Amritsar, June 25
The Amritsar Central Jail authorities have submitted a complaint with the Cantonment police to initiate legal action against the inmates who had indulged in yesterday’s fierce group clash leaving two among them injured.

One of the prisoners, Amit Kumar, who was taken to PGI, Chandigarh, received serious head injuries and is recuperating.

Amit was referred to the PGI, Chandigarh, as he had developed blood clotting in his head after he was hit by a brick. The Civil Hospital, Amritsar, lacked adequate neuro cure.

Rubbishing media reports about the death of this inmate, Jail Superintendent RK Sharma, who was at Chandigarh, said, “I was on an official visit to Chandigarh and had gone to see Amit. The requisite treatment was not available with the Amritsar hospital. That’s why he was brought here, but is now on his way to recovery,” he said.

Meanwhile, the other injured inmate, Hukum Singh, has been shifted to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital. He, too, is under treatment but out of danger.

A group of inmates clashed inside the jail premises and attacked each other with bricks over a petty issue.

It has been learnt that the police has received the complaint submitted by Superintendent Sharma. The legal course of action will be initiated soon. According to sources, the police is in the process of registering an FIR against jail inmates, Jatinder Singh, Gurjeet Singh, Shankar and at least six other prisoners, who clashed on the jail premises yesterday.

Deputy Superintendent, Jail, Balkar Singh Bhullar, who had enquired into the whole instance, confirmed that the complaint had been submitted with the Cantonment police station.

SHO, Cantonment police station, Gurvinder Singh, said that as of now no case had been registered in the matter. “We have to scrutinise the jail officials’ report and identify the main culprits before registering an FIR against them,” he said.

Amritsar, June 25
Amritsar Vikas Manch (AVM) turned down the felicitation offered by Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora, putting him in an embarrassing position as office-bearers of the AVM demanded a clean and green holy city.

It is inferred as another specimen of the dipping popularity of the ruling establishment after a drubbing in the general election in the city.

AVM president Principal Kulwant Singh Ankhi said he refused to accept the prize during a programme at Virsa Vihar last night. He said despite tall promises, the ruling establishment failed to provide a clean city to its residents and lakhs of pilgrims visiting it daily to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple.

He said city roads especially inside the Walled city are littered with refuse and garbage, sending a wrong message to tourists.

He stated that the city was generating roughly about 700 tonnes of garbage daily and dumped it at the Bhagtanwala dump, which has reached its saturation point. He said after remaining for about seven years in power, the coalition government had not introduced any alternative plan of managing the waste.

Indeed it is shocking that hundreds of trees are being axed to introduce the BRTS project, also known as the metro bus project. He said mindless chopping of trees came to light when members of the AVM visited the proposed route of the BRTS.

He said it was only a few months ago that the city bus service was launched in the city. Instead of providing an ample number of buses on the city roads and removing encroachments to smoothen operations, the government hopped on to another costly BRTS project.

AVM members Lakhbir Singh Ghumna and Gurmeet Singh Bhatti expressed concern over the civic body’s failure in preventing the rise in the numbers of stray dogs. They said people avoid visiting many areas of the city in the evening.

They said the WHO placed the district at the 14th spot in the list of the most polluted cities in the world, but the Amirtsar Municipal Corporation did not utter any word or unveiled any plan to improve the city’s stature.

Keeping all these factors in mind, there was a great need to increase the city’s green cover.

Amritsar, June 25
Around eight persons were injured in a clash that erupted between a farmer’s family and labourers in Sarangra village here today. The injured were rushed to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital. However, none of them sustained any major injury.

A raise in the wages was the basic cause behind the dispute. The police have booked 13 persons belonging to the farmer’s family while no arrest has been made so far.

According to information, workers of a labourer organisation were holding a meeting at a village gurdwara over the issue of raising the wages for sowing paddy. During the meeting, the workers observed some labourers working in the fields of Kashmir Singh. Members of the union went to the labourers and invited them to join the meeting at the gurdwara.

However, this enraged Kashmir Singh and led to a verbal duel which soon took an ugly turn and resulted in the clash. The two groups allegedly used sharp-edged weapons and indulged in pelting each other with stones.

Sikander Singh, SHO, Lopoke police station, said that Kashmir Singh’s son, Bikram Singh, took out a rifle and allegedly fired in the air. Gurbax Singh, a local resident, said the accused fired at them with an intention to murder.

Kashmir Singh, on the other hand, pleaded that only wages agreed upon in the village panchayat would be applicable. He said the village panchayat had agreed to give Rs 1,700 as wages for sowing paddy. But the opposite group said that they were not involved in fixing the wages and demanded higher wages.

The police have registered a case under Sections 323, 324, 336, IPC, and 25,54 and 59 of the Arms Act against 13 persons, including Kashmir Singh. Among others who were booked include Birkam Singh, Gopi, Gulab Singh, Sitara Singh, Paltu, Bikka, Sodhi, Jassa, Shamsher, Raja, Gurbhej and Gurlal, all residents of same village. No arrest has been made so far as the accused had fled from their houses.

Amritsar, June 25
The CCTV cameras installed in the Golden Temple complex are proving to be a boon with a number of thieves held by the SGPC task force who were later handed over to the police.

In a recent instance, the Kotwali police arrested a woman involved in stealing belongings and valuables of devotees from across the country who came to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple. The woman, identified as Gulshan, alias Babli, is a resident of the Sultanwind road area. The police recovered 11 purses, 10 mobile phones and two cameras from her possession while a case under Sections 379 and 411, IPC, has been registered against her.

Sarabjit Singh, SHO, Kotwali police station, said that the police received a tip-off that certain devotees were robbed by a woman who became friendly with them on the pretext of helping them in visiting various areas of the shrine. Gulshan used to befriend the victims, especially the old-aged or devotees from outside Punjab. She assured them of looking after their belongings while they were away for taking the holy bath. By the time they returned, she would have fled from the spot.

Following complaints, the SGPC task force and a police team went through the CCTV camera footage and zeroed in on Gulshan and arrested her. During interrogations, she revealed that she had been in the business for the past three months.

On June 14, the police had arrested two women, Sujit Kaur and Manju of Rajasthan, on similar charges after a local resident complained that the accused picked her purse containing Rs 4,500 in cash and other important documents. 

Amritsar, June 25
A Class IX student was allegedly stalked and molested by a local youth who has been booked by the Kotwali police on charges of outraging the girl’s modesty.

The 15-year-old stated to the police that her father was a tea vendor near the railway station on the Gol Bagh side. She alleged that the accused, Ram Kumar of the Haripura area, used to stalk and mentally harass her on her way to the school located in the Dhab Khatika area or whenever she used to go to her father’s shop. She alleged that the accused had proposed to her but she always ignored his advances. She alleged that the accused even threatened to throw acid on her face if she resisted him to marry her. On June 17, the accused entered her home and clashed with her father.

Sarabjit Singh, SHO, Kotwali police, said that following the complaint, a case under Section 354 (using criminal force to a woman with an intent to outrage her modesty), 341 (wrongful restraining), 506, 509, IPC, and Sections 11 and 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence Act 2012. He said earlier, too, the accused had restrained her wrongfully on her way. However, he was let off after he apologised. He said the accused was at large and raids were being conducted to arrest him.

Amritsar, June 25
Even as the Health Department has strongly recommended the cancellation of the licence of New Hope Rehabilitation and Counselling Centre, located on Bhai Manjh Road here, the health officials who had earlier visited the centre and overlooked the irregularities at the centre are likely to go scot-free.

The officials failed to give an actual picture of the centre owned by PS Sandhu to their higher-ups due to which the centre continued to run without catching the eye of the law.

A joint team of the Health Department and the police rescued around 32 youths stuffed in two rooms and living in inhuman conditions. The drug addicts rescued from the centre told horrendous tales of physical torture and lack of qualified staff at the centre.

It was found that the centre had a licence for rehabilitation and counselling drug addicts after detoxification. However, the centre owner was admitting drug addicts directly against the norm while it lacked qualified staff, including an MBBS doctor specialising in drug de-addiction, a psychiatrist, a counsellor, a physiotherapist and a pharmacist, etc. The drug addicts were bundled into two rooms with a shabby kitchen and a solitary toilet.

According to the norms, a team of health officials visits private de-addiction centres from time to time to see the prevailing conditions at the centre and give their report to the Director, Health Services. The sources in the department said the health teams used to visit the centre, but they did not point out the deficiencies for the reasons best known to them.

Ironically, the same centre was raided by the district administration in 2011. At that time, it had rescued around 30 inmates. Similar pathetic conditions were prevailing at that time also. The police had lodged a criminal case against its owner, Sandhu, at that time also. But how he managed to continue his business as usual without caching the eye of the law poses a serious question.

Dr Rajeev Bhalla, Civil Surgeon, said he could not comment on what happed earlier. “I can only say that nobody will be spared if found indulging in any illegal activity,” he said.

Amritsar, June 25
The EcoAmritsar is keeping the young in the city involved in the eco-conservation activities and utilising their enegy for propagating the same. The activities of the club have successfully conveyed the message of conservation among the residents on the third consecutive day of the Amritsar Foundation Day.

The day started with a massive cleanliness drive covering five important religious places of the city. The starting ground was Durgiana Temple complex. Several volunteers and students participated in the drive, which moved across Guru Ravi Dass Mandir, Christ Cathedral Church, Khairuddin Mosque and culminated at Santokh Sar Gurdwara. Despite the rain gods playing a spoilsport, the volunteers were joined by Baba Kulwant Singh Ajnala Jatha and members of the Voice of Amritsar.

The head priests at all the religious places applauded the efforts of the young. The management of the Christ Church asked for another meeting post the Amritsar Foundation Day for scaling up the programme.

Gunbir Singh, Chairman of the EcoAmritsar, said, “The effort is to involve all faiths in the cleanliness and green drive of the holy city. All faiths must motivate their followers to maintain sanitation and green spaces in their surroundings. This is the only way a community movement for the entire city can start. We host over 25 million pilgrims each year. Faiths can make this happen, and we beseech each one of them to take a proactive role for Amritsar.”

Students of Bhawan’s SL School and GHPS, Majitha Road, held environmental awareness activity through ‘flashmobs’ at Company Bagh, Novelty Chowk, Town Hall, Alfa Mall, Celebration Mall, and Trillium Mall with in the gap of an hour. Children sang Satyamev Jayateh jingle which pleased the crowds. “We have been given special permission by the Aamir Khan’s foundation for EcoAmritsar to use their song for cleaning up programmes,” said Tarundeep Singh, project administrator, EcoAmritsar.

Amritsar, June 25
The Aided-School Teachers and other Employees Union, Punjab, renewed their demand of merger of the staff of aided schools with the Education Department. Union president Gurcharan Singh Chahal said a delegation met Education Minister, Dr Daljit Singh Cheema, yesterday and apprised him of their demands.

The union has been demanding merger from the last two and half years. He said the union had earlier called off its agitations in return of assurance. The rally in Mohali on March 25 last year was called off after the then Principal Secretary Gurkirat Kirpal Singh assured that a meeting with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal would be arranged over their demand, said Chahal.

“Second time when the union held a rally at Chandigarh on December 20 last year, the then DPI Darshan Kaur once again assured that a meeting of the union over their demand for merger with government schools will be held soon,” added Chahal

He said the government was insincere towards the plight, social welfare and demand of private aided- school teachers, adding that neighbouring states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan had already merged aided-school teachers with government schools as it was in favour of the government. However, the SAD-BJP coalition government in the state was not following the move, he resented.

As per the aided-school teachers the merger of aided schools was almost a win-win situation for the government as it would get 4,300 trained teachers at the cost of Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,500 per head as this is the share of 5 per cent, which the government would bear for merger. The state government was already footing 95 per cent of the salary expenses of these schools.

Ajay Chauhan, spokesperson of the union, said the employees of these schools were in depressive condition due to the uncertainty over their future. Many a time internal clashes of the managements also cast uncertainty over their jobs.

He demanded that under the Fifth Pay Commission the aided-school staff must be released medical, house rent, promotion after four, nine and 14 years. Free bicycles to girl students under the Mai Bhago scheme, infrastructure development under the Sarb Sikhya Abhiyan and other benefits, should also be given, added Chauhan.

Amritsar, June 25
Conceding to the demand of the Christian community , Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today agreed to allot 1,695 square yard for the construction of Massih Bhawan in Amritsar. The state government had already released Rs 25 lakh for the construction of the bhavan.

Confirming the development, the Minority Commission Chairman, Munawar Massih, said as a goodwill gesture towards the Muslim and the Christian brethren, the CM had also directed the Finance Department to make regular budgetary provision in the state’s annual budget for the purchase of land for the cemeteries and burial grounds.These decisions were taken by the CM in a meeting with the delegation of the Minority Commission yesterday. Others present on the occasion included Cabinet Minister Anil Joshi, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Som Parkash, Financial Commissioner (home) Jagpal Singh, Secretary Housing and Urban Development A Venuprasad and GMADA Chief Administrator AK Sinha.

Massih said the CM had also ordered the Gurdaspur DC to hand over the possession of under construction building of Massih Bhawan to society. “A grant of Rs 10 lakh for the completion of construction works of the said project has also been announced and will be released at the earliest,” he said.

Responding to another demand for the formation of peace committees at the district level across the state, the CM directed the Financial Commissioner to initiate steps in this regard. The list of members to be nominated for these committees had already been sent to the ADGP (Crime).

“We have also been assured that our demand for the construction of toilets for the below poverty line strata of the Christian and the Muslim communities will soon be met,” said Munawar Massih.

Amritsar, June 25
Modernisation is bringing sweeping changes in the people’s lifestyle. Its manifestations are galore. One of its signs is visible from the fact that the number of ‘datun’ (herbal teeth cleaner) sellers is on the decline.

Dhyan Singh is perhaps the only ‘datun’ seller left in the city. There was a time when datun sellers could be seen in different areas of the city. These herbal teeth cleaners are generally sourced from trees of ‘Neem’ and ‘Kikkar’. Available in plenty in villages, datuns are simple branches of trees.

Enterprising people made selling datun a vocation as they travelled to nearby villages to locate trees and prepare datuns with their tools to present these in a standard size.

Some years back, vendors selling datuns under shimmering light in the evening at main intersections of the city was a common sight.

The only surviving datum seller, Dhyan Singh (62), can be spotted with his stock at the famous Puttalighar crossing. Proudly displaying his teeth, he commented, “I never use toothpaste and all my teeth are intact.” He blames cash-rich multinational companies for influencing the psychology of the people with myriad advertisements.

He claims that he had been selling herbal tooth cleaners for the past over 50 years. “I brought up my family of six by selling datuns.” He inherited the vocation from his father, Jagga Singh, who also used to sell datuns at various market places in the city.

Dhyan entered the vocation when he was 10-year-old. He recalls that he used to cut branches off the trees along the canal to prepare datuns.

He said there has been a drastic change in habits of the people since the arrival of satellite channels. “People are in a hurry to finish off their work. In such a scenario toothpaste and brush come handy,” he added.

Keeping in view the decline in sale, Dhyan’s next generation did not opt for the profession. His three sons earn their living by whitewashing buildings and his fourth son plies an auto-rickshaw in the city.

A resident of Mahal village, situated on the outskirt of the city, Dhyan Singh said, “It is now difficult to locate Kikkar trees around the city. I travel all the way to canals, near the international border with Pakistan, to axe branches”.

Amritsar, June 25
Activists of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC), led by Mandeep Singh Manna, staged a protest march against the Union and the state governments for their alleged anti-people policies outside the Hall Gate today. The protest march started from Amritsar East and a rally was held outside the Hall Gate. Manna said the protest was an endeavour to remind the ruling SAD and BJP parties of their promises made to the electorate prior to the election.

Agitating Congress workers stopped the vehicular traffic outside the Hall Gate and burnt the effigy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He said the Akali BJP leaders had assured people to bring back the unaccounted wealth of the country stashed in foreign banks, to bring Dawood Ibrahim to books, to turn Amritsar into a world-class city, to increase bilateral trade with Pakistan through Attari border and others. He said the coalition had also promised to curb the smuggling of contraband from across the international border with Pakistan.

Manna said the BJP promised to bring down inflation, but it was now increasing rates of every commodity one by one. He said first it hiked rail fares and freight, then sugar and now it is in the process of increasing the LPG price. Later, the Congress workers went to the Deputy Commissioner’s office and submitted a memorandum.

Amritsar, June 25
The auctioning of parking stand at Deen Dyal Upadhaya Market and Chattiwind scheduled at the Town Hall premises was cancelled today. The number of bidders, who took part in the auction, was negligible because of the exorbitant base price reserved by the Municipal Corporation (MC) for these parking lots.

The MC has kept Rs 20 lakh as minimum price for Deen Dyal Upadhaya Market parking lot whereas Rs 11.55 lakh was for Chattiwind parking.

As many as 17 bidders had deposited the requisite security amount prior to auctioning as per the norms, but they were dejected after knowing the high reserve price. “Earlier, the minimum price for Deen Dyal parking was Rs 12 lakh. But this time, it was escalated by Rs 8 lakh, which was not feasible,” said an aspirant bidder.

An official said the process could not be completed as no bidder could meet the basic price criteria, hence it stood cancelled. The next date would be announced soon, he added. Tomorrow, the MC has scheduled auction for parking lots located at the Town Hall Complex and Gol Bagh area.

The officials, who were present at the auction, included civil wing SE PK Goyal, councillor Rajesh Honey, deputy controller (finance and accounts) Manu Sharma, superintendents Anil Arora and Veena Kumari.

Amritsar, June 25
A 21-day refresher course in health and life sciences concluded at the Academic Staff College of Guru Nanak Dev University here today. Prof Ajit Verma, Director General, Amity Institute of Microbial Technology, Amity University, Uttar Pradesh, was the chief guest at the valedictory session.

Prof Verma in his address, asked the faculty members to focus on research and teaching in their respective disciplines. Enumerating the basic ingredients of an efficient teacher, he emphasised that a teacher must imbibe values like dedication, devotion, integrity, impeccability in order to become a role model for the students and society at large.

“While pursuing research, one should be fearless, confident and take healthy criticism in stride,” he underlined. The course coordinator, Prof Daljit Singh Arora, from the Department of Microbiology, outlined the contents of the course in brief.

He also enlisted the names of renowned academicians, experts, scientists, who interacted with the participants during the course. “Although the course has reached its logical conclusion, the real voyage for the participants has actually commenced now,” said Prof Daljit.

Earlier, Prof Avinash Kaur Nagpal, Prof Daljit Singh Arora and Prof AJS Bhanwer, Dean faculty of the Life Sciences welcomed the chief guest. Prof Avinash Nagpal, director, Academic Staff College, termed the teachers as an epitome of knowledge and exhorted them to continuously broaden their horizon. She expressed hope that teachers must have augmented their knowledge during the course.

Amritsar, June 25
The Union government has given a go ahead to Punjab government to replace the present Temporary Perishable Cargo Centre with a permanent cargo centre at Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport in the city. The current operations at the centre have been severely affected as exporters of perishable cargo have shifted to Delhi Airport after direct flights to London were stopped from Amritsar.

The export of baby corns, snow peas, sugar snap, okra and other vegetables from Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to Europe has been handled by Temporary Perishable Cargo Centre, which started functioning in July 2006.

Officials of the Council for Value Added Horticulture (CVAH), operating the temporary cargo centre, said the export from the centre was negligible as only a few consignments were dispatched in a month. Built with an investment of Rs 2 crore and spread over 6,500 square metres, the entire work of the cargo centre is handled manually. It consumes more than three hours in loading, unloading, scanning, customs clearance and transporting goods to cold storages. There is a risk of perishables getting spoilt in the process.

The temporary cargo centre is equipped to maintain temperatures from two to 10°C in its six chambers, including four for the storage. The centre has two X-ray machines and six employees to run its affairs. However, its entire infrastructure is lying under utilised for want of direct flight to London, which was the main export centre for the exporters.

Meanwhile, setting up of the state-of-the-art permanent cargo complex will transform the manual system into an automatic and digital system with bar codes on the cargo boxes that will be read by computerised scanners and the required information will be passed on to the customs staff.

With a proposed capacity of 200 tonnes per day, the Permanent Perishable Cargo Centre was to come up next to the Air Cargo Complex. Its present capacity of handling 80 tonnes of fresh produce every day will double with the establishment of the new centre.

Sarbjit Singh,an exporter of fresh vegetables, said the exporters did not have any alternative, but to go to Delhi, which hiked their input cost and made their produce economically unviable to compete in the highly competitive international market.

He pointed out that it takes eight hours or more to carry goods by road to Delhi, where cargo trucks cope with traffic snarls and face entry restrictions during the day. He urged the government to start the London flight as soon as possible.

He said despite the Amritsar airport boasting off state-of-the-art infrastructure and strategically being close to Central Asia, its potential remained unutilised.