Summer woes: A power cut was imposed on a large part of the city from morning till night putting residents to great inconvenience in Amritsar on Monday. Photo: Sameer Sehgal Sunshade: Two women visitors protect themselves from the scorching heat with an umbrella at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar on Monday. Photo: Sameer Sehgal cleaning act: An SGPC employee cleans the sarover at the Golden Temple in Amritsar on Monday. photo: sameer sehgal

World Press Freedom Day celebrated
Amritsar, May 6
International Fateh Academy (IFA) celebrated the 20th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day at the Art Gallery here. City-based mediapersons were honoured for rendering quality services to the society. Dr SP Singh, former Vice Chancellor, Guru Nanak Dev University, was the chief guest on the occasion.

Navneet Kaur has been selected for the Grand Prix Athletics Championship to be held in Bangkok, and Colombo. A Tribune photograph

Marriage palace owners given time till May 15
Jalandhar, May 6
Even as the sealing of 61 marriage palaces, which have not applied for regularisation under the new policy, was scheduled to begin today by the Jalandhar Development Authority (JDA), a new order of by the Secretary, Housing and Development has put the action on hold.

Amritsar, May 6
A city resident today alleged that she was repeatedly raped by her brother-in-law Balwinder Singh on April 4. Balwinder Singh had returned from Dubai about a couple of days ago.

The complainant in her statement to police stated that Balwinder Singh was husband of her sister and the couple had estranged relations for one and half year. She said her sister had been staying with her parents for over a year.

The victim stated that even as Balwinder had estranged relations with her sister, she remained in contact with Balwinder Singh over the phone. She alleged that on April 4 evening, he came to her house when she was alone. She said he took her to his house by luring her and raped her the whole night.

It was last evening when she somehow managed to escape from the place where he had kept her. She alleged that Balwinder Singh threatened her with dire consequences, which prevented her from approaching the police instantly. She said she told her family about the whole incident and later they reported the matter to the Gate Hakima police.

Ranjit Singh, investigating officer and in charge of the Fatahpur police chowki, said a case under Sections 376 and 506 of the IPC was registered on the complaint by the victim.

“We have recorded her statement under Section 164 of the CrPC before the Magistrate and further investigations have been launched,” he said, while adding that the medical examination of the girl had also been conducted by the doctors and the police was waiting for the reports.

He said raids were being conducted to nab Balwinder Singh, who had been absconding ever since the matter came to the police.

Amritsar, May 6
The death of a Class VI student, Simranjit Singh, in a school bus accident near Sudhar village on Saturday has now brought the District Transport Office (DTO) office in action.

It has issued a communique to all schools in the district asking them to provide details about the buses attached with them. The transport office is now focusing on the obsolete buses, which are still being used. As per traffic norms, a bus cannot be operated after 15 years of the purchase.

However, the biggest hurdle for the transport office will be to bring the erring schools to the book as majority of the schools do not have their own transport. These public schools, even run by trusts, have outsourced their transportation facilities to disown the responsibility in case of any eventuality.

Besides, it provided black sheeps in these school administrations to earn commission over outsourcing of transport contracts to private persons, alleged a social activist Naresh Johar. He said there was a strange commonality in all these schools. Majority of these schools do not own transportation and are reluctant to do so to disown the responsibility at the time of any mishap. Obviously, it gives these managements a room to pass the buck on contractors in case of any accident. Interestingly, many schools charge transportation cost in school fee, despite not owning the transportation for school children.

He said it was strange that the semi-literate drivers were always held responsible for accidents and violation of traffic rules, but the school managements escaped responsibility and punishment as these outsourced 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 could be booked for his driving-related offences, while the school management/owner and principal can be held responsible for other violations. He added that even private vehicles like vans, cabs, auto-rickshaws and rickshaws ferrying schoolchildren 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 causes of these accidents, civic activists pointed out.

Amritsar, May 6
In a decision which will have far-reaching ramifications on the regularisation of various illegal colonies, the Punjab Rural Development and Panchayat Department has rejected the proposal of bifurcating the panchayat of Heir village.

The proposal was to create another panchayat in the village by residents of an illegal

colony in the village, which is situated on the outskirts of the city. In the orders number DPE-4/181/12/Verka/11468-73, dated April 23, 2013, special secretary of the department stated that the proposal was examined following the orders from the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the same was found invalid and thus rejected. The high court, while hearing the writ petition 3581/13, had asked the department to examine the validity and legal standing of another panchayat in the village.

"The proposal of new panchayat by residents of the colony is watched. The colony is neither falling under the Municipal Corporation limit, nor it is under the village panchayat. And as the right procedure to carve out another panchayat for this colony is not adopted, the proposal stands rejected. The others basic norms of passing a resolution and general house meeting by the parent panchayat were also not adopted, leading to the decision,’’ stated the order.

The orders also mentions that the norms relating to geographical considerations and census report were also not adhered too, thus the eligibility criteria was violated as per the regulations of the panchayat rules. It has been mentioned that the residents of the private colony had made the proposal for having a separate panchayat following the Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA) taking cognisance of the complaints regarding the colony.

It was in this light that Sarbjit Singh, a resident , filed a petition before the high court and a two-Judge Bench, comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice RP Nagrath, observed ,"As the petition alleged procedural violations of the Panchayati Raj Act, 1994…we dispose of the writ with direction to the Panchayat Department for the objective considerations."

"Following these directions, the inquiry started and I deposed before the inquiry committee also and brought the facts before the panel," stated Ajmer Singh, a resident. The residents said there was an attempt by unapproved colonies to convert themselves into a panchayat to virtually get regularised bypassing the PUDA norms and the new orders would set an example.

Amritsar, May 6
There seems to be no end to the illegal mining of sand in the the rural areas of the district, especially the villages located near the riverine belt of the Ravi, despite the fact that the Punjab and Haryana High Court has imposed a blanket ban on this illegal practice.

The recent instances of confiscation of vehicles and arrest of couple of persons clearly hint out at political patronage to these miscreants. It also points out at the possible involvement of certain political leaders in the trade, which is allowing the illegal excavation of sand unabated.

In the past nearly a week, the Amritsar (Rural) police has arrested two persons and confiscated two trucks and a tracter-trailer laden with sand. Sources in the Police Department said only a handful of persons involved in the illegal digging were arrested, while majority of persons indulge in illegal excavation with impunity.

Yesterday, the Ajnala police seized a truck laden with sand. The truck driver absconded after abandoning the truck.

Earlier, the rural police arrested Bakshish Singh of Chak Aul village with truck laden with sand on April 30 near Preet Nagar village. A day before this, the police had nabbed Malkiat Singh of Kohala village with a tractor-trailer coming towards Amritsar from Chaugawan. He was arrested near the main chowk of Chaugwana by a police party.

The police has registered separate cases under Section 379 of the IPC and relevant sections of the Mining and Mineral Act-1957.

Amritsar, May 6
The use of “PRESS” logo and holograms of various media houses by unscrupulous people on their vehicles is going unabatedly regardless the fact they are not even remotely related to any media organisation.

They apparently do this to scare away a policeman, especially a traffic cop, or even defraud people.

In Amritsar city, one can easily spot such logos of various news channels, newspapers pasted on private vehicles despite the fact that their owners do not have any connection with them.

This is a serious challenge for the authorities as such people might take advantage of faking as mediapersons for furthering their nefarious designs given the scale of anti-social activities and prevalence of crimes such as smuggling, carrying illegal arms and liquor.

The administration and the police authorities have not bothered so far to launch any rigorous drive to curb this practice.

There have been incidents when people were found involved in unscrupulous and illegal activities. On May 1, a group of four persons, including a woman, were arrested by the police. They would fake as journalists and had duped many people in Ajnala.

A black colour Alto car (PB-02-BT-1012) along with a camera, fake identity cards and some currency notes were recovered from them.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP-Rural) Manmohan Singh said, “Complaints have been pouring in against a group of persons posing as journalists in the area who would threaten general public and extort money from them.”

Bhajan Singh, Lovedeep Singh and Gurbhej Singh had filed complaints with the police that some persons posing themselves as print and electronic media journalists had duped them in lieu of not publishing the so-called ‘sting operations’ they had carried on them.

The complainants told the police that the accused intercepted their truck and trolleys and extorted Rs 8,500 from Bhajan Singh, Rs 4,500 from Lovedeep and Rs 2,500 from Gurbhej Singh using the same modus operandi. They have been sent to judicial remand.

Rajesh Madan, the proprietor of Alisha Gas Agency at East Mohan Nagar yesterday filed a complaint that he had been receiving threatening calls from a person calling himself as correspondent of a vernacular newspaper.

There have been a number of instances where people doing other businesses and jobs use ‘PRESS’ logos while they are not remotely related with the media. Not only this, some of them even carry fake identity cards.

The Information Department has kept its eyes closed and the police does not even bother to get the actual information from vehicle owners.

Reports suggest that some media houses have been found issuing press cards and stickers to the relatives and friends of their employees. 

Amritsar, May 6
The district administration on the direction of the Punjab Election Commission has created a website to provide all kind of information regarding the elections to zila parishad and panchayat samitis on May 19.

Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Election Officer Rajat Aggarwal today said as many as 21 zila parishad and 176 panchayat samitis would go to the polls.

He said for any of information, such as reservation of panchayat samitis, earmarking of their areas, names of appointed returning officers, assistant returning officers and others, could be accessed at www.amritsar.nic.in.

Additional District Election Officer-cum-ADC Pradeep Kumar Sabharwal said there was a complete prohibition on carrying arms and ammunition in the rural areas which would go to elections on May 19. He added that the elections would be held in a free and fair manner as per the directions of the Election Commission, Punjab. —TNS

Amritsar, May 6
Members of the Mission Agaaz today said cross-border prisoners should be treated at par with their local counterparts and they should not be given inhuman treatment.

The NGO paid tributes to Sarabjit Singh, who was brutally attacked and killed in a Lahore jail by fellow inmates recently on the sidelines of ‘Green Meet’ held here today.

The members also chalked out their plans for expanding the green belt in the city.

NGO executive director Deepak Babbar informed above the plan so as to perform regular activities under ‘Dastak’ wherein students and people are made aware about 5 Ps i.e. paani (water), pakshi (birds), ped (trees), pawan (air) and parandi (girl child), to mark all national and international days.

“We will organise monthly Gul-Gulshan-Gulfam wherein people will be made aware of seasonal fruits, flowers and vegetables. This month, the focus will be on raat-ki-rani, lugath and sehjan (drumsticks),” he said.

Rameshwar Dutt Sharma briefed about the activities conducted by the group in April. He said the main focus of the Green Meet was water conservation and their team found huge wastage of water during a survey conducted in various areas of the city.

It was observed, he said, whenever there was shortage of water supply, people took to the streets but nobody cared and simply wasted water in their surroundings.

The Municipal Corporation, Water Sewerage Department and the councillers have remained evasive on the issue so far, he added.

Mission Aagaaz recently participated in a meeting conducted by the district administration under the Green Mission Punjab. A team comprising CEO Manjit Jhangra and DFO (retd) Atma Singh has been entrusted with the task of locating the sites which required plantation and saplings. 

Amritsar, May 6
Submitting a joint representation with Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and High Commissioner for Pakistan Salman Bashir, the Folklore Research Academy, Amritsar, and Hind-Pak Dosti Manch, pleaded that prisoners from both sides should be released and repatriated to their native countries unconditionally on humanitarian grounds.

They also demanded that the boats detained by either side should be disposed of or returned to their owners.

“We suggested that a delegation of boat owners from both sides could visit both the countries to inspect all the Indian fishing boats detained in Pakistan so that decision could be taken regarding their return to India in consultation with the authorities concerned and the same action could be taken for the return of Pakistani fishing vessels detained in India. This needs to be implemented without any delay,” the manch said.

Ramesh Yadav, president of Folklore Academy, said it was high time to discuss and resolve the prisoners’ issue in general and those who cross border inadvertently, prisoners with minor offences and juvenile prisoners.

“They need to be released and repatriated unconditionally. If it is not be possible at the earliest, the top officials of both the governments must sit together, strategise and ensure the security of prisoners,” Yadav said.

About the brutal attack on Sarabjit Singh by inmates in a Lahore jail which claimed his life and the subsequent attack on Pakistani inmate on Sanaullah in Jammu Jail, the civil society organisations asked both the governments to punish the guilty so that such dastardly attacks did not take place in future.

“These two attacks on prisoners in high security jails speak a lot about the security arrangements. The attack on Sanaullah took place even after Ministry of Home Affairs had issued directives to all the state governments to strengthen the security for Pakistani prisoners following attack on Sarabjit Singh,” he said.

The representation from the Folklore Academy was submitted by Ramesh Yadav, Dr Charanjiit Nabha, Gurdev Singh Mehlawala and Ranjiv Sharma while the signatories of from Hind Pak Dosti Manch comprised its president Kuldeep Nayyar, Satnam Singh Manak and Jatin Desai.

Amritsar, May 6
International Fateh Academy (IFA) celebrated the 20th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day at the Art Gallery here. City-based mediapersons were honoured for rendering quality services to the society. Dr SP Singh, former Vice Chancellor, Guru Nanak Dev University, was the chief guest on the occasion.

The celebration started with lighting of lamp by the chief guest and chairman IFA Jagbir Singh.

Jalandhar, May 6
Even as the sealing of 61 marriage palaces, which have not applied for regularisation under the new policy, was scheduled to begin today by the Jalandhar Development Authority (JDA), a new order of by the Secretary, Housing and Development has put the action on hold.

The orders have allowed the palace owners, who have not yet applied for regularisation, to submit their files latest by May 15, restraining the staff from acting against them. The JDA had mulled action against 14 palaces of Jalandhar, 25 of Hoshiarpur and 22 of Kapurthala.

About 102 palace owners had applied for regularisation by February 28. There were 41 more applications received by the office after this time, leaving 61 still without compliance. The association of palace owners had then met the bureaucrats at Chandigarh and got the action delayed yet again.

A.Venu Prasad, Secretary, Housing and Development, had earlier ordered the closure notices to the palaces who had not applied, asking them to shut their premises in case they were not interested in applying through the new policy and getting the requisite permissions from the departments concerned.

Since many palaces did not shut down on their own, the JDA officials were ordered last week to seal the palaces. Chief Administrator JDA Supreet Singh Gulati said the palace owners had been given the last opportunity till May 15, after which the action was bound to be taken against the palaces which were covered under the master plan.

Asked about the status of other palaces which had applied for regularisation, he said, "Barring a few, most of the 102 palaces are yet to seek the NOC from the Punjab Pollution Control Board. Without this mandatory approval, we cannot give NOCs to the palaces."

The orders have allowed the palace owners, who have not yet applied for regularisation, to submit their files latest by May 15, restraining the staff from acting against them. The JDA had mulled action against 14 palaces of Jalandhar, 25 of Hoshiarpur and 22 of Kapurthala.