|
|
|
|
On-the-spot fine to put brakes on traffic violations
Two women found dead,
in-laws booked
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
With Rs 3 crore in kitty, education dept fails to release salaries to staff
under NABARD scheme
MC to take legal action against house tax defaulters
Fly to Europe aboard Armenian airline from today
Institutions play with danger
GNDU professor selected for prestigious award
Target: Smoke-free status for the city
Punjab Naatshala ties up with NSD to groom aspiring artistes
5 clear CA entrance test
|
|
On-the-spot fine to put brakes on traffic violations
Amritsar, July 24 The move will prove an advantage for the traffic cops as the violator can be penalised without giving him time to use his ‘contacts’ to influence the traffic cops and go scot-free. Once the number of the violators’ vehicle is written on the slip, he or she would have to pay the challan amount on the spot. Earlier, it was observed that the violators who were issued challans would generally continued to do so till the date of their appearance in the court was mentioned on the challan ticket because he could not be challanned again. Secondly, it is beneficial for the commuters too because they have been refrained from the hassle of going to the court. “It was observed that a number of accidents could be avoided if we were strict on visible offences. So, we have launched a special drive since Sunday to act tough against the violators,” he said. Karanjit Singh said most violators jump the red light on the roundabouts without realising it could be fatal. Then comes, riding two wheeler without putting on the helmets, followed by the overloaded vehicles especially autorickshaws. We have booked at least 50 autos under section 207 within a span of two days”, he said. An officer of the rank of Assistant Sub-Inspector or above is authorised to challan defaulters. Over the past two months, the traffic police has issued as many as 19,000 challans under various categories. A majority of these violations are the use of black films, not wearing helmets and jumping the red light. The traffic police has collected Rs 10.65 lakh as fine over the past two months. As per the new notification issued by the state transport department, the minimum fine has been raised from Rs 100 to 300 to a maximum of Rs 3,000 while it would be doubled if a person commits the same violation for the second time.
|
|
Two women found dead,
in-laws booked
Amritsar, July 24 Palwinder got married to Gurpreet Singh in 2007 and the couple had a four-year-old daughter. Woman’s father Ajit Singh said the couple had a strained relationship and her daughter was often thrashed by her mother-in-law and sister-in-law. The accused are absconding. In another case, Rupinder Kaur, a resident of Ram Nagar, died under mysterious circumstances on Monday. Victim’s brother Mandeep Singh, a resident of Pritam Nagar on Sultanwind road, has alleged that her sister was killed by her in-laws. The police has registered a case against the victim’s husband Harpreet Singh, mother-in-law Ranjit Kaur, sister-in-law Harpreet Kaur and brother-in-law Amarjeet Singh. All the accused are absconding. The police has sent the body to the Civil Hospital for the post-mortem examination. Rupinder Kaur got married to Harpreet Singh nine months ago. Mandeep Singh said Rupinder was often thrashed by her husband. “She had told me many a times about her beating. We received a call yesterday from Harpreet’s elder sister that Rupinder had died. They all have planned to kill her,” alleged Mandeep.
|
|
With Rs 3 crore in kitty, education dept fails to release salaries to staff
under NABARD scheme
Amritsar, July 24 Apart from this, hundreds of these teachers working in the NABARD sponsored senior secondary education in government schools of rural areas are agitated over the recurring delay in the release of their salaries for months together. A teacher posted at a remote rural school said, "I have not received my salary for the past five months. I am the only earning hand in the family of nine. Delay in salary means I have to take loan for day to day needs." As many as 7,654 teachers were recruited under the NABARD in 351 schools in different parts of the state. Earlier, these teachers were not paid salaries from April to September, 2011. There are over 450 full-time teachers deputed in about 30 schools along with thousands of non-teaching staff in the district, which include Harsha Chhina, Khalchian, Timmiwal and Sathiala. These teachers under different categories of masters, lecturers, vocational courses and non-teaching employees, like librarians, were recruited by the state government through an advertisement published in 2009, promising the pay scales that varied between Rs 3,200 and 6,400, which was increased from Rs 6,900 to 10,790, following the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission. The teachers rued that earlier it took the government two years to complete the recruitment procedure and now time and again delay in releasing of the salary.
|
|
MC to take legal action against house tax defaulters
Amritsar, July 24 Ironically, majority of these cheques were dishonoured after the account holders opted for ‘stop payment’ option. These defaulters played it smart by first issuing the cheques in order to evade sealing of their shops and later stopped the payments. Vendors of three liquor shops located at Maqboolpura, Sultanwind Road and Kapoor Nagar area were liable to pay Rs 34,200 each as house tax. They issued cheques, but later got the payment stalled. Similarly, another cheque of Rs 51,300 issued by a liquor vendor was dishonoured by the bank. Another cheque amounting to Rs 20,520 issued by a liquor shop owner at Vallah area, too was dishonoured. Likewise, there were scores of liquor contractors operating from Batala road, Majitha road, Railway road, and Mehta road, whose cheques were dishonoured by respective banks. Apart from this, 78 other cheques were denied clearance by banks for one reason or the other. Among defaulters, a renowned hotelier in the Ranjit Avenue, who owed Rs 10 lakh to the MC as house tax, issued a cheque of Rs 5 lakh to the MC team when it had gone to seal the hotel in April. But, this cheque too was dishonoured by the bank. MC Additional Commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal said all the defaulters would be taken to task legally. “We are going to file criminal case against the defaulters. I have directed all the officials concerned to make a detailed report of defaulters whose cheques were dishonoured by banks. We have scheduled a meeting in this respect on July 30 with our legal experts. I hope to settle the issues before August 15. Apart from legal action, the defaulters will also witness sealing of their properties”, he said.
|
|
Fly to Europe aboard Armenian airline from today
Amritsar, July 24 Armavia Airport manager Sachin Chadha said all arrangements have been finalised to welcome the inaugural flight from Yerevan. He said 25 passengers would arrive from Yerevan while 31 would catch the departing flight. The airline will operate these flights with Airbus-320 comprising a seating capacity of either 148 or 164 seats, he informed. Chadha said from Yerevan, passengers would be able to catch connecting flights to Birmingham, Rome and Milan. He said the distance between Zvartnots and Birmingham could be covered in five hours. Moreover, Yaravan falls on the rote to England. "Keeping in view passengers' convenience, the airline had kept a minimum transit time at Yerevan's Zvartnots International Airport, a newly built state-of-the-art airport with all modern facilities. Following temporary withdrawal of the Amritsar-Delhi-Toronto flight by the national carrier the Air India and the British Midland International's decision to withdraw its Amritsar-Almaty-London flight from October 27, Armavia could hope for the availability of a good number of passengers, airport director Suneel Dutt said. He said a large number of NRIs of Punjab-origin were settled in Europe and the flight would benefit them. "Yerevan is situated at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe. From Yerevan they will be able to catch connecting flights to Birmingham, Rome and Milan. He said the distance between Zvartnots and Birmingham can be covered within five hours." The other flights operational at the airport to Europe are using off-routes which make the journey cumbersome and long. Finding the route profitable, the overseas airline could increase the frequency of the flights and even replace the current aircraft with a bigger one to accommodate supply of fresh vegetables to Europe.
|
|
Institutions play with danger
Amritsar, July 24 These institutes have invested little money and time on training their staff and resources to battle any crisis. Sources in the education department said the government distributed a mini fire extinguisher, a gas stove and two LPG cylinders to each school in the district in January 2009. Majority of these schools have either placed these fire extinguishers in their stores or in the principals' rooms. They said working of these machines was never checked and no mock drill was ever conducted. Besides, the department has not trained the staff to operate these machines in case of any exigency. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a principal of a government school said a fire extinguisher was inadequate for her school where student strength is 1,200. She said there are many other government schools, which have insufficient safety gadgets. She accepted that no formal training has been imparted to any of the school staff. They said as per PSEB norms, all schools --- whether government or affiliated --- have to provide in writing to the board that they take fire safety measures annually. It is alleged that the board officials never went for physical verification of fire extinguishers and safety of buildings. Importantly, many schools and colleges are situated in the densely populated walled city where conducting a rescue operation in case of a fire incident would be a Herculean task. SK Luthra, principal, DAV Senior Secondary School, said about 10 fire extinguishers are installed in the school building. However, he accepted that no formal training has been given to the school staff and added that fire brigade personnel gave a demonstration for the usage of the gadgets in the school last year. Meanwhile, it is learnt that in a bid to ensure foolproof fire security arrangements to avert fire incidents, the district education office has received detailed instructions from the government to strictly adhere to existing fire safety norms in all educational institutes. Officials of the education department said as per the latest instructions the state fire services of Local Government department has been entrusted with the task to carry out inspection of these educational institutes every three months. They stated that fire safety measures have become necessary after the introduction of mid-day meals in the primary schools. Sources said as per the fire safety norms, one-storied school buildings are required to install fire extinguishers in every two classrooms and ensure proper exits for children. While buildings up to five-storied must have overhead tanks, pumps and big fire extinguishing equipment. DEO (Secondary) Sukhwinder Singh said fire extinguishers have not been replaced after they were distributed in 2009. He said he was not aware that these equipments get useless after a year. He said the department appreciated the move of the government to involve the fire brigade staff as they are professionals and could easily activate the entire fire fighting system.
|
|
GNDU professor selected for prestigious award
Amritsar, July 24 This award will be presented to Dr Bedi on July 25 during a national seminar on ‘Education a Socio-Economic Development’ at New Delhi. He joined the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences in 1997 as a lecturer.
|
|
Target: Smoke-free status for the city
Amritsar, July 24 “Though we are yet to scrutinise the letters received from various institutions, but as of now we can say that response is very encouraging,” said Ghai. He said most of the government offices, including MC office, and branches of various banks have already informed the health department in writing about the installation of display boards. “We have received such letters from around 400 branches of various banks in the city,” said Ghai adding that 52 people were issued challans for smoking at public places. He said the department has collected Rs 5,240 as fine from the defaulters. The department has initiated a regular drive against smoking at public places from the past few days in view of the plans to get smoke-free status for the holy city by August 15. Dr Ghai said the department would inspect various institutions to check the claims made by the departments. “The department teams would put up warning boards at certain other places. The department can also charge fine from the institutions for not displaying the warning,” said Ghai.
|
|
Punjab Naatshala ties up with NSD to groom aspiring artistes
Neha Saini Tribune News Service
Amritsar, July 24
Rajinder, who has earlier conducted workshops in various parts of the country says, “This workshop has become one of the most awaited and prominent theatre activities in the city. Over the years we have invited and hosted artists from various parts of the country and across the border as well.” For him it is a mission than a workshop, “There is so much talent in Punjab but lack of attention and negligent attitude of the people is responsible why theatre still struggles in the state.” Through these workshops he aims to hone not just acting but complete theatrical skills of the aspiring artistes. “Theatre has become very professional. Set design, sound and light production and costumes, everything is an important part of it. We want that our students gain knowledge and are not shocked to hear about theatre and its improvisations.” Stressing on new and modern techniques in theatre forms, Rajinder has roped in known names like Rajesh Singh and Robin Das to help with the productions at the end of workshop. The workshop has transformed into a theatre festival with 25 young artists taking part. The skills to be taught here include street plays, mono-acts, realistic acting, sterilised acting and voice and speech production, besides studying movement and facial expressions. “Mostly artistes from small towns do not get much exposure and benefit from experienced professionals here. These workshops offer them to close the gaps. The workshop aims to make amateur artists aware of the nuances of stage and finishing skills to turn them into better actors and stage managers,” Singh says. Classes in acting, production and stage management, light and sound effects and the use of technology as a part of stage will also be taught here.
|
|
5 clear CA entrance test
Amritsar, July 24
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Amritsar, July 24
The Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Karanjit Singh, said this practice was implemented on Sunday, after the instructions in this regard were received from the Additional Director General of Traffic Police, Jalandhar.
