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Strike hits work at health institutions
MC House meeting today
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Students, parents oppose shifting of govt school
Govt primary teacher earns recognition
500 joints, shops registered under food safety Act
Three held with narcotics
Man decamps with gold jewellery
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Strike hits work at health institutions
Amritsar, January 28 As a result of the strike by the ministerial staff, clerical work at Civil Hospital, Civil Surgeon Office, Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, ESI Hospital, primary health centres and community health centres were affected. The work at Suvidha Centre, birth and death registration process and issuance of medical certificates were disrupted. Residents across the district faced inconvenience due to the strike. Many of them even pleaded the ministerial staff to do their respective works. Tajinder Singh Dhillon, district president, PHDSOCA, said, "It's not our fault if the public work is suffering. The Director, Health services, is at fault. We will continue the pen-down strike for three days as previously planned." Tajinder said if the department failed to take necessary action by the meantime, the association would be forced to intensify the protest. The association is up in arms against the Director, Health Services, allegedly for not fulfilling the demands given to the department in 2010. "We were assured that the demands will be fulfilled In 2010. We have waited patiently for more than two years before initiating this protest," said association's state general secretary Jagdish Thakur. The association has been demanding filling the higher posts by promotion and not by direct recruitment; new postings only at junior levels; allotment of revised pay scales to clerks in the statistical department; computerisation of GPF statements; and removal of non-ministerial staff employees posted at ministerial posts. Jagdish Thakur said the association is also planning to gherao the residence of Director, Health Services, Dr Ashok Nayyar, on January 30. Services disrupted
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MC House meeting today
Amritsar, January 28 Leader of Opposition Raj Kanwal Preet Pal Singh, along with another councillor, opposed the moves during a press conference in the city today. Raj Kanwal said, "The ruling alliance has also decided to double the fees on birth and death registration certificates. It is not justified to garner funds by burdening poor people." He said they would oppose the decision on taxes. Importantly, the Congress, which has just four councillors in the MC House, may not be able to force the ruling alliance to change its stance on any matter. Talking about the non-implementation of solid waste management project, Raj Kanwal criticised the SAD-BJP leaders for adopting lopsided approach. He said the Central Government had approved Rs 72.5 crore for the project. The Congress leaders also announced to raise the matter of shortage of firemen in the fire brigade. "The vehicles are in a bad shape. We will demand better infrastructure and manpower," added Raj Kanwal.
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Students from Kashmir’s Baramulla pray for peace at Golden Temple
Amritsar, January 28 On an educational-cum-motivational tour, students visited the Golden Temple where they prayed for peace, prosperity and tranquility in the Kashmir Valley. The tour, which is scheduled to visit Jammu, Amritsar, Delhi, Raigarh and Raipur (both in Chhattisgarh), is aimed at giving students a new dimension of the technology-enabled education and the unlimited possibilities that globalisation and progress in other parts of India have brought about. Ten boys and equal number of girls, two female teachers and three male teachers are realising the long-cherished dream of experiencing life beyond the Valley due to efforts of the 30 and 32 Rashtriya Rifles, a forming part of prestigious Kilo Force of the Indian Army. The delegation also visited the Jallianwala Bagh. Students were very jubilant to get a chance to witness the parade at Attari check post. Visit to such places of historical value provided an opportunity to the Kashmiri children to gain awareness about the cultural diversity, grandeur and economic development of the country. “It is a fabulous and the most wonderful experience of our lifetime," said Sameera, a student of Class X. She further added that "this experience will do a lot of good to me when I will plan my higher studies outside the state and map my future course." Another Class X student, Abida said, “I am availing this opportunity because of the Army who is organising such events and creating opportunities for us to see the cultural heritage of different states of our country.”
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Students, parents oppose shifting of govt school
Amritsar, January 28 Raising slogans, they alleged that the move would affect the studies and would demoralise students. They also submitted a memorandum in this regard. It is pertinent to mention here that the Punjab Education department has proposed to house a centre for neurotically challenged students at the Government High School, Maqboolpura, after sifting students to a new school. Director General School Education KS Pannu said there was no need to panic as the new school is not far away from the old school. Besides, the Mall Mandi school has better facilities and infrastructure, he added.
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Govt primary teacher earns recognition
Amritsar, January 28 He was among 74 teachers who were selected from over 2,000 entries received from all over the country. As many as 20 teachers were felicitated in as many categories and 54 teachers got certificate of excellence and citation. The awards are aimed at recognising the contribution of teachers in nation building. Former Indian cricket team player Anil Kumble handed over the certificate of excellence to Pankaj. Posted at Government Elementary School, Tirthpur village, he floated a 25-member village science club at Tirthpur, about 14 km from the city, in2010. The club took up the task of awakening and educating nearly 500 residents of the village. The club turned the 500-metre square village school land into a beautiful garden. Pankaj, who was the coordinator of the club, said schoolchildren had sighted snakes on several instances. In consultation with some dwellers of the village, including Nihang Pritam Singh, a former panchayat member, Sarpanch Jarnail Singh, Balwant Singh, Sukhdev Singh, Maninder Kaur, the club and students removed the bushes. Balwant Singh supplied saplings, which were planted just before the onset of the monsoon. The organically grown vegetables are being used in the mid-day meal to provide nutritious diet to the students. The group of students were assigned to guard the place after school hours. Certificate of excellence
Pankaj Kumar Sharma, a local primary school teacher with a government school, received a certificate of excellence from Pearson NDTV Teaching Award for his contribution in social uplift through education
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Women safety issue discussed
Amritsar, January 28 The discussion started with the speech of Kirat Sandhu, Director, Spring Dales School Amritsar, who delved into the role of mothers and teachers in bringing up children in a positive and disciplinary manner. Dr Sukhbir Kaur Mahal, Principal, Khalsa College for Women, Amritsar, talked in detail about how parents have to be role models for their children. Dr Baljeet Kaur talked about what a working woman has to face during her job and how she could take care to safeguard herself. Kiranjot Kaur, member, SGPC, questioned the role of policing. Gurjit Sekhon, DGE, Rotary Club, Amritsar, spoke about the need of quick justice delivery process and increasing the number of presiding officers. Vikram Chowdhry, a high court lawyer, spoke illustratively about the judicial laws available in the country and asked Kaustabh Sharma, DCP, Amritsar, about the need to find better and more sensitive investigators for the police. In his reply, Sharma said at the time of fighting terrorism, the police force wanted brave fighters and not scholars. He also drew attention to the plight of the policemen doing the job at lower levels. He explained the ways in which the thanas have been made more sensitive to women issues. Mayor Bakshi Ram also spoke at length about the measures the MC was taking in making Amritsar a better and cleaner city. Rashmi Talwar, noted journalist and activist, explained the plight of the people going to police stations to register complaints.
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Labour welfare funds being misused: AITUC
Amritsar, January 28 Amarjit Singh Asal, Punjab secretary, AITUC, said following the enactment of the Building and Construction Labour Welfare Act by the Central Government, the Punjab government has formed a construction labour welfare board. The welfare board has funds to the tune of over Rs 300 crore with them which was to be disbursed to the labourers under various welfare schemes. However, he alleged, instead of using it for the benefits of this economically weaker section, the funds were being used by the department for various other purposes, including raising infrastructure. Asal said till now the labour department has registered as many as 7,947 construction labourers with them out of which just 222 labourers were given negligible benefits under the various welfare schemes. “As per the policy, the welfare funds could be disbursed to the construction labourers under Shagun scheme, scholarships for the education of the wards, LTC etc,” he said. The protesters urged the Punjab Government and higher officials to intervene in the matter. Vipin Parmar, Assistant Labour Commissioner, said the department could not disburse the funds own its own. “The labourers should apply to the department and tell the purpose for the requirement of funds. A committee headed by the Deputy Commissioner scrutinises the applications and passed the loans,” he said. He said the department has received cheques to be disbursed to 222 beneficiaries who had applied for loans under various schemes.
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Addressing issues of teenagers
Amritsar, January 28 In the city, the all new and young star cast of the film along with director and noted theatre person Pali Bhupinder Singh talked about adolescent love, confusion, generation gap and volatile behaviour, all in all some teen issues. “Stupid 7 is perhaps the first ever Punjabi film to address teenagers and their issues. The movie is a youth-centric family drama blended with comical moments. The story revolves around generation gap among parents and children in terms of attitude and approach towards life and issues related to it,” said Pali, who has also written the screenplay of the film. The film based on Pali’s play Me and My Life has seven fresh faces, all of whom become a part of seven intertwining stories. Not taking the commercial aspect to rule his judgement, Pali auditioned hard for the characters as he wanted the film to be real. “Theatre habits die hard. I never wanted to make a commercial film, only a good film. So, we auditioned across in Punjab to pick up the best talent.” Meanwhile, the Stupid 7 in focus too come with the right attitude. The young bunch of actors including son of actor Jaswinder Bhalla bonded well on the sets to bring out the on screen chemistry. “Since it’s a first experience in front of the camera for all of us, it was all about hard work and fun. Sometimes, we turned into serious actors for individual scenes and then bring out the notorious side in others,” shared Guneet Caur, 16-year-old Chandigarh-based actor, who plays one of the seven characters in the film. With an NSD-backed profile, the young theatre actor was picked up by Pali through Facebook. “Pali sir saw my FB profile and called me for an audition. I play a character called Divya, a girl who is notorious and falls in love with her teacher,” she said. “The film is not preachy but takes up issues of parenthood, family and peer pressure,” said Guneet. The film also stars Guggu Gill, Ashok Masti and Jaswinder
Bhalla.
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New research lab set up
Amritsar, January 28 Campus Excellence Award
Discovery Education Media Private Limited in association with ‘MBA by Choice’ awarded Campus Excellence Award (North India Category) to Global Institute of Management, Amritsar, recently. The prize was received by institute director Dr Arvind Bhardwaj at a ceremony held recently in New Delhi. Arya Virat Sammelan
The state-level body of the Arya Pradeshik Pratinidhi Upsabha (APPU) would organise the annual Arya Virat Sammelan at DAV College at Shastri Nagar on February 9. The sammelan would be dedicated to the safety of women.
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500 joints, shops registered under food safety Act
A similar camp would be organised at Jandiala Guru on January 31. Kahlon said owners of these food businesses were requested to get their units registered with the department before the time runs out to avoid further complexities. He said once the registration process was completed, the department would be better able to keep a check on the adulteration and quality of the food served in the city.
— TNS
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Three held with narcotics
Amritsar, January 28 The police has registered separate cases under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act against the three. The police has begun investigations to know the source of drugs.
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Man decamps with gold jewellery
Amritsar, January 28 Ashok used to work at the shop of Harpal. In his complaint, Harpal said the accused had been working in his shop for the past 15 years. He said he used to send Ashok to Amritsar for the manufacturing and repair of gold jewellery. He said on January 25, he decamped with the jewellery. Balwinder Singh, investigating officer, said the accused was absconding.
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Amritsar, January 28