Amritsar, September 3
With the local police arresting the Narang hospital owner and another person in connection with a case registered against them for obstructing a medical team from entering Narang hospital and “misbehaving” with the Civil Surgeon, the government health employees ended their protest today.

The private hospital’s owner, Ashwani Narang, and one of his accomplices, Vinay Kumar Bobby, was arrested by the police this afternoon. Later, they were brought to the Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs Civil Hospital, where after issuing them no-injury certificates, the medical fraternity called off its boycott of services related to the Police Department.

The health employees had been protesting for the past week, demanding that the persons accused of “misbehaving” with the Civil Surgeon, Dr Rajiv Bhalla, should be arrested. During the course of their protest, they had boycotted medical services related to the Police Department besides stalling general services for patients.

The police officials had yesterday assured the protesting employees that the accused in the case would be arrested till Friday, after which the latter had resumed services for the general public.

Speaking at a press conference today, Dr Hardeep Singh Ghai, Dr Balwinder Kakkar, Shamsher Singh Kohri, Kishore Kumar Sharma and Rakesh Kumar said that the stalled services were resumed as soon as the arrested persons were issued no-injury certificates.

Kohri said that the police should identify and arrest all accused to take the case to a logical end. Meanwhile, the police officials produced the duo in a local court, which sent them to 14 days’ judicial custody. The police officials said that other persons involved in the incident would be arrested soon. 

Amritsar, September 3
Though the state government is spending crores of rupees on beautification of the historical Ram Bagh, the continuous burning of plant waste and garbage inside the garden shows the indifference of the authorities concerned. Heaps of garbage set on fire at historical garden, belonging to the Maharaja Ranjit Singh era, can be spotted on a regular basis. As a result, the outer wall of the garden has turned black at many places.

The smoke, which emanates from the burning garbage, is a cause of concern for the daily visitors, whose number has gone up recently after the government initiated the beautification project for the garden. The visitors said as the state government was projecting the city as a heritage city, the authorities must not allow burning of garbage as it was against the environmental laws.

They also expressed their displeasure at the scattering of trash inside the garden. The visitors demanded that garbage from the garden should be transported to the designated dumps, instead of burning.

A resident, Balkar Sahota, said, “Most of the people come to have a breath of fresh air. On the contrary, they feel suffocated because of the smoke.” As most of gardens had been revamped, the authorities concerned must work to make the area a pollution-zone, he added.

The visitors demanded that the authorities must pull up employees, who burnt garbage at public places. A senior citizen, Kewal Ram, said, “Smoke is bad for the health of the general public. It also brings bad reputation to such a beautiful place.”

Amritsar, September 3
It’s the wedding season and Punjabis are in for a surprise. The Big Fat 
Punjabi Wedding is under the scanner by People Caucas for Public Cause, an NGO, which has proposed a law against extravagant weddings.

The irrepressible and well-known passion of the Punjabis to blow up huge money on lavish weddings in their families, inviting almost the entire town, might soon dwindle. One tends to think, what’s a Punjabi wedding without overflowing spirits and a grand feast? Exotic dishes like Spanish paella, Tapas, soft-shelled crabs, lobster grills and larger-than-life decorations, live screens and some even having celebrity appearances to up the ‘it’ factor.

However, to ensure that the extravagant Punjabi weddings are scaled down to to “normal” from the “grand”, the PCPC has demanded that a new law should be framed to put a cap on the “wasteful” expenditure on marriage ceremonies. The NGO has initiated a signature campaign, which it will send to all 117 MLAs and finally to the Chief Minister and then the Governor, seeking ‘legislation’ to end the tradition.

“This move is to curb the menace of pompous display of wealth during weddings. It has become an ugly practice, which has increased the stress on the lower strata and families with limited income,” says DS Ratual, secretary of the PCPC. The proposed law will limit the number of guests to 300, allow only two or three dishes in the menu. “A lot of food goes waste due to these over-the-top weddings. I believe that the NRIs in Punjab are responsible for promoting ‘show-off’ weddings, where everything is taken for granted,” he said.

While some communities have adopted a simple-wedding policy, Punjabis, known for their fondness for lavish weddings, might look at this move with disbelief. Says Ratual, “It’s true, but so is the fact that wedding expenses are bleeding some families white as they take loans and blow off their savings to please people.” If a law is framed, Punjabi weddings might tone down a bit.

Agrees Sargun Seth, a city-based entrepreneur and designer, who is busy planning her brother’s wedding this season. “I am not the first one to support such a move. I agree weddings are special occasions, but a ridiculous display of opulence is not required to celebrate such occasions. If you don’t want a simple wedding, find innovation subtly and do not spend a fortune to look different,” she says. Her family has planned the upcoming wedding, keeping in mind the budget. “We avoided going overboard with our expenditure,” she says.

Similarly, Bhuvan Arjun, a city-based businessman due to get married this month, agrees that one need not splurge large sums of money on weddings. But he disagrees with the argument that there should be a law to curb wedding expenditure. “This is purely an individual or a family’s decision as to how much they want to spend on a wedding. The tradition of saving money for a lifetime to spend on weddings has been followed for years as a wedding is a special occasion.

These days, weddings are a five-day, even seven-day affair with every ritual assuming prominence. One can have one or two wedding events planned out in order to save, but to cut down heavily on celebrations seems a bit extreme,” says the to-be groom. Agrees his sister, Jyoti Kapoor, who feels that people should be allowed to decide on limiting their wedding expenses voluntarily rather than enforcing a law on them.

Also, the move might not find support from those associated with the business of weddings. Shivam Wadhwa, MD, Avaas Lifestyle and Avaas Outdoors, believes it boils down to an individual’s choice. “Weddings are once-in-a-lifetime events and to make them memorable is no crime. People who can afford it want the best and this should be a personal choice.

“There are certain affluent families, who opt for simple rituals rather than having a grand affair. To introduce a legal limit on wedding expenditure will adversely affect our business,” he says. 

Amritsar, September 3
A couple of months ago, when the Police Department had conceptualised the idea of roping in private players for towing away wrongly parked vehicles, the residents had heaved a sigh of relief as such a move was the need of the hour here to deal with the massive parking woes. But, this relief ended in a despair.

Thanks to the careless attitude of the Police Department as the cops on duty refrain from calling up tow-away vehicles, apparently with the assumption that since this part of their duty has been outsourced by the department, they have no responsibility to rectify it.

Had this initiative been taken in its true letter and spirit, it would have served a dual purpose. Apart from generating revenue, it would have helped teach a lesson to those, who did not park their vehicles at proper place, said Dr AK Adhlakha.

According to information, the police have engaged as many as eight privately owned hydraulic tow-away vehicles, but these are hardly found on the job.

The employees of the tow-away vehicle firm on condition of anonymity said they were happy to do their job as it would have generated income for the firm too, but with little or no cooperation, it all was a useless exercise.

Amritsar, September 3
Public safety seem to be of no concern to the administration and contractors with so many development projects in hand. Time and again they forget to take precautions to warn the people commuting on these roads.

The pits dug for sewerage works on the Airport road and on the stretch between Hartej Hospital and Gumtala Chowk are a real threat for the general public as these roads get traffic day and night because of the proximity of the international airport.

The contractor has failed to display any warning or use reflectors to warn drivers of the ongoing sewerage work, which can prove fatal especially during night. Only two months ago, five youngsters coming from the city side lost their lives after their vehicle collided with a road divider. Their families later accused the administration for the faulty design of the under construction road.

But no lessons seem to have been learnt from the accident and contractors continue to ignore the simple guidelines for the public safety, which they are required to follow while working on roads.

An engineering student, Manvir Singh, said, “I nearly fell into the pit, but luck saved me. Now I am so scared that I have decided not to drive on the road till it is complete.” Manvir, a resident of Ranjit Avenue area, has an option to take another road to reach home. The visitors coming from the airport or going towards it are not so lucky.

“The visitors from other cities and states drive at high speed as the road on the flyover is pretty good. What will happen if they fail to see a pit and fall into it at speed? The same is true for drivers coming from the airport side,” said Harnam Singh Kalsi, a local resident.

He said as the government has leased the contract, it should also ensure that contractors take proper safety measures and precautions keeping in view the safety of the public. 

Amritsar, September 3
Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) in association with Gatka Federation is all set to hold first inter-college Gatka competition on its campus from September 5. Gatka teams of both men and women from various colleges affiliated with the GNDU will take part in the martial art event.

On the occasion, men and women gatka teams from the university will also be selected to represent the university in the third All-India Inter-varsity Gatka Championship, which will be held at Punjabi University, Patiala, in February next year.

A long-pending demand of the gatka lovers to see it develop as a sport was fulfilled last year, when the Union Sports Ministry adopted 10 indigenous sports, including ‘gatka’ the Sikh martial art, for promotion among youth.

The Punjab School Games, which had introduced gatka as a sport in 2012, had followed the rules framed by the Gatka Federation of India (GFI). After the introduction of the sport by the Punjab School Games many schools formed gatka teams.

The Sports Authority of India (SAI) patronised the city-based International Fateh Academy (IFA) for setting up maiden gatka academy in the state on its campus. Twenty players in the age group of 8 to14 years were selected by the IFA. These young players were given a free kit, an annual stipend of Rs 3,000 and also provided an insurance cover. Besides, the SAI appointed an expert coach at month salary of Rs 10,000 to train these shortlisted youngsters in the martial art of gatka.

The GFI had standardised gatka rules and regulations to qualify it as a sport couple of years ago. The Punjab Olympic Association (POA) has recognised the Punjab Gatka Association (PGA). The Department of Education, Punjab, has already incorporated gatka in Punjab schools, colleges and universities’ sports calendars.

Amritsar, September 3
The spurt in the instances of illegal detention and torture has put a question mark on the style of functioning of the police force, if the recent incidents of suspension of a number of policemen have anything to go by. As many as 17 policemen, including an SP rank official, have been suspended in the past fortnight on charges of alleged illegal detention and torture.

The repetition of such incidents has not only brought a bad repute to the Police Department, but it has highlighted the inhuman treatment meted with the victims.

Sarabjit Singh Verka, an advocate and activist of Punjab Human Rights Organisation (PHRO), said such instances clearly indicate the open violation of the Supreme Court orders stating that if the police arrest anybody, then he should be produced in the court within 24-hours.

Yesterday, six policemen, including an SP rank official, were placed under suspension by the Punjab and Haryana High Court for misbehaving with a warrant officer deputed by the court regarding a habeas corpus petition by filed by Rajwant Kaur alleging that her husband was illegally detained by the Amritsar rural police.

In a similar incident, four policemen of Ramdas police, including an officiating SHO, was suspended following an investigation in a case in which Heena, wife of the Jodh Singh, had filed complaint in the High Court stating that her husband was picked up by the Ramdas police after which he went missing under mysterious circumstances. The police probe found that the accused policemen had not put on record the arrest of Jodh Singh, who was held in connection with a theft case.

A few days ago, three policemen of Tarn Taran police were suspended for allegedly torturing a local youth, Harjit Singh (17), who later committed suicide by hanging from a tree. He was held by the police on theft charges and subjected to inhuman torture. Perturbed over this, he committed suicide. Earlier, Director General of Police, Sumedh Singh Saini, had dismissed four policemen, including an SHO, for allegedly torturing a head constable posted with the PCR team at the behest of an Akali councillor.

A senior police official preferring anonymity said stern action in form of suspension and dismissal of erring policemen had given a clear message that they would not tolerate any such police excesses. The Police Department initiated strict action against those policemen, who were found indulging in such acts.

Amritsar, September 3
Shooters from Spring Dale Senior School clinched five gold medals and three bronze in various categories and events at the 49th Open Punjab State Shooting Championship, which was held at Jalandhar. Boys’ and girls’ senior category teams from the school bagged the first position in the shooting championship.

 Rajiv Kumar Sharma, Principal, Spring Dale Senior School, said a student of the school, Kavya Jain, won two gold medals in the youth and senior team category. “She was conferred a cash prize of Rs 21,000 for her individual performance in the championship,” the Principal said, adding that Nabarun Singh, another student of the school, clinched a gold medal in the senior team category and bronze in the youth category. He said Harsuhail Singh and Maninder Kaur won a gold each in the senior team category. “Sanya Khanna, another shooter from Spring Dale, who won bronze medals in the junior and youth categories, received a cash prize of Rs 14,000,” he added. 

Amritsar, September 3
An unidentified person was found dead on the premises of Guru Nanak Dev Hospital this morning. The police authorities said that the victim seemed to be a beggar, who was seen roaming in the parking area of the hospital a number of times. 

The police said he apparently died in the night. There were no injury marks on his body. The police authorities said his body had been kept in the mortuary for 72 hours for identification, after which action would be initiated under the Criminal Procedure Code.