Amritsar, June 24
A verbal spat over a petty issue between two prisoners once again took an ugly turn inside the Amritsar Central Jail, when supporters from both sides joined in and pelted each other with bricks.

One of the prisoners, Amit Kumar, who received serious head injuries in the clash had to be referred to PGI, Chandigarh, after doctors at the Civil Hospital found his condition serious.

Another inmate, Hukum Singh, too, received minor injuries but he was treated at the jail hospital only.

The jail authorities were in the process of getting an FIR registered against Jatinder Singh, Gurjeet Singh and at least six other prisoners who indulged in the clash.

It is learnt that Jatinder and Gurjeet had entered into a verbal duel with Amit and his fellow inmate, Shankar, over tampering of the cable TV connection. Soon, the spat took an ugly turn when others, including Hukum Singh and Ashok Kumar, too, joined the arguments. Later, they picked up bricks and started throwing these at one another.

Jail Superintendent RK Sharma said that Deputy Superintendent Balkar Singh Bhullar had been deputed to enquire into the matter before initiating any legal action against the prisoners.

“A report will be prepared by tomorrow, on the basis of which we will initiate further action, according to law. There could be around 10 inmates involved in the brawl,” he said.

Meanwhile, taking cognisance of the news item published in The Tribune about the group clash that occurred on the jail premises yesterday, the jail authorities have suspended the head warder with immediate effect. Besides, two other warders have been charge-sheeted for being negligent in performing their duties.

According to information, head warder Gurwinder Singh Chahal, was the in charge of the area from where an inmate, Jagpreet Singh, a notorious gangster Ankur Likhari’s supporter, had scaled the nine-foot high wall to reach fellow inmate Narvail Singh with an intention to harm him.

Superintendent Sharma said that after scrutinising the matter, it came to light that three officials should be held responsible for dereliction in performing their duties.

It was the responsibility of Chahal to keep a strict vigil in his area. He was put under suspension with immediate effect. Similarly, the two warders, Surjit Singh and Harjinder Singh, have been charge-sheeted separately for being "inattentive" as they were on duty then. The quantum of punishment for both of them will be decided after scrutinising their roles, said Superintendent Sharma.

Jagpreet had sharpened a spoon in the shape of a blade and attacked Narvail Singh injuring his arms severely. Anticipating a clash between gangs, the jail authorities had already put them up in separate barracks, away from each other, but that was not enough.

Amritsar, June 24
It is mandatory to get pollution under control (PUC) certificate for an automobile vehicle once in six months, but the response of the commuters for the same is lukewarm.

As many as 7.5 lakh vehicles are registered with the District Transport Office (DTO), which has approved 26 pollution check centers (PCC) here in the city.

However, people believe that the number of vehicles coming from outside to the border town is very high as the city of Golden Temple is among the top tourist destinations in the country. Apparently, there is a huge gap between the number of vehicles registered and availability of the PCCs in this border district.

The number of PCCs in comparison to the vehicle population, which is rising fast on the city roads, is quite less. Most of these centres operate from mobile vans, which are in a bad shape.

Consequently, air pollution continues to remain the biggest cause of respiratory diseases among the city residents. The Pollution Control Board (PCB) has admitted that residents are inhaling poor quality air, which is likely to worsen in the coming years. Keeping in view the high density of vehicles per kilometre and expansion of industries, the multi-agency coordination needed to deal with the threat is missing and remains only on the paper only.

As per the rules, vehicles have to comply with the emission norms set by the government. They are being checked regularly by stations authorised by the PCB, but many vehicles don’t follow the norms.

“Airborne suspended particulate matter is an important marker of the air quality. Particulate matter includes organic and inorganic matter, nitrogen compounds, sulphur compounds, polycyclic aromatic, hydrocarbons and several heavy metals. Vehicles, industries and heavy generators are major causes of increase in concentration of the carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxide,” said Prabhdyal Singh Randhawa, an environmentalist.

There has been rapid increase in the number of the people with symptoms of respiratory disease, burning eye and skin allergy as most of them are exposed to smoke and dust for 12 to 16 hours every day. Toxic fumes have a long-term effect on people’s health.

District Transport Officer Rajat Oberoi said there was no limit to approve the PCCs in a district. As per the norms, licences for operating PCCs are given to those persons, who have done a one-year diploma in mechanical engineering. Enough space to run the centre, own automobile vehicle, besides pollution checking equipment with ISI specifications are some other conditions for applying for the licence for operating the PCC. These centers are supposed to photograph a vehicle, including its registration number, to authenticate that it has been checked for the pollution as per rules. 

Amritsar, June 24
The Amritsar police have arrested six persons for possessing proscribed drugs in separate instances. Individual cases under Section 21, 22/61/85 of the NDPS Act have been registered against the culprits during the past 24 hours.

The Chheharta police arrested Gurnam Singh, a resident of Ghanupur Kale and Vikram Singh, a resident of Railway Colony, for possessing 80 gram and 100 gram of intoxicant powder, respectively. The investigating officer, ASI Sukhdev Singh, Chheharta police station, said both the accused were being questioned to reveal their source through which they had procured the drugs.

In another instance, the Sultanwind police arrested three persons. According to ASI Satnam Singh, the police team recovered 100 gram of intoxicant powder from each of the accused identified as Rajbir Singh of Janta Colony and Gurbhej Singh of Lohian village. Besides, 50 gram of intoxicant powder was recovered from Gursahib Singh of Panjwar village.

The E-division police arrested Rajesh Kumar, a resident of Lucknow, with 90 capsules of parvan spas. 

Amritsar, June 24
With a view to create awareness against drug consumption, NRI Affairs Chairman B Purusartha today flagged off a rally against drug addiction in the city.

Before addressing the participants in the rally, he said the state government was making all-out efforts to root out the scourge of addiction from Punjab. Various steps are being taken to deal with the problem. The first among these endeavours is to bring its traders to book. Joint teams of the police and the Health Department were raiding different locations to prevent these unscrupulous traders from continuing with their nefarious trade.

Purusartha said that since the commencement of this campaign, 800 addicts were admitted to de-addiction centres in the region. Besides, de-addiction centres were being scanned to weed out the fake ones.

He said a special campaign had been chalked out to root out drug addiction in the border districts of Amritsar and Tarn Taran. He added that the DDPOs and the BDPOs of Amritsar and Tarn Taran had been directed to compile a list of addicts in the villages falling in their jurisdiction and to de-addict them. He appealed to the NGOs and prominent persons in these villages to help the government agencies in identifying these persons to curb the rampant menace of addiction.

Among others, DIG (Narcotics Cell) Neelabh Kishore was also present.

Amritsar, June 24
Three visitors, including a couple, from Himachal Pradesh have been looted on the streets of the holy city during the past 24 hours.

In the first instance, Rahulgarh, son of Mast Ram of Rot Dak Rehal village, Kangra, had hired an auto-rickshaw for Guru Ram Dass Ji International Airport at around 11 pm from the local bus stand yesterday.

Instead of the airport, the auto-rickshaw driver drove him to a secluded place near Vallah near Verka bypass. He asked him to disembark on some false pretext.

As he got down from the auto, the driver sped away with his belongings which included three bags containing his passport, driving licence, clothes and some important documents.

The investigating officer, ASI Rajinder Singh, said that the accused was still untraceable as the victim could not note down the vehicle number. A case unser Section 379, IPC, with A-Division police station has been registered.

In the second case, a couple from Chimlua village in Simro district, Himachal Pradesh, Rajiv Kumar and his wife, were on their visit to holy city to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple.

The victims stated that four persons intercepted them when they were crossing the Bhandari Bridge on foot last evening. They snatched Rs 50,000 from Rajiv and gold ornaments including mangal sutra, ear-rings, three rings from his wife and vanished from the spot.

Amritsar, June 24
To make the system transparent and public-friendly, the Municipal Town Planning (MTP) Department has introduced an SMS service.

This will enable the applicants, who seek building-clearance certificates, to know about the status of their applications through SMS. The moment their request gets matured, the applicants will be intimated on their mobile phones.

The facility was launched by Local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi. The minister said that this system was being introduced for the first time in Amritsar and the other districts would follow the suit shortly. Belying the general perception of "corrupt" practices in the MTP Department, this new initiative has been taken to transform the image of the department, making it efficient.

Hundreds of applicants approach the department daily to get their building plans sanctioned and they always complain of "massive corruption" prevailing in issuing the NoCs.

One such case was of suspended Municipal Town Planner Des Raj, who had accused a former MC Commissioner and city Mayor of demanding bribery in lieu of passing certain building plans. The case reached the Punjab and Haryana High Court and is still pending.

The matter was raised numerous times in the MC House meeting and the councillors, irrespective of the parties they belonged to, have raised fingers over the functioning of the department and the "corrupt" practices prevailing in connivance with the insiders.

Besides, the role of several ATPs (present and former) and MTPs had also come under the scanner, who were held responsible for letting the illegal commercial establishments around the Golden Temple flourish in their times. This matter, too, has been under the consideration of a high court bench after a Public Interest Litigation petition was filed by a local resident against illegal guest houses, inns and hotels around the Sikh shrine. Several officials were transferred for showing dereliction in performing their duties.

Senior Town Planner Hemant Batra said that this initiative would play a vital role in changing the negative image of the department.

"It is true that the department has been in the news for the wrong reasons, but this time we have revamped the system totally. The idea was to make the working public-friendly. The whole data is being computerised for the purpose. When an applicant approaches us, we feed the property details of every individual in our system. Thereafter, the officials are held accountable for processing the file. The applicants will be intimated at every stage and once their cases get matured, they will be told to collect the requisite documentation from our office," he said.

Amritsar, June 24
Learning by taking an initiative rather than precept, the children of Central Khalsa Orphanage at Bhai Veer Singh Niwas Sthan took part in a nature walk. The walk was a part of the Foundation Day celebrations undertaken by EcoAmritsar in collaboration with the World Wildlife Funds for Nature (WWF). It's the first in the Nature Walk series to initiate the young generation into their environs. The children visited the park surrounding Bhai Veer Singh Hall at Lawrance Road.

The concept of experiential learning for the next generation regarding clean and green environs shall be a focus area for EcoAmritsar for the coming year.

Reliving the legacy of Bhai Veer Singh and his love for nature, and the biodiversity of trees and plants, the nature walk was a live classroom for children and adults alike. Visiting several parks turned into bio-diverse parks through EcoAmritsar volunteers' efforts, children enjoyed the flora and fauna along with a promise to nurture the eco-heritage for times to come. The children committed to planting one tree every year and nurture these for at least two years. Books of the great Punjabi philosophers were distributed amongst the children, as his contributions towards Punjabi culture through his peotry, prose and beliefs were discussed. The walk also had some foriegn visitors, who were a part of the learning experience.

EcoAmritsar Chairman Gunbir Singh, congratulating the children on Amritsar's 437th anniversary, said, "The modern history of the Holy City is intertwined with Bhai Veer Singh ji, who also founded the Central Khalsa Orphanage. While experiencing the legacy of Amritsar, children, as our NextGen, must play a positive and responsible role in the city. Therefore, sensitisation to the natural environment is to be a core commitment during the year for us." He emphasised on the need to connect the next generation to various ecological issues and also plan on a visit to Harike soon.

EcoAmritsar has over the past year converted the bio-diverse gardens into a natural organic model, where no toxic chemicals and fertilisers are being used. Balbir Singh, caretaker of the garden, said, "This concept has yielded awesome results: A three-fold rise in fruit harvest, improved fruit size and elimination of termites from the infected trees." 

Amritsar, June 24
The ongoing summer art camp at the art gallery here held a caricature and cartooning workshop for students and parents at the auditorium. The workshop aimed at developing creative skills and giving first-hand knowledge about the popular art form.

City-based artist George Emanual, known for his humourous cartoons and graffiti art, conducted the workshop. Giving a live demonstration of cartooning, George had an enthusiastic audience with children coming up with instant ideas. "The purpose was to open their young minds to the art of distorting faces but bringing out the best and the witty. We had over 60 audience members, all ready to explore the art form," said George.

He emphasised that the city had very few caricature artists and the need to open avenues was being felt. Many senior artists, too, were in the audience. There are regular classes being devoted to caricature and cartoon-making at the art camp. "We hope that young talent with fresh energy and ideas will change the art scene in the city," said George.

Amritsar, June 24
A student of BBK DAV College for Women, Megha Verma, stood first in BBA (third year) examinations conducted by Guru Nanak Dev University. She was followed by Poonam Seth, who bagged second position in the exams. Gazal Gupta got fifth position in the university and third in Amritsar.

Gurpreet Kaur of BSc (bio technology) final year stood second in the university and Parmeet Kaur of B.Sc (IT) third year stood fifth in the university. Tamana of BCA-III got third position in the university followed by Amandeep Kalsi, Smiley Mahajan and Navneet Kaur, who secured fourth, sixth and 22nd positions, respectively, in the university.

The students expressed their gratitude to the Principal and staff of the college for their achievements. The college has been providing fee concession and scholarships to the meritorious and deserving students to help them achieve their goals. Extra classes were also held for students to improve their academic potential, said Principal Neelam Kamra. She felicitated the students and motivated them to maintain the good performance.

Amritsar, June 24
Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) organised a hiking-cum-trekking camp for boys at the Students’ Holiday Home, Dalhousie. As many as 92 students from 11 affiliated colleges of the university participated in the camp, which was hosted by the Department of Youth Welfare of the university.

Prof MS Hundal was the chief guest at the camp. He emphasised that the nation was grappling with many problems like drug addition, unemployment, and environmental pollution. The need of the hour was to involve youth in eradicating these evils, he added.

Prof Geeta Hundal from Department of Chemistry was the special guest. Principal Mehal Singh, Dr Raminder Kaur, Principal Rakesh Mohan Sharma and Pinki Sharma were also present at the camp.

Dr Jaspal Deol and Gurpreet also presented their views on drug-addiction, youth, health and education. The campers visited Panchpula, Kala Top, Dain Kund, Khajjiar and Dalhousie during the trekking expedition. Students participated in extempore, debate, folk song, poetry recitation and dance events held during the camp. Prof Hundal also gave away the prizes to winners.