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Project to widen Lawrence road begins
National seminar on human rights held
Former IPS officer Kiran Bedi addresses a seminar on human rights at the BBK DAV College for Women in Amritsar on Saturday. Photo: Vishal Kumar |
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Help poor kids in neighbourhood in studies, Kiran Bedi tells students
Kiran Bedi interacts with students during her visit to Citizens Forum Vidya Mandir School at Maqboolpura in Amritsar on Saturday. Photo: Vishal Kumar
Two killed in road accidents
Transformer thefts on the rise; PSPCL, police clueless
Hegde enthralls audience at Classical Music Festival
7 employees of firm booked for stealing rice oil
Thieves target rural schools
Auction of parking lot fetches JBMM Civil Hospital Rs
9.80 lakh
The parking lot at the Jallianwalla Bagh Martyrs Memorial Civil Hospital in Amritsar.
Photo: Sameer Sehgal
Man arrested for cheating colleague
German CEO honoured at Butala village
Lecture on credit rating agencies held
KCE wins inter-college contest
National Science Day celebrated by NGO
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Project to widen Lawrence road begins
Amritsar, March 2 The enforcement squad of the MC, under the supervision of Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora, got freed at least 12 feet space from each side of the Lawrence road while giving some respite to the commuters, besides giving it a symmetrical look. There was a visible difference. The traffic here appeared to be going smooth, instead of having jams earlier. It has been learnt that the MC in its plan to revamp the sides of the Lawrence road has contemplated to use interlocking tiles for parking as well as pedestrian path. Yet, a lot is still to be done to make this most prominent place a organised one. Various properties like a college, temple and a few private buildings had put the MC’s plan in a limbo. After physical survey of the area, it was observed that rampant encroachments, which included illegal extension of the entrance of shops by traders and makeshift kiosks, had been made along the Lawrence road, which leaves negligible space for the pedestrian to pass through. If the aerial view of the Lawrence road is taken, the road appears to be zig-zag. But beyond the entrance gate of BBK DAV College and a few private properties adjoining this college, it looks broad. The culprits are temporary vendors. Even as there was negligible place left for the pedestrians, the prevailing footpaths, too, have been encroached upon by rehriwallas selling eatables like burgers and golgappas and small-time traders. If everything goes well, it would be for the first time when a thought has been spared for constructing a pedestrian path on the Lawrence road. The MC is also into verifying the authenticity of the building plans on this road. Proposals for constructing a separate parking lot opposite the temple located on the Lawrence road is also in the pipeline. A few days back, the enforcement wing of the MC removed encroachments made by as many as 25 traders. Officials said the step was taken as per the directions of the High Court, which specifically forbid any kind of encroachment on the public land in the larger interest of the general public. Official speak We studied the Lawrence road minutely and zeroed in on only one conclusion. That it is the illegal encroachments which play the spoilsport. With enforcement staff’s efforts, we got the public land freed and the road now will be widened by at least 24 feet. It is true that several properties on the Lawrence road have uneven dimension. All the traders have been bluntly told to stay in their limits. Otherwise, the next time, they will have to bear hefty fines besides bearing the cost of removing the encroachments. — Bakshi Ram Arora, mayor
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National seminar on human rights held
Amritsar, March 2 Chief guest former IPS officer Dr Kiran Bedi in her address highlighted the importance of social sciences and liberal arts and felt the need to introduce liberal arts in engineering and medical colleges as this is the foundation to familiarise with history and literature, which develops understanding of humanism and value of humanity. Quoting the theme of Bhagvad
Gita, she highlighted that “your duty is your right” and exhorted the audience to apply their rights and responsibilities in their day-to-day life as it would bring a revolutionary change in their lives. She highlighted human growth factors like economic growth, equity, sustainability and empowerment. She appealed to everybody to bring balance in their rights and responsibilities. Dr Rajesh Gill, Chairperson, Department of Sociology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, in her address stated that citizens of India have been bestowed with many rights by the Constitution. There is a need to develop awareness and will among the people to exercise these rights. In order to implement the human rights, the culture and society needs to be changed and commented that human rights cannot flourish in highly individualised society. Host college Principal Dr Neelam Kamra extended a warm welcome to the the participants in the seminar. She also highlighted the achievements of the college in the spheres of academics, sports and extra-curricular activities. Earlier, the seminar began with an introductory statement made by political science lecturer of the college Renu
Bhandari, who quoted statistics that reveal that Indians are classified as the lowest in exercising human rights. She highlighted the "challenges before us" and urged everybody to
sensitise, create and develop a system that is sensitive for the implementation of human rights. Vice-president of the Media and Corporate Relations of North India Management Association
(NIMA) Poonam Batth shared her experience in the print and electronic media and brought to light many high-profile cases of heinous crimes against women. She said gender bias is there in all sectors of society, but appreciated the Indian laws which are tailor-made for Indian citizens. She said a very supportive police and judiciary system, parents and peer group is a prerequisite for the proper working of all human rights. In the valedictory session, head of the Crime Branch of Punjab Dr Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh reflected on the changes and continuities in the patterns of human rights. He expressed his views on the measures and steps which can be taken to protect human rights and prevent their violation. Director of the Human Ability and Accessibility IBM Research India Programme Anil Joshi talked about the rights of disabled people, families in crisis and highlighted the legal system that can be helpful in these cases and said everyone has a role to play in order to ensure proper implementation of the laws for the special
children. Abhilasha Kumari, senior social development expert, AECOM, and Director, School of Mass Communication, KIIT University,
Bhubaneswar, spoke on the issue of marginalised people. She said trafficking is a process and prostitution is one of its consequences. There is a need to bring these marginalised people from darkness to light in order to cure this ailment.
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Help poor kids in neighbourhood in studies, Kiran Bedi tells students
Amritsar, March 2 At present the school is providing education to around 600 students. Bedi said students of senior classes at the school or those who have finished school must help children in their neighbourhoods. "The senior students can help children near there homes in homework or teach basic things to them," she said, adding that while well-to-do families could send their children to pre-schools, these students could do the same job in their localities. Social activist Brij Bedi, who plays an instrumental role in running the school, said they would work on the suggestions to improve education in the area. He said that these would help in further expanding the education services for the children of the area.
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Two killed in road accidents
Amritsar, March 2 The Beas police has registered a case under Sections 304-A, 337, 338 and 427 of the IPC against the driver of the car, Nirmal Singh. The police investigation revealed that it was the fault of Nirmal Singh, which led to the accident. Lakhbir Singh, investigating officer, said the victims were going in the car (PB-10-BV-9497) from Mehmood Pura village, Nawanshahr, to Amritsar. When they reached near Beas the driver of the car without giving any signal turned towards a side due to which it collided with the truck (PB-4-K-7732) coming from the Amritsar side. He said Nirmal Singh fled leaving the car and injured persons behind. Meanwhile, Harbans Singh, a resident of Mallowal village, was crushed to death by a speeding SUV near Butari village, falling under the Khilchian police station. As per the complaint lodged by Gurmukh Singh, son of the deceased, Harbans Singh and his relative Harpreet Singh of same village was going to Baba Bakala on their motorcycle when the SUV, being driven by Jatinder Singh of Khanna ,hit them. Harbans Singh and Harpreet Singh fell on the road and Harbans Singh was run over and killed by the vehicle. A case under Sections 304-A, 279, 337, 338 and 427 of the IPC was registered against Jatinder, who was later released on bail.
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Transformer thefts on the rise; PSPCL, police clueless
Amritsar, March 2 These small capacity transformers are fitted in the fields and thieves steal these in the night when no one is around. The PSPCL authorities say it is impossible to guard every transformer that is fitted across the state. The power corporation is incurring huge losses owing to these thefts. Prem Singh, Assistant Engineer, Powercom, Fatehgarh Churian, in his complaint lodged with the Ramdass police station said six 16 KV transformers, three 63 KV transformers and two 10 KV transformers were stolen in Mohan Bhandaria and Machhiwala villages in the recent past. Another complaint filed by Jatinder Kumar, Sub Divisional Officer (SDO) posted at Jastarwal, stated that one 16 KV and two 63 KV transformers were stolen from Shahpur villages. He said thieves had also decamped with 16 more transformers from other villages falling under the sub division. Similarly, a 63-KV transformer was stolen from the fields in Lahori Mall village on the intervening night of February 16 and 17, reported PS Sidhu, PSPCL SDO, to the police. The maximum number of such thefts is reported in Amritsar followed by Tarn Taran and Gurdaspur. In November, the Kotwali police had busted a gang of robbers, which had stolen over 150 transformers from link roads and villages located in the 50-km radius of Amritsar district. The transformers were stolen from Ajnala, Ramdass, Lopoke, Rajasansi, Jhander, Patti, Sarhali and Chola Sahib villages. Jasdeep Singh, Superintendent of Police (Hq), Amritsar Rural police, said the police had recently made it mandatory to lodge an FIR if a transformer was stolen. He said the police had made recoveries and arrested several persons in this regard. “It is not possible to guard every transformer especially those fitted in secluded areas. We have advised villagers to organise ‘Thikri Pehra’ (night patrols) to curb the number of such thefts,” said SP. We have also advised the authorities to weld the transformers with the frames so it becomes difficult for thieves to steal these.
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Hegde enthralls audience at Classical Music Festival
Amritsar, March 2 The evening began with shabad recital by Sardar Kanwalpreet Singh, followed by Dhananjay Hegde’s performance. Hegde mesmerised the audience with raag puriya kalyan and a bhajan. He hails from a family that has deep roots in Yakshagana, a dance form of coastal Karnataka. Hegde was trained by one of the best gurus in Hindustani classical vocal. A bank employee by profession, he kept his passion for music alive all these years. The artists were honoured by Puran Chand Wadali and the members of the Swar Sangam. “We have been organising the festival for the past 23 years and hosted stalwarts of Hindustani classical music like Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Salil Bhatt and Pakistani legend Ghulam Ali. Shruti Kumar and Parveen Godkhinde, a noted flute player, will perform this year,” said Rakesh Sharma, general secretary, Swar Sangam. Dhananjay was supported by tabla artiste Ustad Kale Ram Ji from Jalandhar. “We lack self belief when it comes to the most traditional and ancient form of music in our civilization. Our music is only appreciated by Indian audience once it gets international acclamation.” On the second day, Godkhinde and Shruti Kumar will perform at Virsa Vihar. The evening will commence at 6pm.
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7 employees of firm booked for stealing rice oil
Amritsar, March 2 Arun Narula, owner of GH Agro Production Private Limited, located at Wadala Bhitewid village, and resident of Ranjit Avenue here, stated to the police that the accused were employees of his company. The company used to manufacture rice oil. He said for the last six months they had been stealing the oil and used to sell it outside. He said his company suffered a loss of several crores due to this. Mohan Singh, investigating officer, said a case under Sections 380, 420 and 120-B of the IPC was registered against the seven employees, while further investigations were under progress. No arrest had been made so far, he added.
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Thieves target rural schools
Amritsar, March 2 The number of thefts has increased ever since schools were shifted to the outer periphery of the villages in order to provide open grounds for children. On February 26 the thieves decamped with
LCDs, speakers, CPUs and other computer gadgets from Government Middle School, Mohaleke and Government High School,
Balsarai. Similar incident occurred at Khilchian where several unidentified miscreants decamped with three
LCDs, three CPUs, keyboards, headphones and loud speaker systems from Government Senior Secondary School on February 7. Principal Bhupinder Kaur had said to the police that the accused broke in after breaking the iron grills in the windows. School officials requesting anonymity said lack of security arrangements encouraged thieves to target schools. The situation in schools is grim as some have only one or two teachers working there. Officials pointed out that government schools had limited funds and could not hire security personnel adding that arranging security for the schools was the government’s
responsibility. Preet Paul Singh Virk, Senior Superintendent of Police, Amritsar rural, said he had ordered patrolling parties to keep extra vigil around educational institutes. “We are making sincere efforts to nab the culprits involved,” he said.
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Auction of parking lot fetches JBMM Civil Hospital Rs
9.80 lakh
Amritsar, March 2 Dhillon said the money would be used for bettering the infrastructure at the hospital. He said parking contractors could only charge Rs 5 for two-wheelers and Rs 10 for four vehicles. Dr Dhillon said, "The reason that hospital has earned a huge amount from the auction of the parking lot is that a large number of patients come to the hospital daily. It reflects on the services hospital is providing to the patients." He said after the complaints about the contractors allowing private vehicles to be parked on the place, they had been asked to reserve the facility only for patients and their attendants. However, the parking place at the hospital has contracted because of the ongoing construction of the building of mother and child care centre. The construction material, which is lying at the parking place, has further reduced space for the vehicles.
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Man arrested for cheating colleague
Amritsar, March 2 Ranjit Singh said Bhupinder Singh took Rs 90,000 from him on February 24. Bhupinder Singh called him up stating that his UK visa had been approved and asked him to come with Rs 2.50 lakh near Celebration Mall. When he and his uncle Baljinder Singh reached there, they found that the visa was fake. The Rambagh police has registered a case under Sections 420, 471 and 120-B of the IPC against Baljinder and his accomplice Sukhwinder Singh of Totle village (Tarn Taran). The police said Bhupinder Singh was arrested, while his accomplice Sukhwinder was still at large.
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German CEO honoured at Butala village
Amritsar, March 2 Dr Audebert visited the village for the first time during his maiden visit to India. He has been donating Rs 40,000 to the village for the last four years. The fund helps girls from low income groups study at the village high school. Dr Fritz said his colleague Gurdatar Singh Bal, who belongs to Butala village, motivated him to finance the education of girls at the village. He said children who play sports can learn a lot about team spirit and become more competitive. Earlier, Balwinder Singh Bal, chairman of the club welcomed Dr Audebert to the village. The club promotes hockey and trains many young players.
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Lecture on credit rating agencies held
Amritsar, March 2 Principal Dr HS Sandhu extended a floral welcome to Dr Madhu Vij. She briefed about the crucial role that credit rating agencies (CRA) played in the financial system. She explained how these agencies helped businessmen invest in international securities safely. “These agencies have operated as trusted gatekeepers even though they are accused of making some serious errors in estimating future credit stability and rating performances,” she said while adding that investors must understand that ratings are only estimates but not detailed assessment of risks. Prof HS Sandhu assured to arrange more such distinguished guest lectures in future.
— TNS
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KCE wins inter-college contest
Amritsar, March 2 Chief guest Dr MS
Hundal, Dean, College Development Council, GNDU, said, “The world which is turning into a global village. Information technology is bridging gaps and teaching has perhaps been affected the most,” he said.
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National Science Day celebrated by NGO
Amritsar, March 2 “Understanding and implementing scientific principles has become very important. But we must learn to use them for our convienience,” said Dipak Babbar, general secretary of Misshion Aghaaz. “The recent incident of petrol theft wherein the thieves manipulated technology, ATM scams and cyber crimes could be checked if people are more gadget friendly,” he said. Among others, KS Takkar, chief patron of Mission Aghaaz, Indu Bhatia, president, and Pravin Puri were also present on the occasion.
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The BBK DAV College for Women hosted a
UGC-sponsored national seminar on “Human rights” today. Organised by the faculty of social sciences of the college, the seminar focused on the rights of disabled children,
marginalised, working women and undertrials.
Amritsar, March 2
The Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs Memorial (JBMM) Civil Hospital has earned revenue of Rs 9.80 lakh from the auction of its parking lot for the period of next 10 months.
In the previous year, the JBMM Civil Hospital had earned Rs 4.80 lakh from the auction for a period of one year. "The amount this time has doubled as compared to the previous year," said Senior Medical Officer Dr Balbir Singh
Dhillon.
