Residents annoyed at power cuts
Amritsar, June 1
City residents are annoyed and surprised over intermittent power cuts. They maintain that it is contrary to what the government had promised when it came to power.

Youth booked on rape charge
Amritsar, June 1
The Gate Hakima police have booked a youth for allegedly raping a girl living in his neighbourhood.

Amritsar, June 1
In an early morning swoop down, the police today raided at Ranike village and seized huge quantity of illicit liquor. Over 10 persons were arrested in this regard.

Incidentally, it is the village of Punjab Cabinet Minister Gulzar Singh Ranike. The raid was part of a concerted drive launched by the Punjab police all over the state against rampant drug abuse.

A huge contingent of 300 police officials headed by DSP Attari Baljit Singh Dhillon today gheroed the village in the wee hours and searched every residence. Dhillon said they have seized over 11,000 litres of illicit liquor from the village. The police team destroyed the illicit liquor at the residences only due to which foul smell engulfed the area. He said the police also confiscated furnace, drums and gas stoves from the spot.

In the meanwhile, the anti-narcotic cell of the Amritsar rural police seized 51 cans of illicit liquor which were dumped in fields belonging to sarpanch Massa Singh of the Lalka Nagar village.

Sanjiv Kumar, in charge, anti-narcotic cell, said 51 cans contained over 2,295 liters of illicit liquor. "Preliminary investigations indicated that the liquor belonged to Gurdeep Singh a native of the same village. However, the police have booked Massa Singh also as without his knowledge the accused could not have dumped such a huge quantity of liquor," he said. The Ramdass police have also confiscated 1,050 kg of raw material used for preparing illicit liquor from Bhandaria village and arrested five persons in this regard. Among those arrested include Surjit Singh, Puran Singh, Dharamjit Singh, Saba and Sanu Masih. Meanwhile, continuing its drive against the drug abuse the city as well as rural police has arrested over 40 persons for allegedly possessing narcotic substances including heroin, intoxicant capsules, tablets and injections in separate instances. They all have been booked under the NDPS Act.

Amritsar, June 1
Even as the procurement of wheat was complete at various grain markets in district more than a fortnight ago, thousands of bags can still be seen lying in the open at markets.

The slow pace of lifting of procured wheat bags has given rise to a problem for the labourers and the commission agents as they stated that their job would be complete when the grain gets lifted.

"The labourers wait all day for the trucks to come. We cannot go home as commission agents would not pay us till the job is done," said a labourer. The wheat lying in the open is prone to damage if the rain comes.

The district has total of 58 markets out of which the grain bags have not been lifted from almost half. During a visit to Bhagatawala grain market, the largest in the district, it was seen that thousands of bags are still lying.

An official in mandi board said, "It is the duty of the procurement agencies to lift the grain. The pace of lifting has been slow in the previous years but this year it seems the slowest."

He said, "At the time of giving contracts to the transporters for lifting, sometimes inexperienced transporters are selected which results in the delays."

Bhagatawala grain market which is criticised by farmers for absence of its peripheral wall and instances of theft of their grains is also risky for the produce which no belongs to nobody but the government.

Deputy Commissioner Ravi Bhagat said 97 per cent of the grain has been lifted from the markets. He said that the administration can impose a fine of 25 paisa on each unlifted bag per day if the transporters fail to do the needful.

Amritsar, June 1
The holy city is expanding rapidly with scores of residential localities coming up. But, in the past many decades, no railway overbridge (ROB) has been added to facilitate smooth flow of traffic.

As a result, railway crossings have become major traffic bottlenecks in the city leading to wastage of fuel and time of commuters.

ROBs are badly needed on Tarn Taran Road, Bhaiyan Da Shivala, Jodda Phatak, Verka and 22 Number Phatak.

As per the 2010 Census, there are nearly 2.35 lakh houses in the city. Urbanisation has resulted in bursting the seams of the city.

The Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP), prepared by the Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Company (PMIDC), a department of the local government, for infrastructure development of the city for the next four decades, pointed out the high household expenditure on fuel.

The study found that more than 14.20 lakh personal trips are witnessed in the Amritsar Municipal Corporation area on an average day. Besides, the number of two and three-wheelers has increased significantly in the city since 2005.

The expenditure of each household on transport is higher than the expenses incurred on housing, education or health in the city. The expenditure comes close to the amount spent on food, which is a cause of concern. Probable expenditure on transport is about Rs 2,090 per household.

The CMP extends over 1394.19 square km of area and contains a population of 2.02 million, which includes Corporation area, 4 urban settlements and 310 rural settlements.

It stated that the road network of the city was radial-cum-circumferential, covering an area of 139 sq km. The total road length is about 525 km, as per the city development plan.

At present, the city’s gross developed area density is 125 persons per hectare. Keeping in view the rapid urbanisation, it anticipates 16,594 hectares area to be required to come under it by 2031.

This survey certainly covered the railway crossings without ROBs, which are proving bottlenecks for smooth flow of traffic.

Evaluation and analyses of the data illuminated that providing smooth flow of traffic and removing bottlenecks is a major task for the district authorities.

Tarn Taran railway crossing connects the city with the Malwa region of Punjab and further to Rajasthan. A high flow of buses and goods carriers is routinely visible on the road. However, the closure of the crossing to allow a passage for trains results in a serpentine queue of traffic on either side of the crossing.

Similar scenes of traffic chaos are visible at Jodda Phatak situated within the city. As the name suggests, there are two parallel railway crossings situated on the road. One is Amritsar - Dalhi and the other is Amritsar - Jammu. With densely populated localities situated around these two crossings, they have turned into a nightmare for commuters.

Situated within the city, railway crossings at Ram Bagh and Bhaiyyan Da Shivala are rarely seen opened for the public. Frequent closure of the railway crossings discourages commuters to use the stretch.

The railway station witnesses departure and arrival of 130 trains daily. Considering that a railway crossing remains closed for a minimum of 5 minutes to allow a train to pass, the total time period for which all these crossings are closed is quite shocking.

Over the years the administration failed to add ROBs on these vital railway crossings.

Amritsar, June 1
The Gate Hakima police have booked a youth for allegedly raping a girl living in his neighbourhood.

The victim in her complaint to the police alleged that she had gone to her relative's home at the Aman avenue located on Majitha road. Accused Harjit Singh, a resident of Gali number 1, Anngarh, came there and raped her when no one was at home. Following her complaint the police have registered a case under Section 376 of the IPC against the accused while no arrest has been made so far. The police said medical examination of the girl has been conducted and raids were being conducted to nab the culprit who has been on run since the incident.

Amritsar, June 1
A 10-year-old Sunita with her two-year-old brother in her lap ran towards a halting car at the Novelty traffic lights to fetch some alms. She could never realize that it could result in a fatal mishap as it distracts the attention of the driver and could cause accident.

This is a common sight on almost all major traffic light points right under the nose of police deputed over there.

The instances of organised begging in holy city too could not be ruled out wherein at tender age children are put to begging. They play shrewd tricks or tell all sorts of lies to draw commuters' attention.

Even as the Prevention of Begging Act has already been enforced in the state, till date no case could be registered against even a single beggar here who are caught by the police during 'special drives' conducted by the administration in collaboration with the District Red Cross teams.

The 'organised' begging nexus cannot be ruled out here. The police showed helplessness to proceed for want of complainant. It also could not be ruled out that they can conveniently vanish after committing any crime because the police are devoid of their antecedents.

Nevertheless, around a year ago, the administration had busted a gang and got released over 10 Nepali children who were made to beg around the Golden Temple complex. On interrogation, if was found that they were taught to play shrewd tricks to draw the attention of the people.

Ironically, not a single case was ever registered by the police against the beggars who are caught by the police during 'special drives' conducted by the administration in collaboration with the District Red Cross teams.

They, mostly migrants from UP and Bihar, have made Bus Stand, Railway Station as their home and roads for small time trade practices which included selling of articles, besides bothering the commuters for alms. Scores of these people could be spotted selling seasonal things which included decorative items, car tissue papers, sunscreen for car windowpanes etc right under the nose of police.

Amritsar, June 1
Prior to the visit of AAP's supremo Arvind Kejriwal in Amritsar on June 3, the local unit of AAP members conducted a meeting under the leadership of its district convener Ashok Talwar.

The party volunteers were allocated duties for managing Kejriwal's visit.

During the meeting, the committee members also condemned Amritsar MP Capt Amarinder Singh for terming AAP as a party of naxalities.

Ashok Talwar said instead of accepting the people's mandate in Punjab gracefully, Capt Amarinder Singh has been resorting to defame the party members through sham propaganda.

"Actually, it was the Congress party which was responsible for spreading terrorism in Punjab as well as other parts of the nation and promoting communalism under its divide and rule policy," he said.

Talwar said Amarinder kept diverting the attention of people by repeatedly issuing statements on Bluestar operation and 1984 riots just to gain sympathy of the voters but in reality he has never ever visited even a single terrorist affected family.

"However, the Congress has fallen prey to its own policies and as a result is now a divided house. AAP is a formation of patriots and such cheap mudslinging will not be tolerated under any circumstances," he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Vijay Mehta, General Secretary, said that perturbed by the rising graph of AAP in Punjab, the agents of rival political parties have crept in the District units of AAP all over the state and have been trying to create a sense of insecurity and confusion among the party workers.

He said such black sheep in AAP have been identified and they will be dealt with strictly by the party high command.

Amritsar, May 1
The dip in gold prices to Rs 27,200 per 10 gm yesterday in the local market from a high of Rs 30,300 per 10 gm since the Narendra Modi government took charge at the Centre, has been attributed by local jewellers to the formation of a stable government.

They maintain that customers are still missing from the market for the changed priorities of the people with surplus money.

Punjab Swarnakar Sangh vice-president Jaspal Singh Kanda said big buyers were in a tizzy and were offloading gold fearing a further dip in prices. He said the slide turned the sentiments of the investors negatively.

“Not only investors, even sellers are holding back as they do not want to lose their margin,” he said.

More importantly, experts say the downward trend will continue for a few more days.

Kanda said with the formation of the Modi government, the gold saw a dip of Rs 300 per gram. He said the rupee also consolidated its position against the dollar.

Bullion and Ornaments Merchants Welfare Association vice-president Anil Kumar Jain said customers were not coming out to buy gold. He reasoned that priorities of the young generation have changed.

“Since summer vacations are round the corner, they prefer to go out to the hills. They are more interested in buying branded clothes, costly cars and eating out than investing in the yellow metal,” he said.

He did not foresee a major fall further in the gold prices. “In case the government withdraws 10 per cent import duty on gold, then prices of pure gold can touch Rs 25,000 per 10 gram,” he added.

At present the traders have to pay a duty to the tune of Rs 2.70 lakh on the import of a kilogram of gold.

Amritsar, June 1
Various NGOs along with social and political outfits have raised the demand for increasing tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products to curb their consumption.

Senior BJP leader Laxmi Kanta Chawla said the government should impose a blanket ban on manufacturing and sale of tobacco products.

She said instead of spending lakhs of rupees on creating awareness about the harmful effects of tobacco products, the government should ban their sale entirely.

Local MLA Navjot Kaur Sidhu has demanded that the sin tax on tobacco products should be increased to 60 per cent.

She said the increase in taxes would make the products costly, which would bring down the demand.

The Voice of Tobacco Victims, an NGO working for creating awareness about the harms of tobacco, has also demanded an increase in taxes.

Dr Prahlad Duggal of the NGO said, “The government spends a huge sum on the treatment of cancer patients. The amount is much higher than the revenue it earns from the sale of tobacco products.”

Previous studies had shown that with the increase in prices, the consumption of tobacco products had gone down, he said.

Amritsar, May 1
After the Border Security Force, it is now the turn of the Police Department to deal with the problem of drug abuse and rehabilitate drug-addicts with the help of Swami Vivekanand De-addiction Centre at the Government Medical College (GMC).

Call it a fear of the department, which has launched a crackdown for the past one week on those involved in drugs or the disarrayed life of the drug addicts, which motivated them to get themselves free from the clutches of this problem, nevertheless, this is a welcome step.

Taking the first step in this regard, the city police today kicked off its drive and got six youths admitted to the government run de-addiction centre at GMC. This is for the first time in the state that the Punjab Police have initiated such a drive.

Gurnam Singh, a resident of Pandori Waraich village, is among the six youths, who have been hooked to drugs for the past one year. He took the first step when his friends insisted him to sniff white powder (heroin).

While sharing his experience, he said since that day, he never remained the same and had been virtually cut off from his family and society.

He works in a private factory and said it was after the motivation provided by an area resident that he decided to give life a chance.

Manjit Kumar of Hindustan Basti said he had been taking drugs for the past seven years. A couple of years ago, he got himself de-addicted in a de-addiction centre located at the Tarn Taran Civil Hospital. But he again fell in the trap once he joined the company of the same old friends.

His mother Kamla lauded the steps taken by the Police Department. “We are happy that our families would be saved from the hell of drug abuse,” she said.

Others who were admitted in the hospital include Rakesh Kumar of East Mohan Nagar, Krishan Kumar of Chowk Fuwara, Nand Kishore of Jharkhand and Gulshan Kumar of an area near Durgiana Temple.

Police Commissioner Jatinder Singh Aulakh said during the ongoing drive, the department had succeeded in building a kind of confidence among the people that the police are serious to eradicate the menace from society.

“The drug abuse brought a bad reputation to the state and therefore, the Punjab Government has given us clear cut instructions to curb the menace by all means,” he said.

Assistant Commissioner of police, Balkar Singh Aulakh, said more and more people were approaching the police to pull them out of this vicious circle. He said they all would be admitted to the de-addiction centre at the GMC.

He said if there was a need, they would spend from their own pockets to treat these youths at the centre.

The BSF too has been holding camps to de-addict youth in the border villages for the last few months and de-addicted around 100 youths. It had launched the drive in October last year.

Amritsar, June 1
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed an insurance company to pay Rs 90,000 to a local resident whose claim was denied earlier on the reason that the treatment, which he had undergone for correction of eye-sight was not covered under the policy.

Earlier, Amitpal Singh, a local resident had filed a complaint against National Insurance Company stating that he had purchased an insurance policy and during its running period, he suffered from pellucid marginal degeneration (corneal degeneration) in both the eyes.

He stated that he was advised scleral lenses, which is treatment of the aforesaid eye disease and was referred to Hyderabad for treatmentwhere he spent Rs 90,000.

He said his medical expenses claim was denied on the ground that the treatment was not covered under the policy as the amount had been spent for correction of eye sight.

He stated that that he had not gone for correction of his eye sight but for the treatment of the eye disease.

The company in its reply stated that as per the conditions of the policy, surgery for correction of eye sight, cost of spectacles, contact lenses, hearing aids etc were not covered under the policy.

The company stated that scleral lenses were a type of contact lenses, which are usually used for curing visual deterioration of the patient concerned.

The forum observed that the insurance company could not produce any literature or terminology to prove their version that scleral lens was a type of contact lens and is used for curing visual deterioration only and not for treatment of eye disease. It also ordered the company to pay Rs 2,000 as litigation expenses.