Amritsar, March 30
Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) has restricted the entry of Royal Enfield “Bullet” motorcycles on the premises citing noise pollution they cause on the campus. As a result the students have now started parking their Royal Enfield motorcycles outside the entry gate.

The students have also termed the restriction put on Royal Enfield motorcycles as discriminatory and uncalled for. They say that “noise pollution” as cited by the university authorities is not the real cause of banning these on the campus. The students say that a bike these days is a mean to save time on transportation and Bullet is not something “illegal”.

“May be there is some other reason. If this is the real reason, they would have restricted the entry of all vehicles or at least use of horns on them,” said a student.

But another student Kanwar Pal Singh said, “Some boys have got the silencers in their bikes altered, as a result the noise is very much.” He said sometimes it was very disturbing when a bike passed by and the noise could be heard sitting inside the classrooms.

But still most of the students said the university was not a place where everything could be dictated to students like in a nursery school. Sumit, another student, said, “The Bullet is the bike which most boys like to flaunt. Some boys can do without breakfast, but not without the Bullet.” He said the university authorities must adopt a liberal view on such things.

Another student Jagpal Singh said, “The students who own Bullet motorcycles would have to purchase another bike, which is allowed, if they want to enter the campus. This is something which their parents would not like.” He said many boys living in hostels on the campus own the same brand of bike and all of them would have to replace it with another one.

Meanwhile, university Registrar Dr Inderjit Singh could not be contacted, despite repeated attempts, for his views on the issue.

Amritsar, March 30
With Anna Hazare’s “Jantantra Yatra” starting from the holy city and the mood upbeat among social activists and optimists that the crusader will once again boost the anti-corruption movement, the call for change is sure. But with hopes also come suspicions, or so share some residents.

The Jantantra Yatra is a mission to involve common people into the politics, an attempt for the people, by the people and of the people to cleanse the system from corruption and cheap political gimmicks. The youth should come out in full support to join Anna Hazare in his movement.

— Ashok Talwar, district coordinator, Aam Admi Party

It is an initiative for the right cause and it is the start of the change that the country needs. Anna’s movement has always been about involving the masses, as they are ones with the largest stakes in the functioning of the country. He has woken them up from a long sleep and will continue to do so. We must all join him in his fight against corruption and bring about the change that we often demand. The volunteers who supported him with the candlelight marches and processions have a moral responsibility to stand beside him now.

— Dipak Babbar, member, Mission Aghaaz

Anna’s movement was able to make people aware, but it went down silently after all the aggression. This time around too he might be able to get an audience in large numbers, but it is a long shot that he is aiming at. Change might happen, but not overnight. The Lokpal Bill is still reeling under political trickery and waiting to become a reality.

— Bhuvan Arjun, businessman

Anna Hazare’s movement had successfully initiated what could be called a step in the right direction. With Lokpal Bill and anti-corruption movement aggressively pressurising the government to act on its promises, the change is sure to happen. But the strength with which people had supported Anna earlier might get affected by Anna and Kejriwal’s breakup and the momentum might slow down a bit.

— Ekta Khullar, marketing professional

Amritsar, March 30
The Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs Memorial (JBMM) Civil Hospital has signed a two-year annual maintenance contract (AMC) with a technical firm to keep the elevators in working order. The hospital has hired the technical firm to maintain the elevators on daily basis inside the five-storeyed building so that patients and their attendants don’t have to sweat climbing the stairs.

The hospital has two elevators installed for the use of patients. “The one was got fixed just today as it was out of order. We are paying Rs 45,000 for the maintenance of lifts quarterly to ensure that elevators don’t lie unused for long durations,” said Senior Medical Officer Dr Balbir Singh Dhillon.

The hospital though has ramps connecting all the floors, but the patients and attendants feel that elevators are a quick and easy way to move patients in emergency situations. “The operation theatres are on the first floor, so sometimes it is really urgent to move them quickly,” said Jasbir Singh, a visitor.

Dr Balbir Singh Dhillon said the hospital had got installed a new water-cooling machine for visitors on the first floor. “The purpose is to get things ready before we need them. We are working on not only elevators, but other areas too,” said Dhillon.

The hospital had got the elevators repaired in June last year after they remained inoperative for around five and half years. Initially the hospital authorities seemed helpless as the elevators would get dysfunctional after short durations as most of the visitors were not well aware of using them.

Later, guards were assigned the duty to help the visitors, but the move did not help as the visitors would often complain about them being not present at the place. After a short while as most of the staff members learnt to operate the system and with the hospital signing a maintenance contract, the hospital authorities seem to have solved the problem.

Amritsar, March 30
Call it lenient attitude of the authorities or lacunae in the system, the Municipal Corporation (MC) most likely would fail to achieve its set target of recovery from the house tax defaulters in the current fiscal year.

Sources said the house tax recovery department was at least Rs 7 crore behind the targeted recovery of close to Rs 22 crore just one day before the last day of the end of the financial year. Almost similar was the case with the water supply department, which is behind its target by over Rs 1.5 crore. Last year, too, the MC had drastically failed to achieve the set recovery target.

The integrity of recovery officials, too, has come under scanner. It was witnessed during the last Budget session meeting held at its Town Hall complex on March 20 when scores of councillors (both ruling as well as Opposition) “categorically” raised the issue of certain officials allegedly being involved in corrupt practices.

The councillors raised fingers at the functioning of the sewerage, Municipal Town Planning, land and house tax, sanitation, and birth/death certification departments.

It was none other than Senior Deputy Mayor Avtar Singh Trukkanwala, who told the House that house tax officials terrorised residents and pocketed hefty bribes to give them “relief”.

While the MC authorities claim to be tough with the defaulters, but it becomes lenient when it comes to tightening the noose around big business houses on this count. Courtesy: the political patronage they enjoy. An official confirmed that the officials themselves tip them “alternate” routes to evade taxes.

It has been learnt that the defaulters whose cheques worth Rs 70 lakh were “dishonoured” could not made to pay up till date.

Terming the tax recovery drive of the MC as a farce exercise, an official said it was restricted to only the small traders, whereas the big fish is still out of its reach. “The small traders who owe between Rs 12,000 and Rs 25,000 are being taken to task and such recoveries makes little difference, whereas if the MC dare to grab the defaulting big malls, shopping complexes, it could fetch them over Rs 5 crore in one go. I am afraid how would the target be met,” he said.

It has been estimated that tax amounting to over Rs 10 crore is being not recovered due to laxity and lack of coordination between the officials of house tax department.

At present there are over 15 malls, which owe a huge amount in terms of house tax and CLU (change of land use) charges, estimated to be between Rs 4-5 crore per annum. The MC was unable to realise the dues for want of specific information.

It is astonishing to note that the MC did not possess the tax record accounts of several malls and business establishments located on Mall Road.

The owners of these malls mint hefty rent by leasing out their property to multinational firms and franchisees, but shy away from their liability to pay the tax as applicable to them.

Amritsar, March 30
The prevalence of open defecation in many slum areas of the city not only embarrassed the civic authorities but also belied the tall claims of the government of providing hygienic surroundings. Though the holy city has luxurious residential colonies and high-end shopping malls, there are many slum dwellers without lavatories. Maqboolpura, a slum near 40-khoo area, is one of the places where many people defecate in the open.

Maqboolpura locality is less than a kilometre away from a five-star hotel but many residents of the locality defecate in the open. The land on which they defecate, belongs to the Amritsar Improvement Trust’s 211-acre Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Mall Mandi Scheme. Notably, the densely populated colonies like Golden Avenue, New Golden Avenue, Pratap Nagar are situated around it.

Master Ajit Singh, a resident of Maqboolpura who is also running Citizen Forum Vidya Mandir School for the students of the locality, said some residents of Maqboolpura do utilise the open ground for defecation. "With the help of the schoolchildren, a campaign would be launched to sensitise the residents of the locality to eliminate open defecation," he said.

The residents of many slums in city are being forced to defecate in the open due to the absence of toilets at their houses. Ajit Singh said many families were residing as tenets and did not have funds to raise lavatories while the owners were of the houses were reluctant to invest for the same as they would not get more rent in return.

Social scientists are of the view that the affluent sections of society and administration must come forward to bear the cost of lavatories and a section of society should be saved from the embarrassment.

Molecular Biologist PK Sehajpal said the people, who have clean toilets, could not escape the dangerous fallout of open defecation as faeces contain germs. He said exposure to these germs was the cause of diarrhoea among children and over a long time caused changes in the tissues of their intestines that prevent the absorption and use of nutrients in food.

Similarly, a study has found that the Indian children were among the shortest in the world and open defecation was one of the causes of it.

The study pointed out that the height and health of children depended upon neighbourhood’s access to toilets. More than half of the people in the world, who defecate in the open, live in India. According to the 2011 Census, 53 per cent of the households do not use any kind of toilet or latrine.

Even renowned economic expert Amitava Mukherjee, during a visit to the city in February, had held open defecation as the prime reason behind malnutrition among the children in the country as every third malnourished child in the world is an Indian.

Amritsar, March 30
The beginning of the weekend saw two Punjabi film star casts visiting the holy city for the promotion of their films. While one film promises an action drama, the other is a slapstick comedy.

Jassi Jasraj, a singer-turned actor, who had taken the challenge to fight against obscenity and vulgarity prevailing in the Punjabi music industry and collided head on with the likes of Honey Singh with his album National Villager, is ready with his debut Punjabi film Bikkar Bai Sentimental.

But to the singer-turned actor, it is just an extension of the rebel in him.

The singer will appear opposite to Preeti Jhangiani in the film. “I am sentimental when it comes to stand up for the things I believe in,” said the singer-turned actor. The film is an action drama and is about a man, who gets changed due to some circumstances. “The movie is set in the times when every Punjabi had a question to ask but is subsided under societal pressure,” added Jassi.

From doing Ajay Devgan inspired scenes to carrying a new action prop in the film, Jassi will be seen all charged up in the film. “I have used the footleg of a traditional cot for action scenes in the film. That’s what compliments my character in the film. My character is traditional and simple yet could turn out to be dangerous when put in a spot, Just like the prop in the film,” he said.

The film will release on April 19 worldwide and is directed by Gautam Nagrath, who, had made film Garv with Salman Khan.

As for Preeti, who will be seen in her second Punjabi film, her character in the film is every woman’s story. “Jeeti’s character is very close to my heart. She is a strong woman, the rock support of her adamant husband, who dares to challenge the rules of world. Every woman will be able to relate with her,” said actress Preeti Jhangiani.

Amritsar, March 30
A city-based couple won the Chandigarh Veterans’ Athletics Meet recently. Jarnail Singh, 61, bagged the second place in the 5-km walk while his wife Gurmeet Kaur secured the first position in the shot put event. Gurmeet, a retired physical education and yoga teacher from Central School, stood second in the 3-km walk event. She said she had played the game in the school and even coached many players while in the service. After retiring from the service in 2011, she had continued the games in association with her husband.

A confident Jarnail Singh is a symbol of emulation for the young as well as veterans. Following his passion for walking and running, Jarnail Singh, who worked as a commission agent at the Bhagtanwala grain market, chose to run in marathons. Revealing the secret of his success, he said his simple lifestyle and eating habit had made it possible for him to run for a long distances at this age.

Jarnail said, “When I was working at the grain market, I used to cover about 10-km distance between my residence and workplace on foot. This continued for many years.”

He added, “This is the best possible way to reduce pollution and maintain good health.”

Originally hailing from Hashimpura village in Ajnala subdivision, he shifted to the city in 1985. His water intake is very high. “I like to drink as many glass of water as possible,” he said.

He first participated in the 32nd Punjab Masters Athletics Championship at Banga last year. He stood second in the 800-m race. He bagged the first position in 5,000-m walk. He had secured third position in the 10-km marathon, which was organised by the Rehabilitation and Settlement Organisation here in April. He had also participated in the half marathons at Delhi and Jalandhar.

Amritsar, March 30
Prof Knut Sorby of Norwegian University of Science and Technology delivered an expert talk on “Double tuned mass damper for long boring bars” at the Global Institutes here today. Students and faculty members of the department of mechanical engineering were present on the occasion .

Professor Sorby, who is handling many industry-sponsored projects in the Norwegian university, discussed a theoretical model for a boring bar and dwelt on the methods of optimising the parameters of damper for the machining process. He said the optimised double-mass system was verified experimentally and compared to an optimised single mass damping system.

The lecture generated great curiosity and the students asked many questions at the end of the session.

The professor demonstrated how dampers are tuned to reduce vibrations at frequencies near the first mode of vibration. He explained that for the very long boring bars, second mode of vibration could have significant amplitude.

He also explained the concepts of vibration in boring tools through visual simulations. He also visited various departments in the Institute.

Earlier, vice-chairman of the Global Institutes, Dr Akashdeep Singh, introduced Prof Knut Sorby and said these kind of expert lectures would help the students to enlarge their vision.

Amritsar, March 30
Over 200 top artists in graphic art from across the country are converging at local Indian Academy of Fine Art (IAFA) for the week-long art festival, which is starting from tomorrow. The organisers said this was for the first time, that the IAFA, which is promoting art and artists since 1928, was dedicating a seven-day-long programme exclusively to the art of graphics.

IAFA president Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina said Anand Dev, a renowned Indian artists and former president of the Lalit Kala Akademi, Delhi, would inaugurate the festival. "The artists from every nook and corner of the country are arriving for the festival, he said.

Chhina said it was their endeavour that various subjects such as painting, cartoon making, sketching, oil painting were promoted as individual subjects to bring variety in the art world. The academy had been contributing immensely for the cause, he said. He added that conducting exhibitions, workshops, seminars on these subjects and the art festival was a step ahead in this direction. —TNS

Amritsar, March 30
The District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) organised its monthly lok adalats at Amritsar, Ajnala, Baba Bakala, Tarn Taran and Patti today.

In these lok adalats, 13 benches, comprising of judicial officers, advocates and social workers were constituted to settle civil, criminal and various other kinds of cases, said DSLA secretary Arun Kumar Aggarwal.

Aggarwal said 176 cases were taken up for amicable settlement, out of which 101 cases were finally disposed of through compromise and a sum of Rs 1,19,40,429 was awarded as compensation.

HS Madaan, District and Session Judge-cum-Chairman of the District Legal Services Authority , appealed to litigants to resolve their cases through lok adalats as it provided prompt and inexpensive justice.