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Lineman’s CID stint Comes to AN end
NHAI gives green signal to widening of 20-km accident-prone stretch
Beliefs, myths — roadblocks for LPG crematoriums
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Chheharta Focal Point to get sewerage, road network
Industry Minister Anil Joshi and Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora lay the foundation stone of development works at Chheharta Focal Point in Amritsar on Friday. A Tribune photograph
30,000 bogus votes were polled in Amritsar North constituency: Cong leader
Corporation’s ‘Slip roads’ leading to accidents
Doctors urge government to create specialist sub-cadre in PCMS
‘Need to introduce folk music as a separate discipline’
Jodh Singh remembered for academic excellence
Sanitation drive launched
Seminar on communication skills organised
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Lineman’s CID stint Comes to AN end
Amritsar, February 9 The police has registered a case under Sections 419, 420, 465, 467, 468, 471 and 472 of the IPC in this connection. The police has also seized fake identity cards of various organisations besides fake stamps and other documents from the duo. The Food and Civil Supplies Department officials got information that Jasram and Vijay had carried out a raid on a ration depot at Chabba and demanded bribe from depot owner Dilbagh Singh claiming irregularity in depot records. The officials took up the matter with the senior police authorities following which the Chatiwind police was asked to reach the spot. The police caught the accused red-handed. Assistant Sub-Inspector Sukhdev Singh, investigating officer, said the duo had been remanded to police custody. He said during preliminary investigations, the accused confessed to their crime besides admitting that they had committed a similar offence in the past. The police is carrying out further investigations. Impersonation
Official speak
During preliminary investigations, the accused confessed to their crime besides admitting that they had committed a similar offence in the past. The police is carrying out further
investigations. — Sukhdev Singh, Investigating officer
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NHAI gives green signal to widening of 20-km accident-prone stretch
Amritsar, February 9 SK Jha, Under Secretary (Highways), Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, in reply to a communiqué of the Focal Point Industries Association (FPIA), which has been lobbying for the widening of the road for the past many years, said the four-laning of 20-km stretch has been approved on a engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) mode. Several accidents have taken place on the stretch claiming many lives. In a recent accident, three members of a family were killed. FPIA president DS Goraya said the association sent a communiqué to Road Transport and Highways Minister CP Joshi and intimated that the association has been taking up the matter with the ministry for a long time, but no concrete action has been taken to materialise the demand. In reply to the letter, NHAI GM (Tech) MK Jain had informed the association in October that four-laning of 20-km stretch between Dhilwan village and Jalandhar bypass would be executed under a separate contract. Jain also said the proposal was under consideration with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways for its approval. FPIA General Secretary Kamal Dalmia said numerous representations had been sent to various agencies concerned that the stretch had snuffed out many precious lives in road accidents. Besides, roads connecting the stretch from both ends were of four and six lanes. He intimated that the association has taken up the issue for the past decade. He said it was learnt that the private concern was reluctant to undertake the widening work on the BOT basis, for it being non-viable and added that the private concerns were ready to execute the work on cash payment only. He said the association’s representation to the former President Pratibha Patil had received encouraging support, as her office had directed the ministry concerned to look into the matter on a priority this February. Following this, NHAI general manager SS Gaharwar intimated the association that the MoRTH had been requested to upgrade the 20-km stretch from the Dhilwan to Jalandhar bypass on an engineering procurement and construction (EPC) mode through government funding. Dalmia said the association had written to various authorities, including the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), state government and the local MP for the past many years. Invites bids
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Beliefs, myths — roadblocks for LPG crematoriums
Dharminder, incharge of the cremation ground being run by the Shri Durgiana Committee, said only 19 cremations have taken place so far at the LPG-run crematorium. A total of 67 cremations have taken place at other LPG crematorium in Chatiwind area. Sources said majority of the bodies cremated were of unmarried persons. “There is a belief that the body of an unmarried person cannot be left unattended and family members have to collect the ashes. In the case of LPG-run crematorium they could collect the ashes of the body within an hour,” he said. A cremation at LPG-run crematorium costs Rs 750 while the same costs Rs 1,350 at traditional cremation. Dharminder said the actual cost of traditional cremation is much more but the Durgiana Committee offers it on no-loss-no-profit basis. Meanwhile, traditional method causes immense pollution as woods sourced from various trees are used. A cremation consumes about three quintals of wood. About 350 cremations take place on a monthly average at Durgiana Cremation ground while there many more cremation grounds in the city. PS Randhawa, general secretary of NGO Pollution Control Committee, which lobbied hard for the construction of a LPG-run-crematorioum, said it had taken about seven years to convince the officials of the Durgiana Committee to install the new technology to save environment. He accepted that there was a need to draw attention of the society towards efficacy of LPG crematorioum by holding street plays, talk shows and even demonstration. He said a lecture would be held at Chief Khalsa Diwan Orphanage on Sunday. Committee president PS Bhatti said they would soon be writing to the police to use LPG crematorium to cremate unclaimed bodies. They would rope in Pingalwara to promote the concept. Shri Durgiana Committee spokesman Harish Taneja said the process of awakening was gradual and the committee was playing a key role by installing boards to encourage people to adopt the new method. Religious beliefs of various religions and sects have been taken care of in the LPG-run crematorioum. He said there is a provision for constant pouring of ghee over the body being cremated as per the rituals of Arya Samaj. The provision to hit the scalp of the body being cremated as per the Sanatan way of cremation was also available. Besides, the new system ends the problem of ash generation. He said woods were becoming costly, besides its burning resulted in serious environmental degradation effecting health of people. It is cost-efficient and environment friendly. Yet to gain popularity
How a LPG-run crematorioum functions
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Chheharta Focal Point to get sewerage, road network
Amritsar, February 9 In the absence of concrete roads, owners and workers faced problems to reach their industrial units. The situation worsens during monsoons as kutcha roads develop potholes spelling trouble for residents. The area had remained nobody’s baby as the Municipal Corporation used to disown the area claming that it does not fall in their jurisdiction. On the other hand, the industries department said that they did not have enough funds for development in the area. Anil Joshi, Punjab Industry and Technical Education Minister, while inaugurating the development works, said the SAD-BJP government was very serious about upgrading the infrastructure in focal points. He said the Punjab Government has sanctioned Rs 3.50 crore for laying sewerage and construction of roads in Chheharta Focal Point area. “The main objective behind all this exercise was to boost the local industry which would not only help in generating state income, but also generate employment opportunity for the youth,” he said.
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30,000 bogus votes were polled in Amritsar North constituency: Cong leader
Amritsar, February 9 Rintu, who is Congress in charge of Amritsar North Constituency, has threatened to move court alleging that the district administration has not provided him information under the RTI Act regarding the fake votes polled during assembly polls. In a statement issued here, he alleged that about 30,000 fake votes were polled during the Assembly elections. Giving details, he said following the delimitation process around 1.32 lakhs voters were identified in the Amritsar North constituency, but during polling, over 1.63 votes were polled raising eyebrows. He said he had informed the senior authorities of the National Election Commission and State Election Commission. He alleged that no action had been taken in this connection so far. “I had sought the details about voters who cast their votes during the elections along with their particulars including form number 8, supporting documents besides details of the addresses, BLO and final authority for registration of votes from the Deputy Commissioner cum District Election Officer under the RTI Act in September 2012. But so far, the administration has not provided me the information,” he said alleging that the officials were deliberately dithering on providing the details. He claimed that all the bogus votes were polled in favour of Anil Joshi who used every means to win the election. He alleged that Joshi and his supporters were instrumental in preparing bogus votes. Few weeks back, two local advocates who were also associated with the Congress, had filed a case against Joshi for preparing dual votes of seven of his family members in Tarn Taran and Amritsar North constituency. Assembly polls
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Corporation’s ‘Slip roads’ leading to accidents
Amritsar, February 9 Every now and then instances of avoidable accidents on these roads are being reported. Last morning, a student sustained injuries in her arm when her two-wheeler skidded outside Durgiana Temple Police Chowki. She was rushed to get medical aid and her parents were informed. “The Corporation is adopting the old process of water sprinkling, which is used to minimise the dust emissions from the roads. However, technologically superior metalled roads do not require the same treatment. Contrarily, a little amount of water turns the roads slippery, thus, they become accident-prone zones,” said Hari Om Goel, a local resident. “The usage of the water sprinkling process was an indication that the municipalities have not moved ahead as in the contemporary scenario it is no longer required and advisable. Moreover, superior motor bikes are highly reactive to the wet surface of the roads,” a social activist Dr Charanjit Singh Gumtala said. He said the Corporation was adopting this measure to tackle dust problem. The causes of the problem are kutcha berms, which are not covered with grass, of the roads and continuous dust emission from uncovered construction material. “I noticed during my stay in the US that the authorities and people there are very quick to react to these situations.” MC Commissioner Bhupinder Singh said he would ask Medical Health Officer to conduct an inquiry into the issue. He also assured that the water sprinkling practice might be discontinued. Threat to commuters
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Doctors urge government to create specialist sub-cadre in PCMS
Amritsar, February 9 Welcoming the initiative of the government for improving specialist services in the state, the association proposed the government to create a separate specialist sub-cadre in Punjab Civil Medical Services (PCMS) besides filling of postgraduate (PG) seats in state medical colleges from amongst serving PCMS doctors only who had already filled a bond of working with state health services for minimum of five years. The association also urged to revive two-year PG diploma courses in state medical colleges from the current academic year in view of increasing number of specialist doctors. Association’s president Dr Kashmir Singh Sohal said separate specialist sub-cadre should not be asked to perform general medical officers’ duties. This dedicated cadre of specialists would help in enhancing the quality of patient care and decrease workload of tertiary care institutions. He said the specialists working under PCMS are feeling trapped due to wrong policies of the state government. They were working in poor working conditions, overburdened with responsibilities and getting low pay and allowances as compared to their counterparts in central health services. “This has resulted in the exodus of serving specialist doctors from PCMS while fresh specialists were reluctant to join the state health services,” he said. However, the Punjab government’s move to fill posts by conducting walk-in interviews has failed to give desired results. The state government’s decision to increase the qualifying PCMS service to six years should be brought back to earlier criteria of three years. The association also demanded to increase the rural area allowances by 15 per cent of their basic pay from the existing 6 per cent for encouraging the specialist doctors to serve in rural areas. While pointing out that increased availability of speicialist doctors would contribute in overall improvement in delivery of primary and secondary health services in the state, Dr Sohal said the association would submit a memorandum in this connection to all civil surgeons of the state on February 20 to further forward it to the Chief Minister and the Health Minister. What they Demand
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Punjab De Lok Sangeet Da Badalda Saroop Tribune News Service
Amritsar, February 9 They said though there had been aggressive undercurrents to distort and destroy the rich folk music traditions, it was surviving because of its inherent strength of being the reflection of people’s own aspirations. Dr Gurnam Singh, Head of the Gurmat Sangeet Chair and Department, Panjabi University, Patiala, in his keynote address, stated that Punjabi folk music, which is the base of Hindustani music and all classical forms in the region, finds less than 5 per cent space in the syllabus of the universities in Punjab. He sought folk music as an independent discipline in various universities. Earlier, KCW principal Dr Sukhbir Kaur Mahal welcomed Dr Gurnam Singh and other delegates. Punjab’s renowned folk singer Gurmeet Bawa also addressed the scholars and students of music. He said presently, there is a wave of fusion music, which is confusing the masses and we should make efforts to preserve the folk traditions. About 30 research papers are to be presented in the two-day seminar. Coordinator of the seminar Dr Jitender Kaur said “Amid a craze for pop music in, the folk music is losing its ground. Such deliberations (the seminar) may bring a ray of hope.”
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Jodh Singh remembered for academic excellence
Amritsar, February 9 The event was organised in collaborations with the Punjabi Sahit Academy, Ludhiana. Prof Ranjit Singh Rangeela from Central Institute of Indian languages, Mysore, was a keynote speaker on this occasion. He highlighted the rich Punjabi literature and its relevance today’s world. Khalsa College Governing Council secretary Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina was presided over the function as a chief guest. He stated that two principals, GA Vathan and Dr Jodh Singh would be remembered for their commitments and scholarship for all the days to come. “Dr Jodh Singh was not a person but an institution whose contributions are considered the greatest in the Sikh circles. He was a person of immense scholarship and academic excellence,” said Chhina. Earlier KCA principal Dr Daljit Singh gave a detailed account of the personality, teachings of Dr Jodh Singh and the way he carried his research work on the Sikh history and culture. Sahit Academy’s president Prof Gurbhajjan Singh Gill also highlighted the achievements of Dr Jodh Singh.
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Sanitation drive launched
Amritsar, February 9 Besides being a drug-affected area, the Maqboolpura area is a home to more than 85 tuberclosis patients. The residents were stressed to keep their surroundings clean so as to keep TB and other diseases away. The administration had recently inaugurated a counselling centre for drug addicts in the area. Ajit Singh, who has been spearheading the campaign against drugs, said a camp for enrolling needy under old age pension, disability pension, and widow pension scheme was also held.
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Seminar on communication skills organised
Amritsar, February 9 Dr SK Aggarwal welcomed the speaker and stressed on the need for developing communication skills of students.
Dr Surjit Singh, Dr VK Banga, Dr HS Gill, Prof RK Mahindroo, Dr Amit arian and Prof
Dipti Malhotra also attended the seminar.
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The Amritsar rural police nabbed two persons including an assistant lineman of Punjab
State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL) allegedly for impersonation and forgery.
Posing as CID inspector, PSPCL employee Jasram Singh, along with his relative Vijay Kumar, had allegedly been extorting money from ration depot holders.
Jasram Singh, posted at Bandala village, belonged to Sarli Khurd village in Tarn Taran and Vijay Kumar was a resident of Jandiala.
Industrialists of Chheharta Focal Point heaved a sigh of relief after Industry Minister Anil Joshi inaugurated development works, including laying of sewerage and road, in the area.
For nearly half a decade, the focal point situated in Chheharta has been crying for attention as consecutive governments failed to provide basic amenities in the area.
Amritsar, February 9
