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Grandson held for murder
Two snatchers arrested
Noose tightens; officials check record books at liquor vends
Purse snatched
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Bolaria banks on the home ground advantage
Inderbir Singh Biolaria interacts with the voters in his constituency in Amritsar. Photo: Sameer Sehgal
Presence in poll rallies; three govt employees suspended
Encroachers make hay as a ‘busy’ government looks the other way
4 teams to check drug sale
Students urge residents to vote
Curtains down on theatrical bonanza; audiences left asking for more
‘Work for the ecology’
Electrifying folk dance performances mark cultural eve
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Grandson held for murder
Amritsar, January 21 The accused Mangaldeep Singh, a native of Uttar Pradesh and a resident of Medical Enclave is the grandson of the victim. The deceased had refused to give the accused money, which is said to be the provocation behind the murder.
Mangaldeep was the son of the elder son of the deceased Rakesh Kumar. the accused was allegedly jealous over the fact that his grandfather Shiv Parsad used to help his younger son and his uncle Banarsi Lal financially whenever he required any. But he never gave him any monetary help even if he asked for it. RP Mittal, police commissioner said Shiv Parsad had retired from the irrigation department and received pension. He also worked as a watchman at Kapoor Eletronics Godown located at Guru Nanak Pura, Haer village on the Airport road. The deceased had two sons Rakesh Kumar and Banarsi Lal. “Shiv had helped Banarsi Lal in procuring a three-wheeler besides giving him monetary help from time to time. The victim had even disowned the accused from his property in Uttar Pradesh,” said Mittal. Armed with a 'datar' (a sharp-edged weapon), he went to the godown on the intervening night of January 3-4 and stabbed him to death. The police has recovered the motorcycle and 'datar' used in the crime.
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Two snatchers arrested
Amritsar, January 21 The accused have been identified as Shamsher Singh alias Sonu of The police has also recovered a motorcycle (PB-46V-3618), four mobile phones and 350 grams of narcotic powder from the possession of the accused. In a release issued here today the police said the accused were arrested at a naka near Hanuman Temple on the 100-feet road. During interrogation, the accused had admitted that they had snatched these mobile phones from Sultanwind Road, 100-feet road, Tarn Taran Road, near Bus Stand and Rambagh areas, the statement added. The accused had stolen the motorcycle from Chatiwind Chowk, said Vikas Sharma, in-charge, CIA staff. He said the accused had been taken on remand and more recoveries are likely to be made. Islamabad police arrested Nishan Singh of Noore Shah Colony and Sikandar of Bankwali Gali, Islamabad area in connection with the stealing of two laptops, finger scanners and a printer which were being used to make Adhaar cards. The stolen material was installed at Baba Noore Shah Dargah and the incident had taken place on December 14 and a case under relevant sections had also been registered at Islamabad police station in this connection. The accused were arrested from B-Block Railway Colony. The police has also recovered the stolen material, the statement adds.
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Noose tightens; officials check record books at liquor vends
Amritsar, January 21 The Excise and Taxation Department conducted the inspection at 15 liquor shops chosen randomly all over the city to see whether they were following the instructions. The department has also issued a warning to the defaulters to start following the instructions in this regard. As per the instructions issued earlier in view of the elections, the liquor vends were required to maintain a record of their customers. The contractors were also required to collect details of their customers, including names, addresses and phone numbers. After a reality check many a liquor vends, The Tribune had highlighted that attendants at liquor shops did not ask their customers for such details. Even the residents had confirmed that they were never asked for these details. The inspections were conducted by Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner (AETC-City I) BK Virdi and AETC-City II Pawinder Kumar. AETC City II Pawinder Kumar said, “Those who were not maintaining records have been warned and ordered to follow the instructions. We also found that some of them did follow the instructions." The instructions which were aimed at checking the misuse of alcohol during the assembly elections were conveyed to the contractors in a meeting chaired by ADC Development Manjit Singh Nagra on December 27. As per these instructions the liquor vends were also asked to give a bill for the purchase to the customers. The bulk purchases of alcohol were permitted only after permission from the excise and taxation department.
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Purse snatched
Amritsar, January 21 Roopali Saini, a resident of Shaheed Nagar, in her complaint to the police stated that the two accused, who were riding a Bajaj Pulsar motorcycle, ran away after snatching her purse in which she had Rs 1,500 in cash, a mobile phone and an ATM card. The police has registered a case under Section 379-B IPC in this connection.
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Bolaria banks on the home ground advantage
Amritsar, January 21 Out for the poll campaign since 8 am, he reaches home at 10 pm. His better half who takes care of his daily schedule makes sure that he has a 'filling breakfast' comprising stuffed 'paronthas' and yoghurt as he will barely have time to have lunch in-between his engagements consisting of over 10 public meetings. The Amritsar South constituency has always voted for change, if the results of the last four assembly elections over the past two decades here are anything to go by. Yet, Bolaria is confident to script a new history by outclassing his rivals to capture the assembly seat for the second consecutive time. Banking on his legacy, he apprised the residents about the 'negative' features of his opponents. "It's a fact that I was born and brought up in these narrow lanes. That's why I have a hand on the pulse of the residents here. I will win because all the major candidates are 'outsiders' and have a 'dubious past'. I can feel the pulse of residents here," he said. Conducting door-to-door interaction with the residents, he tries to convince them on the issue of development and promises them a better life. He admits that major parts of the constituency are devoid of basic facilities, which include safe drinking water, sewerage system and road network, but the number of development projects underway in his area like covering of Ganda nullah, eight-lane project at Taranwala pul and main roads leading to Tarn Taran and Sultanwind, will provide quality life to the residents. "At present, 28 tubewells here boost water supply. Who else, other than me, could understand that due to the old topography, there is negligible space left for the children to play? I have on my agenda to use an open area adjacent to the newly-renovated Raminder Singh Memorial Park in this direction. This three-acre land will be transformed into a state-of-the-art multi-specialty stadium," he says before leaving for his next destination at Guru Ram Dass Nagar. The meeting is to be followed by at least eight more such meetings. The poll promises to be a litmus test for Bolaria to prove his mettle. Besides the rebellious Youth Akali Dal leader Gurpartap Singh Tikka, his rivals are targeting him for his failure to rid the area of the dump yard at Bhaktanwala and getting a proper sewerage system in Sultanwind and Kot Mit Singh areas which have a population of 40,000. Sultanwind, added to the constituency following delimitation, is also grappling with sewerage problem. The area's sewage disposal is being made in ‘chhapars’ (water bodies).
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Presence in poll rallies; three govt employees suspended
Amritsar, January 21 This move follows a complaint submitted by Lali Majithia, an Independent candidate contesting the assembly elections from Majitha constituency, to the Election Commission (EC). He had also supported his complaint with news clippings showing that the three took part in the political rallies held recently. Taking cognizance of the blatant violation by these government employees, the EC had communicated the Secretary and IG, Police, Border Range, Amritsar, concerned to take disciplinary action against them. Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Election Officer Rajat Aggarwal said the EC has directed that the two BLOs be removed from service.
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Encroachers make hay as a ‘busy’ government looks the other way
Amritsar, January 21
Vigilant residents have taken a serious note of the alleged violations. An old boundary wall can be seen intact, said a resident of the area, on the condition of anonymity. He said work enabling construction of the external portion He said after this the old wall will be demolished allowing expansion of the interior space of the building. Besides, a concrete second floor helps expand the building much more than the land beneath it. This expansion has been made on the side of the park. He said the clinic has been in operation in the area for past many years. However, keeping in view the time of the elections the owner is busy expanding the structure violating the norms against the encroachment of public land. Another instance of violation has come to light on the green belt outside Shera Wala Gate. A concrete roof has been laid on a small religious shrine, located within the green belt, to expand it. Environmentalists are peeved at the development and say the expansion of the shrine means shrinking of the green belt. An environmentalist Deepak Babbar of Mission Agaaz said the trend was unhealthy and urged that the authorities must act tough.
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4 teams to check drug sale
Amritsar, January 21 He said there are hundreds of chemist shops scattered all over the district. “For better coordination during inspections, the officers have been asked to prepare a list of these shops on the basis of the area as well as the zone,” he said. Randhawa said drug abuse has increased among youngsters and the decision has been taken following the instructions of the election commission which fears the misuse of these drugs during the elections. He said the district administration has also instructed the health department to check such abuse. He said the health teams are visiting medical shops regularly for these inspections. Earlier, the chemist association had objected to these inspections saying these were a blot on the entire industry. He said the association members have been assured that no shop owner will be harassed. Earlier this week, the department had seized 89,000 tablets of a banned salt combination from a shop in Katra Sher Singh area. Randhawa said whenever a team conducts a raid at a shop, the chemist shops in the neighbourhood shutdown their shops to avoid checking. He said instead the shopkeepers should cooperate with the department in nabbing the guilty.
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Students urge residents to vote
Amritsar, January 21 College principal Dr Jaswinder Singh Dhillon said the aim of the exercise was to make people aware that the right to vote should be exercised judiciously and logically. He said it was seen that people criticise the system but do not want to take part in the process to improve it. “Sitting on the fence and criticing the system alone will not do. In a democracy, the right to vote is pious and should be exercised by everyone,” said Dr Dhillon. District Transport Officer (DTO) Mr Vimul Setia visited the college and appreciated the drive to make people aware about their voting right. He said they have planned to take the poster on an open vehicle and take rounds of the city so that people were made aware how important it was to vote in the elections. "I appreciate the move of the college and it is of utmost importance that the right to vote is used by one and all," Setia said. Dr Dhillon said being an educational institution they have the duty to sensitise and educate the people about their basic rights and the drive of poster making and slogan writing is a step ahead in this direction. “We are choosing the best posters and the students who made these will be suitably rewarded," he added. He appreciated the role of the faculty members who were busy in educating the masses to exercise their right to vote and motivated others to cast their votes in favour of upright and candidates of a clean background in the ensuing assembly polls.
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Curtains down on theatrical bonanza; audiences left asking for more
Amritsar, January 21 The festival was a hit by all means, the plays receiving packed house and the audiences pouring in everyday to watch some quality theatre brought to Amritsar by renowned artistes from the country and abroad. Moreover, it brought the city on the map of global theatre. “I have tremendous respect for the city audience as they came in full support of the cause of theatre. I have performed in metros and finding good audience always bothers theatre artistes. But here every show went houseful," said Usha Ganguly, renowned theatre artiste who performed Chandalika based on Rabindranath TAgore's story during the festival. Anwer Jaferi who directed 'Insha ki Intezaar' too felt that theatre graduated to another level at the festival. "NSD is the building block of theatre in India and this festival being an annual feature in their calendar makes it special for artistes like us who love to perform in India and bring quality plays." Another positive that came out through this event was a solidification of a quality theatre space in the holy city. “Punjab Natshala is a very intelligently made theatre space. It is one of the best small theatres that I have see in the country and I think more such places should be developed in other cities," said Ganguly. Internationally-acclaimed directors too felt impressed. "At Bharat Rang Mahotsav we interacted with a lot of Indian theatre artistes, some very young and impressive with their talent. It was great to see so much innovation and originality in their concepts and I am looking forward to collaborate with some Indian artistes for my next productions," said Italian director Pino Di Buduo, who came with his technological extravangza 'Twenty Leagues under the sea'. Tomasz Rodowick, who directed a Polish presentation 'Grotowski- An Attempt to retreat' said, "India and our culture is quite a contrast and the way we do things in Poland and here are different. Yet with this festival, I felt overwhelmed by the audience response and the reception for our work.” “We had some amazing first time performances by groups from Poland, Italy and Japan, coming with their unique concepts like LED projections, cultural forms of dance and music and aggressive physical movements being used as alternative tools of expression. It was an enriching experience for the audience and the actors, both and I am glad we were a part of it," said Dr Jatinder Brar, patron, Punjab Natshala.
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‘Work for the ecology’
Amritsar, January 21 Des Raj, a resident of Rajiv Nagar in Lohgarh area said, “Though it was a welcome step to have the ganda nullah of the area covered, but there is no dirty water drainage system. The MC has been reminded repeatedly. Parks and greenbelts have been infested with wild overgrown weeds, concrete waste and deep pits with broken paths. The “urban plantation plan”, conceptualised with the forest department, too, couldn’t take off due to official rigmarole, said Divisional Forest Officer Wilbert Samson.
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Electrifying folk dance performances mark cultural eve
Amritsar, January 21 "Bhangra is a traditional dance form which has undergone a lot of change and the craze has only increased thanks to its entry into the glamour world. It has become a professional competitive dance performed with a lot of speed. We try to popularise it in its original format," said Inderjeet Singh, president, International Punjabi Folkore Academy. "The aim of the event is to make people aware of the traditional dance in its original form so they take interest in it," Singh added. The performance by the participants was very energetic. Gidda and folk songs were also performed. “Though it has been commercialised a lot, but bhangra has gained in popularity worldwide and NRIs are working hard to save the folk dance form,” said Ranjodh Madaan, a performer. Singer Malkit Singh was the star performer at the event. “I have been associated with Punjabi folk art for a long time now and will love to see the new generation take the baton from us to promote Punjabi culture through art and entertainment,” he said.
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Despite the fact that he travels in a chauffeur-driven Toyota Cruiser
SUV, he claims to be well aware of the ground realities of his constituency. Meet the young SAD representative Inderbir Singh
Bolaria, who made it to the assembly in a by-poll, necessitated after the death of his father Raminder Singh
Bolaria, SAD's sitting MLA, in 2008.
Amritsar, January 21
