Amritsar, May 8
Head constable Jaswinder Singh, who had consumed poison last evening, died during the wee hours today.

Jaswinder Singh in Amritsar. Photos: Sameer Sehgal

If his family members were to be believed, he committed suicide after being "harrassed" by his seniors. On the other hand, it, too, cannot be ignored that his name had surfaced in a looting instance, wherein he along with two others - head constable Satnam Singh, posted at the PCR, and Channa - attempted to rob an Army man at gunpoint yesterday.

With the alertness of the Army man, the police had arrested Satnam Singh, while Jaswinder and Channa fled away.

An FIR was registered against the trio under Sections 384, 387, 342 and 34 of the IPC and Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act at the Sultanwind police station.

Family members alleged that Jaswinder was under immense depression after the police repeatedly raided their house to nab him. About his involvement in the looting instance, his wife Amarjit Kaur showed total ignorance. "We have no inkling about his involvement in any sort of illegal activity. But I had found him to be under great stress since yesterday, which forced him to end his life," she said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Kaustub Sharma said under the present circumstances, the priority would to support the family members, who suffered a setback because of this unfortunate development, yet disciplinary action against the deceased would be taken at a later stage."

When asked about the allegation being levelled by the deceased's family members on senior police officers, DCP Kaustub Sharma said it was a matter to investigate that under what circumstances he took the extreme step. "There could be some other reason, which forced him to take such an extreme step. It could also not be denied that his accomplice head constable Satnam Singh, whom we had apprehended on the crime scene, had revealed his involvement in the looting. Moreover, when his name was figured in the FIR, he kept on absconding rather than approaching some senior officer to explain his side. Besides this, he was involved in dubious activities earlier too. Still, family needs support at this unfortunate time, the disciplinary proceedings can be followed up later," he said.

Amritsar, May 8
The Ferozepur Division of the Northern Railway, which has its jurisdiction over parts of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, has instituted an inquiry by senior officials of the division to ascertain the reasons of the breaking out of fire in two compartments of the Saharsa-Amritsar Garib Rath at Jandiala, about 20 km from the city railway station, last night.

Rumours are afloat that the fire may have been sparked because of half-burnt cigarette, while sabotage is also not being ruled out.

Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Naresh Chander Goel said so far there was no outcome of preliminary report and the committee would submit the report of the inquiry within four days. About the possibility of sabotage, he said nothing was being ruled out and the committee, consisting of senior officials, would probe the incident from all angles and the truth would come out.

He said the Railways incurred a loss of about Rs 2 crore on account of fire as two coaches of the train were completely gutted. He said both the compartments would be sent to a big railway workshop, probably at Jagadhari.

Fortunately, there was no loss of life or to private property as the Ferozepur Division did not receive any claim, shared the DRM.

Fire in train coaches are not new for the Railways. In order to minimise the losses due to the breaking out of fires, the Railways installed a comprehensive fire and smoke detection system in about 500 coaches on a trial basis during the financial year 2010-2011.

The system aimed to minimise loss of life and property in case of a mishap is yet to be implemented in all trains, said sources. Fire-related incidents have claimed a number of lives in the recent past.

Meanwhile, electrical failure remains the biggest reason behind the fire incidents in railway coaches. The research division of the Railways observed that the generator cars of its flagship trains like Shatabdi, Rajdhani and Duronto were most vulnerable to fire. Thus, Garib Rath was no different.

Amritsar, May 8
A meeting of the Municipal Corporation (MC) and police officials was held here today to discuss the streamlining of traffic in the city. The meeting was attended by Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora, MC Commissioner Bhupinder Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police Kaushtab Sharma, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) HS Randhawa and others.

Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora said it was decided that zebra crossings and yellow lines would be marked at key traffic locations. Zebra crossings and yellow lines at present are missing on most of the roads. "Even as a proposal has been sent to the government about the expenditure plan, but the reply is awaited. Still, I directed my officials to start the job looking into the urgency. The expenditure will be arranged through other heads," he said.

The MC has also decided to repair traffic signals The traffic problem on Bhandari Bridge was also discussed. It was deliberated that the railway authorities should be involved at the initial stage of planning of widening the bridge so that whatever objections they raised, should be addressed there and then only, he said.

Similarly, it was also decided to expedite the process of introduction of the city Bus Service so that the chaos created by the illegal plying of three-wheelers should be checked.

"We also refrain from taking any stern action against the illegal three-wheelers, because in the absence of any public mode of transport, they cannot stopped from operating right now as it will only be the commuters who will suffer. Once we have a public transport system in the shape of the city bus service, we will be free to be tough with the three-wheeler operators," Municipal Commissioner Bhupinder Singh said.

Amritsar, May 8
Kanwardeep Kaur, an engineering student, has secured 681 rank in the civil services examinations conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

Her achievement holds all the more significance in the light of the fact that it came when her family was facing financial crisis after her father’s death.

Kanwardeep was pursuing her BE at Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, when she lost her father Parkash Singh in December 2009. However, she continued her hard work with grit and dedication to achieve the goal set by her with financial assistance and moral support of Khadur Sahib-based Nishan-E-Sikhi Institution of Padma Shri Baba Sewa Singh.

Talking to mediapersons, she said, “I got placed in a prominent company after doing my BE. However, my aim was to be an IAS officer, which was quite difficult after my father’s demise. Later, I got financial assistance from Nishan-e-Sikhi in December 2011 which helped me a lot.” When asked about her aim to join the civil services, she said her main stress would be on women empowerment. She also announced to do her bit in preparing students of Nishan-E-Sikhi for the civil services examination.

She also thanked Baba Sewa Singh and his institution for helping her and advised those preparing for the civil services exam to work hard.

Amritsar, May 8
Divita Gupta, a class XII student of Senior Study School, has obtained 276 marks out of 360 and is eligible for the JEE (Advanced) 2013 sceheduled to be held on June 2.

Divita Gupta (276)	Abhishek Mahajan (266)	Akashdeep (252)
Shubham (245)	Akshit (246)	Tarun Sharma (235)

School principal Vijay Mehra claimed that Divita was the top scorer in the JEE (Main) exam in the city.

Divya attributed her success to the constant support of her parents, guidance and encouragement she got from her teachers. A confident Divita said she would certainly appear in the JEE (Advanced) 2013 test to secure a seat in the prestigious IITs.

Khalsa College Public School (KCPS) principal Dr Sarvjit Kaur Brar informed that 14 students of Progressive Educational Society, Amritsar, who studied on the KCPS campus, cracked the JEE (Main) 2013.

Vinay Arora, a mathematics teacher of VMC, said 20 students from the institute cleared the JEE (Mains examination. He informed that the students who qualified the JEE Mains would appear in the JEE Advanced.

As per the newly framed rules, the scores obtained in JEE (Main) 2013 would be clubbed with score achieved in class XII examination and be given 40 per cent weightage. These scored clubbed together would determine their admission in the reputed National Institutes of Technology (NIT) and the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIIT) and some other deemed universities. However, for admission in the IITs, students have to clear the JEE Advanced.

Students from his institutes Mridule Arora (229), Samrishi Khanna (218), Abhinav Mehra (200), Himanshu Gupta (190), Anmol Sharma (170), Jasmeet Virdi (155), Tanya Sood (152) and Vikrant Kalia (150).

Rupesh Gupta from Wisdom Classes said as many as 11 students manage to secure marks over 200.

Amritsar, May 8
Keeping in view the demand of students, number of seats to various undergraduate and postgraduate (PG) courses, being run in the affiliated colleges, has been increased from 30 to 60 seats in some courses.

Inmates of girls’ hostel of Guru Nanak Dev University celebrate at a cultural evening in Amritsar on Wednesday. A Tribune photograph

This was disclosed during a meeting of the College Development Council of the university, which was held here today in the syndicate room. Vice-Chancellor, Prof AS Brar presided over the meeting while Prof Rajinderjit Kaur Pawar, Dean, College Development Council, presented the agenda. Dean, Academic Affairs, Prof MS Hundal and Registrar, Dr Inderjit Singh were also present.

At the meeting, problems relating to affiliation of colleges, their admissions and examination were discussed at length. It was decided that the first semester classes in affiliated colleges would start from July 12, 2013, while the second semester classes would start from January 5, 2014.

It was also decided that the examination of first semester would be held in the month of November, while that of second semester would start from May 5, 2014.

Prof Brar said practical examinations of various classes would be held after the theory examinations.

Cultural night at GNDU

Inmates of girls’ hostel of Guru Nanak Dev University held a cultural evening, "Chiriya da Chamba", to celebrate hostel night on Wednesday.

As many as 150 students were present on the occasion. Vice-Chancellor’s wife Dr Sarvjit Kaur Brar was the guest of honour. Dr PK Sehajpal, Dean, Students’ Welfare, was also present on the occasion.

Jobanjit Kaur, organiser of the event, welcomed the chief guest and others. Dr Bhavnita Dhillon, hostel warden detailed about the activities of the hostel. Dr Vasudha Sambyal, another Hostel Warden presented vote of thanks. Head girl Sandeep Kaur conducted the stage.

Dr Sarvjit Brar, while recalling memories of her student life, said she had also spent a good time in this hostel. She said girl students should excel in other fields along with their studies so that in future they could prove themselves. She said girls always influence the society with their contribution and provide a new direction.

Dr Sehajpal also congratulated the organisers for the successful organisation of the event. Earlier, the event started with shabad-kirtan followed by folk songs, classical and western dances.

Amritsar, May 8
Amritsar will soon witness a 300-crore model industrial park to provide a versatile platform to small and medium scale enterprises in the state.

The government has accorded the mega-project status to the industrial park and granted a special package of incentives. Most significantly, the government has allowed 100 per cent exemption from the stamp duty and registration fee on the first sale or transfer of built up spaces or land inside the project area.

Further, there shall be no stamp duty on lease instrument of units located in the project area.

This was declared by Penguin Buildtech Private Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alpha G Corp and Veer Colonisers and Builders Private Limited, promoters of the project.

Spread over an area of 147 acres, this mega industrial park will be the first-of-its-kind in Punjab to accommodate units of red, green as well as orange category industries. The flexibility to accommodate industries with varying demands along with infrastructure to support the most hi-tech and energy intensive industries makes this industrial park a distinct proposition not only for the Amritsar city, but also for the entire state.

The state government has also mandated the Punjab Pollution Control Board to grant no-objection-certificate (NOC). The government has alsogranted them the permission to operate the green category industry, to be located in the industrial park, within 30 days on fulfilment of all required terms and conditions. The construction of high-rise buildings up to 45 metres has been allowed within the mega project. In line with its policy and business practices, the model industrial park has obtained all regulatory approvals before the commercial launch of the project.

The mega project, located on Mehta Road, just 900 metres from the National Highway 1 (NH1) opposite the existing Focal Point, will feature crucial infrastructure like a common effluent treatment plant (ETP) to treat industrial waste. Tree-lined and symmetrically constructed roads with blinkers and traffic lights will make navigation of the project easier. To mitigate any impact on the surrounding environment, the industrial park will also have green cover. Proper parking spaces, both for the public and commercial vehicles, provision for power stations, rain water harvesting, fire fighting arrangements, an industrial canteen and recreation centre will be integral features of the industrial park.

Speaking on the occasion of the project launch here yesterday, SK Sayal, Director and CEO, Alpha G:Corp said the model industrial park was set to create an estimated 5,000 direct jobs in Amritsar.

Amritsar, May 8
Ernest Hemingway believed that there was no friend as loyal as books. And to this, most would agree. But the holy city, despite its glorious history of literature, is yet to shun its indifference to books.

A city that has bred some of the finest names in the regional and national literature is yet to embrace a healthy book culture, even after a proper functional public library for the ones who want to strike a friendship with books. To put the facts down, the city lacks any breeding book clubs, public libraries and the only hope, the once famous Moti Lal Nehru Library too lies neglected and so is its collection of over 30,000 books.

Run by the MC, the Moti Lal Nehru library is one of the biggest in the district and has been the breeding grounds of legendary writers like Sadat Hasan Manto. But over the years, the footfall at the library has declined considerably and its update has been in a shambles. The only other public library Dhani Ram Chatrik Library at Virsa Vihar too lies vacant most of the time.

“It’s a sad truth of the Amritsar city that despite its rich literary background and home to literati, it doesn’t have a healthy book culture. Having book clubs or book café’s is a long shot considering that the two public libraries failed to attract readers and keep up with the time,” says Parminderjit, editor Akhar magazine and a renowned poet. He adds that there is no dearth of book lovers in the city, only the places dedicated to books and reading.

“During my visits to the US and Europe, I have found that the book café’s have changed the way people read books. One can actually spent an entire day amidst books if given a healthy ambience. But the city has so far been a disappointment.”

It’s not just the lack of book clubs or culture, its lack of empathy towards books. “I have been going to the Moti lal Nehru library for years now and though the books are kept in good condition, the lack of assistance towards the readers is annoying. The collection at the library has not been updated for quite a long time and so it difficult to find some bestsellers or good reads. And one could easily get lost in the catalogues or the rows of books, since there is no assistance provided to readers,” says NS Gabaria, a lifetime member of the Moti Lal Nehru Library.

Another bleak attempt at providing a public space for reading is the Dhani Ram Chatrik library at Virsa Vihar. With its collection of 5,000 books in Punjabi, Hindi and English literature, the library is yet to get noticed. “We have been trying to encourage footfall by organising exhibitions of the collection of rare books at the library. Since all the books in the collection have been donated by prominent writers and scholars of city, the library doesn’t compromise on quality,’ informs Kewal Dhaliwal, director, Virsa Vihar. But despite the fact, it still doesn’t have any takers. “Most book lovers have made fine personal libraries at their home and in absence of any book clubs, the discussions happen over a cup of tea at their residences. There is a will, but no way for the book lovers,” sasy Parminderjit.

Even some of the prominent book stores keep their focus on course books and limited best sellers. So the problem persists. The sole private library-cum-learning centre in city is One Up, where one can find the latest international reads. Though, the library primarily runs children centric programmes and book clubs, it has a decent collection of book for adults as well. It has brought popular authors like Sir Mark Tully, Dr Ayesha Jalal, Ellen Booth Church and many more to city through its interactions and workshops.