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Two undertrials clash in Amritsar Central Jail, one sustains injuries
Four held with drugs; cash, car seized
Govt, aided schools outdo their private counterparts in dist
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PUDA approves plan to develop Amritsar Haat
Amritsar, May 21 Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA) has approved the detailed project report (DPR) to develop the Amritsar Haat and Heritage Hotel at the heritage building of Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital in the heart of the city.
Touts, agents operating outside DTO with impunity
Non-teaching union to hold general body meeting
Members of non-teaching employees union and data entry operators hold meeting at GNDU in Amritsar. photo: Sameer Sehgal
Entrance plaza of Golden Temple to be ready by Divali, says Chief Secretary
Chief Secretary Rakesh Singh (right) accompanies the Tourism Secretary at the Golden Temple in Amritsar on Tuesday. Photo: vishal kumar
GNDU releases admission schedule for nine colleges
Land-grabbing issue: Family members deny the charge
Key witnesses turn hostile
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Two undertrials clash in Amritsar Central Jail, one sustains injuries
Amritsar, May 21 Even as the jail authorities tried to hush up the matter by terming it as a minor scuffle, sources in the prison said a spoon was sharpened to give it the shape of knife by Prabhpal to hit Lakhwinder. Luckily, the attack fell short of being fatal. It has been learnt that no medical legal report of the incident was prepared till morning. It was only after the insistence of the injured inmate and jail doctors to take action against the accused that the jail authorities were forced to initiate action. A report on the incident was submitted at the Cantonment police station on behalf of Jail Superintendent Amrik Singh Waraich. A case under Section 323/324 of the IPC and the 42 Prisoner Act was registered against Prabhpal Singh, the accused. The team of four jail doctors who attended on the victim did not reveal much when asked about the injuries caused to Lakhwinder Singh. Jail Superintendent Amrik Singh Waraich said, “It was a minor scuffle. A detailed report has been given to the Cantonment police for further investigation in the matter,” Waraich said. Investigating officer, Varinder Kumar, Gumtala police post, said it was a sharpened spoon which was used in the scuffle. Further investigations were on in the matter, he said. The incident has raised a question mark over the recently “stepped up security measures” in the jail after attacks were feared on Pakistani prisoners in the wake of Sarabjit Singh’s death in a Lahore prison. Even as there have been instances of violence among jail inmates in the past also, the authorities try to hush up the matter calling the issue “minor”. On December 6, 2011, two gangs entered into a fight on the jail premises. They even used bricks and stones to attack each other. The then Jail Superintendent, Rashpal Singh, had termed it as a verbal dual downplaying the incident in which at least four persons were reported to have been injured. On November 7, 2011, an inmate was brutally assaulted by 10 others over a petty issue. The victim, Nishan Singh, was stabbed in his face with a sharp-edged weapon. The scuffle took place over the issue of watching television programme. Later, it was discovered that the spoons and other utensils were sharpened to give them shape of a knife by the assaulters. The jail authorities took 20 minutes to reach the site of the incident. Nishan Singh was admitted to the surgical ward of Guru Nanak Dev Hospital and underwent treatment for head injury and deep cuts on his face.
No Report prepared initially
The case
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Four held with drugs; cash, car seized
Amritsar, May 21 In another incident, the Chheharta police arrested Jaspal Singh alias Deewa, a resident of Dr Wali Gali in Kale Ghanupur village with 200 Microlit tablets. In yet another case, the E-division police recovered 100 capsules of Parvon Spas from Vijay Kumar, a resident of Dharam Singh Market in Malkan Chowk. Cases under section 21/22/61/85 of the NDPS Act have been registered against the accused.
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Govt, aided schools outdo their private counterparts in dist
Amritsar, May 21 While the combined pass percentage of the government and aided schools was 82.22 per cent, the same for private schools was 76.21 per cent. Swaranjit Kaur, a retired teacher, said competition among private schools and those run by charitable institutes had intensified over the past some years. “All schools run by private concerns and charitable trusts have opened their own outlets for selling stationery, school dresses on their premises,” she said. “If these schools do not have dress shops on their premises their managements tend to recommend shops for the same. As a result, the school authorities are working as administrators and in this process teaching has become a casualty,” she added. The parents of a student at a private school said the social pressure forced them to choose private schools over government and aided ones. They rued that the schools were interested in holding cultural programmes, fashion shows and conducting other extra-curricular activities more than studies over the years. Such programmes mean more pressure on their pocket as the school administration charge for these activities, they added.
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PUDA approves plan to develop Amritsar Haat
Amritsar, May 21 With this, the setting up of a food street on the pattern of Lahore Food Street will finally see the light of day as part of Amritsar Haat. PUDA has engaged the Indian National Trust For Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) to prepare the DPR as the hospital has heritage value. It was formerly known as Victoria Jubilee hospital, which was named in commemoration of the jubilee celebration of Queen Victoria’s rule and began functioning here in 1891. Besides, it is located close to Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s summer palace known as Rambagh, a site protected by the Archeology Survey of India (ASI). Amritsar Development Authority (ADA) chief administrator Sandeep Rishi, who also heads PUDA here, said with the approval of the DPR a tender will soon be floated to start the work. The site spans over 9.70-acre area. It has buildings of heritage value and is proposed to be utilised for the urban haat and a hotel after earmarking about 4.65 and 5.6 acres for Haat and Hotel, respectively. The Urban Haat is proposed on the northern portion of the site. It would have features like craft appreciation centre, souvenir shops, Punjab emporiums, food court (with 400 people capacity), restaurant, open air theater, plazas, eating joints, craft bazaar, exhibition, meeting rooms, administrative complex, toilets, kitchens, green rooms, gym and spa. A heritage hotel with 100-room capacity would be added in the Haat. Rishi said the PUDA had taken an initiative for preservation, conservation, restoration and reuse of the existing building in Urban Haat and the heritage hotel. The site has been divided into three parts. The heritage building raised between 1860 and 1920 would be conserved without any modifications. Later additions made between 1920 and 1940 could be modified and altered according to the need and function. The structures added after 1940 will be demolished. Rishi said the DPR estimated the entire cost of project at more than Rs 9 crore. He said stress was being laid to encourage the retention and productive reuse of structures that have historic, architectural and cultural value. He said common guidelines had been formulated to retain authenticity, minimum intervention, cost effective economic regeneration, use of traditional techniques and material for Amritsar Haat and heritage hotel.
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Touts, agents operating outside DTO with impunity
Amritsar, May 21 Reports suggest that thugs are operating from automobile repair and photocopying shops in front of the DTO. Some have even set up their so- called offices under umbrellas on the roadside. These people, sources say, keep all papers in a bag so that they can easily run away whenever police raids the place. People who come to the DTO said they had to approach these agents as the office staff did not bother to supply them general information. “Instead of wasting time, people prefer to pay to these agents as they would get the work done for you,” said a visitor. He said he had earlier tried to get the work done directly but to no avail. The visitors said these agents seemed to be in hand in glove with the employees at the District Transport Office as it was very difficult to get any work done without approaching these elements. Joginder Singh, a senior citizen, said, “One cannot get any work done without taking help from these people sitting outside. Hundreds of people visit the DTO daily and nobody in the office seems to keep tabs on them.” Singh said the procedures need to be simplified so that people can get their work done easily. Some visitors said considering the large rush of people at the office, it needed to have more staff. “The staff should be increased, even temporarily, so that the entire backlog of all applications is cleared and work continues smoothly,” said Bal Karan Singh, a local resident.
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Non-teaching union to hold general body meeting
Amritsar, May 21 However, the Vice-Chancellor assured them that fresh applications for the data entry operators would be invited in June which would be open for them to apply too. Earlier, the affected employees tried to approach the Vice-Chancellor, but he flatly refused to entertain them. Meanwhile, the union has called for a general body meeting on May 16 to deliberate over the issue. President of the union Balveer Singh Garcha said Vice-Chancellor’s rigid attitude was disheartening0. “Earlier, he refused to meet the affected employees. Later, we went to persuade him to have a sympathetic view but he bluntly said that they could be considered only after they apply afresh against the soon-to-be-advertised posts of data entry operators. He did not heed to our request of absorbing them till then and remained adamant over their expulsion only,” he said. These data entry operators, 60 in total, were hired on ad hoc basis by the university five years back, but the authorities refused to renew their contracts and shunted them out. Even as the affected employees had knocked at the door of the court, they could not get any respite. Five out of 60 were shunted out today itself. This may be followed by others depending upon their terms of employment. The university has already started the process of hiring a fresh batch of data entry operators since October last year through an advertisement. It was then that the ad hoc data entry operators had moved court against the move.
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Entrance plaza of Golden Temple to be ready by Divali, says Chief Secretary
Amritsar, May 21
He said keeping in view the convenience of the pilgrims, underground plaza was being constructed, and informed that about 70 per cent of its work has been finished. He hoped that the plaza would be ready by this Divali. Later, he reviewed the pace of work at the Gobindgarh fort. He held a meeting with officials of the Tourism Department, led by its secretary Geetika Kalha. He announced that the fort would be opened for public on the occasion of the World Tourism Day in September. He said the first phase of the work would be finished by then. “Initially, the fort would be opened for three days a week and an arrangement for walk would also be made.” The walk would intimate public with various parts of the fort, including Nalwa gate, main gate, Durbar hall, Tosha Khana and others. Arrangement for a light and sound show would also be made. Earlier, the district administration extended the guard of honour to the Chief Secretary upon his arrival at the Amritsar airport. Later, SGPC officials felicitated him at the Golden Temple.
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GNDU releases admission schedule for nine colleges
Amritsar, May 21 The admissions to Guru Nanak Dev University College, Verka, Amritsar, will be held for the courses in BA, BSc (economics), BCom, BCom (professional), BBA, BCA, BSc (Information Technology), BSc (computer science), BSc (non-medical), BSc Fashion Designing, MSc (computer science), DCA and PGDCA. Rajinderjeet Kaur Pawar, Dean, College Development Council, Guru Nanak Dev University, said BCom, BCom (professional) and MCom courses would be available in the evening shift. The courses available at Guru Nanak Dev College, Patti (Tarn Taran) are BA, BSc (economics), BCom, BCom (professional), BBA, BCA, BSc (Information Technology), BSc (computer science), BSc (non-medical), DCA and PGDCA. Similarly, at Amardeep Singh Shergill Memorial College, Mukandpur, the courses available are BA, BSc (economics), BSc (computer science), BSc (non-medical), BSc (medical), MSc (Information Technology), MA (economics), MA (punjabi), PGDCA, PG Diploma in Financial Services. The tuition of fees of MA (punjabi) students will be totally exempted in the college. Students will have to pay an annual fund of Rs 4800/- only. The courses available at Guru Nanak Dev University College, Chungh, Tarn Taran are BA, BSc (economics), BCom, BCom (professional), BBA, BCA, BSc (IT), BSc (computer science), BSc (non-medical), BSc (fashion designing), DCA and PGDCA. The admission to BA, BSc (economics), BCom (professional), BCA, DCA and PGDCA courses are available at SRSPM College, Niari. At Guru Nanak Dev University College, Narot Jaimal Singh, Gurdaspur dist, the courses available are BA, BSc (economics), BCom, BCom (professional), BBA, BCA, BSc (Information Technology), BSc (computer science), BSc (non-medical), BSc (fashion desigining), DCA and PGDCA. At Bebe Nanki College Mithra, the courses available are BA, BSc (economics), BCom, BCom (professional), BBA, BCA, BSc (IT), BSc (computer science), BSc (non-medical), DCA, PGDCA and Diploma in stitching and tailoring. At Guru Teg Bahadur College, Sathiala, the courses available are BA, BCom, BCom (professional), BCA, BSc (computer science) and BSc (non-medical). At Guru Nanak Dev University College, Jalandhar, BCom, BCom (professional) and MCom courses are available in the evening shift.
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Land-grabbing issue: Family members deny the charge
Amritsar, May 21 In a statement released to mediapersons here today, she clarified that her father-in-law Jaspal Singh had died in March 2008 and, subsequently, she had immigrated to Canada in April 2008. Later, Jaspal Singh's property was transferred in the name of her husband Ramandeep Singh and mother-in-law Amarjeet Kaur. She said she was in Canada when her husband died in 2012. She alleged that her sister-in-law didn’t raise the issue of property between 2008 and 2012 and it was only after her husband’s demise that she raised a hue and cry. She said the property was transferred in the name of her son, her mother-in-law and herself after the death of her husband. She said the matter also reached before prominent residents of the village and SP Amrik Singh Puar, all of whom, stated that the property was divided as per the norms. However, her sister-in-law was still making false charges against her, she alleged. It may be recalled that in a press conference held here last week, Kanwaljit Kaur had accused the SAD leader and his family of grabbing their ancestral land. She had alleged that her brother’s wife, along with her parents and Harjit Singh of Jasraur village, had hatched a conspiracy to usurp their share in the property by forging documents.
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Key witnesses turn hostile Jalandhar, May 21 This despite the fact that the case was handed over to a special investigation team (SIT) and the two main accused, Rohit Kumar, alias Sandy, and Sandeep Kumar, were made to undergo the lie detector (polygraphy) test at the Central Forensic Science Laboratory of the CBI in New Delhi. The test had, however, yielded a negative report. The deceased's mother, Manjit Kaur, had initially levelled allegations against a deceased's friend and her family based at Nahlan village at whose place she had gone on November 10, 2009. But later, it were five youths of the locality who were booked in the case, including Pankaj Singh, Rohit Kumar, alias Sandy, Ramesh Kumar, Sandeep Kumar and Jagdish Kumar, under Sections 302 and 376 of the
IPC.
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Two undertrials clashed in the Amritsar Central Jail last evening, resulting in serious injuries to one.
Reports said the undertrials, identified as Prabhpal Singh and Lakhwinder Singh, entered into a quarrel.
A day after the Guru Nanak Dev University authorities laid off the services of the first batch of its data entry operators hired on ad hoc basis, members of the GNDU non-teaching employees union today met Vice-Chancellor Prof AS Brar to unsuccessfully gain his sympathy over the issue.
Amritsar, May 21
