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Residents’ water woes deepen
A resident of Bagh Ramanand shows contaminated water in Amritsar. Photo: Sameer Sehgal
Demand for framing transfer policy of docs gains ground
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New industrial policy
Employees of Hindustan Pharmaceuticals prepare extract of herbs at a unit in Amritsar. A file photo
Residents welcome proposed realty Bill
Community oriented policing lacking in city
GT Road clash: Cross FIR registered against two groups
Kapil Sharma leaves audience in splits
Kapil Sharma performs at the Guru Nanak Auditorium in Amritsar on Sunday. Photo: Sameer Sehgal
Two decamp with mobile phones
Forum directs insurance firm to pay
Rs 2 lakh
Mobile phone seized from undertrial
The Rambagh police with the drug peddlers in Amritsar on Sunday. Photo: Sameer Sehgal
Teachers meet Education Minister
112 ITI students get jobs at placement drive
Yoga camp held
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Residents’ water woes deepen
Amritsar, June 9 Water quality in the city and its surrounding areas can well be gauged from an analysis done on water samples collected from 72 households by the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board (PWSSB) a couple of months ago. The analysis revealed that almost 55 per cent of samples tested were declared “non-drinkable”. There was a high concentration of faecal coliform in water which indicates towards the possible mixing of sewage in water supply pipes. In the old city, the domestic water supply line has already outlived its life and passes through the sewage line. A heavy infiltration through faulty joints, damaged pipes has been identified as one of the major cause of drinking water getting contaminated which can cause water-borne diseases such as ear infection, dysentery, typhoid fever, viral, bacterial gastroenteritis and hepatitis A. It is the distribution and maintenance system which is outworn and poorly maintained. This results in estimated water losses at a very high rate. The supply system includes over 500 public stand-posts that are un-metered and provide water free of charge. With no attendant in place, water is left running for hours at many places. There is no water treatment plant in the walled city area and the only form of treatment is disinfection by adding bleaching powder at a limited number of tubewells. Officials say a total of 340 tubewells are there for pumping water directly to distribution mains on an intermittent basis across the entire city, spread over an area of 11,495 hectares, including 345 hectares of walled city. Even as the MC claims to have enhanced its tubewell network in the recent past, this also proved futile when it comes to its proper utilisation in absence of adequate power backup arrangement. There are more than 340 tubewells in the city but only eight have been equipped with power backup through generators. Some of these generator sets operated tubewells are located at Katra Moti Ram, Shakti Nagar, Gilwaligate, outside Beri gate and Kesri bagh etc. But they can cater to only 13 wards whereas the total number of wards is 65. Due to lack of proper coordination between the local power corporation and the MC, the tubewell operation schedule is not synchronised with that of power cut schedule. In ward number 25, a tubewell was installed before MC elections. It was bored haphazardly at a place with polluted underground water. As a result, thousands of residents of Rama Nand Bagh area are compelled to drink stinky and muddy water. As monsoon nears, people fear outbreak of water-borne diseases if effective steps are not taken immediately. Several complaints in this regard were submitted to the MC but in vain. Water smells foul and dust settles at the bottom of the, says Jagdish Singh, a resident, while showing a bottle of water collected from a tap. Iqbal Singh Sherry, secretary, Punjab Pradesh Congress and a local resident, said the problem had cropped up after the tubewell was bored at a wrong place. “The tubewell was bored at a place which had a nullah nearby. The officials did not care to check and got it connected with the domestic water supply line. I have repeatedly taken up the matter with the MC authorities but to no avail,” Sherry said. City Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora said, “Power cuts add to the residents’ misery as tubewells are rendered non-functional in absence of electricity, leaving residents without water. It is not viable to equip every tubewell with generator sets. But we are streamlining the water feeding process in collaboration with the power department.” “We will execute the canal-based water supply soon which would redress the public’s water woes. The localised problems of tubewells and supply wastage too will be taken into account on priority basis,” Arora added. Quality worryingly poor
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Demand for framing transfer policy of docs gains ground
Former Health & Family Welfare Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla said in absence of such policy as employees become victims of the whims of political bosses. Laxmi Kanta Chawla said the specialist doctors must work at district and tehsil-level hospitals. "It is but unfortunate that few doctors have been sitting in dispensaries for years. Many of them are running private hospitals besides getting salary from the government. I also request the medical fraternity to mark their protest in a way that general public does not face any problem," she added. She said all doctors should be deployed in rural areas for few years without any favourtism. A faction of doctors led by Dr Kashmir Singh Sohal, president of the PCMS Specialist Doctors Association has decided not to support the strike. "We held a meeting with the Health Minister and he assured us that all genuine cases would be considered within 10 days," Sohal said. He said that PCMS Specialist Doctors Association has decided to wait for 10 days. He said that if the promise made by health minister is not fulfilled within the time, they would not hesitate to initiate the strike. He said that they had also discussed various other problems faced by medical fraternity besides the transfers issue and minister has assured to help them in all. Grievances and demands
Dissenting view
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Pharma sector a dejected lot
Drug industry in doldrums due to lopsided policy of government in district Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service
Amritsar, June 9 A number of pharmaceutical units are closing down every year. After 1990 no new unit has been opened in the district, which was once known as a hub of the pharmaceutical industry in the northern India. As many as 40 pharma units are operational in the area and still a sizeable number of them are holding their ground and exporting their products to the major pharmaceuticals companies in Japan, Germany and the USA. Raman Gupta, proprietor of Hindustan Pharmaceuticals, one of the oldest export units here, said the high revenue generating industry of the city was in doldrums. He said as a result of the lopsided policies of the government, it was on the decline. The extension of tax holidays to the neighbouring states like Uttarkhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir by the Union Government, resulted in a flight of number of pharmaceutical companies from Amritsar. Amritsar's loss is a gain for Baddi in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and its surrounding areas in Jammu and Kashmir," he said. Conveniently located in the middle of the only natural garden in the world, the Himalayas- and the availability of skilled man power propelled Amritsar to become the hub of the pharmaceutical industry. Rare herbs from Afghanistan, North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are still being brought here to form new formulations and drugs to heal different ailments. Gupta, whose family has been in the business for over a century, said prior to the Independence, Lahore and Amritsar used to be the major centres of herbs sourced from various regions of the Himalayas. He said his father, after noticing the potential of the market, shifted from Lahore to Amritsar well before the partition. Pharmaceutical units, especially export-oriented units, are importing herbs from these parts of the Himalayas. Each region of the Himalaya is known for offering a unique form of herb, which is used in various drug formulations by leading international pharmaceutical units of the world. Afghanistan has a rare stock of the herb (heeng) while NWFP has shilajit and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir region is rich in atis, kaud and many more. Many City-based pharmaceutical firms import herbs from Afghanistan and Pakistan. They also procure rare herbs from Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir. They sell these substances not only in the country but also to major international pharmaceutical firms of the developed nations, including the USA, Germany, Canada, Japan. Many registered manufacturing units, unable to compete with the big firms, have now dabbled into the marketing of pharmaceutical products, Gupta added. Amritsar Pharmaceuticals Manufacturing Association president Dr Pardeep Blaggan said the industry had not seen any growth for the past two decades. He blamed the state government for ignoring the domestic industry in the state. He said the government procured drugs worth hundreds of crores every year but did not encourage participation of home grown units as it allowed participation of only those firms whose minimum annual sales are minimum Rs 5 crore. He said the new industrial policy did not come out with any specific plans to infuse a new lease of life in the domestic industry.
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Residents welcome proposed realty Bill
Amritsar, June 8 Harbhajan Singh, a garment trader, said, "The need of such a law has been felt even in Amritsar for long. Earlier, the Amritsar Improvement Trust was involved in setting up of residential and commercial colonies. However, many private townships have sprung up over the past decade around the city and their number is growing. Hence, there was a need of the law to safeguard the people's interests." "My family lives near Parag Das chowk. With the rise in the number of vehicles, it has become necessary to shift to the areas offering better parking facilities. However, after learning about incidents of fraud and limited avenues for the victims to present their cases, we are holding our investment back," he said. Tanu Malhotra, a working woman, said the bill would regulate the realty sector and protect the buyers' interests. She said it had been noticed that the developers and builders did not deliver what they promised in the earlier stages of negotiation. "Many a times, their advertisements show clubs, swimming pools and wide roads but when people buy a plot, they are told to pay extra money to get access to such facilities," she said, adding that in many cases several facilities did not exist at all. Krishan Kumar Sharma, president, Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Association of India (Amritsar chapter), said, "The regulatory authority will help in differentiating between genuine and fake colonizers. As per the provisions of the draft bill, advertisements of such projects cannot be carried until all approvals are received. The sale of projects based on the carpet area would bring in transparency." He said the bill had proposed to constitute a national advisory council which would prescribe the national standards and best practices in different areas, including property measurement, builder buyer agreement.
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Community oriented policing lacking in city
Amritsar, June 9 Although there is a provision for the Police Commissioner or his representative (next senior police officer) to hold a redress camp, however, since the inception of the Commissionerate system in the city, a few sessions of public-police meet could be held. It is an irony that in 2012 and 2013, conducting the public-police meet was the last item on the agenda of the police department. The last session was conducted by the then Commissioner, Param Pal Singh Sidhu, on January 12, 2011. Sidhu had announced that the Amritsar police would hold such sessions fortnightly to restore the confidence of the people in them. Due to the lack of police-public interaction, there have been an increase in the cases that remained unheard, even at the preliminary stage. Gone are the days when the residents had the facility to register their complaints online, an initiative taken by the city police two years ago. Ironically, to keep the crime graph down, the police discourage people from getting their complaints registered. Every now and then, the residents cribbed that the SHOs concerned and their subordinates refrained from lodging FIRs while terming their complaints as "petty crimes". It has been learnt that this practice has been adopted to remain in the "good books" of seniors, apparently to pay way for their promotion. Nevertheless, the move initiated by the Chandigarh Police can be a learning lesson for the Amritsar police to reach the public for redressing their grievances. The Chandigarh police has launched a unique scheme, "Know your case", since June. The idea behind it is to bring greater transparency and accountability in the functioning of the police. Every second Saturday of the month has been fixed as the Know Your Case Day. On that day, the SHO, along with all the investigation officials and beat In charges will be available in the police station of the concerned area from 10 am to 2 pm to attend the grievances of the public. All the petitioners and complainants are invited to visit the concerned police station on the day to gauge the status of investigation of their cases and complaints. Meanwhile, Police Commissioner Ram Singh said,” We organise police-public meetings at the police station level here too and they report me back on regular basis, yet I agree that we could not formalise it in an extensive manner. I will study the pattern adopted by the Chandigarh police. There's no harm in adopting some good points of it.
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GT Road clash: Cross FIR registered against two groups
Amritsar, June 9 The church priest alleged that the tenants beat him up and ransacked the church's property last night as the church administration had moved court to evacuate the premises. He alleged that he had reported the matter to the police but it did not take any action. They had no option but to hold a protest to make their voice heard, he added. The agitators lifted the blockade only after Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Gurnam Singh visited the spot and assured them that a first information report (FIR) would be registered in this regard. Following this, a case under Sections 295, 298, 323, 427 and 506 of
the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered against Rattan Lal, his two sons Rahil and Amit, besides three other persons in this regard. Meanwhile, Rattan Lal's wife Anita alleged that they were getting an air cooler fitted in the wall but Gill along with his wife and others attacked them and stopped them from getting the air cooler fitted. She alleged that the accused not only misbehaved with her but also assaulted her and her family members. The police has booked the priest and his wife on the molestation charges. A first information report (FIR) under Sections 354, 298 and 295 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered against the accused persons in this connection.
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Kapil Sharma leaves audience in splits
Amritsar, June 9 Presenting a comedy play, the team introduced the characters from their new show "Comedy Nights with
Kapil". Enjoying the adulation showered on him, Kapil remembered the days spent in the city and praised the artistes from city for giving the Indian television a full Punjabi
flavour. “I have done 10-12 years of theatre in the city and experienced each genre of comedy on the stage. Comedy gives you a lot of room for experimentation,” he said. Sharing his views, upcoming stand-up comedian from the city, Mukesh Vohra said, “Until a few years ago, when the Indian audience got to experience stand-up comedy, it was restricted to films, actors doing physical or situational comedy. There are various facets of comedy like props, alternative,
characterisation, satire, wit, musical, sitcom, spoof, which still remain unexplored. Artistes in Punjab are trying to bring out such genres for the audience." Apart from writing scripts and dialogues for comic plays and films, Mukesh is the part of the comedy play, " Na Ji Na Tension Nai
Leni", which was recently staged in Australia. “Overseas audience appreciates different comedy genres, but in Punjab, stand-up comedy alone will not give you much scope. So experimenting becomes a need of the hour. The reason why most Punjabi actors, especially from Amritsar, are doing well in comedy is that the city is a hub of theatre where each aspect of acting and drama are experienced,” says
Mukesh. Mukesh has appeared on many popular shows on ETC, PTC and Spark Punjabi. He was a part of the films- Main Tera 22 Tu Mera 22, Sadi Love Story.
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Two decamp with mobile phones
Amritsar, June 9 Varinder Sharma, owner of the showroom, said at about 8.00 pm two youths entered the showroom and asked for the smart mobile phones. He said he showed several mobiles to them following which one of them left the shop on the pretext of withdrawing money from the ATM machine. He said the second youth continue to see the phones. He said after sometime the accused took the two mobile phones and ran away. The second youth was standing outside with their motorcycle and they fled the scene. Sharma said he had handed over the CCTV footage of the accused to the police. The police said a case under Section 380 of the IPC has been registered in this regard. 12 drug peddlers held
The police has arrested as many as 12 persons on the charge of drug peddling and bootlegging. The accused were identified as Raju of Gujjapura, Sanjiv of Noori Mohalla, Rohit Ladhar of Gawal Mandi, Ram Tirath road, Vicky of Guru Ki Wadali, Baljit Singh of Guru Nanak Pura, Satnam Singh of Dhapai, Manpreet Singh of village Harsha Chhina, Nanak Singh of village Bhaini Rajputa, Gurjit Singh of village Dande, Mithu of village Dande, Jobanjit Singh of Chatiwind, Harpal Singh of Saidpur and Gagandeep Singh of Chatiwind. They have been booked under the NDPS and Excise Act.
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Forum directs insurance firm to pay
Rs 2 lakh
Amritsar, June 9 Earlier, complainant Kapil Bansal had alleged that he had purchased a policy of Rs 2 lakh from Star Health and Allied Insurance Company Limited and during the validity period of the policy, he became ill and underwent aortic valve replacement at a private hospital in Gurgaon. He said his medical claim was repudiated on the ground that he had not disclosed his medical history before. He stated he had spent Rs 3,21,369 on the treatment and there was nothing to hide. The insurance company held that the claim was rightly repudiated as according to the medical investigation conducted the hospital, Kapil was suffering from the problem since birth and he had hidden the facts. The forum observed that insurer could not produce any document or any other evidence to prove that an aforesaid disease diagnosed by the hospital in Gurgaon was a disease since birth or the complainant knew the disease at the time of purchasing the policy. The forum said in the absence of any reasonable evidence the insurance company was wrong in repudiating the claim under the policy.
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Mobile phone seized from undertrial
Amritsar, June 7 He allegedly sneaked in mobile phone into jail premises after he was brought back by the police guards from a hearing at a local court. The jail staff during a routine checking found the Nokia-make mobile phone in his possession. Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) Mangal Singh of Gumtala police station said the jail authorities got registered a complaint with the Cantonment police following which a fresh case under Section 420 of the IPC, Sections 42 and 52 A of the Prisoners' Act had been lodged against the accused.
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Two arrested with habit-forming drugs
Amritsar, June 9 Neeraj Kumar, SHO, Rambagh police station, said the accused were nabbed from near the local bus stand. The accused were produced before the duty magistrate, who has sent them to three-day police custody. During the preliminary investigation, the accused confessed that they used to contact an unidentified supplier over phone and he used to provide drugs at different
locations. — TNS
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Teachers meet Education Minister
Amritsar, June 9 A member of the delegation, Aman Sharma, said the delegation led by state president Hakam Singh met the minister and the Education Secretary at the Chandigarh Secretariat. They demanded to stop rationalisation policy, granting of DD power to acting heads of schools, promotions of principals. They also sough swift resolution of cases of teachers.. He said the Education Minister had claimed to give orders to stop the rationalisation process immediately. The minister was in favour of giving DD powers to the senior most teacher in absence of the principal in a school and for this the file had been forwarded to the Finance Department for its approval, he added.
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112 ITI students get jobs at placement drive
Amritsar, June 9 Harmeet Singh, Assistant Manager Honda Cars India Limited said the company had an old association with the ITI and the campus drive at the institute was conducted every year. Universal ITI chairman SS Chhina said the institute had a good record of campus placements and they continuously tried to develop relations with the industry to help the deserving candidates in find suitable jobs for their better future.
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Even as the state government has embarked upon a multi-core canal-based water supply scheme to cater to the needs of city residents on a pilot-project basis, the water scenario here remains grim for now. The gap between demand and the supply of safe drinking water has widened in the city of late.
Sources say it will take at least two years to execute the scheme.
After the Punjab Civil Medical Services (PCMS) Association threatened to go on strike, demand for a proper transfer policy has started gaining ground here of late.
Medical services in the district will be hit badly as the PCMS Association has announced to go on strike for an indefinite period except attending upon 'dire emergency cases' to protest the mass transfers of specialist doctors.
It was a riot of laughter at the Guru Nanak Auditorium when stand-up comedian Kapil Sharma and his group took to the stage on Saturday evening. The popular television artiste, who was in his hometown to promote his new show, along with actors Upasna Singh, Sunil Grover, Sumona
Chakravarty, entertained the crowd with his talent.
Amritsar, June 9