Amritsar, February 25
A spurt in the cases of snatching, looting and petty crimes is giving sleepless nights to the residents of the holy city and has put the police in a tight spot.

Just close on the heels of looting of a vegetable trader near Vallah vegetable market, two unidentified persons snatched a car from Hirdayajit Singh of Chheharta in broad daylight on gunpoint from near old vegetable market. He was just going to sit in his car when the two miscreants came and pointed the gun towards him and took away the car after snatching the keys. They also took away his two mobile phones.

At Vallah, a vegetable trader, Parshotam Lal, resident of the New Jawahar Nagar area, was looted in an “organised manner”. The victim was driving down to the vegetable market at about 5 am when five unidentified youths intercepted him and took away Rs 1.50 lakh and his two mobile phones.

In yet another case, two unidentified Sikh youths, with covered faces, looted gold jewellery at gun point from a couple residing in the posh Basant Avenue area recently. The accused fired in the air while fleeing from the spot so that nobody should chase them.

While the police claimed to have identified the persons involved in the looting of the vegetable trader, it has yet to make any breakthrough in other cases.

Not only this, vehicle lifting has become so rampant in the city that on every day one or two cases of stealing vehicles are reported in various police stations. What to say, a vehicle of an SDM, equipped with a red beacon, was not spared by the thieves, who stole it from outside the residence of the driver.

Just a week after the incident, a car of Dr Ashok Goel, Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Government Medical College, was snatched from him from outside his house in Kashmir Avenue, located just a few yards away from the Police Commissioner’s official residence. It was traced from near Daburji by the Police Department.

The trend shows that these snatchers after their release from jail again indulge in illegal activities.

Admitting this, Deputy Commissioner of Police Amar Singh Chahal said, “These snatchers have become habitual offenders, who after their release from jail, restart their nefarious activities. The recent trends show that they are involving other vulnerable youth in their illegal activities. Once they enter in this, they start blackmailing them and then there is no way out for them. Drug addiction and the greed to enjoy all the materialist pleasure is the major cause of increase in the incidents.”

He said the Police Department was doing its utmost to nab the culprits and busting of a number of gangs was testimonial to it.

Amritsar, February 25
Navjot Singh Sidhu, MP, threatened to hold a protest against the Congress-led UPA government for not honouring its decision of starting a train between Amritsar and Chandigarh here today.

However, railway officials said the train might start in March.Sidhu said he had shot off three letters to Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on the matter with the last one being on February 7.

He intimated her of growing concern among the residents of Punjab that their’s was the only state whose prime districts, including Jalandhar, Amritsar and Ludhiana, were not connected with the state capital.

The MP said his office had been receiving many complaints from local residents of delay in the start of the train. He added that it was ample indication that a large number of people were in favour of the train as they had to travel by bus to reach the state capital for getting their various works done.

The Amritsar-Chandigarh duronto train was announced in the last year’s Railway Budget. He hit out at the laxity of the Indian Railways for its failure in implementing the order despite the fact that the next Budget was round the corner. He requested the Union Minister to look into the matter to expeditiously implement the proposal.

When contacted, Ferozepur-based Divisional Railway Manager Vishwesh Chaubey said though no date had been finalised, but the train might start in March.

Amritsar, February 25
A three-member technical team of the Railways, headed by Senior Divisional Engineer Pankaj Tyagi, carried out a feasibility study for the widening of busiest Bhandari railway overbridge, which connects the Amritsar Railway Station, Sri Guru Ram Das International Airport and Attari-Wagah joint checkpost with the Golden Temple.

The team found ample scope of adding four more lanes to the bridge to the side of the railway station.

The team arrived here after MP Navjot Singh Sidhu took up the matter with the Railways. Sidhu said the matter was on the priority list of the SAD-BJP coalition government as the bridge was a vital link between the Golden Temple and the rest of the city. He said the residents have been complaining of constant traffic jams on the bridge.

He informed that 13-metre wide bridge could be further widened by 15 metres. In a letter, he asked the railway headquarters at Delhi to carry out the expansion of the bridge for which the cost would be borne by the Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT).

Meanwhile, the MP also announced setting up of two LPG crematoriums, worth Rs 53 lakh, in as many cremation grounds of the city. One would be set up in the cremation ground, run by Shamshan Sewa Samiti, outside Chattiwind Gate and another outside Hathi Gate, managed by the Shri Durgiana Committee.

The Shri Durgiana Committee and the Shamshan Sewa Samiti had already contributed Rs Rs 6 lakh and Rs two lakh, respectively, for the purpose.

He informed that the AIT, Amritsar Municipal Corporation and the district administration would contribute for the project and he would arrange the remaining amount from his MPLAD fund.

Amritsar, February 25
A delegation of 10 teachers from Richmond, UK, visited DAV Public School here under the International Teachers Professional Development Programme.The delegation’s interaction with Amritsar teachers and students gave an insight into the working and teaching methods of two different places. They admired the school’s efforts towards the overall development of students.

Earlier, the delegation headed by Gillian Goouch, the school workforce adviser from Richmond, UK, visited the primary wing of the school at the cantonment. A small cultural programme showcasing Indian culture and the creative talent of the students at both the places was held.

They were overwhelmed to see the artifacts made by the students and admired the kathak performance, yoga skills, classical dance, songs and ghazal by the students of the school.

The regional director and manager of the school, Dr Neelam Kamra welcomed the teachers and expressed her gratitude for choosing the school as a part of their visit. She emphasised that such exchange programmes help in further development and enhancement of teaching methods.

Neera Sharma, principal, pointed out that such programmes were the need of hour and we should try to gain advantage and learn from such programmes.

Amritsar, February 25
Computer Science Corporation (CSC), Noida, has selected 13 students of the university at a package of Rs 3.25 lakh per annum. Similarly, Amdocs, an IT company, selected 10 students at a package of Rs 4.2 lakh per annum.

Prof Hardeep Singh, in charge of placements, said till date 618 students of different courses have got jobs. He said these students would pass out in June 2011. He said that the selected students belong to the regional campuses of the university at Jalandhar and Gurdaspur and all the constituents’ colleges of the university.

Annual function

Children of Young Wonders (kindergarten school) perform during their annual function in Amritsar. A Tribune photograph

A fate was organised at Young Wonders (kindergarten school), which was sponsored by Nestle, Coco Cola, Kamlen and Cinepolis. Competition on singing, dancing and drawing was organised. 

Amritsar, February 25
Private Direct to Home (DTH) players are making hay while the sun of the cricket World Cup shining as the cable operators are unable to telecast the matches.A sharp rise in the sale of DTH sets is being recorded. There are about eight major distributors and nearly 250 dealers of the DTH services in the city. Talks with them revealed that the sale of dishes increased at least six to seven times before and during the World Cup.

A distributor, Raman Gupta, said roughly 30 DTH sets used to be sold daily. However, the cricket World Cup drove the volume of sale to 200 sets.

A dealer, Satnam Singh, said undoubtedly the share of the DTH services vis-a-vis cable operators was less than 10 per cent. However, such events helped in augmenting its reach. He said subscribers to DTH services were mainly residents of the Civil Line areas.

However, a resident of Ranjit Avenue, Tejas Singh Sandhu, complained of paying higher rates to get the sports channel as the private DTH companies increased the rates for allowing its relay. He said in order to make the most of the opportunity they incorporated the sports channel with Hindi news and business channels to sell them as a package. He said they did not have any option but to procure these packs. He liked the DTH service over cable for its crystal-clear picture quality.

A majority of the city residents are dependent on the DD channel as it beam only Indian matches.

A senior functionary of the cable network in the city said the private sports channel hiked the fee for allowing its access, which was not approved. He reasoned that the cricket World Cup would last for a limited period, but the channel would not bring down the rates even after the tournament was over. He said a large number of their clients pay Rs 150 a month and they would not be able to pass the hike on to the customers. 

Amritsar, February 25
In order to curb the menace of begging in the holy city, the district administration has envisaged plans to enforce anti-begging law.“The law would soon be enforced in a planned manner to do away with the menace in the city,” stated Deputy Commissioner Kahan Singh Pannu while visiting the Raain Basera building here.

In the holy city, where a large number of local and foreign tourists visit because of its heritage and religious importance, beggars have been a menace for a long time. They (tourists) often find themselves surrounded by beggars, who don’t leave until they get some money.

Besides, harassing the tourists, the beggars also pose a threat to traffic and also remained a security concerns due to its proximity with border.

A random round of the city revealed that most of these beggars were found around religious places like Shiv Dev Mandir, Longawali Devi Mandir, Bhadarkali Temple, Durgiana Temple besides Dussehra Ground, Bhandari Pul and Lohgarh area. The prominent signals where they could be found in abundance include Novelty light points on the Lawrence Road and posh areas. A number of these beggars include women and children. The administration has earlier launched project ‘Raain Basera’ in which it tried to bring all beggars and destitute in the mainstream by rehabilitating them. However, the kind gesture of the administration took a hit as it failed to change their (beggars’) attitude who again returned to streets asking for alms.

Under the programme, hundreds of beggars were picked up from roads and they were put up at a building in old Dr Karam Singh ward. They were provided with three square meals a day, the clothing and medical treatment. Pannu, however, termed the initiative a success. He pointed out that till now about 565 persons were rehabilitated by providing jobs in various fields who are now earning their livelihood.

He said the administration along with the Red Cross Society had contacted the General Manager, Industries Department, besides various dairy, poultry and farm houses and industrial units which require man force for jobs in their units. He said sometimes these units approach the authorities directly in this regard.

“Arrangements have been made to send those who had come from other parts of the country back to their native places,” said Pannu. Sometimes these destitute were brought in inebriated conditions. Due to drug addiction, they become violent. “To such patients, we provide treatment through Dr Vidya Sagar Institute of Mental Health who provides their expertise to deal such patients and after they return to their senses, they are counseled to bring them to mainstream,” said the DC.

Till now as many as 1,256 beggars and destitute were given a shelter. Besides rehabilitating, many of them returned to their native places. 

Amritsar, February 25
Many Sikh theologians are still following the traditional understanding of Gurbani preached during the 18th and 19th centuries instead of defining Gurbani apart from the ancient mythology and Vedantic philosophy and to realise its relevance in the present context.

Speaking at the three-day international conference on “Uniqueness of Guru Nanak’s Philosophy” held at Guru Nanak Dev University here, Prof Devinder Singh Chahal, coordinator of the Conference, and founder president of Institute for Understanding Sikhism, Canada, emphasised on redefining Gurbani to realise its relevance in present context and said after Guru Nanak there was Guru Arjan, the fifth guru and the first person who observed the uniqueness of Guru Nanak’s Bani.

“After this it is still unexplored because every scholar is interpreting Guru Nanak’s Bani in the same pattern,” he pointed out.

“Guru Nanak Dev was the first prophet, philosopher and scientist, who challenged the prevailing religious concepts in South Asia and Middle East in the contemporary period of renaissance,” Dr Chahal pointed out.

University Vice-Chancellor AS Brar inaugurated the conference.

The conference was organised by the Department of Guru Nanak Studies of the Guru Nanak Dev University in collaboration with the Institute of Understanding Sikhism, Canada.

Prof Jaspal Singh, Vice-Chancellor, Punjabi University, Patiala, in his presidential remarks, said Guru Nanak did not reject any religion, he was rather critical of religious practices of the time.

Dr Brar said the teaching of Guru Nanak has great relevance in the modem scientific age.

Tarn Taran, February 25
Three members of a family of the Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar locality have been booked for fraud.

Identified as Munish, alias Prince, his father Darshan Lal and mother Veera Sharma, the accused have been booked on the complaint of Karan deep Singh, a resident of Kairon village.