Amritsar, April 4
In another bid to ease traffic congestion at the Bhandari Bridge, the Amritsar Municipal Corporation has now decided to reduce the area covered by the roundabout at the bridge.

The civic body had very recently installed traffic signals at the site to monitor the flow of traffic. However, the idea backfired as it resulted in long queues of vehicles there.

The Bhandari Bridge has always been a problem area as far as traffic is concerned. The experimentation at the place began around three years ago when the administration made frequent changes in route plans and also declared few points as “no entry zone”.

With the MC planning another experiment, the city residents feel that instead of doing small attempts to ease the traffic congestion at the place, the administration must formulate a long-term plan to solve the problem.

“The problem is that the number of vehicles has increased over the years. And, there will be more addition in the coming years. The bridge was built before the partition,” said Khushwant Singh, a shopkeeper in the area. The administration must make a plan which could sustain for at least half a century more, he added. While most of the residents said the bridge should be widened to accommodate more vehicles, the railway lines located below make it difficult for the state government to initiate a project on its own.

“If an over-bridge is constructed on the railway line near B block and then again on Fatak number 22, then private vehicles going towards Khalsa College or up to Cheharrta will preferably not take this route and the congestion will somehow ease,” suggested Balkar Singh, another resident.

Singh said the administration should invite suggestions from the general public or even experts in this regard.

MC Commissioner Bhupinder Singh said, “The quickest possible plan is to decrease the size of the roundabout. The decision has been taken after thorough discussion on the issue.” 

Amritsar, April 4
Seven students of Lawrence School Sanawar, Himachal Pradesh, of which four are from Punjab, are all set to create history by making a bid to scale the Mount Everest on the 60th anniversary of the first ascent on the world’s highest peak.

The team was here to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple today. Four boys from the state are Hakikat Singh, Guribadat Singh, Prithvi Singh and Fateh Singh, all in the 16-17 years age group.

“When they scale it, it is going to become a world record and this expedition will be the first by a school team in the world to scale the highest peak at a height of 8,848 metres,” said Col PS Grewal, chief coordinator of the expedition.

Grewal said it started with physical test screening and interview followed by a basic and advanced mountaineering training at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling, under the guidance of Col Neeraj Rana, ex-principal of the institute.

The team underwent a seven-month-long extensive training programme from September last till March this year in all aspects of stamina build-up, physical fitness, team integration and mental conditioning, Grewal said.

The team was trained in a scientific manner under the guidance of professional trainers to help build their confidence, he said.

Their diet and medical condition were also taken special care of.

He said the boys were also familiarised with mountains, rock craft, black and blue ice craft, snow and glacier craft, in addition to effective use of the complex mountaineering tools like crampons, pitons, jumars, harnesses, laddering, carabiners and a plethora of rope techniques.

The boys had embarked on 1,000-km cycling trip in the Thar desert in December and January to build up their aerobic capacity and toning of legs and back muscles by exposing themselves to sustained workouts, he added.

The team would cycle an average of 60 to 130 km on a daily basis in the harsh desert terrain. In January, they underwent a 10-day winter-cum-high altitude training session in the Ladakh area, where they operated at minus 15 to minus 25 degree Celsius temperature.

The team is scheduled to start its trekking towards Everest base camp on April 11. 

Amritsar, April 4
Acclaimed agriculture scientist and Rajya Sabha MP Dr MS Swaminathan today said the environmental issues confronting the agriculture sector were serious but adopting organic and controlled-fertilisers would certainly be a course correction.

He laid stress on educating the farmers to make right use of fertilisers and chemicals.

Speaking with students at Khalsa College, Swaminathan said along with agricultural growth the focus should be on economic well-being of the farmers. He also appealed to the younger generation to adopt agriculture as a vocation.

“The country needs young farmers — men and women both — as they can easily adopt new technologies and modern methods of farming,” he said.

The honorary secretary of Khalsa College Governing Council Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina, finance secretary Gunbir Singh and principal (officiating) Dr JS Bal earlier welcomed Dr Swaminathan.

He was accompanied by Punjab Farmers Commission head Dr GS Kalkat and agriculture scientist Dr VP Singh. Swaminathan said the production was up in the statebut other issues needed attention.

“There are environmental and marketing issues confronting agriculture in Punjab today. There are issues of farmers’ debt and need for crop diversification and rotation,” he said.

Amritsar, April 4
Over a dozen unemployed youths, who climbed up a tank yesterday seeking job with the PowerCom department on compassionate grounds, chose to stay put today as efforts by the authorities to persuade them to discontinue their protest did not elicit any response.

PowerCom Chief Engineer (Border Range) Sudeep Singh Sandhu said the matter was brought to the head office at Patiala and as per directions a letter had been forwarded to Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal. He said as per the communiqué, the next of the kin of those PowerCom employees who died while in job after 2010 had been given jobs.

The cases of those before 2010 have been lying pending with the government. He said the PowerCom headquarters is of the opinion that the decision on giving employment to these youths rested with the government and the PowerCom would only follow the directions.

The youths demanding jobs in the Power Corporation yesterday climbed atop a water tank at the Pink Plaza area opposite Hall Gate. They are refusing to come down till the power corporation accepted their demand. Fathers of these youths had died while in service. Suchchain Singh, a protesting youth, said, “There are 340 such cases in the Power Corporation which are pending.”

Amritsar, April 4
Four girl students of DAV College, Amritsar, earned the top positions in MSc Physics and Bachelor of Journalism and Mass Communication (BJMC) examinations held by Guru Nanak Dev University.

Akansha Sahu of MSc Physics Semester-I secured the second position in the university and Kanwaljeet Kaur of MSc Physics Semester-III also secured the second position in the recently declared results.

Ashriti Gupta of BJMC Semester-III secured the second position in the university while Amritpal Pal Kaur of BJMC Semester-III stood seventh in the University.

College Principal Dr KN Kaul congratulated the students over their excellent performance and lauded their teachers and parents for their guidance and support to achieve excellence.

Benu Kalra a MSc (Computer Science) 1st Semester student of BBK DAV College for Women stood first in the district and was placed third in the university. She secured 441 marks out of a total of 600. The other two students Bhoomika Arora and Palak Chawla also got more than 70 per cent marks in MSc (Computer Science) 1st semester examination.

Amritsar, April 4
Local girl Sheena Nayyar has brought laurels to the city after passing out from Officers Training Academy (OTA) as a Lieutenant in the Indian Army recently. A B Tech from Guru Nanak Dev University, Sheena said it was like an old cherished dream coming true.

Daughter of Vinod Nayyar and Vandana Nayyar, residents of Sant Nagar, Sheena is the eldest of three siblings. Vinod Nayyar said, "Sheena's entry into the armed forces has once again established that girls are no different from boys. All parents need to give equal opportunity to their daughters."

He said Sheena was an inspiration and a role model for her younger siblings. Her mother Vandana said, "Becoming an officer in the army is a big thing and my daughter has made us proud." She said her daughter was a brave girl and far more adventurous than her friends and cousins.

Talking to The Tribune, Sheena said, "I had always dreamt of doing something big. I never liked people who say girls cannot do this, they cannot do that," and added that she was eagerly waiting to serve the country.

Amritsar, April 4
The Health Department today sealed a noodle factory which was operating under highly unhygienic conditions at the Alibaksh road area here.

Another factory making burger buns was also sealed and the samples of food products were collected from the bakery.

District Health Officer Dr Shivkaran Singh Kahlon said Om Shri Noodle factory was earlier sealed on February 28. He said the factory owner Rohit Mehra was given a notice to mend his ways.

“The owner in his reply told us that all discrepancies pointed out by the department were done away with. But when we visited the place today, we found that conditions had not changed,” said Kahlon, adding that strict action would be initiated against the errant firm.

Kahlon said packed products found from the shop did not have batch numbers, manufacturing or expiry date labels. He said products samples had been taken which would be sent to food laboratory for quality check.

Kahlon said both the factories had large production facilities and supply products to a large number of shops. “They are putting residents’ health at risk by selling these unhealthy food items in the market,” said Kahlon.

Amritsar, April 4
Sleuths of the Excise Department today confiscated about 2 kg of gold jewellery, valuing Rs 17.66 lakh, from a Jaipur resident for his inability to produce any receipt at the Railway Station.

The Excise and Taxation Department, Deputy Director, Mobile Wing, PS Randhawa said on a tip off, a team of the department, headed by ETO Harmit Singh, checked the Jaipur Express train and took the goods in possession at about 11 am. He said Vikram Mehta of Jaipur neither produced the sale and purchase bill nor Electronic Information Collection (EIC), which is mandatory as per the provisions.

He said a penalty of Rs 9 lakh was imposed and the goods would be released upon the deposit of the penalty.

He did not rule out the possibility of the jewellery being routed through a domestic hawala system, known as angariya, which is widely used by the traders in the western part of the country.

On surface, it appears to be a case of tax evasion as the dealers of precious and costly objects do not inform the Excise and Taxation Department of the state in advance before transporting these to Punjab. As per the excise and taxation laws of the state, any material above Rs 2 lakh to be transported in the state by road, rail or by air has to be informed about in advance to the Excise Department through the EIC available on its website.

Amritsar, April 4
Continuing the crackdown on the smugglers active alongside the Indo-Pak border, the Amritsar rural police arrested another notorious smuggler Balwinder Singh of Lahorimal village.

Six notorious smugglers who were arrested by the police yesterday have confessed to their crimes in several smuggling cases.

Among those who were arrested yesterday are Angrej Singh, Saroop Singh , Gurmit Singh, residents of Bharopal village, Paramjit Singh of Lahorimal, Nishan Singh of Rajatal and Sukhwant Singh of Daoke.

Amritsar Superintendent of Police (Detective-Rural Police) Jasdeep Singh in a press conference today said Angrej Singh has confessed his involvement in seven smuggling cases and was still active along the border.

Saroop and Gurmeet Singh during police interrogation had admitted their involvement in four cases each. The Border Security Force had recovered 12 kg of heroin and arms and ammunition in April last year in one such case. A case in this connection was registered at Bhindi Saida police station in April last year.

Gurmeet Singh had smuggled contraband in September but he had not picked the arms consignment sent by Pak-based smuggler along with drug consignment.

The arms were later recovered by the BSF. A case under the Arms Act was registered at Bhindi Saida police station in this connection.

The Superintendent of Police said Nishan Singh also had links with terrorists based across the border during militancy.

Following instructions from the higher officials, the police in the districts located along the India-Pakisatn border has launched a crackdown on smugglers active in the area. Based on intelligence inputs, the Tarn Taran police also arrested 78 such anti-national elements today.

The Superintendent of Police said the crackdown would continue and more arrests were likely to be made in near future.

Amritsar, April 4
The police has booked two persons, including a woman, for abetting suicide wherein a woman committed suicide by consuming some poisonous substance.

Those booked were identified as Lata, a resident of Nehru Colony and Tarsem Kumar of Katra Khajana.

Parshotam Lal, the deceased’s husband, said his wife Asha Rani had very cordial relations with Lata, their neighbour. He said Asha got her property mortgaged and took money on interest in order to help Lata. Lata had assured to return the money soon. However, even after several years, she did not return the money. Tarsem Kumar, from whom Asha had borrowed the money, was pressurising her to return it, Lal added. Fed up of the circumstances, she committed suicide by consuming a poisonous substance yesterday.

Charanjit Singh, investigating officer, said a case under Sections 306, 34 of the IPC has been registered against the accused.

He said the body of the deceased was handed over to her family after postmortem examination today. No arrest has been made so far in the case, Singh added.

Amritsar, April 4
The promising local lass Alisha Menon will vie for the top honour in both U-12 and U-14 girls finals during the AITA Talent Series Tennis tournament, to be held at Maharaja Ranjit Singh Stadium, tomorrow.

In the girls’ U-14 semifinal, Seerat outplayed Tanya of Chandigarh with 6-1, 6-4 and Alisha beat Stephen Chelsea of Karnatka with 6-7, 6-3, 6-3.

In the girls’ U-12 semifinal, Alisha today beat Lenin Jamir of Assam with sets 6-0, 6-3 while Kiran of Delhi defeated Ashpreet Kaur Bajwa of Punjab 5-7, 6-0, 6-2.

Kabir Manrai would lock horns with Sabrang Sandal, both of Chandigarh, in the boys’ U-14 final. Kabir conveniently outclassed Heman Nama of Karnataka 6-0, 6-0 while Sabrang defeated Sanchit Sikka of Punjab 6-1, 6-2.

In the U-12 boys’ semifinal, Drona Walia of Uttarakhand beat Ruchit Gaud of Andhra Pradesh by 6-1, 6-3 and Arav Kumar of Chandigarh defeated Divesh Gehlot of Haryana 6-4, 6-1.