Municipal Corporation staff carry out the de-silting of the main water disposal passages at Gujjarpura in Amritsar on Wednesday.

Amritsar, June 20
The Municipal Corporation (MC) today launched a 10-day intensive de-silting drive for all the drains and sewerage lines.

The MC Commissioner has instructed all staff members concerned not to take leave without informing the authorities.

After the last year Rs10-lakh de-silting operation failed to deliver desired results, the MC, this time, has planned a cleanliness drive which would cost it Rs 40 lakh.

Two control rooms have been established - one at Company Bagh and second at Lahori Gate - for the purpose. SDO-level officials of the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Wing and Water and Sewerage Wing would be present in these control rooms to oversee the operations in difference parts of the holy city.

Similarly, the Streetlight Wing has been directed to cover the naked wires before hand. The Water and Sewerage Wing officials have been told to check the water disposal plants. The fire brigade officials have been instructed to be on their toes and the Civil Wing officials have been told to make adequate arrangements for dry sand sacks.

Meanwhile, residents of the Majitha Road bypass have approached Cabinet Minister Anil Joshi to intervene during the de-silting drive of the MC.

A resident of the area, Rakesh Bhrany, said there was a prediction of heavy rainfall in the city during June and July. The only flood relief channel along the bypass on the Majitha Road is lying fully chocked with garbage and the MC authorities were looking the other way.

Thus in case of heavy rainfall, this flood relief channel will not serve any purpose. "I requested the Cabinet minister to ensure that the drain along the bypass gets properly de-silted so as it can take excess water in case of flood-like situation, which normally occurred during every monsoon in the past." The three villages along the drain lie in the minister's constituency.

"Even as I am little hopeful of the efficiency of MC teams, yet I took no chance but to contact the minister so that early action could be taken to save precious lives and property at the Majitha Road bypass," he said.

Meanwhile, the MC is conducting comprehensive survey of the century-old unsafe buildings which could pose danger to human lives in rains. Scores of instances had occurred in the past, when the old dilapidated buildings caved in leaving occupants or passersby dead or injured.

official speak
All sensitive water disposal points are on our radar. This time, we have made a rigorous plan, costing around Rs 40 lakh, to clean up the main drain passages — one on the Tarn Taran road up to the Gujjaranwala village and another located at Lahori Gate. This time, we are quite hopeful of giving relief to the residents and commuters on the road. We have also asked the JAICA contractors to join hands with us in our 10- day de-silting drive to clear passage in all channels, road berms, water and sewerage drains. Similarly, the MTP Department has been entrusted with the task of conducting survey of unsafe buildings. Once we get the data, arrangements in collaboration with the district administration will be made to deal with them.
— Bhupinder Singh,
Commissioner, MC

Amritsar, June 20
The Amritsar (Rural) police has booked two youths of Teda Khurd village, falling under the Jhander police station, for allegedly trying to rape a married woman.

Though the incident occurred in February, a case under Sections 376 and 511 of the IPC was registered only last evening following an inquiry conducted by the DSP, Ajnala, in this regard.

The victim, who is a resident of Gwal Mandi village, located on Ram Tirath Road, in her complaint had alleged that she had gone to her parents’s house at Teda Khurd village with her husband and children. On February 10 when she along with her one-and-a-half-year-old daughter came out of the house, the accused, identified as Gurpreet Singh and Gurbaj Singh, who lived just opposite to their house, dragged her into their house. She said when she tried to raise an alarm, the accused covered her mouth and tried to rape her.

She said meanwhile her family members came out of the house after listening to the screams of her daughter and rescued her from them. She alleged that the accused also threatened to kill her and her family.

The police said the case was registered following an inquiry conducted by the DSP, Ajnala. The SSP, Manmohan Singh, immediately ordered the registration of a case and arrest of the accused. The accused were on the run and raids were being conducted to nab them.

Amritsar, June 20
The contractual employees working at 91 dispensaries in rural areas under zila parishad today held a protest march demanding regularisation of their services. The protesters also polished shoes of the commuters to garner support for their protest.

Health pharmacists, veterinary pharmacists and class IV workers said their services had not been regularised even after seven years.

The president of the Rural Health Veterinary United Front Kamaljit Singh Chauhan said the employees had been protesting for the last 19 days but the state government had not even taken notice of the strike.

He said the medical and veterinary services were badly hit in rural areas. "We do not understand why this discrimination is being meted to us. We are providing the similar services as our counterparts in the Health Department are but our salaries are very less."

Kamaljit Singh Chauhan said the contractual employees were being paid a meagre salary of Rs 7,000 a month.

The protesting employees polished the shoes of devotees who had come to the Golden Temple and narrated their problems to them.

"We have asked people to support our cause," the president of the Rural Health Veterinary United Front said. He threatened that the association would intensify the protest if peaceful protests failed to move the government.

Amritsar, June 20
A meeting between the officials of Health Department and karyana merchants was held to create awareness about the Food Safety and Standards Act at Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs Memorial Civil Hospital.

District Health Officer Dr Shivkaran Singh Kahlon said around 5,000 food businesses in the district had got registered with the department. Another 600 businesses with an annual turnover exceeding Rs 12 lakh have obtained licenses, he informed.

As per the Food Safety and Standards Act, the food businesses with an annual turnover of less than Rs 12 lakh are required to register with the department while those exceeding the limit are required to obtain licenses.

Dr Kahlon said the deadline for registration process was extended till February 2014 and traders should avail the facility. He said the registration is mandatory for all food businesses, including manufacturing, processing, retail, catering and ingredient sellers.

The traders were also encouraged to report about people selling adulterated food items in view of the public health.

The Retail Karyana Merchants Association president Buta Ram said the association would never support a shopkeeper found guilty of selling adulterated or substandard goods. He assured the department officials that they would lend a wholehearted support for checking adulteration.

Later, the members of the association honoured Dr Kahlon for leading the campaign against adulteration and substandard food items in the city.

Amritsar, June 20
Intel India has undertaken a nationwide integrated campaign to stress the relevance of personal computing devices to enhance adoption of technology in India by targeting consumers with the message as how a personal computer (PC) can change their life.

The six-week nationwide campaign that will be carried in 40 cities has already covered 31 cities across India and reached Amritsar today.

The campaign has witnessed a great consumer response with consumer visibility over 13 lakhs across India.

Sandeep Aurora, director, Marketing and Market Development, Intel South Asia, said, “In our quest to bring about nationwide awareness for digital literacy, we will continue to scale our efforts under the National Digital Literacy Mission. Through this campaign, we will urge the consumers to pursue creativity with the power of an Intel processor-powered computer.”

As part of the campaign, Intel has created experience zones under its ‘My Discoveries’ programme across these cities.

The basic premise of the programme is that consumers can make an amazing discovery every day if they are empowered by a PC.

The campaign reached out to consumers in a targeted manner across 10 states through a series of interventions in the form of print advertisements, billboards, radio jingles and its award winning experiential programme. In Punjab, the programme has been conducted in Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Chandigarh and is set to be conducted in Patiala.

“Intel truly believes that technology can play a huge role in ending the digital divide in India and can develop job skills and provide easy access to quality education, healthcare and critical government services. Digital literacy is essential along with technology access, broadband and local content for driving the nation’s growth," he added.

“Our efforts under this campaign are on and we hope that more people will buy personal computing devices and get a firsthand experience of technology,” said Aurora.

Amritsar, June 20
In a major breakthrough, the city police has arrested three more persons involved in the racket that fleeced parents of medical students on the pretext of securing medical seats and later robbed them of Rs 67.50 lakh on June 1.

The incident had taken place outside Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research in Vallah near here.

Those arrested have been identified as Angrej Singh, a resident of Bhuller village in Jalalabad road, Muktsar, Manjit Singh of Wadian Uthian village in Fazlika and Bharat Bhushan of Patel Nagar in Malout, Muktsar.

Vallah police post in charge Sarwan Singh said the accused worked for Mohali-based Kang Global Education consultancy firm where the parents of the medical seat aspirants had met them outside said the SGPC run medical institute and robbed them.

The police had already arrested three persons, including a woman, in the case. They are Sukhbir Singh, Sukhwinder Singh and Paramjit Kaur.

It is pertinent to mention here that the main accused Amarinder Singh and Harjinder Singh who had the looted money are still at large.

The police has registered a case under Section 395, 382, 420, 120-B, 467, 468 of the IPC in this connection.

Pertinently, the said families had fallen in the trap of the accused after reading an advertisement in a newspaper published by the consultancy company which assured the aspirants admission to some medical college. The deal was reportedly settled at Rs 72 lakh per seat.

The accused told them that their wards will be given admission in Sri Guru Ram Dass Institute of Medical Sciences and Research.

Four families — two from Ludhiana, one from Ambala and one from Kapurthala — had arrived here in the city to meet them. They had brought with them lakhs of rupees for the admission of their wards. However, the accused managed to snatch Rs 67.50 lakh from two persons. 

Amritsar, June 20
The MBBS seats at Sri Guru Ram Das Research and Medical Education Institute have been increased from 100 to 150 from the current academic session with approval of the Medical Council of India.

The MCI has also given a nod to the institute's plea to increase postgraduate seats from 53 to 56. However, the Government Medical College here has failed to get the proposal for increase of seats from 150 to 250 as the MCI did not find it befitting to approve the proposal considering the infrastructure and faculty shortage.

While the SGPC-run private medical college got the number of seats increased from the MCI, the reputed GMC, Amritsar, has failed in the process because of evident apathy of the government to upgrade infrastructure and recruit faculty.

The GMC, Amritsar, and GMC, Patiala, had made a proposal to increase the number of seats but the requests of both the institutions were denied for the same reason - not meeting the standards.

The medical college here is facing an acute faculty shortage of around 35 per cent and the MCI has warned it of de-recognition if it fails to take corrective measures on time.

Director and Principal, SGRD Institute said, "It is a great achievement for the institute. The MCI has recognised our potential and now the institute will be able to provide better education services." She said the admissions would be done on the basis of increased number of seats allowed to the medical institute. 

Amritsar, June 20
A large number of IT and food companies visited Guru Nanak Dev University for the recruitment of the students of computer science, electronics engineering, and food technology courses.

Dr Hardeep Singh, Professor Incharge Placement said that the list includes companies like TCS, Capgemini, IVP, ThoughWorks, Amdocs, Samsung, Infogain, Headstrong, Grey B, SAP Labs, etc. These companies offered lucrative salaries and the selected ones will join from July onwards. He said the food brands like ITC, Nestle, Pioneer, Vadilal, Mohan Meakens, Coke offered lucrative job offers to the food technology students.

Amritsar, June 20
The summer camp organised by religious organisation Akal Purakh Ki Pauj concluded here today. It had organised 60 camps at various places in the city attended by around 2,500 student, said Jaswinder Singh, head of the organisation.

He said similar camps were organised throughout the state. Jaswinder Singh said a final camp would be organised at Anandpur Sahib from June 26 to 30 which would be attended by candidates selected in camps at various places.

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president Avtar Singh Makkar felicitated the students for their achievements during the camps. The function was also attended by Akal Takht jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh, secretary Roop Singh, Satbir Singh, Joginder Singh, Dr AP Singh and others. —TNS

Amritsar, June 20
The police has arrested nine persons for their alleged involvement in bootlegging from various parts of the city. Jagjit Singh of Jagdev Kalan (Rajasansi) and Manjit Singh of Verka were arrested by the CIA staff with 15 boxes of English wine, a .22 bore revolver, two live cartridges and 300 capsules of habit-forming drugs.

A case under the NDPS Act and the Arms Act besides Excise Act has been registered against them. The police has also impounded an Innova car. The Chheharta police nabbed Jasprit Singh of Jammu Basti, Fazlika and Raj Kumar of Pishori Nagar, Khandwala and recovered 132 bottles of liquor of different brands besides 200 intoxicant capsules from them. Prem Singh and Surjit Singh of Ibban Khurd village in Chatiwind were nabbed by the police with 86 bottles of illicit liquor. The police has arrested Jit Singh of Gujjarpura, Dharampal of Mustafabad with 40 and 35 bottles of illicit liquor respectively, while Madan Singh of Maqboolpura was held with 6750 ml illicit liquor. — TNS