Amritsar, May 9
A teenaged girl has been allegedly raped by her neighbour at Burj Ke Baad village, falling under the Majitha police station in the Amritsar (Rural) police district.

The police has registered a case against Sukhjinder Singh, alias Raju, following a complaint by the girl, here late last evening.

According to information, the victim had gone to the accused's house to extend helping hand in cooking.

Lovedeep Singh, SHO, Majitha police station, said medical examination of the girl was being conducted, while a case under Sections 376 and 506 of the IPC was lodged against Sukhjinder Singh in this regard.

In her statement, the girl said she had gone to Sukhjinder's house for cooking food as his wife was not at home. She said she usually went to his home for extending help.

She said on May 5, when she was to return home after cooking food, Sukhjinder pressurised her to stay there as it was getting very late. She alleged when she did not agree and tried to go home, he started to make physically advances and raped her. She raised an alarm, following which her family members reached the spot. On seeing them, Sukhjinder fled away.

Lovedeep said raids were being conducted to nab Sukhjinder, who had been evading arrest since the registration of the case.

Amritsar, May 9
The district authorities have been gearing up to deal with the unauthorised plying of auto-rickshaws in the holy city. The answer to this menace was the introduction of viable and economical public transport system in the shape of the city bus service.

This item finds top position on the agenda of the authorities. Regular meetings are being conducted by the Deputy Commissioner, MC officials and the Police Department to expedite the process of introducing the city bus service in the city, which was hanging fire for the past around five years.

In the absence of such a service, the auto-rickshaw operators continue to flout traffic norms and other rules. Even the high court directions hold little significance for them. The transport laws as well as the high court directions limit the number of passengers or schoolchildren in an auto-rickshaw to six, but here even the driver’s seat is used to carry passengers.

It was the lack of any other public transport mode in the holy city and, not to forget, the political intervention, which had deterred the administration from taking tough action against them.

The District Transport Office (DTO) records say that there are 9,342 officially registered auto-rickshaws plying in the city, but the DTO is also aware of the fact that over 35,000 other auto-rickshaws have been plying on the city roads in an illegal manner.

It is irony that these generally overloaded auto-rickshaws are driven by underage, inexperienced drivers. No points for guessing whether they possess valid driving licences or having traffic norms sense.

To maximize their profits, a section of them resort to using kerosene as a fuel, which adds to the environment pollution in the city.

Many a time the Herculean task of managing the auto-rickshaw menace was initiated by the traffic police and Municipal Corporation (MC), but it yielded no results. Political parties come to their rescue and leave no stone unturned to scuttle the Police Department’s drive against them.

Some months ago, BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu along with his wife and Chief Parliamentary Secretary Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu and Police Commissioner Ram Singh jointly released a traffic plan prepared by the city police, but it, too, could not yield desired results.

Even as the multill-ane bridges and elevated roads are there on the city entry point, but one finds traffic chaos there also. Auto-rickshaw drivers apply breaks anywhere in between the main road to pick passengers unmindful of the heavy traffic flow coming from behind, thereby leading to serious road accidents. The other such points are near the Inter-State Bus Terminal (ISBT) on the GT Road and outside the railway station. In the absence of any designated place for parking auto-rickshaws, their drivers halt them thoughtlessly in the middle of the road for picking passengers.

As per the transport norms, auto-rickshaws could only be operated within the limits of the Municipal Corporation where they are registered, but in a gross violation of transport norms, auto-rickshaws are carrying tourists from the city to the Attari Wagah Joint Check Post (JCP), nearly 36 km from the city.

Amritsar, May 9
Almost a month after his wife’s Facebook comment about him "feeling sidelined" in the BJP sparked a row, MP Navjot Singh Sidhu today clarified that he would contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections from Amritsar only.

Talking to select mediapersons during a short visit to the city, Sidhu said, “The people of Amritsar have showered me with so much love and affection that I can’t turn my back towards them. I can’t imagine contesting elections from anywhere else in India. They voted for me and sent me to the Lok Sabha, not once but thrice. They also elected my wife as their MLA. I can’t repay their debt all my life.”

He stated that he was very much keen to contest from Amritsar, though it’s a different matter whether the party wanted to field him from here or not. He said when he first contested from here he had promised the Amritsar residents that he would not go back to Patiala and he had kept his word. He, however, said the projects that he had brought for the city had not yet materialised and they were being hampered. When asked whether he is complaining, he said, “I don’t complain.”

On a query regarding some party men not using his photographs in posters and banners these days, he quipped, “But they can’t take me out from the people’s heart.” He said he was trying his best to fulfil the promises that he made to the Amritsar residents during the last Lok Sabha elections. Earlier, Sidhu's wife had hinted that he might not contest the Lok Sabha elections next year.

Amritsar, May 9
Traders who have their commercial outlets at the Durgiana Temple complex can heave a sigh of relief as the multi-level commercial complex will be made operational before Diwali.

Earlier, these traders were up in the arms against the district administration for fear of getting displaced after the proposal of Durgiana Temple Beautification Project was made.

If official sources are to be believed, the process for making the multi-level complex operational has been expedited.

Superintending Engineer, Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT), Bharat Bhushan Sharma said, “The commercial complex is being built up at 
an approximate cost of 
Rs 3.5 crore and will house 48 shops or the tenants, who would be vacating their present outlets. To widen the galliara, it had become necessary to demolish the shops at the present location."

“The firm which has undertaken the project at the commercial complex has committed to complete the project within 12 months. Going by this, it will be made functional before Diwali. These shops will be given to the present lot of shopkeepers in the complex on control rate,” he said.

The process for inviting tenders for raising infrastructure for the convenience of the devotees and tourists has started. “We have done with the detailed project report and it would be presented our next meeting. It will take another two years to execute the whole project,” Sharma added.

The cost of the project, notified in 2007 by the Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT), rose from Rs 36 crore to Rs 50 crore following delays due to various reasons. A final design for beautification of 3.03 acres of land around Durgiana Temple has been chosen. Nearly Rs 40 crore had already been deposited by the trust to the Local Bodies Department to carry out the development work. All this is being initiated to attract tourists' attraction to the city.

About 70 per cent of land will be an open area which would include the greenbelt. The rest of the part will have a multi-storey commercial complex, an auditorium, open air theatre, four-storey parking lot to accommodate about 400 cars and 150 two-wheelers. Besides, there will be well-equipped information centre and new jodha ghar for the convenience of the tourists.

Later on, battery-operated vehicles might be included as part of the planning to carry handicapped and elderly visitors to the temple on the lines of arrangement done for the pilgrims at the Golden Temple.

Amritsar, April 9
Wholesale and retail chemist shops will remain closed tomorrow to protest against the new National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy which is likely to be implemented soon.

The policy is aimed to put in place a framework for regulating the prices of the drugs to ensure that they will remain available at affordable and reasonable prices to the common man.

Chemist associations said the policy would squeeze their retail profits by four per cent and that of the wholesale sellers by two per cent which earlier used to be in the bracket of 16 -20 per cent and 8 -10 per cent for retailers and wholesalers, in that order.

The bandh call has 
been given by the All 
India Organisations of Chemists and Druggists which is supported by the Punjab Chemist Association (PCA).

The PCA headed by Surinder Sharma and Surinder Duggal, chairman and working president of the association respectively, said the new policy would bring majority of products under the price control regime which would hit the retailers and wholesalers.

"Inputs costs such as electricity charges and basic infrastructure cost have risen manifold. With the new policy, the traders will not be able to sustain their business," the PCA said.

It was mandatory, they said, for the chemists to hire a pharmacist. They said the government should give a relaxation and should allow the family members of the owners who had experience of more than five years to run the shop in case a pharmacist is not present at the shop.

They also criticizsed holding a chemist owner responsible in a drug is found substandard or spurious during checking. Duggal said the owners should be made witness in case they have all the records pertaining to sale and purchase of medicines. He said that the seller should not be held liable for it as he did not involved in the manufacturing of the drugs.

Ruing the indifferent attitude of the state government they also demanded that the Punjab government should do away with the Red Stamp policy under which a chemist is debarred from selling proscribed drugs. They also demanding of waiving off the condition of mandatory inspection before renewing the license of the shop. This would only increase the corrupt practices. 

Amritsar, May 9
If stubble burning goes on unabated in and around the city, especially the Airport road, it will scuttle the Greening Punjab campaign.

The farms where stubble burning takes place pose threat to health of residents. Not only this, it also plays a spoilsport on the image of the holy city as many tourists commute on road to and from the Amritsar International Airport.

The district administration has already banned stubble burning and declared it as an offence. But its efficacious implementation still remains a far cry.

With elections to zila parishad and panchayat samitis round the corner, no much headway is expected this year as well.

Mission Aagaaz member Deepak Babbar said the government could frame laws and implement these strictly but it is people who can ultimately deliver the change. He said vast tracts of agricultural land on the outskirts of the city could be found with burnt stubble which was highly inimical to environment.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had imposed a blanket ban on stubble burning after crop harvesting keeping in view its adverse effect on the environment and health of the people.

The district administration has been repeatedly warning to register cases against the violators but to no avail.

Gurbhej Singh, another member of the Mission Aagaaz, said the biggest drawback was on the part of the government as it failed to equip farmers with economical viable methods to destroy crop residue. Though the district administration initiated a move to implement the Paddy Burning Act, but it was shot down by the state government on the pretext that no other alternative was available.

In Amritsar, the district administration had introduced baler machine imported from the US which could recycle the paddy residue into fuel generating source and to generate animal feed as well. It also failed due to high cost of the equipment.

More 'crop shredding machines', which were ten-times cheaper than the baler machines, were launched which used to shred the stubble and straw of the crop into smaller pieces and spread them back into the fields. But this machine too could not catch the fancy of farmers.

The menace comes to haunt the city at the fag end of the wheat harvest season when farmers prepare the farms for paddy sowing in the month of July. Burning the remains of wheat crop also leads to health problems among asthmatic patients. 

Amritsar, May 9
Following the directions of the Punjab Health Department, special teams of doctors have been constituted by the district health authorities which will conduct medical checkup of all inmates lodged in the Amritsar Central Jail.

These directions have been issued to all the district authorities for making health cards of all the jail inmates housed in the various jails across the state after conducting their medical examination. The medical examination will include hypertension test, blood pressure, TB and other ailments.

In Amritsar, eight member doctors' team has been formed which visiting the jail between 9 am and 6 pm.

Civil Surgeon Dr Yash Mitra said the instructions were being abided by and over 700 jail inmates, including the Pakistani, Bangladeshi nationals, have been examined till date.

"Even as we have deputed our medical officers in the jail round the clock, a special campaign of examining the jail inmates has been taken up after fresh directions received from the Health Department. A report has to be prepared by May 15 which will be sent to the Health Department in Chandigarh. Looking at the number of prisoners which stood at around 3,400, it will take more time for us to finalise the report," he said.

It has been learnt that there are six gynecologists while two each are there for surgical, ortho and TB.

Dr Mitra added that special care was being taken about the food being served to the jail inmates and the team was also keeping an eye over the conditions under which the food is prepared.

Deputy Superintendent, Amritsar Jail, Kulwant Singh said, "The idea is to take into account their medical history and detect if anyone has been suffering from any disorder. Till today, we could find that there were more cases of skin diseases whereas the others were suffering from blood pressure disorder, diabetes and asthma. They are being examined thoroughly and will be given treatment accordingly," he said. 

The summer exhibition underway in Amritsar on Thursday. A tribune photograph

The exhibition, which primarily has summer collection in casual and formal wear with tees in neon colours, brings some regular labels as well. From western outfits to traditional wedding wear, footwear, junk jewellery, bags, accessories and home décor, the exhibition is a one-stop shop. Popular Pakistani suits now have a good clientele.

Demand-supply chain

Ask Binti Kumar from Wedding Mantra, organiser of exhibitions in city, she says, “Amritsar does not really satisfy those seeking designer lebels as it lacks quality flagship stores of leading designer wear and good design studios. The local designers too find it difficult to sell as there is no medium. Since there is a huge demand for designer wear, whether its wedding collections or western wear, exhibitions like these are a sell out because they bring the best names in the industry with innovative concepts.”

Organising exhibitions for last seven years, Binti says the market is growing in Amritsar. “Many will argue that exhibitions have limited stalls and collections. For those who want different designs, these exhibitions are the bets way to get to designer labels from Delhi and Mumbai. Most labels work on concept clothing and exclusive designs,” she says.

Prominent designer labels that have been part of these exhibitions are Rocky S, Satya Paul, 21 Roses from Delhi, Delhi-based Urban Design and Utsa Designs from Kolkatta.

“Young women who are well versed with fashion want to build a wardrobe with latest designs. While most still prefer to fly down to Delhi or Mumbai for designer wedding trousseau, the gap in casual-formal wear collections is filled with these exhibitions,” says Binti.

Small is big

Another aspect at these exhibitions is the amount of limelight some of the small town designers get. While the competition is with big names like Rocky S and Ritu Kumar, surprisingly the small-time owners have managed to build a loyal clientele in the city by becoming regulars here.

“The fact that one does not get the workmanship required for designer concepts in Amritsar despite there being a huge demand for such clothes works for us. We have been doing business here for past seven years and have clients coming from Batala and even Pathankot,” says Raahat Seth, from Geeta Design studio from Phagwara.

Praayas from Hisar in Haryana finds many takers in the city with its collection of Pakistani designs. Sonia Ahuja, another popular exhibitor, too brings her collection of designer wear from Dubai every year.

“We have clients who know their labels and do not mind spending on them. There are a lot of NRIs who pick up traditional stuff. Since small towns are not easily located on the fashion map, having limited but loyal clientele works better,” quips Raahat.

Amritsar, May 9
Two motorcycle-borne youths snatched a purse from a woman, who was going towards Khilchian last evening.

The victim, Paramjit Kaur, a resident of Bhorsi Rajputa village, stated to the Khilchian police that she going to Khilchian when two youths, riding a Bajaj Pulsar motorcycle, snatched the purse from her.

She said she had Rs 1 lakh, pair of silver anklets and gold jewellery in her purse.

A case under Section 382 of the IPC has been registered.

Amritsar, May 9
CKD Institute of Management & Technology is set to introduce a new postgraduate course in computer applications (MSc Computer Science) from this session.

The course is an advanced degree that aims to develop specialisation in the field of computer science and information technology.

Principal HS Sandhu said the programme was aimed to provide a thorough introduction to computing. —TNS