Amritsar, May 31
The Fire department here has slipped into deep trouble as its staff shortage has gone down to nearly 70 per cent. The glaring gap was brought to the fore by 72-hour ultimatum served by agitating fire brigade employees.

Workload on the minuscule staff has increased manifold over the last few years, with the expansion of the city and the increase in population as a result of urbanisation.

However, the authorities concerned failed to implement the fire manual. As per the manual, there must be a fire station with at least 24 firemen for 50,000 citizens.

On the contrary, Amritsar has less than 30 firefighters for a population of 11 lakh. The local Fire department here is grappling with the problems of outdated infrastructure and acute manpower shortage. Inadequate and scant fire-fighting and disaster response force of Amritsar also caters to adjoining Tarn Taran district and sub-divisions of Khem Karan, Baba Bakala, Patti, Ajnala Mehta and Beas. Thus, the local fire brigade officials are catering to a population of 20 lakh.

There are only four fire stations with staff strength of only 14 at each station. There is lack of uniforms, safety jackets and other alternative fire extinguishers. Owing to the narrow-lane topography of the city, foam-extinguishers are also needed. All the employees ever got was a demonstration of these machines. Water relay system is used, which boosts water, but such equipment is inadequate.

An employee said, "We need a system which has at least 100-feet-high turntable ladder in case of high-rise buildings. The department has only four-fire stations at Town Hall, Gilwali Gate, Civil Lines and near Beri Gate. There are only 14 officers on duty in each station, who include one officer in-charge, leading firemen, firemen, drivers and the supporting staff."

The city, with a population of over 11 lakh, has a staff strength of only 58 firemen, including Assistant Divisional Fire Officer-in charge and one Fire Station Officer at its disposal against the sanctioned staff strength of 130.

Against the 78 sanctioned posts of firemen, the department is managing with about 30. As many as nine posts of drivers and three of leading firemen have been lying vacant for a long time.

Even as inadequate 11 fire engines are available for Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts, many of these are not even up to the mark as they have become obsolete after outliving their lifetime.

Notably, the number of posts for the Fire department was sanctioned as per the population of Amritsar in the 1980s, which was 7 lakh. Insiders reveal that the department has not made a single recruitment since 1980. All those posts, which fell vacant after the retirement of several employees, have not been filled so far.

Owing to a staff crunch, the firemen are made to work in three eight-hour shifts on a rotational basis.

The department has no small tender, which can manoeuvre through the interior narrow lanes of the walled city, the densely populated area of the district.

The fire department has no uniforms, wireless or hotline number at present. They have to use their own personal mobiles. Similarly, multi-storeyed malls are coming up in the holy city, but the fire station has a ladder that reaches only 35 feet.

A proposal to purchase a hydro-platform vehicle with a capacity to reach 150 feet was passed in 2005 but to no avail.

The department does not have sufficient water-filling points. With the overhead water tanks becoming obsolete, the existing hydrant points in various parts of the city were left non-functional. Over 50 per cent of the total tubewells in and around the city are non-functional.

MC failed to use Rs 15-crore grant Even as the Centre had sanctioned Rs 15 crore to the Municipal Corporation, Amritsar, in 2009 to purchase equipment for disaster management, the MC failed to use it to revamp the infrastructure of the department The grant, which was to be used before March 31, 2010, lapsed. The authorities only managed to form a discussion panel and hold meetings. The MC is required to allocate 5 per cent of the total tax collection to the Fire department as fire cess, but no such provision has been made

Amritsar, May 31
Mystery shrouds the sudden disappearance of Nisha (32), a resident of Bharat Nagar locality situated in Batala Road area, who went missing on May 22.

The family alleged that she was kidnapped and accused two persons including a person living in their house on rent and a local woman of having a role in her sudden disappearance.

Investigations have been slow so far. Rajesh Malhotra, husband of the victim, has been running from pillar to post while urging the police department to speed up probe and help in tracing his wife. He said that his wife had gone to take the children from the school situated in Sandhu Colony, but did not return.

“Instead of carrying out investigations in a proper way, the police has been raising doubts on the character of my wife while it has no answers to my questions,” said Malhotra.

Mohkampura police registered the kidnapping case on May 26 and that too only after the intervention of the Deputy Commissioner of Police who was approached in this connection, said Malhotra.

The police has booked Rama Shankar, whom they had given a room on rent and Gurmeet Kaur,who resides opposite Milan Palace, Batala Road. A case under sections 363, 366, 365 and 120-B of IPC has been registered at Rambagh police station. “A day after my wife went missing, Gurmeet Kaur came to our house and threatened the family,” said Malhotra.

He said the phone call details could probably lead to Gurmeet Kaur.

Raminderpal Singh, investigating officer in the case, claimed the team is working on cracking the case on a priority basis.

“We are in the process and conduct raids whenever we receive any tip-off about the culprits. There is no question of any delay or slow progress. We are keeping an eye on every development in the kidnapping case and we'll hopefully crack the case soon,” said Raminderpal Singh.

Amritsar, May 31
Sonia Dhawan, a resident of Green Avenue area, who was allegedly set on fire by her in-laws, succumbed to her injuries at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital here today evening.

The police have been adding murder charges in the case.

Confirming this, Sohan Lal, investigating officer, said that Sonia died this evening and Section 302 IPC has been included in the FIR registered earlier. The police had registered an attempt to murder case against five persons including her husband.

The incident occurred on May 9 when a scuffle took place between members of two families over some property dispute. In her complaint lodged with police, the victim said Sunita Dhawan, a relative of hers, poured kerosene on her and tried to set her afire. She said her husband and children came to her rescue and sprinkled water on her.

A case under Section 307/34 of the IPC was registered with the Civil Lines police station against Sunita Dhawan, Ravi Dhawan, Raj Rani, Ram Saroop Dhawan and Ashwani Dhawan at that time. She was admitted in a private hospital. Later, she was shifted to GNDH after her condition deteriorated.

Sohan Lal said while Ashwani Dhawan, her husband, was arrested, the remaining accused are still at large.

Amritsar, May 31
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has reportedly issued notices to Amritsar police over the alleged inaction in an incident in which a scribe of a vernacular daily was attacked by some unidentified men with sharp-edged weapons on the Court Road in the city around a couple of years back.

The petitioner has alleged that the police didn't act against the accused deliberately and even after two years have elapsed, the police has failed to arrest the accused.

Mohinder Pal, the scribe, was attacked on February 2011 when he was returning home. The accused not only hit him with sharp-edged weapons but also opened fire at him. He was admitted to a private hospital in a critical condition.

The Civil Lines police has registered a case against Jhujhar Singh and his accomplices. The police has not been able to arrest them till now. It was learnt the accused used to take shelter in a cop’s house.

Amritsar, May 31
Various educational and health institutes in the city today observed No-Tobacco Day.

"More people around the world die of tobacco than of AIDS, heroin, cocaine, alcohol, car accidents, murders and suicides. Addiction to tobacco is rapidly increasing even in women and children. Therefore, World Health Organisation (WHO) is focusing in 2013 on banning tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship,” said oncologist Dr Navdeep Singh, cancer super-specialist, Fortis Escorts Hospital, on the eve of World No-Tobacco Day.

Referring to WHO figures, he said, "There are more than 1 billion people who are addicted to cigarette smoking. Of these, 20 per cent are women. To add to the gloom, this deadly addiction is casting its shadow on children too."

He said that those who are addicted to smoking not only harm themselves with poisonous smoke of the cigarette, but also harm those who don’t smoke. In medical science, it is termed as ‘second-hand smoking’.

While talking about how a person becomes victim of tobacco and its addiction, Dr Singh said tobacco contains a deadly element called nicotine. As soon as it gets into the body, it increases the release of dopamine in the brain. Dopamine works towards good mood, peace of mind and it makes the mind more active. Heart, brain and central nervous system become more active as soon as its secretion increases in brain. A person gets addicted when this secretion is increased repeatedly with the use of cigarette, gutkha or other means of tobacco. A person experiences restlessness, anger, disappointment and headache for want of tobacco and ultimately starts consuming tobacco regularly to avoid these symptoms.

He added that tobacco contains eight other poisonous elements.

Health and Wellness Club of Spring Dale Senior School took an initiative to create awareness against the use of tobacco through various activities. The day started with the pledge taken by students of the entire school. They participated enthusiastically in the poster writing and slogan writing competitions and hence exhibited their creative skills.

Bhavan’s SL Public School, to spread awareness among students about Anti-Tobacco Day, held a special Anti-Tobacco assembly on the school premises.

The students were apprised that tobacco is the foremost cause of preventable death and disease in the world today. India is the second largest consumer of tobacco products in the world. Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) 2006 indicates that approximately 14 per cent children in the age group of 13-15 years are consuming tobacco in some form.

As per the instructions of Health and Family Welfare Department of the Punjab government, No-Tobacco Pledge Day was observed at BBK DAV College for Women, Amritsar, today. NSS volunteer Komalpreet Kaur recited a touching poem and Harshia gave a moving speech on the dire need to eradicate tobacco consumption.

The students at Khalsa College Amritsar (KCA) today took a pledge to never use tobacco in their lives at a special function organised on the occasion of World No-Tobacco Day today. Principal of the College Dr Daljit Singh gave details account of the ills relating to use of tobacco. He said the the rising incidence of mouth and throat cancer has largely been attributed to use of tobacco by people in the country.

He said that no one should resort to the habit as he cited examples of the message given by the Sikh Gurus who preached against the use of tobacco in society. The students took the pledge that they will not use tobacco and would rather initiate campaigns to make people aware of the ill-effects of tobacco on people's health.

Amritsar, May 31
After rise in prices of loose milk, it is now the turn of packaged Verka milk for a rise in prices. Verka has increased milk prices by Re 1 to Rs 2 per litre. Milk plant Verka is administered by Milkfed (Milk Federation).

Price of full cream milk (named Gold) would be jacked up from Rs 36 to Rs 38 a litre while standardised milk branded Shakti would witness Rs 2 hike in the price as it would be available at Rs 35 in the market.

A litre of double-toned milk, lowest in fat but full in vital Solid Not Fat (SNF), would be pricier by Re 1. It will now be available at Rs 28 a litre.

The increased prices would be effective from June 1.

Amritsar, May 31
The Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT) passed resolutions for development works and providing basic amenities worth Rs 62 crore for the holy city.

The House comprising Trust Chairman Sandeep Rishi, District Town Planner Gurpreet Singh, B&R’s executive engineer Ajay Aggarwal, superintending engineer (SE) Bharat Bhushan Sharma and executive officer Jiwan Bansal took this decision yesterday.

The undergoing beautification of the Sri Durgiana Tirth would receive a boost as another grant of Rs 26.92 crore has been approved for the same. The grant would also be spent on a four-storey parking lot which will accommodate about 400 cars and 150 two-wheelers.

Besides, there will be a well-equipped information centre and new jodha ghar for the convenience of tourists. The cost of the project, notified in 2007 by the Trust, rose from Rs 36 crore to Rs 50 crore following delays due to various reasons.

A final design for the beautification of 3.03 acres around the 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 works. All this is being initiated to attract tourists to the city.

The SE said Rs 34 crore would be invested for providing basic amenities in the three Assembly constituencies of South, East and Central.

A maximum of Rs 14 crore would be spent in the South Assembly constituency held by MLA Inderbir Singh Bolaria, a confidant of Cabinet Minister Bikram Singh Majithia. The East constituency led by Industry Minister Anil Joshi got Rs 10 crore and the Central constituency, represented by Congress leader OP Soni, also received the same amount.

Sharma added that the resolutions would be forwarded for ratification to the headquarters at Chandigarh and after which the tenders would be floated.

Amritsar, May 31
Three students from Ryan International School - Karanshehbaj, Andleep Kaur and Tejinder Kaur - scored a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 10 while four students - Sarvjeet Kaur, Ramneek Kaur, Harmanjit Singh and Ashima Arora - scored a CGPA of 9.8 in CBSE Class X exams.

Nine other students of the school scored a CGPA of 9 and above.

Nine students from Khalsa College Public School (KCPS), namely Harjot, Pavneet, Sahilpreet, Sakshi, Anureet, Baltejpal, Kiranpreet, Pavneet and Prabha, secured CGPA 10 and 14 other students got A1 grade in CBSE Class X results. KCPS principal Dr Sarvjit Kaur Brar congratulated the toppers for bringing laurels to the institution and said 17 more students got A2 grade while 29 got B1 and 33 received B2 grade.

She attributed the success to the hard work put in by the students and their teachers. As many as 12 students of Delhi Public School attained CGPA 10 and A1 in each of the six subjects in the recently declared CBSE Class X results.

The top scorers in all the subjects include four girls amongst the 12, including Sristhi Bal, Sanimar Kaur, Ira Kaundal and Palak Arora besides boys Armaan Singh Sandhu, Naman Bansal, Rahul Raj Sharma, Manbir Singh Mann, Bhupinderjit Singh, Rajatpreet Singh, Chetanbir Singh Hundal and Shivam Dutt Sharma.

As many as three students of Police DAV Public School, namely Ambika, Ravneet and Manbir, scored CGPA 10. A total of 27 students of the Senior Study School obtained CGPA 10. All its 182 students were declared passed.

Amritsar, May 31
Sri Guru Angad Dev Institute of Religious Studies, Khadur Sahib, will soon be sending its MA students, under a special project, to Madhya Pradesh (MP) to propagate Sikhism as well as collect information regarding life and development of the Sikh community residing in that state.

Talking to mediapersons at Khadur Sahib today, Institute Director Piara Singh said duration of the trainee missionarys’ visit would be of one month and they would leave for Gwalior, MP, on June 2. “Gwalior will be the main centre and Dabra, Mohna and Hargobindpur will be the sub-centres under this project where the campaign of propagation of Sikhism would be controlled from," he added.

Principal of the institute Waryam Singh, who will look after the project, said the students would also do their research work and prepare daily report about their working. “Our institution would try to plan this kind of projects in other states also in the future,” he added.

This institute at Khadur Sahib was established in 2009 with the motive of providing missionary preachers and scholars to the Sikh community. A batch of 20 students is admitted every year in undergraduate course on the basis of a test and interview. Students acquire PG degree in religious studies after completion of the five-year integrated course. Special syllabus of Sikhism and Gurmat Sangeet is taught simultaneously in the course. Education, accommodation and food are provided free of cost to students during the course.

Amritsar, May 31
Veteran film, television and theatre actor Rakesh Bedi said he would act in a play ‘Massage’ to be staged in the holy city in September.

He talked to the media in the city before heading towards Jalandhar to stage the same play there.

Talking about the play, he said it was a monologue originally written in Marathi. Bedi plays 24 characters in the play.

Rakesh added that the play depicted the story of a boy who comes to Mumbai to become an actor but instead ends up working at a massage shop.