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Amritsar to be made world-class city
Farmer shot dead by robbers
Official manhandled by inmate at Central Jail
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'Harassed' by in-laws, man commits suicide
Amritsar, October 11 Fed up with the alleged harassment at the hands of his in-laws, Ashwani Kumar, a resident of New Mohindra Colony, Mohkampura, allegedly committed suicide by setting himself ablaze. He suffered critical injuries and died on the spot. The police has booked his in-laws in this connection.
Bonded labourer girl rescued
12 booked for thrashing cigarette vendors
Disaster management
A show to remember for city boy
and Indian Idol Vipul Mehta
world sight day
College teachers observe two-period strike
Despite appeal, farmers burn paddy stubble in fields
Residents confused about new LPG cylinder delivery system
GND varsity youth fest from today
Refresher course in Indian languages begins
Competitions for sportswomen on October 15, 16
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Amritsar to be made world-class city
Amritsar, October 11 Following a discussion over the city’s master plan with the district administration officials here today, Sukhbir said according to the development model, all urban services, including sewerage, water supply, internal road networks, road engineering, beautification of parks, greening of pavements and street-lights, would be developed and maintained by a single agency and that agency would be responsible for its upkeep for the next 10 years. He said multiple agencies and overlapping works hinder the progress of the city and Amritsar was all set to don a new look in the next three years. He also reviewed the implementation of the PRTS project and told the Tourism Department to open tourist-facilitation kiosks at important points and depute English, French and Spanish-knowing tourist guides who should be well conversant with the Sikh history and culture of Amritsar. He also asked the tourism department to promote Amritsar cuisine at international fora. He said the development and promotion of the heritage village should be handed over to professional tourism agency having experience in running such establishments. Sukhbir said the state government had already requisitioned the services of an international expert town planner to draw the blueprint for the development of the holy city while maintaining its heritage, look and character. He said the purpose of the total exercise was to put Amritsar on the international tourist circuit and to prolong the stay of international tourists from existing one night to minimum six nights. He said his plan included a religious-cum-historic tourist circuit, including visit to retreat ceremony at Attari border, Goindwal, Tarn Taran, Khadoor Sahib, Gobindgarh Fort, Harmandir Sahib, Durgiana Mandir, Jallianwala Bagh and Ram Tirath. He said this could be possible only if we upgrade the infrastructure of the holy city to international level and tourists felt at home while moving around hre. Punjab Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia directed the MC authorities to make a complete plan for covering the open channel carrying sewerage water along with bypass and creating multiple problems. He also asked to explore the commercial viability of this project, besides providing the much-needed relief to the people living in the adjoining areas. Prominent among others who were present at the meeting included Chief Parliamentary Secretaries Inderbir Singh Bolaria and Navjot Kaur Sidhu and Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora.
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Farmer shot dead by robbers
Amritsar, October 11 The accused had come to steal the buffaloes tied in their farmhouse in
the village. Showing courage, the family members captured one of the accused with a double-barrel gun and a motorcycle and later handed him over to the police. Tarsem Singh died on the spot, while the arrested accused was identified as Gurpreet Singh of Dhodiwind village. His two accomplices — Sahib Singh and Mahala — both brothers and residents of Jagatpura village (Tarn Taran) managed to escape from the spot, taking the advantage of darkness. Preetpal Singh Virk, SSP, Amritsar (Rural Police), besides other police
officials today visited the spot. The Gharinda police has registered a case under Sections 302, 34 of the IPC and 25/54/59 of the Arms Act against the culprits. Gurnam Singh, the deceased's brother, while detailing the incident to the police, said the three robbers were trying to steal buffaloes from the farmhouse of his paternal uncle Dharam Singh. However, one of the buffaloes returned to the farmhouse, following which Dharam Singh woke up and raised an alarm. Tarsem Singh and his family members chased the culprits, who hid in the fields. Later, Gurpreet Singh, who was armed with a double-barrel gun, shot Tarsem Singh, killing him on the spot. However, Gurnam Singh and Angrej Singh overpowered Gurpreet and snatched his rifle. He was later handed him over to the police. The police said investigations were under progress and raids were being
conducted to nab the culprits.
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Official manhandled by inmate at Central Jail
Amritsar, October 11 The cantonment police has registered a case under Sections 353, 186 and 295 of the IPC against the accused. Amrik Singh, jail superintendent, in his complaint to the police alleged that the jail official had caught the accused while he was consuming some intoxicants. He had reprimanded him, following which he threw the same in the toilet. He said when Joginder Singh was taking a round of the jail, the accused clashed with him, took off his turban and tore his uniform, besides hurling abuses at him.
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'Harassed' by in-laws, man commits suicide
Amritsar, October 11 Adarsh Kumar, the deceased's father, in his complaint to the police, stated that Ashwani was married to Jyoti of the Sultanwind road area a few months ago. However, the couple did not have cordial relations and they often had quarrels on trivial issues. On Tuesday, his in-laws, including Rajkumar (father-in-law), Goldy (brother-in-law) and Bimla Rani (mother-in-law), came to his house and allegedly physical assaulted him, following which he got depressed. He said yesterday he went on the roof of his house, poured kerosene on himself and committed suicide by setting himself ablaze. The police has registered a case under Sections 306, 34 IPC against his in-laws on the statement of the deceased's father. Amrik Singh, SHO, Mohkampura police, said the accused had run away after locking their house. He said raids would be conducted to nab them.
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Bonded labourer girl rescued
Amritsar, October 11 The BBA head office at Delhi received a complaint that a human trafficker had brought five minor girls from West Bengal and handed them over to a placement agency in the national Capital about six months ago, claimed BBA Punjab coordinator Dinesh Kumar. He said following the raid at the placement agency, they came to know that of these five girls, two - Parvati and Promila -had been put on a household job at a house on the Race Course road in Amritsar. The NGO, with the help of the Delhi Police, landed at Faizpura Police Chowki in Amritsar. Today, they raided the residential premises and recovered Parvati, aged about 15. He claimed that Parvati stated that she, along with Promila, arrived in the same house about four months ago. However, after some days, Promila ran away from the house. Dinesh said the questioning of Parvati revealed that she used to work from 7 am to 11 in the night. Though she was served regular meals and provided residence, she was not given any salary for the past four months. He said Parvati originally belonged to Patipara Basti village in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal and stated that she was taken to Delhi by a native of her village Munni. Officials at the Faizpura Police Chowki said a two-member Delhi Police team, headed by sub-inspector Sachin, took the girl to the national Capital. They said if any case was to be registered, it would be done at Delhi.
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12 booked for thrashing cigarette vendors
Amritsar, October 11 Hundreds of cigarette vendors today carried out a protest march from Company Bagh up to the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Harjinder Singh, demanding justice and immediate arrest of the accused, besides seeking police protection. Hira Lal, president of the Pan Vikreta Union, said that on Tuesday night, about a dozen members of the committees, who claimed themselves to be members of the Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Committee, dragged a number of vendors from their kiosks and brutally beat them up near the Golden Temple area. The accused, who were armed with swords and blunt weapons, also ransacked their shops. He said about half a dozen persons were injured in the incident. Tension gripped the area near Telephone Exchange when the alleged members of the committee reached there and tried to forcibly close a cigarette vend and physically assaulted the vendors. However, the nearby shopkeepers came to their rescue, following which the members of the committee had to leave the scene. The police has registered a case under Sections 307, 323, 427, 506, 148, 149 of the IPC against Amrik Singh, chairman, besides 11 unidentified persons in this connection. Hira Lal said following the assurances by the police officials, the vendors again opened their shops on Wednesday. However, the accused again came to their shops and threatened them with dire consequences if the vendors did not close down their establishments. Following this, the vendors today kept their kiosks and establishments closed and carried out a march. The vendors, under the banner of the Amritsar Pan Vikreta Union, met the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Harjinder Singh. They were led by RC Yadav, chairman, Punjab Pravasi Bhalai Board. The DCP assured them to arrest the accused, besides deputing a police party to regularly patrol the sensitive areas. Following his assurance, the vendors agreed to open their shops. They, however, added that if the police department failed to provide them necessary protection and they were not allowed to open their establishments, they would be forced to take the agitational path.
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Mock drills at 5 places today
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, October 11 The five places are government official complex on the Ramtirth road, DAV Public School and surrounding residential area, part of court complex, Celebration Mall and ESI Hospital on Majitha Road. Master trainer on disaster management Surjit Sharma said Amritsar along with Jalandhar falls in the fourth seismic zone. There are four seismic zones in India covering 38 cities. These areas are prone to earthquake. The tremble measuring 6.5 to 7.9 on the Richter scale could strike any time and objective of these workshops is to reduce the loss of life and material in case of emergency. He added that categorisation of areas as seismic zones is meant to alert people, humanitarian agencies and government departments to prepare their plans accordingly. According to him, the past experiences of earthquakes in the country have taught them that the educational institutes and places, which experience mass human movement, are most vulnerable to such natural calamities. He said the walled city with high density of population with narrow and arterial roads offer a gigantic task for the disaster management teams to carry out rescue operations in case of exigency. "Apart from this, the residents also add to the problem as they park vehicles, including four-wheelers, on roads at night, which slows down the rescue operations and even fire tenders could not move about smoothly in case of fire," he quipped. He believes in hope for the best and prepare for the worst. He said in case of fire in the walled city, it was sometime found very difficult to carry out rescue operations.
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A show to remember for city boy
and Indian Idol Vipul Mehta
Amritsar, October 11 This Friday the viewers of "Kaun Banega Crorepati" will see the channel celebrating the 70th birthday of Amitabh Bachchan, the show’s popular host. And Vipul Mehta will be seen opening the show with a birthday song. Big B is usually the one taking his audiences and contestants on the show by surprise. But this time, he was taken by surprise with a special birthday cake with his face imprinted on it. The episode, to be aired on Friday, will see Indian Idol 6 winner Vipul Mehta opening the episode with a birthday song made especially for the occasion. "It was a song specially made to celebrate his birthday,” said Vipul. "Initially, I was stunned to meet the star. I was awed by his humility and the warm energy with which he greets everybody. We had to do some takes together and everytime there was some fumble, he didn’t mind giving another try with me." Later, another birthday treat was presented by Vipul, which was a customised cake having Amitabh Bachchan’s face on it. “He had thought that celebrations were over. But later looked quite happy and surprised when the cake arrived,” said Vipul. Though it was Big B’s birthday, the biggest gift was received by Vipul. “The moments spent with him celebrating his birthday will always be cherished by me. All of us have grown up admiring and idolising him and he is a legend. To have shared stage with him means a lot to me. And since his show KBC is quite popular, may be my special appearance will increase my fan base as well,” said the singer. Speaking of which, here’s another reason for Vipul to be happy. “Amitabhji also told me that his wife Jaya Bachchan used to watch Indian Idol and liked my singing. I was her favourite contestant on the show.”
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Residents educated on eye problems
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, October 11 A lecture on problems of eyes and precautions to prevent them was held at Bhai Dharma Singh Satellite Hospital Ranjit Avenue. Medical Officer Dr Hardeep Kaur said apart from patients, the lecture was also attended by students of the Khalsa College of Nursing. She said people were informed about various problems associated with eyes. “Neglecting minor eye problems can give rise to complications. It is required that eyes are got checked after regular intervals,” she said. Ophthalmic Officer Sanjeev Anand said the state’s national average of avoidable blindness was about 0.7 per cent. “Though it is lower than the national average of around 1.2 per cent, but we still need to create awareness so that it can be controlled,” he said. He said people must go for check-ups whenever they feel that their vision has gone down. “It has been seen that sometimes people tend to delay their check-up because of ignorance or laxity. In such conditions the problem increases.” Vasan Eye Care Hospital also organised a function to create awareness on the issue today. Eye specialist Dr Harlincoln Singh educated people about the problem of cataract and how it can be avoided and cured. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Kanwardeep Singh deliberated on the growing instances of low vision among schoolchildren. “The unhealthy lifestyle, which includes working on computers for longer durations and watching television, aggravates the problem,” he said. Dr Amit Batra talked about the eye problems associated with diabetics. He said eye problems were more common among the diabetic old patients. He advised them to go for a routine check-up of the eyes as a preventive measure.
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College teachers observe two-period strike
Amritsar, October 11 A rally of teachers was held at DAV College. District president of the PCCTU Prof Gurdas Singh Sekhon, addressing the agitating teachers, said the state government paid the arrears of the revised pay scales from January 1, 2006, to March 31, 2010, to its own employees, but teachers serving in aided colleges were denied the similar benefit. He said this was despite the fact that 80 per cent of the arrears were to be paid by the Central Government. He said we were forced to observe strike. He said the SAD-BJP coalition government was yet to correct the amended Service Security Act for the "uncovered" staff working in the aided colleges. He said if their long-pending demands were not met then they would be forced to launch an agitation.
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Despite appeal, farmers burn paddy stubble in fields
Amritsar, October 11 The Punjab and Haryana High Court, too, had earlier imposed a blanket ban on burning of stubble in fields after the harvesting of the crop. The adverse effects of the burning of stubble on the health of the people, besides the environmental degradation, are numerous. The smoke emanating from the burning of stubble is most troublesome for asthmatic patients. Even as the administration has shown its concern by issuing an advisory, the general public feels that stern action is required to deter farmers from the act. On the other hand, farmers say as the government has failed to provide them with an economically viable alternative to burning, they have to burn the stubble in fields to prepare them for the next crop. "Most of the farmers in villages near the city sow potatoes or peas in the time between harvesting of paddy and sowing of wheat. If the crop stubble is left to rot, there will be no time for growing the third crop," said Bhupinder Singh, a farmer. He added that those farmers, who did not go for the third crop to supplement their income, could avoid burning of the stubble. In Amritsar, the district administration had earlier introduced "baler" machines imported from the US, which could turn the paddy residue into fuel generating source or an animal feed. Even as the district administration had made arrangements with the firm to provide the machinery on subsidised rate of Rs 85,000, yet there were not many takers as farmers termed it a costly alternative. Even later the "crop shredding machines", which can shred the stubble and straw of the crop into small pieces and spread it back into the fields, did not catch the fancy of farmers as "burning seems much easier and quick to many farmers". Apart from causing harm to the atmosphere and creating imbalances, the burning of stubble has become a major reason for road accidents. Not only this, but a number of trees adjoining agricultural lands get burnt as the fire spreads. Senior Medical Officer Dr Balbir Singh Dhillon said, "The health hazards are numerous. Even burning is not good for the soil's health as it decreases its fertility." He said the farmers must be persuaded to deter from the act, else strict action should be taken against them in public interest.
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Residents confused about new LPG cylinder delivery system
Amritsar, October 11 Ramandeep Kaur, a housewife, said the government had restricted the number of subsidised cylinders to six a year, whereas a family of four requires at least 12. With half of the current fiscal year about to conclude and many of the cylinders had been issued they did not know how to proceed ahead. Pritam Singh, resident of Pratap Nagar, said some persons came at his residence to get a form filled, which sought elaborate information regarding connection and others. He said his various questions regarding the pattern of the cylinders to be released did not elicit satisfactory replies from them. He said if the officials of gas agencies were not fully informed and aware then what could be expected from ordinary persons. Another housewife Snehlata said as if limiting the number of subsidised cylinders was not enough, the government had increased the prices of cylinders also. The price of subsidised cylinders would now be hiked from Rs 421 to Rs 433. A gas agency dealer said agencies were supposed to deliver three subsidised cylinders to each customer from September 13 to March 31. He said many customers had got issued one cylinder, while others had got released even two. Otherwise, second cylinder would be issued between October and November, while the third one would be released between November and December. After December, non-subsidised cylinders would be issued and fresh rates of them would be announced on the first day of every month depending upon the international prices. He said defence schools, mid-day meal schools, colleges, charitable and religious institutions were being given "non-exempted" cylinders at Rs 1,198. While non-domestic and non-exempted 19-kg cylinder were sold at Rs 1,700. He said all dealers had been supplied "know your customer" (KYC) forms, which sought information like bank account, identify proofs, customer photograph and others. While new customers had to fill one more form apart from submitting an affidavit declaring having one LPG connection only. A person found having two connections with same name and address would have to forego one connection and had to surrender entire equipment - cylinder and regulator - to the gas company.
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GND varsity youth fest from today
Amritsar, October 11 Prof T.S. Banipal, Director, Academic Staff College, will be the chief guest and singer Viney Pal Buttar would be the guest of honour. Dr Jagjit Kaur, Director, Youth Welfare, said on the inaugural day the competitions in group shabad/bhajan, group song Indian, fine arts, phulkari and rangoli would be held. On the second day, competitions in fancy dress, skit, mime, mimicry, group dance, folk song, classical instrumental (percussion and non-percussion), classical vocal, elocution, debate and quiz would be held. On the third day, competitions in Var gyan, kavishri, Western music (vocal) and Western group song would be organised. On the concluding day, competitions in classical dance and giddha would be held.
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Refresher course in Indian languages begins
Amritsar, October 11 Prof Pandey Shashi Bhushan Sitanshu, former Head, Department of Hindi of the university, was the chief guest. Prof Pandey in his inaugural address underlined the importance of poetry, novels and essay writings created in the second half of the 20th century. He said these five decades had witnessed exchange of high knowledge and literature. He exhorted the participants to inculcate good moral and human values, like politeness, honesty, humility and good character, in their students to make them good citizens apart from imparting knowledge to them. Prof T.S. Banipal, Director, Academic Staff College, exhorted the participants to disseminate the knowledge gained by them in order to ensure the holistic development of the society. Prof Sudha Jatinder, Head, Department of Hindi, welcomed the chief guest and others and Dr Mohan Kumar, Deputy Director, proposed the vote of thanks.
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Competitions for sportswomen on October 15, 16
Amritsar, October 11 District Sports Officer Harpaljeet Kaur said sportswomen, whose age as on December 31 this year was under 25 years, could participate in the games. She instructed the players to bring documents verifying their age during the competitions. She said the competitions were organised under the Panchayat Yuva Krida Aur Khel Abhiyan (PYKKA), introduced by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. The games were organised under the aegis of the Sports Authority of India. She said kabaddi, handball, kho-kho, swimming and volleyball would be held at Khalsa Senior Secondary School (Boys). The gymnastics would be held at Guru Nanak Dev University, badminton at the Badminton Hall on the Tailor road, table tennis at the Table Tennis Hall at Goal Bagh, lawn tennis at Company Bagh and basketball at the SR Government College for Women.
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Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal has announced that Amritsar will be developed into a world-class city.
Amritsar, October 11
Even as the district administration had earlier issued an appeal to farmers for not burning the crop stubble in the fields, which results in environmental pollution, the burning of stubble has been reported from a few villages.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court, too, had earlier imposed a blanket ban on burning of stubble in fields after the harvesting of the crop.
With the government partially withdrawing the subsidy on LPG cylinders, majority of the city residents are confused and wonder how the new mechanism will be introduced.