Amritsar, July 27
Stamp collection is by far the most common yet most underestimated activity known to man. The Amritsar Philatelic Club is trying its best to popularise the meticulous hobby amongst the youth by educating them.

Calling on city's collectors, the club, with over 100 members and a collection that competes with the best, is defining and preserving the trends in history. "Stamps have been the most important and constant source of historical and cultural influence of our society. Every year, the Indian postal department releases 100 odd stamps, and that makes it the best possible activity for people like us. Stamps issued in the fields of science, technology, culture, entertainment, literature are all worth saving, as per one's interest," said Dharminder Kapoor, secretary of the Philatelic club and a collector with over 3,200 stamps. His collection mostly includes limited edition national and international stamps and a lot to share with the younger members. "A collector is always looking for something new, exciting. So, the latest trend in stamp collection is the miniature first cover or what we call sheetlet," he explains. Adding further, he says, "Every stamp has an individual exclusive first cover, which is equally important and worth the value."

As much as knowledgeable and exciting it is to collect stamps, another collector and member of the Philatelic Club, Rajan Arora, believes that the meticulous process is worth preserving. "Education comes through these pieces of history. Stamps tell you about their era, most commemorative stamps are released on some person, place or happening of importance and so they reflect a lot of the culture of that period." He also buys and sells off his stamps to other collectors to keep his collection updated. "Sometimes we are not that updated about the latest releases or covers especially foreign stamps. So, the exchange is for good."

Shanti Swaroop, a Limca Book Record holder for the most extensive collection of coins and currencies, too, vouches for the experience its provides. "I have over 10,000 coins from 150 countries, some as old as 2,800 years and the Maurya period currency," informs Shanti, who runs a bakery shop in the city. Collecting them for the past 40 years, 48-year-old Shanti maintains his collection by individually packing each currency coin. "They are my most-prized possession and I make sure to preserve and keep them safe." While he believes that not many take up the activity anymore, he also gives out the reason for it. "Youngsters today do not have the patience for such meticulous process. Also, with everything going digital, the hobbies have changed."

Maintenance is also another issue, but Dharmendra throws in a temptation, "Most people think just collecting stamps is enough, but the real value of a stamp is only when it is preserved. We have so many accessories in the market now like mounts, stock books etc that sometimes the cost of preservation goes higher than the actual value of the stamp," which by the way, he says, is quite appreciable. "Post Independence, stamps that were valued at Rs 1.50 or Rs 5 are now valued at Rs 20,000 and goes up to a few lakhs. The errored stamps are the rarest and can fetch you up to 40 lakh in the market," he adds. Dharmendra's personal favourite is his copy of the first-ever stamp released in India called "Sidh Dak", a set of three postage stamps. Now, that's a rewarding hobby.

Amritsar, July 27
The Civil Surgeon (CS), Dr Yash Mitra, in a letter written to the government hospitals in the district, has asked them to use medicines from the general pool for the child delivery services.

The medicines of the general pool are meant to be used at the out patient departments (OPDs) and general wards. However, the medicines for the child delivery services at government hospitals are provided by the National Rural Health Mission under the Janani Suraksha Yojna. While the patients and their attendants at gynaecology departments have often complained that they had to buy surgical gloves and other items from the market, the employees have often complained of the shortage of supply.

Now as the gynaecology departments would be able to use the items as gloves and medicines from the general pool, a few doctors said it would cause a shortage of medicines and items for the OPD and general ward patients.

A doctor said, "What was required was that the quota of medicines under the NRHM for the child delivery services was increased. Asking people to use medicines from other pool would only create a scarcity there as long as no efforts are made to increase the overall supply."

Even as the government was trying to increase institutional deliveries as a measure to curb neo-natal mortality and mother mortality, gloves and other surgical items should be amply supplied, said another doctor.

Meanwhile, Dr Mitra said the hospitals had been told to use medicines from the general pool in case they did not have any supply left in the stock of medicines for the child delivery services. He said it had been done so that the patients did not have to suffer because of the shortage.

He said all medicines were meant for the patients and their objective was to run the show by managing the things at the district level.

Amritsar, July 27
The district administration is facing a tough time as the rumours about a robbers' gang, whose members allegedly chop off the limbs of people, are doing rounds here of late.

Even as no such incident has been reported so far, this has forced the police department to intensify patrolling during night as a precautionary measure.

Interestingly, these rumors are being spread just a few days after night patrolling was launched in the city.

A police team had to rush to Mustafabad last night after reports about a similar incident started pouring in. But they had to return empty-handed.

Similar rumours were reported in Maqboolpura, Mahal village, Adarsh Nagar, Indira Colony and other localities. However, nothing substantial was found after police investigation. The residents of these areas could not locate the victims and the houses where such incidents were said to have occurred.

The city police as well as SSP (Rural) have issued an advisory to the common public not to get panicked due to such "baseless rumours".

The residents of different areas are conducting "thikri pehra" (night patrols by community members). Armed youngsters from various areas were seen patrolling during nights.

Sandeep Kumar, a resident Indira Colony who was part of a thikri pehra team, said they spent night in the open after loud noises erupted in the area. He said routine patrol would be adopted for a few days to thwart any untoward incident.

Rumors are that a group of 15-20 persons, including women, raid homes and chop off the limbs of family members.

Ram Singh, Commissioner of Police, said, "Nearly 500 policemen headed by senior officials have been put on night patrolling duty. Suspects are being searched. No such incidents have occurred in any part of the city so far. People should not believe in such baseless rumours."

In the advisory, the police asked the people not to believe in such rumours as no incidents of such nature had actually occurred in the city and the rural areas. The police department along with the residents of villages is organising night patrols, especially in the border areas, where police teams can not reach immediately.

"People should not believe in such rumours as it would only help unscrupulous elements. It would some people to settle their old scores,” Jasdeep Singh, SP(D), Amritsar Rural, said.

“People returning home or going for urgent work during late hours may not venture out due to misplaced fear," he said. 

Amritsar, July 27
Dry fruit items being imported from Afghanistan and central Asian countries via the Attari-Wagah Joint Check Post (JCP) have recorded 20 per cent increase in prices as a fallout of the hike in dollar rates against rupee.

Dry fruit traders at the centuries-old dry fruit market Majith Mandi said the demand of dry fruit items had gone down.

"Ahead of the dry fruit season, the hike in the prices of these items has delivered a rude shock to the traders," said BK Bajaj, a wholesale trader.

He said the local dry fruit industry, which imports dry fruit worth over Rs 1,000 crore from Afghanistan annually, is facing the heat as traders were not placing any fresh orders. The dry fruit market here supplies the imported items to all over the country. He said the prices of these items would go back to the normal with the consolidation of rupee in the international market.

There has been a hike of about 20 per cent in the prices of imported items in the local wholesale market.

The fresh rates of some of the imported dry fruit items in the Amritsar wholesale market are: Rs 300 for 1 kg dry plum, Rs 200 for 1 kg apricot, Rs 525 almond (1kg), Rs 600 pistachious(1kg), Rs 200 kishmish(1kg), Rs 250 currant (1kg) and Rs 600 for 1 kg walnut.

In the retail market, the prices of almond have risen from Rs 480 (pashouri kernel) and Rs 520 (American kernel) to Rs 600 per kg, apricot from Rs 285 to Rs 320 a kg, pistachious from Rs 800 to Rs 880 (1kg), a variety of kishmish are being sold between Rs 200 to Rs 350 and currant (munakka) is available between 400 to Rs 600.

City-based wholesalers supply material to traders in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh among others.

Harminder Singh, a dry fruit trader, said, “The demand of dry fruits picks up during the winter season which coincides with the festive season.”

"About 20 per cent increase in the prices of these items is a considerable hike. It may have soured the plans of the traders," the wholesal trader said. 

Amritsar, July 27
Dell Champs, a computer and general awareness quiz competition, was organised by Dell for the students of Class V-VII at Holy Heart Presidency School here.

Thirty students from Holy Heart Presidency School and Holy Heart High School participated in the event with their family members.

A written test was conducted and top six teams made through the quiz. Navroop Kaur of Class VI and Gurkeerat Singh were the winners while Swanith Kapoor and his father Nikhil Kapoor were the runners-up from Holy Heart Presidency School.

Abhishek Aggarwal of Class V and Santmukh of Class V from Holy Heart High School bagged the first and second positions respectively.

Amritsar, July 27
Faculty members and students of International Nursing College, Chabbal Road, along with local residents today blocked the vehicular movement to protest against the dumping of garbage here.

A large chunk of land near the institute is earmarked as a disused dumpsite on the Amritsar Municipal Corporation (MC) records.

Raising slogans, the protesters stopped vehicles and rickshaws loaded with garbage.

The protesters said the stench of rotting garbage had made their life miserable, adding that mosquitoes and flies swarmed all around the place.

Dogs have made the dumpsite a favourite haunt and ongoing rainy season increased the risk of epidemic outbreak, they said.

Unhygienic conditions around there prompted the elderly, housewives, men, youth and children to come together to register their protest.

The students of Nursing College wanted the Municipal Corporation to pay heed to their plight.

The protesting students said the Municipal Corporation (MC) officials would at least start considering the available options to make the site garbage-free.

Chairman, Schools Committee, Chief Khalsa Diwan, Pritpal Singh Sethi said the High Court had prohibited the de-skinning of animals and to throw city garbage at the site. The Chief Khalsa Diwan, he said, had been constantly urging the authorities for removal of the dump from the site.

He appealed the authorities to convert the garbage land under "Go Clean, Go Green' scheme.

The demonstration was called off after area councilor Pawan Kumar Pamma assured the agitators that de-skinning of animals would be completely stopped from Monday onwards and the garbage problem would be resolved with the cooperation of the authorities.

Chief Health Inspector Nirwail Singh also assured to remove the dumpsite from near the college as soon as possible.

Amritsar, July 27
The Department of Medicine at the Guru Nanak Dev Hospital today organised a function to observe the World Hepatitis Day under which around 200 hepatitis diagnosis tests were conducted for free.

The function was attended by the Director Research and Medical Education, Dr Tejbir Singh, Principal, Government Medical College Dr SS Shergill, Medical Superintendent Dr KS Sidhu besides faculty members, paramedical staff and students.

Head of Medicine Dr Santokh Singh said free vaccination for hepatitis B was given to the participants in the camp.

Tests from hepatitis B and C were also conducted free of cost,Dr Santokh Singh added.

Dr Santokh Singh deliberated on the treatment and prevention aspects of the hepatitis disease.

Others speakers on the occasion were Dr SS Deepti and Dr Harpeet Singh. 

Amritsar, July 27
In an interesting turn of events, the Kotwali police registered a robbery and forgery case against notorious smuggler Gurjant Singh, who had shot at another two smugglers in Rayya a few days ago.

The police has booked three persons, including Gurjant's accomplice Rashpal Singh and Gursewak Singh, a resident of Maari Kambo ke, located in Tarn Taran.

The police authorities claimed that they had received specific information that the accused Gurjant, Rashpal and Gursewak were involved in stealing luxury vehicles and subsequently selling these after forging documents and putting up fake number plates. Officials said the accused were standing near the Haathi Gate area and waiting for a customer.

The Kotwali police officials said the accused fled when the police party raided the area. It recovered a Duster vehicle, bearing number CH-04-L-2006, from the spot. A case under Sections 379, 411, 420, 467, 472 and 34 of the IPC has been registered in this regard.

It maybe mentioned here that Gurjant Singh, a notorious Indo-Pak smuggler and a resident of border village Havelian, had shot at and injured two of his fellow smugglers a few days ago.

They were returning after paying their obeisance at historical Baba Bakala Gurdwara when the incident took place late Tuesday evening. Gurjant and his accomplice reportedly used AK-47 rifle, besides other arms, it is learnt.

Gurjant was nabbed by the State Special Operation cell, a counter intelligence wing of the Punjab Police, with 26 kg of heroin in 2010. However, he escaped from the Ferozepur jail in February this year.

Investigations revealed that Gurbhej Singh and Satbir were associated with Gurjant Singh. However, after his arrest, both victims cheated on his share of heroin. He nursed a grudge against the two smugglers and, therefore, attacked them. A case under Sections 307, 411, 414 IPC, 25/27/54/59 Arms Act and 21/22/61/85 NDPS Act has been registered against both the groups at the Beas police station in this regard.

Amritsar, July 27
In yet another incident, a group of youths was duped by a fake travel agent on the pretext of sending them to Gulf countries in search of green pastures. The victims lodged a complaint with the Civil Lines police, alleging that the accused took Rs 95,000 from each of them for sending them to Kuwait.

The accused, identified as Pardep Singh, a resident of Prem Nagar, Gurdaspur, fled after closing down his firm.

Amrik Singh, a resident of Phagwara, told the police that the accused took their original passport and other related documents. After some days when they went to his office located in the District Shopping complex, B-Block, the accused had fled after closing down his office.

The police authorities said over 25 youths, including Rajpal Singh and Jastirath Singh, who had also lodged the complaint, were duped by Pardeep Singh.

Nishan Singh, in charge, Ranjit Avenue police chowki, who has been entrusted with the investigations, said that earlier an inquiry was conducted by economic offences wing which has recommended the registration of case against the accused.

He said a case under Sections 406 and 420 of the IPC had been registered against the accused in this connection. He said efforts were afoot to arrest the culprit who has been on the run since the incident.

In a similar incident, the Amritsar (rural) police busted a gang of swindlers who had duped a number of residents of Amritsar and Gurdaspur for sending them to Singapore on work permit. The police recovered 100 passports from their possession and arrested two persons in this connection.

Amritsar, July 27
A Mehta village resident and his son were attacked and brutally injured by several unidentified persons when they were returning home after closing down their shop located in Mehta Chowk here.

The injured were identified as Raman Kumar and his son Ajay Kumar. The police has registered an attempt to murder case against five unidentified persons in this regard.

Raman Kumar stated to the police that he, along with his son, was returning home. He said when they reached near their residence, some unidentified persons in their early twenties, who were hiding in a wild growth in a vacant plot, attacked them with sharp-edged weapons. He said when they cried for help, people of the area ran towards the attackers, who fled from the scene after seeing the people coming towards them.

His son Ajay sustained serious injuries who were rushed to Civil Hospital Baba Bakala.

Jasdeep Singh, SP (D), said a case under Sections 307, 326, 324, 148 and 149 of the IPC has been registered at the Mehta police station.

He said preliminary investigations revealed that an old personal enmity seemed to be the reason behind the incident.

He added that the investigations were under progress.

Amritsar, July 27
A local resident, in a complaint lodged with the Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs Memorial Civil Hospital management, has accused a doctor of taking Rs 20,000 for signing a medico-legal report.

Rakesh Kumar, the complainant, said he had gone to the Civil Hospital after a clash with some persons on June 26. He alleged that the said doctor asked for the money through a Class IV employee for signing the report.

The matter came to light yesterday as the same doctor made a complaint to the police against Sachin, an employee working at the hospital's Jan Aushadhi store for threatening a Class IV employee.

Talking to The Tribune, Sachin said, "I had just objected to the deal and called the said employee as the patients were my relatives. The doctor later returned the money when I raised objection."

He said he was astonished as the policemen came to question him on the complaint made by the doctor.

Sachin said the hospital management should probe the case. Meanwhile, Rakesh Kumar made a fresh complaint today after yesterday's incident.

The incident has once again brought to fore corruption in issuing medico-legal reports.

Senior Medical Officer Dr Hadeep Ghai said the matter had been brought to his notice. He said he could not look into the matter immediately as he was on an official tour today.

Dr Hadeep Ghai said an inquiry would be conducted into the complaint and action would be taken against whosoever was found guilty. 

Amritsar, July 27
The Rambagh police have arrested two persons on charges of eve-teasing two girls at a shopping mall here.

The accused have been identified as Harpreet Singh of Guru Teg Bahadur Colony and Saddep Singh of Guru Nanak Nagar in Batala

The third accomplice of the accused has been identified as Baljinder Singh, a resident of Salo Chahal village in Batala, who was yet to be arrested.

They have been booked under Section 354-A of Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Reports said the victims were relatives of some Border Security Force (BSF) officials who had come to watch a movie at the Celebration Mall here on July 23. The accused were reportedly under influence of intoxicants and used objectionable remarks against the girls. They told the driver of their vehicle about this who also entered into a verbal duel with the accused.

The accused then fled away in a car. The police later lodged a compliant on the statement of the security guard present at the spot. The accused were later identified from the car number in which they had absconded, said Shiv Nath, investigating officer, in the case. Efforts were on to nab the third accused, the investigating officer added. 

Amritsar, July 27
Two persons were injured in a clash between two groups in Guru Ki Wadali area here yesterday.

Reports said Jassa, a resident of the area, clashed with Nawabdeep Singh and Gursewak Singh near Chheharta Sahib Gurdwara. Both the parties were reportedly armed with sharp-edged weapons and iron rods.

Jassa got his wrist injured and was later admitted to a private hospital. His friends and accomplices attacked the residence of Nawabdeep and opened fire there. Amrik Singh Pawar, ADCP city-II, said they were investigating the case.