Patrons, writers, followers celebrate Maa Boli Diwas
Amritsar, February 20
A report by UNESCO came as a warning for the Punjabi language and its deteriorating status among the next generation. But the Folklore Research Academy in the city made it a point to keep the promotion and development of Punjab's 'maa boli' their motto.

Maa Boli Diwas was celebrated by taking out a procession of students. The procession was organised by the Folklore Research Academy in Amritsar on Thursday. Photos: Vishal Kumar

Police fail to shift mentally challenged to hospital
Amritsar, February 20
The state government had last month directed the police to shift mentally ill patients roaming on roads to health institutions. Despite the orders, Vidya Sagar Institute of Mental Health has so far received only 11 such patients.

Docs' shortage irks disabled
Amritsar, February 20
The shortage of orthopaedic doctors at Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs Memorial Civil Hospital has irked the physically disabled persons as they have to wait for days to get a physical disability certificate issued.

11 get Gyan Ratna Awards
Amritsar, February 20
The Janwadi Lekhak Sabha today organised an event to honour teachers and scholars who have been working to educate people and are doing their bit for social uplift in Punjab.

Teachers and literary scholars honoured for their achievements at an event organised by Janwadi Lekhak Sabha in Amritsar on Thursday. A Tribune Photograph

Officials reshuffled, change in election duties
Jalandhar, February 20
The Election Commission has changed most of its Assistant Returning Officers from the nine assembly segments in the district. This step was taken following a recent shuffling of the administrative officials, due to which several posts were going vacant and officials were holding multiple charges.

Chahal re-elected member of ISAE
Amritsar, February 20
Dr Tarvinder Singh Chahal has been re-elected as a member of the executive committee of the 75-year- old Indian Society of Agricultural Economics (ISAE), Mumbai, at the annual general meeting of the society, held recently at the Department of Agriculture Management, National Academy of Agricultural Research Management, Hyderabad.

pangs of hunger: Farmers carry food items and other eatables during a protest at the PSPCL office in Amritsar on Thursday. Photo: Vishal Kumar

Protest against Sukhbir’s visit
Tarn Taran, February 20
Shiv Sena workers lodged a strong protest against Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal’s visit here today. Sukhbir was here to promote the state government’s Rahat Scheme for traders.

DC to solve safai karamcharis' problems
Amritsar, February 20
Member of the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis, Gopal Krishan Sahotra, today held a meeting with Deputy Commissioner Ravi Bhagat, Police Commissioner Jatinder Singh Aulakh and other administrative officials concerned.

Polyclinic for ex-servicemen in Hargobindpur
Jalandhar, February 20
A new ex-servicemen contributory health scheme polyclinic was opened by the Army in Sri Hargobindpur today.

BJYM rally a nightmare for commuters
Jalandhar, February 20
The state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) today held a scooter rally.

Annual function at DAV school
Amritsar, February 20
An annual function of nursery to Class II was organised at the DAV International School here today. Two separate events “Tab se ab tak”, a musical and theatrical performance of UKG, Class I and II students, and “Ras rang”, in which a colourful depiction of various human moods was presented by students of nursery and LKG, marked the day.

campus notes
GNDU to give special chance to students
Amritsar: Keeping in view the future of students, the Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) will provide a special chance to students of Part II and III of under-graduate classes under annual system for the examinations to be held in March-April.

 

Amritsar, February 20
Illegal weapons from UP and Bihar have become a headache for the Police Department as easy access to these weapons has been proving detrimental for the law and order situation.

In a recent seizure, the police confiscated four countrymade pistols from three persons involved in petty crimes.

With parliamentary elections round the corner, senior police officials have been directed to expand their information networks and keep a close eye on smuggling of weapons in the city and areas under border range including Amritsar rural, Tarn Taran and Gurdaspur.

The interrogation of the three accused revealed that they procured illegal weapons from Mohammad Sheikh for Rs 20,000 and Rs 30,000. The price rises if the illegal weapons are delivered to the customers at their native place. It has been learnt that the accused used to sell the weapons to petty criminals involved in snatchings and thefts etc.

Police sources said weapons are easily available in these two states and at very cheap prices. Illegal arms dealers in these states also sold weapons to anti-social elements in Haryana and the National Capital Region.

A police official said that easy access had made these petty criminals more dreaded. They do not hesitate to shoot if the victims pose any resistance during a crime bid. He said such arms seldom have any history. In such cases, it becomes next to impossible to find the criminal for want of any record of the weapon. He pointed out that such weapons were manufactured not only in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar but in other states too. He said a joint strategy should be formed by involving the states, the Union Government and the police departments. He said the police was doing its utmost to nab such criminals and stemming the problem of supplying of illegal arms.

Police Commissioner Jatinder Singh Aulakh said he wad instructed all police officials to spread their information network and try to nab the culprits who were in the possession of these arms.

“We are leaving no stone unturned in curbing this problem. The crime rate has shown considerable decrease in the past couple of months,” he claimed. 

Amritsar, February 20
The state government is going ahead full steam with the proposed bus rapid transit system (BRTS). A meeting to discuss its second phase was held in Chandigarh today. The government intends to begin the work on the project which will have dedicated corridors for the buses plying under the scheme while replicating the Turkish way of easing the traffic snarls in the holy city.

After getting the nod from the Central Ministry of Urban Development and the state government for the civil part, modalities are being finalised for the next part for the project which is worth Rs 90 crore. It has been learnt that each bus will cost Rs 1 crore.

Authorities have already chalked out the route plan and the feasibility report for the BRTS project costing around Rs 500 crore under the Jawahar Lal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) head, in collaboration with the Punjab Infrastructural Development Board (PIDB).

The project would be funded jointly (50:50) by the Centre and the state government. The municipal corporation (MC) would be the nodal agency to provide land. The Public Works Department (B&R) will be the executing agency for the project.

MC Commissioner DPS Kharbanda said that a team of local bodies held discussion with the PWD officials today for sanctioning of second phase of the project. "The civil part of the work would take roughly two and a half years. There would be new elevated roads and ramps to pave way for BRTS and certain roads may have to be widened. We have already invited tenders for the job. We have also already prepared a blueprint of the corridor where this bus service would be run. Today's agenda was to deliberate over the kind of buses and other supporting modalities related to this service. It would be around 55 air-conditioned and most modern buses costing about Rs 1 crore each," he said.

These buses would be apart from the 150 buses that have been proposed to be introduced under the city bus service plan. At present, 40 city buses are being run on different routes.

Amritsar, February 20
Even as the City Mayor had recently announced to get development funds released to the councillors for carrying out local works before the imposition of code of conduct ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, scant efforts are being made to put it into practice.

The election code of conduct may be implemented any time. After the revolt by a group of SAD councillors for being devoid of funds, Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora had conducted a press conference and declared packages, to be utilised for all-round development of wards. Funds worth Rs 9 crore, out of the sanctioned Rs 15 crore, were already received by the corporation. Similarly works worth Rs 25 lakh to Rs 30 lakh for each ward, too, were in the pipeline, but all these announcements would mean little until nod from Finance and Contract Committee (F&CC) was sought.

The Municipal Act demands that F&CC meeting should be conducted every month, yet even after a lapse of over one and a half months, this meeting could not be called. Besides, a number of projects like revamping the streetlight system, internal road infrastructure, rain water drainage and tendering formalities of solid waste management project, too, were lying pending.

Talking to The Tribune, the leader of the opposition, Congress councillor Raj Kanwal Preet Pal Singh Lucky, resented that not a single penny could be used before the approval of F&CC was obtained. "The Mayor had made tall claims after their own alliance partner councillors had launched a scathing attack on the working of the corporation. I must say that this was just a white-wash exercise, whereas no concrete strategy was put into practice to make the claims practical. A number of projects and local works in the wards are lying pending for want of funds. If the government had already sanctioned funds, where was the hitch to conduct the F&CC meeting so that the mandatory procedure should not be delayed for their release," he questioned.

Another Congress councillor Gurinder Rishi said the key areas of the city lacked streetlights and it stinks due to faulty garbage lifting and disposal facility here. "As the contract for streetlights had already expired since January 24, the tenders had been called for but were lying dumped for want of getting approval of the F&CC meeting. I fail to understand the casual approach of the ruling party. Even as the Punjab and Haryana High Court had given a green signal to implement the solid waste management plant, then further delay on working out the modalities for executing this most sought after plant is unacceptable, he said.

On the other hand, Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora said the F&CC meeting would be scheduled shortly. "The delay happened due to some administrative reasons as the quorum could not be met. We would call the meeting soon to clear the pending load of work," he said.

Amritsar, February 20
Of the 45 court cases filed by the Health Department against chemist shops, almost half pertain to a person found selling drugs without a valid RMP certificate or a drug licence. The cases pertain to 2008 onwards.

Sources in the department said out of all these cases, at least 22 were against persons who were found selling medicines without permission. Another 10 cases were registered against persons who were found guilty of storing medicines at godowns other than the ones revealed to the department. The chemists are required to inform the department about the location of their godowns and get these approved from the department. The department also has three cases going on in which samples of the drugs taken from chemists had failed.

The rules for selling medicines state that a qualified pharmacist should be always present at a shop while selling medicines. Even as the department had suspended the licences of six shops in January, as the shops were found open even as the pharmacists were absent, the officials stated that some of the shopkeepers were still not ready to follow the rules.

The Civil Surgeon, Dr Usha Bansal, said that officials' continuous raids on chemist shops had started yielding results. The menace of sale of habit-forming drugs had been curtailed to a great extent, she said, adding that drug inspectors had been issued clear-cut instructions to identify black sheep in the industry and take action against them. She said that conviction of culprits in ongoing court cases would further prove a deterrent for such businessmen who indulge in illegal activities for short-term gains.

Amritsar, February 20
A report by UNESCO came as a warning for the Punjabi language and its deteriorating status among the next generation. But the Folklore Research Academy in the city made it a point to keep the promotion and development of Punjab's 'maa boli' their motto. The patrons, writers, followers and torch-bearers of the language celebrated the annual literary dedication to the language by commencing the two-day Maa Boli Diwas in the city.

The event opened through a promotional march led by Ramesh Yadav, president, Folklore Research Academy. The march started from Virsa Vihar and progressed towrads the SR College for Gilrs. The march was joined by youngsters, school and college students along with the scholars and patrons of the Punjabi language.

"Punjabi is the 11th largest language spoken in the world and is not restricted to a particular community or religion. Its vocabulary is richer than most popular languages. So, such irresponsible and thoughtless desicions don't help but kill the language," says Ramesh Yadav.

"But the fact is that it's time we realise that we have to promote the language, especially amongst the youth. I believe that Punjabi is not a technology-friendly language in today's time but it definitely becomes important for the younger generation to fill in the gaps. And so we have involved them in our Maa Boli Divas celebrations.

The cultural event also had Pakistani counterparts filling in the gaps. A musical afternoon was presented by Pakistani singer Javed Hussain and the likes. With popular Punjabi magazines, "Akhar" and "Preet Lari" almost becoming a legend and Punjabi theatre thriving, the youth are participating to stay connected to their mother tongue. Lending a competitive touch to Punjabi and celebrating the mother tongue, the Maa Boli festival in the previous years has had students coming up with Punjabi poetry, speeches, literary ideas, multimedia presenations and cultural activities to promote the language.

Amritsar, February 20
The state government had last month directed the police to shift mentally ill patients roaming on roads to health institutions. Despite the orders, Vidya Sagar Institute of Mental Health has so far received only 11 such patients.

Director of Vidya Sagar Institute Dr BL Goel, said so far they had received five patients from Faridkot, four from Ferozepur and one each from Pathankot and Ludhiana. The local police have failed to shift even a single patient to the institute. The institute has upgraded its capacity by adding 100 new beds. The institute authorities were expecting a huge rush of patients from across the state after the government had directed the police to take such patients in protective custody.

As per the procedure set for transporting such wandering patients to the institute, the police station of the respective area, where the patient is found, has to take him or her in protective custody and present him before a Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM).

The CJM then issues orders for conducting a medical examination of the person at Vidya Sagar Institute of Mental Health. If the patient needs medical care then he or she can be admitted for treatment to the institute.

A police official said on condition of anonymity, “The police are often busy chasing criminals or guarding venues where VIPs are attending functions. Policemen are overburdened with work. They will happily do the work of shifting mentally sick patients to the institute if they have less work at hand.” The number of VIPs visiting the holy city was much more than other places which was the reason why the police remained busy, added the official.

Dr Goel said transportation of the mentally sick patients wandering on roads had yielded results as they had been able to send one such patient home after he divulged his address within a few days of treatment.

“We are in the process of sending another one home as we have been able to contact his family too on the basis of information provided by him,” added Dr Goel. 

Amritsar, February 20
The shortage of orthopaedic doctors at Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs Memorial Civil Hospital has irked the physically disabled persons as they have to wait for days to get a physical disability certificate issued.

The hospital at present has only one orthopaedic surgeon, who has to attend to patients at the outpatient department (OPD), emergencies, court cases and many other duties, besides examining applicants for physical disability and issuing certificates.

The hospital has fixed one day in a week to cater to the needs of such applicants. Even on that day, the OPD is thronged by many patients. Applicants requiring physical disability certificate, on the other hand, rued that they had to come to the hospital again and again to get the certificate.

An applicant said, “Being physically challenged, coming to the hospital every day is not an easy job for me.”

He said the process of issuing certificates should be eased in view of the problems faced by the general public.

Sometimes, applicants have to return home without getting an appointment with the doctor due to the heavy rush.

The applicants demanded that the government must appoint more doctors at the hospital so that the pending applications could be cleared.

Jatinder Singh, a local resident said, “The hospital should plan a lok adalat for the physically challenged persons seeking disability certificates like the one organised by the passport office to clear the rush of files.”

Meanwhile, hospital’s Senior Medical Officer Hardeep Singh Ghai said the problem would be solved as the hospital would be receiving more doctors soon. He said the higher authorities had been informed about the situation. 

Amritsar, February 20
The Janwadi Lekhak Sabha today organised an event to honour teachers and scholars who have been working to educate people and are doing their bit for social uplift in Punjab.

The organisation connected to the global literary organisation, Kendriya Lekhak Sangh, conferred 11 awards on teahers from Punjab.

The name of the awardees of the Gyan Ratan Award are Inderjit Gugwani from Ferozepur, Dr Bhupinder Singh, Dr Om Prakash, Dr Amarjit Singh and Dr Hardeep Kaur Sidhu, Sukhdeb Singh Sekhon, Sukhdev Singh, Sant Sevak Singh, Gurpreet Singh Sidhu among others.

Jalandhar, February 20
The Election Commission has changed most of its Assistant Returning Officers from the nine assembly segments in the district. This step was taken following a recent shuffling of the administrative officials, due to which several posts were going vacant and officials were holding multiple charges.

With transfers are still underway, the election office here is expecting more changes in designating officers as Assistant Returning Officers for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. Even as the Returning Officers of Assembly polls automatically become Assistant ROs in Lok Sabha elections, this could not be the case this time.

Election Tehsildar Karnail Singh Bains said he had recently moved several proposals to get fresh notifications for getting officials re-designated and more were in the offing.

While Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner was the designated RO for Jalandhar West, the incumbent has not been appointed the ARO. Instead, Chief Administrator Jalandhar Development Authority Jaskiran Singh had been appointed as the ARO recently.

However, the Election Tehsildar said he had again mooted another proposal to instead designate Joint Director (Investigation) Excise Department TS Virk on the post as IAS officer Jaskiran Singh had already spent more than three years in Jalandhar and could be transferred anytime.

Jalandhar North, for which Deputy Director Local Government, earlier was the designated officer, has now gone to MC Commissioner Manpreet Chattwal as the post of DDLG is lying vacant since the transfer of Daljeet Kaur.

Adampur, which earlier was with the ADC (general) and then with MC Commissioner, has now gone to Joint Commissioner MC Gurmeet Singh who joined the post today.

Since Gurmeet Singh is also holding additional charge as Secretary Regional Transport Authority, who in Assembly elections was Jalandhar Cantonment RO, the election duty attached with the post has now gone to Senior Auditor Excise Department BK Virdi. 

Amritsar, February 20
Dr Tarvinder Singh Chahal has been re-elected as a member of the executive committee of the 75-year- old Indian Society of Agricultural Economics (ISAE), Mumbai, at the annual general meeting of the society, held recently at the Department of Agriculture Management, National Academy of Agricultural Research Management, Hyderabad.

Dr Chahal is former Head, Department of Agricultural Economics and Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Khalsa College, Amritsar. He has already been on its executive committee during 1985-87, 1996-98 and 2002-04.

He has been associated with a number of academic and research organisations in different capacities. He has been an expert member, Agricultural Scientist Recruitment Board, ICAR, New Delhi, expert advisor DPC, Directorate of Wheat Research (ICAR), Karnal (Haryana), member, Editorial Board, Indian Society of Agricultural Marketing, Nagpur, vice-president, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, Mumbai, member executive committee, Chief Khalsa Diwan, Amritsar, secretary, Athletic Club, GNDU, Amritsar.

At present, Dr Chahal is associated with a number of other educational, research and welfare societies. He is the president, Tercentenary Education and Welfare Society, Amritsar, director, Institute of Development and Planning, Amritsar, president, Peace and Welfare Association, Adarsh Nagar, Amritsar, hony manager, Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Airport Road, Amritsar, member, management committee, Guru Khalsa High School, Sham Nagar, Amritsar. 

Tarn Taran, February 20
Shiv Sena workers lodged a strong protest against Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal’s visit here today. Sukhbir was here to promote the state government’s Rahat Scheme for traders.

Amritsar: Keeping in view the future of students, the Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) will provide a special chance to students of Part II and III of under-graduate classes under annual system for the examinations to be held in March-April.

Dr RK Mahajan, professor-in-charge (exams), said this chance would be provided to those candidates who had failed to clear their compartment examination and lost all their chances under the university rules.