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Phoren Dreams
Pen-down strike by staff hits work at Deputy Commissioner’s office
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Inferior quality tea mixed with superior variety to jack up profits
School watchman murdered
House-tax recovery target tough to meet
Two arrested under NDPS Act
Red-tape, lack of transparency biggest hurdles for NRIs
Mexican flavours for Punjabis
Priest sells temple land fraudulently
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Fake travel agents thrive on victims’ gullibility
PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service
Amritsar, January 8 In a recent instance, Ritu Sharma, a resident of Dasuha (Hoshiarpur), was defrauded by Gurpreet Singh of the Kale area in Chheharta for allegedly sending her husband to England. She alleged that the accused took Rs 80,000 from her, but he neither sent her husband abroad nor returned the cash. Preliminary investigations revealed that the victim came in contact of the accused through her relatives. In a similar incident, Rita, a resident of Guru Gobind Singh Nagar located on the Majitha road, lodged a complaint with the Sadar police on January 5 that Gurpinder Singh, his father, Navjot Singh, mother, Dharminder Kaur, and brother Rubal took Rs 8 lakh from her to send her brother, Victor, to some foreign country. Preliminary investigations revealed that the accused were the owners of the house where Rita lived on rent. Gurpinder Singh had returned from Australia. They lured her and promised to send her brother to Australia while claiming that they had strong connections in that country. Incidentally, Gurprinder had returned from Australia around four years ago. Savinder Singh of Goindwal, Tarn Taran, had registered a complaint against Baljit Singh, his father Avtar Singh, Balljinder Kaur, Amandeep Kaur and Gurmit Singh, all residents of Jodhe village, on similar charges. He alleged that the accused took Rs 14.85 lakh from him to send his son, Sukhraj Singh, to Canada. A police official said the urge to touch foreign shores is strong among the youth especially in the rural belt. They don’t bother to verify the antecedents of the person who is luring them. He said moreover illiteracy or lack of awareness among them was the major reason why they could not find whether the visa documents and passport they were giving were fake or original. “In a number of instances, the accused used to send the victim on visitor’s visa and they came to know about this only when they reached the foreign country and faced hardships in staying in that country,” he said. Deputy Commissioner of Police Bikram Pal Singh Bhatti pointed out that people should get the background of these travel agents before believing their claims. “We all know that the visa policy of various countries is strict and it is not easy to get an entry in all countries before completing the formalities. But still people prefer to trust swindlers,” said the DCP. They should also go to various websites to gain knowledge,” he added.
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Pen-down strike by staff hits work at Deputy Commissioner’s office
Amritsar, January 8 Work like registration of property, registration of marriage, issuance of residence certificate and many others were not performed by the staff. A resident of Sultanwind road Paramjit Singh said, “I had come to get a residence certificate for my daughter. Now I have come to know that the protest might linger on for a few days.” A small time shopkeeper of cycle and rickshaw repair shop said, “his precious time of trade and expenses of travel went waste. Another visitor Sukhminder Singh of Chheharta said either the government must fulfill the demand of the employees or it should order them to do the work. He reasoned that the matter was between the government and its employees while gullible was unnecessarily being harassed. The general public works should not be made to suffer at any cost.” He said hundreds of visitors were being harassed because of the protest even when they had not made any mistake. Deputy Commissioner office, which is normally abuzz with activity, wears a deserted look. The employees are protesting to get more ministerial staff to reduce the workload and to upgrade certain posts. Even as employees were present at their respective seats, they refused to entertain applications from the public. Sunil Kumar Sharma, president, district unit of the association said they had given a notice to the state government before going on strike. He said as decided, the employees would continue with their pen-down strike on Thursday and Friday. He requested the state government to fulfill their long pending demands in view of the inconvenience being caused to the public. The employees who are on the path of agitation are demanding the upgrade of the post of sub-divisional assistant as superintendent grade II, allotment of staff for legal cells in Sadar offices, allotment of ministerial staff for revenue offices in the three districts, creation of the post of senior assistant in as many as 16 districts.
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Inferior quality tea mixed with superior variety to jack up profits
Amritsar, January 8 A health practitioner Hari Om Goel said the practice of blending inferior-quality tea and selling it by citing it as good quality tea could entice unscrupulous traders as they could make more money. However, it puts health of people at risk, he said, adding that many traders pack tea leaves
of a different quality in a glitzy packet to woo customers. Traders said on condition of anonymity that the malpractice was more common among traders who sell open tea to
consumers settled in far-flung areas. In order to increase profit in the absence of
quality check, such traders resort to this unhealthy practice. They maintained that these traders keep the quantum of blending depending upon the amount of the entire produce to be sold off. For instance, 2 kg of inferior blending in a packet
of 10 kg was difficult to detect but jacked up profits in an easy way. Dr Shiv Karan Singh Kahlon, District Health Officer, said the department was aware of this malpractice and samples were taken to find the erring traders. He said his department also received complaints of blending of reused tea after
drying it up in fresh tea and then selling it in the open market. He specified that all traders dealing in food in any capacity, including selling tea, came under the Food Safety and Standard Act 2006. Under the Act, it was mandatory for all these traders to obtain licences and register their units so that the government could ensure good quality of food being served and sold. The Act says that food units having an annual turnover of less than Rs 12 lakh only are to get registered with the District Health Department and they are to pay annual registeration of Rs 100. For those units having a turnover of above Rs 12 lakh, it is mandatory to get licences. The deadline to get registered and obtain licences is scheduled to end in February. So far only 6,000 food units were registered with the department while 650 obtained licences in
the district.
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Raen Basera: Donors around shrines defeat admn’s purpose
Amritsar, January 8 Despite facing resources and fund crunch, the administration has sought to make a temporary arrangement for the homeless by transforming an old Karam Singh Ward building. It served little purpose because the homeless did not prefer it. The present strength of guests at Raen Basera stands at around 55, all males between the age group of 40-60 years. They have been provided with beds, blankets, geyser, a television set and other daily-use items under the district administration’s rehabilitation programme which is being run in collaboration with the district Red
Cross Society since February 21, 2010. Authorities claim that over 780 destitutes, mostly from UP and Bihar, have been rehabilitated under this facility. However, in the absence of any concrete policy, the administration’s initiative gained a lukewarm response. The administration has been providing the homeless free lodging and food, then why do they prefer to risk their lives out in the biting cold rather than accepting the warmth of Raen Baseras. Among many reasons, one which came to the fore was that being in the holy city, a number of religious organisations or even individuals organise langar sewa (free food) besides distributing blankets, clothes or other daily-use articles on a daily basis in different pockets of the city around shrines like the Golden Temple, the Durgiana Temple or the Shiwala Temple. Even destitutes from far-off states like UP and Bihar try to settle down around these destinations because of 24X7 free food and alms service. Ironically, despite the administration’s efforts, donors do not prefer to distribute these free services at the designated Raen Basera, which is the Old Karam Singh Ward.
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School watchman murdered
Jalandhar, January 8 The other watchman, Som Lal (30), too, was taking a round of the campus when he was attacked by them. While Lubhaya succumbed to his injuries, Som Lal, who was tied, managed to reach a hospital on his own. He, later, called the police and informed about the incident. At midnight, Som Lal was to take over the security of the campus from Lubhaya. Both the watchmen are from Boparai village near the school. SP D Rajinder Singh said the intent of the assailants was still not clear as there was no attempt of robbery. Som Lal has been admitted to the Civil Hospital, Nakodar. A case has been registered at the Nakodar City police station. A similar incident had taken place on December 27 when two masked men reportedly attacked the watchman of Cooperative Society Office at Athoula village on Kapurthala Road here. The victim, Sewa Singh (55), had claimed that some armed robbers had attacked him at 10 pm and confined him to his room.
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House-tax recovery target tough to meet
Amritsar, January 8 With the introduction of property tax, house-tax realisation has suffered a lot, as the whole house-tax staff was inducted into realisation of the property tax, which was introduced from April 1, 2012. Superintendent Shushant Bhatia said the collection of house tax had declined because there are a number of people who owe the house tax to the MC. “There is utter confusion in the residents’ mind that with the introduction of property tax, there was no need to pay their pending house tax dues, which is not the case. The house-tax dues were calculated till March 31 and have to be paid,” he said. “We have been directed by the MC Commissioner to restart the campaign of collecting house tax from the defaulters. It will be a herculean task for us to meet the house-tax target soon because the recovery campaign had slowed down with the implementation of the property tax”, Bhatia viewed. Earlier, the MC had initiated a ‘name and shame’drive by beating drums in the localities of house-tax defaulters and this exercise had yielded good results, but with the passage of time and coming up of property tax, the practice was discontinued.
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MGNREGA workers on hunger strike
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, January 8 The MGNREGA Employees’ Association claimed that as the mode of transferring wages to the workers in rural areas was made online a few months ago and the clerical staff that updates the state headquarters about transferring money into the accounts of beneficiaries are on strike and no case has been processed in the past one month. Even as members of the association in the state are protesting to get their services regularised, the employees in the district are also fighting for the last five months to get their salaries released. Association’s district president Harinderpal Singh said, “While the employees in all other districts are getting their salaries in time, the employees in the district have not received a single penny for the past five months.” The hunger strike initiated by the employees to get their salaries released has entered its 10th day today. Another association leader Karanbir Singh said the district administration had failed to pay salaries to the staff reasoning that contingency expenses on salaries and other things cannot exceed 6 per cent. He claimed that some other districts where contingency expenses exceed the said limit were paying regular salaries to the employees. The employees warned they would start a hunger strike at Chandigarh from January 16 onwards if the administration failed to find a solution to the problem. Punjab Subordinate Services Federation’s president Balbir Singh Chamka said the employees were not at fault as they were not getting their salaries.
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Two arrested under NDPS Act
Amritsar, January 8 Among those arrested include Surjit Singh of Maqboolpura and Shankar of Majitha road. The police have recovered 3 kg of contraband from their possession. They have been booked under Sections 20, 29, 61, 85 of the NDPS Act. According to information, the two accused had brought 21 kg of charas from Bihar around a month ago, a major part of which was already sold by them. Vavinder Mahajan, SHO, Sadar police station, said they used to struck the deal through phone. “While brining in the consignment, they used to throw the contraband near Vallah railway crossing from where one of them used to collect the same. They procure the charas at Rs 8,000 per kg from Bihar and used to sell it at anything between Rs 20,000 to Rs 24,000 per kg in retail,” said Mahajan. The accused were sent on a three-day police remand and would be presented in the court on January 10, he said. Meanwhile, four drug traffickers including infamous Gurjant Singh alias Janta of Sanghna Havellian village in Tarn Taran managed to escape from the police net taking advantage of the darkness and fog. Navjot Singh, ACP, Crime, said the accused along with his three accomplices Nishan Singh of Gurbax Nagar, Kala, and an unidentified person were involved in drug and arms smuggling and they were coming towards Amritsar from Jhabal side. He said a naka was laid on the road. However,
on seeing the police they left their vehicle behind and fled. The police recovered
10 gm heroin and a sharp-edged weapon from the Jeep. “We believe they had taken away the consignment with them and a manhunt has been launched for their arrest,” he said. A case under various sections of the NDPS Act and the Arms Act have been registered.
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Red-tape, lack of transparency biggest hurdles for NRIs
Jalandhar, January 8 The NRIs claim that at the every stage, they feel insecure about their investment as there are hundreds of glitches at the each step. They complain of a large number of meetings, delay in disbursement of government share and a lot of lip-flops before the projects actually takes shape. While there are 22 projects to the tune of Rs 20 crore going on in Jalandhar under the NRI Scheme Plan-1 (75:25 government-NRI matching scheme) for the past three years, most of these are yet to be completed. Some were hit by hurdles at the local level during the meetings of the District NRI Committee for Development (DINRICD) while others were hit during discussions at the state-level committee meetings. There are several proposals that have been rejected on various technical grounds. The expansion of a school building in Khiala village of Adampur, wherein an NRI had mooted a proposal to spend Rs 1.3 crore have been rejected on technical ground. The project of the construction of a hospital at Samsabad village near Nurmahal with Rs 4 crore investment had the same fate. The construction of Guru Nanak Mission Hospital at Mithapur village is also being carried out on the basis of a sharing scheme. The government has paid about Rs 1 crore till date for the Rs 2.39 crore project. NRI Pritam Singh Narangpuri said the whole problem lay with the fact that there was no one to do a huge number of follow-ups with the departments concerned . “Due to it, the NRIs lose interest and drop the project,” he
said.
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Mexican flavours for Punjabis
Amritsar, January 8 A Mexican food festival kicked off at Collage-- a multi-cuisine restaurant in Hyatt Amritsar, which will be held every Wednesday and Saturday till January 31. In order to create similar ambience, the restaurant has been decked up with Mexican décor. Foot-tapping Latin music will take foodie to the Latin American country. Commenting on Mexican food, head chef Tanmoy Majumder, 39, said he learnt the Mexican cuisine from Mexican chefs with whom he got opportunity to work at Hyat Regency, Delhi, and Kolkatta. He said since typical Mexican ingredients were not available in the local market these were procured from Delhi. These ingredients are poblano chilly, Mexican spice mix, portilla bread, montery jack cheese and others. Having been in the food industry for the past 16 years after passing out from Institute of Hotel Management Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition (IHM) Bhubaneshwar, Tanmoy has a wide experience of working in the metropolitan cities of the country. Started his career with Hyatt Regency, Delhi, he worked at Hyatt Regency Kolkatta, his home town, later joining Inter Continental, New Delhi, and Lemon Tree, Hyderabad. Sharing his working experience in the metropolitan cities and this border town, Tanmoy said in metros clients were ready to try new dishes, but in this border town people were not so forthcoming. “It makes the market competitive as people do not to experiment new things if the prices were on higher side,” he said. He has been in Amritsar for the past two years with specialisation in western and Japanese cuisines. He also added that Mexican and Indian cuisines have many similarities in terms of spices and flavours therefore, we offer our guests a medley of piquant flavours associated with Mexican cuisine with Indian
touch.
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Punjabi varsity drub HMV College in soccer match
Amritsar, January 8 In the boys’ category, Amritsar Sports Club beat Ajnala Swaraj Club in a penalty shoot after both teams locked at 1-1 draw in the stipulated time. Bal Kalan village team got better off Pandori Sidhwan 1-0. Rataul village team thrashed Bibipur village in a penalty shoot. Similarly, the final decision between the teams of Kasel and Cheeche Wal villages were also arrived following a penalty shoot in which the latter came out as winner.
— TNS
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Priest sells temple land fraudulently
Amritsar, January 8 Manmohan Kundra, president, Radha Krishan Prachin Shivala Mandir Trust, Rani Ka Bagh said the accused terminated many members of the trust and took expensive ornaments of idols in his possession. Kundra said the priest was employee of the temple for a long time. He alleged the accused without informing anybody sold a major portion of the temple’s land to another shrine in 2005. The incident came to light when shrine tried to take over the possession of the land in February last year. This had resulted in tension between two shrines while the accused fled. The police have registered a case under Sections 406, 420, 295-A of the IPC. No arrest has been made so far.
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