Amritsar, February 8
A 15-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her neighbour in Varpal village near here. The victim alleged that she had gone outside to answer the nature's call in the night when the accused, identified as Jugraj Singh of same village, forcibly took her to a room and raped her. She said when she raised an alarm, her aunt and brother Joga Singh reached the spot. On seeing them, the accused ran away from the spot.

Ravel Singh, investigating officer, said the incident occurred on February 1, but the family did not file any complaint at that time. He said a case under Section 376 of the IPC has been registered against the culprit following the complaint filed by the family. He said the accused was on the run and raids were being conducted on his suspected hideouts.

Amritsar, February 8
The special fast track court, established for conducting speedy trials in cases of crimes against women, today sentenced a man to 10-year rigorous imprisonment for raping his daughter.

It is the fourth judgment pronounced by the special court in the past five days.

The incident had occurred in June 2010 and the trial was pending in the court since then. The girl was raped by her father, identified as Pargat Singh of Johal village on June 6, 2010.

In her statement to the police, she had alleged that on the day of the incident, she was sleeping when the accused at about 11 pm came to her room and bolted the door from inside. The girl woke up when her father grabbed her. Thereafter he committed the crime. The father had also threatened to kill her if she disclosed the incident to anyone. A case under Sections 376 and 506 of the IPC was registered against Pargat Singhat Majitha police station.

Neelam Arora, Additional Sessions Judge, while pronouncing the punishment categorically said the act of the convict in this case was highly shameful and he does not deserve any leniency.

"The accused has tarnished the pious relationship of father and daughter in the society," she said. 

Amritsar, February 8
Family members of a girl student and teaching staff of Government Girls Senior Secondary School at Rajasansi entered into a serious altercation following which the girl and a teacher reportedly fell unconscious.

While the teacher was admitted to the Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, the girl was admitted to a private hospital.

Both the groups have filed their complaints with the police station concerned. However, the police has not registered any case so far in this connection.

The incident took place when the girl, who is Class X student of the school, along with her parents and others reached the school and created a scene alleging the teacher has thrashed her a few days back.

During the altercation, the said teacher, who is also a member of the disciplinary committee of the school, fell unconscious and was rushed to a private hospital.

The girl’s family alleged that the teachers had beaten up the girl following which she sustained a head injury and fell unconscious.

School principal Jatinder Kaur refuted the charges leveled by the girl’s family and said on February 5, the teacher had stopped the girl from standing outside the school after the school hours and she was asked to bring her parents.

She said the girl along with her parents and several others came to the school today and alleged that the girl was beaten up by the teacher. She alleged they also tried to slap the teacher in front of the staff following which an altercation took place.

Shocked over the episode, the teacher fell unconscious. She said that the girl was alright when her parents took her back. She said she did not know what happened to her after that.

Rasal Singh, District Education Officer (Secondary), said the girl’s family did not allow the teaching staff to come out of the school. He said the department had directed the teachers not to beat up students. He said disciplinary committees had been formed in every school in order to prevent eve-teasing incidents. “Girls were allowed to come outside the school under the supervision of the woman staff.” He said he was also investigating into the incident.

Jagatpreet Singh, DSP, Rajasansi, said he was investigating into the case after receiving complaints from both the sides.

Amritsar, February 8
Taking to streets to protest, slogan shouting, candlelight marches, going for hunger strikes, speaking or writing to criticise any injustice, blowing whistle on media or any other portal or standing against something are a few ways of citizen activism.

The Jessica Lal case and Anna Hazare movement brought to the fore the power of one, where every individual mattered and changed the way things were.

And like all other parts of the country, Amritsar too has its own brand of citizen activists who decided to stand up for things they believed in and are busy working towards it.

Let's start with Robin Singh, a citizen activist from the holy city who has taken upon himself to be a savior of environment. Robin, who recently reported dumping of garbage and burning of non-biodegradable waste inside GNDU campus, has been there for the cause for over a year now.

"GNDU has a separate department for environment education and were the first ones to preach and set up eco care activities inside the campus. Even after the ban, there are various places in the city where thermocol and cardboard burning produces heavy smoke and no one looks into the matter," he says.

A volunteer for several NGO's in the city, Robin is not the only one. Indu Bhatia, a retired professor from Khalsa College found the activist in her about eight years back, when she first associated with a city-based NGO and started working on social issues.

The 64-year-old spirited activist has never looked back ever since. "I started working for environment related projects like water conservation, going to schools in the city to involve children in our activities. Later, I got involved in counselling and teaching young girls and women to make them self-reliant," she shares.

The daughter of a freedom fighter, Indu got inspired from home and her upbringing made her actively participate in society. She currently runs a centre where she gives vocational training to women from humble backgrounds.

"I always learnt that if every individual does their bit towards changing the society for good, the change is not far away. I do not work with women from underprivileged or suppressed backgrounds so that I get something in return. It's a responsibility that I chose to take," she says.

And while doing so, she has been able to prove that there is no age to bring about a change.

Another such example is Manpreet Kaur Doad. A student of architecture from the city, she has been an active member of several cultural and social NGOs.

"I am involved with a lot of volunteer work in Chandigarh, Amritsar and Jallandhar. I work to save the environment, preserve places of cultural importance and save our open spaces," she informs.

The 22-year-old from Amritsar doesn't believe in charity, but living responsibly. "It's not about cleaning up places and preaching activism only, but just taking note of the little things that we are losing out on with each passing day. Such as reclaiming our open spaces, using alternative methods to let the city take a break from increasing traffic and just lending a hand to those who take that first step forward," she says.

"We always praise cities like Chandigarh for their cleanliness, why can't we make Amritsar clean if we take it upon ourselves? Le Corbusier once remarked that citizens are the guardians of a city. If we have more civic sense and participate, ever social problem would have a simple solution. We need to develop a sense of involvement and set an example by taking proactive steps. Once we volunteer, the activism follows," she says.

Amritsar, February 8
At a time when the concrete jungle is expanding fast, no attention has been paid to two prominent gardens in the city.

The poor condition of one of the gardens has prompted former Punjab minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla to write to the government to release funds for its proper maintenance.

Gol Bagh, the garden which has attracted the attention of the former minister, offers a picture of neglect. Gol Bagh is said to have hosted several anti-British rallies before the Independence.

Though the central ground of the park has been beautifully landscaped with ornamental flowers and trees, the right portion of the historic bagh is lying unused and without greenery.

A tree has dried up at the entrance of Raminder Singh park in Amritsar. photos: sameer sehgal

The rear side of the bagh along Truck Wali road is being used to place parts of under-repair automobiles. Moreover, discharge of waste has turned the ground into marshy land.

Unused area of the park has allegedly become a haven for anti-social elements and beggars. Some of them have even raised shanties inside it. Swings of the children’s park are also in poor state.

Majority of the development work in the park was carried out by the grant of Rs 50 lakh, which Chawla had allotted from her discretionary funds during her tenure as a minister in the previous term of the SAD-BJP government.

Punjab’s first herbal garden was opened in a part of Gol Bagh in 2010. But after three years, no plant out of 30 saplings of kachnar, brahmi, amaltas, amla, vasa and kawargandal could bloom. Now, children use the garden to play cricket there. Chawla said there has been no maintenance of Gol Bagh for a long time.

Amritsar Tribune team also visited Raminder Singh Bularia Memorial Park, popularly known as Sakatri Bagh, and found its condition poor.

As many as six trees in front of the main entrance of the park have dried up due to tiling around these trees.

A large portion of area is without greenery. A fountain water in the centre of the park has not been cleaned for long. Carcass of birds and garbage could be seen floating in the pool.

In a letter to Local Bodies Minister Chunni Lal Bhagat, Chawla has claimed that Rs 5 crore has been sanctioned for the development of Sakatri Bagh, which falls under the constituency of Chief Parliamentary Secretary and SAD MLA Inderbir Singh Bularia. She said the government is yet to honour its promise of Rs five-crore grant for Gol Bagh.

Bhupinder Singh, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, said, "He will look into the matter." 

Raminder Singh Bularia Memorial Park

As many as six trees in front of the main entrance of the park have dried up due to tiling around these trees. A large portion of area is without greenery. A fountain water in the centre of the park has not been cleaned for long. Carcass of birds and garbage could be seen floating in the pool

Gol Bagh

Gol Bagh, the garden which has attracted the attention of the former minister, offers a picture of neglect. The garden is said to have hosted several anti-British rallies before the Independence. The rear side of the bagh along Truck Wali road is being used to place parts of under-repair automobiles. Moreover, discharge of waste has turned the ground into marshy land.

Amritsar, February 8
Rise in transformer theft, especially in border districts, has added to the woes of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), which is already incurring huge losses during power transmission and distribution process.

According to the PSPCL authorities, over 2,000 transformers have been stolen since April 2012.

Thieves are mainly targeting low-capacity transformers (6.3 KVA, 10 KVA and 16 KVA) installed in agricultural fields which cost between Rs 24,000 to Rs 35,000.

The thieves target these transformers as these contain a huge amount of copper which is sold in the market at around Rs 300 per kg. Also, they could sell every part of the transformer including iron frame to junk dealers and make money without much effort.

The PSPCL authorities said Amritsar had witnessed a maximum number of theft cases (1,002), followed by Tarn Taran (748 cases) and Gurdaspur (263 cases).

Concerned over the frequent theft of transformers, the PSPCL authorities have taken up issue with the police urging them to take prompt measures to nab such gangs involved in the stealing.

An official in the PSPCL, on the condition of anonymity, said incidents of transformer theft had increased.

“A number of transformers are set up in very secluded and far-away places at villages. Miscreants take advantage of this fact and steal transformers by cutting the wire,” he said.

“It is practically impossible to guard each and every transformer. People have been asked to be more vigilant to put curb on such instances,” he added.

• According to the PSPCL authorities, over 2,000 transformers have been stolen since April 2012.

• Amritsar had witnessed a maximum number of theft cases (1,002), followed by Tarn Taran (748 cases) and Gurdaspur (263 cases).

Amritsar, February 8
A case of swine flu has been confirmed. The medical report of Jaspal Kaur, a Gurdaspur resident, has confirmed swine flu. She was admitted to a private hospital here about four days back.

After confirmation of swine flu, the health department has alerted the private hospital in Amritsar and authorities in Gurdaspur.

Meanwhile, a report of another suspected swine flu patient from Chheharta has come out to be negative.

Dr Charanjit Singh, district epidemiologist, said the hospital had been asked to take appropriate measures and start medication of her acquaintances besides the hospital staff attending to her. He said the Gurdaspur health officials had also been asked to start medication of family members of Jaspal Kaur besides other persons who came in contact with her.

So far, four positive cases have been reported out of which two pateints were from Tarn Taran and two from Gurdaspur.

Amritsar, February 8
The practice of car owners parking their vehicles on roads has resulted in a severe traffic problem. A resident of Gali Tiwari, Subhash Mehra said the vehicles remained parked on the road while the owners went about their work, giving a tough time to the other commuters. Small roads became more congested in the traffic jams. With no government authority taking cognisance of the menace of illegal parking, the commuters continued to suffer, he added.

“Over the past couple of years, the problem has grown severe as people do not have the space to park the vehicles in their houses but are buying them,” Mehra said. Many private parking lots had come up in various parts of the city, like the one on Dhab Katikan road and another at Qila Bhangiyan.

A resident of Parag Das Chowk, Sawinder Singh said cars had become a permanent fixture of the roads, assuming the shape of a landmark. Many owners took their vehicles out only a couple of times a week. “Neighbours do not say much, fearing the loss of goodwill, while the government is oblivious of its duty to remove this bottleneck and pave way for the smooth flow of traffic” Singh said.

A resident of Guru Bazar, Gaurav Aggarwal, who owns a car and parks it in a private parking lot, said there were about four private parking lots within 200 m area, from Lohgarh Gate to Beri Gate. He said even then there was no space available for the parking of vehicles. He said the parking lots charged Rs 1,500 per month from bigger cars while Rs 1,200 was the charge for smaller ones. He added that the district administration should create parking lots to cater to the rise in number of vehicles. When contacted, Municipal Corporation Commissioner Bhupinder Singh said the problem had been brought to his notice and he would get a study done to assess it and find corrective measures to resolve it. 

Amritsar, February 8
Accelerating cross-cultural understanding and social change among students through their O3 project, the American India Foundation (AIF), celebrated the successful completion of one year of the project in the city.

The O3 project implies ‘Our Family, Our Neighborhood, Our World’.

The celebrations that happened at Guru Nanak Bhavan, Amritsar, showcased work of more than 400 students of various schools from Amritsar on varied themes of culture, identity and social issues.

Ranging from short films on Punjabi culture and social issues, dance and theatre performances and a total of 20 media and art projects made by students were the highlight.

Two plays based on female feoticide were staged at the event, along with some impressive documentaries made by students. One of the documentaries highlighted the grave social ignorance towards female feoticide despite many attempts to curb it, while another centered on the festivities and colourful celebrations of the famous Langoor Mela held every year in the city.

The project was discussed at length with attendees, elaborating on the purpose of such a programme being undertaken by the AIF. “More than 30 media and art projects were created by the students during the whole year under the project. The project has involvement of nine schools, more than 400 students and 18 teachers from different schools of Amritsar,” said Roopak Chauhan, operations director - O3 Project - American India Foundation.

The American India Foundation- O3 Project also released ‘The Garland - an anthology of poetry by students of O3 Project’. This poetry book is a compilation of poems written by students from India, Pakistan and the US on the topic ‘Where I am from’.