Amritsar, August 20
Representatives of 45 industrialists and traders associations of the city today brought different problems grappling the trade and manufacturing sectors to the notice of Industry Minister Anil Joshi.

Industry Association Bal Kalan demanded the inclusion of villages, announced as industrial zones in the Amritsar Master Plan into the industrial policy announced this year.

A member of the association Sundeep Khosla said the new industrial policy had all its focus and plans for the focal points. He pointed out that after 2003, no focal point had been established by the state government, while there were many towns like Gurdaspur, Ferozepur, Mansa and others which do not have any focal point at all. He said it was highly capital-intensive for industrialists to procure expensive land at focal points.

He reminded the minister and a battery of officials drawn from multiple departments, including industry and commerce, power corporation, pollution control board, that the area of three and a half villages on the Tarn Taran road and Bal Kalan village was incorporated in the Master Plan prepared for the holy city for its planned development.

The businessmen expressed their displeasure over e-trip to the minister and complained of power cuts and prolonged time in rectifying snags in power transmission line and apparatus.

The New Focal Point Association brought out the infrastructure and other discrepancies to the notice of the minister. The association members complained of the plots lying vacant in the area.

The minister, in turn, assured the traders and industrialists that their grievances would be looked into by the officials and the government to resolve them systematically. He asked them to submit their memoranda

for their efficient resolution. He said the state would soon be power surplus and its benefits would reach all sections of society. He also added that the government was looking for a suitable piece of land to set up another focal point in Amritsar.

Among others, Principal Secretary Industry Karanveer Singh was also present on the occasion.

Amritsar, August 20
The district health department has penalised 13 shops in the city during the past seven months for serving substandard food to customers. During the time, around 158 samples of food items collected from various establishments had failed on quality parameters.

The department has collected around Rs 94,000 as fine from the 13 shops against whom the cases were recently disposed of, said Dr Shivkaran Singh Kahlon. He stated that cases against shops whose food items were categorised as unsafe for human consumption were filed separately in court.

He said more than 10 such cases had been filed after getting the necessary sanction from the higher authorities and others would be filed as soon as the formalities were completed. Stringent measures taken by the department during the past few months had revealed that even the foods served by renowned food items were not as per the quality parameters.

Dr Shiv Karan Singh Kahlon said they had collected over 450 samples from the shops in the city during the past seven months. He added that the department could impose a fine up to Rs 10 lakh on the shops whose samples were found lacking in quality.

Kahlon said the department would take strict action so that te situation in the city could be improved. “Only harsher punishments would help in checking food adulteration and curbing unhygienic cooking,” said Kahlon.

The failure of a large number of samples on quality parameters indicates that the administration still has to do a lot to check the menace. While the food joints are risking a health of city residents, a crackdown on them was the need of the time.

Amritsar, August 20
The police has arrested a person who used to smuggle liquor in his car by using fake licence plates on his vehicle.

In another case, a person was nabbed with some intoxicant capsules.

According to the police, Lalit Kumar, a resident of Raj Avenue, here used fake number plates on his Ford Fiesta car to smuggle liquor. “We recovered 11 boxes of Babbar Sher make whiskey and 1,000 intoxicant capsules from his possession. He was driving the Ford car bearing number PB-10-AW 6551 then,” the police said.

A case under Section 61/1/14 of the Excise Act has been registered with the Chheharta police station.

In yet another case, the A Division police has arrested a person identified as Gurbachan Singh, alias Pappa, a resident of Professor Colony, Amritsar, and recovered 116 intoxicant capsules from him.

A case under Section 22/61/85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against him. 

Amritsar, August 20
The Municipal Town Planning (MTP) Department, which has been given the task of demolishing the unsafe century-old buildings in the holy city, has started the job in full swing.

Out of a total of around 132 such rickety structures spotted during a recent survey, around 30 have been safely grounded.

It has been learnt that around 100 dilapidated multi-floor buildings are the immediate target of the MC and these will be demolished over the next seven to 10 days.

Each MTP official has been allocated a fixed objective of demolishing at least 20 buildings which could cause damage to human lives. Hemant Batra, senior town planner, said a list of 132 buildings was given to the PWD, out of which 100 had to be demolished soon.

Today the MTP teams, under the supervision of Batra, conducted the demolition drive in Katra Ahluwalia, Arorian Wali Gali, Cheel Mandi and Katra Safed areas. “We have aimed to demolish them within a week. Around 15 buildings were demolished in the past two days alone,” he said. 

Amritsar, August 20
The continuous devaluation of the rupee has shot up the expenses of the city families whose wards are studying abroad, while some enterprising NRIs are sending money back home to invest in safe instruments like fixed deposits to get an assured income.

“While those having family members earning abroad are cashing in on the trend, the residents whose wards are studying in foreign countries are feeling the heat,” remarked Ramesh Sharma. His son Amandeep went for a two-year post graduate diploma in accountancy to Australia about two months ago. One year of the course costs AUD 20,000 per year.

The constant devaluation of the rupee in the international market has added to the anxiety of Ramesh, as it would only increase the financial burden of the family.

At present, the exchange rate of a single AUD is hovering around Rs 56. It means his family has to foot a bill of approximately Rs 11 lakh.

Ramesh commented that the expenses of education abroad had more than doubled in the past six years. He supported his point by citing the case of his nephew Simran, who had gone to Australia in 2006, to pursue a two-year post graduate diploma course in management and his family paid around 20,000 Australian Dollar (AUD). He recalled that at that time the exchange rate of an AUD used to be about Rs 35 and his family had to shell out roughly Rs 5 lakh.

Sandeep Kumar, who is employed with Australian Post at Melbourne, said many NRIs were investing their money in India after taking even loan. He took a personal advance of an undisclosed amount from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia at 6.45 annual rate of interest and handed over the amount to his mother Promila, who parked the amount in a fixed deposit return at 9:25 per cent.

For the remittance of 100 to 10,000 foreign currency to India, the sender has to pay a fee of 50 dollar or the value of same currency. Then on the remittance of every five thousand another 50 dollar or the same value currency is given.

Currently, on a visit to his family in Amritsar, Sandeep rued the rise in travel cost in tandem with the devaluation of the Indian National Rupee (INR). He stated that, now a side of travel between Melbourne and Amritsar cost somewhere between Rs 26,000 and Rs 30,000. On the other hand, a similar journey, over a month ago cost between Rs 20,000 and Rs 22,000.

Amritsar, August 20
Rampant drug addiction in the border villages of the district might assume alarming proportions in near future if the government failed to generate employment opportunities for the youth here.

The fact came to light when the Border Security Force (BSF) launched a drug de-addiction campaign at Hardo Rattan village, half a kilometre from the Indo-Pak border a few days back.

Youths and their families, who participated in the campaign, pointed out that it was unemployment among the rural youth, especially those living in the border villages, has become the root cause for spreading of drug abuse. They demanded the setting up of industrial units in the rural belts (located near the border fence) in order to stem the problem.

Unviable farming, decreasing landholdings coupled with absence of employment opportunities for the residents living in the border belt are adding to their miseries.

Small farmers having land across the fence are the even greater victims of drug abuse. They are forced to work as labourers and that too only during the sowing or harvesting season.

The migrant farm labourers from other states are grabbing their share from them. They have to come to urban areas where they struggle to fend for themselves.

“It is not economically viable to work in industrial units or any other sector in the city due to low salaries. We get just Rs 5,000-Rs 6,000 per month and end up spending a major chunk of our salary in fares,” said Gurpreet Singh from Dhanoe Khurd village.

"Even as the successive governments in the state have been promising to initiate programmes for employment generation for the border village youths, they have proved to be mere hollow claims," he added.

The youths subsequently fall in the trap of drug addiction or get involved in drug smuggling in order to make fast buck. They do not even spare a thought while risking their lives making smuggling bids across the fence.

Dharminder Singh, a village sarpanch, said it was terrorism which hit the border villages first and then came the Kargil war.

"Even two years after the Kargil war ended, the farmers could not till their land due to the land mines laid in their fields within a radius of 2-3 kilometer from the fence," he said.

Harpreet Singh, after completing matriculation, became a drug addict. He said as their land was located across the barbed fence, his family had meagre income. In absence of employment opportunities, he started consuming drugs. He recently got treated at a de-addiction centre at Tarn Taran Civil Hospital.

Farmer leader Rattan Singh Randhawa said, "The government should identify commercially viable ventures for the local needs. Setting up of agricultural-based industries such as a paper mill would help generating employment in the border areas. The Centre or the Punjab government should also have job-oriented skill development programmes, especially for the border youth."

As per the data available with the BSF, around 288 kg of heroin was seized last year while they recovered over 150 kg of narcotic substances this year so far. 

The government should identify commercially viable ventures for the local needs. Setting up of agriculture-based industries such as a paper mill would help generating employment in the border areas. The Centre or the Punjab government should also have job-oriented skill development programmes, especially for the border youth
— Rattan Singh RaNdhawa, farmer leader 

It is not economically viable for the youngsters to work in industrial units or any other sector in the city due to low salaries. We get just Rs 5,000-Rs 6,000 
per month and end up spending a major chunk of our salary on fares 
— Gurpreet Singh, Dhanoe Khurd resident 

Amritsar, August 20
The Punjab State Medical and Dental Teachers Association, Government Medical College, has opposed the increase in duty hours of faculty in a general body meeting held today. In the meeting, the faculty strongly opposed the decision saying that they were not consulted before the decision was taken.

As against the earlier duty hours of 8 am to 2pm, the revised duty hours are from 8am to 4pm. The association members said the medical fraternity was already overburdened as the theory classes started at 7.30 am with round-the-clock duties in the form of evening teaching, evening ward rounds, emergency duties and operation theatre duties in the hospital, besides teaching of undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Association president Dr HS Sohal said, "The government is trying to impose the working hours on the pattern of PGI, Chandigarh, where there is only postgraduate curriculum whereas their institution is dealing with undergraduate medical, undergraduate dental and postgraduate curriculum as well."

The general body decided that the previous time schedule should be adhered to and followed. A representation in this regard has been sent to the state government 
for further consideration and rectification till September 1.

Association general secretary Dr Shiv Charan said, "Neither the teaching nor the hospital working will suffer with this time schedule." The association has also appealed to the government to fulfill their long-pending demands of time-bound promotions as is available in institutions as the Guru Gobind Singh Medical College Faridkot, PGI, Chandigarh, AllMS, New Delhi, PGHVIS, Rohtak, and other central health institutions.

Amritsar, August 20
BJP state vice-president Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina accused the Congress-led UPA government of wreaking a havoc on the country's fiscal health. He said the weak and wrong policies of the UPA had rendered the rupee weak.

Chhina said the rising inflation of goods of daily need and black marketing were at an all-time high as the government was apparently sleeping over the crisis. In a press release issued today, he said the economy was all set to be thrust into major turmoil furthermore in the coming days as the government had failed to take any corrective measures.

Chinna asked PM Dr Manomhan Singh to clarify on the issue before the nation. He said in coming days the fear of unprecedented rise in unemployment which had already become a major challenge might be staring in the face of the government. He said the PM had touted FDI to be a major investment catcher which failed miserably and it triggered no investments, vindicating BJP's stand that the FDI was faulty and might hinder economic growth.

He said the low growth rate of the economy would hit the services, jobs and lead to more inflation in the coming days. He held the corruption and vote-bank politics of the Congress were behind the crisis. 

Amritsar, August 20
Students of Post Graduate Diploma in Financial Services at Khalsa College for Women (KCW) today bagged top positions in Guru Nanak Dev University examinations. Rakhi Raizada bagged the second position with 83.4 per cent marks, Pooja Sharma stood fourth and Amritpal Kaur stood seventh in the university. Principal Dr Sukhbir Kaur Mahal congratulated the meritorious students on the occasion.

Rajiv Gandhi's birth anniversary observed

The NSS Unit of BBK DAV College for Women, Amritsar, observed sadhbhawna diwas to commemorate the birth anniversary of late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. A paper-reading contest was conducted.

Addressing the participants, NSS programme officer Jaspreet Bedi told the volunteers that the idea behind observing the sadhbhawna diwas was to eschew violence and to promote goodwill among people. The college also organised a seminar on road safety and traffic awareness in collaboration with the traffic police, informed college principal Dr Neelam Kamra. Traffic in-charge D Jatinder apprised the volunteers about road safety, chaos on roads which lead to road accidents. He emphasised on the need of driving licence and insurance document as per the Supreme Court guidelines. The volunteers were made aware of the causes of road accidents like violation of driving rules, diversions, overspeeding, underage driving, unskilled driving and drunken driving among others.

A quiz was held over road rules. Jaswinder Kaur, Laxmi, Komal Sharma, Tania, Manpreet, Kriti and Pahulpreet Kaur were given prizes.

Rakhi celebrated

Various city schools held programmes on their campuses to celebrate Rakhi here today.

Sri Guru Harkrishan Senior Secondary Public School held a cultural programme. Dr Inderjeet Singh, Registrar, Guru Nanak Dev University, was the chief guest and Chief Khalsa Diwan Charitable Society (CKDCS) president Charanjit Singh Chadha was the guest of honour. A dance on 'Rakhri Da Aa gaya Tyohaar' and skit based on the theme of love between brother and sister was performed.