Amritsar, October 7
Jagdish Singh Sarai (24), a professional hacker, who is currently working with an MNC, has recently conceptualised the first-ever digital space exclusively for rural Punjab.

“I got interested in the field during my school days. The idea of creating ApnaPind struck my mind three year ago. I finally came up with a website named "Saraikhas.com". Saraikhas.com was updated with videos, pictures of main events and activities of my "pind". People who had been living aboard for the past 20 - 30 years contacted me. They were really thrilled and excited to see their "pind's" website. I got amazing appreciation from residents of my village both at home and abroad. I started to realise that I have done something good for my people,” he said.

So Apnapind.com is all about getting the villages in Punjab on the world stage through digital space. “Most of the social media spaces focus on urban centres, metros and big cities. ApnaPind's main motive is to provide absolutely free website for villages all over Punjab. We are proud of cultures and history and we want the world to know it. The Punjabis who have gone and settled abroad for many years have somewhat parted with our culture and language. We are just trying to take a step to reduce this gap between destination and origin. Website of a Pind will be completely managed by a representative or administration of the Pind through a panel,” said Jagdish.

The portal is like a live community and is built keeping in mind people from villages with the limited knowledge of the Internet and computers. One register his/her village free of cost, update and manage the website for their village, connect live through online radio streaming. The website has managed 10,000 visits everyday, with over 150 villages across Punjab already a member. Jagdish is currently juggling between his job and his social responsibility. Jagdish Singh Sarai, however, wants more youngsters to join him in promoting their heritage. “I have got offers from NRIs who want to finance the project and expand its services. But I want to stay away from the moolah. The advertising and revenue gathered through the website will be processed into development works of the respective villages,” Jagdish Singh Sarai said.

Currently, he is planning to add a feature of family tree to it, wherein one can register information about their family and even ancestors.

Jagdish Singh Sarai has also been working to fight cyber crime, expose and check loopholes and vulnerability in digital datas and systems, and uses his knowledge to crack systems to the optimum.

Amritsar, October 7
Creativity enthrals, entertains and also breaks records. Well, for city-based paper artist Gurpreet Singh, it definitely does. The master creator, who has a whopping 13 international and seven national records of creating art from varied items, is at it again.

The artist, who is probably among very few specialised paper artists in Punjab, has created a miniature replica of Golden Temple. Weighing 1 kg and having a measured area of 2.5 to 3 feet, the replica is made of ivory and art paper and has every detail in place. “It took me five months to get it into shape. It’s difficult to work with paper, as it tends to get scratched or tears easily. But after a tedious and patient process, I could finally manage to complete the version,” says Gurpreet.

This is not the first piece of perfection from the 31-year-old artist. Gurpreet has earlier created miniature models of Nankana Sahib, made the smallest turban weighing 7 gm and 1 inch long and other symbols of Sikh heritage. ‘My aim is to promote the culture and heritage of Sikhism through my art. I have displayed at various art exhibitions and festivals across the country and my works have been appreciated,” he says.

He is among very few paper artists in the region and feels that more should be done to promote the art. “There are a total of 110-120 odd paper artists in the world and most are from South Asia. The famous Chinese paper art is all about cutting the paper into various patterns, but a lot of Indian artists specialise in creating things out of paper. This should be encouraged.”

As for his latest piece of art, Gurpreet is now planning to install it with lights and live Gurbani. “I am playing with the idea of putting electronic Gurbani and lightings so as to give it an authentic appeal.” He wishes to display the replica at the upcoming museum inside the Darbar Saheb premises.

Amritsar, October 7
A "supposedly defunct" dump yard adjoining Chief Khalsa Diwan International Nursing College, located on the Chabaal road, is a bane for the students as well as residents on this stretch.

The college was inaugurated by Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora on September 25.

On paper, this place is lying defunct after a chunk of land at Bhaktanwala was designated as a dump yard, but thanks to the negligent attitude of the Municipal Corporation as well as the police authorities, this dump yard is now being utilised for the purpose of de-skinning dead animals. Astonishingly, the police does not act at this place, which is also a hideout for drug addicts and looters at night.

The MC officials try to pass the buck on each other, justifying their inability to take stock of the dumping site. Students as well as residents living nearby are exposed to various diseases due to this garbage dumping site.

From the terrace of the college building, it was evidently a dreadful scene at about 11.30 am yesterday. A jeep loaded with dead animals drove in from the other side of the dump ground.

The occupants, four in number, came out with sharp-edged dagger-like weapons in their hands. They pulled the dead animals from the jeep’s carriage one by one and started shredding their skin. Soon the whole environment was engulfed with an unbearable pungent smell. This was enough for the ferocious stray dogs to gather on the spot to have their pie.

Residents said this dreadful scene was a routine here and their pleas to the authorities against this menace had fallen on deaf ears. 

If the authorities permit us, we are ready to adopt this piece of land and transformed it into a green belt, by getting done a proper landscaping which should be surrounded by trees. This place can be developed into a beautiful leisure valley for the residents.
— Charanjit Singh Chadha, president, Chief Khalsa Diwan 

Even as we have made our building air-tight, still the foul smell travels towards our rooms. We are erecting our hostel building as an expansion project, but it would be quite a dismal scenario, if it all continued here. We have not yet opened our main gate just because of this slur.
— Darshan Sohi, principal

I am witness to drug addicts, who come here in the evenings and the garbage-laden trolleys come here at the same time and dump the garbage when no one is around.
— Karamjeet Singh, chowkidaar

The foul smell emanating from this place is unbearable, especially when the wind direction is towards our side.
— Harjinder Kaur, student

It would have been better had this place been developed into a park.
— Pawan Kaur, student

It is always a very terrible scene to watch the de-skinning of animals. This place is visited by fierce dogs all the time.
— Kulbir Kaur, student

It is difficult to sit in the classrooms because of the constant pungent smell emanating from it, especially during the rainy season.
— Prabhjot Kaur, student

Amritsar, October 7
The steep hike in diesel prices by over Rs 5 per litre has burnt a hole in the common man's pocket as the private school buses have effected a considerable hike in the fare. School bus and van operators have increased monthly fare by Rs 100 per student.

Sakshi, mother of 10-year-old boy studying in a private school, says the fare of the school van has risen from Rs 500 to 600. She said a steep hike in transportation fare was a rude shock to the family as inflation has raised the cost of each article used and consumed in the family. She said school fee and transportation charges of a child crosses Rs 2,000 per month.

The majority of parents stated that they were annoyed with the school van operators, who had hiked transportation charges by Rs 100 following a hike of Rs 5 per litre of diesel.

Nirmal Singh, a father of two school-going children, said the steep hike in the fares of school vans and buses was unjustified. He added that school bus operators must understand the plight of parents.

Another parent Gaurav Aggarwal said he was seriously considering making an alternate arrangement and would prefer to drop his children on his bike to the school.

President of the Amritsar Van Union Baljinder Singh said the hike became inevitable as the prices of spare parts, service of vehicles had increased by nearly 20 per cent. The transport authorities were insisting on phasing out rickety and old vehicles, wearing of uniforms by drivers and cleaner and painting buses and vans yellow.

He added that all these things required spending more money and they would run into huge losses if they continued with the existing fare structure. He said contrary to what parents believed the school bus and van owners would not make any profit out of the fare hike. He said they had been directed to paint all school buses and vans yellow and keep a first-aid box in buses.

A school principal said the majority of the city schools did not have their transportation system and the facility was outsourced to contractors. As the school authorities did not have any control over them, they increased fares as per their wishes. However, they must spare a thought for the parents.

Amritsar, October 7
Assistant Block Managers (ABM) employed with the mid-day meal cell of the Education Department in schools are irked at the government for giving them low salaries and ignoring their social security concerns.

For as many as 17 blocks in Amritsar, there are only seven ABMs. These ABMs are forced to travel to distant areas of the city to ensure that the rules of the mid-day meal scheme are adhered to. Similarly, 145 ABMs are working across the state for 216 education blocks. Majority of these ABMs were appointed on contract for three years with eligibility criteria being possession of B.Com/BBA Degree with computer knowledge through competitive exam held in 2009.

Each ABM is supposed to visit three schools daily and submit a weekly report of 15 schools every Monday. It is mandatory for them to visit at least 60 schools in a month. The nature of their job demands them to distribute funds for mid-day meal to schools in their blocks, compile data of mid-day meal, check the food being served and whether the menu is being adhered to or not.

At present they are being paid monthly salary of Rs 7,500, including Rs 1,500 travelling allowance, while no other social security benefit like provident fund or pension is being given to them.

The ABM Union said ABMs were now being burdened with more work as more educational blocks were being given to them. It would mean spending more on travelling, stationery and working for more time to discharge responsibility. A block could have minimum 40 schools to maximum 90 and giving additional blocks would mean adding a number of schools.

The ABMs were being given fixed annual hike of Rs 225, which was nothing in comparison to the annual rate of inflation. On the other hand, Sarv Siksha Abhiyan employees, who were also appointed on a three-year contract, were getting social security benefits. The union said ABMs footed all expenses of stationery and telephone from their salary as there was no provision for reimbursement.

When contacted, General Manager, Mid Day Meal Scheme, Prabhcharan Singh said more ABMs would be appointed to bring efficiency in the system. He said as long as new ABMs did not arrive the present ABMs had to shoulder the responsibility. About the salary he said it was decided by the government.

Amritsar, October 7
The district administration has asked farmers not to harvest paddy crop at night and burn the stubble in fields, which results in environmental degradation.

The crop harvested during the night has more moisture content than the crop harvested during the day. As a result the crop harvested during the night faces difficulty in its procurement as the moisture is more than the permissible limit. “When the grains have more moisture content, it would affect the quality of rice at the time of milling,” said Balvinder Singh, a local arthiya.

He said the procurement agencies were very particular about the moisture content in the grains as they did not want to face difficulty at the later stage. He said even the arthiyas were asking farmers to bring the crop within the limit of permissible moisture content as there would be delay in the procurement if it is not within the limit.

In a press note issued today, the district administration asked farmers not to burn the paddy stubble in the fields. Appealing to the farmers, Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal said the burning of paddy

stubble in the fields reduce the fertility of the field. “Even the friendly insects are burnt that control the spread of the pests on the crop,” he said, adding that smoke emanated from the burning resulted in degradation of environment, besides becoming a cause of road accidents.

He said if the stubble was let to rot in the fields it could help in increasing the fertility of the soil. Aggarwal has also asked the volunteers of Nehru Yuva Kendras and other NGOs to create awareness about it among the farmers.

He said an appeal could be made to farmers for refraining from burning the stubble from public announcement systems at various religious and other places. He said village panchayats should take it as their responsibility to dissuade farmers from indulging in the harmful practice.

Amritsar, October 7
In a meeting, rural veterinary officers' association of Punjab has criticised the government for the not giving salaries to the veterinary doctors for the past two months.

The association said the state government had stopped the grant-in-aid to the rural veterinary hospitals, as a result of which the doctors had not got their salaries.

Press secretary of the association Dr Gagandeep Singh Dhillon said, “When the bills of the salaries of veterinary officers were sent to various district treasury officers in the state, all replied that the government has verbally ordered them to withhold the bills,” alleged Dhillon.

In a press note issued by the association, it said as the employees in all other departments were being given salaries, why the government had discriminated with them.

“When the association asked for the written copy of orders from the government, all treasury officers stated that the orders were given verbally. How justified it is to stop the disbursement of salaries to a

particular class of employees, merely on the basis of verbal orders,” Dhillon said. He said the rural veterinary dispensaries were working under the control of Zila Parishads.

Another member Dr Harpreet Singh said as they have not got salaries, they were finding it difficult to run their kitchens.

“The salaried class depends entirely on their monthly salaries. It is difficult for the doctors to pay the school fees of their children,” he said.

The association has requested the state government to give the veterinary officers their salaries regularly and on time. The meeting was attended by Dr Harpreet Singh, Dr Jagjeet Singh, Dr Kamaljeet Singh, Dr Manjit Singh and others.

Amritsar, October 7
The SAD has improved its popularity in the urban pockets, a fact which was proved in recently held elections, said Cabinet minister Bikram Singh Majithia.

Addressing a SAD (Urban) ward-level rally at posh Ranjit Avenue today, Majithia said earlier the SAD had nominal base among the urban voters. The policies of the SAD and development carried out in the previous tenure dawned on the urban voters that the party was committed to their welfare as well. He said its consequence was reflected in the Municipal Corporation elections in which the SAD came out as a major party.

He said the Mayor, belonging to the BJP, was installed with the support of the SAD. He said he had communicated to Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora to ensure overall development of the holy city without any prejudice.

Among others, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Inderbir Singh Bolaria, Akali leader Virsa Singh Valtoha and SAD (Urban) president Upkar Singh Sandhu also addressed the gathering.