The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Solid waste management plant in offing MC gears up to initiate process of hiring firms to establish plant; residents want it on priority basis GS Paul Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 24 After the Punjab and Haryana High Court gave nod to the much-awaited Municipal Solid Waste Management Plant, the MC authorities are gearing up to initiate the process of hiring companies to establish the plant. Newly appointed Municipal Commissioner DPS Kharbanda said as per the HC orders, the project would be initiated within a stipulated timeframe and it would be the MC's liability to keep the municipal limits free from garbage. It was also the MC's responsibility to ensure that garbage disposal was done with minimum health hazards to the residents, he added. "The honourable High Court has given us six months to hire a company. We will try to complete the formalities within three months and apply for obtaining a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) for authorisation of the site. We have chalked out a strategy accordingly," he said. It was an Amritsar-based NGO, Punjab Pollution Control Committee, which had filed a writ petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2006 seeking directions to the state government as well as the Amritsar Municipal Corporation (AMC) authorities to shift the present site for dumping municipal solid waste and dead animals at Bhaktanwala. Parkash Singh Bhatti, president, Punjab Pollution Control Committee, said they insisted to shift the dumping site to an authorised place in accordance with the provisions of the Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) rules, 2000, and for scientific disposal of the municipal solid waste and dead animals. "Acting on our plea, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the authorities to apply for the approval from the Punjab Pollution Control Board. This is what we have fought for," he said. The residents are feeling a sense of respite from the High Court's verdict. Welcoming the move, Naresh Johar, a resident, said the holy city was in a dire need of solid waste management project. "The Amritsar Municipal Corporation needs to monitor the door-to-door garbage collection followed by its scientific disposal," he said. Jagdish Singh, another resident from the city, said, "We are equally concerned that this project should be made operational within the stipulated time period. It should not linger on like other projects did in the city of late.” “Keeping residents' health in mind, it should be done on priority basis," Jagdish Singh added. The move Amritsar-based NGO Punjab Pollution Control Committee had filed a writ petition in the HC in 2006 seeking directions to shift the present site for dumping municipal solid waste and dead animals at Bhaktanwala The NGO said they insisted on shifting the dumping site to an authorised place in accordance with the provisions of the Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) rules, 2000, and for a scientific disposal of solid waste and dead animals activists, officials welcome HC Verdict Acting on our plea, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the authorities to apply for the approval from the Punjab Pollution Control Board. This is what we have fought for. The residents are feeling a sense of respite from the High Court's verdict — Parkash Singh Bhatti, president, Punjab Pollution Control Committee The honourable High Court has given us six months to hire a company. We will try to complete the formalities within three months and apply for obtaining a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) for authorisation of the site. We have chalked out a strategy accordingly — DPS Kharbanda, Municipal Commissioner We (the residents) are equally concerned that this project should be made operational within the stipulated time period and should not linger on like other projects. Keeping residents' health in mind, it should be done on priority basis — Jagdish Singh, a resident
	Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal to hold protest against levying of e-trip Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 24 The Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal (PPBM) will hold a demonstration outside the office of Excise and Taxation office on Friday against levying of e-trip. Over 40 wire and drying units based in the city have proceeded on an indefinite strike against the move. The PPBM decided this in a hurriedly convened meeting today held under the leadership of its president Amrit Lal Jain. Jain said it was unanimously resolved to boycott the levying of e-trip as traders had expressed their inability to implement it having no infrastructure. Members of 35 different trade associations took part in the meeting against the e-trip charge for interstate and intrastate movement of goods, he said. The Punjab government had recently made amendments to the e-trip system rules. The bill amount for filing online information about six commodities was reduced to Rs 50,000. It was applicable to the commodities transported within the state. The commodities included cotton, yarn, mustard, plywood, iron and steel (excluding scrap) and vegetable oil (edible and non-edible). Traders have to submit online information of goods being transported within the state (e-trip). He said it was not practically possible for all small and medium enterprises (SMEs) were not equipped with computers, printers, internet facility and other paraphernalia. Besides, they do not appoint full-time accountants. As per the norms, the traders were to fill online information of the consignment and also the time of departure in the form. In the event of a power failure, the consignment the online information will have to be held back till the electricity supply is restored. Jain claimed that 90 per cent VAT-registered dealers out of a total number of 2.80 lakh in the state did not have infrastructural competence to deal with the new direction.
	5 kg heroin seized from Bhainian post Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 24 The Border Security Force (BSF) seized around 5 kg of heroin worth Rs 25 crore in the international market from the Bhainian border post in Amritsar sector here this morning. The seizure was made during a search operation launched by the BSF after getting a tip-off in this regard. The contraband was found abandoned. The five packets of narcotic substance were concealed in a cement pipe located near a tubewell in the fields located across the barbed border fence. "The drug consignment was found placed near a tubewell located 100 metres from the international boundary and around 400 meters before the barbed fence," said a Border Security Force official.
	Man accuses divorced wife of abducting kids Amritsar, July 24 Manjit Singh, a resident of Railway Link Road, has lodged a complaint against his divorced wife and her father for allegedly kidnapping his two children. Those booked are Ranpreet Kaur and her father Ravinder Singh, residents of Madhana Dev in Gowhati. In his complaint, Manjit said he got married to Ranpreet Kaur in October 1996 and have two children. He said in May 2009, they migrated to Brisbane in Australia on study visa. He alleged that his wife developed relation with another man in Australia and when he came to know about this, he started living separately from her. The children were living with him. Manjit said in March he along with his children returned from Australia and divorced her. He said a couple of days ago his children had gone to Model Town on a two-wheeler but did not return till late evening. His sister told him that Ranpreet had taken the children and the vehicle was abandoned near Chief Khalsa Diwan. A case has been registered against Ranpreet and her father. — TNS
	Youth attacked in court complex, four arrested Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 24 The Civil Lines police has arrested four persons for attacking a youth inside the court premises here yesterday. However, half a dozen persons, also involved in the attack, managed to flee the spot. The accused threatened the victim, identified as Jagdeep Singh, not to give any statement against them. To save himself, Jagdeep entered the "ahalmad" room which was ransacked by the accused. The accused have been identified as Vickey Rai alias Vicky Petha, his brother Lovely Rai, both residents of Gobindpura Chheharta, Arvinder Singh of Basant Vihar and Gagandeep Singh of Ghanupure Kale. Eight unidentified persons are absconding. The police has registered a case on the statement given by Head Constable Harmesh Lal and another eyewitness. Gurbhej Singh, in-charge, court complex police post, said a number of criminal cases were pending against the accused. He said in 2010, the accused had allegedly kidnapped and brutally thrashed Jagdeep who was found near Gharinda in a serious condition. Vicky and his brother Lovely was released on bail a few days ago. "Yesterday, they came for hearing in the court of Additional Sessions Judge. The accused, along with their accomplices, attacked Jagdeep before the hearing," the court complex in-charge said. The accused reportedly damaged the chairs, doors and windowpanes of the ahalmad (where court records are stored) office. The staff had gone for lunch at that time. A case under Section 186, 353, 427, 506, 148, 149 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered at the Civil Lines police station here. Further investigations are on in this regard, the police said.
	Govt to spend Rs 115 cr on Valmiki temple Tribune News Service Chandigarh, July 24 Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal will lay the foundation stone of a temple with inbuilt museum and panorama at Ram Tirath in Amritsar on October 18. A decision to this effect was taken by the Chief Minister in a meeting of Bhagwan Valmiki Tirath Vikas Board constituted for the development of Sri Valmiki Ashram (Ram Tirath). Badal said the temple, which would cost Rs 115 crore, would be an engineering marvel spruced with rare architecture and landscaping, besides being aesthetically designed. Reiterating the commitment of the state government to undertake renovation and beautification of this sacred place from historical and religious perspective, he asked the Architecture Department of GNDU to design and supervise the construction of this world-class temple, besides providing structural designs of this project within two months. He also approved a corpus of Rs 10 crore to be kept at the disposal of the Board for managing the routine expenditure.
	Municipal body expedites house tax recovery process Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 24 The sub-committee, constituted by the Amritsar Municipal Corporation for the recovery of house tax dues, has revised the list of defaulters. The Alpha One Mall figures on the top of the list, which has defaulted to a tune of over Rs 50 lakh. These defaulters will be served fresh notices for the payment of dues, failing which they will face action. The sub-committee Alpha One Mall, which came into existence around four years ago, had to pay an annual tax of Rs 1.35 crore per annum. But last year, it paid Rs 80 lakh and the current dues remained unpaid. The case was lying pending before the sub-committee. The House Tax Department had summoned 93 tenants of Alpha One Mall to submit their rent deeds. Only eight tenants responded while the remaining 83 evaded it. Taking cognisance of the lapse, the committee has given them a grace period until Friday to furnish the requisite documents with the MC or face action. House Tax Department superintendent Shushant Bhatia said the Alpha One Mall management had been asked to deposit Rs 50 lakh. "The Alpha One management has been communicated for a time-bound payment by the next Tuesday. Similarly, if the defaulting tenants do not deposit their rent deeds, they would be liable to face action under Section 94/108 wherein the MC Commissioner has power to detain them instantly," he said.
	Swine flu testing laboratory yet to see the light of day Manmeet Singh Gill Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 24 Even after four years the announcement to set up a swine flu testing laboratory at the Government Medical College was made, the project is still to see the light of day. Officials at Government Medical College claim that the work on the proposed swine flu laboratory is going on at a fast face and it would become operational within one-and-a-half month. Given the fact that the city is a tourist hub where a large number of people from various countries come throughout the year, the threat of viral infection is always very high. Last year, the District Health Department had reported at least four confirmed cases of swine flu, besides a death caused by the disease. Statistics with the Health Department revealed as many as 29 confirmed cases of swine flu and seven deaths. However, the work on the swine flu lab is going on at a snail's pace.The work on the proposed laboratory had begun in 2009 with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal making a request to the Union Health Ministry for setting up a swine flu testing lab in the city. The Union Health Ministry had approved the project which had an approximate budget of Rs 50 lakh. However, the lab is yet to become operational. In absence of any such lab in the region, the tests have to be conducted at the PGI, Chandigarh, as a result of which much time is wasted in getting confirmation. Government Medical College principal Dr SS Shergill said the project was near completion. "We have even got a few equipment. Others will arrive soon. Within two months the lab would be operational," he said. The lab would be a boon for the region as it would cater to the needs of nearby districts as well, he added.
	Kerosene pilferage goes unabated Despite raids, PDS shop owners sell kerosene in black without fear Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 24 The police has seized over 20,000 litres of kerosene from a factory located in Alibakh Nagar on Feb 28 allegedly involved in manufacturing adulterated turpentine oil. The police had booked three persons including the owner of the factory. On May 24, the Mohkampura police seized eight drums containing 1,600 liters of kerosene and arrested three persons in this connection. The kerosene was meant for the PDS shop and was reportedly pilfered from ration depots. In a similar instance on June 27 the CIA staff confiscated 35 drums of kerosene from a godown located in Katra Karam Singh where the culprits used to convert it into adulterated turpentine oil. The police had arrested the owner identified as Naresh Kumar. These repeated instances of seizure of kerosene oil from unauthorised persons are testimony to the fact that the essential commodity, meant for economically weaker section of society and distribution through Public Distribution system, is being embezzled. Though the involvement of ration depots was found during the investigations, but it is an irony that it could not precede beyond the investigation stage and the black- sheep in the PDS system goes scot-free. The seizure of huge quantity of the oil also pointed out that the ration depot holders of neighbouring districts were also involved in illegal trade. The seizure of Feb 28 was still under investigation as the brother of the alleged accused had given an application the senior police authorities that the seized material did not belong to his brother. ADCP city-I Shailinderjit Shelly has been probing the matter.He said after the application we had been investigating to find the real accused behind the trade. “We do not want to arrest an innocent person. Therefore investigations take times to conclude. In this case we have definite clues and action would be taken against the culprits soon,” he added. The pilfered kerosene is either sold at higher rates in black market or used in manufacturing adulterated turpentine oil after discolouring it with chemicals and later mixing it with a yellow substance to give it a look of turpentine oil. Originally, turpentine oil is used in thinning paints and as a solvent to make furniture wax for polishing wooden furniture, in many cleaning products due to its antiseptic properties, is costlier than kerosene. District Food and Civil Supply department on the other hand expressed their inability to take action against such erring ration depot holder until and unless there is specific information or report against them. “We do take stringent measure on our part and take strict action against ration depot holders who are found involved in unethical practices but still possibility is there that certain dealers indulge in pilfering kerosene,” said an official in DFSC while preferring not to be named. Dr Rakesh Singla, district food and civil supply controller said it is beyond doubt that the matter is very serious. Though we take action against erring persons at departmental level also and same would be done whenever we received definite reports from police department.
	Single window system set up by Income Tax Dept Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 24 The Income Tax office today opened an Ayakar Sewa Kendra, a single window system, for income tax assessees of Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir. Income tax chief commissioner Gurpreet Singh inaugurated the Centre. He said the office has jurisdiction over six districts of the state, which includes Ferozepur, Bathinda, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur, Pathankot and Amritsar, besides the hilly state. He said income tax assesses can check the status of their files, file their returns and refunds online and could register their complaints also. He informed that assesses would be issued special passwords. On the line of e-return, assesses could open their account and proceed accordingly for getting all these works done. In order to utilize services at Ayakar Sewa Kendra visitors have to first seek token number by feeding their names and mobile numbers in the computers installed over there. A help counter had also been established to assist the visitors to answer their queries.
	Placement drive at Global Institutes Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 24 At a placement drive held at the Global Institutes 123 students were placed in 22 companies such as Intech, CQLSYS Technologies, Dell, DLF Pramerica Life Insurance, Dr Lalpath Labs, Eureka Forbes Ltd., Genpact, HCL, HDFC Bank, HDFC Life, HDFC Sales, ICICI Bank, India Bulls, Invimind Technologies, Kochar Tech, Leo Minds, Miracle Technologies, Muthoot Fincorp Ltd., Rootsan Technologies, Solitaire Infosys Inc, Teleperformance and Winning Edge Learning Pvt. Ltd. Multinational companies like HCL, DELL, HDFC Bank, Dr Lal pathlabs, Genpact, Teleperformance offered attractive packages to the selected students, said Global Institutes director Dr Arvind Bhardwaj. He said executives from these companies appreciated the technical skills of the students and while conducting campus placement drives they were surprised to know that soft skills of the students were above their expectations. Training and placement cell arranges frequent workshops and expert talks for global certification courses of IBM and ORACLE in the campus to make students readily acceptable in the Industry all over the world. This year more than 60 students were with IBM DB2 certificates under IBM academic initiative program and 16 students were trained in Oracle Database Administration. Vice-chairman, Dr Akashdeep Singh said our 2013 pass out students had brought laurels to the Institutes by getting selected in various renowned companies. On this occasion Chairman, Dr BS Chandi congratulated the training and placement cell for actively counseling, training and motivating students for the interviews and bringing appropriate companies for placement drives in the campus.
	Chemists continue selling banned drugs in villages Tribune News Service Manmeet Singh Gill Amritsar, July 24 Despite continuous raids by the Health Department on the chemist shops selling prohibited drugs in the district, the authorities have failed to break the supply chain of such drugs. This is evident from the recent seizures made during raids. In the yesterday’s raids, the proscribed drugs were seized from five shops at different places. The officials claimed to seize prohibited drugs worth Rs 3,200 from Guru Ram Dass Medical Store, Rs 7,000 from Sidhu Medico’s, Rs 12,500 from Sharma Medical Hall near Civil Hospital Ajnala, Rs 6,000 from Satpal Medical Store Chogawan road , Rs 4,000 from Deepak medical hall Ajnala and Rs 35,000 from residence of Kuldeep Singh in Waniae Ke village. Drug Inspectors Bableen Kaur said Kuldeep Singh does not have any license which authorizes him to posses these drugs. The department’s efforts to check sale of proscribed drugs which mostly used by the drug-addicts though have forced chemists to store drugs at different places other than their shops. Charanjit Singh, a resident of Thatgarh village said, “Most of the villages don’t have any dispensaries near by or a qualified doctor but still have 4-5 chemists.” He said the department should check chemists in rural areas more often. The residents also said in addition to focusing on chemists, the department must identify the source and supplier of habit forming drugs so that youngsters could be freed from the clutches of drugs. Drug Inspector Amarpal Singh Malhi and Sukhdeep Singh said that they are continuously checking godowns of retailers and the campaign has started yielding results. He said in a recent case, Sukhdev of Bajwa Medical Store near Chogawan has been sentenced to 2 years of imprisonment and Rs 10000 fine for running a chemists shop without a license.
	Inter-varsity champs felicitated Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 24 The hockey players who had won accolades at national level, including, prestigious All India Inter-University National Championships were today felicitated at historic Khalsa College. In total 22 players were honoured and given the sports kits and track suits at a function organized by Maharaja Ranjit Singh Hockey Academy. College principal Dr Daljit Singh distributed the prizes and kits, motivated the students to perform better and achieve higher goals. Olympian Balwinder Singh Shammi who had been coaching the players and Khalsa College sports incharge Bachanpal Singh, were present on the occasion. The players honoured included Ravisher Singh, Ramneek Singh, Gurnoor Singh, Manjinder Singh, Gurbir Singh, Karan Singh, Gagandeep Singh, Amanbir Singh, Narinderpal Singh, harsahib Singh, mandeep singh, Lovedeep Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Sukhwinder Singh, Navdeep Singh, Manjinder Singh, Gurinder Singh, Manpreet Singh, Dhanwant Singh, Meharban Singh. Dr.Daljit said in future too, the students who would perform well in the Inter-University Championship would be honoured. Others present during the function included Harcharan Singh, Coach Manwinder Singh, Nirmal Singh and Harjinder Singh.
	Faculty development programme held at ACET Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 24 The Department of Mechanical Engineering of the Amritsar College of Engineering and Technology today organized a five-day, Punjab Technical University sponsored, Faculty Development Programme on “Numerical and Computational Techniques in Engineering”. As many as 56 faculty members from seven engineering and management colleges in the region participated in this Faculty Development Programme. ACET managing director Amit Sharma said the Faculty Development Programme was conceived to address the need for introducing different solutions and modeling techniques for resolving engineering problems in various disciplines. The course also gives brief overview of commercially available software for implementing these techniques. He informed that the ACET is NBA and NAAC accredited and provides quality education to its students with the aim of getting them employment after passing out from the college. About 10 experts from IITs, NITs and other premier institutions visited the campus and explained various computational techniques like finite element method, artificial neural networks, genetic algorithm, fuzzy logic, simulation and optimization methods etc. On the concluding day Dr Inderdeep Singh from IIT Roorkee explained the scope of research activities on the society.
	Admission for diploma courses begins at GNDU Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 24 The admissions and interviews for the various courses being run at Guru Nanak Dev University Amritsar campus for the session 2013-14 would be held from July 25 onwards. Dr Rajinderjit Kaur Pawar, said the admissions interview for few seats lying vacant in certificate course in dress designing and cutting only for Matric pass girls, diploma courses in textile designing (12th pass girls), one year diploma in fashion technology (12th pass girls), one year diploma in cosmetology (12th pass girls), one year diploma in computer applications for 12th pass boys and girls and computer hardware & maintenance (12th pass boys) would be held today in the Department of Life Long Learning of the University. Those candidates who wish to seek admission in these courses could contact the department along with their original documents.