Health dept’s order on interaction with media
Amritsar, November 1
In a strange move, the District Health Department has issued a gag order restricting officials from passing on information to the media. The orders, which were issued by Civil Surgeon Dr Yash Mitra, have instructed officials to interact with the media only through him.

Karva Chauth: A festival that stands for commitment, culture and romance
Amritsar, November 1
Karva Chauth is a festival that symbolises commitment, culture and romance. While the women fast, the husbands put on display their commitment towards their better halves (a price too short to get some added years of lifespan!).

Amritsar, November 1
Despite the fact that the Punjab and Haryana High Court had banned the digging of sand and the district administration had taken ‘stringent’ steps in this regard, there is no stopping the nefarious activities in the Ajnala sector.

Recently, the Amritsar rural police nabbed two persons Baljit Singh of Chaharpur and Amrik Singh of Bal Bawa with trolleys laden with sand excavated from the Ravi river bed. They were arrested following the complaint of Jaswinder Singh, mining officer, and booked under Section 379 of the IPC and 21 of the Mining Act.

A couple of days ago the police had nabbed three persons --- Mangal Singh and his brother Balwinder Singh (residents of Bhindisaida) and Amarjit Singh of Nangali --- on charges of illegally mining of sand. They were also arrested with tractor trolleys laden with sand, which they had dug out from the Ravi river bed.

While Mangal and Balwinder were booked under Section 379 of the IPC and Section 21 (1) of the Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, Amarjit Singh was booked under Sections 379 and 188 of the IPC and Section 14 (1A) of Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act. They have been sent to the police remand.

Earlier, the district administration had seized as many as 19 trucks and two tractor trolleys from Raipur Kalan village in the Ajnala area from where the Ravi flows. Two drivers Dilbagh Singh and Jani Masih were arrested from the spot while the remaining persons escaped seeing the raiding party.

So far, the police has arrested over 40 persons involved in illegal mining. The police has booked about 50 persons in nearly 20 cases registered in various police stations in Amritsar rural police district.

“Whenever we receive information, we conduct raids to nab the culprits. Police teams also accompany the officials of the mining department when they seek our help to nab the miscreants,” said Preet Paul Virk, SSP, Amritsar rural police district.

He admitted that even though the police and district administration had tightened the noose around the illegal sand miners, they continue with their nefarious activities.

The illegal sand mining has not only resulted in the environment degradation, but also damaging the Dhussi bandh. The residents of the villages alleged that sand excavation had continued under the patronage of top politicians who have their stake in the business. Officials of the mining department too know of these activities, they added.

Villagers had submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner, Rajat Agarwal, in this connection who had assured stringent possible action against those involved in illegal activities.

The device would also prove to be a boon, keeping in view the massive short strength of tubewell operators being faced by the MC.

At present for 330 tubewells, there are around 150 operators enrolled with the MC and it was quite cumbersome for them to attend to each and every tubewell physically.

This appliance would not only save the operator’s time to shuttle among tubewells, but would also enable him to run them efficiently and conveniently.

This devise has been installed on a trial basis at five tubewells - Town Hall, Gali Kamboj, Neevin Gali, Maana Singh School and Mai Ratto wali Gali. 

Amritsar, November 1
In a strange move, the District Health Department has issued a gag order restricting officials from passing on information to the media. The orders, which were issued by Civil Surgeon Dr Yash Mitra, have instructed officials to interact with the media only through him.

The Civil Surgeon has termed that the orders were aimed at streamlining the flow of information. Sources in the department revealed that the official was not happy with the growing proximity between officials and media workers.

A few of the officials in the department have termed such instructions as undesirable and undemocratic. "We have to keep in constant touch with mediapersons as it helps in creating awareness. Moreover, as we have to highlight our department's achievements, there is nothing wrong in it," said an official.

Usually every year, when the festive season begins, health officials are pro-active in collecting samples of eatables from various shops in city. At the same time, they pass on the information to the media.

But with the new orders in place, as the officials have been debarred from passing on such information, the department has planned to issue official press releases in case of suchlike events.

Meanwhile, Yash Mitra admitted that he had instructed the officials not to issue information on their own. "The idea is that only authenticated and genuine information is passed on," he said, adding that it would help in checking contradictory statements of officials. He said the move was aimed at increasing efficiency.

The civil surgeon said official information would be issued to the media as usual. The department would deliver all information in written form to avoid any confusion.

Amritsar, November 1
Karva Chauth is a festival that symbolises commitment, culture and romance. While the women fast, the husbands put on display their commitment towards their better halves (a price too short to get some added years of lifespan!).

Husbands keeping fast for their wives (and the award for this goes to SRK's Karva Chauth in DDLJ) became the in-thing. Whatever be the reasons attached, Karva Chauth gives the wife an advantage over her husband, at least for that one day. And there are some husbands who will walk the line to make their wives feel special. Like cooking a full-course meal for her.

Ask Rahul Mahajan, a 30-year-old lawyer from the city, who is geared up to prepare a feast for his wife Preeti. "Usually, we go out for dinner every Karva Chauth. But this time, I decided to do something different. I have never entered the kitchen in my life, though I know a bit about cooking. To decide to cook for her was something that I thought would be definitely a special thing. She knows that too," says Rahul. Preeti, too, is waiting for her special 'gift'. "He has been hovering around in the kitchen, picking up some cooking tips. It's nice to be pampered with a special dinner feast after a long day of rejoicing on empty stomach," she says.

Saving the wife from the drudgery of day's cooking is Anurag Manchanda. The guy has planned a cosy dinner for two post the day's proceedings. "It's nothing fancy, but I have plans to cook her favourite dishes. Most likely a vegetarian feast that will have her favourite dal makhani." Anurag did some Google searching for some interesting recipes for the day.

"It was a tough task selecting from a dozen recipes on the Internet. But I guess its more intimate and romantic rather than buying her some jewellery or expensive gift," says Anurag. Well, we'll let Kanika, his wife, decide on that.

While the young guys are planning lavish meals for their wives, Gagan Sharma, a 45-year-old government employee, will be limiting himself to just the dessert.

"Cooking a full-course meal is something of a disaster if it comes from my hands. So, I have decided to make halwa for my wife, which I learnt from her specially for the occasion," he shares. One advice for him, the emotion counts, not the amount of calories you gift her.

Amritsar, November 1
In order to thwart any untoward incident during the ongoing festive season, the city police has beefed up security and intensified the patrolling in various parts of the city, especially near vulnerable points, including religious places, Railway Station, Bus Stand, etc.

The city has been divided into two zones - walled city zone and outer city areas falling under ADCP city-I and ADCP city-II - for efficient checks, while all police force has been mobilised on roads.

As many as 350 jawans from the 7th Indian Reserve Battalion and the Inter-Service Training Centres have been deputed in various parts of the city.

Confirming this, Police Commissioner Ram Singh the steps were taken in view of the ongoing festive season during which there was a huge rush on roads, especially around religious places.

He said about 96 naka points had been identified. Out of which, 24-hour nakas would be held at 45 points, while at 22 naka points, barricading would be held for 12 hours.

He said similarly, there would be round-the-clock patrolling at 18 strategic points, while 24 teams would hold 12-hour patrolling at different areas. The police teams were also carrying out flag marches in different areas.

In the past few days, senior police functionaries held meetings with Jewellers’ Associations, different Markets Associations and private security agencies briefing them about do’s and don’ts during the festive season. They have been asked to be vigilant and keep a close watch on suspicious elements around their establishments.

“They have been asked to immediately inform the police in case they find movement of any suspicious elements in their areas,” said Ram Singh.

Being the holy city, the rush of tourists and pilgrims increases manifold in the religious shrines, including the Golden Temple and the Durgiana Temple.

Amritsar, November 1
Dr Narpinder Singh, a food scientist from Guru Nanak Dev University, has said that the repeatedly heating of oil to prepare puris, samosas, pakoras and other deep-fried eatables deteriorates its quality. Deep-fat fried products are considered as a source of trans fatty acids. The formation of trans fatty acids in products depends on the composition of oil, frying temperature and frying duration.

Various products are being fried by a number of vendors in oils and fats, which are repeatedly used as a frying medium. These products have a variable amount of trans isomers. The intake of trans fatty acids and the risk of coronary heart disease has already been linked in many studies. They are proven to produce adverse effects on blood lipids, including increasing LDL-cholesterol concentration and decreasing HDL-cholesterol concentration. LDL-cholesterol is considered to be bad for health, while HDL-cholesterol concentration is considered to be good. Dietary trans fats not only include mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids, but also conjugated linoleic acids. The shortenings are used in bakery products and are used as topping ingredient to beautify the pastries. These shortenings impart superior sensory and textural properties to baked products. The shortenings are partially hydrogenated oils and are the major source of trans fats in the diet.

At present, there is no upper recommended tolerable limit for trans fats. The World Health Organisation in 2003 recommended that the trans fats consumption should be limited to less than 1 per cent of the overall energy intake.

Trans fat consumption increases the weight and abdominal fat. It also leads to liver dysfunction since these are metabolised differently by liver.

He said vegetable oils were partially hydrogenated in the presence of a metal catalyst and hydrogen to enhance their storage stability and to impart physical properties similar to butter. Hydrogenation process reduces the double bonds in unsaturated fatty acids.

He cautioned that consumers must see the manufacturing date of refined oils while purchasing cooking oils and avoid procuring these after the expiry date. During storage, cooking oils get oxidised and produce free fatty acids. For this reason, shopkeepers put these oils on sale and reduce their price. The composition of oils varies with the source. Hydrogenated fat is preferred for frying purposes by many vendors because these can be used for longer period without becoming rancid. Also, products fried in hydrogenated fats have prolonged shelf life. Hydrogenated fat can also be repeatedly used during frying without imparting any undesirable odour to the product. Whereas, when the vegetable oils are repeatedly used, they start imparting rancid flavour to the products.

Some housewives also repeatedly use the oils to fry different products. This practice should be avoided.