Amritsar, June 15
AAP leader and senior advocate of Supreme Court HS Phoolka has sought the intervention of Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh to impress upon Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to take back his demand for the appointment of the commission of inquiry (COI) into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

After handing over a memorandum at the Akal Takht secretariat today, Phoolka while addressing media persons said, "The Akali Dal's demand for another commission of inquiry was not proper." He suggested that it must be replaced with SIT.

He elaborated that COIs took years to complete and constitutionally were not vested with any powers to initiate punitive actions against the guilty. While citing the instances of famous COIs, he said, "The Nanavati Commission took five years to submit report in the anti-Sikh riots while Gujarat Riots Commission is continuing with its inquiry for the past 12 years." He said demand of another inquiry would further delay the issue for many years and weaken the case.

On the other hand, SIT is empowered to file charge sheet after completing its investigation. Besides, he said, SIT and the COI can work simultaneously over a case. Giving the example of Gujarat, he said the COI and SIT have been working there simultaneously. He said majority of the accused convicted there were investigated by the SIT.

While answering a query, he said two inferences could be made out of the move of CM Badal for seeking the COI. Firstly, it was done out of ignorance and another to intentionally delay for some vested reasons. However, he added that this would be apparent within some days.

In the memorandum to the Akal Takht Jathedar, Phoolka requested his intervention for appointment of SIT to reopen 237 cases of the 1984 anti-sikh riots and immediate action in missing charge sheet case.

He also reminded the Jathedar that following his direction Nirprit Kaur had ended her indefinite fast and had declared that now Akal Takht would pursue these demands in May 2013.

Phoolka requested Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh that since now the NDA government was in power therefore he must use his good offices to direct the Akali Dal to get these demand accepted.

He said the anti-sikh riots did not concern only Sikh community but were also related to the humanity at large as many Hindus were also killed while saving Sikh families.

Amritsar, June 15
The Civil Lines police have identified the two more youths allegedly involved in snatching incident that occurred near the Joshi Colony area here yesterday evening.

The alert public had caught one of their accomplices identified as Sunil Kumar, a resident of Godam Mohalla, while they were escaping from the spot after snatching the gold chain and mobile of the local resident. He was later handed over to the police and a case under Section 382 of the IPC was registered against three culprits.

Priya along with her husband Ram Puri, residents of Medical Enclave, were going to the Lawrence Road area when the incident took place. Ram Puri told the police that the three motorcycle-borne accused pushed them and snatched the gold chain and a mobile phone from his wife Priya. He said while escaping Sunil fell down who was later nabbed by the onlookers. He was later handed over to the Lawrence Road police.

A high drama was witnessed when the police held two more youths suspecting them to be the accomplices of the Sunil. The confusion occurred when the victim mistook them as their companions as they had covered their faces with a cloth. When the police team was arresting the two youths, Sunil managed to dodge the police and escaped from the chowki. He was chased and again arrested by the police. The other two youths, who arrested mistakenly, were later let off after preliminary probe.

Investigating officer Parveen Kumar said his two accomplices were Nikhil Kumar of near Aanum Cinema and Hira. He said raids were being conducted to nab the absconders.

Amritsar, June 15
Senior Congress leaders and legislators today questioned the Local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi for allegedly spreading disinformation campaign over newly elected MP from here Capt Amarinder Singh.

Joshi had reportedly remarked about Capt Amarinder Singh's absence from holy city.

Retorting over it, the Congress leaders asked why had the Union Finance and Defence Minister Arun Jaitely, who unsuccessfully contested Lok Sabha seat from Amritsar, could not spare time to visit the city for over a month after becoming the minister.

In a joint statement, OP Soni, Raj Kumar Verka, Sukh Sarkaria, Tarsem DC, Lali Majithia, Harpartap Ajnala, Jasbir Singh Dimpa, Karamdeep Singh Rintu, Sunil Datti and the urban and rural district presidents Rajiv Bhagat and Gurjeet Aujla lashed out at Joshi for spreading undue remarks by saying that Capt Amarinder Singh had not visited the city after getting elected from here.

The leaders pointed out that Capt Amarinder, unlike Jaitely did not go anywhere.

"He (Capt Amarinder) remained here even on the day of counting and after the results were declared he had thanked the people of Amritsar and paid obeisance at Darbar Sahib and Durgiana Mandir before leaving for Delhi to join the Parliament," they pointed out, while asking, "let Joshi tell us when was Jaitely last seen in or around Amritsar".

However, they added, they did not want to seek cheap publicity like Joshi as they knew Jaitely holding two important portfolios of finance and defence could be busy.

Similarly, they said that Capt Amarinder was the deputy leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha and was busy there.

"Capt Amarinder does not owe any explanation to people like Joshi who stands dejected and rejected by the people of Amritsar. Joshi's frustration is understandable as he was under deep stress over his defeat and the possible removal from the cabinet and hence was resorting to such meaningless talk," they said. 

Amritsar, June 15
Even as Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal had announced to have solid waste management wings to expedite the process of garbage processing, the authorities here could not reach any logical conclusion during the recent meeting of F&CC (Finance and Control Committee) scheduled to finalise the plan of establishing the municipal solid waste management plant in Amritsar.

Consequently, this much sought-after project will see a further delay as it was unanimously decided to invite fresh bidders and restart it from scratch. The reason being that the negotiations with the firms, who had quoted exorbitant rates in response to the MC’s tender notice in December 2013, could not materialise.

Amritsar, June 15
In a letter to the prime minister, the senior BJP leader and former cabinet minister, Laxmi Kanta Chawla, has asked him to withdraw the free electricity supply benefit to the members of the parliament.

Laxmi Kanta Chawla said an MP gets 50,000 units of electricity free of cost as they don't pay a single penny for it. The BJP leader said, "If a poor man with no means is given something free it could be understood. All the MPs are well-to-do so they can easily pay for the electricity consumption." Chawla has requested Narendra Modi to change the norms for free electricity to MPs as it would be welcomed by the larger sections of the society. While congratulating Modi for the making government at the Centre she said that she was sure that government would live up to the expectations of the masses. She said that withdrawal of benefit to MPs would further strengthen BJPs base among the masses.

Amritsar,June 15
Akal Purakh Ki Fauj (APKF) felicitated its students on the conclusion of the 10-day ‘Sirjana 
Gurmat’ summer camp here today.

The candidates took oath to be proud of being Sikhs, never to consume any drug, never to waste food and would try to deliver to those who are in need and work to secure the water and the Earth.

Former Akal Takht Jathedar, Prof Manjeet Singh, addressing the candidates stated that it was necessary for Sikh students to attain knowledge of the Gurmat, apart from their academics and modern technology. He appreciated the APKF to keep abreast the contemporary modern youth with the Sikh history, philosophy and religious ethos.

APKF Director Jaswinder Singh said, the organisation held summer camps at various cities of the state and 85 of these were organised in Amritsar only. He said these candidates were taught the Gurmat way of life and made aware of the social evils.

He said the APKF also teach Sikh youth to wear turban, play Sikh martial art Gatka, Gurbani recitation, and other aspects of the religion. He recalled that these camps were introduced about 12 years ago.

He said the brilliant candidates out of these camps would be permitted to take part in the Sirjana Camp to be held at Anandpur Sahib.

Among others members of the APKF, Jaswinder Singh Jassi, Barinder Singh, Kuljeet Singh and Amarjit Singh Bhatia were also present on the occasion. 

Amritsar, June 15
Sparing a thought over reducing the electricity consumption by city hotels and restaurants, the Amritsar Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHARA) is holding discussion with power companies to replace the conventional tube lights, fluorescent and now the CFLs even to the LED.

AHARA president APS Chatha said collectively it would save scores of energy and may bring down the energy bill of these commercial establishments.

A survey by the Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board (PHTPB) made public in early 2013 brought out that the number of hotel rooms in the holy city crossed 4,000 in the past five years. Its before, the number of rooms in the hospitality sector was not more than 2,600 in 2008.

At present, there are over 240 units to accommodate tourists, including 198 hotels besides serais (inn), dharamshala, rest houses and guest houses. The Board felt that the city needed more number of rooms in the budget category hotels to accommodate the rush of pilgrims which is growing.

"Of late, there has been an increase in the number of hotels, especially in luxury segments. These luxury buildings are consumers of high source of energy and their combined shifting to the LED lights would drastically reduce the power consumption," said Piyush Kapoor, general secretary of AHARA.

He said the local hospitality industry was already battling low occupancy and the high taxes were eating out its profit. He said high occupancy in hotels on festival days doesn't occur more than limited days of a year. He rued that number of visitors staying overnight was not catching up with the pace of addition of rooms.

He said the industry was already paying annual conservancy tax, which was decided on the basis area of hotel, property tax and trade license fee paid to the MC. Besides, service tax was paid to the Union government, VAT and luxury taxes were being paid to the state government, he added.

He felt that in this scenario, it was imperative for the hotels and restaurants to look for steps to reduce its maintainance cost to be more affordable.

He said it was high time on the part of the government to throw open restoration projects like Qila Gobindgarh and Heritage Village at the Guru Nanak Dev University to prolong the stay of tourists in Amritsar.

Amritsar, June 15
Post the success of Sadda Haq, producer-writer-actor Kuljinder Sindhu has come up quite confident of his latest production Yoddha-the warrior. The upcoming film focuses on action, like Sadda Haq, but comes free of any controversy.

"Sadda Haq was a realistic film, and we had to fight for it. Yoddha, too is inspired by true events, story of a guy fighting for his rights against evil," explained Kuljinder.

In city to promote the film and shoot for a song, the star cast of Yoddha, actor Rahul Dev, Girija Shankar and kuljinder Sidhu along with director Mandeep Benipal interacted with media.

Yoddha is an out-an-out action film with drama, and stars Southern siren Unnati along with Kuljinder Sidhu. "It is inspired by the contemprory events and highlights the struggle of a common man against social evils and injustice," added Sidhu. Emphasizing that Yoddha is made on a larger canvas than Sadda Haq, Sidhu said, " Sadda Haq was risk we took, and it worked. Yoddha is a confident production, with a formidable star cast and production team comprising of Bollywood names. The action sequences have been directed by the action director of Jai Ho and we will be shooting an item song near Amritsar featuring Rahul Dev."

Yoddha will see Rahul Dev play the bad guy. Dev has become quite a popular name in Punjabi cinema.

Amritsar, June 15
A number of students of Global Institutes secured merit positions in the examinations conducted by the Punjab Technical University (PTU).

Aanchal Madaan (MCA, 3rd semester), bagged the first position in the university. Hemant Arora (ECE, 5th semester), and Ravinder Kaur (ECE, 5th semester), were declared second. Sapinderjit Kaur (IT, 5th semester), secured the fourth position while Preeti Kumari (IT, 7th semester), got the fourth position.

Vikas Bakshi (ECE, seventh semester), got the fifth position. Sandeep Kaur (IT, 5th semester) bagged the fifth position. Tania Bhalla (IT, 3rd semester), secured the fifth position. Annie Ahuja (MCA, 5th semester),bagged the fifth position.Shaila Shafi (CSE,third semester), bagged the seventh position. Chailpreet Kaur (IT, 3rd semester), bagged the seventh position. Aashima Arora (MBA, 1st semester), got the seventh position. Ambica Sood (IT, 5th semester), bagged the ninth position. Nandini Kumari(MCA, 1st semester), and Priyanka Handa(MCA, 1st semester), secured ninth positions respectively. Sukhman Kaur (MBA, 1st semester), bagged the tenth position and Rajwinder Kaur (MCA, 1st semester) got the tenth position in the university.

Amritsar, June 15
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed Jet Airways to refund the amount of a ticket to a local resident who could catch his flight from Delhi to America due to the delay in his previous flight from Amritsar to Delhi.

The forum has also directed Jet Airways to pay Rs 25,000 as compensation and Rs 2,000 as litigation expenses to the complainant.

Earlier, Dalwinder Singh, a resident of Ajnala Road, had filed a complaint against Jet Airways stating that he had to travel from Amritsar to America via Delhi on May 30. He said he could not catch his flight from Delhi to Los Angeles as the flight from Amritsar to Delhi was delayed.

The complainant stated that Jet Airways did not pay any heed to his requests for cancellation of the ticket as it was impossible for him to reach Delhi in time. The airline company in its reply stated that the complainant was sent an SMS in advance but he didn’t take notice of it.

The airways stated that as the ticket was booked through an agent, the complainant could get the refund from the opposite party through that agent only as he is in a position to process refund from the airways.

The forum observed that as the complainant failed to board the international flight from Delhi to Los Angeles due to delay in the flight of Jet Airways from Amritsar to Delhi, the airways is liable to refund the amount of the ticket.

Amritsar, June 15
The Chheharta police held nine persons and recovered Rs 2.50 lakh from them.

Those have been arrested are Sanjay Kumar, Manjinder singh, Gurmeet Singh, Harinderpal Singh, Chetan Pal, Sandeep Singh, Mohinder Singh, Raj Kumar and Lalit Mohan.

A case under Section 13/3/67 of the Gambling Act has been registered against them.They were released on bail.

The police said they had the information that gambling was going on in a house in Bhalla Colony. The police raided the house owned by Lalit Mohan.

Amritsar, June 15
The Amritsar jail authorities have recovered 20-gm heroin from an undertrial.

The accused has been identified as Gurinder Pal Singh, son of Amrik Singh, a resident of Jania village.

Superintendent RK Sharma said the accused was in the jail in connection with a case registered against him under the NDPS Act.

“The heroin was recovered by the jail staff during a routine checking on Friday. A case under Sections 21, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act and 42 of the Prisoner Act was registered against him with the cantonment police station,” he said.

Amritsar, June 15
Inderjit Singh, a resident of Chheharta, died in a road mishap today. He was run over by a truck in Bhagtanwala today.

Bir Singh, a friend of the deceased, told the police that he, along with inderjit, had gone to the Bhagtanwala grain market for the procurement of wheat when a rashly-driven truck hit him from behind. He died on the spot. The driver fled from the spot, leaving the truck behind.

A case under Sections 304-A and 279 of the IPC has been registered at the Gate Hakima police station. —TNS

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