attraction and were of immense historic value.

The exhibition was inaugurated by Chairman of School Committee Mahinder Singh. Over 900 students got the opportunity to view rare scenes of Punjab and its life. Host school’s Principal Jasbir Kaur and members of the School Committee appreciated vivaciousness and intrinsic appeal of the photographs.

Amritsar, November 23
Education Minister Sewa Singh Sekhwan today stressed upon concerted efforts for strengthening the school education to build a knowledgeable society.

Presiding over an impressive annual function, ‘Rainbow Routes’, at Khalsa College Public School here, Sekhwan said the education is becoming profession oriented and the teachers as well as the students must realise that the basic aim of education is to make the students responsible citizens. The function was a cultural extravaganza, marked by the sports events and distribution of prizes to the students who excelled in their respective fields.

Earlier, a colourful function marked the occasion with Guru Nanak Dev University V-C Prof (Dr) AS Brar, and Khalsa College Governing Council Honorary Secretary Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina also speaking on the importance of education in today’s competitive world. Chhina said the practice of copying in the education system is a rot which we should overcome and he congratulated Sekhwan for making efforts to uproot the evil in the state. He also thanked him for choosing this school for ‘Super-50’ programme meant for providing coaching to the rural students to enable them to compete in various entrance examinations for IITs.

School Principal Dr Sarvjit Kaur Brar narrated the school academic excellence.

Amritsar, November 23
A sea of devotees took part in Nagar Kirtan held on the eve of martyrdom day of ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Teg Bahadur, here today.

After performance of Ardas at Akal Takht, the Nagar Kirtan concluded at Gurdwara Guru Ke Mahal, birth place of the ninth Guru. Under the patronage of Guru Granth Sahib, placed in a beautifully decorated golden palanquin, the religious procession was led by Panj Piaras (five beloved).

Nagar Kirtan passed through various localities of the walled city, including Chowk Paragdas, Chowk Baba Sahib, Chowk Karori, Baba Deep Singh Colony, Chowk Moni and from Bazaar Kathiyan, Darshani Deorhi and Guru bazaar. In the SGPC organised religious procession everyone participated, including devotees, religious Sabha societies, Shabdi Jathe, Gatka parties, students of different schools, band parties, taksals, Nihang Singh Jathebandi, officials of the Shiromani committee, Dharam Prachar Committee and entire staff of the Golden Temple.

Religious programmes would be held through out the day at the Gurdwara Guru Ke Mahal on Thursday. Kathavachak, Raagi and dhahdi groups would recite Gurbani. The Chief Khalsa Diwan would hold Shaheedi Gurpurab at its Gurdwara in Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, GT road, on Thursday.

Amritsar, November 23
The police has arrested two persons and recovered 12 stolen mobile phones at a police check post in Kashmir Avenue here. ADPC City I SP Joshi said the accused Dalbir Singh Raja and Bikramjit Singh Bika were nabbed after a tip-off.