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2 sexual assault cases in past 24 hours
PUDA holds auction of residential plots in Civil Lines areas
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Prof Brar conferred Bishan Singh Samundri Award
Wife succumbs to burns after man sets her aflame
Dog fights go unchecked in city
Municipal Corporation defies its own advt bylaws
Electronics Dept overall champion at ‘Jashan-2014’
Lawyers observe ‘no work day’
3 held on land grab charge
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2 sexual assault cases in past 24 hours
Amritsar, March 3 Among those booked include Tarsem Singh, the transporter and his two sons, Sukha Singh and Captain. The incident occurred on March 1. She alleged that Sukha Singh and Captain came to her rehri and started behaving with her in a vulgar manner. She said she called her son Kamal for her rescue. However, they clashed with him. She alleged that after sometime, the accused came with their father, Tarsem Singh, and attacked her son with sharp-edged weapons, seriously injuring him. He was rushed to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital for treatment. She said the accused escaped while threatening her of dire consequences. The police registered a complaint under Sections 354 A (physical contact and unwelcome advances, explicit sexual overtures), 354 B (using criminal force with any woman with an intention of disrobing or compelling her to be naked in a public place), 354 D (stalking a woman), 323, 506 and 34, IPC, against the accused. In another incident, the Islamabad police booked a youth for allegedly stalking and sexually assaulting a girl. The complainant told the police that the accused had been stalking her for the past three days. She said on March 2 when he was coming by cycle rickshaw, the accused stopped her, pulled her down and starting assaulting her. She alleged that the accused threatened to murder her. A case under Sections 354, 341 and 506, IPC, has been registered in this connection. The accused was caught by the public and later released on bail. Earlier, too, there were instances where women became targets of violence in the city. An NRI woman from Malaysia and a woman tourist from Mumbai were robbed by unidentified persons on the pretext of giving them lift. On the other hand, the police authorities said that they took prompt action whenever they received a complaint from women. Deputy Commissioner of Police Bikram Pal Bhatti said the city police had constituted a Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) consisting of 15 separate teams having five women cops in a team. Besides at least 20 teams of women cops were on patrolling jobs and patrol near tourist places and educational institutes. In addition to this, male patrolling parties have also been deputed in consultation with school and college managements, said the DCP. He added that a patrolling team on both ends of the Hall Bazaar had also been deputed in order to provide safety of tourists especially women tourists.
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PUDA holds auction of residential plots in Civil Lines areas
Amritsar, March 3 Under the Optimum Utilisation of Vacant Government Land (OUVGL) scheme, PUDA auctioned about 24 acres of land, located opposite Government College and close to Amritsar cantonment. Presently the office of the Police Commissioner, the NRI police station, residences of the DIG and the Canal Department's Superintending Engineer occupy the same land. Chief Administrator of the Amritsar Development Authority (ADA) Sandeep Rishi said, "Communications have been dispatched to these government offices to vacate the premises to develop these for the proposed residential and commercial scheme." He said these offices would be shifted to the Family and Children Ward of Karam Singh Hospital, near Ram Bagh. District Transport Officer Dr Rajat Oberoi, who oversaw the auction process, said half of the total 86 plots of 500 square yards each were put up under hammer and all these were successfully sold off. "The public response was tremendous as there were about 115 bidders. Successful bidders deposited 10 per cent earnest money of Rs 8 crore and the rest of the payment will be deposited in the stipulated instalments." About the response, he said, "keeping in view the ongoing nationwide slump in the real estate, the price we fetched was absolutely decent". The minimum rate a plot fetched was Rs 29,100 per square yard and the maximum return was Rs 40,400 per square yard. The reserve price per square yard was fixed at Rs 26,500. However, the PUDA received the average per square yard price at Rs 35000, Dr Oberoi quoted. Under the scheme, PUDA will develop two commercial pockets of 2.88 acres and 2.21 acres, respectively, 0.48 acre is kept for multi-use purpose, 0.32 acre for water works, 0.48 acre is kept as the reserved area and 2.72 acres is charted for setting up three parks. Property Dealers Association's Amritsar president Surinder Vashisht termed the response as moderate and in consonance with the prevalent market rate. Price of a square yard for a house with over 400 square yard area in posh Ranjit Avenue also fetched the same price. Location of the area auctioned is vantage as it is close to the Civil Lines area and the GT road and falls much before Ranjit Avenue. About its response in the local real estate market, he said it would remain limited as real buyers with sufficient 'white' money must have been the buyers.
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AAP workers come out in support of contractual nurses
Amritsar, March 3 They had been holding an agitation outside the camp office of Medical Education Minister Anil Joshi for the past five days over regularisation of their services. They held a protest march with their mouths covered with black cloths after certain officials of the Police Department allegedly warned them to desist from raising slogans. Ashok Talwar, a district leader of AAP, said the demand of the agitating nurses and paramedical staff was genuine and added that it should be fulfilled by the government at the earliest. Satinder Singh, vice-president of the Contractual Nurses and Paramedical Workers of Government Medical Colleges of Amritsar and Patiala Associations said they would not relent until their demands were met. For the past five days, the attempts from both sides to reach a suitable solution of the deadlock had proved futile. He said the health condition of Karamjit Kaur, who had been sitting on an indefinite hunger strike since day one, has been deteriorating day by day while there is no word from the government’s side. She continued her fast outside the office of Cabinet Minister Anil Joshi.
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Bharat Rawal brings his passion for 3D mural art to city
Amritsar, March 3 "I have been travelling throughout India for the past five years to promote the art of 3D media and mural making. From a hobby to a professional art, 3D mural making has developed greatly over the years. Before coming to Amritsar, I attended a workshop in Ludhiana," says architect of 3D mural art in the country. Working with over the10 students for 10 hours a day, Rawal has come up with some real masterpieces. " The thing about 3D art is that it has developed into a commercially viable art. Since its introduction to the Indian art scene, lakhs of artists are learning 3D art. But the lack of opportunities to present and exposure to the art is a problem. I have dedicated my attention to educating young artists in the field about the latest media and developmdnts to enable them in popularising the art." Having trained over the3500 students, he has established School of Fine arts and Interior Design in Pune, his hometown. A JJ School of Arts alumnus, Rawal has over 25 years of experience. He is currently focussed on educating about mix media in 3D art. "I have been teaching to sculpt withclay, soft stone carving and textures in art. 3D art seems to be more lively as the elements are protruding or more alive. Its about presentation," says Rawal. He believes that the art needs to explore itself."Given the right skills and technique alongside exposure, the art form has a scope of giving employment opportunities and providing livelihood to so many artists." His maiden experience in Punjab, though, has been fairly good. " You have talent here but no exposure. My purpose of travelling with my art is to enable young and upcoming artists to learn a new medium."
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Prof Brar conferred Bishan Singh Samundri Award
Amritsar, March 3 A lecture session was also held in the memory of Sardar Bishan Singh Samundri, founder Vice- Chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University. The event was sponsored by Sardar Jaswant Singh Memorial Education Trust, Jalandhar. Prof Darshan Singh Brar, adjunct Professor at the PAU School of Agricultural Biotechnology and former head of the Plant Breeding (genetics and biotechnology) at International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines, delivered a special lecture on enhancing agricultural productivity and sustainability on the occasion. Dr Adarsh Pal Vig, head of the department, welcomed the guests and others. Prof Renu Bhardwaj introduced the guest speaker and Prof Saroj Arora conducted the stage. The vote of thanks was presented by Prof Avinash Kaur Nagpal. Prof Darshan Singh Brar stressed on the importance of agricultural reforms and the onset of the green revolution in India. He discussed various eco-friendly technologies for crop sustainability and increased productivity. He gave an overview of global climate changes adversely effecting agriculture all over the world. Prof Brar drew focus on biotechnological advances such as gene cloning and plant breeding being practiced for various food crops such as rice, wheat and maize etc. He also discussed the burning issue of genetically modified crops in India and various pros and cons associated with it. Prof Brar encouraged students and young researchers to make contributions for countering food deficiency all over the world. On the occasion Dr KS Rai, Professor Emeritus Notre Dame, shed light on aims and objectives of Sardar Jaswant Singh Rai Memorial Trust, Jalandhar. Dr Jasjeet Singh Samundri, Chief Conservatory Forest, Punjab, and son of Prof Bishan Singh Samundri talked about Sardar Bishan Singh Samundri and his contribution to life sciences. Prof Brar was facilitated with the Bishan Singh Samundri Award, which included a memento, certificate and a cash prize of Rs 25,000. Dr KS Rai and Dr Jasjeet Singh Samundri were also honoured by the faculty members on this occasion.
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Wife succumbs to burns after man sets her aflame
Amritsar, March 3 She had sustained around 80 per cent burns in the incident and had bleak chances of survival. Arora, in her statement before the judicial magistrate, had alleged that the accused used to harass her and physically thrash her to bring jewellery and money for a house. When she refused, the accused, who was heavily drunk, poured petrol on her and set her afire. The couple had two children. Sarabjit Singh, SHO, Kotwali police station, said that after the death of the woman, Section 302 of the IPC has been added in the case. The accused identified as Hardeep Singh was already arrested by the police.
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MC expedites recovery of tax
Amritsar, March 3 The departments concerned had failed to meet the set target. The code of conduct ahead of the ensuing Lok Sabha poll could be implemented anytime, which is also a cause of worry for the authorities. All the nine zones designated for the collection of the property tax have been made active. Likewise, the water and sewerage wing officials too have been directed to speed up the recovery process. As per the information, around Rs 18 crore has been collected as property tax and only Rs 5.7 crore as house tax till date. House tax superintendent Shushant Bhatia said the MC was yet to recover Rs 15 crore as house tax from as many as 10,000 defaulters. Besides, there were around 1,600 cases pending with the MC’s much touted house tax sub-committee awaiting settlement. The committee could not keep its schedule for resolving issues. Similarly, for property tax, the MC had identified 3 lakh units (40,000 commercial) in Amritsar urban area. There are around two lakh residents (both residential and commercial), who are yet to pay their dues. The MC had set a target to collect between Rs 40-50 crore till March 2014. There are other reasons too which had hit the recovery process, which once was at its peak. Be it the MC’s earlier move of defaming the offenders by beating drums and announcing their names through loudspeakers in their respective localities or giving incentives in the dues before the stipulated dates, all these exercises ultimately proved to be a dump squib because of many reasons. Officials pointed out that the government’s repeated move to extend the deadline of depositing the property tax with rebate (December 15, December 31 and now March 31) had actually backfired. The residents became lax in making payment of
their dues. DPS Kharbanda said the dues had to be collected as per the corporation norms. “The residents should take it as their moral right to pay their dues beforehand. We have framed up policy to collect maximum pending dues before the stipulated period,” he said.
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Dog fights go unchecked in city
Amritsar, March 3 Society for the Prevention of Cruelty towards Animals (SPCA) executive member Vineet Randhawa said instances of the practice surfaced from time to time when injured animals were brought to the animal shelter being run by the SPCA outside the Hathi Gate. She said recently a mauled street dog was brought to the centre. Wounds on its face indicated that it was grievously injured in attack by a powerful dog, she added. She said it came to their notice that the people involved in dog fights brought up aggressive breeds and in order to sharpen their fighting skills, street dogs were put in front of them. Vineet said the SPCA members were contemplating approaching the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) to impress upon the government need for relevant steps in this regard. Another SPCA volunteer Sidharth, who visits the animal shelter daily, said the injured dog became so aggressive that it did not allow any human to come close to it. SPCA members said dog fights were held between October and March. Sometime bets were also placed on the fights. Pitbulls and bull dogs were specifically trained for this blood sport, added SPCA members. They said, “The recent development is dog baiting in which these specially trained dogs are set upon helpless strays for giving them practice. These helpless victims normally die due to the injuries and this particular case seems to be one of them.” AWBI chairman Maj Gen RM Kharb (retd) stated in a circular issued on February 20: “Animal cruelty is an offence under Section 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, and Sections 428 and 429 of the IPC. Under these acts offenders can be penalised with an imprisonment and fine.” He suggested in the circular: “Any aggression or hostility that the dogs may be subjected to will render them aggressive and make them hostile towards humans. They may then resort to snapping and biting in self-defence. If the same happens, the human aggressors shall be the only ones to blame.” “Some elements are holding dog fights in some city areas, which caused grievous injuries to stray dogs in the city. The SPCA would take up the issue with the district administration,” said Deputy Director Animal Husbandry and SPCA, Coordinator, Dr Jagdish Chander
Shori.
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Better amritsar public TRANSPORT—II ‘Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service
Amritsar, March 3 Speed endangers commuters’ lives
“There is no mechanism to offer even rudimentary driving lessons for aspiring commercial drivers. Then how can we expect quality drivers on roads. Unnecessary haste on the road endangers the lives of commuters. I am a resident of Majitha Road, which is significant in the sense that it receives a high volume of traffic, including heavy vehicles as the bypass is situated at a close distance. Besides, Guru Nanak Dev Hosplital-cum-College gets road accident victims daily. The biggest reason cited for accidents is unnecessary haste and encroachment on roads.” Bhupinder Singh Sandhu, government employee Shift railway station outside city
“A number of accidental deaths have been reported in the city, which were unheard of earlier. Roads have become unsafe due to various factors. Menace of traffic and auto-rickshaws is acute on the GT road. Many solutions are being cited and the government is now contemplating to raise railway over bridges (ROB). However, the problem will return after some time. The city is sliced into two halves by the railway line, which were laid one and half century ago. On the contrary if the railway station is shifted outside the city to Jandiala or Manawala, major traffic snarls of the holy city will be solved.” Sukhvinder Singh
Narula, a resident Penalise mobile phone users
“Dispensing milk at the city residents’ doorstep has become an uphill task. Customers often complain of the late delivery of the milk. My employees attribute the reason to traffic and congestion. People talk over their handsets while driving or listen to music unmindful of the traffic. It leads to delay in the movement of traffic coming from behind. Traffic police must penalise the offenders to curb the problem. Mangal Singh, dairy owner Provide ample parking space
There are no designated parking lots for auto-rickshaws, cycle-rickshaws, two-wheelers and four-wheelers in the city. In this scenario, drivers park their vehicles outside shops, which results in traffic congestion and hampers customers’ access to shops. Manu, a shopkeeper
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Municipal Corporation defies its own advt bylaws
Jalandhar, March 3 Having launched its monthly city bus pass scheme yesterday, the banners regarding the publicity of the same were put up at various non-designated points in the city hung between electricity poles or trees along roadsides. It is the same banner that Mayor Sunil Jyoti had posed with yesterday at the launch of the scheme. The banner highlights the pass charges and the concession that the daily passengers could seek for each route. As per the new Punjab Outdoor Advertisement Policy, 2012, notified by the Department of Local Government, the MC had earmarked 15 specific sites for the publicity of social and religious messages and government programme promotion, those, too, on advance booking and at a payment of Rs 100 at the MC's Suwidha Centre. It is not just the MC, even the Traffic Police, the Commissionerate Police and the Deputy Commissioner's office have been unabashedly flouting the orders. Traffic policemen have been using streetlight poles for hanging messages and information pertaining to traffic
rules. The Commissioner of Police Department has covered electricity poles all across the city to put up the contact numbers of beat constables and senior cops in all areas. If that was not enough, the Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Electoral Officer has also got election-related hoardings put up on electricity poles. The hoardings mostly have displayed messages on not succumbing to politicians. The hoardings sponsored by a bank mention beneath that these have been put on the orders of the DC. While the MC officials have been removing illegal posters and hoardings of private companies
from the non-designated sites, the superintendents of advertisement branch have perhaps overseen
all such illegal hoardings. Municipal Corporation Commissioner Manpreet Chattwal when asked as to why the MC was not acting as a role model said it
must have been contractor who would have put them at wrong places. "I will look into the matter and put them up at proper places," he said.
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Electronics Dept overall champion at ‘Jashan-2014’
Amritsar, March 3 The Department of Architecture was declared the first runners-up and the Department of Physical Education the second
runners-up in the competition. The competitions concluded at the Dasmesh Auditorium of the
university. Prof AS Brar, Vice-Chancellor, presided over the valedictory function and give away trophies to the winners. Dr PK Sehajpal, Dean Students Welfare, presented a vote of thanks. More than 600 students artistes from various departments of the university participated in these competitions. Prof Brar said students should take part in cultural activities along with their formal studies to excel in life. He said students should avoid vulgar music and listen to Sufi music for peace of mind. Dr PK Sehajpal honored Prof Brar with memento on the occasion. The Department of Microbiology of the GNDU was declared winner in the collage making event. The second place was bagged by the Department of Electronics and the third place went to the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. In the cartooning contest, the Department of Architecture stood first, Social Science second and the Department of Microbiology finished third. In poster making the Department of Microbiology was placed first, Department of Electronics second and the Department of Architecture got third position. In rangoli competitions, the Department of Architecture came first, the Department of Electronics second and Physical Education (T) third. In thematic photography (on the spot), the Law Department stood first, Pharmaceutical Department second and Architecture Department third. In folk song, Pharmaceutical Department remained first, Physical Education (T) second and the Punjab School of Economics and School of Punjabi Studies shared the third position. In skit, the Department of Commerce and Business Management stood first, Physical Education (T) second and School of Punjabi Studies third. In twisted adds/news, the Department of Food Science and Technology came first, Computer Science and Engineering second and Physical Education (T) third.
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Lawyers observe ‘no work day’
Jalandhar, March 3 Piyush Gupta of the Nakodar Bar Association said, “ The High Court has recently passed directions that all types of cases, including civil and criminal, which have been lying pending with the courts for the past over 10 years, must be disposed of before March 31 this year. After the decision, courts are holding day-to-day hearings in all the cases to clear the backlog,” Gupta added. The DBA members said the lawyers would also observe "no work day" tomorrow as well. They demanded that the High Court should consider the demands of the lawyers and reconsider its decision of disposing of all 10- year-old cases before March. "As per the directions of the High Court, now local courts have told lawyers to speed up case proceedings and present evidence in a few days. Now, we are scanning all the old cases in haste to present true facts before courts," lawyer Gupta said, adding that judges have also been holding day-to-day hearings in all those cases which had been lying pending for past over
10 years. If such a situation remains, many cases would never be decided on merit, a lawyer said, alleging that the High Court's decision had now suddenly overburdened the lawyers to put up all pending cases before the courts. Another lawyer said it would be tough for the lawyers to finish all 10-year-old cases before March 31. Only a fews days are left. "How could they present all cases in such a short span of time?" the lawyer wondered. The court needs to reconsider the decision, he said.
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3 held on land grab charge
Jalandhar, March 3 Police sources said the complainant, Ravinder Kaur, of England had recently filed a complaint against these persons stating that the accused, after forging her property documents, had sold the land to a third party. Police sources said the accused hatched a conspiracy and forged the property documents.
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