Amritsar, February 19
Facing sharp criticism from intellectuals and teachers, the Guru Nanak Dev University today decided to put on hold its decision of curtailing teaching hours in undergraduate courses.

The teachers of the university, supported by their counterparts from government-aided colleges affiliated with the GNDU, had come out against the move claiming that it would hit future prospects of upcoming teachers.

On Monday, teachers held a protest under the banner of PCCTU (Punjab and Chandigarh Colleges Teachers’ Union).

Teachers of Punjabi language had said the reduction in the teaching hours would lessen requirement of Punjabi teachers and hit job prospects for upcoming teachers.

GNDU registrar Inderjit Singh said this move was misinterpreted. “The issue was blown out of proportion. The idea behind the move was just to streamline the functioning. The move was not specifically meant for Punjabi language course but for all undergraduate courses of languages, social science and commerce. Nevertheless, it has been decided to reconsider the decision.”

“For the time being, the decision has been put on hold. We have also conveyed to all the colleges to put the decision on hold and maintain status quo,” he said.

“The matter will be discussed in the next meeting of the academic council,” the registrar added.

Amritsar, February 19
The special court set up to hear cases of crime against women has sentenced Manjit Singh of Baharle Kothe village, Ajnala, to 10 years in prison for raping a minor girl.

He was booked by the Ajnala police under Sections 363, 366-A and 376 IPC for kidnapping and raping a 10-year-old girl in August 2010.

Additional Sessions Judge Neelam Arora pronounced the decision in the case which was pending in the court since 2010.

The victim’s father, in his complaint to the police, had alleged the girl had gone out to play with friends in the neighbourhood. But when they searched for her, they could locate her in the street.

He said as they reached near the house of Manjit Singh, they found him raping the girl who was crying in pain. Manjit fled after seeing the girl’s parents.

In another case, the special court today acquitted five Ajnala youths who were accused of raping a widow near Harad Kalan village on February 3.

The decision was pronounced within three days after the police presented the challan in the court.

The woman, in her complaint to the police, had alleged that she was raped by five youths after intercepting her, who was going to meet her daughter at Harad Kalan village along with her brother-in law on a motorcycle.

A complaint was filed only on February 8 when the victim identified the accused. 

Amritsar, February 19
A 17-year-old boy succumbed to his injuries, which he had sustained in a road mishap on February 9.

A Class X student, Gurwinder Singh died at a private hospital in Amritsar. He was seriously hurt when a speeding ‘gharooka’ (a vehicle resembling an auto-rickshaw, but bigger in size) coming from the wrong side hit his motorcycle on February 9 near Maradi Kalan village.

The deceased’s father, Kuldip Singh, in his complaint to the Majitha police, said his son was returning home at Rumana Chak village from Jaintipur when the incident took place. Kuldip Singh and his brother Sukhdev Singh were coming on separate motorcycles.

Gurwinder was rushed to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital at Amritsar from where he was referred to a private hospital.

The Majitha police has registered a case under Sections 304-A, 279 and 427 of the IPC against the driver of ‘gharooka’, who is absconding.

In another accident, Satnam Singh of Sadhupur village was killed when he was hit by an SUV near Khujala village.

The deceased’s son, Amandeep Singh, said his father was going to Chougwan Sadhpur village to Khujala on his scooter. He fell unconscious and was rushed to a private hospital where he died.

The Tarsikka police has registered a case under Sections 304-A, 279 and 427 of the IPC against unidentified driver of the SUV. No arrest has been made so far. 

Traffic officials said the route from Guru Ram Dass Ji International Airport to Darbar Sahib and Darbar Sahib to Tarn Taran Road would remain closed during the delegation’s stay in the city.

The traffic coming from Chheharta road would be diverted towards Sant Singh Sukha Singh (SSSS) chowk from Crystal chowk while the traffic entering the city from Tarn Taran would be diverted from Jandiala bypass or through Jhabal side. The traffic from Sultanwind would be diverted from Ram Bagh.

The officials said commuters coming from Jhabal road or Bhagtanwala side towards Hall Gate would be diverted from Hathi gate side towards the railway station.

Police Commissioner Ram Singh said there would be no permanent blockages on routes where the cavalcade of British Prime Minister would pass through. He said there would only need-based diversions. The public convenience would also be looked into.

The officials, however, said wrongly-parked vehicles and illegal encroachments would not be allowed on the routes. 

Diversion plans

Traffic officials said the route from Guru Ram Dass Ji International Airport to Darbar Sahib and Darbar Sahib to Tarn Taran Road would remain closed during the delegation’s stay in the city. The traffic coming from Chheharta road would be diverted towards Sant Singh Sukha Singh (SSSS) chowk from Crystal chowk while the traffic entering the city from Tarn Taran would be diverted from Jandiala bypass or through Jhabal side. The traffic from Sultanwind would be diverted from Ram Bagh.

Amritsar, February 19
Parents and social activists here are irked at the 15 to 20 per cent hike by the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) in the prices of syllabi books .

The father of a student Ravinder Sultanwind said it was disheartening to learn that the prices of books for students of government schools had been raised. He said commercialisation had segregated the students on the basis of economic background and a majority of the parents prefer to admit their students in public schools. He added that it left the government schools with students from low-income group of families.

Sultanwind said in the present scenario of high inflation where every commodity was experiencing a hike, it was disheartening to see that the prices of books were also being increased.

Meanwhile, the Amritsar Book Sellers Association (ABSA) has also flayed the increase in the cost of prices of books. Association president Surinder Singh said the Board had implemented hiked rates even on those books which had the old prices printed on these. He said aware customers were not ready to shell out more than the printed price.

Despite repeated attempts, PSEB secretary Dr Balwinder Singh could not be contacted on phone.

Amritsar, February 19
Pathetic condition of the toilet outside the Inter-State Bus Terminal (ISBT) has forced people to urinate in the open. As a result, the outer wall of the bus stand stinks badly and presents a dismal look.

An outer wall of the bus stand bears the brunt as only the toilet remains non-functional in Amritsar. Photo: Vishal Kumar

Though the state-of-the-art bus stand, spread on an area of about eight and a half acres, is well maintained, the outer walls need urgent attention of the authorities.

Parts of the external walls of the bus stand have turned into an open toilet. The civic authorities have turned a blind eye to the abominable condition despite the fact that a high number tourists visit the holy city.

Social activist Harpinder Singh Walia, who resided near the GT Road, said the authorities and people were responsible for the poor condition. He said there was another toilet situated inside the bus stand, but people instead of using the facilities still urinate in the open.

Municipal Corporation Commissioner Bhupinder Singh said he would send a team to assess the situation and do the needful at the earliest. 

Amritsar, February 19
The city unit of the Punjab Civil Medical Services (PCMS) Association condemned the policy of the state government of not filling teaching cadre posts from the PCMS quota.

In a meeting held here today, the association said the government on the one hand pressurised the doctors to fill bond after postgraduation (PG) to ensure that they must do rural service after the completion of postgraduation, while on the other hand made direct recruitment in which no such condition to serve in rural areas is made. They demanded that no doctor should be appointed to the teaching cadre until and unless he had fulfilled rural service requirement.

The association has also criticised the government for an inordinate delay in giving them the "4/9/14" promotional scale after elapsing of more than a year. The association decided to prepare a block-wise list of pending cases, which would be put forward to the Civil Surgeon for further necessary action.

PCMS doctors demanded that the PG allowance (15 per cent of the basic pay) should be given to all specialist doctors, irrespective of the date of completion of their PG course. They also urged the government for sparing specialist PCMS doctors from performing non-clinical duties, which would help in better patient care.

Their other demands included full implementation of pay commission report, conveyance, increase in academic allowance, updating of their service books and GPF statements, timely salary for doctors and staff members working in satellite hospitals, besides decreasing the rural service from current six years to earlier three years.

They pointed out that there should be no condition of period of 10 years' service after the completion of PG course.

Amritsar, February 19
The District Legal Services Authority today organised a seminar on free legal services at DR Modern Senior Secondary School. The seminar was presided over by DLSA secretary Arun Kumar Agarwal.

Agarwal said the DLSA provided free legal services to poor and economic weaker sections of society.

He said any person belonging to the SC/ST category or women, children and industrial workers were entitled for the free legal aid for which they could approach the DLSA office.

He said all the expenses including fee of advocates, court fee and expenses for summoning witnesses etc are paid by DLSA. 

Amritsar, February 19
The hosts, Guru Nanak Dev University, defeated RTM Nagpur University in pool A match on the second day of the ongoing All-India Inter-University Kho-Kho (Women) Championship today.

A match in progress in the All-India Inter-University Kho-Kho (Women) Championship at GNDU on Tuesday. A tribune photo

In another pool A match, RTM Nagpur University defeated Kalyani University.

This championship, organised by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), would concluded on February 22.

In pool B match, Kerala University comfortably defeated Allahabad University. Allahabad University got the better of RSS Raipur in another match in pool B group.

In pool D match, Panjab University beat Mysore University.

In pool C, Pune University defeated GGU Bilaspur.

Amritsar, February 19
Acting on a tip-off, the anti-narcotic cell of the Amritsar rural police nabbed a quack who has been running a private clinic without any requisite licence or degree.

The accused, identified as Navjeet Singh of Khasa village, has been booked under Sections 420 (fraud), 419 of the IPC, 27 and 29 of the NDPS Act and 15 (2) of the Medical Council Act.

Gurmail Singh, investigating officer, said the police conducted a raid on the clinic and seized Rs 1.82 lakh cash, BP apparatus and other medical instruments. He could not produce any licence or document for running a private clinic. Gurmail Singh said no intoxicant drug was recovered from his possession during the raid. Navjeet has been remanded to one-day police custody.

Gurmail Singh said the police would write to the Health Department to carry out further investigations.

Preliminary investigations revealed that he has been running his clinic for the past six years.