Amritsar, April 12
Mohammad Aziz, a resident of Sultanwind, is running from pillar to post to find his wife and a minor daughter who had been missing since August last year.He had been making rounds of the police stations and senior police authorities but that didn’t help as the police authorities did nothing to find them, alleged Mohammad Aziz, who claimed to be the nephew of legendary Bollywood singer Mohammad Rafi.

“I filed an application in the Punjab and Haryana High Court in this regard. The high court in its order dated October 7, 2010, asked the police commissioner to investigate and decide the case within two months of the order. But I am still waiting for any response from the police,” said Aziz. The information sought under Right to Information Act met with the same fate, he added.

Earlier, I had given a written complaint to the then Circuit House police chowki in charge but I got only false promises, he alleged.

He suspected the involvement of a hotel owner behind their missing. He said, “I gave my written statements of the police in this regard who had been trying to lure them to take them to foreign countries.”

Later the hotel owner told him that his wife and daughter had gone to Jaipur, he added. He said the hotel owner was threatening him of dire consequences if he pursued their case.

He urged the police authorities to find his family, investigate the case and take stern action against the hotel owners.

However, Police Commissioner Parampal Singh Sidhu, when contacted, feigned ignorance about the case. He said he would look into the matter and asked Mohammad Aziz to meet him.

Amritsar, April 12
Schoolchildren were thrilled to see different varieties of plants in Colonel uncle’s car this morning.They knew they had an entertaining job at hand. Their cute little hands took an extra care in planting the saplings and watering them.

Thanks to the green initiative, undertaken by Samaritan Col Deepak Nayyar (retd) and his associates, the kids of Nishkam Sewa Public School --- the only institute run by an NGO in Amritsar for children from rag pickers’ families --- got a new mission in life.

They keenly listened to Colonel uncle when he advised them to take care of the saplings.

“The administration has provided them with a pucca shelter in the Ram Bagh area and now I am endeavouring to provide them shades, because I observed that these plants would provide the children soothing shade in the summers”, said Col Nayyar, while apprising the children about the benefits of plantation.

“Nevertheless, this initiative would connect the children directly with the plants in true sense because they themselves were involved in executing the plantation process,” he added.

It is to note that more than a decade ago this school was conceptualised exclusively for the children of rag pickers by one Sardara Singh, who along with some likeminded people under a temporary bamboo shed established a learning place for them. The adverse weather conditions could not deter the determination of its students as well as its staff, until the Deputy Commissioner KS Pannu got them allotted two rooms in a building of CSO (chief surgeon’s office).

With the initial strength of 10 children in 1996, the school today is catering over 175 children taught by a small group of teachers. This school holds classes from nursery to Class X and is affiliated with the Punjab School Education Board.

Amritsar, April 12
Repeated incidents of misuse of ATM cards, stolen or left in the machines by card owners, reveal that banks are not paying due attention to several security aspects.Prominent among those aspects are the absence of security guards at ATM booths, mechanical shutters being non-functional at these booths and several software flaws.

Incidents of stealing money using others' ATM cards were mostly reported from markets located in busy localities.

In a recent incident, three cops were nabbed for stealing an ATM card and using it for shopping worth thousands of rupees.

Installation of an automated teller machine costs a bank around Rs 40 lakhs. But banks spend a little on having apt sensors on doors of ATM booths.

A senior official of a nationalised bank, on the condition of anonymity, said, “Even the door can be opened by swapping an ordinary plastic card of a store.”

Secondly, in the absence of guards, several people enter the booths at one go (Bank rules say only one person should enter the booth at one time).

This lapse was found prominently at the ATMs of the nationalised banks.

The officials said it was because of their complicated recruitment policy matters that they seldom appoint a full-time guard at the ATMs.

On the software front, banks not adopting one-time-one-transaction using ATM cards has also led to many stealing incidents. In such cases, unscrupulous elements made full use of the cards, which the actual card owner forgot to collect from the machines before leaving the booths.

Ironically, despite police department’s insistence, the banks care two hoots to make their ATMs safe and sound.

The Deputy Commissioner of Police, Amar Singh Chahal, blamed the banks for adopting a 'who cares' attitude. "They secure their risk factors by getting the cash-loaded ATMs fully insured. But it is high time that the banks become more responsible in giving access to ATMs to their cardowners. Software of the ATMs and the magnetic data on the cards should be upgraded and should restrict the user for dispensing money only one-time on a single feed of password," he said.

At many locations, the telephone numbers of help desk/ contact persons were not displayed at the ATM booths causing difficulties in lodging complaints.

Amritsar, April 12
The CPI and CPM today threatened to launch a protest against the government for its failure to commence the proposed Amritsar-Chandigarh train allegedly under the influence of private bus transporters.

Vijay Misra and Amarjit Singh Asal, district secretaries of the CPI and CPM, respectively, stated that Punjab was the only state in the country which does not have any rail connectivity with its capital Chandigarh.

“The major hurdle in starting the proposed train was the Punjab’s political bosses who owns majority of the bus transport companies in the state and were least bothered to launch this project as it would hamper their business interests,” they alleged while talking to media.

Misra said that both the parties have decided to sit on a chain hunger strike from April 20 at Amritsar railway station which would continue till the commencement of train. He said even then the state government and the central government failed to initiate steps in this direction it would intensify its agitation which would be extended to other parts of Punjab including Chandigarh.

Asal claimed that the proposed train was ready to start operations and is stationed at Jalandhar. The trials for the same had already been conducted, he added. He said the party would call the Member Parliaments to join hands with them.

He said the recent remarks by railway authorities were unfortunate in which they stated that the train would not be economically viable. He said there were hundreds of passengers who daily commute from Amritsar to Chandigarh for various official works and the train would prove a boon for the common man who had no other option but to take tiring bus services to go to the state’s capital. The two leaders said they would also gherao the offices of railway authorities to press for their genuine demand.