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Municipal Corporation struggles to manage city garbage
Man commits suicide, family members allege police harassment
Woman accuses ASI of misbehaving with her
Man held for impersonating as senior BSF officer
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Residents rue lack of good school transportation for their children
Unemployed linesmen stage protest at Company Bagh
Seminar puts focus on tourist circuits to encourage heritage tourism
A speaker addresses the heritage conservation seminar at Khalsa College of Education on Thursday. A Tribune photograph
Youth booked for molesting Batala girl
Health Dept to hold street plays in rural areas
Comedy theatre fest a success among audience in city
SGPC holds hockey trial for U-15 players from four dists
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Municipal Corporation struggles to manage city garbage
Amritsar, April 18
The MC, meanwhile, has claimed to have deployed tractor-trolleys to lift garbage from various collection points. But the fact that most of these trolleys do not have back lids results in the scattering of litter on roads. Gulzar Singh, a resident, said, “These trolleys should have lids at the back and if possible, these should be covered.” While going on a road in the city, especially on a two-wheeler, if one of these tractor-trolleys happens to be ahead of you, these would blow garbage on your face." The residents also complained that instead of burning garbage to get rid of it, the refuse should be properly disposed. Mamta Kukreja, a school teacher, said, “The smoke from the burning of these heaps is a problem for residents of nearby houses. It may even risk the life of commuters.” She said that considering the health hazards, the practice should be strictly curbed. The MC had earlier hired a private firm for the handling and disposal of garbage by a firm on August 7 last year. However, it had pulled out of the contract, claiming that it had pending dues against the MC. In a recent development yesterday, the company, Antony Waste Handling Cell Private Limited, has given in written for its termination of the contract. MC Commissioner Bhupinder Singh said, “As and when the contract is terminated by the government, we would put up tenders for fresh hiring.” In the present scenario, the MC has engaged contractors for the collection of garbage from 44 wards. Its own employees are collecting garbage from 24 wards. Bhupinder Singh said they had even given tarpaulin to all the collection vehicles to cover the garbage at the time of transportation. However, he admitted that workers were negligent in following the correct procedure.
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Man commits suicide, family members allege police harassment
Amritsar, April 18 Agitated at this, the deceased's family members, along with their supporters, today blocked the Amritsar-Pathankot road for about two hours and raised slogans against the police department. Later in the evening, they blocked rail traffic by keeping the body in the middle of railway tracks, following which the Amritsar-Pathankot train was stuck at Kathunangal. Besides, the Pathankot-Amritsar train and Tata Mori Express was also stranded at Batala. According to information, Furman’s son Happy had a monetary dispute with one Harmandeep Singh of Riali (Batala) village, following which the CIA staff of the Batala police held Happy along with his accomplice Bhunga Masih. Following the intervention of Rajinder Kumar Jaintipur, chairman, Zila Parishad, Amritsar, in the matter, both groups reached a compromise in the presence of residents of the village on April 14. However, when the family members went to the CIA staff along with the copy of the compromise, they refused to release him and allegedly threatened to arrest all family members. Perturbed over this, Furman Masih took the extreme step by jumping before a train last evening. Agitated over this, family members, along with their supporters, blocked the Amritsar-Pathankot road and raised slogans against the police department. They were demanding the registration of a case against the erring policemen. The dharna was lifted after police officials reached the spot and promised action in this regard. However, when the Government Railway Police refused to register a case, the family again started the protest by keeping the body on the rail tracks which continued till the filing of this report. Senior police officials of Amritsar (Rural) and Batala police districts reached the spot for sorting out the matter.
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Woman accuses ASI of misbehaving with her
Amritsar, April 18
She, along with Punjab Pradesh Mahila Congress headed by Nimishs Mehta, and the state vice-president staged a protest outside the Bundala police post near here today, besides meeting SSP (Rural) seeking a stern action against the erring policeman. Manmohan Singh, SSP, Amritsar rural has marked an inquiry to the DSP Jandiala in this connection. He assured the victim and the Congress activists of taking appropriate action after receiving the enquiry report. Earlier, while protesting outside the Bundala police post, residents of the village demanded the dismissal of the accused ASI, identified as Gurnam Singh. They also sought the suspension of the policeman who tried to effect a compromise between the aggrieved woman and the accused ASI. Nimisha alleged that the police had arrested the victim's husband in a narcotics case and last evening when she had gone to give medicines to her husband at the Bundala police post where he was lodged. She was badly treated by the ASI Gurnam Singh who had been putting up a naka on the way. She alleged that when her son tried to intervene in the matter, he was also thrashed by the police. She said when they brought the matter to the notice of Hardeep Singh, another policeman, he proposed to strike a deal with Gurnam Singh. Former Cabinet minister Sardool Singh Bundala, who also accompanied them to the SSP, criticised the deteriorating law and order situation in the state. “If the ASI is found guilty in the investigation, stern action would be taken against him,” said the SSP while revealing that the victim’s husband was arrested for possessing narcotics.
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Man held for impersonating as senior BSF officer Amritsar, April 18
Varinderpal Singh, a resident of Tehsilpura, told the police that the accused told him that he was Parshant Kumar, SP, Border Range, and had links with top officials in the Central Government and the police department. He demanded Rs 20 lakh for procuring a licence for opening a petrol pump and gas agency and asked him to give Rs 5 lakh as advance. However, Varinderpal gave him Rs 1.20 lakh. Later, he got suspicious of him and came to know about his real identity. He approached the police, which registered a case under Sections 419, 420, 170, 171, 506, IPC in this connection. Neeraj Kumar, SHO, said Parveen was wanted in as many as 15 cases of similar nature registered in various police stations here. He was earlier nabbed in June, 2002, and was later charge-sheeted in a similar case. He posed as an Assistant Director of the CBI at that time. He said he had defrauded a number of unemployed persons of lakhs of rupees on the pretext of getting them lucrative jobs in various government departments, including the FCI and sending them abroad. He was allegedly illegally using the government emblem and red beacon on his vehicle, though no document regarding installing red light and VIP stickers had been found from his possession. He said further investigations were under progress. — TNS
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Residents rue lack of good school transportation for their children
Amritsar, April 18
Four children were injured in yet another school bus mishap in the district a day before. Overloading was found to be the reason behind the incident. Assistant Commissioner Police (Traffic) Ketan Patil Balram said nine vans, a bus, and 75 autos, carrying schoolchildren, were challaned for flouting various traffic norms in January. Three vans, a bus and 84 autos, falling under school transportation, were challaned in February. He added that the drive was intensified in March and 75 vans, 12 buses and 185 autos were challaned in March. Bus, mini-bus, van, auto and rickshaw are the popular modes of transportation for ferrying schoolchildren. With the opening of a number of private schools on the outskirts of the city, the number of buses and minibuses has risen sharply on city roads. Interactions with parents of various popular schools of the city showed that they had a lot of queries and doubts, but found these caught in red tape prevalent in these schools. Fearing the management of these schools, they backed out from being quoted in the newspaper, leave aside being clicked. Naresh Johar, a social activist, said, “A majority of schools do not have their own transport facility and are reluctant to do so to get rid of the responsibility in the event of a mishap. Obviously, the school managements pass the buck on to contractors in case of any unsavoury incident.” He said it was strange that semi-literate drivers are always held responsible for violations, but the school managements escaped the law of the land as these outsource the school transportation to private hands. He said relevant laws were available to regulate schools buses. As per these norms, a driver of a school bus can be booked for driving-related offences, while the school management/owner and principal can be held responsible for other types of violations. He added that even private vehicles like vans, cabs, autorickshaws and rickshaws ferrying school children were bound to follow the safety measures. The authorities have not been able to rein in erring drivers, owners of buses and vans. Rickety and worn-out vehicles being driven by inexperienced drivers, are the root cause of these accidents, civic activists pointed out. Alarming situation
* Four children were injured in yet another school bus mishap in the district on Tuesday *
Overloading was found to be the reason behind the accident * Rickety and worn-out vehicles driven by inexperienced drivers are the root cause of most of the accidents *
The authorities have largely failed in reining the erring drivers, the owners of these buses and vans
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Unemployed linesmen stage protest at Company Bagh
Amritsar, April 18 A large number of activists gathered at Company Bagh to hold a protest. The police, already on its toes, did not allow them to move out of Company Bagh. Heated arguments and a scuffle were witnessed between the two parties when the activists were stopped from moving further. They were soon placated when the local Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) who received a memorandum from them. The protesters said the state government had issued notification for recruitment of 5,000 linemen but only 1,000 were given jobs. They accused the government of dilly-dallying with their appointments despite the court orders. They alleged that the police had arrested over 100 linesmen, 36 women and eight children during their protest at Talwandi Sabo and implicated them in false cases. They warned that the cases registered against them should be cancelled and the recruitment process be started without any delay or else they will intensify their agitation against the government.
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Seminar puts focus on tourist circuits to encourage heritage tourism
Amritsar, April 18 Dr Balvinder Singh, head, Guru Ram Das Institute of Planning, sensitised the students and faculty about the need to conserve the heritage. Dr Balvinder stressed upon the need to initiate steps to preserve heritage buildings by the government. He also informed the students about various sites of cultural and archeological importance around the holy city. "A balance must be struck between modernity and history for the conservation of historical sites. There should be an effort to preserve the essence of the building," he said, adding that unplanned and amateur conservation have destroyed essence of many sites. He said there was a need to include heritage conservation teachings in school syllabi. Good conservation work, he said, was also going on at the same time. "The artists have done very good conservation work at the Golden Temple complex, Baba Atal, Gobindgarh Fort and Ram Bagh gardens," he said. There was a need to focus on the walled city area where existing building by-laws were not conservation-friendly, he added. He said the entire system to preserve heritage should be reviewed. "Punjab, especially Amritsar, has many historic sites such as Khalsa College complex where the conservation and preservation work took place," he said. He laid emphasis on linking conservation with heritage tourism. "The pilgrim and tourist circuits must be developed to encourage heritage tourism to earn revenue, generate employment and this would lead to conservation of the buildings too," he said. KCE principal JS Dhillon said the seminar was organised to create awareness about diversity of cultural heritage and the efforts were required to protect and conserve it. He said a collective effort on part of the community was required to conserve the invaluable legacy. Khalsa College of Education (KCE) vice-principal Harpreet Kaur, Prof Manpreet Kaur, Khalsa College Governing Council deputy director, PR, DS Rataul and many teachers and students were present on the occasion.
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Youth booked for molesting Batala girl
Amritsar, April 18 She said she narrated the whole incident to her sister who knew the accused. Her sister went to the accused's house to complain against him, she further said. However, the accused started used abusive and vulgar language and injured her. The police has registered a case under Sections 354-A, 323, 341 of the IPC in this connection. No arrest has been made so far, the police said.
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Health Dept to hold street plays in rural areas Amritsar, April 18 A meeting was held in which senior officials of the department and employees working in rural areas participated. Civil Surgeon Dr Yash Mitra said senior medical officers, women health visitors, urban medical officers and nodal officers who attended the meeting were asked to make all arrangements for the programme. District Family Welfare Officer Dr Ranjit Singh Butter said a district-level workshop would be organised soon to educate the health staff working in the district. He said the owners of ultra-sound centres, NGOs, officials of education department would also be involved so that message can be spread. —TNS
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Comedy theatre fest a success among audience in city
Amritsar, April 18
Organised by city-based theatre group The Narrator, the Comedy Theatre Festival featured scripts by prominent playwrights which were staged by known theatre groups like Natyam, Azad Rangmanch, Creative Arts and the Life Theatre from across Punjab. The festival’s aim is to bring fresh entertainment to Amritsar audience and take liberty of experimenting with a popular genre. “We have dedicated the festival to late Jaspal Bhatti who has been instrumental in popularising the genre of satire and social comedy. The purpose of the festival is to attack grave issues in the society, but with humour as a weapon. Nobody wants to listen to preaching if not wrapped in humour. Also, people live a stressed out life with everyday problems and issues. So, comedy theatre acts as refreshment,” says Pritpal Pali, actor and founder of The Narrator. The festival has held four plays so far since it was inaugurated on April 15. The plays include RSVP written by Pali Bhupinder, Bappu Jamme Chaar Nikkamme by Baljinder Sandhu, Biba Putt by Gamnu Bansal, Maut Kyun Raat Bhar Nahi Aati by Partap Sehgal. All the plays worked with tried and tested formula of satire and comedy, with burning social issues as central theme. “Contrary to the cinema, Punjabi theatre is loaded with social dramas and intellectual stuff. Comedy is a rare feat and hence comic plays attract huge audience. Though not much experimentation is possible given the popularity of the genre, satires work best with the audience,” says Kirti Kirpal, director of RSVP. The play which delved on the issue of immigration through sham marriages opened the festival and received acclaim. Original scripts, subject treatment and quality comedy plays have sustained the Punjabi comedy theatre’s growth, Kirpal maintains. “While most of the amateur theatre groups emulate Pakistani style of comedy in theatre, originality is the key to a successful comedy play. We have lot of quality scripts for comedy plays with sharp satires and simple narrative but their treatment can bring out the beauty of any innovative technique in theatre,” adds Kirpal. “Take example of our films where comedy is full of double meaning and slapstick jokes. The kind of comedy done in films is monotonous, lacks vision and is unimaginative. But theatre doesn’t give you a chance to be unimaginative as one has to face live audience, keeping things simple and to the point,” agrees Pritpal. As for the festival, the audience has been quite generous. “We hope to make the Comedy Theatre Festival a yearly initiative with the kind of response we have got. Comedy is a tough genre and justifying those moments of laughter in the script is a challenge for artists,” Pali says. Staging of play Jihne Jhalle Mere Palle by The Life Theatre group from Jallandhar will mark the closing of the five-day festival.
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SGPC holds hockey trial for U-15 players from four dists
Amritsar, April 18 The trials were conducted by Olympian Brig Harcharan Singh, Surinder Singh Sodhi and Rajpal Singh, SGPC director Dalmegh Singh and Sports Director Balwinder Singh. SGPC secretary Dalmegh Singh said a committee of five renowned hockey players comprising Brig Harcharan Singh, Ajitpal Singh, Pargat Singh, Surinder Singh Sodhi and Rajpal Singh was earlier formed to select four hockey teams in the state. He said these teams at Patiala, Faridkot, Ludhiana and Amirtsar would be nourished under the supervision of the SGPC. The selected players will have to promise to a 'sabat soorat' Sikh all their lives apart from a five-year bond to play for the SGPC. Dalmegh Singh said the SGPC had earlier formed a kabaddi team and now it would be promoting hockey. He said all expenses on training, boarding and lodging of players would be borne by the SGPC. The move would help get youngsters away from the menace of drugs, said Singh, adding that renowned coaches would be arranged to train the players.
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The police today foiled an attempt by the activists of the Unemployed Linesmen Union to proceed towards the residence of Punjab Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia at Green Avenue and stage a dharna there in support of their demands.
Amritsar, April 18
The Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandak Committee (SGPC) today held hockey trial for Under-15 players from four districts of the region at Guru Nanak Dev University. About 550 budding hockey players from various schools participated in the event.
The trials were conducted by Olympian Brig Harcharan Singh, Surinder Singh Sodhi and Rajpal Singh, SGPC director Dalmegh Singh and Sports Director Balwinder Singh.
