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Bhagtanwala
dumpyard row
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Sri
Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar Scheme
One booked for smuggling drugs, 2 mobiles inside jail
Bhagat Puran Singh’s life captured on silver screen
Snatcher nabbed, accomplice escapes
protest
for jobs
Increasing
MBBS seats
21-day refresher course begins at Guru Nanak Dev University
Three-day hockey tourney from Nov 28
Acquisition
of dialysis kits and patient trolleys
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Bhagtanwala
dumpyard row MC Commissioner seeks 15 days’ time to cover dumpyard with sand, sprinkle anti-bacterial sprays Tribune News Service
Amritsar, November 25 As the police restricted their entry into the main gate, the residents staged a protest outside and raised slogans against the administration for their plight. They demanded that the dumpyard as well as the proposed site of the solid waste management plant should be shifted out of Bhagtanwala. They expressed resentment that the mayor had been repeatedly inviting them through news reports to give them a hearing and redress their grievances, but when they reached his office, he avoided meeting them outrightly. On the other hand, the mayor stated that he was ready to talk to the residents about their problems, but the manner that they adopted was wrong. “They came in the form of a protest march, supported by opposition political leaders and burnt my effigy. Was it an appropriate atmosphere to hold talks? That’s why I avoided them. Otherwise, they are welcome if they come in a civilised manner. I invite their representatives to come to my office tomorrow to deliberate over the Bhagtanwala dumpyard issue,” he said. An aggrieved resident, Sanjay Sharma, said, “We have been suffering diseases and scores of residents have been braving chilly weather to lodge their protest at Bhagtanwala continuously for the past 22 days. Was it not the moral duty of the mayor to come and hear our grievances? Whatever we have been doing was justifiable. We resorted to protest after we lost hope from all quarters,” he said. However, representatives of agitating residents, Jai Inder Singh, Nawal Chawla, Deepak Mahajan and Bhupinder Singh, met the MC Commissioner, Pardeep Sabharwal, and submitted a memorandum. Though Sabharwal could not give a commitment to the residents about an alternative site for the solid waste management plant, originally proposed to be set up at Bhagtanwala, he assured them that city garbage would not be thrown at Bhagtanwala and a hygienic environment around the existing dumpyard would be maintained. Sabharwal sought 15 days’ time during which sand could be laid over the dumpyard and the surroundings could be sprinkled with anti-bacterial sprays. After this assurance, the residents dispersed, but their protest at Kot Mangal Singh Chowk at Bhagtanwala continued.
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Sri
Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar Scheme Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service
Amritsar, November 25 Local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi personally looked into the draw of plots and assured the residents to finish the development of the scheme soon. The dispute was resolved following the intervention of Local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi in October 2013. He had ordered an inquiry to nail the officials responsible for coming up with the faulty scheme. Joshi paved the way for an amendment to its layout plan. The move is expected to provide reprieve to thousands of suffering plot and flat holders, who have been waiting for years to construct their houses, once the development works are complete. The Cabinet Minister said development works worth Rs 8 crore had been sanctioned, including Rs 6 crore allotted for laying roads and Rs 2 crore for installing streetlights. He said sewerage, water pipes and underground power cable had been laid in the colony and the remaining civil works would be finished soon. Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar Welfare Forum president Prem Sagar and general secretary Parminder Singh welcomed the resolution of disputed plots issue. However, they maintained that the progress of development works was very slow. They recalled that the earlier assurance of the AIT to complete the development works by February 28, 2013, could not be met. The then Deputy Commissioner, Rajat Aggarwal, during his stint as the head of the AIT, had announced to provide all basic amenities by the aforementioned date. They said many basic amenities like roads, sewerage, and power cable have been given but the locality was not yet fit to live in. Prem Sagar said it was supposed to be a walled and gated locality. He said in the absence of a boundary wall, cattle come for grazing and people from the adjoining locality utilise the open space to defecate. Superintending Engineer Bharat Bhushan Sharma said a majority of the civic amenities had been given and the plots were ready for possession. He added that electric connections could be given on applying. He said the trust had not received any representation for raising the boundary wall from the association. He added that in case the association submitted an application, the trust would definitely raise the wall.
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One booked for smuggling drugs, 2 mobiles inside jail
Amritsar, November 25 The accused was Inderjit Singh, son of Uttam Singh, a resident of Beerh Raja Tej Singh, Tarn Taran. According to Jail Superintendent RK Sharma, on whose complaint a case was registered, on investigation it was revealed that though Inderjit Singh had handed over the drug container to a prisoner Shaminder Singh, it was meant to be delivered to another prisoner, Gurjit Singh, who was serving trial in a drug smuggling case. The police had seized 13 kg heroin from his possession at Rasoolpur, he said. On Saturday, at around 4.50 pm during the visiting hours, Inderjit came and demanded to see Shaminder Singh, who was serving 10 years’ sentence in a drug-smuggling case. Before leaving, he passed on the protein supplement container to Shaminder, but as the latter was about to take it along inside the jail, the jail guards became suspicious. They opened the seal of the protein tin, but when they inserted a small scale-like equipment to gauge its depth, it appeared to be lesser than the size of the tin. They became suspicious and poured the material out of the container, only to find that it had got another tin seal fixed inside. When this seal was broken, they found a large quantity of drugs, injections syringes etc. in it They also found two activated mobile phones, Samsung-make bearing IMEI no. 911369001732905 and 9113691936902, besides one injection Vebled, five injections of Dikainstabolin-50, 87 tablets dark blue- coloured, one packet of sky blue-coloured tablets, 89 practine tablets, 90 deckden tablets, one packet of desi tablets appearing like opium, two packets of liquid contraband, seven syringes and some toxic powder. A case under Sections 21, 22, 61, 85, NDPS Act, Section 420, IPC, 42 Prisoner Act and 52 A Act has been registered.
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Bhagat Puran Singh’s life captured on silver screen
Amritsar, November 25 And presenting his life on the silver screen for the first time is director Harjit Singh and national award winning actor Pavan Malhotra, with the upcoming Punjabi film “Eh JanamTumhare Lekhe”. The film, scheduled to be released worldwide in January 2015, is produced by the All-India Pingalwara Charitable Society and will be an ode to him by Bibi Inderjit Kaur, his successor, carrying forward his legacy and mission. “The idea for the film was conceived years ago, but we could make it possible only with enough finances. The intention behind the film is to let the world know about the selfless life of Babaji and show the world that despite the challenges, everything is possible. The youth today needs a role model, someone to take inspiration from. Babaji’s story will help them understand about determination, dedication and essence of helping others,” says Bibi Inderjit Kaur. The film will depict significant moments in Bhagat Puran Singh’s life, his childhood, his time at a refugee camp after Partition, his religious belief and impact of his mother’s teachings that ultimately changed the course of his life and his lifelong vow to serve social outcasts. He died in 1992. Acclaimed actor Pavan Malhotra will be seen portraying the role of Bhagat Puran Singh and a significant part of shooting for film happened at the Pingalwar in Amritsar. The actor, who stated that he knew little about the Bhagat Puran Singh’s work, was overwhelmed by his life story. “He shared once that Babaji’s life has a lot to learn from and he could only present a fraction of it, playing the reel character. There are endless tales about his life, but it’s too difficult to show everything in a two and half hours film,” says Inderjit. A man of conviction and deep religious values, Bhagat Puran Singh used to roam the streets of Amritsar, carrying the destitute off the streets on a hand-pulled rickshaw and bring them to Pingalwara for care and shelter. The society has become a home to over 2,000 inmates and runs several rehabilitation and educational programmes for special children and homeless. The trailer of the film is already out and received appreciation. Bibi Inderjit Kaur is hopeful that the film will encourage youngsters to adopt the principles of his life, “He began his journey without a single penny in his pocket but a heart full of determination and servitude. He wanted to change the mindset of people, the ones who believe charity only begins with money. The film shows his life just as it happened without any fictionalised bits added for the sake of entertainment.”
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Snatcher nabbed, accomplice escapes
Amritsar, November 25 According to the complainant Nirmal, wife of Ramesh Kumar, a resident of the Lahori gate area, on November 24, she was going to get her gold ear-rings repaired at Guru Bazaar when the incident took place. “As I passed through Katra Safed, the motorcycle-borne accused intercepted me and snatched my purse having seven grams of gold ear-rings besides some cash. They also showed me a dagger if I resisted. It was only after some passersby reached the spot that one of the accused could be arrested while the other sped away. Two other unknown persons, too, were there, who seemed to be involved with the accused. They also vanished from the scene later on,” she said.
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protest
for jobs Tribune News Service
Amritsar, November 25 Sukhchain Singh, a leader of the protesting youth, said, “We staged a protest on November 3. Officials assured us to provide us jobs, but later they failed to fulfil their promise.” He said at present there were around 340 pending cases involving death of a parent while in service. They were options of compensation or a job and they had asked for a job, he added. The protesters had remained atop the water tank for almost two months during the previous year.
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Increasing
MBBS seats Tribune News Service
Amritsar, November 25 The Medical Council of India (MCI) had declined government’s proposal to increase the MBBS seats on various occasions citing shortage of the faculty and infrastructure. The MCI teams during their inspections had made clear observations about the dearth of the staff in the institution. While addressing a convocation yesterday, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said Rs 60 crore were being spent for upgrading the infrastructure to increase the MBBS seats. Though the government had enhanced the retirement age of faculty members citing shortage, no efforts have been made to employ new staff. A faculty member said, “The college needs trained manpower. New machinery and buildings will serve no purpose if there are no people to use them. Already a number of costly machines have become defunct because they have not been used for years.” The government had recently made appointments at the level of senior residents, which surely had resulted in lessening the workload on the employees. The faculty members stated that non holding of regular department promotion committee meetings during last few years had created the crises. The faculty opined that promotions of employees should be done in a time-bound manner so that posts at entrance level were available for recruitment.
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21-day refresher course begins at Guru Nanak Dev University
Amritsar, November 25 As many as 20 teachers from Punjab and neighbouring states are attending the refresher course. Prof ML Singh, head, Department of Electronics Technology and Dean, faculty of Engineering Applications and Technology, was the chief guest at the inaugural session. Prof Avinash Kaur Nagpal, Dr Mohan Kumar and Dr Gurvinder Singh welcomed Prof ML Singh. In his inaugural address, Prof ML Singh discussed virtues of the noble profession of teaching, which moulded lives of the younger generation, leading to the overall development of society. He expressed his deep concern over changing teacher-student relationship in the present era, in which teachers were looked down upon as mere tutors. He said nothing was more rewarding for a teacher than to see his/her student excel in any discipline. Prof Avinash Kaur Nagpal, director, Academic Staff College, traced the history of setting up of Academic Staff Colleges in various parts of the country in 1987. “These colleges were conceived with an aim of broadening the horizon of teachers in addition to honing their pedagogical skills,” she said. She emphasised that the role of a teacher was confined not only to imparting skills and knowledge to students, but also to make them better human beings in all respects. Amit Chhabra from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, who is coordinating the course, apprised the participants with the thrust area. Dr Gurvinder Singh, head, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, proposed the formal vote of thanks.Prof Hardeep Singh, Prof KS Kahlon, Dr RS Virk, Dr Parminder Kaur, Dr Kuljit Kaur, Chetan Marwaha and Anil Kumar were also present on the occasion.
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Three-day hockey tourney from Nov 28 Amritsar, November 25 As many as 20 teams of hockey clubs and government wings from the north are expected to participate in the tournament. President of the club, Prabhjot Singh, said, “Our club is hosting this tournament from last ten years. Each year more than 200 children get a chance to play in this tournament. It is always surprising to see the enthusiasm among them. To boost confidence, we give cash prize of Rs 20, 000 and Rs 15, 000 to the winning and runners up teams respectively.” Chairman of the club, Balwinder Singh, said, “Bibi Inderbir Kaur Memorial Award, which carries a cash prize of Rs 7,100, is conferred on the outstanding player of the state every year. ” Regarding the status of hockey in the country, they said there was a lot to be done by the people and the government to promote the spirit of the game in our country. — TNS
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Acquisition
of dialysis kits and patient
trolleys Manmeet Singh Gill Tribune News Service
Amritsar, November 25 The committee, headed by Vice-Principal of Government Medical College, Patiala, Dr Anita Gupta, recorded the statement of Dr Santokh Singh, head of the Medicine Department in 2012, when 1,000 dialysis kits were purchased at Rs 1,750 per piece. In his statement, Dr Santokh Singh, (a copy with The Tribune) had claimed that he was instructed by then Principal, Dr SS Shergill, to sign the demand letter. Dr Santokh Singh stated: “I have sent a requirement for disposable dialyser after the telephonic orders of Dr SS Shergill, who has asked me to send the demand. He told me that they are sending a typed letter to sign and return back.” He denied that he was involved in any purchasing process. The committee said not including the head of the department while making purchases was a violation of the rules. The committee had also raised suspicion over the distribution of kits to patients. According to the report: “The stock and distribution register shows that it was written with the same pen. It does not seems possible that an employee used the same pen over a period of 14 to15 months. The distribution is suspicious.” The committee has also pointed out that an item can only be purchased when it is required immediately. It observed that the college had never purchased dialysis kits earlier and no explanation was given for its purchase in 2012. The committee during the investigations procured bids from the market in which a firm stated that it was an imported item and its price was Rs 678 plus leviable taxes chargeable on it being an imported item. The committee stated that if the item was imported, then the college cannot purchase it on its own. About the purchase of 90 transfer couch and 15 transfer trolleys for patients at the price of Rs 4.50 lakh and 5.85 lakh per item respectively, the committee stated that both the items were required for transferring a patient within the hospital. The committee termed it a wasteful expenditure as the college could have purchased locally available brands. Even if these were to be purchased, the college should have demanded it in lesser quantity to assess their usage, added the committee. Local RTI activist, Ravinder Sultanwind, who had filed complaints in the two cases, said, “The committees report has ascertained the facts of the complaint. Director, Research and Medical Education, should take immediate action as report was submitted two months ago.”
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Amritsar, November 25
