The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Woman dupes elderly couple Steals jewellery, Rs 1 lakh posing as their relative PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, December 19 A young woman duped an elderly couple of cash and gold jewellery worth lakhs of rupees in a posh locality here today. The girl gained entry to the house of Hardev Singh, a government employee at the Tarn Taran Civil Hospital, by posing as their relative. According to information, Hardev Singh had gone to his office, while his wife Paramjit Kaur, who is a teacher, had gone to the school and the children were also not at home. The elderly couple, Dalip Singh and his wife Charan Kaur, were alone at the time of the incident. Hardev Singh said the young woman entered the house by saying that she was wife of one Lucky, who happened to be their nephew. The woman asked Charan Kaur that Paramjit Kaur had sent her for taking a suit from an almirah. Dalip Singh, who was not well, was sleeping in the courtyard. As the woman asked the wellbeing of all the persons in the family, Charan Kaur started believing her and gave her the keys of the almirah. She did not waste anytime in stealing gold jewellery, weighing more than 200 g and worth lakhs of rupees, and Rs 1 lakh kept in the almirah when the octogenarian woman went to make tea in the kitchen. When Charan Kaur came to the room, she found the woman, gold jewellery and cash from the almirah missing. She immediately informed Hardev Singh about the incident, who immediately returned home and called the police. The police authorities said a case was registered.
	Illegal arms turning petty criminals into dreaded ones PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, December 19 While the Election Commission has issued directions to the police authorities to ask people to get their licenced arms deposited in the respective police stations ahead of the Assembly polls, no measures are being taken to check the smuggling of illegal arms, which the anti-social elements procure from states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, infamous for illegal manufacturing and trading of arms. The easy access to these illegal weapons has shot the crime rate up in the city. With being located near the highly sensitive Indo-Pak border and prevailing rampant drug addiction, the situation has assumed an alarming proportion in the holy city and its adjoining areas. The petty criminals, who are acute drug addicts, become dreaded criminals by committing robberies and even killing people in their attempts to do so. The busting of an illegal arms-manufacturing racket in Mansa earlier this year and recent seizures of such arms are testimonial to the fact that illegal trade is thriving unabated. The recent arms seizures have brought the fact to the light that the majority of the gangsters, snatchers and looters active in the city are in possession of illegal weapons procured from various states. These weapons are available at very nominal prices of Rs 10,000 to Rs 30,000. These weapons can be used during the elections to create an atmosphere of fear among the rival groups, feels several senior police officials. “Though the arms licence holders were asked to deposit their arms, there is no concrete policy or plans to stem the problem of illegal arms. The weapons are aiding the petty to dreaded criminals in the city,” said the officials. While RP Mittal, Commissioner of Police, could not be contacted even after repeated attempts, Baljit Singh Randhawa, ADCP (Special), said the city police had recovered a number of illegal weapons from criminals. “We are taking utmost care to check the smuggling of illegal arms. We are looking into devising ways to tackle the problem,” he said, while admitting that the crime rate had increased manifolds in the city owing to prevalence of illegal arms.
	School buses, auto-rickshaws flout traffic norms with impunity Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service Amritsar, December 19 School buses and auto-rickshaws continue to flout traffic norms while ferrying kids from home to school and back, but the parents find no other option but to keep faith in these and the Almighty. Absence of first aid boxes, safety grills, fire extinguishers and adequate staff, obsolete buses and many other lapses make school buses and auto-rickshaws vulnerable on roads. Even as many accidents involving school buses and auto-rickshaws had taken place in the past, but hardly any action had been taken by law enforcing agencies to prevent the same in future. When an Amritsar Tribune team visited top schools of the city it was found that drivers and conductors of buses of almost all these school were not in uniform. Many buses were seen ferrying schoolchildren without the names of the schools painted on them. High speed was found to be another major matter of concern. A mother of two school-going children, Neeta Handa, said her children board the school bus in the morning at a crossing near her house at Basant Avenue and come back in noon. She said she pointed out glaring discrepancies like absence of safety grills covering windowpanes, broken stairs, rickety condition of bus to the owners and the school authorities a couple of times, but hardly anything was done in this regard. She said the school authorities assured her of conveying her sentiments to the bus operator. As a result the bus operator came to meet her and told her of his tale of woes. “The school bus operator said expenses are more than the earning and in the meagre budget it is not possible to efficiently run the entire operation,” she said. Father of a Class VI student of a leading public school Rajinder Singh said his house being located in the walled city, his son travelled by an auto-rickshaw and bus to reach the school. Residing near Lakshmansar Chowk, he said his son first board an auto-rickshaw to reach near Gurdwara Baba Shaheeda and then travelled by bus to reach the school. He said the auto-rickshaw driver had been conveyed many times to only ferry limited number of students, but he in turn he argued that the distance was less and interior roads did not experience heavy traffic. He advocated that the traffic police and the administration should take cognisance of the traffic violation as the parents could not take a firm stand on the issue. School buses are flouting norms regarding uniforms, as drivers and conductors are not wearing these.The traffic authorities are expected to direct school buses and auto-rickshaw drivers to fol4low traffic norms. It seems that neither the school administrations nor officials of the administration are aware of the directive of the Punjab and Haryana High Court that makes it mandatory for the drivers and conductors of school buses to wear uniform. These overloaded vehicles with students dangerously standing on exit and entry gates could easily be spotted on the city roads, violating the Motor Vehicles Act (MVA) norms with impunity. The ADCP (Traffic), Rachpal Singh, said many school buses were challaned and he ran a week-long programme for educating these drivers to adhere to the MVA norms. He said complete success could not be achieved without the active involvement of the parents.
	Beating winter chill with food, clothes Neha Saini Tribune News Service Amritsar, December 19 The winter chill has finally arrived with mercury dropping and New Year approaching. The lesser the temperature, the more the fun as people have found their own ways to combat the chill. Whether its food, parties, clothes or vacations, winters are a time to turn the heat on, whichever way possible. Food and nuts One can easily spot dry fruit vendors, lined up on roadsides or inside busy shopping areas, shuffling and pushing their carts of dry fruits and nuts, make our lives a little bit simpler during this season. For many people - young and old - the favourite activity during winter is devouring nuts, groundnuts and winter staple gajjaks. Whether it be cracking open walnuts to munching dried figs, the delicacies piled on “thelas” include a wide selection of almonds, coconuts, chilgozey (pine nuts), walnuts, dried apricots, dried figs and rewri (sesame seed candy). “These snacks are popular only in winters and are healthy options. With Lohri round the corner, there is an obvious mood of celebration in the air. So, there are loads of winter savouries, which are lying stocked at various places in the city,” says Gurnam Singh, owner of a dry fruit shop in Hall Bazar. Besides providing for a snack option, they provide for healthy eating options as they contain required amount of fatty acids and fibre to keep the body warm. Apart from eating nuts, sipping soups is a favourite evening activity for Amritsaris. Especially, the famous Amritsari kharode ka soup. Saki’s at Ranjit Avenue is popular hangout for soups and snacks. Rooftop live grills at Country Inn, HK Clarks INN and Best West Merrion are packed with guests who want to enjoy grills and chills together. But for some, private barbeque parties are better option. “The best way to enjoy winters is a rooftop get together with my friends over barbeque and drinks with some music. I make sure to organise at least one get together every weekend to beat the chill,” says Pulkit Sharma, a businessman from Ranjit Avenue. Agrees Maninder Davar, his friend, “Food and friends are the best way to celebrate in winters since one avoids going out in winters because of the cold.” Winter wardrobe If some equip themselves with food, others do it with fashion. A favourite activity and best possible way to forget the cold is shopping. The onset of winters have seen lot of shopping festivals happening in Amritsar and with the required push, the women have gone for a wardrobe makeover without feeling the chill. Every weekend brings with itself a new address and basking in the afternoon sun, shopping can be a lot of fun this season. Kaftans, scarfs, tweeds, leather boots and fur…what more does a woman need to enjoy winters!
	Fog leads to trains, flights’ delay Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service Amritsar, December 19 Passengers were a harried lot as the schedules of many trains and flights were disrupted after the cold wave gripped the North India on Monday with temperatures plummeting and fog engulfing many areas in the region. Train passengers suffered the most due to the delay in the arrival and departure of trains. The majority of the inbound trains were running behind schedule. The Delhi-Jammu Tata Moori Express was 15 hours behind the schedule, following by the Katihar Express, which was 10 hours’ late. The Shatabdi Express was late by three hours, Dadar Express four hours, Shan-e-Punjab three hours and 30 minutes an Howrah Mai three hours and 30 minutes. Consequently, the schedules of several outbound trains were also affected. The Shan-e-Punjab departed at 6.35 pm against its stipulated time of 3.10 pm. The Shatabdi Express departed at 7 pm against its scheduled time of 4.55 pm. The Howrah Mail and Express also departed late. Raminder Singh Saluja of Delhi said he along with his family had arrived in the holy city to pay obeisance at the Golden temple and had booked the return ticket in advance. He said they arrived in time at the railway station to catch the train, but were shocked to learn about its late departure. He added that his family would have to wait for over four hours. He said the day at railway station was full of inconvenience as its meagre resources were not enough to accommodate high number of waiting passengers. Another passenger Jay Prakash from Ranchi said the waiting period was agonising and the platform did not have adequate number of basic civic amenities like toilets and restaurants. He said limited seating space and small waiting hall were unable to accommodate the high number of passengers. Jet’s morning Delhi-Amritsar flight was delayed by two hours and many other flights also flew behind the schedule.
	Illegal driving schools in full gear G.S. Paul Tribune News Service Amritsar, December 19 Are they taking you for a ride? Just consider this! They themselves might not have the ?licence to teach?, but still confident enough to get you ‘licence to drive’. Thanks to the authorities’ negligent attitude, which has yet to wake up from its deep slumber to keep a check on the illegal driving schools? The reality check revealed more startling facts. Giving two hoots to the mandatory norms, hoards of driving schools are there in posh areas like Ranjit Avenue operating from just the roadside having hardly any office to take theoretical classes on driving norms. The district transport authority does not have ready information about how many driving schools are being operated in the holy city. For the past over a year, the transport authority showed grit to nab two such illegal driving schools running from Ranjit Avenue area. Ironically, it was just a phone call from a politician which defeated the courage shown by the authority. Mind it ! What is happening right under the nose of Transport Department, the police and the administration? The condemned vehicles are put to use for learning purposes only. And for physical verification of the vehicles! Who has time and energy for all this exercise? As per the law, a person who wants to learn driving a light motor vehicle (LMV) like a car must attain the age of 18 or above and it is a mandatory condition that he or she should also possess a learner’s licence before occupying the driving seat. But who cares? Similarly, the learning route mostly would be the busiest roads of the city. Now, whose liability would be there if these vehicles, which seldom have dual controls required mandatory, cause any accident on the road? An official of DTO department, on the condition of anonymity, admitted that all the driving schools running on the roadside at Ranjit Avenue do not comply any norms. “In actual, all these illegal operators have political or bureaucratic influences which prevent us to take any action against them. In my view, none of them even has the mandatory ‘dual control vehicles’ and it is quite dangerous to train the learners on ordinary car because there are fair chances of its being causing an accident,” he said. The Motor Vehicle Act norms demand that the driver should have theoretical knowledge about the vehicle. It is a prerequisite condition for a driver to know about traffic signals and theoretical classes for the purpose must be conducted by a driving school management in a building with traffic signboard, blackboard and road plan, etc. These driving schools need to be registered with the District Transport Authority. Thereafter, a licence or permit is given to driving schools for a one-year span only and is further renewed after the physical verification of the vehicles and the inspection of all mandatory apparatus or equipment at their offices. What do rules say? The driving instructor must have either diploma in mechanical engineering or ITI certificate in motor engineering. The operator must possess licence from the District Transport Authority for running a driving school and intimate about the renewal of the permit two months prior to the expiry date. The validity of the permit is for one year only. The driving school should have provision for demonstration, like a blackboard, road plan and traffic signboard with necessary model signals and charts. Official speak At present, I am not in a position to tell you the number of registered driving schools. We will find out how many of these schools have been issued permits or licences. The issue calls for an immediate attention and I will get it inspected soon. If any such school is found to be running in an unauthorised manner or not complying with the Motor Vehicle Act norms, we will deal with it sternly — Vimal Setia, District Transport Officer
	DAV students showcase declamation skills Amritsar, December 19 Khalsa College of Education (KCE) organised a declamation contest at its campus today in which the local DAV Public School was the overall champion. DAV’s Milind and Aadhaya were declared first in English and Hindi language categories, respectively, and school’s Suvidha Duggal stood second in declamation in Punjabi language. Modern High School’s Balraj and Sharanjit from Sri Guru Harkrishan International School were declared first in Punjabi language category. KCE Principal Dr Jaswinder Singh Dhillon said they organised the contest to sharpen the skills of students. In the declamation contest, Ayushma from Government Girls Senior Secondary School was third in Punjabi language category, while Gurpreet from Khalsa Senior Secondary School got a consolation prize. In English version, Dhriti Mehra from Spring Dale remained second, Oshin from SSSS School was third while Roopam from Khalsa College Girls School got a consolation prize. In Hindi version, Saumya from Modern High School was second and Muskan from Sri Guru Harkrishan International School was third. At the event, trainer on HIV, Dr Baljit Kaur, delivered a lecture on AIDS awareness in which she cautioned the young generation about the deadly disease. — TNS
	Expert throws light on agri growth Tribune News Service Amritsar, December 19 Dr Ramesh Chand, Director, National Centre for Agricultural Economics and Policy Research (NCAP), New Delhi, delivered the Amardeep Singh Shergill Memorial Lecture on ‘Agriculture Growth, Food Inflation and Food Security: Insights and Perspective’ at Guru Nanak Dev University today. Addressing seminar, organised by the Punjab School of Economics of the University, Dr Ramesh highlighted the slow growth of agriculture (about 2.5 per cent) than targeted rate of growth (4 per cent) and raised concerns in terms of food and nutrition security, farmers’ income, growth in overall economy, disparity in rural and urban income and development of disadvantaged rainfed and dry land areas. The challenges and problems related to sustainability, efficiency, farmers' distress, strain on land resources and risk in production and marketing of farm produce were also highlighted by him. He said the evidence was emerging that maintaining interest in farming and to increase in output required reasonable raise in income for farmers from agriculture. Indian agriculture was now showing price led growth and there were strong undercurrents that agricultural prices were likely to rule high in near future, he said.
	Infants prone to ear infections: Expert Tribune News Service Amritsar, December 19 If proper care is not taken during breast feeding or bottle feeding infants, chances of ear infections among them increases, said Dr Jagdeepak Singh, professor and head, Department of ENT at Government Medical College on the concluding day of the two-day Mastoid Mela organised by the All-India Pingalwara Charitable Society. He said infants are at a more risk of catching ear infections in comparison to the grown ups. Dr Singh said more than 50 patents with ear problems were provided free medical services on the concluding day of the mela. He said four free mastoid surgeries were conducted today. Dr Vikas Kakkar, professor and head, ENT, Rohtak PGI also participated in mela. Dr Jagdeepak Singh said cold and soar throats if neglected can result in ear problems. Dr Inderjit Kaur, President of the Pingalwara society, said the society has its own operation theatre and post operative recovery rooms at its Manawala block. She said, “The patients would be kept under care till the doctors’ advice their discharge.”
	Man killed in accident Tribune News Service Amritsar, December 19 One Jai Ram, a migrant from Bihar died on the spot when his cycle was hit by a speeding motorcycle near Khanna Paper Mill last evening. Raj Kumar, cousin of deceased in his complaint alleged that he and Jai Ram were going towards the mill when the accused Mukesh, a resident of Preet Nagar, hit them. Mukesh also sustained serious injuries and was admitted in the hospital in critical condition. Sohan Singh, SHO Sadar police station said that a case under section 304-A, 427 IPC has been registered against Mukesh as he was driving his motorcycle at very high speed. He was going to Gurudwara Shaheed Baba Deep Singh at that time. Rs 4,000 snatched Two unidentified motorcycle-borne youths snatched a purse from one Gurinderpal Kaur, a resident of Chowk Karori area here. The incident took place at Ranjit Avenue A-block area. The accused ran away after snatching her purse containing Rs 4000 cash, mobile phone, ATM card and other important documents. A case has been registered at Civil Lines police station in this connection. Fake passport seized The immigration authorities at Guru Ram Das International Airport nabbed one Ranjit Singh of Patti Sohan Ki, Verka for allegedly possessing a fake passport. Vajinder Kumar, Immigration Officer at Airport said that during immigration checking the name of the accused was found fake. He said the passport bore the name of Jagjit Singh son of Gurdev Singh of Kahalwan Hoshiarpur instead of Ranjit Singh. He was handed over to Airport Police where a case under section 419, 420 IPC has been registered in this connection.