Amritsar, September 30
Alarmed over the high number of snatching incidents in the city, the police in collaboration with the Health Department and NGOs has proposed to launch a special drive for rehabilitating snatchers by carrying out a de-addiction programme.

Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Health, who also happens to be the chairperson of the Art of Living, Punjab, has given its go ahead and assured all possible help to the department in this connection.

Under this programme, de-addiction camps would be organised in the Amritsar Central Jail wherein 150 snatchers are lodged at present. Yoga classes by the Art of Living, an NGO, and counselling would be held to take them away from drugs.

“About 90 per cent of snatchers arrested by the police are drug addicts who indulged in petty crimes especially snatchings to have money for procuring drugs to satiate their addiction,” said Police Commissioner Ram Singh.

About 150 snatchers were arrested by the police in the past two months as a preventive measure. They are now in Amritsar Central Jail, he said. “We want to eliminate drug addiction, which is the root cause behind petty crimes.”

“This clearly shows that it has become more of a social problem rather than law and order problem. We don’t want them to come out of the jail and re-indulge in petty crimes. We want them to join the mainstream. During an interaction with the Chief Parliamentary Secretary we urged her to organise de-addiction camps in the jail,” said Ram Singh. He said the CPS has agreed to our demand and soon a programme would be chalked out in this regard.

Dr Sidhu said the Health Department and Art of Living would extend all possible help in this noble cause. 

Amritsar, September 30
The Gatka Federation of India (GFI) has constituted rules to turn Sikh martial art gatka into a sport so as to ensure its existence in the centuries to come, said Kuljit Kaur, a research scholar of Guru Nanak Dev University.

Addressing a seminar on rules of gatka held at Sri Guru Harkrishan Senior Secondary Public School, she said the School Games Federation of India (SGFI) incorporated gatka as a sport in the national school games calendar in 2011-12.

She said the GFI had standardised gatka rules and regulations to qualify it as a sport. She said the Punjab Olympic Association (POA) has already recognised the Punjab Gatka Association (PGA). The Department of Education, Punjab, has also incorporated gatka in Punjab schools, colleges and universities’ sports calendars.

She also gave details on the need for an apt place for holding the game, role of referee and points to be given to players and fouls.

Principal Dr Dharamvir Singh said there was a high need to maintain the tradition of gatka. He added that gatka had been introduced as a sport in all schools and educational institutes being run under the Chief Khalsa Diwan. Gatka coaches of these institutes were also present in the seminar.

Amritsar Gatka Association president Sarbjit Singh and Gurbachan Singh Bachan, former secretary SGPC, were chief guests.

Amritsar, September 30
Following the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the Mohkampura police has booked four persons including a woman in connection with kidnapping of a youth from the area.

Though the incident took place in February 28, the police had not registered a case. Finally, the family had to approach the high court for registering a case.

Sarawati, a resident of Mohkampura, alleged that her son, Nand Lal Nikku, was beaten up and kidnapped by Bholi, Saama, Bablu (all residents of Ram Nivas) and Aalu of main chowk on February 28. Nand Lal is missing since then.

The four were booked under Section 364 of the Indian Penal Code.

Saraswati in her complaint alleged that the accused used to lend money on heavy interest. She alleged they trapped her son who took money from them. She said on February 28 they barged into their house and brutally beat him up. She said the accused threatened to kill her son by running him over under a vehicle. She said they took away an almirah from the house and later abducted her son.

The police authorities said the investigations were going on. No arrest has been made so far.

Amritsar, September 30
Panic gripped Ranjit Avenue on Saturday night when a group of youths fired at their rivals over an old dispute at Barista Coffee house.

The police has booked two persons Jaskaran Sodhi of Loharka road and Sahil Kumar, an owner of a hotel on Albert road.

Nobody was injured in the incident. The bullets hit the glass door of the coffee house. The police found empty shells of bullet from the spot.

Amarbir Singh, a resident of Naushehra Nangli, Majitha road, in his statement to the police said he along with his friend Harnoorpal Singh of Rani Ka Bagh had arrived at the coffee house where the accused and their friends were already present.

He alleged the accused came to their table and pointed a pistol towards them. He said before they could do anything, they fired two shots at them with an intention to murder them. However, they had a narrow escape.

The police authorities said the incident was a result of an old enmity. He said in February, there was a dispute between Sahil and Karambir, elder brother of Amarbir. He said a case was registered against them in this connection. He said Jaskaran Sodhi was already wanted in many cases.

Manjit Singh, SHO, Civil Lines police station, said the police had registered a case under Section 307 (attempt to murder), 427, 506 and 34 of the IPC and Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act against them. He said raids were being conducted to nab the culprits.

Amritsar, September 30
Questioning the working of the Durgiana Mandir Committee, former member Sushil Kumar today alleged that some office-bearers of the committee had given false assurances to displaced tenants or owners of properties, which were acquired by the Land Acquisition Department for the proposed Durgiana Complex Beautification Project.

“Till date, not a single tenant or the owner has been given compensation in lieu of their properties even after one month. Some committee members in connivance with government officials have been giving them false assurances,” he said.

Pointing out their “vested interests”, Sushil Kumar alleged that the committee members deliberately prevented the commercial shops, adjoining Parshuram Mandir within the complex, from being demolished.

“It is irony that a school which used to provide free education to over 200 children was demolished to pave way for the beautification project, but three shops located alongside Parshuram Mandir enjoyed immunity as the property belonged to the kin of the committee members,” he said.

He also alleged that the committee had refused to shoulder its responsibility by stating that the proposed beautification project was a government initiative and that they had nothing to do with it, whereas, the secretary of the committee is a member of the panel constituted by the administration for executing this project.

Durgiana Committee members denied the allegations.

Ramesh Sharma, secretary of the Durgiana committee said, “First of all, Sushil Kumar has been debarred from the committee membership due to his behaviour. It is absolutely true that the Durgiana committee has nothing to do with the beautification project as it was a government’s own venture. The decision on any part of the complex to be included or excluded was decided by the Improvement Trust which has designed the plan. The shops located adjacent to Parshuram Mandir have been excluded because of the mandir itself,” he said.

About the involvement of committee office-bearers in the panel, Sharma clarified that after the case of evacuation got embroiled in court for over four years, a panel was formed for utilisation of compensation received under the head of Dashnami Akhara, under the tutelage of Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal only.

“The money received under this head would be utilised for erecting infrastructure for facilitating devotees, like langar hall, resting place for them etc,” he said. 

Amritsar, September 30
With the state government planning to outsource the cooking work to an NGO, about 800 cooks engaged in preparing mid-day-meal in over 250 schools falling in the MC limit face an uncertain future.

Thousands of students from Class I to VIII have their mid-day meal under a central government scheme. Each primary school is paid Rs 4.08 per student and secondary school gets Rs 4.65 per student.

Questioning the move, mid-day meal worker Gurmit Kaur Vallah said if the government had set up kitchens in these schools with an investment of thousands of rupees, then what was the point of outsourcing the cooking work.

Ashwani Kumar Awasthi, district secretary, Democratic Teachers Front, said a new grant was recently released for each school as per which Rs 50 per student would be spent to procure utensils. Wages of cooks were recently raised from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,200, he added.

The Mid-day Meal Workers Union, Democratic Teachers Front, Mulazam Manch Punjab have opposed the proposed move.

Germanjit Singh, general secretary, Mulazim Manch, Punjab, said a similar exercise was started at Tarn Taran in 2008-09, but it failed to deliver results. He claimed the meal was delivered late and many times it was found stale and contaminated.

About seven years back, the mid-day meal scheme was introduced. 

Amritsar, September 30
The Mohammad Rafi Memorial Society has organised an awards night in remembrance of the legend on his 32nd death anniversary at the Guru Nanak Bhawan.

Eight artistes were presented with the Mohammad Rafi award for their contribution in the field of music.

Prem Gill, organiser of the event, said: "The awards night is a reflection of the talent that we have in the region and is held to honour Rafi, the most celebrated singer of his time."

Mumbai-based singer Jolly Mukherji was awarded Best Playback Singer award, Reyaz Ahmed Malik took home the Best Singer title in the Hindi category. Singer-turned-actor Preet Harpal got the Best actor and Punjabi singer awards, Rai Jhujhar won Best Pop Singer award and Lal Kamal received Best Music Director award in the Punjabi music industry. Artiste Bhotu Shah received Best Comedian award. Indian Idol winner Vipul Mehta and runner-up Amit Kumar received special awards.

"I am very happy to be honoured by the Mohammad Rafi Memorial Society. We are newcomers in this field and have not achieved much in comparison to others nominated with us, yet to have such appreciation feels motivating. The city has a legacy of producing talented musicians and we feel proud to be a part of this fraternity,” shared Amit and Vipul.

This is an annual event organised by the society to honour promising Hindi and Punjabi singers. Some of the awardees enthralled the audience with entertaining performances.

MLA and Parliamentary Secretary Inderjit Singh Bolaria was the chief guest and Dr Raj Kumar, MLA, presided over the function.

Amritsar, September 30
In the wake of poor bilateral relations between Iran and the US, Indian rice exporters wanted a safety net for the payments in return for the rice exported to Iran. They raised this concern during a meet organised by the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC) here last night.

Addressing their concern, N Shankar, chairman-cum-managing director, ECGC, said there was nothing to fear about as the corporation had covered the exports to Iran.

An exporter, Arvinder Pal Singh said though the Indian government had taken certain steps to address their concerns, the volatile political situation between the two countries might affect the trade and subsequent payments. They demanded more concrete steps from the ECGC to allay their fears.

Iran is one of the main buyers of the aromatic rice from India, the world's top producer. Iran buys basmati worth 750 million US dollar per year from India. India's total annual basmati exports stand at 2 to 3 billion US dollar and basmati rice makes up around 5 per cent of India's total rice production.

Another exporter Rajiv Setia said increasing competition from Pakistan, another major producer of basmati, and concerns raised in the US over pesticide residue in rice were also hitting the overseas sale of basmati.

He said India had been exporting rice to the US for the past three decades and all of a sudden shipments are blocked over the pesticide issue.

Shankar said the government had allowed rupee payment mechanism through UCO Bank as per which Iran makes payments in Indian rupee.

Following the crisis of payments from Iran, India and Iran had inked an agreement to open letters of credit in Indian currency to ease the payment crisis.

The ECGC, a unit of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, provides export credit insurance facilities to exporters and banks in India.

Shankar said over the years, the ECGC had evolved various export credit risk insurance products to suit the requirements of Indian exporters and commercial banks. He said the ECGC was the seventh largest credit insurer of the world in terms of coverage of national exports.

On detention of rice shipment in the US, he said he would look into the matter and compensate the exporters for the loss suffered. 

Amritsar, September 30
A sangeet sammelan was organised by the All India Radio (AIR) at the Guru Nanak Bhawan auditorium of Guru Nanak Dev University, here, today.

Programme Head, AIR, Shaminder Kumar said the concert was a part of the 24 other events going on simultaneously across the country. Sarangi player Ustad Moinuddin Khan mesmerised the audience by playing Ragas - “Jog Kauns” and “Hemant and Dhun - Peeloo”. A senior Sarangi player of the AIR, he was accompanied by Nakul Mishra on tabla. Both artistes are from the AIR, Ahmedabad.

Yuva Ratna Awardee Ritesh Mishra and Rajnish Mishra, also known as Mishra Bandhus, were at their best in vocal duets. Belonging to the Banaras Gharana, they sang “Raag Bihag” and “Madhukauns” to regale the audience.

They were accompanied by Shailendra Mishra on tabla and Vinay Mishra on harmonium.

A senior vocalist of light classical from Akashvani, Jalandhar, Mohinder Singh, was also honoured on the occasion.

Earlier, the sammelan was inaugurated by Vice-Chancellor of GND University Dr Ajaib Singh Brar, Deputy Director (engineering) Rishi Kapoor and Programme Head of AIR (Jalandhar) Shaminder Kumar by lighting the traditional lamp. 

Amritsar, September 30
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has ordered a Mohali-based immigration consultant to refund a part of the fee charged from a local resident for an immigration application to Canada as the embassy had rejected the application.

A local resident, Mandeep Bal had filed a complaint in the consumer forum against the Worldwide Immigration Consultancy Services citing that the former had promised to refund the application fees if the application was rejected.

She had complained that she had paid Rs 50,000 through two demand drafts in addition to US dollars 500 through a separate draft.

In its reply, the consultancy said the complainant had approached them for seeking assistance for immigration to Canada under the Federal Skilled Worker Category of ‘Teacher’. It was further submitted that the case of the complainant was accepted by the Canadian High Commission, but later it was rejected due to change in immigration rules.

The consultancy maintained that as per terms and conditions of the contract of engagement, the complainant was not entitled to the refund of any of the professional fee paid by her. It said it had already recommended refunding of 500 US dollars.

The complainant argued that she was not aware of the minute details required for immigration, whereas the opposite party is well aware of all the rules and regulations. The forum observed that as the rules were changed, the immigration consultant was at fault, but it did not refund the fees refunded by the embassy.

It further observed, “The ends of justice would be fully met if both the parties bear the loss equally.” It ordered the consultancy firm to return 50 per cent of Rs 50000 in addition to 500 US dollars. The forum has also directed to pay 9 per cent interest on the amount.

Amritsar, September 30
The two-day annual Continuous Medical Education Conference concluded at Government Medical College (GMC) here today.

The conference was organised by the Amritsar Medical College Alumni Association.

Organising secretary Dr Santokh Singh said over 40 lectures were delivered by experts of various streams of medical sciences. The conference was attended by nearly 700 delegates.

Earlier in the morning, a free paper presentation and poster-making competition was organised by junior residents and students.

Dr VK Gupta, head (biochemistry), at GB Pant Institute, New Delhi; Dr Tejbir Singh, head (community medicine), GMC; Dr Sanjiv Jasuja, consultant, (nephrologists), Apollo, Delhi; and Dr Arun Chopra, cardiologist, Fortis: were among those who delivered lectures today.