Amritsar, December 20
The banks are learning no lessons from repeated instances of ATM frauds and breaking up of ATMs in the city and its adjoining areas.

Lakhbir Singh, a senior citizen of the holy city, had a horrendous experience when he went to operate his card at an ATM machine situated adjoining to a private bank on the Majitha road here.

As he came out of the ATM, he met two youths who were posing as a technical team of the bank. They fraudulently procured his transaction slip which he had obtained from the ATM machine after operating his account.

Lakhbir Singh, who retired from the Air Force and lives at Guru Nanak Avenue, Majitha road, said he got suspicious when one of the youths disclosed some number from the slip to someone else on his mobile and asked him to operate his account once again.

“I objected to this and went to the manager of the bank and narrated the whole instance. The manager called the youth inside the bank but he could not give any satisfactory answer while his accomplice had already fled,” he said.

Shockingly when I asked the manger to call the police, he dithered while the police was located just 50 yards away from the bank.

“I asked bank officials and the security guard to stop the youth from leaving the bank and himself went to the police station. But before I could call the police, the bank authorities led the youth away. The security guard and the bank authorities did nothing to stop him,” said Lakhbir Singh.

He demanded stern action against the bank manager as well as the security guard deputed there.

This is not the only case. Earlier, too, there were instances in which young criminals deceived unsuspecting people of their hard-earned money. They decamped with money after handing over forged ATM cards to them.

Majitha road has been vulnerable to such incidents wherein unidentified miscreants broke open the ATM machine and looted huge amounts of money.

The police department regularly holds meetings with various bank authorities who ask the police authorities to take appropriate action. Though they have put up CCTV cameras but most of the time the measure could not help due to inferior quality of the cameras. A majority of banks especially nationalised banks are without security guards that encourages robbers to target the ATMs.

The police authorities said the department had intensified patrolling around the ATMs and banks in order to thwart such incidents. But a careless approach by the bank authorities is costing customers dearly.

Amritsar, December 20
The government is all set to double the penalty amount under the Right to Service Act to penalise officials who do not finish the job within time given under the Act. This was stated by the Punjab Right to Service Commission (PRSC) Commissioner, Dr Dalbir Singh Verka. Talking to mediapersons after chairing a meeting of the commission at Circuit House here today, Dr Verka said so far 13 government officials had been penalised for delay in discharging the work. Currently, under the Act, fine ranging between minimum Rs 500 to maximum Rs 5,000 could be levied against officials. Besides provisions like dismissal, departmental and other actions were also available.

Dr Verka said the commission had got prepared a software named Right to Service Information System from the National Information Centre. This software would soon be installed at SAS Nagar under a pilot programme. This would enable all service online and commission members could learn the pendency of cases and kinds of services being offered across the state. "The software will automatically turn the applications into an appeal and send these to the senior officer of the same department after the lapse of stipulated time."

The move was aimed at ensuring that officials were answerable to the people, he remarked. He directed the officials to install the display boards highlighting the increased number of services under the Act. Now, as many as 149 services come under the Act. He said at the inception only 69 services were brought under the Act but later these were hiked to 110.

He claimed that a majority of cases were being solved within the stipulated period as only 0.7 per cent cases were pending. Over 1.54 crore people availed themselves of different services under the Right to Service Act since it came into being in 2011. In every district, Deputy Commissioner (General) has been made the nodal officer to implement the Act.

He also held a meeting with the officials of the district administration to remove bottlenecks in the implementation of the Act and sought suggestions.

Amritsar, December 20
Following verbal assurance from the state government, the Suwidha Centre employees today partially resumed their work after the four-day strike.

Of the 16 windows at the Suwidha Centre in the district court complex, four were made operational.

Suwidha Centre general manager Harpreet Singh Dua said all the windows would be operational from the coming Monday. He said it was learnt that the leaders of the Punjab State Suwidha Employees Union (PSSEU) held parleys with the government representatives with their demands. The government had cited its incapacity to accept their demands since no policy or requisite law was available, he added.

The government had assured the PSSEU leaders that relevant provisions of law would be formed in January and subsequently, their demands would be met, Dua said.

After the strike crippled the working at the Suwidha Centres and applicants resented the delay in the processing of their files, the district administration opened a few counters yesterday.

PSSEU president Om Prakash Rana said employees at the centres across the state were working to make the government schemes successful, but they were not paid remuneration and given facilities that were at par with the government employees.

He said these employees had been working at Suwidha Centres for the past ten years.

There are over 1,100 workers who are working at Suwidha Centres established at district head quarters and sub-divisions.

Amritsar, December 20
MC officials, hard pressed for time to meet the house-tax recovery target by December 31, as there are still 10,000 defaulters on the list who owe Rs 17 crore to the local body. They lament that they've been engaged in property-tax collection, leaving hardly any time to focus on the house-tax target.

With the introduction of property tax, the house-tax realisation has taken a back seat. Moreover, the house tax team has been pressed into service of collecting the property tax. Superintendent Shushant Bhatia said the collection of house tax was minimal because there were a number of big houses which are house-tax defaulters. There is utter confusion among residents' mind that with the introduction of property tax, it will earn them immunity from paying their house-tax dues.

“We are working even on holidays as the MC has put us on our toes to meet the house tax targets. On the other hand, we have been burdened with conducting awreness-cum-realisation camps for paying property tax. It is quite hectic. Under present circumstances, it will be a daunting task to meet the house-tax recovery target. We had requested the authorities to shuffle the department and incorporate extra hands from other departments,” he said.

Amritsar, December 20
To cope with the huge number of applicants for submission of property tax, the Municipal Corporation has tied up with HDFC and Axis banks to facilitate online deposit of dues from December 23 besides offering dedicated desks for collection of property tax.

The two banks have also given their consent to facilitate payment of property tax at their eight branches each where people can deposit property tax through credit or debit cards. The MC has appealed to the residents to pay their dues through cheque, which will help in maintaining records and avoiding any discrepancies.

It has been learnt that the MC does not have to make any payment to the banks for their services and nothing will be charged by the banks from the applicants.

The MC has bifurcated the city into eight zones and set up collection centres. With eight branches each from the two banks, the total number of property tax collection centres will be 24.

This move was the need of the hour as the MC did not have adequate manpower to collect taxes, despite its earnest efforts to induct officials from other departments. Long queues irked the residents and it was one of the reasons for a lukewarm response; otherwise residents showed enthusiasm to pay their taxes, observers viewed. The MC, too, will get relief as it is unable to spare staff for the tax collection counters set up in different parts of the city.

MC Commissioner DPS Kharbanda said this move has been adopted to avoid the process of manual receipts.

“In order to accelerate and to make the property-tax collection process efficient, we have tied up with both banks which have agreed to put up at least two dedicated counters. The idea was to shun manual receipts which is a time-consuming process. It will be replaced by computer-generated receipts. The details of the properties will be fed into the computer for keeping records in a more appropriate manner. Besides, a web portal is going to be launched through which an applicant will be able to file his property-tax dues online, just as is done in case of an income-tax return through the net-banking mode,” he said.

The last date of submission of property tax with 10 per cent rebate is December 31. The MC had identified around three lakh properties (around 50,000 commercial) which owe property tax dues. Till date, nearly 55,000 units have paid the dues and around Rs 12 crore has been collected by the MC.

Amritsar, December 20
Even as Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal had initiated a number of ambitious projects to make Amritsar a world-class city, the increasing number of vehicles, absence of proper parking spaces and encroachment of roads have been giving virtual nightmares to commuters. An increasing number of vehicles, absence of a public transport system and a master plan has only aggravated the problem.

Traffic bottlenecks at Bhandari Bridge, near the inter-state bus terminus, Chheharta Chowk, Tarn Taran Road, the Putlighar area, Hussainpura, Hall Gate etc are the perfect examples of the pathetic state of traffic in the city. The scenario in the old walled city is no better.

The state government's ambitious project, the Personal Rapid Transport System on the lines of Heathrow Airport, the foundation stone for which was laid around two years ago, was yet to see the light of the day.

The Deputy Chief Minister's another dream project of Turkey’s way of easing traffic snarls by introducing air-conditioned bus service to run on the pattern of Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) was still in the initial stages.

Amarjit Singh, a local resident, said the civic authorities, the district administration and the Police Department, all have failed to decongest the city from illegal parking lots and roadside encroachments.

“Sometimes they launch a drive of removing encroachments but after a few times they buckle under political pressure and give up the campaign and the problem stays,” he said.

“People should also be responsible. They hardly care about rules and regulations. They consider violation of traffic rules as a 'brave' act,” said another resident, Aman Sharma, of Guru Arjun Dev Nagar area.

During the past decade, a number of residential areas have been converted into commercial areas. This has done no to the already chaotic traffic scene. Though some of these commercial buildings have the facility of underground parking, the people prefer to park their vehicles on the road. On the other hand, a number of such establishments do not have any parking facility.

“The residents often complain of inconvenience due to haphazard parking but the authorities hardly take any action,” said Gurpreet Singh of the Naraingarh area.

A police official on condition of anonymity said tackling the problem required coordinated efforts of the district administration and the civic authorities besides the Police Department. Unfortunately, every move initiated by the Police Department is reportedly scuttled by political intervention. He said removal of encroachments and construction of parking spaces would help in easing the traffic chaos at key roads. People should also cooperate with the administration, he pointed out.

Amritsar, December 20
The Department of Electronics Technology, Guru Nanak Dev University, organised a three-day International Conference on Emerging Technologies in Electronics and Communication, ICETEC-2013, here today in the Guru Nanak Bhawan Auditorium of the university.

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof Ajaib Singh Brar, was the chief guest. The ceremony started with recitation of shabad kirtan. Prof Avtar Singh, Head, Department of Electrical Engineering, San Jose State University, USA, and Prof RK Kotnala, chief scientist, National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi, were the guests of honour. The function began with the introductory speech of Prof Derick Engles, Convener, ICETEC-2013, in which he put stress on Emerging Trends in Electronics & Communication. He described how electronics started from silicon and had reached the present level. Professor Brar spoke on the need for new techniques in modern time and the status of research in Guru Nanak Dev University.

Prof Avtar Singh in his keynote address detailed about the implementation of Digital Signal Processing in Practical Application. He emphasised on newer technologies and advancing from individual processor to system-on-chip. This was succeeded by the speech of Prof RK Kotnala from NPL, New Delhi, in which he emphasised how different materials could be used as actuator, sensors and other electronics application. The head of the department, Prof ML Singh detailed about the achievements of Electronics Department since its foundation in 1983.

Organising Secretary Prof Ravinder Singh Sawhney presented the vote of thanks. He expressed his gratitude for overall cooperation of the participants.

Prof Sukleen Bindra Narang, Prof Hardeep Singh, Prof Gurwinder Singh and Prof PK Sehajpal, Dean, Students Welfare, were present on the occasion. Mementos were presented to the guests by the members of the organising committee.

Amritsar, December 20
Guru Nanak Dev University College, Verka, celebrated its 3rd Foundation Day with great enthusiasm. Sukhmani Sahib Path, Shabad Kirtan and Guru Ka Langar were organised on this occasion.

Vice-Chancellor Professor AS Brar was the chief guest at the function. Dean, Academic Affairs, Professor MS Hundal, director, Academic Staff College, Professor Jaspal Singh Sandhu and Professor in charge, Public Relations Department of GNDU, Prof AJS Bhanwer were the guests of honour.

Principal Dr Mehal Singh detailed about the achievements of the college. Amrik Singh Hundal, president of the committee of Verka village, Prof Sonika Thakur, Mannan Khanna and Aman Chopra were also honoured on the occasion.

Amritsar, December 20
Global Institutes held a day-long workshop on the topic ‘Supply Chain Management Practices in the Modern Era-Issues and Challenges’ on its campus today.

With a view to provide cutting edge knowledge in the field of engineering and management, faculty and students from far off places such as SRM University, Chennai, participated in the workshop. Students of MBA, B Com (P) and Hotel Management from Global Institute of Management also participated in the workshop.

The proceedings of the workshop started with the inaugural session followed by a plenary session by director of Global Institutes Dr Arvind Bhardwaj. He said that in today's cut throat competition, supply chain and logistics management had become a potent tool for minimising the wasteful expenditure and cut down the costs.

The second plenary session was taken by Dr Rajbir Singh Bhatti, alumnus of IIT Roorkee, who has significant research work in the field of supply chain and logistics management to his credit. Dr Bhatti took up the issue of managing and optimising the global supply chains.

Vice chairman of Global Institutes Dr Akashdeep Singh said that Global Institutes would always keep its tradition of organising such workshops and conferences for providing state-of-the-art knowledge to the students’ fraternity and added that Global Institutes had developed closer ties with SRM University, for exchange of students towards achieving the goal of knowledge upgradation.

Dean, Academics, Prof BD Sharma, welcomed the delegates and informed that such workshops and seminars would be made a regular feature.

Amritsar, December 20
Surjit Academy, Jalandhar, will slug it out against Sports School, Jalandhar, to become champion in the Maharaja Ranjeet Singh Junior Gold Cup Hockey Tournament at Guru Nanak Dev University Hockey Ground tomorrow.

The final match of the women test series will also be played between Punjab XI (Pakistan) and Punjab XI (India) tomorrow.

Today, Sports School, Jalandhar, drubbed Chandigarh XI 4-3 to reach the final. The Jalandhar players gained lead in the 11th minute of the game with a field goal. In the second half, Chandigarh players scored an equaliser. Subsequently, both teams kept on charging at each others goal post.

Much to the dismay of locals, Surjit Hockey Academy routed favourite Maharaja Ranjeet Singh Hockey Academy 4-1. Undeterred by the cold wave coupled with fog, the visitors came to support their favourite teams.

Amritsar, December 20
Kavya Jain, a student of Spring Dale Senior School, has made the institution proud by bagging a gold medal in the 59th National Inter-School Shooting Championship.