|
|
|
|
|
Illegal sand mining racket unearthed in Ferozepur
Tractor-trolleys being used for illegal sand mining in protected forest area near village Bareke in Ferozepur.
Photo by writer
GNDU students to prepare drawings, sketches of historic Gurdwaras
Pb-22-E-0001 sold for Rs 3.15 lakhs
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Abohar sees surge in snatching cases
Health Dept holds seminar on female foeticide
Governor honours Abohar college girl
Opium smugglers arrested
|
|
Illegal sand mining racket unearthed in Ferozepur
Ferozepur, February 15 District Forest Officer (DFO) Sanjeev Tiwari said following a tip-off today in the morning, the officials raided an area inside the PF near village Bareke along the border where people were carrying on illegal mining of sand in the forest land in utter disregard to the norms. Tiwari said it was observed that several trees had been cut and more than hundreds plants were damaged by these people to make inroads into the forest area to carry out their unlawful activity. “We have confiscated three tractor-trolleys besides other equipment from the spot,” said Tiwari, adding that on noticing the presence of forest officials, the people who were digging the sand, fled from the scene. “There were three of them. They have been identified as Gurcharan Singh, Bittu and Bhola Singh, all residents of village Bareke against whom a damage report has been filed,” he said, adding that an inquiry has been ordered which will be conducted by Forest Range Officer to identify the contractors and other key persons behind this illegal sand mining trade following which an FIR shall be lodged against all erring persons. According to the information, there is around 123 acres of valuable PF land in the area which is vulnerable to encroachment. “Already, around 25 acres of forest reserves has been encroached upon by some influential people in the area allegedly in connivance with the lower rung revenue officials,” revealed the DFO, adding that more often than not powerful people who have access to the revenue officials get the girdawaris transferred in their names in collusion with them and later encroach upon the forest land. Tiwari further said that umpteen requests to all authorities concerned, including the revenue department and even security officials for assistance in protecting the forest reserves had been futile. When contacted, Deputy Commissioner S Karuna Raju said that he would get the matter examined through the SDM. “We will not allow any such thing to happen as already there are scanty forest reserves in the state,” the DC added. The Ferozepur Deputy Commissioner also
said that he will instruct all the departments to extend all possible help the
forest officials in safeguarding the valuable forest land which is prone to encroachment.
|
||
|
GNDU students to prepare drawings, sketches of historic Gurdwaras
Muktsar, February 15 "So far, there is only one book about the architecture of Gurdwaras that was published in 1980s by noted artist PS Arshi. After that, there is no fresh documentation of any historic Gurdwara except the Golden Temple, either with the SGPC or any other institute. So, we told our students to go and compile the drawings, photos, sketches and concept of the architecture of the concerned buildings," informed Karamjit Singh Chahal, head of the department of architecture, GNDU, while talking over the phone. "Each team comprises four students, which will submit its report within a month. After verifying the facts, we will publish a booklet which will prove beneficial for those having faith in Sikh religion and interested in architecture. The final report will also be submitted to the SGPC,” he added. Giving further details, he said that the teams had gone to prepare the drawings of all historic Gurdwaras in Muktsar, Amritsar, Talwandi Sabo, Anandpur Sahib, Goindwal, Khadur Sahib and Tarn
Taran. Meanwhile, a team of four students namely Ankush Kalia, Mohit Saini, Sonkashi Kohli and Pradeepta Bhushan reached the historic Gurdwara Sri Darbar Sahib in Muktsar to start their work. They informed that the work was part of their five-year course, as they had opted for Sikh architecture as their subject. "After Operation Bluestar in 1984, a number of Gurdwaras were re-built and expanded with the passage of time. And there is no documentation many historic Gurdwaras. So, we are doing this work, which is part of our project assigned by the university," said Ankush Kalia, a student. Karan Singh, manager of the Gurdwara Sri Darbar Sahib, Muktsar, appreciated the step taken by the university authorities and its students. “This documentation will definitely prove beneficial in the construction of more Gurdwaras. So far, we have only the pictures of buildings but not the drawings or sketches of the Gurdwaras. So, with the project report of these students, we will be able to get the drawings, which will be kept in the records for further construction or for publication in the books related to Sikh history and religion,”
he said. |
||
|
Pb-22-E-0001 sold for Rs 3.15 lakhs
Fazilka, February 15 The trend of vehicle owners willing to pay to get fancy registration numbers for their vehicles has fetched handsome amount for the District Transport Office during the maiden auction after district headquarters status was given to
Fazilka. “We have earned Rs 24 lakhs from the auction of nearly 90 fancy numbers in Fazilka district,” said District Transport Officer, Gurcharan Singh
Sandhu. With the introduction of new series, the most sought after number was Pb-22-E-0001. Sandeep Kumar, resident of village Nihar Khera, offered the maximum bid to the tune of Rs 3,15,000 for this number. The number, Pb-22-E-0007, considered lucky, was allotted to one Vinay Sethi of Fazilka as he offered the maximum bid of Rs 3,00,000. Besides, Sunny Papneja of Jalalabad purchased another fancy number
PB-22-E-0004, by offering the maximum amount of Rs. 2,75,000. The auction was conducted by Fazilka DTO Gurcharan Singh Sandhu in the presence of state observer, DTO Muktsar, Sandeep Rishi, who was deputed by the State Transport Commissioner. Fazilka DTO Sandhu said that there was enthusiasm amongst the dozens of bidders who came forward to offer the maximum amount for the fancy numbers as the auction continued till late in the evening yesterday. “We are happy with the amount offered by the bidders. Most of them are the car owners,” said
Sandhu.
|
||
|
Abohar sees surge in snatching cases
Abohar, February 15 The miscreants tried to snatch her purse and dragged her down as she resisted. Intriguingly, it happened a stone’s throw distance from the office-cum-residence of the Superintendent of Police on the road that connects the Sadar Thana road with the state highway. Suman sustained injuries in the fracas and has been admitted to the Civil
Hospital. The miscreants fled after the unsuccessful bid. Punjabi Sabhyachar Manch, Consumer Movement, Bharat Vikas Parishad and Government School Teachers Union have condemned the incident. Moreover, in another incident, unidentified persons snatched a bag containing from a gift house owner, Sandeep Kumar, as he alighted from a bus at the main bus stand, a mere 100 meters away from the office-cum-residence of the Superintendent of Police. A police post works is there at the bus stand but none was present there. Sandeep told the city police that one of the car-borne miscreants brandished a knife as he resisted the snatching bid. He was carrying Rs 70,000 from Malout where he runs another shop. The police said a case under Section 382 of the IPC has been registered. Notably, some bikers had targeted a woman outside Nehru Park recently. She was returning to her Model Town residence after shopping when the miscreants dragged her down in an attempt to snatch her purse but fled after she
resisted. Some of the parents and teachers have informed the senior officials that eve-teasers have become active again. They roam around the girls senior secondary school near the Major Surinder Chowk and chase minor girls on the Thakur Abadi road and Arya Nagar road after the school hours. |
||
|
Health Dept holds seminar on female foeticide
Muktsar, February 15 SDM Dalvinderjeet Singh was the special invitee at the seminar. He said that the declining sex ratio was adversely affecting the economic prosperity and causing social imbalance. “Though we are living in the 21st century, our mental framework is still primitive and we are guided by conventional temperament,” he said and called upon the people, especially the men, to shed their conservative outlook and protect the girl child. Dr Gurdeep Singh, Civil Surgeon, Muktsar and a number of other dignitaries also shared their views. |
|
Governor honours Abohar college girl
Abohar, February 15 Patil awarded the medal to her in the presence of senior officials of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) recently. Ramanpreet, a student of the Guru Nanak Khalsa College here, had participated in the 63rd Republic Day parade at New Delhi. She was among the invitees who attended the dinner hosted by President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and the Army chief besides the Director General, NCC. College principal Dr Jagpal Singh said Ramanpreet had brought laurels by her excellent performance in para-sailing and march past and skill testing. Interestingly, she had also shone in the cultural activities organised by the NCC Directorate in New Delhi.
|
|
Opium smugglers arrested
Abohar, February 15 The police intercepted them on the Kikkarkhera-Ramsara link road. The court remanded them to police custody for three days. They are to be interrogated at the Amritsar-based Joint Interrogation Centre, the police said. |
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
The Forest Department today unearthed an illegal sand mining racket which was going on in a clandestine manner in a protected forest (PF) area close to the Indo-Pakistan border near village Bareke, around 12 kms from district headquarters.
