|
|
|
|
Cong protest throws life out of gear
Customs Department forms air, rail intelligence wings
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
gurkirat murder case
Licences of six medical shops suspended
Indian Academy of Fine Arts honours city-based singer
Health Department to launch 3-day polio drive from Jan 19
2 booked for abetting suicide
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
Cong protest throws life out of gear
Amritsar, January 16 Severe traffic jams were witnessed at the routes where the vehicular traffic was diverted by the police due to the agitation. The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) protested against the SAD-BJP government and sought a CBI probe into the politico-drug nexus that emerged after the multi-crore drug racket, involving drug lord Jagdish Bhola, came to light. Bhola, later, named Cabinet Minister Bikram Singh Majithia in the case. The Congress leaders, headed by PPCC general secretary Fateh Singh Bajwa, held a protest at Bhandari Bridge while PPCC secretary Dinesh Bassi blocked the Amritsar-Jalandhar highway. District Congress Committee (Rural) president Gurjeet Aujla demonstrated at Gumtala on the Amritsar-Attari bypass.To restrict the movement of vehicles at Bhandari Bridge, the police diverted the traffic from Crystal Chowk to the Hussainpura railway flyover. Similarly, the traffic coming from Lawrence Road to Crystal Chowk was diverted from SSSS Chowk to Hussanipura Bridge. The police also blocked the movement of traffic from the main elevated road, ensuring no chaos on Bhandari Bridge for three hours. This led to an acute traffic jam at Hussainpura Bridge and under the elevated road, especially outside the Inter-state Bus Terminus. Frequent traffic jams were also witnessed near Ram Bagh, Hall Gate, Islamabad railway flyover and near the 22 number railway crossing. The traffic police was found battling hard in controlling the congestion near the bus stand and Hussainpura Chowk besides other key intersections. Brij Bedi, a social activist, was critical of the district and the police administration that allowed the agitation on roads. “What type of democracy is it? What do they want to prove by holding protests on the road and causing inconvenience to the common man? The district as well as the police administration have banned such demonstrations but theyhave failed to curb the practice so far,” Bedi said. Bedi, who is a resident of Hukum Singh Road near Hussainpura Bridge, daily visits Citizen Forum Vidya Mandir School, a school for the children of drug addicts who died due to addiction, in Maqboolpura. "Today, the situation was like a hell on the road due to a traffic jam on the bridge," he said. Swarn Singh, a government employee, said he used to travel in bus to reach his office in Jalandhar everyday. “Due to the Congress protest today, I could not leave for the office on time. Trains were also running late due to dense fog,” he added. Prem Kumar, who, along with his family, came from Ludhiana on bus, had to travel on foot to reach the railway station for the journey towards his native village Fatehgarch Churian. He said the old age and handicapped persons faced difficulty due to traffic jams.
|
||
|
Customs Department forms air, rail intelligence wings
Amritsar, January 16 While confirming the development, sources in the department said these wings would be active at the airport, the Amritsar railway station and the Attari International Railway Station. Given the high customs duty on the import of gold or gold ornaments, many international passengers bring gold this way. On January 14, Customs officials had recovered 1.7 kg of gold ornaments worth Rs 41 lakh from two persons at the Amritsar airport. The gold ornaments were hidden their bag and the X-ray machine detected it. Sources in the department said despite the new rule, which came into effect from April 1, 2013 and allowed passengers to bring gold jewellery upto a prescribed limit, passengers resorted to smuggling to evade import duty on gold. Men can bring gold jewellery worth Rs 50,000 and for women the limit is upto Rs 1 lakh. The reason for the rise in gold smuggling is not difficult to find. The Union Government has hiked import duty on gold five times between January and September, taking it to 10 per cent from one per cent to curtail rising current account deficit (CAD).Similarly, contrabands were seized from rail cargos arriving from Pakistan. A rail cargo first arrives at the Attari International Airport and then at the International Rail Cargo near the Amritsar railway station. Notably, there were two major seizures of about 32 kg of contraband in a rail cargo from Pakistan. Recently, the Customs Department found 22 kg of heroin and a one-time metal seal in a rail cargo from Pakistan on December 3.Heroin was found from a wagon, which was one of the 10 wagons attached to the Samjhauta Express. Earlier, the officials had seized a bag containing 10 kg of heroin on July 3. Though Customs officials are tight-lipped, sources said with the connivance of Customs Department officials in Pakistan the smuggling was flourishing as wagons were sealed in their presence. Earlier, the recovery of over 150 kg of heroin in 2012 had derailed cement imports from Pakistan through the rail route. Seizures by Indian Authorities
June 2, 2012: Five kg of heroin found hidden in a stack of 488 cement bags July 16, 2012: Seven kg of heroin seized from a wagon of goods train August 3, 2012: Officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized 3 kg of heroin hidden in cement bags October 8, 2012: 105 kg heroin worth Rs 525 crore and 500 cartridges found in a rail cargo from Pakistan October 20, 2012: 23 kg of heroin found in a rail cargo from Pak, porter arrested while trying to break wagon seal July 3, 2013: The Customs Department found 10 kg of heroin in a bag. New metal seal seized 5 kg of gold seized
Customs officials recovered over five kg of gold from the two passengers, who arrived from Dubai on Thursday. Deputy Commissioner Gurdev Singh, customs in charge at the Amritsar airport, confirmed the seizure and said a little over five kg gold was recovered. He said the confiscated gold would be released after the passengers deposited customs duty.
|
||
|
Two labourers buried under mounds of earth
Amritsar, January 16 The deceased were identified as Deeke and his cousin Krishna, both hailed from Uttar Pradesh. The work of laying sewerage pipes is being done by Jyoti Construction Company. There were eight labourers involved in the construction of the concrete base. The company had dug up the road
15-feet deep while the mounds of the earth were kept on the sides of the ditch. The two were working in the pit at the time of the incident. The company officials tried to save the duo by removing the soil above them with the help of JCB machines. However, it took an hour to bring one of them out. He was rushed to a nearby hospital but he died on the way. The rescue team took over three hours to find the body of the second worker. The two tried to escape when they saw mounds of earth falling upon them. Vavinder Mahajan, SHO, Sadar police station, said an action had been
initiated under the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). He said as per the initial investigation, it was an accident.
|
||
|
Suspects to undergo polygraph test
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, January 16 The city police had sought permission to conduct the test on the suspects to find the veracity of their statements. The police had claimed that the suspects- Jagwant Singh, Harpal Singh and Jaspal Singh- were the residents of the same village and not giving clear answers to the queries besides misleading investigating officials. Among the suspects is a relative of Gurkirat and two others had a property dispute with the family of the deceased.They will be accompanied by their advocates whose presence is mandatory during the test. Gurkirat had gone missing on November 7, 2012, while playing close to his residence. On November 16, his body was found dumped in a secluded building just a few metres away from his residence. A couple of months ago, the city police restarted the investigation, which was, later, handed over to ACP Gaurav Garg. The High Court had directed the police to submit a status report in the case by November 15. However, the police sought more time. Now, the HC has fixed February 3 to file the status report. Notably, the residents of the area had been holding protest against the police for its failure to crack the case even after a year.
|
||
|
Licences of six medical shops suspended
Amritsar, January 16 Drug Inspector Sukhdeep Singh said the licenses of Puri Medical Store at Maha Singh Gate, RK Medicos at Cheel mandi Chownk and Tandon Medicine Store at Rambagh Chownk had been suspended for seven days. Drug Inspector Anupma Kalia said three medical stores in front of Guru Nanak Dev Hospital- New City Medicos, Arora Medicos and Shakti Medicos-were suspended for a period of five days. She said all these medical stores were found without a qualified pharmacist. She said as per the Drug and Cosmetics Act, medicine shops are required to have a pharmacist available at all times when shops are open. She said the
zonal drug authority had given instructions to suspend licences of the shops
operating without a pharmacist. She said medical store owners must ensure the presence of qualified pharmacists at all times to avoid suspension. She had yesterday suspended the licence of Love Medical Store at
Majitha.
|
||
|
57 food samples fail quality test
Amritsar, January 16 According to the lab report as many as 10 of these samples were unsafe for human consumption. The department had collected 54 samples in November, out of which 16 failed on quality parameters. Two of these were labelled as unsafe for human consumption. In December, a total of 61 samples were collected of which reports pertaining to only 21 had been received so far. Six of these samples failed on quality tests. District Health Officer, Dr Shivkaran Singh Kahlon, said food joints, whose samples had failed, include well-known eateries as Yellow Chilly, Republic of Chicken, Franky, Chic-Chicken, Kobe, Best Price and Reliance Fresh. Dr Kahlon said the department was pursing 44 cases pertaining to unsafe samples. The Health Department filed a challan in court against shops, whose samples were termed as unsafe for human consumption. The reports of samples, which were termed as substandard or misbranded, were sent to the local authorities for necessary action. Of the 121 cases put forward before the local authorities, 120 have been decided so far. A fine of Rs 1.32 lakh has been collected from the erring shops. “We have requested the state authorities to grant permission in the remaining cases. As soon as we get the permission, we will file these cases as per the procedure,” said Kahlon. The department has collected 23 samples from Metro wholesale shop on the Fatehgarh Churian and Sainik General Store on the Tarn Taran road during the last two days.
|
||
|
Indian Academy of Fine Arts honours city-based singer
Amritsar, January 16 “It’s an overwhelming feeling to have released an album after almost 29 years,” said the artiste, who was present at the event along with his family. Kapoor is a disciple of Bharat Ratna late Pt Bhim Sen Joshi. He also performed for the audience at the function. He began his musical career in 1949 under the aegis of sangeet vidwan, classical master Piara Lal with rag bhairav. He learned vocal classical music from guru Mahadev Prashad Kathak and also passed ‘Sangeet Visharad’ from ‘Gandharav Maha Mandala’ of Pune in 1965. In 1967, he came under the tutelage of legendry artiste and Bharat Ratna Late Pt. Bhim Sen Joshi from Kirana Gharana. His mastery of light classical genres like khayalas, bhajans, thumris, gazals show his years of training. Kapoor said, “I also tasted Bollywood success by being a
playback singer in-between 1978 to 1985. I worked with music directors Uttam Singh,
Usha Khanna, Shankar Jaikishan.” Ask him about his comfort with contemporary music and he says, “I am a musician and I love music, no matter what time and type of music it is.” His alternate career as a businessman takes the best of him now. Regular riyaz in mornings and exploring new musical enactments in field remain his major interests. His album, which is his first major release after 9 years, makes him feel proud. His daughters Charoo and Shilpa are carrying forward the legacy of the family in their own way. Both of them are accomplished actors. While Charoo has number of Punjabi and Hindi films to her credit, Shilpa will soon be seen in yet to be released film Qissa, starring Irfan Khan and Tisca Chopra.
|
||
|
Garbage lifting comes to a halt in city
Amritsar, January 16 Piles of garbage could be seen mounting in every nook and corner of the city, posing a serious health hazard for the inhabitants of the city. A state-wide protest was launched by Safai Karamcharis against non-fulfilment of their demands in general and setting up of solid waste management plant through private hands in particular. At present, more than 1,200 tons of garbage is lying scattered in various parts of the city due to absence of any lifting. Dumps will increase rapidly if the daily garbage generation of around 600 tons is taken into account. The condition was pathetic in the old walled city, where the refuse could be seen spilling over from the containers fixed by the MC. Safai karamcharis are up in arms against the state government’s move to install solid waste management plant through private players. They said overlooking their pending demands, which included filling up of vacant posts of Class IV employees, regularisation of their colleagues in sanitation services for over a decade, the government’s proposal to engage private players for the multi-crore solid waste management plant would further defeat their interests. Surinder Tona of the Municipal Corporation Workers Union (AITUC), which is supporting the Sangharsh Morcha, said no breakthrough had been achieved till now and the strike would continue for a few more days. “We have resolved not to lift the garbage till our demands are met,” he added.
|
||
|
Health Department to launch 3-day polio drive from Jan 19
Amritsar, January 16 The Health Department has decided to hold a polio immunisation drive on January 19, 20 and 21. Officials from the District Education Departments (Primary and Secondary), Police, Electricity, Food and Civil Supplies, members of various NGOs, principals of private nursing colleges also attended the meeting. In the meeting, the
ADC asked officials of the Education Department to ensure full cooperation of schools during the Health Departments campaign. He also instructed Power Corporation officials to ensure regular power supply at the vaccine storage points in the district. Civil Surgeon, Dr Usha Bansal, said the aggressive campaign in the country had resulted in almost no case of polio from the last three years. The Health Department had identified 3,39,968 children in the age group of 0-5 years, who would be administered polio drops during the three day drive , she added. Dr Usha said the country was in the process of getting a polio-free nation certificate from the World Health Organisation. “As such we have a need to be more vigilant and should not sit back. We have to run the immunisation drive as we have been running in the past,” she added.
|
||
|
Dense fog hits air, rail traffic in city
Amritsar, January 16 The departure of its another Amritsar — Delhi flight was delayed by over 30 minutes. The flight
was scheduled to take off at 6:05 pm. Similarly, Jet Airways' Delhi — Amritsar flight landed at 12:45 PM against its scheduled time of 9:50 am. Air India's Delhi-Amritsar flight also landed at 1:15 PM against its arrival time of 9:25 am. Dense fog threw the life out of gear as trains were running behind the schedule. Passengers were seen thronging tea shops at the railway platform to escape the biting cold.
|
||
|
Orphanage sets up museum in memory of Udham Singh
Amritsar, January 16 Sarbjit Singh, member in charge of the orphanage, said a room had been turned into a museum that housed some of the belongings of the martyr, which he used to keep during his stay in the orphanage. Pictures of the martyr and other popular freedom fighters are on display at the museum. Run by the Chief Khalsa Diwan, the oldest Sikh institution, the orphanage shows admission of Sher Singh, who later adopted the name Shaheed Udham Singh, along with his elder brother Sadhu Singh, on October 24, 1907. It is the only record
relating to Shaheed Udham Singh's stay at the orphanage. The two brothers were admitted to
the orphanage on behalf of Chhanga Singh and Kishan Singh Raagi. However, the room no. 2, where the martyr lived with his brother
was demolished to construct a new building named after him. The member In charge said, "I joined the orphanage abou two years ago and was startled to learn the curiosity of people to know where the martyr lived. Undoubtedly, the demolished portion can not be resurrected to its original form but a place can be dedicated to the martyr." Udham Singh was born as Sher Singh on December 1899 at Sunam. His father Tahal Singh was a watchman at a railway crossing at Upall village. He lost his parents before he turned five. His brother and he were administered Sikh initiatory rites at the orphanage and given new names- Sher Singh became Udham Singh and Mukta Singh was named Sadhu Singh. Sadhu Singh died in 1917,
leaving young Udham Singh alone. Udham Singh left the orphanage after passing the matriculation examination in 1918. History has it that he was at the
Jallianwala Bagh on the fateful Baisakhi (April 13, 1919) when General Reginald Edward Harry Dyer ordered his troops to fire, killing over 1,000 people. On July 31, 1940, Udham Singh was hanged at Pentonville Jail,
London. On June 4, he was arraigned before Justice Atkinson at the Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey. He was charged with the murder of Sir Michael O'Dwyer, former Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab, who had approved the action of Brigadier-General REH Dyer at the Jallianwala Bagh. At present, the orphanage is a home to nearly 375 inmates. The orphanage was started with a child brought from Sindh
(Pakistan) by Harbans Singh Attari. Other founders of the orphanage were Sunder Singh Majithia, Tarlochan Singh and Bhai Veer Singh. All of them were renowned educationists and philanthropists. As per constitution of the orphanage, only children above six years are admitted. It is mandatory for every inmate to attain education up to matriculation. For this, the orphanage runs a school upto matriculation and later the children join Khalsa School for Higher Education. Besides education, training in musical instruments and shabad kirtan is also imparted to the students. The institution has given many eminent ragis like Bhai Santa Singh, Bhai Gopal Singh, Bhai Gurmej Singh, Singh Sahib Bhai
Fateh.
|
||
|
2 booked for abetting suicide
Amritsar, January 16 The victim, identified as Deepak Sharma, a resident of Kangra Colony located on the Batala road, told the the police that he was under mental depression following threats given by the accused for vacating the property. He alleged that th accused locked the bathroom and gate of the house to restrict his movements in order to pressurise him to vacate the property. He said he took the accommodation on rent in November last year. The police said a case under Sections 306, 511 of the IPC had been registered against the culprits. No arrests have been made so far. The accused were identified as Bharat Bhushan and his son Raghav, said the authorities. In another incident, a woman identified as Jaspreet Kaur, a resident of Krishna Nagar, Tarn Taran Road committed suicide by hanging herself last night under mysterious circumstances. The police did not find any suicide note from the spot. A police official said Jaspreet was married to Ranjit Singh, a cloth trader and had six years old boy from the wed lock. He said they were investigating the case.
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
The common man remained at the receiving end on Thursday, thanks to demonstrations by Congress leaders.
They blocked a number of key intersections, including Bhandari Bridge
that links the old walled city with rest of the areas.
