Amritsar, December 15
The Youth Congress elections for the president's post and other office bearers took an ugly turn when two groups clashed in the District Congress Committee (Rural) office here in the morning. Four persons were reportedly injured in the clash.

The groups, one supporting Vikas Soni and other Damandeep Singh, the two main contestants for president's post of the Youth Congress, were engaged in a fierce battle. There were even reports of firing.

The injured, identified as Bharat Bhushan Lovely, Malwinder Singh Malli, Deepu and Amandeep, were admitted to the Civil Hospital and Guru Nanak Dev Hospital.

Bharat Bhushan Lovely, a supporter of Vikas Soni, sustained serious head injuries caused by sharp edged weapons.

No case has been registered by the police till the filing of report.

The group of Vikas Soni enjoyed the backing of Jasbir Singh Dimpa (former MLA) and Om Parkash Soni (sitting MLA), while Damandeep group enjoyed the support of Harpal Singh Bhatia.

It is pertinent to mention here that Dimpa and Bhatia are both aspiring for the Amritsar (East) constituency.

Bharat Bhushan Lovely, who was taken to GNDH, said Damandeep and his supporters were stopping and pressurising one Daljit Singh, who wanted to vote for Vikas Soni. "When we tried to resist, the younger brother of Harpal Bhatia along with his supporters thrashed them," said Lovely. He alleged Bhatia supporters also fired gunshots.

Refuting the charges, Bhatia said it was Dimpa and his supporters who thrashed his men and fired gun shots. He said their candidate Vikas Soni was loosing in the election and this did not go down well with them. He alleged that his three supporters were injured in the clash.

Dimpa, however, said he was not present at the spot during the incident and that he received the information later on. He alleged Bhatia was trying to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere in the party by indulging in petty politics. Earlier, the clash started following an altercation which erupted over a minor issue of collision of two cars belonging to Bhatia and Soni which were parked outside the DCC (R) office.

Once the dispute erupted, rival groups used chairs and bricks to attack other. Tension gripped the area and huge posse of policemen rushed to the spot.

Amritsar, December 15
The Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board (PHTPB) has once again landed in a controversy as it published incorrect Sikh history in defining five holy sarovars associated with Gurus and Sikh history.

Tourism Minister Hira Singh Gabria, who was here to launch the ‘Panj Sarovar Walk’, accepted the anomalies in the literature of the sarovars. He said they may have occurred due to delay in preparing the literature and last minute haste.

The literature regarding the walk said the land for Amrit Sarovar was procured by third Sikh Guru Amardas but as per historical facts it was bought by fourth Guru Ramdas. The literature said Amrit Sarovar was built between 1573 to 1577, but going by historical facts the land was procured in 1573 and work began in 1577.

Amritsar, December 15
The Chheharta police has arrested Mandeep Singh, a resident of Diwan Di Bambi, Guru Ki Wadali road, Chheharta with 100 gram of heroin worth Rs 50 lakh.

He was caught after the police got a tip-off. A case under Sections 22, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against Mandeep Singh.

Kuldeep Singh, an ASI, Chheharta police, said the accused ran a liquor vend near Guru Ki Wadali village and used to supply heroin in small pouches to addicted youth in the area. He said Mandeep Singh has been running this illegal trade for a long time now.

Amritsar, December 15
Some medicine store owners operating near the Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, Majitha road, have allegedly broken the outer wall of the institution in an apparent bid to enhance their business prospects.

The bricks from the outer wall have been removed towards 100 meters west of the main entrance to help commotion. The people were seen crossing the broken wall for entry and exit purposes instead of the main gate.

A hospital employee revealed that the bricks have been removed by few of the medical store owners. “When going from the main gate, a buyer usually tends to buy medicine from the nearest medical store. That way the shopkeepers owning shops at the end of the line feel that they are losing business,” said the employee.

He further disclosed that the wall was once mended by the hospital management so as to check the illegal trespassing. “But after few days the things again returned to the usual self,” said the employee.

Karwinder Singh, a visitor to the hospital, said, “More than patients the broken wall suits the purpose of the employees and safai sewaks. During their short stay at the hospital most of them do not get to know about the short cut.” He added the broken walls of the periphery should be of concern to the management because of security reasons.

When contacted, Medical Superintendent Dr Karnail Singh said, “We have mended the wall many a times but after few days it is again broken by unknown persons.” He said the hospital does not have enough security persons to guard the wall.

Amritsar, December 15
Tourists, often harassed by autorickshaw and taxi drivers, will face no inconvenience while going to Attari-Wagah joint checkpost to witness the Beating the Retreat ceremony from Amritsar.

The authorities have declared to introduce public transport in the form of air-conditioned low-floor spacious buses from mid-January under public-private partnership. At present, tourists often face harassment at the hands of autorickshaw drivers or taxi operators who fleece them at will. The tourists are charged Rs 70 per seat in an overloaded autorickshaw and between Rs 120 and 130 per seat in a taxi for a ‘to and fro’ journey.

During recent deliberations held over the issue with the Ministry of Urban Development in New Delhi, it was decided to sanction Rs 33 crore for purchasing about 120 buses to be put on road for various routes in Amritsar and neighbouring districts. The ticket fare would be Rs 5 (up to 5 kms), Rs 10 (5-10 kms) and Rs 15 (more than 10 kms).

The government has given its final nod to introduce this public transport system on the 32-km-long Amritsar-Attari route. The timing of the buses for Attari would be scheduled as per the corresponding summer and winter timings of the ceremony at the border.

These 40-seater pre-fabricated modern, spacious, low floors, wide-doors, aesthetically appealing big buses would run under the banner of Amritsar City Transport Service Ltd and an order for 30 low-floor airconditioned buses has already been placed.

The next phase of the bus service would see various features for benefit of commuters like online GPS system for tracing the location of the bus and the PIS for real time information on expected arrival of buses at the designated bus stops, electronic ticketing machines and provision of monthly passes.

Confirming the development, Dharampal Gupta, Commissioner, Amritsar Municipal Corporation (AMC), said it would take a month’s time for the buses to hit the road on various routes. “The official process to purchase buses, designed on the Ludhiana pattern, has been completed and in the first lot there would be 30 spacious low-floor AC buses,” he said.

“We have identified various points where there was scant arrangement for transport. For example, from New Amritsar, except for overloaded three-wheelers or private radio taxis, there was no mode of transport to connect it with the city or to other important destinations. We have proposed various routes from New Amritsar upto Guru Ram Dass International Airport. This 15-km route would cost a passenger just Rs 15,” he added.

Amritsar, December 15
Hundreds of members of the teaching and non-teaching staff of government-aided colleges blocked the road for two hours at the busy Novelty Chowk on the third day of their strike here today. The protesters announced to shun work for two more days.

HS Walia, general secretary of the PCCTU, said the decision was taken by the Joint Action Committee and the “Rasta Roko” programme was implemented by all the stakeholders in Punjab and Chandigarh. “All the colleges would observe a total closure for the next two days. Thereafter, a massive rally would be organised at Bhatinda on December 23. “On December 16 and 17, we would gherao the local ministers and MLAs’ residences to protest against the government’s faulty policy,” he said.

The protesting staff also held a rally at BBK DAV College.

They viewed that many non-government aided colleges were on the verge of closure due to the faulty policy of the state government. “The grant meant for the salaries of teaching and non-teaching employees has not been released by the government for the last seven months. Besides, their long-pending demands have not been accepted. Their demands included implementation of pension and gratuity scheme approved by the government on December 12, 2001, lifting of ban on recruitments imposed in 2005, implementation of revised pay scales of non-teaching employees from January 1, 2006, instead of August 1, 2010, security of service for the teachers working against unaided posts, relaxation in refresher courses as per the UGC guidelines and release of arrears due on account of revision of pay scales from January 1, 2006.

Amritsar, December 15
The Punjab Health and Family Welfare Department’s decision to fix benchmarks regarding OPDs and surgeries has not gone down well with the PCMS doctors’ association, which has requested all the doctors to refrain from sending such reports.

Trying to build opposition to a decision, which many among the fraternity term as unjustified and dictatorial, the association plans to issue a directive soon to all the association members to stop sending these reports.

Talking to The Tribune, the association’s senior vice-president Dr Ranjit Singh Buttar said, “The hospitals are not manufacturing units where each labourer has to manufacture a fixed number of goods. Instead of overburdening the doctors with useless things, the performance of the hospitals as a whole should be taken into account.”

Trying to substantiate his point with the help of number of patients attended by each doctor at the Civil Hospital, Buttar said, “Here each doctor is examining almost 100 patients daily. In addition, he or she has to sit for issuing medical certificates to the handicapped on Wednesdays, go for jail duty on Saturdays, VIP duties almost every other day and participate in the proceedings of medical boards on daily basis, besides emergency duties due to lack of EMOs in the hospital.”

Buttar said, “What incentives are there for those who are doing more work than the prescribed benchmarks? If there are no incentives there should be no benchmarks. And what benchmarks do the government and its officials have for themselves when it comes to undue delay in placement cases, which sometimes extend to years rather than days and that, too, without any accountability and fixing of responsibility on anyone for that matter. There are delays in completing the records on regular basis for promotions and other things also.”

“What troubles the association is that the decision has added one more work to the already over-burdened doctors.” Buttar said, “A doctor should ideally examine patients, instead of counting them. The state of affairs at the Civil Hospital is that we don’t have adequate staff.”

The association held that the doctors could not be held responsible if patients were not turning up at some hospitals due to poor infrastructure, shortage of paramedics and sometimes location of the institution. “How can doctors go and bring patients. And how it could be justified that he has to admit patients just to meet the benchmarks when he knows that medically there is no need for it,” argued Buttar.

Amritsar, December 15
A cardboard godown in the Kesari Bagh area near Chowk Fauwara, just a few metres away from the Golden Temple, was gutted in a fire that broke out early this morning.

It took about eight hours and 30-40 fire tenders to douse the flames. The godown, “Mohan Lal-Sohan Lal Gatta Merchant”, belongs to Purshotam Lal.

The fire, which erupted around 6.15 am, engulfed the whole godown within no time due to highly combustible cardboard stored in it. Purshotam Lal said several neighbours saw some persons running away on the roof top of the godown just before the fire broke out. As the godown was surrounded by vacant plots, the fire did not spread to the nearby buildings.

He said material worth Rs 15-20 lakh was destroyed in the fire.

Amritsar, December 15
Four research papers of a city paediatrician has been accepted for a national-level conference, “Pedicon 2012”, scheduled to be held in Gurgaon from January 18 to 21.

The papers by Dr Sandeep Aggarwal, child specialists at the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial Civil Hospital here, deliberate on wheat allergy among children, association of thyroid with Turner’s syndrome, disproportionate growth of digits and a rare complication following adenoid.

Dr Aggarwal said, “All the four papers are based on the study of cases that arrive at the Civil Hospital.” He added that one of his papers has revealed association of thyroid disease with Turner’s syndrome, a rare genetic disease.