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Pre-Diwali snatchings on the rise
CID constable run over by a speeding roadways bus
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 Illegal firecracker unit busted
Amritsar, October 15 The CIA staff has busted an illegal firecracker unit in the Anngarh area, also known as mini Sivakasi, here late last evening and recovered a huge quantity of crackers from there. CIA staff pose for a picture along with the seized firecrackers from an illegal firecracker unit at Anngarh area in Amritsar on Saturday. Tribune photo: vishal kumar
Diwali 10 days away, but no firecrackers in sight
Bird Hit Fallout
Daughter recalls Faiz Ahmed Faiz's connection with the holy city
Cong to gherao Lopoke police station on Oct 17
Health officials destroy 250 kg of ‘unhealthy’ sweets
Congress attacks Punjab Government
for ‘poor state’ of holy city
Man arrested with duplicate kesar
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Pre-Diwali snatchings on the rise
Amritsar, October 15 This has led to many city residents expressing discontent with the functioning of the police department saying that it has ineffecive in keeping a check on the rising graph of petty crime. Only two days ago, on Thursday, miscreants had broken the windowpanes of two cars. In his complaint lodged at the Civil Lines police staion, Inderpal Singh, a resident of Katra Dal Singh, said that some miscreants had decamped with his laptop and cheque books after breaking open the windowpanes of his Fiesta car (PB-02-AW-1004) which he had parked outside the cantonement branch of the State Bank of India. He said that on return from the bank branch after completing some work, he found the windowpanes of his car broken and his belongings missing. In another incident, Gurpreet Singh, a resident of Hardev Enclave located near the GT Road bypass, stated that he had parked his Santro Car (PB-02-BK-0492) outside a building material shop situated on the main GT Road. He had gone to the shop to procure iron rods. On return, he found his briefcase containing valuable documents that included his pan card, bank cheque books and Rs 1.5 lakh in cash to be missing. Similar is the story of Gurpeet Singh, a resident of LIC Colony, Kashmir Avenue who had parked his car (PB-02-AL-0616) opposite to his shop at Hide market. On returning to his car around 10.30 am on October 8, Gurpreet discovered to his horror that the windowpanes of his car had been broken and a brief case containing Rs 4 lakh in cash, checque books and some books to be missing. A case under Section 379 IPC has been registered at the Kotwali police station. When contacted Police Commissioner RP Mittal said that petty criminals keep changing their modus operandi. Now, this recent trend has come to light in which criminals are breaking windowpanes of cars and stealing belongings. Remedial measures are being taken in this direction,he said while appealing to people to be more vigilant and to not leave their valuables in the vehicles.
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CID constable run over by a speeding roadways bus
Amritsar, October 15 The victim, identified as Manjinder Singh, is a resident of Verka. He was headed to his office on his motorcycle when the incident took place. The roadways bus was en route from Moga. The accused driver fled leaving the bus behind. Eyewitnesses said that the victim was first hit on the side by an auto rickshaw due which he lost his balance and fell on the road. The driver of the speeding bus, coming from behind, was apparantly unable to apply breaks and crushed him to death. A team from the Kotwali police reached the spot and started investigations. Sub Inspector Shiv Nath said investigations were in progress. “The driver has been identified as Bikar Singh, a resident of Moga. He fled from the scene before the police arived from the spot. Efforts are on to nab the driver and a case has been registered under Sections 304A and 279 of the IPC against him,” he said. Daljinder Singh, a colleague of the deceased, said that Manjinder Singh was survived by his wife and a daughter.
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Illegal firecracker unit busted
Amritsar, October 15 However, the owner of the unit, who was identified as Sahib Singh, alias Saba, a resident of Aman Avenue, managed to flee. Vikram Sharma of the CIA staff said a case under Section 9-B of the Explosive Act and Section 188 of the IPC had been registered against him. The police also recovered a huge quantity of firecrackers from the illegal cracker unit. Sharma said during a naka near Gate Hakima the CIA staff got a tip-off that Sahib Singh was involved in the manufacturing of firecrackers and he had a unit in the Anngarh area. The police party raided the complex and seized a huge quantity of firecrackers. He said there was no fire extinguisher in the unit, which was being run without valid licence and documents.
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Diwali 10 days away, but no firecrackers in sight
Amritsar, October 15 Since the patakha market in Jahajgarh area has already been ruled out for setting up firecracker shops on grounds of safety, delays by traders has prevented identifying an alternative venue. A resident of the walled city, Ramesh Julka, said that this year was very special for his family as his son and daughter-in-law would be celebrating their first Diwali after their wedding. He said they thought of procuring firecrackers in advance but they had not found any shop open at the patakha market. He said they had been directed by some shopkeepers to buy crackes from stores located about 10 to 15 km from the city. Amritsar Fire Works Association president Harish Dhawan said the sale of crackers was a seasonal affair and the peak season was invariably a month before Diwali. He said during the run up to Diwali this season traders had incurred losses as their sales had come down to naught. This is in contrast to pevious years when by this time they would have registered 50 per cent sales. He said there were around 30 wholesale traders who have licenses under the Petroleum and Explosive Safety Act and all of them had procured their merchandies from Sivakasi. All had shops at Jahajgarh along with duly approved godowns at various locations across the city, especially on the Chheharta, Dhapai and Tarn Taran roads. However, he added, that customers were reluctant to visit these far located godowns to procure firecrackers. When contacted, Improvement Trust Chairman Sanjiv Khanna said that the Trust would hand over 22 shops to merchants for a period of 15 days at the Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar Mall Mandi. He said it was the duty of the district administration and the Police Commissionerate to permit operating firecracker shops there. Amritsar Police Commissioner RP Mittal, said that all the traders were aware of the unsafe conditions exisiting at the patakha market in Jahajgarh area. Yet, they had not found a suitable alternative place. He said there was no delay on the part of the Police Commissionerate and that licenses would be issued to the traders after ensuring all safety measures duly approved by the authority.
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Airport authorites contemplating measures to prevent flight delays
Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service
Amritsar, October 15 Airport Authorities have been unable to identify the bird involved in the bird hit which led to the grounding of a Jet Airways Amritsar-New Delhi flight on October 13. A flight was grounded for similar reasons last month. Airport sources hold nocturnal birds responsible considering that they are daily present in large numbers around the airport. The agricultural fields and dense bushes located in the vicinity of the airport are considered a safe haven for dogs, rodents and mongoose. On one occasions, a rat that managd to gain entry into an Air India fight (Boeing 777) led to an 11 hour delay of the airline’s Toronto-bound flight AI-187 in September 2009. In yet another case, a flight was delayed after dogs were spotted on the tarmac. The airport authority and the district administration sems to have finally taken note of the situation and claims to be engaged in taking preventive measures. The Airport Authority of India (AAI) will be conducting a Bird Activity Survey in and around Sri Guru Ramdas Ji International Airport and then decide on steps to be taken so as to mitigate bird hit cases, says airport director Sunil Dutt. A request, he said, had been forwarded to the AAIs head office and, after completing the formalities, the responsibility would be awarded to an expert agency. He said it was immature to comment at his juncture as to that what kind of birds were involved in these accidents. He said only experts were competent to comment. Accepting that activities of birds had increased in and around the Airport, Dutt said that it needed to be fixed properly to avert recurrence of any accident in future. As part of the measues, a request for installing 12 zone guns to scare away birds had been forwarded. In any case, airport authorities are regularly bursting crackers around the runway before take off of flights. The decision to request for a dozen zone guns was taken by the Environment Committee of the Airport, headed by Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal, on October 11, a day before the bird hit which delayed the Jet Airways flight to Delhi. Other members of the Committee included Director Airport, Commissioner Amritsar Municipal Corporation, Station Managers of all Airlines. Amritsar deputy commissioner DC Aggarwal said the committee was contemplating many corrective measures and initiatives to eliminate the menace. He said trees, especially high branches, were viwed as providing sanctuary to birds. He said pruning of trees was taken up as the foremost task. Trees inside the airport complex, he said, would be pruned by the AAI officials while those groing outisde the airport’s perimeter would be pruned by the forest department. He said even the installation of sonic equipment, which broadcast voice at a specific frequency to keep away birds, was also discussed following suggestions from officials working with a foreign airline. He, however, said the disadvantage of the sonic system was that over a period of time birds overcome the frequency hindrance and it no longer serves as a deterrence. He said the bird activity survey was taken up on priority to develop a greater understanding of the nature of birds present in the airport, their behaviour pattern and the ways to tackle them.He said the municipal corporation had been contacted for overcoming the dog menace inside the airport. He cliamed that a trained MC team would soon either catch or sterilize the stray dogs. The deputy commissioner said the committee members were receptive to employing novel ways to ensure safe flights with no harm to birds, including installing sophisticated gadgets.
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Daughter recalls Faiz Ahmed Faiz's connection with the holy city
Amritsar, October 15 She was in the city today to participate in a two-day programme dedicated to her father on his birth centenary started at Punjab Naatshala. A Master of Arts in English Literature, Faiz had taught at the formerly knon MAO College here from 1935 to 1940. She said her father had a distinguished circle of literary and intellectual friends here and impression of their noble thoughts could be found in his later writings. During his stay in Amritsar, Faiz also met his future wife, Alys, in 1938 at the house of Mohammad Din Taseer, a colleague at the college. Taseer had married Alys’s older sister, Christobel. Alys had come to India to visit her sister when she had a chance meeting with Faiz. They tied the nuptial knot in 1941. Faiz was instrumental in starting a branch of the Progressive Writers’ Movement in Punjab in 1936. Although Faiz's poetry was inspired by South Asia's Sufi traditions, his poetry was denounced for atheism. Moneeza said that not many people knew that her father, interestingly, had been with the British Indian Army for a brief period. She said Faiz as a poet was a product of shared Indian and Pakistan culture. His thoughts, she said, which yearn for peace and brotherhood were most needed at this point of time. When asked whether any other member of Faiz’s family was delving into writing poetry, she said it could happen only if somebody could match the poetic skill of her father. She said her son, a physician by profession, was attempting to pen a biography of Faiz. She said her sister Salima, as Faiz had only two daughters, had taken up painting. In this way everyone was working in his or her choice of creative field. Later, a seminar on the life of the poet was held in which literary figures like Pran Nauville, Ali Javed and Shamsul Islam expressed their views.
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No ambulance service at ESI hospital
Amritsar, October 15 Due to the non-availability of funds, both the vehicles are parked under a shed in the ESI hospital. The employees at the hospital said, “We have placed the demand before the authorities to get the vehicles repaired, but nothing has been done so far.” During a visit to the ESI, The Tribune found that the vehicles have turned into a junk now. Even broken wooden chairs have been placed on the top of these vehicles. A visitor to hospital, Ranjit Singh, said, “The ambulances are must for every hospital. Even small private hospitals keep ambulances to provide emergency service but the ESI is doing without one. This is not justified.” Another patient, Sanjeev Kumar, said, “The authorities are indifferent towards the problems of the patients. The ESI is not poor; they can afford the cost of repair.” He added that the hospital should immediately get these vehicles repaired. The ESI Medical Superintendent, EK Gabba, said, “The grant for the repair has been sanctioned recently. Hopefully, by next week we will be sending one of the vehicles to workshop.” He said they have also sought funds for the second vehicle and hope to get it repaired soon as well.
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Cong to gherao Lopoke police station on Oct 17
Amritsar, October 15 Sukhbinder Singh Sukh Sarkaria, Congress MLA from Rajasansi, in a press conference here today said the party would take up the issue of prevailing law and order situation in the constituency with the Punjab Governor. The party will also write to the President of India, Home Ministry and to the national and state Chief Election Commission. Giving numerous instances where the Congress workers were brutally beaten up by the ruling party leaders, he alleged that police department was playing in the hands of their political bosses and were functioning in a partial manner. Sarkaria cited the recent incident in which the Akali workers, led by Sarabjit Singh Lodhigujjar, attacked Mukhtiar Singh’s home after he joined the Congress party. He alleged the police, instead of taking action against the accused persons, registered a false case of attempt to murder on Mukhtiar and Majhail Singh. “Later the police registered a cross case against several persons belonging to the ruling party,” he said. “As the assembly elections were round the corner, the Akali Dal had resorted to pressure tactics and pressurising the people, especially those who have joined the Congress party,” Sarkaria said. In a communiqué to the President, Home Ministry, Punjab Governor, Chief Justice of apex court and Chief Election Commissioners, the Congress MLA sought deployment of paramilitary forces in the state, particularly in Rajasansi, where most of the people supports the Congress party. He also urged them to issue special instructions to the Deputy Commissioner, Amritsar, to stop the human rights violations committed by the ruling party. Demanding cancellation of the FIR against Mukhtiar Singh and Majhail Singh, Sarkaria warned that if police failed to cancel the case even after the protest outside Lopoke police station, they would hold demonstration outside the SSP office. The Congress MLA also urged to register a case against Lodhigujjar and his supporters as they have attacked Mukhtiar and Majhail Singh.
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Health officials destroy 250 kg of ‘unhealthy’ sweets
Amritsar, October 15 Talking to The Tribune, the District Health Officer, Dr Pradip Singh Kahlon, said the team of health officials had found dead flies and worms in sweets that were destroyed. The shopkeeper was later made to throw away the sweets, he said. The samples of khoya, gulab jamun and rasgulla were taken from the sweet shops in Tangra. Food Inspector Amit Joshi said samples of desi ghee from Guru Nanak dairy in Bazaar Boria Wala, milk powder from Vijay dairy in Akhara Kullu area were collected. The team also took samples of sewian and common salt from different shops. The samples have been sent to the laboratory for testing, said Joshi adding that they have received instructions for intensive checking of the shops selling food items in view of the festival season.
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Wilderness prevails at martyr park
Amritsar, October 15 Punjab Minister for Women and Child Welfare Laxmi Kanta Chawla on Friday laid the foundation stone of a podium near the Town Hall building on which a statue of Madan Lal Dhingra is to be installed. This statue will cost Rs 15 lakh and would be installed at the place in two months time. However, the existing park named after the martyr near the International Bus Terminal has his statue at the centre and is crying for attention. The park was inaugurated in 1992. With wild growing bushes, covering most of the area of the park, it has become a place for animals to graze. With around five feet high weeds; Gajar booti (Coronopus didymus) and congress grass (Parthenium Hysterophorus) covering 80 per cent of the park area, there is no place for people to enter. Both the weeds are considered are dangerous for humans as they can cause respiration problems. With less people keen on visiting the park because of its condition, a portion of the park is being used by a tent house owner to dry his carpets. Further, the houses adjacent to the park have illegally opened their rear gates. A local resident said, “The area, where there no wild growth could be seen, was cleared by those people who opened their gates.” He pointed out the main entrance to the park that was blocked since construction of elevated bridge started. The heavy iron pillars used in the construction were still blocking the entrance. Grandson of Madan Lal Dhingra’s brother Shamsher Dhingra said, “It would have been better if the proper arrangements for upkeep of the existing park could be made.” He added it is an insult to the martyr when the park has become a house for animals. A native of Amritsar, Dhingra was hanged in Pentonville prison in London on August 17, 1909 for murdering a British official Curzon Wylie.
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Congress attacks Punjab Government
for ‘poor state’ of holy city
Amritsar, October 15 Addressing a press conference here, Sharma said the entire city was dotted with heaps of garbage but yet BJP leaders were making tall claims of “Go Clean, Go Green” by putting up large banners. He alleged that on the one hand the dumping ground at Bhagtanwala was spilling over with 600 metric tonnes of garbage being dumped there daily. On the other hand, Rs 40 crore has been sanctioned by the Union government for a solid waste management plant. “This is the scenario despite the fact that the Mayor and the local MP have been claiming that they will also generate power from solid waste plant.” He alleged that Rs 4 crore sanctioned by the Centre for a water testing laboratory in the city have also been misappropriated. Sharma said the city is witnessing jaundice outbreak due to supply of contaminated water. “The roads are in a bad shape which is causing accidents everyday. Sewerage pipelines are either clogged or leaking,” he said adding that the sewerage project which was to be executed with the help of a Japanese firm had failed to take off. If the state government did not wake up in time, the city may witness outbreak of an epidemic, he added.
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Man arrested with duplicate kesar
Amritsar, October 15 Inspector Manjit Singh, SHO of the C-division police station, said the accused, Ganga Ram, is a resident of Badarpur in Balrampur district of Uttar Pradesh. He was caught following a tip off that he was involved in manufacturing and selling duplicate and adulterated Kesar in the market. The police caught him while he was coming from the Bhagtanwala railway crossing. A case has been registered.
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Amritsar, October 15
Amritsar, October 15
