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2 booked for illegal sand mining
Chinese string cutting birds’ flight
500 arms licences may be fake in city
Mother-in-law, husband held for dowry death
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SAFMA conference to open in city tomorrow
Cleanliness eludes washrooms at ESI Hospital
Youth dies in road accident
Seven held for gambling
DAV school celebrates 20th anniversary
Rapists deserve toughest
punishment: Bardhan
5-day faculty development programme organised
Step up efforts to check infant mortality rate: Chawla to Badal
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2 booked for illegal sand mining
Amritsar, January 6 Balkar Singh, nambardar, fled away leaving a tractor-trailer behind after seeing a police party, which was holding a naka near Kot Sidhu village. The second accused was yet to be identified. The police has lodged two separate cases under Section 379 of the IPC and Section 21(1) of the Mining and Mineral Act-1957 in this connection. According to information, a police party, headed by ASI Lakhbir Singh, received a tip-off that an unidentified person had been illegally loading sand from near Kot Sidhu village pits. Following this a raid was conducted at the designated spot. On seeing the police party, the unidentified accused fled away. In the second case, Prabhjit Singh, ASI, received a tip-off the Balkar Singh, nambardar, was coming after loading sand in a tractor-trailer from Kot Sidhu village. A naka was laid and the tractor-trailer was signalled to stop. However, the accused fled. The police impounded both the vehicles and further action has been initiated for their arrest. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has banned the excavation of sand as it is proving detrimental to the environment. However, the excavation is continuing unabated in the Ajnala area from where the Ravi flows. Though the Industries Department has initiated a number of steps in this connection and claimed to have curbed the illegal mining of sand to a larger extent, but the cases of illegal excavation are continuously coming to light. 14-yr-old boy booked for unnatural sex
The Sultanwind police has booked a 14-year-old boy for allegedly subjecting two minor children, including a girl, to unnatural sex. The boy has been absconding since the registration of the case. The father of the victims told the police that his six-year-old son and three-and-a-half-year-old girl were alone at home on January 2 evening. When he returned home after his work he found the accused having oral sex with his son. He alleged that his daughter also complained that the accused did the same to her. The accused is a son of a retired police constable. He said when he complained to his father, he threatened him of implicating him in some false case. He alleged that the family sent the boy to some unknown place. Parvesh Chopra, SHO, Sultanwind police station, said a case under Sections 377, 294 and 506 of the IPC was registered against the boy after the complaint lodged by the victims’ father. He said as the accused was minor he would be produced in the juvenile court after his arrest. He said the accused had been absconding and efforts were being made to arrest him. Chemist, distributor get 3-year jail term
A local court has sentenced a chemist and a distributor to a three-year imprisonment in a spurious medicine case. The court has also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on them. Chemist Pankaj Khanna of Pankaj Medical Agency and Rajeev Kumar of Midas Distributors were earlier found possessing spurious medicines by a team of the Health Department during a raid on the chemist shop. Drug Inspector Sukhdeep Singh, who had led the raid, said the drugs seized from the shop were sent to a government analyst, who found them to be spurious. He said later on the guidelines of the government the entire stock of medicines from the state was called back. Civil Surgeon Dr Yash Mitra said the Health Department was committed to provide quality allopathic drugs to the general public. He advised them to buy medicines of only GMP-certified companies. He said the department would make drug sampling and inspection campaign more vigorous.
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Chinese string cutting birds’ flight
Amritsar, January 4 Many birds have perished while some lost their limbs and others suffered pain after coming in contact with the string. Members of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) have been rescuing injured and entangled birds from top of the trees, buildings, besides electric supply and other poles. However, they added that they could not rescue more than five per cent of the total injured birds as they were not reported about all these incidents. For instance, SPCA rescued an injured owl late last night. The long wings of the bird were enmeshed in the string while it was hanging down from a Pipal tree on the back of the pharmaceutical building of Guru Nanak Dev University. SPCA Inspector Ashok Joshi said a vigilant caller intimated them over the phone and they rushed to save the bird and managed to bring it down by 11:30 in the night. He said about five cases of birds injured from China-made string were reported weekly and added that it was not more than five per cent of the total cases of birds being fatally wounded from the string. The SPCA centre outside Hathi Gate is treating a crow whose left wing had almost detached from the rest of the body due to the string. The crow was saved from Gole Bagh a week back. The SPCA, along with the officials of the Forest department, had released a Rock Eagle Owl, after giving it treatment for nearly 20 days, in its original habitat, a forest, on November 30. A protected bird under the Wildlife Act, the bird, had been found dangling with a string on a Eucalyptus tree on the posh Race Course road. A Birder, Vineet Randhawa, also a member of the SPCA, said the string was causing untold harm to birds. She said it was quite strange that despite it being banned, people were flying kites with the string. She added that the people needed to be conscious and sensitive towards the rights and convenience of the birds. Birds like sparrows, pigeons, doves and others were hardly able to bear the impact of the string and in majority of the hits, died at the spot, while may of them died waiting for medical help, Randhawa added. The sale of China-made string is continuing unabated in different parts of the city is an open secret. The string has snuffed out lives of many people too. Amritsar was the first to import the Chinese string, which replaced the traditional cotton strings. Bangalore-manufactured Monofill and Gurgaon-made Monokite brands, having flexible and unbreakable properties, too made entry into the Amritsar market.
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500 arms licences may be fake in city
Amritsar, January 4 The count of suspicious arms licences has been found to be over 500. The Patiala police, which had busted the fake arms licence racket in mid-October last year, had put the figures in Amritsar alone at 291. The probe team also found that officials posted in the arms licence branch located in the Deputy Commissioner’s Office were allegedly involved in the issuance of fake licences to two Delhi residents, Parveen Kumar and Prem Mohan. Both of them have already been arrested. Deputy Commissioner Rajat Agarwal said, “During the over two-month-long probe, the investigation team found about 500 suspicious arm licences, which require physical verification.” About the nature of discrepancies, he said several arms licences had been issued by preparing duplicate files of the existing licences. In a few cases, signatures of the authorities concerned had been forged, he said. “All suspicious cases need a thorough probe. The Patiala police had provided us a list of 291 fake licences, but we have found over 500 of them… A separate case has to be registered in Amritsar,” he said. Agarwal himself had written a letter to the police authorities seeking registration of a separate FIR in Amritsar and formation of a special investigation team for a probe into the case. During the probe, the investigation team scrutinised around 20,000 arms licences issued by the district administration before 2010 when the Police Commissionerate system was introduced in the city. The investigation took a long time as the team, headed by Additional Deputy Commissioner Supreet Singh Gulati, had to go through all the records. Earlier, the Patiala police had arrested Gaurav Arora, owner of Amritsar-based Arora Gun House, and recovered 17 weapons, including guns and pistols, from his possession. The police had claimed that Arora in alleged connivance with a few officials in the arms licence branch had prepared fake licences of persons belonging to Delhi, Haryana and other states. All these persons were shown residents of Amritsar. The Patiala police had also arrested three officials of the arms licence branch for allegedly issuing fake licences. Deputy Commissioner of Police Dr Kaustubh Sharma said he had received the letter from the Deputy Commissioner and forwarded it to the Police Commissioner for
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Mother-in-law, husband held for dowry death
Amritsar, January 4 The impact of the collision was so strong that the victims got thrown in the air and fell on the car. The unidentified driver of the car (DL-2CJ-7933) managed to escape from the spot, leaving the car behind. Panna Lal, investigating officer, said a case under Sections 304-A, 427, 229 and 337 of the IPC was registered while a manhunt had been launched to nab the culprit, who was absconding. Rajan Luthra, maternal uncle of the deceased, said the accused hit the rikshaw from behind, seriously injuring his nephew. He said Sahil was rushed to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. The unidentified rickshaw puller and Rahul also sustained injuries in the accident, he said. The incident took place near Hukum Chand road. This has been the sixth road mishap in the city since January 1, snuffing out the lives of five persons.
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SAFMA conference to open in city tomorrow
Amritsar, January 4 Addressing a press conference here today, SAFMA Secretary General Imtiaz Alam said the association was working to diffuse political tensions in South Asian region for the last 12 years. The association aimed at building peace, increasing regional interaction through trade and cultural exchange, promoting human rights, easing VISA systems, and above all bringing Indian and Pakistani citizens close. The conference would aim at opening up of borders to increase trade and cultural interaction, Alam added. He said External Affairs Minister, Salman Khurshid and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal would attend the opening ceremony of the conference. He said the inaugural session would begin with the theme ‘Open borders, Open minds’. Alam said the second session would focus on the media’s role in peace and cooperation, which would bring together a panel of leading journalists and media theorists. The conference would also hold a session on terrorism and conflict in the region. State Coordinator of SAFMA, Satnam Singh Manak said the conference would be attended by 250 journalists from eight SAARC countries. The delegates would go to Lahore after the inaugural session and would raise a demand for opening the border between India and Pakistan, he added.
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Cleanliness eludes washrooms at ESI Hospital
Amritsar, January 4 With missing sanitary fittings, water continuously running, the washrooms do not seem to have ever been cleaned in the recent past. A woman attendant of a patient at a male ward said, “We have been here for around five days. We have not seen anybody coming for cleaning them during these days.” She said she had seen rats running inside the washrooms. Another male patient complained, “I had suffered a paralysis stroke. At least two persons are required to take me to a washroom, but still I fear that I would slip. They are so slippery.” He said the hospital management must look into the matter.
Even in the female ward, the situation is not better. The patients and their attendants complained that they felt sick after a visit to the washrooms. The hospital have more than 32,000 ESI card holders registered with it. Though the situation is a little better at the ground floor where OPD (Out Patient Department) is located, but on the first floor, where wards are situated, the situation is worst. Medical Superintendent, ESI, Dr Jagjeet Singh Cheema said, “We have sent a proposal to outsource the cleaning work. A proposal in this regard has been sent to the directorate.” He assured that things would become better as soon as they get orders from the directorate for outsourcing the work.
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Youth dies in road accident
Amritsar, January 4 The impact of the collision was so strong that the victims got thrown in the air and fell on the car. The unidentified driver of the car (DL-2CJ-7933) managed to escape from the spot, leaving the car behind. Panna Lal, investigating officer, said a case under Sections 304-A, 427, 229 and 337 of the IPC was registered while a manhunt had been launched to nab the culprit, who was absconding. Rajan Luthra, maternal uncle of the deceased, said the accused hit the rikshaw from behind, seriously injuring his nephew. He said Sahil was rushed to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. The unidentified rickshaw puller and Rahul also sustained injuries in the accident, he said. The incident took place near Hukum Chand road. This has been the sixth road mishap in the city since January 1, snuffing out the lives of five persons.
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Seven held for gambling
Amritsar, January 4 Among those arrested include Jatinder Kumar of Namak Mandi, Gagandeep Singh of Katra Karam Singh, Deepak Bhatia of RB Colony, his son Arun, Madan Lal of Gopal Nagar, Vishal Arora of Katra Karam Singh and Gurpreet Singh of Gali Devi Wali. A case under section 13/3/67 of the Gambling Act has been registered against them.
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DAV school celebrates 20th anniversary
Amritsar, January 4 DAV College Management Committee (CMC) President, Punam Suri visited the school and distributed prizes to the winners. Addressing the parents and students, Suri said the DAV CMC was striving to deliver quality education to the students from rural and remote areas. He said it was part of its larger initiative to impart public education to all sections of the society. Director, DAV Public Schools, JP Shoor said it was the responsibility of the faculty to provide quality education at par with urban public schools, to the students hailing from rural areas. He added that the motive of the education was to bring equality among all students so that they could compete in congenial environment to progress. He said it would make the society just and equal. Suri motivated Principal Sanjeev K Kochar and the staff to work hard and provide quality education, emphasising on character building of the young learners. Among others, Director, Professional Colleges, VK Sharma, Regional Director, Dr Neelam Kamra, Chairman, Iqbal Singh Bedi, Vice-Chairman, JK Luthra and Manager, Dr KN Kaul were present.
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Rapists deserve toughest
punishment: Bardhan
Amritsar, January 4 Bardhan also stressed on the need for forming new stringent laws for the security of women. The veteran Communist leader was here to participate in the centenary celebrations of the birth anniversary of Baba Sohan Singh Bhakna, the founder president of Gadar party, at his native Bhakna Kalan village today. “The dignity of the common masses, especially women, is at risk, something that is evident from the Delhi gang-rape case,” he said. The prices of essential commodities are sky-rocketing, education is being commercialised and health services are being privatised, he pointed out. Bardhan said the CPI would strive to fulfill the dreams of the Gadarities and other freedom fighters by projecting a political alternative to both the Congress and BJP-led factions. He said the CPI would also fight for the passage of the food security Bill and strengthening the public distribution system with a guarantee of 35 kg of food grain to all ration card holders. Among others who addressed the gathering were CPI state secretary Bant Singh Brar and CPI national council members Jagroop Singh and Harbhajan Singh.
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5-day faculty development programme organised
Amritsar, January 4 Dr Deepak Dwivedi from Punjabi University, Patiala, spoke on composite materials, Dr RK Garg from NIT, Jallandhar, spoke on research methodology, Raman Bedi from NIT, Jallandhar, discussed material selection processes, Dr Anish Sachdeva from NIT, Jallandhar, talked of the importance of decision making, Dr Subhash Chander from NIT, Jallandhar, addressed the topic of industrial heating, Dr Sehajpal Singh from GNDEC, Ludhiana, discussed the topic of micro machining, Dr AK Sharma from IIT, Roorkee, spoke on the subject of micro machining and Dr Inderdeep Singh from IIT, Roorkee, took on the topic of research methodology. ACET Managing Director, Amit Sharma appreciated the mechanical department of the college for holding the programme.
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Step up efforts to check infant mortality rate: Chawla to Badal
Amritsar, January 4 The Centre had recently announced giving Rs 106.71 crore as cash incentive to the state for its performance in reducing the infant mortality rate between 2009 and 2011. Chawla claimed that the achievement was the result of the efforts made by the entire Health Department during her stint as the Health Minister. She, however, expressed concern over the prevailing scenario and apprehended that the state may not be able to maintain the momentum on this front. She said the state's infant mortality rate had dipped from 1,000:43 to 1,000:30, which led to an improvement in its ranking from the 10th to the third place in the country. Similarly, she said, the maternal mortality rate had also decreased in the state. She claimed the gender ratio had also shown improvement during her tenure. — TNS
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Amritsar, January 4
Amritsar, January 4
The hospital staff, too, admitted that the washrooms were not clean. “But we cannot do anything. Even we have reported the matter to the seniors,” said an employee. He added that the hospital had only two sweepers and they are not enough to take care of the whole building.