Amritsar, March 29
The liquor war between two groups took an ugly turn when a group headed by Akali leader Rajinder Kumar Pappu, alias Pappu Jaintipuria, allegedly kidnapped and attacked Baljinder Singh Chahal, a liquor vendor and a resident of New Amritsar.

The victim sustained injuries in his leg and has been admitted to a private hospital. Pappu Jaintipuria is the former chairman of the zila parishad. A case has been registered against Rajinder Kimar Pappu and 20 of his unidentified accomplices after Congress leader and former MLA Jasbir Singh Dimpa staged a protest near the New Amritsar area on the Amritsar-Jalandhar highway.

Senior police officials headed by Parampal Singh, ADCP (City- I), reached the spot and assured to take an appropriate action against the accused.

Baljinder Singh Chahal said he, along with his 10-year-old son, was returning home after paying obeisance at the Golden Temple when the accused kidnapped him from outside his house and took him to some undisclosed place. He alleged that the culprits hit his leg with iron rods.

About the reason behind the attack, he said he was alloted liquor vends in the Pakharpura circle, which were previously owned by Pappu Jaintipuria. He alleged that the accused was pressuring him to hand over the liquor vends to him. He said he refused to buckle down under pressure due to which they became agitated and threatened him of dire consequences.

"The accused kidnapped me from outside my house and threw me in a drain at Maini village," he said. He alleged that initially the police were hesitating to register a case against the accused.

Meanwhile, Jasbir Singh Dimpa said the incident had exposed the the real face of the SAD-BJP government. ADCP Parampal Singh said that a case under Sections 307 and 364 of the Indian Penal Code has been registered at the B-division police station against Rajinder Singh Pappu and his accomplices. 

Amritsar, March 29
Irrespective of political parties, supporters of the SAD-BJP and the Congress continue to deface the holy city by putting up political hoardings. This despite the fact that the code of conduct has already been enforced while the Punjab and Haryana High Court has also banned these hoardings.

With a view to gaining maximum public attention, the political parties have gone ahead by installing hoardings at police stations, police chowkis and other government buildings.

The Amritsar Tribune clicked photos of political hoardings at police chowki outside Maha Singh Gate, a traffic police post outside Sikandari gate, electricity poles at Ranjit Avenue and many other places.

Display boards and hoardings of all shapes and sizes with pictures of NDA's prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, and its candidate for the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat, Arun Jaitley, are splashed in different parts of the city.

Though hoardings of the Congress cannot be found in such good numbers as those of the SAD-BJP alliance, yet those displaying pictures of Capt Amarinder Singh along with other noted Congress leaders could also be noticed.

The ruling alliance has thrown all norms to the wind by putting up hoardings to welcome the BJP candidate from Amritsar, Arun Jaitley, on his maiden visit to the holy city after his candidature was announced on March 18. Similar scenes were noticed during the arrival of Capt Amarinder Singh to the city after his candidature for the Amritsar seat was announced yesterday.

In a clear violation of the code, hoardings of various SAD and BJP leaders welcoming Jaitley were installed at various places in the city. The Election Commission of India had earlier issued instructions against pasting of posters and installation of political hoardings on public property in view of the Lok Sabha elections.

The local administration, too, had issued instructions for removal of all such hoardings and posters from public properties on March 15 but these can still be seen defacing buildings. Deputy Commissioner Ravi Bhagat, at a meeting with senior officials, had asked them to make arrangements for the removal of these political advertisements and warned of strict action against defaulters.

However, instead of removing hoardings that were installed earlier, the city witnessed installation of many more in all these days. The political scene and environment hotted up in the border district with the arrival of opponent Capt Amarinder Singh which is being reflected in splashing of display boards.

The political advertisements eulogising political leaders can be seen at every nook and corner of the city. The hoardings were installed at Hall Gate, GT road, near Jallianwala Bagh, Bhandari Bridge and many other places.

Meanwhile, the Congress has filed a complaint with the Deputy Commissioner against installation of political hoardings when the code has been in force for some days. The complaint was filed jointly by District Congress Committee Rural President Gurjit Singh Aujla, DCC urban president Rajeev Bhagat, councillor Raj Kanwal Lucky and Youth Congress president Vikas Soni.

Deputy Commissioner-cum-district election officer Ravi Bhagat said the details of expenses incurred on installing hoardings were reported under the head advertisement expenses to him by the municipal corporation. He said in case a poster or display boards were installed or posted outside government offices, then it was a violation of Public Property Defacement Act. He said notices had already been issued to heads of various departments to monitor and report any violation of this kind.

Amritsar, March 29
A day after the murder of of Sukhdeep Singh, personal assistant of Tarn Taran MLA Harmeet Singh Sandhu, the police have booked eight persons following the statement of the brother of the deceased.

Among those booked include Gurlal Singh and Nishan Singh, both residents of Uthian village, situated on the Mehta road. Jaspal Singh told to the police that Sukhdeep went missing on March 22 evening. He said guards of the MLA had left him near a shopping mall on the G T Road on March 22 evening and his official mobile phone was on while his personal mobile phone was switched off. At around 8.00 pm, his official mobile phone was switched off. He suspected that Gurlal Singh and Jagir Singh, along with their unidentified accomplices, killed him and later dumped his body in a canal.

However, Amolak Singh, SHO, Maqboolpura police station, said they were looking into the facts of the statement given by Jaspal Singh. “The truth will only come out after the arrest of Gurlal and Nishan Singh who are on the run since the registration of the case,” said Amolak Singh. He said raids were being carried out to nab the accused.

Sukhdeep’s body was found in the Uppar Bari Doab Canal of Maqboolpura. 

Amritsar, March 29
Joining over 7,000 cities across 160 countries, Amritsar will share solidarity with the single largest environment-friendly activity across the globe. Celebrating the Earth Hour, many in city will be switching off their lights for an hour, between 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm. With a view to create awareness regarding protection of environment and saving energy, the Earth Hour, now an annual gloabl activity will also have its share of activity going on in the city.

While city-based NGOs and awareness groups will mark the Earth Hour by taking out a promotional candle light march, Big FM will be shutting off its lights to join the cause. The historical building of Khalsa College, which is brightly lit daily, will also have its lights switched off for an hour. Initiating the activity, WWF Amritsar chapter's chairman Gunbir Singh explains, "Its an important activity to sensitise people towards energy-saving and all across the globe people actively participate in Earth Hour.

This year, SpiderMan is the international ambassador for Earth Hour, and iconic monuments such as Eiffel Tower in Paris, Opera House, Sydney, Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur, even the royal palaces in Denmark and England will go dark during the hour. Punjab has seen resurgent activity during the past years and celebrated the event. The industry has also taken up the cause with local citizens in Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Jalandhar also and the Mayors of these cities have publicly called for the city to observe the Earth Hour.

To spread awareness before the event, children of Millenium School took out a 'flash mob' in Ranjit Avenue to encourage responsible behaviour towards energy conservation. A procession of students and residents gathered at the District Shopping Complex with candles, during the Earth Hour.

"Our national landmarks, too, like Rashtrapati Bhawan and Gateway of India are among the monuments that go dark for an hour to show solidarity. I believe more and more people should join in since an hour could make a difference," says Maninder Singh, a city resident. 

Amritsar, March 29
The District Health Department has given instructions for reviewing child deaths so that infant mortality ratio could be checked. The department has stated that death of a child up to five years of age should be reviewed.

Civil Surgeon Dr Usha Bansal said the review would help in suggesting measures which could be adopted to avoid such deaths. She said there was a need to handle high-risk pregnancies with more care. She said a child was at a high risk of dying within the first three days of birth. Dr Bansal said state officials had earlier held a workshop during which medical fraternity was informed about the measures. — TNS

Amritsar, March 29
Duped by a fake travel agent, Jaswant Singh, a resident of Mudhal village, is running from the pillar to post for justice. He was defrauded of Rs 6 lakh by Bikram Singh Malli, a travel agent and a resident of New Jawahar Nagar. The accused had taken the amount on the pretext of sending Jaswant's son abroad.

Though the police had booked Bikram Singh in January this year, the accused is still out of the police reach. Ironically, the accused had filed a complaint in the court against the complainant for forcibly occupying his house.

Jaswant Singh said that he had come in contact with Bikram Singh through his relative. Bikram Singh also practises as a 'hakeem’. He said Bikram had assured them that he would send his son Surmail Singh to Italy and took Rs 6 lakh for it from them in August 2013. However, even after a couple of months, the accused failed to send his son abroad following which they started demanding the money.

As Bikram was dilly-dallying in returning the money, Jaswant threatened him of lodging a complaint with the police and the vigilance. Following this, the accused agreed to return the money in four days and handed over the keys of his house in presence of area residents to Jaswant. Bikram had said that if he failed to return the money, they could sell his property.

However, instead of returning the money, he filed a case in the court against them for forcibly occupying his house.

Jaswant said he was a marginal farmer and had sold a part of his land to send his son abroad. “Now, I am making rounds of the police station for no fault of mine. I urge police officials and the court to do the justice,” he said.

Notably, the police had registered a case of fraud against Bikram Singh, his son and brother.Gurmeet Singh, SHO, Sadar police station, said they were trying to nab the accused as they were on the on run since the registration of the case. 

Amritsar, March 29
The Health Department has given a clean chit to the Jallianwala Bagh Martys Memorial Civil Hospital staff in a case in which a pregnant woman had delivered a stillborn baby outside the delivery room of the hospital yesterday.

A patient from Khapar Kheri village had delivered a stillborn baby when she was about to board an ambulance from the Civil Hospital for the Bebe Nanki Mother and Childcare Centre. Later, the woman's family had accused the hospital staff of negligence.

Civil Surgeon Dr Usha Bansal said, “When the patient came late in the evening, the staff on duty examined the patient but they did not hear the heartbeat of the child.” She said the result of the examination was told to the patient. She said the skin of the child had come off, which indicated that the child had died 24 hours before delivery.

“The patient did not give her consent in writing, which is required for the removal of the foetus in such cases,” she said. The employees were not guilty of negligence as they did everything in their capacity to handle the case. She said the patient insisted that the child was alive as she could feel the movement of the child.

For further examination, in such cases, physicians normally go for an ultrasound. However, as the hospital is facing a huge staff crunch, the staff felt it difficult to conduct the test.

The hospital is having only one radiologist and as per norms under the PC-PNDT Act an ultrasound machine cannot be used in the absence of a trained radiologist. The Tribune had earlier reported that the shortage of staff was hitting health services at the hospital.

Dr Usha Bansal said, “We will write again to senior officials to provide three more radiologists." 

Amritsar, March 29
While a duel between Congress and the BJP candidates is making the headlines, Dr Daljit Singh, a famous eye surgeon and the AAP candidate, is appealing to the people to support his party for the clean and corruption-free governance.

He visited houses and presented flowers besides offering caps as a symbolic gesture to the people during the Jhadu Chalao Yatra in slums of Haripura. Dr Daljit Singh said during the campaign, it was found that the people were fed up with false and frivolous assurances of making Amritsar a world-class city while its inhabitants were not being provided basic civic amenities.

“Successive governments have failed to deliver and people in slums are living in inhuman conditions. Drugs and alcohol have ruined their lives,” said Dr Daljit Singh. He added that the present state government was levying unnecessary taxes on citizens and the prices of commodities were sky high. Dr Daljit said this clearly indicated that there was a need for change in the governance of the country for the survival of the aam aadmi.

“The so called people's representatives are showing false dreams of turning the city into Switzerland and the residents are being forced to live with dirt, and potholed roads,” he said. He promised the voters of mitigating their sufferings by highlighting their grievances. 

Amritsar, March 29
The Punjab and UT Mulajam Sangharsh Committee held a protest against the state government, accusing it of not fulfilling its demands as promised by the Chief Minister on February 18. The Employees and Pensioners’ Association, along with the committee, has announced to work against the state government during the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Ranbir Dhillon, convenor of the committee, said they would hold dharnas at all bus stands in the state on April 4, and protest marches in Bathinda and Sangrur on April 18 and 24. The committee members said the state Finance Minister had accepted seven of their demands and had promised to issue a notification in two weeks.

Their demands include abolition of the contract system, increase in honorarium of ASHA workers and cashless health scheme for the employees. — TNS 

Amritsar, March 29
About 25 research scholars presented their research papers at a national seminar on “Historical Perspective and Recent Trends of Tourism in Punjab” at DAV College today.

Organised by the Postgraduate Department of History and Travel and Tourism, the seminar was sponsored by the ICSSR.

Prof HS Walia, Vice-Principal of the host college, Dr Vishwa Bandhu, Head, Department of History, Travel and Tourism welcomed the participants.

Dr Bandhu gave an introduction about the seminar and scope of the tourism industry in Punjab and also discussed the historical perspective of the various places.

Tarun Chugh, an old student of history and Bhartiya Janata Party (Punjab) leader, was the chief guest on the occasion, whereas Dr Manoj Sharma from UBS Centre, Panjab University, Chandigarh, was the guest of honour.

Addressing the gathering the chief guest emphasised on the golden aspect of the Indian History and also discussed various places of Amritsar. He said, “To encourage tourism in Amritsar and in Punjab we have to explore all such places, which are historically important”.

A documentary on various places of Amritsar made by Dr Vishwa Bandhu was also screened.

Prof Dr Sukhwant Singh, Department of History, Guru Nanak Dev University, delivered key note address.

The first technical session was chaired by Prof Ashok Panchal from Maharishi Markandya University and the second technical session was chaired by Dr Manoj Sharma from Panjab University, Chandigarh.

Prof Heming Wen from School of Philosophy, University of China, appreciated the efforts of the Department of History.

Amritsar, March 29
Many roundabouts in the city remain neglected. A social activist, Naresh Johar said, “It seems that business houses have forgotten their social responsibility."

Business houses select roundabouts and crossing of their choice to gain public attention to further their cause while leaving out the areas where people belonging to low-income groups live. Mahesh Mittal, a shopkeeper at Hall Gate, said there was a keen contest among corporate houses to gain a foothold on the route to the Golden Temple and markets around it. Since pilgrims from across the world pass through the route, businessmen choose roundabouts or crossings on the way for getting pilgrims’ attention.

One of the leading jewellers of the city has taken the responsibility of maintaining a roundabout near Hall Gate and it is well maintained. However, these concerns do not find the same resonance at the next roundabout at historic Ram Bagh Gate as it wears a shabby look. Garbage can be seen dumped near the roundabout.

Similarly, the roundabout at Parshuram Chowk is poorly maintained. Roundabouts outside Bhagtanwala Dana Mandi and Shera Wala Gate are also not well maintained. On the contrary, roundabouts at Maqbool Road, Realty Chowk and Bhandari Bridge are well maintained. 

Amritsar, March 29
Shri Ram Ashram Public School organised an orientation programme today for the parents and nursery wing classes to acquaint them with the technique and system with which teachers teach the students.

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